Page:Burton Stevenson--The marathon mystery.djvu/145

Rh I brimmed a glass for him, and he set it down empty, with a sigh of satisfaction.

“That’s better. Do you know, I thought for a time, toward the last, that I was going to collapse. One little crack is scarcely ventilation enough for an active pair of lungs. However, I was repaid.”

“You were?”

“Yes,” and he smiled at my impatience. “I’ll tell you the story, and see what you make of it. First came the chambermaid, who performed her duties with neatness and despatch. Then a dreary half-hour passed. I had about come to the conclusion that I might have spared my pains, when I caught the sound of a key in the lock of the outer door. I heard the door open and close, and an instant later our friend Tremaine appeared within my range of vision.”

“Tremaine!” I exclaimed. “Then he had Thompson’s key!”

“So it seems. Stole it most probably.”

“But why?”

“Ah, if we knew that, we should know everything. I’m glad you didn’t have the lock changed.”

“So am I—it’s added another link to the chain.”

“Yes,” agreed Godfrey, “and a strong one. But my story’s only begun. Tremaine took a look through the rooms to assure himself that there was no one here. He tried the closet door, but didn’t seem surprised or suspicious when he found it locked. Then he went back to the outer room, dropped on his hands and knees and began to search.”

“For the diamond.”

“So I thought, at first. I couldn’t see him for a little