“If music be the food of detection,” agreed Gordon, “play on. Give us excess of it, that surfeiting the mysterious gentleman behind the panelling may sicken, and so die. Well, he can’t have come through that hole, can he?” “No,” said Carmichael, “but there’s certain to be another catch just inside which will open the secret door. You see, that hole is obviously for a man to put his arm through. And as the arm-hole opens from this side, the catch of the door will clearly open from the other. But, just personally, I don’t very much want to open that door without, considering first what we’re going to find on the other side. Is the man armed, for example? Is there likely to be another opening he can escape through? I confess to an aversion from taking any risks.” “If he came here straight from the railway,” said Reeves from the piano, “he wouldn’t be likely to have any fire-arms with him.” “But you forget,” said Gordon, “he must have an accomplice outside; somebody who brings him food—why not weapons too?” “It’s a conceivable plan,” said Carmichael, “to keep a look-out and catch this confederate of his. Because the confederate presumably uses some other entrance, and if we found that . . .” “We could wait at that end, and let Reeves go on playing the piano to him; he couldn’t stick it much longer. No, that’s all very well, but I really think we ought to do something at once, before this man sees that there’s something up, and possibly makes a bolt for it. I know the direct method sounds silly, but I propose that we should go in and take a look round. I don’t mind going first.” “I don’t see much good in all three of us going in. What happens if our man breaks cover through the other entrance? You see, it may be a member of the club all the time; who could turn up smiling at the other end, and nobody have a right to question him.” “One moment,” said Carmichael. “Now we come to think of it, we do know where the other end of the passage was. We know that the old chapel was the present billiard-room. Why not lock this door, and go down to have a look at the billiard-room? You and Gordon can have a game, or pretend to, while I take a look round the walls.” This adjustment was agreed upon, and they found the billiard-room unoccupied. It seemed, however, to show signs of recent habitation, for the dust-cloth had been taken off the table, the balls were out, and a cue laid across one corner as if to indicate that they were not to be disturbed. But this was voted accidental: the red was on spot, and the plain ball spotted in balk; spot was in balk, obviously as the result of a deliberate miss. And a glance at the score-board showed that spot had not scored, while plain had scored one from spot’s miss. In fact, it appeared that two people had started a game, and interrupted it after the first stroke, a miss in balk.