THE LOCKED ROOM
That night the missing man did not return, nor was anything heard of him.
The morning brought no news, and even Kelson began to think there might
be something serious in it.
"If it was anybody but that man," he said casually over a hearty
breakfast, "I should say it would be worth while taking steps to find out
what had become of him. But that fellow can take care of himself; and
when you come to think of it, his coming down here, an outsider, to the
ball, was in itself rather fishy."
Gifford agreed, and they fell to discussing the day's plans. Kelson was
going to drive over to have the momentous interview with Miss Tredworth's
father. He anticipated no difficulty there; still, as he said, "The thing
has got to be done, and the sooner it is over the better."
"Why not go to-morrow?" Gifford suggested. "There will be rather a
rush to-day."
Kelson, a man of action, scoffed at the idea. "Oh, no; Muriel and Charlie
are coming over to Wynford to luncheon. I shall simply get the thing
settled and drive back with them."
So it was arranged. Gifford spent the morning in a stroll about the
familiar neighbourhood, and when luncheon time came they all met at
Wynford Place. Miss Morriston was not present. Her brother apologized for
her absence, saying she had been obliged to keep an engagement to lunch
with a friend, but that she had promised to return quite early in the
afternoon. Mr. Piercy, the antiquarian, proved to be by no means as dry
as his pursuit suggested. He was a lively little man with a fund of
interesting stories furnished by the lighter side of his work, and
altogether the luncheon was quite amusing.
When it was over Morriston suggested that, not to waste the daylight,
they should begin their tour of the house; he called upon Gifford to
share the duties of guidance, and the party moved off.
"Hope you haven't been bored all the morning, Hugh," Kelson said to his
friend as they found themselves side by side. "Any news at the _Lion_?
Has Henshaw turned up yet?"
Gifford shook his head. "No. Host Dipper has had another telegram of
inquiry from the brother, but had nothing to tell him in return."
Kelson's face became grave. "It really does begin to look serious,"
he remarked.
"Yes; Dipper has been interviewing the police on the subject."
"Has he? Well, I only hope Henshaw has not been playing the fool, or
worse, and caused all this fuss for nothing."
The party moved on to the great hall where the dancing had taken
place, and so to the passage connecting the main building with the
ancient tower.
"Now this is the part which will no doubt interest you most, Mr. Piercy,"
Morriston said; "this fourteenth century tower, which is to-day in a
really wonderful state of preservation."
"Ah, yes," the archaeologist murmured; "they could build in those days."
They examined the two lower rooms on the ground and first floors,
remarked on the thickness of the walls, shown by the depth of the window
embrasures, which in older days had been put to sterner purposes; they
admired the solid strength of the ties and hammer-beams in the roofs,
and scrutinized the few articles of ancient furniture and tapestry the
rooms contained, and the massive oaken iron-bound door which admitted to
the garden.
"Now we will go up to the top room," Morriston proposed. "It is used only
for lumber, but there is quite a good view from it."
He preceded the rest of the party up the winding stairs to the
topmost door.
"Hullo!" he exclaimed, pushing at it, "the door is locked. And the key
appears to have been taken away," he added, bending down and feeling
about in the imperfect light.
The whole party was consequently held up on the narrow stairs. "I'll
go and ask what has become of the key," Morriston said, making his way
past them.
In a minute he returned, presently followed by the butler.
"How is it that this top door is locked, Stent?" he asked. "And where
is the key?"
"I don't know, sir. Alfred mentioned this morning that the door was
locked and the key taken away; we thought you must have locked it, sir."
"I? No, I've not been up here since the morning of the ball, when I had
those old things brought up from the lower room to be out of the way."
"Did you lock the door then, sir?"
"No. Why should I? I am certain I did not. Perhaps one of the men did.
Just go and inquire. And have the key looked for."
"Very good, sir."
"This is rather provoking," Morriston said, as they waited. "I
particularly wanted to show you the view, which should be lovely on a
clear day like this. If we have to wait much longer the light will be
going. Besides, it is quite a quaint old room with a curious recess
formed by the bartizan you may have noticed from outside."
Presently the butler returned accompanied by a footman with several keys.
"We can't find the right key, sir," he announced. "No one seems to
have seen it. Alfred has brought a few like it, thinking one might
possibly fit."
None of them, however, would go into the lock, not even the
smallest of them.
"I can't make it out, sir," said the man, kneeling to get more
effectively to work. But no key would enter. The footman at last took a
box of matches from his pocket, struck a light and, holding it to the
key-hole, peered in.
"Why, the key is in the lock, on the other side, sir," he said in
astonishment.
"Then the door can't be locked," Morriston said, pushing it.
The footman rose and pushed too, but the door showed no sign of yielding;
it was fastened sure enough.
"This is strange," Morriston said. "Hi! Is any one in there?" he
shouted; but no response came.
"Are you sure the key is in the door on the inside?" he asked.
"Certain, sir. Will you look for yourself, sir?" the man replied,
striking another match and holding it so that his master could
convince himself.
"No doubt about that," Morriston declared, as he rose from his scrutiny.
"It is the most extraordinary thing I have ever known. Can you account
for it, Stent?"
