"I've just been speaking to Ethelwynn," Langton said. "She's down at
Broadstairs."
"At Broadstairs!" I echoed, staring straight at my companion.
"Yes," he replied. "She tells me that her father went up to Edinburgh,
but was suddenly called abroad upon business connected with one of his
newly-patented chemical processes. She rang up Antonio, intending to
leave a message for me."
I stood listening to him, utterly dumbfounded. The young man was being
misled. Had I not with my own eyes seen the poor girl lying cold and
dead in the room downstairs? Besides, was it possible that she, who
knew of her father's fate and had seen him lifeless, would tell her
lover that great untruth!
Could this be one of Kirk's ingenious subterfuges in order to gain time?
"Then you are satisfied?" I managed at last to stammer.
"To a certain degree, yes," he replied, looking at me with a good deal
of surprise, I saw. "But it does not explain why Antonio is absent
abroad, or--"
"Gone to meet his master most probably," I interrupted.
"Perhaps. But why has the laboratory been broken open; and, again, why
has the furnace been lit? Who were the three persons who dined here
this evening? The Professor is away!"
"Miss Ethelwynn might have entertained two friends before leaving for
Broadstairs," I suggested.
"They were men. Ethelwynn does not smoke cigarettes."
"Did she say whether she is returning to London?" I inquired.
"She will let me know on the 'phone tomorrow."
"She didn't tell you her father's whereabouts?"
"She doesn't know. He's somewhere in Germany, she believes. He has
been in communication with a strong German syndicate, which it seems has
been formed in Hamburg to work one of his discoveries. And in his
absence somebody has undoubtedly been prying into his experiments."
"Somebody who you believe was disturbed by your ring at the door, eh?"
"Exactly!" replied the young man, glancing at his watch. "But now, Mr.
Holford, I think I shall go to my rooms. I'm tired after my journey.
The Channel crossing was an exceptionally bad one this afternoon.
You'll call and see me very soon, won't you?"
I promised, and together we descended the stairs and left the silent
house.
By his side I walked out by Clarence Gate as far as Baker Street
Station, where we shook hands and parted.
After he had left me I halted on the kerb, utterly bewildered.
It had dawned upon me that there was just a chance of discovering
something further among the ashes of the furnace. The window, broken by
the police, would afford an easy means of access. Now, and only now,
was my chance of obtaining knowledge of the actual truth.
Therefore I turned back again, and, loitering before the house, seized
my chance when no one was nigh, opened the basement window and was again
inside.
In a few minutes I was again standing in the laboratory, over which the
glowing furnace threw a red light. I dared not switch on the
electricity, lest I should give warning to anybody watching outside,
hence I was compelled to grope by the fitful firelight among the ashes.
My examination--a long and careful one--resulted in the discovery of a
metal cuff-link much discoloured by fire, a charred pearl shirt-button,
and a piece of half-burned coloured linen. As far as I could ascertain
there were no human remains--only traces of burnt clothing. But charred
bones very much resemble cinders.
Yet were not those remains, in conjunction with the words of Kershaw
Kirk, sufficient evidence of a grim and ghastly occurrence?
I left the house by the window, just as I had entered it, and, walking
as far as the Marylebone Road, entered a small private bar, where, being
alone, I took out the scraps of half-burned paper and eagerly examined
them. Alas! most of the faint-ruled pages were blank. The others,
however, were covered with a neat feminine calligraphy, the words, as
far as I could decipher, having reference to certain chemical
experiments of the Professor's!
Those precious notes by Ethelwynn at the Professor's dictation had, it
seemed clear, been wantonly destroyed.
What could have been the motive? If that were found, it would surely
not be difficult to discover the perpetrator of that most amazing crime.
I returned home more than ever mystified, but carrying in my pocket a
cabinet photograph of the dead man, which I had abstracted from a silver
frame in his daughter's boudoir. It was theft, I knew, but was not
theft justifiable in such unusual circumstances?
Next morning I was early at the garage in order to carry out a plan upon
which I had decided during the grey hours before the dawn. In the
telephone book I searched for, and found, the Professor's number at his
seaside cottage at Broadstairs, and asked the exchange for it.