Jackson Gregory

“ And Alice, though plainly pleased, said “Sh!” warningly.
“It is a horrible thing,” Alice said, “to invite guests to one's home and then do a thing like this! But the case warrants it, doesn't it, Mr. Steele?”
“You should not ever harbor such a thought,” he assured her heartily. “When you deal with King Reagan you deal with a man who is above neither treachery nor robbery nor murder.” Alice shivered. “A man he set to watch me to-day is Tony Waldron; though it has never been proved on him, it is well known in police circles that he is more than a mere murderer. ”

“ Steele remembered his own shoes with a start, and sat down to put them on.
“This room is never used,” Alice told him, speaking guardedly. “Once or twice only, when the house was filled with guests, an extra servant has slept here. You'll overlook the slight, won't you? There's room enough for an enforced prisoner to be comfortable. The bath is there; yonder a smaller room, into which, by the way, we had better go while we talk.” ”

“ He shrugged his shoulders. “She has been the death of more than one man's soul. How she retains the sweet, innocent face of hers is, to me, a sheer marvel.”
“There is one other thing,” Alice said after a moment. She pointed to the blanketed window in the adjoining room. “If at any time you should want to slip out without being seen it might be managed through that window. There is a ledge outside; going along it to the right, you come to the roof over the kitchen porch, where it would be easy to get down. ”