"She was asphyxiated by illuminating gas. Every symptom points to that. Of course," added the doctor cautiously, "this cannot be proved absolutely until the autopsy is held." "I think you are right; my diagnosis coincides with yours," said the coroner. "Did you discover any evidence of a struggle or marks of violence about the woman's person?" "No. Judging from what I found, and I believe nothing had been disturbed by either Colonel Thornton or Mr. Hunter, I think that the Frenchwoman was reading in bed, fell asleep, and was overcome by the gas." "How long do you think she had been dead before you reached her?" "Several hours, judging from the condition of the body. She was lying in such a position that she got the full force of the gas directly in her face; the room did not have to become filled with the deadly fumes before she was affected by them." "I noticed that," exclaimed the coroner, "the drop light stood on a low stand, so that the gas fixture was on a level with the woman's head, as the four-poster bed was an unusually high one. I have no further questions to ask just now, Doctor; an autopsy will be held this afternoon at the city morgue, where the body will be taken shortly. Brett, ask Miss Cynthia Carew to come here." Doctor Marsh stopped on his way to the door. "I have just given Miss Carew an opiate," he said quickly; "she must not be disturbed at present." The coroner's face fell. "That's too bad," he grumbled. "I particularly wanted to ask what she was doing in the hall at that hour, and what drew her attention to the closed door." "As it happens, I can answer those two questions." Marsh returned to the table. "Before I could quiet Miss Carew she repeated her experiences a dozen times. It seems that she was thirsty and went into the hall to get a glass of water, as she recollected seeing an ice pitcher and tumblers on the hall table near the stairs. She drank some water, and was returning when she noticed the door in the moonlight, dropped the glass she was carrying, and screamed." "I found a broken glass lying in the hall," supplemented Brett. "What was it about the door that caused her to scream?" asked the coroner. "The panels, which are made in the shape of a cross," explained Doctor Marsh. "It seems that Miss Carew apparently suffers from nightmare which takes the form of a door with panels of that shape. She declares it always foretells disaster. When she found such a door confronting her in the ghostly moonlight it was too much for her nerves and she screamed." "What is all this I am told about the southwest chamber being haunted?" Marsh shrugged his shoulders. "I have resided all my life in Georgetown and have always heard that a room in this house was supposed to be haunted. That particular kind of door with the panels forming a cross is called the 'witches' door,' and was put there in the days just after the Revolution. It is to ward off evil, so the legend goes."