*CHAPTER XXVI.*
*A BAD QUARTER OF AN HOUR.*
Frobisher passed a handkerchief over his shining head slowly, with afeeling that he was going through the ordeal of a Turkish bath. It wasa long time before he was quite sure that the vendor of the CardinalMoth was not in court. The little questioner smiled as Frobisher shookhis head. Evidently he had a powerful reserve behind him. He switchedoff on to another track presently.
"You know all about the history of the Cardinal Moth?" he asked.
"Every collector does," Frobisher replied. "It has been known forcenturies. Times out of number adventurers have tried to obtain thewhole plant, or, at any rate, a small portion of it, but withoutsuccess. Generally the attempt has ended in disaster to theadventurers."
"You mean that usually they have been killed?"
"Precisely. They have died of strangulation as--as Mr. Manfred did."
"Quite so. You don't suggest that there is anything Satanic ordiabolical about the Moth? No cruel force from an unseen world, oranything of that kind?"
"Certainly not," Frobisher said with the suspicion of a sneer."Although such a thing is firmly believed in Koordstan and elsewhere."
"Then there is some trick, some danger. Now, Sir Clement, listen to mecarefully. You knew all about this strange fatality that clings to theCardinal Moth, you know that Mr. Manfred met his death by that terribleway, and that tragedy at Streatham was more or less a repetition of thething that happened under your roof. You can't deny that."
"Have I made any attempt to do so?" Frobisher retorted.
"I didn't suggest anything of the kind," Counsel snapped. "But I do saythat you suppressed, deliberately suppressed, what you knew to be factsof the deepest import. Why did you not tell all this to the police?Why didn't you mention it to Sir James Brownsmith and other friends?"
Frobisher mumbled something in reply. It came to him suddenly that hewas older than he ought to be, that his nerve was no longer what it oncehad been. He called to mind the many brilliant knaves who had from timeto time stepped jauntily into a witness-box contemptuous of theinferiority of the cross-questioner, and who had an hour later totteredfrom the court a broken man. How much did this little keen-eyed manknow? he asked himself. He would have given half his fortune to bequite clear on that point. But he could not answer the questionsatisfactorily.
"Nothing could have been gained by that course," he said.
"And you want the court to believe that?" Counsel cried. "Here were youwith something like a correct solution in your mind and you keepsilence. When did you buy the Cardinal Moth?"
"It was on the night of the Streatham tragedy," Frobisher admitted.
"Indeed! Was the man you purchased that plant from a stranger to you?"
"No. On the contrary, I have known him for years. He was with me thenight before as well."
"Worse and worse," Counsel protested. "Tell me, Sir Clement, have youever made an attempt to raid the Cardinal Moth in person or inconjunction with others?"
"I laid a plot to get possession of it," Frobisher admitted coollyenough. He felt that he could afford to be cynical and frank on thispoint. "But my plans miscarried. The plant was divided into threeportions. One was lost sight of, in America, I fancy; the other waslost at Stamboul, where I came very near to losing my life as well. Andthe third plant was burned at Turin."
"Was that by accident or design?"
"Design, doubtless. The hotel was deliberately set on fire."
"Interesting," Counsel murmured. "What was the name of your ally atTurin?"
"I'm sorry I cannot remember. In the many busy incidents in a life likemine----"
"One moment, if you please. And don't forget that you are on your oath.Now wasn't the name of your partner who got as far as Turin CountLefroy?"
Frobisher snarled out something that sounded between an affirmative oran oath. He was clinging to the rail of the witness-box now; there wasa perceptible stoop in his shoulders and his lips quivered. The littleman went on with his merciless questions, smiling as he scored one pointafter another.
"Count Lefroy has been your partner in many a financial venture?" heasked. "But you have dissolved partnership of recent years; you couldnot trust one another?"
"The steel was too finely tempered in us both," said Frobisher, with atouch of his old humour.
"And so you parted. Now let us get on a little further. Of late youhave been very anxious to obtain certain concessions from the Shan ofKoordstan. Count Lefroy was equally anxious. And the Shan, not being sovery popular with his subjects at present, would have liked to get theCardinal Moth back again. Now were you prepared to change the Moth forthe concessions?"
"I confess that some such idea was in my mind," Frobisher admitted.
"In which case was it not dangerous to ask Count Lefroy to your house?I mean to luncheon to show him the Moth, and afterwards the invitationto the fatal dinner?"
"I can't say," Frobisher replied. "I really can't see what----"
"Oh, yes you can; a clever man like yourself can see everything. TheCount was as anxious to have the Moth as you were, also with an eye tothese concessions. He was more anxious because he had already mortgagedthe so-called concession to Mr. Aaron Benstein for a large sum of money.Did you know of that?"
Frobisher hesitated a long time before he replied. He had grownsingularly hot and confused; he could see no more than that a trap wasbeing laid for him, but the bait was invisible. There was nothing forit but to tell the truth and trust to chance.
"I was quite aware of what Count Lefroy had done," he said.
"And yet you showed him the Cardinal Moth. He was very angry and hestruck Manfred in your presence. He gave you to infer that he had bythe merest chance lost the Moth itself. In other words, the man who hadstolen it brought it to you instead of to Count Lefroy."