The butler shook his head. "No, sir. Unless someone is in there now."
Morriston again shouted, but no answer came.
"I presume there is no way out of the room but this door," Piercy asked.
"None," Morriston answered; "except the window, and that is, I should
say, quite eighty feet from the ground; eh, Mr. Gifford?"
"A sheer drop of quite that distance," he answered.
"A prohibitive mode of exit," Piercy observed with a smile.
"Yes," Morriston said. "I can't understand it at all. Besides, who would
be likely to want to play tricks here? We have had no sign of burglars,
and in any case they would hardly have been able to bring a ladder long
enough to reach up to that window. Well, we must have the mystery cleared
up. I think, Stent, you had better send one of the men on a bicycle into
Branchester to fetch a locksmith and have the door opened somehow. Have
it explained to him that it may be a tough job. In the meantime we may as
well go and view the tower from the outside, as we can't get in."
Accordingly the whole party went down into the hall and so out to the
garden, where they strolled round the house, Piercy meanwhile taking
notes of its architectural features. As they came to the tower the rays
of a late winter sun were striking it almost horizontally, lighting it up
in a picturesque glow. Piercy, with his archaeological knowledge, was
able to tell the owner and Gifford a good deal about the ancient
structure of which they had previously been ignorant.
"The sunset would have been worth seeing from that top window,"
Morriston said, evidently perplexed and annoyed over the mystery of the
locked door. "I can't make out what has happened."
"The person who locked the door assuredly did not make his exit by the
window," Kelson remarked with a laugh, as he looked up at the sheer
surface of the upper wall; "unless he was bent on suicide, in which case
we should have found what was left of him at the foot of the tower."
As they went on round the house, Miss Morriston was seen coming up the
drive. Her brother hurried forward to meet her.
"I say, Edith," he exclaimed, "we are in a great fix. Can you explain
how the door of the top room in the tower comes to be locked with the
key inside?"
Miss Morriston looked surprised. "What, Dick?"
"We can't get in," Morriston explained. "We found the door locked and the
key missing, and then when Alfred tried another key, he found the right
one was in the lock but inside the room."
Miss Morriston thought a moment. "My dear Dick, the door can't be
locked."
"It is, I tell you," he returned; "most certainly locked. We have tried
it and found it quite fast."
"Then there must be someone in the room," his sister said.
"That," Morriston replied, "seems the only possible explanation. But I
shouted several times and got no answer."
"Someone playing you a trick," and the girl laughed.
"But who? who?" he returned.
His sister gave a shrug. "Oh, you'll find out soon enough," she replied,
with a smile.
"I shall," he replied, as two men appeared making for the servants'
entrance. "Here comes Henry with the locksmith."
Miss Morriston in her stately way looked amused.
"My dear old Dick, you have been making a fuss about it. You will
probably find the door open when you go up."
"And I'll know who has been playing this stupid trick," Morriston said
wrathfully.
"A footman making love to a housemaid turned the key in a panic at being
trapped," Kelson said to his host.
"I dare say," Morriston replied with a laugh of ill-humour. "And he'll
have to pay for his impudence."
That explanation by its feasibility was generally accepted as the simple
solution of the mystery.
"Come along!" Morriston called. "We'll all go up, and see whether the
door is open or not. We shall just be in time to catch the sunset."
He led the way through the hall and the corridor beyond and so up the
winding stairs.
"What, not open yet?" he exclaimed as the last turn showed the workman
busy at the lock. "Well, this is extraordinary."
The locksmith was kneeling and working at the door, while the footman
stood over him holding a candle.
"The key is in the lock, inside, isn't it?" Morriston asked.
"Yes, sir," the man answered. "There is no doubt about that."
"How do you account for it?"
The man looked up from his task and shook his head.
"Can't account for it, sir. Unless so be as there is someone inside."
"Can you open it?"
"Yes, sir. I'll have it turned in a minute."
He took from his bag a long pair of hollow pliers which he inserted in
the lock and then screwed tightly, clutching the end of the key. Then
fitting a transverse rod to the pliers and using it as a lever he
carefully forced the key round, and so shot back the lock.
There was a short pause while the man unscrewed his instrument; then he
stepped back and pushed open the door.
Morriston went in quickly. "There is the key, sure enough," he said,
looking round at the inside of the door. He took a couple of steps
farther into the room, only to utter an exclamation of intense surprise
and horror; then turned quickly with an almost scared face.
"Go back!" he cried hoarsely, holding up his hands with an arresting
gesture. "Kelson, Mr. Gifford, come here a moment and shut the door.
Look!" he said in a breathless whisper, pointing to the floor beneath the
window through which the deep orange light of the declining sun was
streaming.
An exclamation came from Kelson as he saw the object which Morriston
indicated, and he turned with a stupefied look to Gifford. "My--!"
Gifford's teeth were set and he fell a step backward as though in
repulsion. On the floor between the window and an old oak table which had
practically hidden it from the doorway, lay the body of a man in evening
clothes, one side of his shirt-front stained a dark colour. Although the
face lay in the shadow of the high window-sill, there was no mistaking
the man's identity.
"Henshaw!" Kelson gasped.