“Heath reached the house before ten o’clock, and made an investigation. But he learned nothing. No one admitted hearing any sound in the hall during the night. He re-searched the house himself, but without result.”
“Have you heard from Von Blon this morning?”
“No; but Heath saw him. He came to the house about ten and stayed nearly an hour. He appeared very much upset over the stolen drugs, and immediately asked if any trace of them had been found. He spent most of the hour with Sibella.”
“Ah, welladay! Let us enjoy our truffes gastronome without the intrusion of unpleasant speculations. This Madeira sauce, by the by, is very good.” Thus Vance dismissed the subject.
However, that luncheon was to prove a memorable one; for toward the end of the meal Vance made a suggestion—or, rather, insisted upon an action—that was eventually to solve and explain the terrible tragedies at the Greene mansion. We had reached our dessert when, after a long silence, he looked up at Markham and said:
“The Pandora complex has seized and mastered me. I simply must get into Tobias’s locked library. That sacred adytum has begun to infest my slumbers; and ever since you mentioned the legacy of those books I’ve had no rest. I yearn to become acquainted with Tobias’s literary taste, and to learn why he should have selected the police for his beneficiaries.”
“But, my dear Vance, what possible connection——?”
“Desist! You can’t think of a question I have not already put to myself; and I’m unable to answer any of them. But the fact remains, I must inspect that library even if you have to get a judicial order to batter down the door. There are sinister undercurrents in that old house, Markham; and a hint or two may be found in that secret room.”
“It will be a difficult proceeding if Mrs. Greene stands firm on her refusal to deliver the key to us.” Markham, I could see, had already acquiesced. He was in a mood to accede to any suggestion that even remotely promised a clarification of the problem posed by the Greene murders.
It was nearly three o’clock when we reached the house. Heath had already arrived, in answer to a telephone call from Markham; and we at once presented ourselves to Mrs. Greene. Following an ocular sign from the Sergeant the new nurse left the room; and Markham went directly to the point. The old lady had eyed us suspiciously as we came in, and now sat rigidly against her pile of pillows, her gaze fixed on Markham with defensive animosity.