The cellar door opened at midnight with mechanical precision.

Cryer sealed the frame with wax and positioned a chair against the handle.

At midnight the wax cracked.

The chair fell.

The door stood open.

No one had entered the house.

Behind the cellar wall Cryer found an abandoned passage leading nowhere.

At its far end were fresh handprints in the dust.

They led towards the door.

None led away.