Ragstaff Park slumbered once more. But Lorian sat upon the edge of my
bed, smoking and thinking hard. He had been to his own room for the
print of the Riddle, and it lay upon a chair before him.
"Listen to this," he said suddenly: "(_a_) Some one breaks into the
governor's studio, and takes nothing. His drawings of the Ragstaff
Riddle happen to be at my studio. (_b_) You hear a noise in the night,
and see (1) a bright light; (2) a gleaming rod. (_c_) You and I see a
bright light on the following night, and presumably proceeding from
the same place; i.e., the hall. (_d_) Something I have not mentioned
before--Hulme has a camera in his kit! And he doesn't want the fact
known!"
"What do you mean?"
"I tested him the other night, by inquiring if anyone could lend me
a camera. He did not volunteer! The morning following the mysterious
business in the hall, observed by you, I saw a photographic printing
frame in his window! He must have one of those portable developers with
him."
"And to what does all this point?"
"To the fact that he has made at least three attempts to obtain a copy
of the Riddle, and has at last succeeded!"
"Three!"
"I really think so. The evidence points to him as the person who broke
into the studio. He made a bad slip. He referred to the matter, and
cited Horace Baxter as his informant. Baxter is away!"
"But this is serious!"
"I should say so! He couldn't attempt to photograph the panel in
daylight, so he employed magnesium ribbon at night! First time his
tripod slipped. It is evidently one of the light, telescopic kind. His
negative proved useless. It was one of the metal legs of the tripod
which you saw shining! The second time he was more successful. That was
the light of his magnesium ribbon you and I saw from the drive!"
"But, Lorian, I went down and searched the hall!"
"Now we come on to the, at present, conjectural part," explained Lorian.
"My theory is that Hulme, somewhere or other, has come across some old
documents which give the clue to those secret passages said to exist in
Ragstaff, but which the Colonel has never been able to locate. I feel
assured that there is some means of secret communication between the
Turret Room and the hall. I further believe that Hulme has in some way
got upon the track of another secret--that of the Riddle."
"But what _is_ the secret of the Riddle?"
"In my opinion the Riddle is a clue to another hiding-place, evidently
not connected with the maze of passages; possibly what is known as a
Priest's Hole. As you know, Hulme asked Sybil to marry him. I believe
the man to be in financial straits; so that we must further assume the
Riddle to conceal the whereabouts of a treasure, since the Reynors are
far from wealthy."
"The _chest_! Lorian! The chest!" I cried.
"Quite so. But what immediately preceded its appearance? The loss of the
family ring! If I am not greatly in error, Hulme found that ring! And
the ring is the key to the riddle! Do you recall the shape of the bezel?
Simply _a square peg of gold_! Look at the photograph!"
He was excited, for once.
"What does it say?" he continued: "'Ye strypped tree!' That means the
device of leaves, twigs, and acorns--stripped _from_ a tree--see? Here,
at the bottom of the panel, is such a group, and (this is where we have
been so blind!) intertwined with the design is the word _CAEG_--Ancient
Saxon for _key_! Look! 'Golde toe Greene and kay toe kay'! Amongst the
_green_ leaves is a square hole. The _gold_ knob on the ring fits it!"
For a moment I was too greatly surprised for speech. Then:
"You think Hulme discovered this?"
"I do. And I think Sybil's mislaying her ring gave him his big chance.
He had got the chest out whilst she was in the library. He must have
been inside somewhere looking for it when she passed through the hall.
Then, hearing her approach from the library, he was forced to abandon
his heavy 'find' and hide in the secret passage which communicates with
his room. Directly she ran upstairs he returned for the chest!"