Page:Arthur Stringer--The House of Intrigue.djvu/255

Rh those movements? And what part in that tangled drama of intrigue could the calm-eyed Alicia Ledwidge be playing?

These were questions which I found it impossible to answer. My head was in too much of a whirl even to thresh over them, one by one, until some grain of truth was shaken from all that meaningless chaff. Then, more to regain a grip on myself, and get the thought of all such specters out of my mind, I crossed to the door and started to look about for the bit of metal which I remembered had fallen there, or had seemed to fall there.

I found it lying on the highly waxed parquet-flooring, close beside one of the rugs. It was a key, small but strong, and of odd shape, and it was of polished nickel, as bright as the metal circles about my wrist.

That common brightness, in fact, gave me an idea. I held the key in my teeth, raised my hands and twisted them about. The key, I found, fitted the hand-cuffs. And with one turn of it I had them unlocked, and my hands were once more free.

The next moment I ran to the door. It was still unlocked, though the key remained in its place. But what caught my attention was a bundle of clothing which lay on the floor, close to the door.