Explore "The Prisoner in the Opal" by A.E.W. Mason on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
A fortnight passed, however, before routine had finished its work and placed the woven pattern of the crime in the great detective's hands. Hanaud then sought out once more Mr. Ricardo and his fine Rolls-Royce car, and an hour afterwards the two men stood at the top of the staircase outside the conference room. It was eleven o'clock in the morning, the sunlight pouring in through every window and lying in great splashes of gold upon the floor; and the house as still as a tomb. For the Vicomte, still at provisional liberty, had gone to his lodging in Bordeaux, and only the police occupied this château on the Gironde. The broad linen bands with the official seals had been removed, but the door was still locked, and Hanaud in his most vexatiously dramatic mood, took a portentous time to discover the key in his pockets.
"It was within this room, then, that Evelyn Devenish was murdered," said Mr. Ricardo in a voice of awe.