Somebody not far away had struck a match. Looking cautiously out into
the passage, he saw, to his utter amazement, a gleam of light appear
beneath the door in which the dead man lay. The next moment the gleam
moved up the line of the door sideways, cutting into the darkness
outside like a knife. The gleam became broader until the whole door was
revealed. Somebody inside was opening it. Even as he looked a hand stole
forth from the aperture through which the light streamed, and rested on
the jamb outside.

Colwyn was a man of strong nerves, but that sudden manifestation of
light and a human hand from a sealed death chamber momentarily
unbalanced his common sense, and caused it to swing like a pendulum
towards the supernatural. He would not have been surprised if the light
and the hand had been followed by the apparition of the murdered man on
the threshold, demanding vengeance on his murderer. The feeling passed
immediately, and with the return of reason the detective stepped back
into his room, closed his door quietly, and watched through a knife's
edge slit for the visitor to the death chamber to appear.

The door of the dead man's room opened gently, and the face of the
innkeeper's daughter peered forth into the darkness, her impassive face,
behind which everything was hid, showing like a beautiful waxen mask
against the light of the candle she held in her hand. Her clear gaze
rested on Colwyn's door, and it seemed to him for a moment as though
their glances met through the slit, then her eyes swept along the
passage from one end to the other. As if satisfied by the scrutiny that
she had nothing to fear, she stepped forth from the death chamber,
closed and locked the door behind her, withdrew the key, walked swiftly
along the passage to the head of the stairs, and descended them.

Colwyn opened his door and followed her. He paused outside to pick up
the boots which he had placed there to be cleaned, and carrying them in
his hand, ran quickly to the head of the stairs. Looking over the
landing, he saw the girl reach the bottom of the stairs and turn down
the passage towards the back door, still carrying the lighted candle in
her hand.

When Colwyn reached the bottom, the girl and the light had disappeared.
But a swift gust of wind in the passage revealed to him that she had
gone out by the back door, and closed it after her. He followed along
the passage till he felt the latch of the back door in his hand. The
doo