Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1900-03-31

QueSted to have sent to me at the hotel
had chosen for my headquarters in
Great NARROW.
Eight O'Clock struck, however, and
was reluctantly obliged to give up all
idea of receiving any news from Amer
lea for the night Five miuutes later,
as l restiessly paced the room. the
wished-for knock sounded, but there
was no cablegram to be presented on a
tray. A young, fresh-faced man in
plain clothing stood there, who knew
before he spoke must be the expected
detective.
Il think, sir" said the young man Of
the cheerful countenance, shat we've
been on false scent to-day"
1 got him to sit down and launched
him upon the full tide of narrative.
"Afr Wildred was away when we
firsT arrived at the house by the lock,
SIR" he went on, "but we should have
made use Of our search warrant with
out waiting for his return had not the
passage and the octagonal room you
described, as well as the tower, been
shut off from all communication with the
older part of the house by a heavy iron
door, Of which Mr.. Wildred Invariably
carries the key. This his butler ex-
planned by saying that the door had
been placed there on account of his
masters chemical experiments, which
were sometimes of a slightly danger
Gus character, unless great precautions
were used, and in case OF an explosion
or other accident the safety OF the liv-
ing rooms might be assured by means
of the iron door. The ONLY way of
opening 1t would have been to employ
dynamite, the lock being impregnable;
and as the grounds for suspicion
against Mr.. Wildred were not vet
strong enough to resort to such violent
means, there was nothing to do but
wait He was wired for to London at
once"
Naturally he would prefer being on
the spot" 1 said, with something like
sneer. "All the same, am very sure
that there is another means OF comuni-
eating with the octagonal room and
the tower besides the main door
through the passage" And mentioned
the mysterious disappearance of the
servant, which had on Christmas day
led me to believe in the existence of a
secret way OF exit.
1--WE did look about for something
OF the sort, and even went down the
cellar" said the detective, "but saw
not the slightest sign TO suggest a
secret door,"
well, go on, then, to Mr.. wildred's
return" I exclaimed impatiently. 81
nm anxious to learn why IL has been
decided that i put you on the wrong
track"
When he came home he admitted
very frankly that he had been annoyed
at the bother occasioned by our tele-
gram, but appeared by that time to
have recovered from his vexation and
to be inclined to laugh the matter off.
de let us know in n moment that he
guessed how the information had come
but we said nothing, of course. to con-
hrm his suggestions.
I'm the first place he opened the iron
door, explaining its workings as
though he took some pride In its mech
anism, which he said he had invented
himself. Then he showed us into the
octagonal room, which he had fitted M
AS studio and smoking room com
bined. The little door you had seen
behind the drapery merely led into a
cupboard containing boots, an artists
model-a jointed figure OF woodland
other odds and ends. 1t was concealed
only because it was not an object of
beauty Mr.. Wildred said.
1--WE then proceeded to the tower
where the chemical experiments are
made. There is a small room. reached
by mounting a skeleton stairway of
sron, and there we were shown Mr.
Wildreds apparatus. know some
thing OF chemistry myself, having had
a fad that way when was boy, and
l could see that everything was
straight and above board
"A big fireplace In the room accounts
the sparks you saw when you ap-
preached the house that day and Mr..
"Idred voluntarily mentioned that
here had been something wrong with
he hues, SO that his experiments could
Tot be conducted properly, aud he had
sent for an expert to come down from
London to look at everything. The man
had been expected on Christmast eve,
then on Christmas day, as Mr.. Wildred
considered the matter urgent, and fin
ally arrived the day after. Mr.. VIII
ared gave us his address without wait
ing TO be asked to do so. That ac-
counted for one more point In our story
sir-the man who was so anxiously
looked for, the man the butler seemed
at first to take you to be.
I'VE then said we had been informed
that screams or groans had been heard
issuing from his house on Christmas
day. Mr.. Wildred laughed, remarking
that judging from what he knew of
our informant, he had been waiting for
us to come to that
And he repeated the explanation
which had been given you, asking us
also If we would care to see the scar
(Which was not yet quite healed) made
by the methylated spirit on the cooks
foot or ankle.
1--WE thought it best to do as he sug-
gested--indeed, If we had lot, we
should have proposed the same course
ourselves, for the sake of making as
surance doubly sure. The cook was
sent for; very handsome young wo-
man, sir, bright and ready with her
answers. She described the accident
and whipping OF her shoe and stocking
from the right foot, showed us a red
mark which spread from the ankle
down over the whole instep.D prsiu
so the cook was a handsome young
woman, was she?" l asked suspicious
ly, remembering the face which had
peered at me through the narrow win
dow by the door. Had she great
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