Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 253 by Maxwel l Grant

Author:Maxwel,l Grant
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf

CHAPTER XII

STRANGE VERDICTS

IN the morning, Harry Vincent wrote out a detailed report of all that had happened the night before. Too long a report to send by carrier pigeon, so he decided to condense it. He had not been able to contact The Shadow during the night, though he'd been sure his chief was still around.

Everybody had stayed in the living room all night. Clabb had returned there, and even Sabbatha and Varney had favored the group with their company, at intervals, while Throck, patrolling the house, had reported in every half hour. So Harry had to stay with the group - or else excite their suspicion.

Harry's work on the condensation was interrupted by the arrival of the coroner. It was Throck who summoned Harry, and when he left the room, Harry closed the closet door to make sure that Roderick, the cat, wouldn't find the carrier pigeon.

In the hallway, Harry passed Varney, who gave him a cryptic smile and said

that he would join him soon.

The coroner was a big-browed man, who listened seriously to Clabb's opinion on Frenton's death. When Harry supplied the vampire story, the coroner just grunted. He asked for the key to the connecting room and Throck went to find Varney, who finally appeared with the big ring of keys. The unlocking of the connecting door produced a surprise for Harry.

The door didn't lead to the front room. It opened into a small closet. On the other side of the closet was another door which did connect with the front room. Varney unlocked it and went through, the others following him.

Thus was the riddle partially solved - the question of how smoky fog had appeared in Frenton's room without coming from a visible source. Harry had looked into the front room, mistaking its closet door for the one that opened into Frenton's.

The vapor had issued from the closet; that was all. It had oozed into Frenton's room because there was a wide crack under that particular door, whereas the one to the front room was backed by an innocent-looking stretch of weather-stripping.

All this had the elements of a set-up, but there was no sign as to what had caused the smoke. The closet was quite empty; its floor boards, old and

with cracks between them, had no marks to indicate the attachment of a special fixture. But the smoke could have come from the closet, so Harry felt he still was sane.

So far, Harry hadn't emphasized the story too strongly. He'd just said that he and Frenton had noticed a mist coming under the door and that he'd gone

to the front room to investigate. On his return, he'd seen someone in a tattered

shroud, stooped beside Frenton's body. Someone who had fled the room, carrying the fog with him.

Naturally, Harry couldn't be too specific, since he didn't want to involve

The Shadow, who had been mistaken for the vampire later. He let Throck proceed with testimony, and in giving it, the servant practically omitted reference to the whitish fog. He'd noticed some vapor, yes, but Frenton thought it was nothing more than tobacco smoke.

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