Page:Richard Marsh--The goddess a demon.djvu/121

Rh His recognition surprised me, even at such a moment. "Do you know her?"

"I believe I have that pleasure." His words sounded like a sneer, they were so bitterly uttered. "But what's the meaning of it all? I spoke to her, but she passed without a sign of recognition. What's the matter with her? She looks ill; Where's she going?"

"She's going to Lawrence's room."

"Ferguson!" The increased pressure of his grasp showed that his strength was greater than I imagined. "What's she—going there for?"

"My business is to stop her going at all, not to stand here answering idiotic questions."

I broke from him. The delay, brief though it had been, was sufficient to baffle my intentions. Miss Moore had arrived at No. 64. A policeman was standing without, seemingly acting as guardian of the portal.

"Is this the room in which Mr. Edwin Lawrence was killed?"

Although I was still at some distance from her, I could hear her ask the question with the direct simplicity of a little child. The officer stared at her as if he could not make her out.

"Yes, miss. But you can't go in; my