CHAPTER VI
WHAT KOWEN FOUND
NO volley greeted them.
There was no crash of vapor bombs, no cloud of pungent gas, no clash with desperate and determined criminals who fought on behalf of their leader and master!
There was nothing but silence—a silence broken only by the deep breathing of the sheriff and his deputies, who had sprawled into that hall expecting to meet with instant battle, and to whom the unexplained silence was more trying than combat.
Again Sheriff Kowen gave a signal, and one of the men opened the door at the end of the hall. They entered an ordinary living room that was adorned with cheap furniture; it might have been the living room of the home of a family in moderate circumstances.
They passed on to a small dining room, investigating an ordinary bedchamber. Sheriff Kowen began thinking that he had made a serious mistake.
"That woman came in here—and where is she now?" the sheriff said. "Search the rest of the house—go into the basement—don't leave a corner untouched. We're in here now, and we might as well do our work. That woman is here some place, remember that. We saw her come in, and she hasn't left."
They searched the kitchen, another small bedroom, and found nothing, neither a trace of Mamie Blan-
