It was the only explanation
I could offer of the strange action that greeted our simple
attempt to gain admission to the stuss room. Whether they were
criminals who had really made a haul or mere fugitives from
justice, I could not guess. But that a warning had been given the
man at the door to be on his guard, seemed evident from the manner
in which we had been met.
There was a rush of feet in the room. I expected that we would be
overwhelmed. Instead, as together we pushed on the now half-open
door, the room emptied like a sieve. Whoever it might be who had
taken refuge there had probably disappeared, among the first, by
tacit understanding of the rest, for the whole thing had the air
of being run off according to instructions.
"It's a collar!" had sounded through the room, the moment we had
appeared at the door, and it was now empty.
I wondered whether the letter which Garrick had found might not,
after all, have brought us straight to the last resort of those
whom we sought.
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