The Secret Adversary

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staircase, he had heard the man below disappear into a back room.
Clearly no suspicion attached to him as yet. To come to the house and
ask for "Mr. Brown" appeared indeed to be a reasonable and natural
proceeding.

At the top of the stairs Tommy halted to consider his next move. In
front of him ran a narrow passage, with doors opening on either side of
it. From the one nearest him on the left came a low murmur of voices.
It was this room which he had been directed to enter. But what held
his glance fascinated was a small recess immediately on his right,
half concealed by a torn velvet curtain. It was directly opposite the
left-handed door and, owing to its angle, it also commanded a good view
of the upper part of the staircase. As a hiding-place for one or, at a
pinch, two men, it was ideal, being about two feet deep and three feet
wide. It attracted Tommy mightily. He thought things over in his usual
slow and steady way, deciding that the mention of "Mr. Brown" was not a
request for an individual, but in all probability a password used by