As it did so the Doctor deliberately snuffed out the light of the candle he held, leaving the room in abrupt and obliterating darkness.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
ANDERSON MAKES AN ARREST
“Doctor, why did you put out that candle?” Miss Cornelia’s voice cut the blackness like a knife.
“I didn’t—I—”
“You did—I saw you do it.”
The brief exchange of accusation and denial took but an instant of time, as the mantel swung wide open. The next instant there was a rush of feet across the floor, from the fireplace—the shock of a collision between two bodies—the sound of a heavy fall.
“What was that?” queried Bailey dazedly, with a feeling as if some great winged creature had brushed at him and passed.
Lizzie answered from the doorway.
“Oh, oh!” she groaned in stricken accents. “Somebody knocked me down and tramped on me!”
“Matches, quick!” commanded Miss Cornelia. “Where’s the candle?”