It was a simple and practicable plan--a watch kept for the rest of the night on the stairs and certain points of exit. In the face of positive orders two people had come from the upper floor the night before, Miss Tracy on an errand that Rawson thought suspicious, Mrs. Stokes, in Williams’ opinion, to communicate with her husband. Even if both men were wrong some powerful incentive was making them take such risks and it was natural to suppose that incentive might be strengthened after twenty-four hours of strain and uncertainty. They might try it again, and to catch them at it, surprise them in the act--if they didn’t break down on the spot--a little grilling would do the job. As for the boy--if he was still in the top story as Rawson thought, he’d certainly not stay there after they’d been searching the place for him. He’d know they were on his trail, that his only hope was getting away and the night was dark enough to tempt him. If he was outside he’d discover his escape was cut off and what would he want then--food? He’d see himself faced by starvation and the place he’d make for would be the kitchen. Rawson looked at his assistant with an approving eye. The idea was good, excellent, and without waste of time they arranged the distribution of the watch. Williams would take the front stairs, his particular prey was there and he had already located the position of the electric-light button. Rawson would station himself in the kitchen with its two doors one to the outside, one to the hall. As Williams had pointed out it was the place to which Joe, escape blocked, would inevitably turn. The living-room they would assign to Shine, less important than either of the other ambushes, but commanding the entrance to the side wing and the path to the causeway and dock. Any one descending the back stairs to make an exit from the house would either turn to the kitchen or go through the living-room, and whichever way they took, would run into a trap. The men were satisfied, each one was detailed to the spot where he might expect to apprehend the object of his suspicion. The living-room, central and exposed, might safely be left to Shine.