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Updated: May 14, 2025
Though the latter had been aroused from his bed in the early hours of the morning, he at least had enjoyed a good night's sleep. They sat in the room in which Mrs. Rider had been murdered, and the rusty brown stains on the floor where Tarling had found her were eloquent of the tragedy.
"Are there any marks of a man beside us three?" "I was coming to that," said Ling Chu. "There is a very faint trace of a man who came early, because the wet footsteps are over his; also he left, but there is no sign of him on the gravel, only the mark of a wheel-track." "That was Milburgh," said Tarling. "If a foot has not touched the ground," explained Ling Chu, "it would leave little trace.
"Have you any idea why he should want to out you?" asked Whiteside. "None in the world," replied Tarling. "Evidently my assailant was a man who had watched my movements and had probably followed the girl and myself to the hotel in a cab.
He would have continued retailing reminiscences of his late employer, but Tarling cut him short, and with a curt good night withdrew. Milburgh accompanied him to the front gate and locked the door upon the three men before he went back to his sitting-room smiling quietly to himself. "I am certain that the man was Milburgh," said Tarling. "I am as certain as that I am standing here."
He shook his head. "No," he said briefly. "I am leaving that to somebody else. I have sickened of the case, and I'm going out of it." "He sent you here," she said slowly. "He?" "Yes I remember. You were working with him, or he wanted you to work with him." "Of whom are you speaking?" asked Tarling quickly. "Thornton Lyne," said the girl. Tarling leaped to his feet and stared down at her.
Then a hand snatched the portfolio from him and he turned to see the girl's quivering face and read the terror in her eyes. "No, no!" she cried, almost beside herself, "no, for God's sake, no!" Tarling stepped back. He saw the malicious little smile on Milburgh's face and could have struck him down. "Miss Rider does not wish me to see what is in this case," he said.
"This is remarkable," said Whiteside, and read "When the patient escaped, he had bare feet. He takes a very small size in shoes, probably four or five. A kitchen knife is missing and the patient may be armed. Boot-makers should be warned...." "Bare feet!" Tarling rose from the table with a frown on his face. "Sam Stay hated Odette Rider." The two men exchanged glances.
"Your radiator is still warm," said Tarling quietly, stooping to feel the little stove. Mr. Milburgh chuckled. "Isn't that clever of you to discover that?" he said admiringly. "The fact is, I was so sleepy when I went to bed, several hours ago, that I forgot to turn the radiator off, and it was only when I came down to answer the bell that I discovered I had left it switched on."
"A diary?" thought Tarling. "Well, and what next?" he asked. "I got up to search the room and tripped over a wire. It must have been the wire attached to the electric light above the desk, for the room suddenly became dark, and at that moment I heard the big man's footsteps returning and slipped out of the door. And that is all, master," said Ling Chu simply.
"Well," said Tarling, "what have you discovered?" and even Whiteside checked his enthusiasm to listen. "Two people came up the stairs last night," said Ling Chu, "also the master." He looked at Tarling, and the latter nodded. "Your feet are clear," he said; "also the feet of the small-piece woman; also the naked feet." "The naked feet?" said Tarling, and Ling Chu assented.
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