Patsy was at a loss to understand what door was meant, but he had no doubt that his chief was in danger of discovery. Therefore, he leaned over until his lips touched Adelina’s ears.
“Wait until I give them something to think about,” he breathed, “and then slip upstairs. I think the others have gone. Go next door and telephone.”
His wife nodded silently. Patsy might be mistaken about the other doctors. It was more than possible that she would run into them before she could get out of the house. Nevertheless, she was game.
They heard the jingling of keys, and then a rasping, as of a padlock being removed. Following that came the creaking of rusty hinges.
They could not see what was going on. If they had been able to, they would have been greatly surprised, for the two lower boards at the front of the bin in which they had been confined formed a rude door, which was being opened outward by Hoff.
Patsy had not investigated the front of the bin, having preferred to force his way out at one side. Even if he had discovered evidences of the door, however, the padlock on the outside would have prevented him from taking advantage of the fact.
Incidentally, this padlock, being in plain sight from the outside, showed that there had been no attempt to conceal the existence of the door.
Obviously, those responsible for its presence had assumed that, in the case of a possible search of the premises, it would be accounted for on the theory that it was used to facilitate the removal of coal from underneath.
Patsy was somewhat mystified by the turn affairs had taken, and could not understand how the door alluded to by Grantley could give the rascals access to his friends. Nevertheless, his instinct told him that such must be the case.
He felt in the barrel behind which he was hiding. Luckily it was nearly full of odds and ends of junk, including several pieces of old iron, evidently parts of a kitchen range.