CHAPTER IX
THE LAST LETTER
At the same moment that Marsh opened the door, Tierney and the man from Headquarters, who had been taking the photographs, came bounding down the stairs from the third floor.
They all saw the body of a woman lying motionless on the landing.
"Who is it?" cried Morgan, over Marsh's shoulder.
"Jane Atwood!" was the sharp reply.
With that Marsh stooped and took the unconscious girl up in his arms, the unusual tenderness and care of his movements being plainly apparent. Carrying her into his apartment, while the others followed, Marsh laid her gently on a davenport in the living room.
"She must have had a shock of some kind and fainted," exclaimed Morgan.
"No," returned Marsh, as he softly smoothed back the hair from her forehead, disclosing a bruise that was now rapidly discoloring and swelling. "Somebody knocked her insensible." Then added, "You sent your man away too soon, Morgan."
"My God!" burst out Morgan. "What nerve! To think of pulling anything like this in a house full of detectives."