I drew him back, and we stood for a moment shaken as one always is by sudden and unexpected contact with death.

"Who is he?" I asked, at last.

"I don't know," answered Vantine hoa.r.s.ely. "I never saw him before."

Then he strode to the bell and rang it violently. "Parks," he went on sternly, as that worthy appeared at the door, "what has been going on in here?"

"Going on, sir?" repeated Parks, with a look of amazement, not only at the words, but at the tone in which they were uttered. "I'm sure I don't know what--"

Then his glance fell upon the huddled body, and he stopped short, his eyes staring, his mouth open.

"Well," said his master, sharply. "Who is he? What is he doing here?"

"Why--why," stammered Parks, thickly, "that's the man who was waiting to see you, sir."

"You mean he has been killed in this house?" demanded Vantine.

"He was certainly alive when he came in, sir," said Parks, recovering something of his self-possession. "Maybe he was just looking for a quiet place where he could kill himself. He seemed kind of excited."

"Of course," agreed Vantine, with a sigh of relief, "that's the explanation. Only I wish he had chosen some place else. I suppose we shall have to call the police, Lester?"

"Yes," I said, "and the coroner. Suppose you leave it to me. We'll lock up this room, and n.o.body must leave the house until the police arrive."

"Very well," a.s.sented Vantine, visibly relieved, "I'll see to that,"

and he hastened away, while I went to the 'phone, called up police headquarters, and told briefly what had happened.

Twenty minutes later, there was a ring at the bell, and Parks opened the door and admitted four men.

"Why, h.e.l.lo, Simmonds," I said, recognising in the first one the detective-sergeant who had a.s.sisted in clearing up the Marathon mystery. And back of him was Coroner Goldberger, whom I had met in two previous cases; while the third countenance, looking at me with a quizzical smile, was that of Jim G.o.dfrey, the _Record's_ star reporter. The fourth man was a policeman in uniform, who, at a word from Simmonds, took his station at the door.

"Yes," said G.o.dfrey, as we shook hands, "I happened to be talking to Simmonds when the call came in, and I thought I might as well come along. What is it?"

"Just a suicide, I think," and I unlocked the door into the room where the dead man lay.

Simmonds, Goldberger and G.o.dfrey stepped inside. I followed and closed the door.

"Nothing has been disturbed," I said. "No one has touched the body."

Simmonds nodded, and glanced inquiringly about the room; but G.o.dfrey's eyes, I noticed, were on the face of the dead man.

Goldberger dropped to his knees beside the body, looked into the eyes and touched his fingers to the left wrist. Then he stood erect again and looked down at the body, and as I followed his gaze, I noted its att.i.tude more accurately than I had done in the first shock of discovering it.

It was lying on its right side, half on its stomach, with its right arm doubled under it, and its left hand clutching at the floor above its head. The knees were drawn up as though in a convulsion, and the face was horribly contorted, with a sort of purple tinge under the skin, as though the blood had been suddenly congealed. The eyes were wide open, and their gla.s.sy stare added not a little to the apparent terror and suffering of the face. It was not a pleasant sight, and after a moment, I turned my eyes away with a shiver of repugnance.

The coroner glanced at Simmonds.

"Not much question as to the cause," he said. "Poison of course."

"Of course," nodded Simmonds.

"But what kind?" asked G.o.dfrey.

"It will take a post-mortem to tell that," and Goldberger bent for another close look at the distorted face. "I'm free to admit the symptoms aren't the usual ones."

G.o.dfrey shrugged his shoulders.

"I should say not," he agreed, and turned away to an inspection of the room.

"What can you tell us about it, Mr. Lester?" Goldberger questioned.

I told all I knew--how Parks had announced a man's arrival, how Vantine and I had come downstairs together, how Vantine had called me, and finally how Parks had identified the body as that of the strange caller.

"Have you any theory about it?" Goldberger asked.

"Only that the call was merely a pretext--that what the man was really looking for was a place where he could kill himself un.o.bserved."

"How long a time elapsed after Parks announced the man before you and Mr. Vantine came downstairs?"

"Half an hour, perhaps."

Goldberger nodded.

"Let's have Parks in," he said.

I opened the door and called to Parks, who was sitting on the bottom step of the stair.

Goldberger looked him over carefully as he stepped into the room; but there could be no two opinions about Parks. He had been with Vantine for eight or ten years, and the earmarks of the competent and faithful servant were apparent all over him.

"Do you know this man?" Goldberger asked, with a gesture toward the body.

"No, sir," said Parks. "I never saw him till about an hour ago, when Rogers called me downstairs and said there was a man to see Mr.

Vantine."

"Who is Rogers?"

"He's the footman, sir. He answered the door when the man rang."

"Well, and then what happened?"

"I took his card up to Mr. Vantine, sir."

"Did Mr. Vantine know him?"

"No, sir; he wanted to know what he wanted."

"What _did_ he want?"

"I don't know, sir; he couldn't speak English hardly at all--he was French, I think."

Goldberger looked down at the body again and nodded.