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face the others. “I can't get it open.”
    “What's that?” called Barbara, still waltzing with Raynor.
    “I can't get this door open,” Lucia repeated.
    Barbara and Raynor stopped dancing and went across to Lucia at the door. Richard Amory moved to the gramophone to switch it off before joining them. They took it in turns to attempt to get the door open, but without success, observed by Miss Amory, who was awake but still seated, and by Dr Carelli, who stood by the bookcase.
    Unnoticed by any of the company, Sir Claud emerged from his study, coffee-cup in hand, and stood for a moment or two observing the group clustered around the door to the hall.
    “What an extraordinary thing,” Raynor exclaimed, abandoning his attempt to open the door, and turning to face the others. “It seems to have got stuck somehow.”
    Sir Claud's voice rang across the room, startling them all. “Oh, no, it's not stuck. It's locked. Locked from the outside.”
    His sister rose and approached Sir Claud. She was about to speak, but he forestalled her. “It was locked by my orders, Caroline,” he told her.
    With all eyes upon him, Sir Claud walked across to the coffee-table, took a lump of sugar from the bowl, and dropped it into his cup. “I have something to say to you all,” he announced to the assembled company. “Richard, would you be so kind as to ring for Tredwell?”
    His son looked as though he were about to make some reply. However, after a pause he went to the fireplace and pressed a bell in the wall nearby.
    “I suggest that you all sit down,” Sir Claud continued, with a gesture towards the chairs.
    Dr Carelli, with raised eyebrows, crossed the room to sit on the stool. Edward Raynor and Lucia Amory found chairs for themselves, while Richard Amory chose to stand in front of the fireplace, looking puzzled. Caroline Amory and her niece Barbara occupied the settee.
    When all were comfortably seated, Sir Claud moved the arm-chair to a position where he could most easily observe all the others. He sat.
    The door on the left opened, and Tredwell entered. “You rang, Sir Claud?”
    “Yes, Tredwell. Did you call the number I gave you?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Was the answer satisfactory?”
    “Perfectly satisfactory, sir.”
    “And a car has gone to the station?”
    “Yes, sir. A car has been ordered to meet the train.”
    “Very well, Tredwell,” said Sir Claud. “You may lock up now.”
    “Yes, sir,” replied Tredwell, as he withdrew.
    After the butler had closed the door behind him, the sound of a key turning in the lock could be heard.
    “Claud,” Miss Amory exclaimed, “what on earth does Tredwell think -?”
    “Tredwell is acting on my instructions, Caroline,” Sir Claud interrupted sharply.
    Richard Amory addressed his father. “May we ask the meaning of all this?” he inquired coldly.
    “I am about to explain,” replied Sir Claud. “Please listen to me calmly, all of you. To begin with, as you now realize, those two doors -” he gestured towards the two doors on the hall side of the library - “are locked on the outside. From my study next door, there is no way out except through this room. The French windows in this room are locked.” Swivelling around in his seat to Carelli, he explained, as though in parenthesis, “Locked, in fact, by a patent device of my own, which my family knows of, but which they do not know how to immobilize.” Again addressing everyone, Sir Claud continued, “This place is a rat-trap.” He looked at his watch. “It is now ten minutes to nine. At a few minutes past nine, the rat-catcher will arrive.”
    “The rat-catcher?” Richard Amory's face was a study in perplexity. “What rat-catcher?”
    “A detective,” explained the famous scientist drily as he sipped his coffee.

Black Coffee

Chapter 5
    Consternation greeted Sir Claud's announcement.
    Lucia uttered a low cry, and her husband stared at her intently. Miss Amory gave a shriek, Barbara exclaimed “Crikey!”