After a moment he closed the door of the closet and turned back,
white-faced, to the others.
"What is it?" said Dale aghast. "What did you see?"
Bailey found himself unable to answer for a moment. Then he pulled
himself together. He turned to Miss Van Gorder.
"Miss Cornelia, I think we have found the ghost the Jap butler saw,"
he said slowly. "How are your nerves?"
Miss Cornelia extended a hand that did not tremble.
"Give me the candle."
He did so. She went to the closet and opened the door.
Whatever faults Miss Cornelia may have had, lack of courage was not
one of them--or the ability to withstand a stunning mental shock.
Had it been otherwise she might well have crumpled to the floor, as
if struck down by an invisible hammer, the moment the closet door
swung open before her.
Huddled on the floor of the closet was the body of a man. So
crudely had he been crammed into this hiding-place that he lay
twisted and bent. And as if to add to the horror of the moment one
arm, released from its confinement, now slipped and slid out into
the floor of the room.
Miss Cornelia's voice sounded strange to her own ears when finally
she spoke.
"But who is it?"
"It is--or was--Courtleigh Fleming," said Bailey dully.
"But how can it be? Mr. Fleming died two weeks ago. I--"
"He died in this house sometime tonight. The body is still warm."
"But who killed him? The Bat?"
"Isn't it likely that the Doctor did it? The man who has been his
accomplice all along? Who probably bought a cadaver out West and
buried it with honors here not long ago?"
He spoke without bitterness.
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