I had barely detected him before he was out of the room.
Left by myself again, I looked at the book-case--looked at it attentively for the first time.
It was a handsome piece of furniture in ancient carved oak, and it stood against the wall which ran parallel with the hall of the house.
Excepting the space occupied in the upper corner of the room by the second door, which opened into the hall, the book-case filled the whole length of the wall down to the window.

The top was ornamented by vases, candelabra, and statuettes, in pairs, placed in a row.

Looking along the row, I noticed a vacant space on the top of the bookcase at the extremity of it which was nearest to the window.

The opposite extremity, nearest to the door, was occupied by a handsome painted vase of a very peculiar pattern.

Where was the corresponding vase, which ought to have been placed at the corresponding extremity of the book-case?
I returned to the open sixth drawer of the cabinet, and looked in again.