"
"Perfectly true," nodded Miss Cornelia. "And then?"
"Old Fleming killed Dick and Wells killed Fleming," said Bailey
succinctly. "You can't get away from it!"
But Miss Cornelia still shook her head. The explanation was too
mechanical. It laid too little emphasis on the characters of those
most concerned.
"No," she said. "No. The Doctor isn't a murderer. He's as
puzzled as we are about some things. He and Courtleigh Fleming
were working together--but remember this--Doctor Wells was locked
in the living-room with us. He'd been trying to get up the stairs
all evening and failed every time."
But Bailey was as convinced of the truth of his theory as she of
hers.
"He was here ten minutes ago--locked in this room," he said with
a glance at the ladder up which the doctor had ascended.
"I'll grant you that," said Miss Cornelia. "But--" She thought
back swiftly. "But at the same time an Unknown Masked Man was
locked in that mantel-room with Dale. The Doctor put out the
candle when you opened that Hidden Room. Why? Because he thought
Courtleigh Fleming was hiding there!" Now the missing pieces of
her puzzle were falling into their places with a vengeance. "But
at this moment," she continued, "the Doctor believes that Fleming
has made his escape! No--we haven't solved the mystery yet. There's
another element--an unknown element," her eyes rested for a moment
upon the Unknown, "and that element is--the Bat!"
She paused, impressively.
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