The door opened easily, and he was in the hall.
“The first door to the left,” he mentally said, and then he advanced toward it.
In another second he had pushed this portal open and stood in a darkened room.
He saw no one.
Perhaps “Sara P——” was in another part of the house and had not heard him enter.
Suddenly, however, he was undeceived, and in a flash he knew he had entered another trap.
The floor gave way beneath his feet, as if his weight had suddenly broken it in.
The entire floor seemed to fall.
The detective made an effort to recover his equilibrium, but the Fates were against him.
He fell down—down—and struck on his feet to pitch forward in Stygian darkness.