The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Part 34 (1/2)
”There were none I believe that it was an excuse to estive Now, on the other side of this narroing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open There are s in it, of course?”
”Yes, but very sh”
”As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were unapproachable froo into your room and bar your shutters?”
Miss Stoner did so, and Holh the open , endeavoured in every way to force the shutter open, but without success There was no slit through which a knife could be passed to raise the bar Then with his lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built fir his chin in some perplexity, ”my theory certainly presents some difficulties No one could pass these shutters if they were bolted Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon the matter”
A small side door led into the ashed corridor from which the three bedrooms opened Holmes refused to examine the third chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her fate It was a ho fireplace, after the fashi+on of old country-houses A brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrohite-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the left-hand side of theThese articles, with two small wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre The boards round and the panelling of the walls were of broorm-eaten oak, so old and discoloured that itof the house Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, taking in every detail of the apartment
”Where does that bell co to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the tassel actually lying upon the pillow
”It goes to the housekeeper's roos?”
”Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago”
”Your sister asked for it, I suppose?”
”No, I never heard of her using it We used always to get anted for ourselves”
”Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there
You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to this floor” He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, exa minutely the cracks between the boards Then he did the same with the ith which the chamber was panelled Finally he walked over to the bed and spent so his eye up and down the wall Finally he took the bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug
”Why, it's a du?”
”No, it is not even attached to a wire This is very interesting
You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where the little opening for the ventilator is”
”How very absurd! I never noticed that before”
”Very strange!”at the rope ”There are one or two very singular points about this room For example, what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another rooht have communicated with the outside air!”
”That is also quite modern,” said the lady
”Done about the same time as the bell-rope?” rees carried out about that ti character--dummy bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate With your permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into the inner aparter than that of his step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished A camp-bed, a small wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an arainst the wall, a round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things which met the eye Holmes walked slowly round and examined each and all of them with the keenest interest
”What's in here?” he asked, tapping the safe
”My stepfather's business papers”