Without allowing himself to hesitate, he
strode back again into the flat, with a sort of unbreathed sigh, an
unuttered complaint against circumstances for not giving him an
instant's peace.
The candle was still placidly burning in the hall, but its position had
certainly been shifted by at least three feet. It was much nearer the
portiere leading to the inner hall. Hugo listened intently. Not a sound!
And he stared interrogatively at the candle as though the candle were a
guilty thing.
However, he now possessed the revolver of Hawke's man, and this gave him
confidence. He left the perambulating candle to itself, and proceeded to
the inner hall by the light of his own electric lamp. The door of the
principal bedroom, which he had originally meant to invade, lay to his
right; the entrance to the drawing-room lay to his left. He thought he
would take another look at the drawing-room, and then he thought:
'No; I'll tackle the bedroom.'
And he seized the handle of the bedroom door. At the first trial it
would not turn, but in a moment it turned a little, and then turned back
against his pressure.
'Someone's got hold of it inside!' he said to himself.
He put the lamp on a chair, and took the revolver from his pocket in
readiness for any complications that might follow his forcing of the
door.
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