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the photograph down and took up the other two to compare.
"For a minute I looked from one to the other, but could distinguish no
difference in the scene they portrayed.
Then, abruptly, my interest was gripped, for there was a difference. In the
second one the dagger was not in its sheath, though I had felt sure it was.
"After that I commenced to compare the two enlargements in a very different
manner, using a pair of calipers and the most exacting scrutiny, and so, at
last, came upon something that set me all tingling with excitement.
"I paid the photographer, put the three enlargements under my arm without
waiting to have them wrapped up, and hurried back to the castle.
"I put the photographs in my room, then went down to see if I could find Sir
Alfred, but Mr. George Jarnock, who met me, told me his father was too unwell
to rise, and would prefer that no one entered the Chapel unless he was about.
He made an apologetic excuse that his father was inclined to be, perhaps, a
little overcareful;
but that, even before the 'thing' happened, his father had been just as
particular, always keeping the key, and never allowing the door to be
unlocked, except when the place was in use. And, as the young fellow told me,
with something of a troubled smile, this attack upon the butler seemed to have
justified his father's superstitious attitude towards the place.
"When the young man had left me I took my duplicate key and made for the door
of the chapel, and presently had it locked behind me, whilst I carried out
some intensely interesting and rather weird experiments. These proved
successful to such an extent that I came out of the place in a perfect little
fever of excitement. I
inquired for Mr. George Jarnock, and was told that he was in the morning room.
"'Come along,' I said, when I had rooted him out. 'I want you to give me a
lift.'
"He was palpably very much puzzled, but came quickly and asking questions, to
which, however, I shook my head, telling him to wait a few minutes.
"I led the way to the armoury. Here I directed him to take one side of a dummy
dressed in full armour, whilst
I took the other. He obeyed, though evidently vastly bewildered; and I led the
way to the chapel door. When he saw that this was open he seemed even more
astonished, but held himself in, waiting for me to explain. I
locked the door of the chapel behind us, and then we carried the armoured
dummy up the aisle to the gate of the chancel.
"'Stand back!' I shouted, as he made a sudden movement to open the gate.
"Heavens, man! you mustn't do that!"
"'Do what?' he asked, half frightened and half irritated by my manner and
words.
Carnacki The Ghost Finder
Carnacki The Ghost Finder
67
"'Stand to one side a moment, and watch!' I said, and he obeyed. I took the
dummy in my arms and turned it to face the altar so that it stood close to the
gate. Then, standing well to one side, I pressed its back so that it leant
forward a little upon the gate, which flew open. In the same instant it was
struck a tremendous blow that hurled it into the aisle, rattling and clanging
upon the stone floor.
"'Good lord!' said Jarnock in a frightened voice. 'It's the dagger! The
thing's been stabbed, same as Parker!"
"'Yes,' I replied, and saw him glance swiftly towards the doorway; but I'll do
him the justice to say he never budged an inch.
"'Come and see how it was done,' I said, and led the way back to the chancel
rail. From the wall to the left of the altar I took down a long, curiously
ornamented iron instrument, not unlike a short spear. The sharp end of this I
inserted in a hole in the lefthand gatepost. I lifted hard, and a section of
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the post, from the floor upwards, bent inwards towards the chancel as though
hinged at the bottom. Down it went, leaving the remaining part of the post
standing. As the movable portion was bent lower, a section of the floor slid
to one side, showing a long, shallow cavity, sufficient to enclose the post. I
hove it down into the niche, and there was a sharp clang as some catch caught
and held it. Then I went and wrenched the dagger from the dummy. I
brought the old weapon and placed its hilt in a hole near the top of the post,
where it fitted loosely, the point upwards. After that I went to the lever and
gave another heave, and the post descended about a foot to the bottom of the
cavity, catching there with another clang. I withdrew the lever, and the floor
slid back covering post and dagger, and looking no different from the
surrounding surface.
"Then I shut the gate, and we both stood well to one side. I took the
spearlike lever and gave the gate a little push so that it opened. Instantly
there was a loud thud, and something sang through the air, striking the bottom
wall of the chapel. It was the dagger. I showed Jarnock then that the portion
of the post had sprung back into its place, making the whole as thick as the
one upon the righthand side of the gate.
"'There!' I said, turning to the young man, and tapping the post. 'There's the
invisible thing that uses the dagger, but who the deuce is the person who sets
the trap?' I looked at him keenly as I spoke.
"'My father is the only one who has a key,' he said. 'So that I don't see who
could get in to meddle.'
"I looked at him again.
"'Look here, Mr. Jarnock," I said, perhaps a bit curter than I should,
considering what I said. "Are you quite sure that Sir Alfred is quite balanced
mentally?"
"He looked at me, half frightenedly and flushing a little. 'I I don't know,'
he said, after a slight pause.
"'Tell the truth,' I replied. 'Haven't you suspected his balance a bit at
times? You needn't be afraid to tell me.'
"'Well, I'll admit I've thought him a bit a bit strange at times.' he
admitted: 'but I've always tried to blind myself and others to it. You see,
he's my dad.
"I nodded. 'Quite right, too; and there's no need, now, to make any scandal
about this, but something must be done in a quiet sort of way, you know. I
should go and have a chat with your father, and tell him you've found out
about this thing.' and I touched the divided post.
"He seemed very grateful for my advice; and after shaking my hand very hard,
took my key and let himself out of the Chapel. He came back in about an hour
rather pale, but otherwise quite collected. I was quite right in my surmise.
It was old Sir Alfred who set the trap every night, having learnt from an old
M.S. of its
Carnacki The Ghost Finder
Carnacki The Ghost Finder
68
existence and how it was worked, it having been used in the old days as a
protection for the golden vessels of the altar, which were kept in a secret
recess at the back. This recess Sir Alfred had utilised to store his wife's
jewellery. She had died some twelve years back, and young Jarnock averred that
his father had never been the same since.
"I mentioned to him about my puzzlement regarding the trap having been set
before the service, when the butler was struck; for, if I understood him
aright, his father had been in the habit of setting the trap last thing every
night and unsetting it each morning before anyone entered the chapel. He
replied that his father, in a fit of temporary forgetfulness, must have set it
too early, and hence the almost fatal tragedy.
"That is about all. I don't think the old man is really insane. I believe it's
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