Farnsworth was waiting for him in the court in the rear of the Tremont Building.
“If Starr’d got away with his Brodie he’d been mashed to a pulp on this concrete,” observed Darwin, looking from the pavement up to the windows in Thompson’s office.
The planking that roofed the exit to the tunnel extended partially over an areaway. Down into the areaway went a flight of wide steps which ended at the basement door.
“Two entrances to that cellar ’steada one,” said Darwin. “You’re right, inspector. That body could ’a’ been brought in without Starr seein’ it.”
“We’ll go back now,” replied Farnsworth.
Darwin preceded him into the stone chamber, unlocked the door and held it open while Farnsworth passed through.
“Plenty of oil on them hinges,” he mused, allowing it to swing shut.
“Lock it,” ordered Farnsworth, looking at his watch.
“What time is it?” asked Darwin.
“Four minutes after six.”
“We’d better hurry. The day superintendent oughta be showin’ up and we’d oughta get to him first dash outta the box.”
Within a minute they were very near the archway.
Suddenly Darwin stopped with such abruptness that Farnsworth collided with him, the jar causing him to drop the flash light. The darkness was complete.
Instantly Farnsworth and Darwin flattened against the rough, damp wall, stood immobile.
After a few seconds of silent waiting, Farnsworth began to crouch. Inch by inch, he noiselessly sank toward the floor until at last he was able to touch the stone. Still without a sound he fumbled until his fingers closed over the light. Just as noiselessly, he straightened.
“I’m all set,” Darwin breathed in his ear.
Holding the flash at arm’s length Farnsworth pressed the button. It sent out a ray of light. It had not been broken by the fall.
“Not a damn thing,” muttered Darwin, his voice unnatural. “I’ve been workin’ too hard. My nerves’ve blowed up. Didn’t know I had any nerves.”
“What did you think you saw?” asked Farnsworth quietly.
“Somethin’ just ahead of your light — a dim outline. It come up all of a sudden; startled me a little, and I stopped and you bumped inta me.”
“What was it?”
“I don’t know. It wasn’t real, just a kind of shape, a blob.”
“Was it gray?”
“My God, you seen it, too!”
Quickly they walked to the door through which they had entered.
“No tracks on the stairs,” observed Darwin.
Farnsworth did not even glance at the steps, he was inspecting the door.
“What next?” asked Darwin.
Farnsworth started up the narrow iron stairway.
At the first landing he stopped and his flash played on a metal door. It had neither knob nor lock. Darwin placed his powerful shoulder against the door and gave a mighty heave, but it did not budge.
“No use,” said Farnsworth. “That door can be opened only from the other side.”
“What’s the big idea?”
“Don’t you know what you’re in?”
“It looks like some kinda secret passage.”
“The Tremont Building once was a hotel.”
“What’s that gotta do with it?”
“This is a fire tower.”
“I get you. Hadn’t run into one before. It’s nothin’ but an inside fire escape.”
“Right.”
“Then all these doors is alike — open only from the other side.”
They stopped at each landing, while Farnsworth made a careful inspection of each door. His flash light was growing dimmer and dimmer, the battery rapidly nearing the end of its usefulness. At the sixth floor, he turned the dull beam on the door. At first glance, it looked the same as the others, especially in the dim light, but closer inspection showed that a small knob had been affixed to it.
Farnsworth placed his hand on the knob.
“Let me try it,” said Darwin.
He grasped the knob and jerked.
The door opened with such suddenness that he was flung back against the wall, the jar causing tin pails to rattle and various objects to fall.
“The storeroom!” he exclaimed, peering into the darkness. “Wait, I’ll turn on the light and you can save your battery.”
Stepping into the storeroom, he groped about until a snap was followed by the faint illumination of a dirty, old-fashioned carbon lamp.
“Damn funny I missed this door when I looked in here,” declared Darwin.
“You could easily have overlooked it,” said Farnsworth.
Darwin went closer to the door. It had no frame and the hinges were flush. The knob on the inside of the storeroom had been removed and the hole plugged skillfully. Gray paint had been applied so heavily the whole resembled solid wall.
“Good job o’ camouflagin’,” said Darwin.
“There are fire escapes on the outside of the building,” replied Farnsworth. “This tower was evidently sealed up when they were installed.”
“Then nobody knowed about this old fire tower.”
Farnsworth played his light, which was all but out, on the door.
“Somebody must have,” he remarked.
“Because the stairs is clean?”
“Something else, too. Look here.”
Darwin stared at the lock.
A thin bit of copper that might have been a contact for a light switch held the spring catch on the door back.
“An inside job,” declared Darwin. “That hooks up Starr with this murder.”
“You think he brought that girl’s body up through the fire tower?”
“No. That’d be a sucker trick. He coulda run it up on the elevator or carried it up the stairway. Either’d been easier. Wouldn’t took so long neither. Nobody’s goin’ to waste any time when he’s gettin’ ridda a body.”
“Then how does this unsecured fire tower door link Starr with the murder?”
“I told you before Starr had guilty knowledge. Bein’ superintendent, he knew ’bout the fire tower. He fixed this door so some one else could bring up the body without him seein’ it.”
Farnsworth peered from inside the closet to the fire tower landing. He stepped out, stooped, and felt in a dark corner.
“I thought I saw something here when we came up,” he remarked, and rose and backed into the storeroom.
“Whatta you got?” asked Darwin.
“If I’m not mistaken, it’s Starr’s book.’”
“Can’t read in this light. We’d better go out into the hall.”
“We’ll go back to Thompson’s office.”
“Good idea. Headquarters might be tryin’ to get us.”
As they neared Thompson’s office, they heard a telephone ringing.
“Bet that’s headquarters right now,” said Darwin, speeding his steps. “I got the key.”
He unlocked the door and stepped inside.
“You answer,” said Farnsworth.
Darwin lifted the receiver. Farnsworth, busy inspecting his find, gave no heed until Darwin hung up the receiver.
“Nothin’ new except Molly Davis ain’t at headquarters now,” Darwin reported.
“Where is she?”
“She died in General Hospital at—”
He stopped abruptly, a strange expression on his face.
“Go on,” ordered Farnsworth.
“It’s a good thing I don’t believe in ghosts.”
“Don’t be a damned fool. What time did she die?”
“It was four minutes after six when you looked at your watch down there in that tunnel. A minute later, we seen somethin’—”
“You thought you saw something.”
“You seen it too — you musta seen it ’cause you asked me if it was gray. We seen that gray thing at five minutes after six and Molly Davis died at five minutes after six!”
“What was the cause of her death?”