What most
interested Racksole was the flooring. He pulled up the thick
Oriental carpet, and peered along every plank, but could discover
nothing unusual.
Then he went to the dressing-room, and finally to the bathroom,
both of which opened out of the main room. But in neither of these
smaller chambers was he any more successful than in the bedroom
itself. Finally he came to the bath, which was enclosed in a
panelled casing of polished wood, after the manner of baths. Some
baths have a cupboard beneath the taps, with a door at the side, but
this one appeared to have none. He tapped the panels, but not a
single one of them gave forth that 'curious hollow sound' which
usually betokens a secret place. Idly he turned the cold-tap of the
bath, and the water began to rush in. He turned off the cold-tap and
turned on the waste-tap, and as he did so his knee, which was
pressing against the panelling, slipped forward. The panelling had
given way, and he saw that one large panel was hinged from the
inside, and caught with a hasp, also on the inside. A large space
within the casing of the end of the bath was thus revealed. Before
doing anything else, Racksole tried to repeat the trick with the
waste-tap, but he failed; it would not work again, nor could he in
any way perceive that there was any connection between the rod of
the waste-tap and the hasp of the panel. Racksole could not see
into the cavity within the casing, and the electric light was fixed,
and could not be moved about like a candle.
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