,_page_header.png)
After an interval Drew and the detective came back into the hall. The former sat down, his face in his hands, and Barnes stood in the center of our group playing with a little pack of white cards in his hand.
“Well—let’s get acquainted,” he began. “How many of you were in the house when this thing happened?”
All save Parker admitted their presence.
“Was there any noise—any sound—from that room?”
“Yes,” I told him. “There was a cry—a sharp, rather terrible scream. I was in the library, waiting for—er—him. I ran into the dining-room. The table was set—the cake with fifty candles on it.”
Mark Drew raised his head. “Sergeant, in regard to those fifty candles———” he began.
“Yes,” said Barnes. “Let that pass for now. You—go on. You went into the room. You were the first to enter.”