Frobisher nodded. He was smiling recklessly and a little hystericallynow, wondering how many hours he had been standing there under the rigidfire of questions. As he glanced up at a big clock over the coroner'shead, to his intense surprise he saw that it was barely twenty minutes.
"Count Lefroy had made up his mind to steal that plant," Counsel wenton. "Didn't you guess that?"
"I felt pretty sure that he would make the attempt, yes."
"As a matter of fact, we contend that the attempt was made. It was allarranged. The night of your dinner, Mr. Manfred sat out under thepretence of a bad headache. The house was quiet and you were engagedwith your guests, and Manfred knew exactly where to go. He made theattempt, and in doing so lost his life."
"It looks very much like it," Frobisher said, hoarsely.
"Do you know exactly how he lost his life?" Counsel asked.
The question came quick and short like the snapping of a steel trap.Frobisher understood the import of it, nobody else practically did. Heglanced at Townsend, who appeared to be deeply interested in anewspaper; the Coroner was gazing at the painted ceiling. Anunconquerable rush of rage possessed the witness.
"Hang you, find out," he cried. "To the devil with you and yourquestions. How should I know the secret that the priests of Ghan havekept so closely all these centuries? All I know is, that anybody whotampers with the Moth under certain conditions dies, and----"
The Coroner suddenly woke up and sternly rebuked the witness. Helistened humbly enough now, for he was spent and broken again, onlylonging passionately to be away.
"I am truly sorry, sir, but the question irritated me," he said."Anybody would think that I had a hand in the death of poor Manfred."
"Nobody has suggested anything of the kind," Counsel went on as smoothlyas if nothing had happened. "All I contend is, that you can practicallysolve the problem if you choose. But let us hark back a little wayagain. What is the name of the man who sold you the orchid?"
"His name is Paul Lopez," Frobisher said in a tone so low that he wasasked to repeat it again. H
e passed his tongue over his dry lips. "Ican tell you no more than that."
"Is he a stranger to you, or have you known him a long time?"
Sorely tempted to lie, Frobisher hesitated a moment. But once more thecruel uncertainty of the knowledge possessed by the little man oppositeforced the truth from him.
"I have known Paul Lopez for years," he said. "He has done many littlethings for me. But I swear to you now--as I am prepared to swearanywhere--that the Cardinal Moth came to me as a complete surprise. Inever expected it, and I was absolutely astonished when I saw it."
"Then you have no idea whence it came?"
"Not the slightest. It never occurred to me to ask any questions."
"The wise man does not ask questions," Counsel said dryly. "Possiblyyour curiosity would not have been gratified, in any case. But Isuppose that you had an idea, eh? You feel pretty sure now that theplant was stolen from Streatham?"
"That is mere conjecture on your part," Frobisher replied.
"Oh, no, it isn't. I shall be in a position to prove the fact when thetime comes. You can step down for the moment, Sir Clement, though Ishall have to trouble you again. Call Paul Lopez."
Townsend put down his paper and stood up.
"It will be quite useless, sir," he said. "Lopez has disappeared. Myinformation tells me that he has gone in the first instance as far asParis. Perhaps later on we may be able to produce him, but that willrequire more than the usual subpoena."
The Coroner woke up again, and his eyes came down from the ceiling. Yethe had missed nothing of what was going on, as his next question showed.
"That is rather unfortunate, Inspector," he said. "What do you proposeto do now?"
"Ask for an adjournment till Thursday, sir," Townsend said. "Then Ihope to call Sir James Brownsmith, who I am sure will have a great dealto say. If that course is quite convenient to you----"
The Coroner snapped out a few words, and the crowd in the gallery beganto fade away. In a kind of walking dream Sir Clement Frobisher foundhimself outside. He felt as if many years had been added to his life;he was shaking from head to foot. The gold sign of a decent hotelcaught his eye. The white legend, "Wines and spirits," allured him.Somebody was speaking to him, but he did not heed.
Then he became conscious that Mrs. Benstein was standing before him.She had been in court, but he had not seen her. He muttered somecommonplaces now, he tottered across the street and into a bar which wasempty. The smart girl behind looked at him curiously as he ordered alarge brandy-and-soda. The soda he almost discarded, he poured thestrong spirit down his throat, and a little life crept into hisquivering lips.
Meanwhile Mrs. Benstein stood by the door of her car. She appeared tobe waiting for somebody. From the bar window the now resuscitatedFrobisher watched and wondered. He saw Townsend come out of court; hesaw Mrs. Benstein stop him as he touched his cap.
"I'd give a trifle to hear what they are saying," Frobisher muttered."I wish I had never seen that confounded woman. I am growing senile.Fancy being beaten by a woman!"
Mrs. Benstein had very little to say to Townsend, but that little was tothe point.
"If you can lay hands on Lopez, what shall you do?" she asked.
"Arrest him on suspicion of the Streatham murder," Townsend saidpromptly.
"Which he never committed. Still, it is the proper thing to do. Nowtell me where I can give you a call upon the telephone about ten o'clockto-night."