Read "The Pauper of Park Lane" by William le Queux online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The mystery by which old Sam Statham sometimes passed beyond that white-enamelled door was inexplicable.
Whenever he left the library to ascend the stairs, Charlie Rolfe stole quietly out behind him, and listened. Sometimes he distinctly heard the key in the lock; at others it sounded as though the closed door yielded to his touch and swung aside for him to pass beyond. It closed always with a thud, as though felt had been placed upon it to prevent any metallic clang.