The window was uncurtained and the room was in darkness. I got my fingers under the window-frame and pushed it up. It opened noiselessly and I peered into the room. The light from the moon was sufficient for me to see the room was empty. It was a hard, bare masculine room with a polished wood floor, a couple of small rugs in an Indian design, two straight chairs, a bureau in dark-grained wood with a man’s toilet set and black candles in foot-high brass candlesticks.
The bed was narrow and looked hard and had a dark-green cover. The room felt cold.
I across the windowsill and walked to the door. I opened it a few inches and listened. No sound came to me. Then I shut the door, took a small wooden wedge from my pocket and forced it into the chink between the door and the floor. I wasn’t taking chances of anyone coming in and catching me off-guard.
I went immediately to the bureau and began going through the drawers. The last drawer gave me what I wanted. In a corner, under a pile of silk shirts, I found a packet of photographs. I took them to the window and in the light of the moon I saw they were the photographs of the missing girls. I felt blood hammering against my temples as I looked down at the calm, attractive face of Marian French.
I shoved the photographs into my pocket and turned back to the bureau. As I did so I paused, feeling the hair on the back of my neck stiffening.
The moonlight was now shining directly on the white painted door and I distinctly saw the handle slowly turn. Then the door moved, but immediately stopped as the wedge held it.
That was enough for me. Silently I stepped to the window, swung my leg over the sill and got on to the roof. I waved once to Reg, who waved back, and then I half slid, half slithered to the gutter. My legs went over the edge of the roof and hung in space while I got a grip on the gutter. I hung for a moment, my heart pounding and fear catching at my belly. Then I dropped silently into the garden, staggered, recovered my balance and stood up. A moment later I had wedged my feet into my shoes and, not pausing to tie the laces, I turned to run down the garden path.
Without warning a sudden swishing sound made me duck. I felt something hit against my shoulder. I had one horrified glimpse of a noosed cord falling to the ground and then I spun on my heel and ran.
I blundered across the garden, fell over the fence and landed almost at Reg’s feet.
“Come on!” I panted. “Let’s get the hell out of here!”
Audrey had started the engine and I scrambled into the seat beside her. Reg tumbled in behind us.
“Scram!” I said to Audrey. “They’ve spotted us.”
Nothing was said for the next few minutes. Audrey drove fast, concentrating on the road, while I sat limply beside her, trying to get over my fright.
“Okay,” I said at last. “Pull up here. We’re far enough away now.”
She slowed down and stopped under a street light. “You seemed in a hurry to leave,” she said, looking at me intently. “Why, good gracious, the poor man looks actually scared.”
I drew a deep breath. “Scared?” I said. “That’s an understatement. I nearly had a heart attack.”
Reg leaned forward and breathed heavily down my neck. “Dicks don’t get scared,” he said dryly. “Not New York dicks.”
“Shut up, you two,” I snapped. “This is serious. Someone was waiting for me in the garden and damn near strangled me.”
“You were dreaming,” Reg said with a snigger. “Why don’t you admit the shadows scared you and you ran away.”
“Don’t rib him, Reg,” Audrey said softly. “I believe he has had a fright.”
I took the photographs out of my pocket and dropped them in Audrey’s lap. “Take a look at this little lot,” I said grimly. “Maybe they’ll hold you two dopes for a moment.”
“Where did you get them?” Audrey asked as soon as she saw what they were.
“They were hidden under a pile of shirts in Ted’s bureau,” I said grimly. “This is the first real evidence I’ve got. They’re all there, even Marian. He’ll have to be smart to talk himself out of this.”
“You weren’t kidding about being strangled?” Audrey asked, looking at me with wide, anxious eyes.
“You bet I wasn’t,” I said, fumbling for a cigarette and offering her one. “Someone tried to lasso me. If I hadn’t ducked they’d have had me around the neck. It was quite a circus trick.” I turned to Reg. “Do you know if rope-spinning’s one of Ted’s accomplishments?”
He shook his head. “That’s a new one oh me,” he said, looking blank.
“Well, that’s the way these girls were killed,” I went on. “I’m glad it happened to me. We now know what to watch out for.”
“You didn’t see anyone, I suppose?” Audrey asked.
I shook my head. “Did Ted say where he was going tonight? If he’s the killer, then it was he who was waiting for me with the rope.”
“He told me he was spending the evening at the Ciro Club. Shall we check up?”
“You bet we’ll checkup,” I returned. “Let’s get to a drugstore where we can phone and then we’ll go on to the cemetery. You know, I’ve a feeling this case is coming to an end.”
“You really think Ted’s the killer?” Audrey asked, engaging gears and driving slowly down the dimly lit street.
“It looks like it. The photographs should be enough evidence to fry him if the case is handled right. Then this attempt to knock me off points to him again. If we can find the bodies, we ought to have a cast-iron case against him.”
A few minutes’ driving brought us to a drugstore. I told Reg to call the Ciro Club and find out if Ted was there.
While we waited in the car, I said to Audrey: “When this business is over, have you thought what you’re going to do?”
She looked away. “Not really,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll be a detective anymore. I don’t seem to be good at it.”
I put my hand over hers. “With me,” I said, “you could be very good. Why don’t you and me become partners?”
“I might consider it,” she said cautiously. “But you’re awfully domineering.”
“Not if I were your husband,” I said airily. “You’d be surprised how nice I could be. Didn’t you know I am one of the world’s great lovers?”
“I had an idea you thought you were,” she said, with a little giggle. “Although you’re the only one who does think so.”
I put my arm around her and pulled her to me. “Come on, honey,” I said. “You know you can’t get on without me — say yes.”
Reg stuck his head through the window. “For God’s sake!” he exploded. “Can’t you two keep your minds on business? The moment I leave you, you start canoodling.”
“One of these days someone’s going to take a dislike to you,” I said fiercely, hastily taking my arm away. “I didn’t think you’d be so quick.”
He opened the car door and scrambled in. “I made a rush job of it,” he said with a leer. “Why should you be the only one to have fun and games?”
“Well, come on, you lug,” I said. “Is he still there?”
“No, and what’s more, he hasn’t been there all evening. What do you make of that?”
Audrey and I exchanged glances.
“Okay,” I said. “It looks like we’re on the right track. Let’s go — Cranville cemetery first stop.”
We came upon the burial-ground as a distant clock struck twelve. Overhead, torn, black clouds obscured the moon and distant thunder rumbled ominously.
“We only want Bella Lugosi with us and it’d be a picnic,” Reg said, his teeth beginning to chatter.
“Shut up,” I said, peering out of the car window. “That’s no way to talk so near the dead. Where’s your respect?”