spicious," he said.

Morgan's face lit up with understanding. Going over to Tierney, he
whispered in his ear.

"Well, I'm damned!" Tierney mumbled.

The three men then climbed the stairs to the Atwood apartment, and
Morgan's hand was already on the push button of the electric bell
when there was an exclamation from Marsh.

"Stop!" he cried. "Look here."

They instantly saw what he meant. The wood door was standing open
about two inches, and there was sufficient light in the entrance
hall of the apartment to show that at least no one was looking out.

"Remember, I'm in the background on this," Marsh whispered to
Morgan. "You two take, the lead--but be cautious."

Morgan pulled out his revolver and Tierney followed his example.
Then Morgan gave the door a quick push and stood back. It swung back
against the wall with a resounding thud, but outside of that sound
everything remained silent. The three men then moved warily into the
doorway, with Tierney and Morgan in the lead. While Marsh remained
in the entrance hall, Tierney stepped into the living room and
Morgan crept cautiously through the portieres into the dining room.
So silently did these two men move that Marsh heard, nothing until,
a moment later, he saw Morgan step back through the portieres. The
doors of both the bedroom and the bathroom stood open and Morgan,
without saying anything to Marsh, investigated these two rooms. Then
he returned to the entrance hall and spoke to Marsh, who had already
been joined by Tierney.

"Not a soul in the flat but the girl," whispered Morgan. "She's in a
chair in the dining room, and apparently unconscious again. There's
an odor of chloroform in the dining room!"

Marsh sprang through the dining room portieres, followed by the
others. He found Jane Atwood in a rocking chair near one of the
windows. She was apparently unconscious, but there were convulsive
movements of her body. Marsh sniffed the aromatic odor and nodded.
"I don't think they gave her much," he said. "She's just barely
unconscious. I'll try to revive her while you two look things over
more carefully."

Morgan turned to Tierney. "You take another look at the front," he
directed. "Look through all the drawers and closets, but be careful
not to leave anything upset."

Tierney promptly started on his work of investigation. Morgan turned
back into the kitchen. He had previously noticed that the maid's
room was upset and he wanted to examine this room aga