Durham feel inclined to shudder. However, the impulse was only a
passing one.

He measured the distance with his eye. The little table stood
beside a deep divan, and he saw that with care it would be
possible to drop upon this divan without making much noise. He
calculated its exact position before replacing the torch in his
pocket, and then, resting back against one side of the frame, he
clutched the other with his hands. He wriggled gradually down
until further purchase became impossible. He then let himself
drop, and swung for a moment by his hands before releasing his
hold.

He fell, as he had calculated, upon the divan. It creaked
ominously. Catching his foot in the cushions, he stumbled and
lay forward for a moment upon his face, listening intently.

The room was very hot but nothing stirred.




VII

THE SCUFFLING SOUND



Detective Durham, as he lay there inhaling the peculiar perfume
of the place, recognized that he had put himself outside the pale