There was a
strained silence, then, from out of the darkness appeared a tiny
stream of light directed full on a white envelope bearing a large
red seal.
The next instant the envelope was plucked from the hand holding it,
and a figure lay crumpled on the floor from the blow of a descending
weapon.
It was closely approaching one o'clock in the morning before Mrs.
Brewster stirred from her comfortable bedroom chair. Taking up her
electric torch, which she kept always by the side of her bed, she
walked quickly down the staircase and into the pitch dark library.
Directing her torch-light so that she steered a safe course among
the chairs and tables, she approached one of the pieces of carved
Venetian furniture and reached out her hand to touch a trap-door.
As she looked for the spring she was horrified to see a thin
stream of blood oozing through the carving until, reaching the
letter "B," it outlined that initial in sinister red.
Scream after scream broke from Mrs. Brewster. She was swaying upon
her feet by the time Colonel McIntyre and his daughter Helen reached
the library.
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