He paused, raising his eyebrows, significantly.
"Additions to the Zenana!" inquired Robert.
Dr. Cairn nodded his head grimly.
"Exactly," he replied. "There is not a scrap of evidence upon which, legally, he could be convicted; but since his return from Egypt, Rob, he has added other victims to the list!"
"The fiend!" cried the younger man, "the unnatural fiend!"
"Unnatural is the word; he is literally unnatural; but many women find him irresistible; he is typical of the unholy brood to which he belongs. The evil beauty of the Witch-Queen sent many a soul to perdition; the evil beauty of her son has zealously carried on the work."
"What must we do?"
"I doubt if we can do anything to-day. Obviously the early morning is the most suitable time to visit his den at Dulwich Common."
"But the new photographs of the house? There will be another attempt upon us to-night."
"Yes, there will be another attempt upon us, to-night," said the doctor wearily. "This is the year 1914; yet, here in Half-Moon Street, when dusk falls, we shall be submitted to an attack of a kind to which mankind probably has not been submitted for many ages. We shall be called upon to dabble in the despised magical art; we shall be called upon to place certain seals upon our doors and windows; to protect ourselves against an enemy, who, like Eros, laughs at locks and bars."