‘I hardly know,—I imagine that it was with some dim idea of Marjorie’s being able to get in if she returned while I was absent,—but the truth is I was in such a condition of helter skelter that I am not prepared to swear that I had any reasonable reason.’
‘I suppose there is no doubt that you did leave it open?’
‘Absolutely none,—on that I’ll stake my life.’
‘Was it open when you returned from your pursuit of Holt?’
‘Wide open,—I walked straight in expecting to find her waiting for me in the front room,—I was struck all of a heap when I found she wasn’t there.’
‘Were there any signs of a struggle?’
‘None,—there were no signs of anything. Everything was just as I had left it, with the exception of the ring which I trod on in the passage, and which Lessingham has.’
‘If Miss Lindon has returned, it does not look as if she were in the house at present.’
It did not,—unless silence had such meaning. Atherton had knocked loudly three times without succeeding in attracting the slightest notice from within.
‘It strikes me that this is another case of seeking admission through that hospitable window at the back.’