I stood in the large drawing-room listening to the discussion between the searchers, who had now returned there disappointed.
“I can only repeat, sir,” remarked the inspector, addressing Langton, “that you must have been mistaken regarding the light in the window of the next room.”
“I’m certain I was not,” replied the young man doggedly. “Someone was in this house—someone who, when I rang, extinguished the light and escaped!”
“But how could he have escaped?” queried the officer.
“Ah! that’s the mystery. By the roof, perhaps.”
“The trap-door is bolted on the inside,” declared the constable; “I examined it, sir.”
“Or by a window leading out on to some leads somewhere?” I suggested.
“There are no windows unfastened by which anyone could have escaped,” the sergeant exclaimed; “I’ve looked at them all.”
“Well,” exclaimed the young man with a puzzled air, “nothing will ever convince me that I’ve brought you all here upon a fool’s errand. I still maintain that something unusual has happened. Why has Antonio fled to France?”
“We must ask the Professor,” replied the inspector. “He may have been sent by his master upon perfectly legitimate business. He was entirely trusted, you say.”