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Read book online ยซThe Yellow Claw by Sax Rohmer (i like reading books TXT) ๐Ÿ“•ยป.   Author   -   Sax Rohmer



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โ€œWell?โ€

โ€œMr. Exel thereupon joined us at the door of this flat.โ€

โ€œWas it open?โ€

โ€œYes. Mr. Leroux had rushed up to me, leaving the door open behind him. The light was out, both in the lobby and in the study, a fact upon which I commented at the time. It was all the more curious as Mr. Leroux had left both lights on!โ€...

โ€œDid he say so?โ€

โ€œHe did. The circumstances surprised him to a marked degree. We came in and I turned up the light in the lobby. Then Leroux, entering the study, turned up the light there, too. I entered next, followed by Mr. Exelโ€”and we saw the body lying where you see it now.โ€

โ€œWho saw it first?โ€

โ€œMr. Leroux; he drew my attention to it, saying that he had left her lying on the chesterfield and NOT upon the floor.โ€

โ€œYou examined her?โ€

โ€œI did. She was dead, but still warm. She exhibited signs of recent illness, and of being addicted to some drug habit; probably morphine. This, beyond doubt, contributed to her death, but the direct cause was asphyxiation. She had been strangled!โ€

โ€œMy God!โ€ groaned Leroux, dropping his face into his hands.

โ€œYou found marks on her throat?โ€

โ€œThe marks were very slight. No great pressure was required in her weak condition.โ€

โ€œYou did not move the body?โ€

โ€œCertainly not; a more complete examination must be made, of course. But I extracted a piece of torn paper from her clenched right hand.โ€

Inspector Dunbar lowered his tufted brows.

โ€œI'm not glad to know you did that,โ€ he said. โ€œIt should have been left.โ€

โ€œIt was done on the spur of the moment, but without altering the position of the hand or arm. The paper lies upon the table, yonder.โ€

Inspector Dunbar took a long drink. Thus far he had made no attempt to examine the victim. Pulling out a bulging note-case from the inside pocket of his blue serge coat, he unscrewed a fountain-pen, carefully tested the nib upon his thumb nail, and made three or four brief entries. Then, stretching out one long arm, he laid the wallet and the pen beside his glass upon the top of a bookcase, without otherwise changing his position, and glancing aside at Exel, said:โ€”

โ€œNow, Mr. Exel, what help can you give us?โ€

โ€œI have little to add to Dr. Cumberly's account,โ€ answered Exel, offhandedly. โ€œThe whole thing seemed to meโ€...

โ€œWhat it seemed,โ€ interrupted Dunbar, โ€œdoes not interest Scotland Yard, Mr. Exel, and won't interest the jury.โ€

Leroux glanced up for a moment, then set his teeth hard, so that his jaw muscles stood out prominently under the pallid skin.

โ€œWhat do you want to know, then?โ€ asked Exel.

โ€œI will be wanting to know,โ€ said Dunbar, โ€œwhere you were coming from, to-night?โ€

โ€œFrom the House of Commons.โ€

โ€œYou came direct?โ€

โ€œI left Sir Brian Malpas at the corner of Victoria Street at four minutes to twelve by Big Ben, and walked straight home, actually entering here, from the street, as the clock was chiming the last stroke of midnight.โ€

โ€œThen you would have walked up the street from an easterly direction?โ€

โ€œCertainly.โ€

โ€œDid you meet any one or anything?โ€

โ€œA taxi-cab, emptyโ€”for the hood was loweredโ€”passed me as I turned the corner. There was no other vehicle in the street, and no person.โ€

โ€œYou don't know from which door the cab came?โ€

โ€œAs I turned the corner,โ€ replied Exel, โ€œI heard the man starting his engine, although when I actually saw the cab, it was in motion; but judging by the sound to which I refer, the cab had been stationary, if not at the door of Palace Mansions, certainly at that of the next blockโ€”St. Andrew's Mansions.โ€

โ€œDid you hear, or see anything else?โ€

โ€œI saw nothing whatever. But just as I approached the street door, I heard a peculiar whistle, apparently proceeding from the gardens in the center of the square. I attached no importance to it at the time.โ€

โ€œWhat kind of whistle?โ€

โ€œI have forgotten the actual notes, but the effect was very odd in some way.โ€

โ€œIn what way?โ€

โ€œAn impression of this sort is not entirely reliable, Inspector; but it struck me as Oriental.โ€

โ€œAh!โ€ said Dunbar, and reached out the long arm for his notebook.

โ€œCan I be of any further assistance?โ€ said Exel, glancing at his watch.

โ€œYou had entered the hall-way and were about to enter your own flat when the voices of Dr. Cumberly and Mr. Leroux attracted your attention?โ€

โ€œI actually had the key in my hand,โ€ replied Exel.

โ€œDid you actually have the key in the lock?โ€

โ€œLet me think,โ€ mused Exel, and he took out a bunch of keys and dangled them, reflectively, before his eyes. โ€œNo! I was fumbling for the right key when I heard the voices above me.โ€

โ€œBut were you facing your door?โ€

โ€œNo,โ€ averred Exel, perceiving the drift of the inspector's inquiries; โ€œI was facing the stairway the whole time, and although it was in darkness, there is a street lamp immediately outside on the pavement, and I can swear, positively, that no one descended; that there was no one in the hall nor on the stair, except Mr. Leroux and Dr. Cumberly.โ€

โ€œAh!โ€ said Dunbar again, and made further entries in his book. โ€œI need not trouble you further, sir. Good night!โ€

Exel, despite his earlier attitude of boredom, now ignored this official dismissal, and, tossing the stump of his cigar into the grate, lighted a cigarette, and with both hands thrust deep in his pockets, stood leaning back against the mantelpiece. The detective turned to Leroux.

โ€œHave a brandy-and-soda?โ€ suggested Dr. Cumberly, his eyes turned upon the pathetic face of the novelist.

But Leroux shook his head, wearily.

โ€œGo ahead, Inspector!โ€ he said. โ€œI am anxious to tell you all I know. God knows I am anxious to tell you.โ€

A sound was heard of a key being inserted in the lock of a door.

Four pairs of curious eyes were turned

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