When everything was ready they quietly brought two chairs into the hall from the spare bedroom and began their silent vigil.
III.
Both men sat in silence for nearly three hours. The doctor seemed lost in thought, and Hoyne nervously masticated his inevitable unlighted cigar. The house was quiet, except for the ticking of the hall clock and its hourly chiming announcements of the flight of time.
Shortly after the clock struck two they heard a low, scarcely audible moan.
“What was that?” whispered the detective, hoarsely.
“Wait!” the doctor replied.
Presently it was repeated, followed by prolonged sobbing.
“It’s Miss Rogers,” said Hoyne, excitedly.
Doctor Dorp rose and softly tiptoed to the door of the child’s bed chamber. After listening there for a moment he noiselessly opened the door and entered. Presently he returned, leaving the door ajar. The sobbing and moaning continued.
“Just as I expected,” he said. “I want you to go in the child’s room, keep quiet, and make a mental note of everything you see and hear. Stay there until I call you, and be prepared for a startling sight.”