Then for the first time the full light of the gas fell on the face of our captive. It was Len Howard.
CHAPTER XXI
A TERRIBLE CONFESSION
Ray staggered back.
“Howard—you here!” he gasped.
Howard said nothing, but remained gazing doggedly at the floor.
“Answer me!” cried Ray, as the first shock of surprise subsided. “What are you doing in this room?”
Howard replied hesitatingly, as if scarcely knowing what to say:
“I saw the door open—and—and when Ridley went out into the hall for a moment—I—I stepped in, thinking you might have returned. Ridley closed the door and locked me in.”
As the door was fastened by a spring lock, easily opened from the inside, the transparency of this excuse was pitiable, and showed how desperate was Howard’s position.