The Mansion of Mystery | Page 8

cry. It
was silly, I know--but--but--"
"Did you hear anything unusual while you were here? Think carefully."
"I have tried to think it out several times. Sometimes I think I heard
some sort of a shriek, but I am not at all certain. Then, again, I think I
heard the fall of something heavy on the floor. But it may be all fancy."
"And that is all you can tell me?"
"Yes." Margaret Langmore gave a long sigh. "Oh, Mr. Adams, can you
not do something for me? It is horrible to be suspected in this fashion. I
cannot make a move without being watched!"
"It is certainly a cruel situation." The detective paused. "I am sure of
one thing, Miss Langmore."
"And that is--"
"That you are innocent. Those who think you are guilty are fools, as Mr.
Case says."
"Yet more than half the folks around here think that way."
"Let them. We'll set to work to prove their mistake."
"Good!" almost shouted Raymond Case, and his face broke out into a
look of relief. "Then you will take the case, Mr. Adams?"
"I will."
"I know you will succeed."

"If you do succeed, I shall be grateful to you all my life," came from
Margaret Langmore warmly.

CHAPTER IV
DETECTIVE AND DOCTOR
As already intimated, Adam Adams, in his career as an investigator and
detective, had solved many difficult criminal problems, yet this
somewhat remarkable individual realized that the mystery before him
was as difficult of solution as any he had yet encountered.
The most tantalizing thing about the whole affair was its simplicity.
Two people had been murdered in their own home in broad daylight.
No one had been seen around the place, and even the manner in which
the foul deed had been committed was a secret.
A score of possibilities presented themselves to his mind when he left
Margaret Langmore and Raymond Case to begin the task he had set
before himself--to clear the fair name of the beautiful girl who had
placed her faith in him and his ability.
"I'll take a look around the house first," he reasoned. "Then I'll find out
a little more about these dead folks and their connections."
Thinking that he must be some noted lawyer from New York, Mrs.
Morse was very gracious to him, and readily consented to show him
around.
"Here is the spot where Mrs. Langmore's body was found," said the
woman, leading the way to a bend in the upper hallway. "The servant
girl tripped over it in her hurry, and went sprawling. She was about
scared out of her wits."
"Naturally enough. Do you know how the body was lying?"
"At full length, they say, face downward, and with the fists clenched."

"Was that window open?"
"Yes, but not the blinds."
"Where does that door lead to?"
"Mrs. Langmore's dressing room. The door was open when they found
her--as if she had come out and was trying to get downstairs."
"Humph!" The detective pushed the blinds of the window open and
began to examine the carpet on the floor.
"We've looked around, but we couldn't see a thing," pursued the
woman.
"We? Who?"
"The coroner and the police officers."
"Oh! You say the body was lying right here?"
"Yes--the head there, and the feet there. I suppose you are going to try
to clear Miss Langmore, aren't you?" went on Mrs. Morse curiously.
"I am--if she is innocent."
"You'll have a task doing it. Everybody around here thinks her guilty."
To this Adam Adams did not reply. He was down on his hands and
knees, close to where the head of the murdered woman had rested. He
placed his nose to the carpet and drew in a long breath. His olfactory
nerves were sensitive, and detected a certain pungent, stinging odor, of
a sort not easily forgotten.
"You must be pretty short-sighted," was the woman's comment. The
sight of the man on his hands and knees amused her.
"Well, I might have a better pair of eyes, I admit."

From his examination of the carpet, the detective turned to the window.
Outside was the roof to the side piazza of the mansion. On the tin roof
were some dried-up spots of mud. He looked them over carefully, and
came to the conclusion that they were footprints, but how old was a
question.
"When did it rain last around here?" he asked.
"We haven't had a real storm for ten days or two weeks. We have had
several showers, though."
He took a glance into Mrs. Langmore's dressing room. Everything was
in perfect order, even to the powder-box and the cologne bottles on the
dresser.
"That is all I wish to see up here," he said, and passed below, where he
encountered the policeman in