The Circular Staircase - Page 50/154

The window was the same grayish rectangle in the blackness as before.

A few feet away in the hall was the spot where the body of Arnold

Armstrong had been found. I was a bit nervous, and I put my hand on

Halsey's sleeve. Suddenly, from the top of the staircase above us came

the sound of a cautious footstep. At first I was not sure, but

Halsey's attitude told me he had heard and was listening. The step,

slow, measured, infinitely cautious, was nearer now. Halsey tried to

loosen my fingers, but I was in a paralysis of fright.

The swish of a body against the curving rail, as if for guidance, was

plain enough, and now whoever it was had reached the foot of the

staircase and had caught a glimpse of our rigid silhouettes against the

billiard-room doorway. Halsey threw me off then and strode forward.

"Who is it?" he called imperiously, and took a half dozen rapid strides

toward the foot of the staircase. Then I heard him mutter something;

there was the crash of a falling body, the slam of the outer door, and,

for an instant, quiet. I screamed, I think. Then I remember turning

on the lights and finding Halsey, white with fury, trying to untangle

himself from something warm and fleecy. He had cut his forehead a

little on the lowest step of the stairs, and he was rather a ghastly

sight.

He flung the white object at me, and, jerking open the outer door,

raced into the darkness.

Gertrude had come on hearing the noise, and now we stood, staring at

each other over--of all things on earth--a white silk and wool blanket,

exquisitely fine! It was the most unghostly thing in the world, with

its lavender border and its faint scent. Gertrude was the first to

speak.

"Somebody--had it?" she asked.

"Yes. Halsey tried to stop whoever it was and fell. Gertrude, that

blanket is not mine. I have never seen before."

She held it up and looked at it: then she went to the door on to the

veranda and threw it open. Perhaps a hundred feet from the house were

two figures, that moved slowly toward us as we looked.

When they came within range of the light, I recognized Halsey, and with

him Mrs. Watson, the housekeeper.