“I believe that is all the information we need for the present, Mr. Ritsky. If you have no objection I will call on you after dinner this evening, and if Mr. Hoyne cares to accompany me we will see what we can do toward solving this mystery. Please take care that no one in your home is apprised of the object of our visit. Say, if you wish, that we are going to install some electrical equipment.”
“I’ll be there with bells,” said Hoyne as they rose to go.
II.
Shortly after his guests’ departure, Doctor Dorp was speeding out Sheridan Road toward Villa Rogers.
The drive took nearly an hour, and he spent another half-hour in questioning the care-takers, man and wife. He returned home with a well-filled notebook, and on his arrival he began immediately assembling paraphernalia for the evening’s work. This consisted of three cameras with specially constructed shutters, several small electrical mechanisms, a coil of insulated wire, a flash-gun, and a kit of tools.
After dinner he picked up Hoyne at his home, and they started for the “haunted house.”
“You say you investigated this case last night, Hoyne?” asked the doctor.
“I tried to, but there was nothing to it, so far as I could see, except the whining of that dog.”
“Where were you when you heard the noises?”
“Ritsky had retired. I slept in a chair in his room. About two o’clock I was awakened by a whining noise, not loud, yet distinctly audible. Then I heard a yell from Ritsky. He switched on the light a moment later, then sat down on the bed, trembling from head to foot, while beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead.