Despite his exceeding care, however, the top stair creaked slightly under his weight.
The noise, though hardly perceptible under ordinary conditions, fell audibly on the surrounding stillness.
It was instantly followed by another, hardly more perceptible, but sufficient to make the detective doubly alert.
The sound came from a room across the hall, the door of which was open.
Nick waited, lest the stair might creak again if he stirred. Bending nearer the baluster rail, nevertheless, he could see through the open door of the opposite room.
It was the library of the handsomely furnished house.
With the exception of one part of the room, all was invisible, shrouded in inky darkness.
The exception was a circle of light shed upon an open desk—faintly revealing a figure crouching in front of it.
It appeared to be that of a man engaged in robbing the desk, or quietly forcing the interior drawers in search of something.
Nick waited and watched.