"
This appealed to Herold very strongly; the others were agreeable;
so I ran upstairs to my room and secured a small screw-top metal
canister, which I knew to be airtight. It was necessary to remove
the stone from the ring, in order to get it into the opening in
the can. Presently this was done; and while our invisible visitor
continued his scratchy little walking as before, I screwed the top
of the can down as tightly as I could.
Instantly the footsteps halted.
I unscrewed the top a trifle. As instantly the stepping was
resumed.
"Ah!" cried Herold. "It's a question of radioactivity, then!
Remember Le Bon's experiments, Sir Henry?"
But Miss Clarke was sorely mystified by this simple matter, and
herself repeated the experiments. Equally puzzled was Mme. Le
Fabre. According to her theory, a spirit wouldn't mind a little
thing like a metal box. Of them all, Dr. Malloy was the least
disturbed; so decidedly so that General Hume eyed him quizzically.
"Fine bunch of hallucinations, doctor."
"Almost commonplace," retorted Malloy.
Presently I mentioned that the Rhamda had come from the basement
on the night that Ariadne had materialised; and I showed that the
only possible route into the cellar was through the locked door in
the breakfast room, since the windows were all too small, and
there was no other door. Query: How had the Rhamda got there?
Immediately they all became alert.
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