Page:The Mystery of Madeline Le Blanc (1900).djvu/77

Rh nothing found, they turned toward the cellar. The door was easily opened, and three descended; but the door at the bottom of the stairs, which was the last between them and the cellar, was made of iron and baffled every key. Thrice the officer operating with the keys made some noise; and they decided that the door must be broken open. From within there came no sound except the echo of their pounding. The officer who had been stationed outside and the one at the head of the stairs now also descended. Presently the door sprang open, and in an instant all were within. But besides them no one was there.

The room was as already described; except that on the couch, which still stood in the center of the floor, were a few stains of blood. The two narrow arches at once attracted the officers. Two entered one, and two the other, while one remained within the square room. Nothing was found in either, except in the front arched chamber lay a small heap of light ashes, from the edge of which protruded a piece of white satin, unburned, One of the officers was working at the cross bar which