The Lock and Key Library: The most interesting stories of all nations: American
General
The Lock and Key Library: The most interesting stories of all nations: American
Detective and mystery stories; Short stories, American
Several circumstances occurred immediately after this fit of Wyatt
which contributed to heighten the curiosity with which I was
already possessed. Among other things, this: I had been nervous—
drank too much strong green tea, and slept ill at night—in fact,
for two nights I could not be properly said to sleep at all. Now,
my state-room opened into the main cabin, or dining-room, as did
those of all the single men on board. Wyatt’s three rooms were in
the after-cabin, which was separated from the main one by a slight
sliding door, never locked even at night. As we were almost
constantly on a wind, and the breeze was not a little stiff, the
ship heeled to leeward very considerably; and whenever her
starboard side was to leeward, the sliding door between the cabins
slid open, and so remained, nobody taking the trouble to get up and
shut it. But my berth was in such a position, that when my own
state-room door was open, as well as the sliding door in question
(and my own door was ALWAYS open on account of the heat,) I could
see into the after-cabin quite distinctly, and just at that portion
of it, too, where were situated the state-rooms of Mr. Wyatt.
Well, during two nights (NOT consecutive) while I lay awake, I
clearly saw Mrs. W., about eleven o’clock upon each night, steal
cautiously from the state-room of Mr. W., and enter the extra room,
where she remained until daybreak, when she was called by her
husband and went back. That they were virtually separated was
clear. They had separate apartments—no doubt in contemplation of
a more permanent divorce; and here, after all I thought was the
mystery of the extra stateroom.
There was another circumstance, too, which interested me much.
During the two wakeful nights in question, and immediately after
the disappearance of Mrs. Wyatt into the extra stateroom, I was
attracted by certain singular cautious, subdued noises in that of
her husband. After listening to them for some time, with
thoughtful attention, I at length succeeded perfectly in
translating their import. They were sounds occasioned by the
artist in prying open the oblong box, by means of a chisel and
mallet—the latter being apparently muffled, or deadened, by some
soft woollen or cotton substance in which its head was enveloped.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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