The Door Between by Ellery Queen Read Free Book Online

sat down and rather thoughtfully eyed the doctor through the glass walls. There was something bothering the big man – something which might possibly explain, he thought, more than the convenient excuse of “overwork” Mr. MacClure’s poor health …
    He sprang out of the chair the next moment, and then stood still.
    As the connection was made and Dr. MacClure spoke into the instrument, something happened to him. Ellery saw the big man stiffen in his seat beyond the glass walls, clutching the telephone convulsively, his craggy features drained of blood. The shoulders sagged then and the whole man seemed to cave in.
    Ellery’s first thought was that the doctor had suffered a heart-attack. But he instantly realized that the expression on Dr. MacClure’s face was not caused by physical pain; the pale lips twisted with shock, the shock of immense and horrified surprise.
    Then Dr. MacClure was at the door of the cubicle, fumbling with his collar as if he wanted air.
    “Queen,” he said in an unrecognizable voice. “Queen. When do we dock?”
    “Wednesday. Before noon.” Ellery reached out to steady the man; the iron arm was shaking.
    “My God,” said Dr. MacClure hoarsely. “A day and a half.”
    “Doctor! What’s happened? Has your daughter –?”
    Dr. MacClure braced himself and with an effort walked to the leather chair Ellery had vacated and sat down, staring at the glass walls. His eyeballs were yellow, speckled with red darts. Ellery motioned violently to a steward, whispered to him to bring a long drink, and the man left running. The purser was already hurrying across the lounge, followed by the florid woman.
    The big man suddenly shook through the length and thickness of his body. And his face screwed up in the queerest expression of pain, as if he were wincing at a terrible thought that refused to leave his brain.
    “An awful thing,” he mumbled. “An awful thing. I can’t understand it. An awful thing.”
    Ellery shook him. “For God’s sake, Doctor, what’s happened? Who was that?”
    “Eh?” The red-speckled eyes gazed up at him unseeingly.
    “Who was it?”
    “Oh,” said Dr. MacClure. “Oh. Oh, yes. The New York police.”
5
    Eva sat up on the couch at half past four and yawned, stretching her arms. The book she had picked up from the inlaid table she dropped, wrinkling her nose; it was dull. Or perhaps that wasn’t fair – she’d really not been able to put two consecutive sentences together. There were so many things to think about – the wedding, the honeymoon, the house, where to live, the furniture …
    If Karen didn’t finish what she was doing soon, she thought, she would curl up and go to sleep. There was still plenty of time before the six o’clock call she contemplated to Dr. MacClure in mid-ocean, although she could hardly wait. She did wish Karen would come out, or something. They’d call the Panthia together! Or should she keep the news as a surprise for Dr. MacClure when the Panthia docked Wednesday morning?
    The telephone rang in Karen’s bedroom.
    Eva sank back on the silk pillows, not listening, half-smiling. But the telephone rang again. It stopped. It rang.
    That was funny, thought Eva, staring at the closed door. The telephone was on Karen’s writing-desk in front of the oriel windows overlooking the garden, and that was where Karen sometimes did her work. She had only to reach over … There it was again!
    Could Karen have lain down for a nap? But surely that shrill signal would have awakened her. Was she in that funny, mysterious old attic of hers? But … Another ring.
    Perhaps she was deliberately ignoring it. Karen was a queer person – nervous, temperamental – she might be so annoyed at the ’phone that she wouldn’t answer it out of pique. It was an army rule in the house that she wasn’t to be disturbed for any reason whatever while she was in her quarters working. So the telephone … Eva relaxed on the pillows as the bell rang once more.
    But