Rheinholdt shook her head.
"The servants might occasionally," she remarked doubtfully, "but not on
nights when I am receiving."
The butler stepped forward. He was looking a little grave.
"I ought, perhaps, to inform you, madam, and Mr. Quest," he said, "that I
did, only a short time ago, suggest to the Professor's servant--the man
who brought your mackintosh, sir," he added, turning to the
Professor--"that he could, if he chose, make use of this means of leaving
the house. Mr. Craig is a personal friend of mine, and a member of a very
select little club we have for social purposes."
"Did he follow your suggestion?" Sanford Quest asked.
"Of that I am not aware, sir," the butler replied. "I left Mr. Craig with
some refreshment, expecting that he would remain until my return, but a
few minutes later I discovered that he had left. I will enquire in the
kitchen if anything is known as to his movements."
He hurried off. Quest turned to the Professor.
"Has he been with you long, this man Craig, Professor?" he asked.
The Professor's smile was illuminating, his manner simple but convincing.
"Craig," he asserted, "is the best servant, the most honest mortal who
ever breathed. He would go any distance out of his way to avoid harming a
fly. I cannot even trust him to procure for me the simplest specimens of
insect or animal life. Apart from this, he is a man of some property which
he has no idea what to do with. He is, I think I may say, too devoted to
me to dream of ever leaving my service.
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