would never speak now….
Her cry brought the others. A very few minutes sufficed. Mrs. Vandemeyer
was dead–must have been dead some hours. She had evidently died in her sleep.
“If that isn’t the cruellest luck,” cried Julius in despair.
The lawyer was calmer, but there was a curious gleam in his eyes.
“If it is luck,” he replied.
“You don’t think–but, say, that’s plumb impossible–no one could have got
in.”
“No,” admitted the lawyer. “I don’t see how they could. And yet–she is on
the point of betraying Mr. Brown, and–she dies. Is it only chance?”
“But how—-”
“Yes, HOW! That is what we must find out.” He stood there silently,
gently stroking his chin. “We must find out,” he said quietly, and Tuppence
felt that if she was Mr. Brown she would not like the tone of those simple
words.
Julius’s glance went to the window.
“The window’s open,” he remarked. “Do you think—-”
Tuppence shook her head.
“The balcony only goes along as far as the boudoir. We were there.”
“He might have slipped out—-” suggested Julius.
But Sir James interrupted him.
“Mr. Brown’s methods are not so crude. In the meantime we must send for a
doctor, but before we do so, is there anything in this room that might be of
value to us?”
Hastily, the three searched. A charred mass in the grate indicated that
Mrs. Vandemeyer had been burning papers on the eve of her flight. Nothing of
importance remained, though they searched the other rooms as well.
“There’s that,” said Tuppence suddenly, pointing to a small, old-fashioned
safe let into the wall. “It’s for jewellery, I believe, but there might be
something else in it.”
The key was in the lock, and Julius swung open the door, and searched
inside. He was some time over the task.
“Well,” said Tuppence impatiently.
There was a pause before Julius answered, then he withdrew his head and
shut to the door.
“Nothing,” he said.
In five minutes a brisk young doctor arrived, hastily summoned. He was
deferential to Sir James, whom he recognized.
“Heart failure, or possibly an overdose of some sleeping-draught.” He
sniffed. “Rather an odour of chloral in the air.”
Tuppence remembered the glass she had upset. A new thought drove her to
the washstand. She found the little bottle from which Mrs. Vandemeyer had
poured a few drops.
It had been three parts full. Now–IT WAS EMPTY.
CHAPTER XIV
A CONSULTATION
NOTHING was more surprising and bewildering to Tuppence than the ease and
simplicity with which everything was arranged, owing to Sir James’s skilful
handling. The doctor accepted quite readily the theory that Mrs. Vandemeyer had
accidentally taken an overdose of chloral. He doubted whether an inquest would
be necessary. If so, he would let Sir James know. He understood that Mrs.
Vandemeyer was on the eve of departure for abroad, and that the servants had
already left? Sir James and his young friends had been paying a call upon her,
when she was suddenly stricken down and they had spent the night in the flat,
not liking to leave her alone. Did they know of any relatives? They did not,
but Sir James referred him to Mrs. Vandemeyer’s solicitor.
Shortly afterwards a nurse arrived to take charge, and the other left the
ill-omened building.
“And what now?” asked Julius, with a gesture of despair. “I guess we’re
down and out for good.”
Sir James stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“No,” he said quietly. “There is still the chance that Dr. Hall may be
able to tell us something.”
“Gee! I’d forgotten him.”
“The chance is slight, but it must not be neglected. I think I told you
that he is staying at the Metropole. I should suggest that we call upon him
there as soon as possible. Shall we say after a bath and breakfast?”
It was arranged that Tuppence and Julius should return to the Ritz, and
call for Sir James in the car. This programme was faithfully carried out, and a
little after eleven they drew up before the Metropole. They asked for Dr. Hall,
and a page-boy went in search of him. In a few minutes the little doctor came