There was a sound behind us. Tony, who had been equally dumbfounded by the apparition, swore out loud when he recognized the man who had joined us on the gallery. Personally, I was glad to see George. The bigger the crowd, the better, so far as I was concerned.

“Did you see it?” Tony demanded. “Or am I crazy?”

“I did see her,” George said coolly. “She’s gone now.”

I turned. The Hall was empty.

Tony ran toward the stairs.

“Go slow,” George said, catching his arm. “If you wake people like that too suddenly, it can be dangerous.”

“She — she’s — sleepwalking, isn’t she?” Tony asked.

“What else?”

I didn’t say anything. George was right, of course. But I sympathized with Tony. George hadn’t seen that infernal portrait.

Then it hit me, and it was my turn to swear. Maybe George hadn’t seen the portrait, but Tony had; unless he knew of the uncanny resemblance between the two women, one living and one long dead, he wouldn’t have reacted so neurotically to what was — obviously! — a simple case of somnambulism. Tony hadn’t told me about all his research, then. I wondered how many other potentially useful facts he was hoarding.

I followed my two heroes down into the Hall.

“I think she went this way,” George said, starting toward the east end of the Hall. “You don’t happen to have a flashlight, do you, Lawrence?”

Tony did. The light moved around the room, spotlighting the suits of armor and the black mouth of the fireplace.

“Wait a minute,” George said. “She couldn’t get out this way. The door is locked.” He demonstrated, rattling the knob.

“You said she came this way.”

“She must have doubled back under the stairs while we were talking. From the gallery that end of the room is not visible. Her room is in the tower, isn’t it?”

He led the way without waiting for an answer. At the opposite end of the Hall an open arch disclosed the first steps of a narrow stair.

“We’d better check,” Tony muttered. “Make sure the girl doesn’t hurt herself, wandering around…. Follow me.”

The upper floor was a maze of corridors, but Tony threaded a path through them without hesitating once — another proof, if I needed any, that Tony had already explored the Schloss thoroughly. So, I reminded myself, we were not collaborating. He didn’t have to tell me anything…. I wished I knew what George had been doing. I could feel his presence close behind me. For a big man he was very light on his feet.

On the first floor of the tower Tony tried a door. It creaked open. The flashlight showed an unfurnished circular chamber with rags of moldering tapestry on the walls.

“Nobody lives here,” said George, peering over my shoulder. “Irma must be on the next floor.”