Sinister House by Fred M. White — Read

Musgrave had a certain amount of food for thought when he turned out of The Marathon and made his way to Princes, where he expected to meet Pamela and entertain her to tea. Just for the moment he had forgotten all about that. He had established, almost beyond a doubt, that Beaucaire was going to Kirby for the week-end and there was no place within fifteen miles where he could stay in comfort with the exception of Glentower. And why was he going to Glentower? And why had he been asked to that dreary old fortress where nobody had been entertained for years?

But, there was no answer to the question, and nothing beyond the uneasy feeling that this latest move on Beaucaire's part was in some way connected with the mysterious house in Manton-street. And Joe had not done with Manton-street yet by any means. He was going to get to the bottom of that puzzle, and discover the connection between the painting there and the miniature on the snuff-box and Pamela's amazing likeness to both. More than that, he was going to find out why Beaucaire and Phasy were so interested in the thing that was so close to his own heart. How was it that Beaucaire had hit upon the Sinister House as the scene of more than one illicit adventure? True, Musgrave had heard enough said during the time that he and Jimmy Primrose were hidden behind the screen in the studio to know that something very wrong was in the wind. But that, for the moment, was no business of his. What he really was concerned with was to discover why Beaucaire had been so anxious to regain possession of the snuff-box, and what use he was going to make of it.