CHAPTER XXXVII
ANOTHER TELEPHONIC MESSAGE
Henson forced a smile to his face and a hand from his side as heapproached Merritt and the rest. It was not until the two foundthemselves alone that the mask was dropped.
"You infernally insolent scoundrel," Henson said, between his teeth. "Howdare you come here? You've done your work for the present, and the sooneryou go back to your kennel in London the better. If I imagined that youmeant any harm I'd crush you altogether."
"I didn't come on my own," Merritt whined. "So keep your 'air on. Thatyoung lady came and fetched me--regular gone on me, she is. And there'sto be high jinks 'ere--a bazaar for the benefit of pore criminals ascan't get no work to do. You 'eard what his lordship said. And I'm goin'to make a speech, like as I used to gull the chaplains. Lor', it's funny,ain't it?"
Henson failed to see the humour of the situation. He was uneasy andsuspicious. Moreover, he was puzzled by this American girl, and he hatedto be puzzled. She had social aspirations, of course; she cared nothingfor decayed or reformed criminals, and this silly bazaar was onlydesigned so that the ambitious girl could find her way into the countyset. Then she would choose a husband, and nothing more would be heard ofMerritt and Co. Henson had a vague notion that all American girls are onthe look-out for English husbands of the titled order.
"Littimer must be mad," he muttered. "I can't understand Littimer; Ican't understand anything. Which reminds me that I have a crow to pluckwith you. Why didn't you do as I told you last night?"
"Did," said Merritt, curtly. "Got the picture and took it home with me."
"You liar! The picture is in the corridor at the present time."
"Liar yourself! I've got the picture on my mantelshelf in my sitting-roomrolled up as you told me to roll it up and tied with a piece of cotton.It was your own idea as the thing was to be left about casual-like asbeing less calculated to excite suspicion. And there it is at the presentmoment, and I'll take my oath to it."
Henson fairly gasped. He had been inside that said sitting-room not twohours before, and he had not failed to notice a roll of paper on themantelshelf. And obviously Merritt was telling the truth. And equallyobviously the Rembrandt was hanging in the corridor at the presentmoment. Henson had solved and evolved many ingenious puzzles in his time,but this one was utterly beyond him.
"Some trick of Dr. Bell's, perhaps," Merritt suggested.
"Bell suspects nothing. He is absolutely friendly to me. He could notdisguise his feelings like that. Upon my word I was never so utterly atsea before in all my life. And as for Littimer, why, he has just made afresh will more in my favour than the old one. But I'll find out. I'llget to the bottom of this business if it costs me a fortune."
He frowned moodily at his boots; he turned the thing over in his minduntil his brain was dazed and muddled. The Rembrandt had been stolen, andyet there was the Rembrandt in its place. Was anything more amazing andpuzzling? And nobody else seemed in the least troubled about it. Hensonwas more than puzzled; deep down in his heart he was frightened.
"I must keep my eyes open," he said. "I must watch night and day. Do yousuppose Miss Lee noticed anything when she called to-day?"
"Not a bit of it," said Merritt, confidently "She came to see me; shehad no eyes for anybody but your humble servant. Where did she get myaddress from? Why, didn't you introduce me to the lady yourself, anddidn't I tell her I was staying at Moreton Wells for a time? I'm goin'to live in clover for a bit, my pippin. Cigars and champagne, wine andall the rest of it."
"I wish you were at the bottom of the sea before you came here," Hensongrowled. "You mind and be careful what you're doing with the champagne.They don't drink by the tumbler in the society you are in now, remember.Just one or two glasses and no more. If you take too much and let yourtongue run you will find your stay here pretty short."
Apparently the hint was not lost on Merritt, for dinner found him in achastened mood. His natural audacity was depressed by the splendour andluxury around him; the moral atmosphere held him down. There were somany knives and forks and glasses on the table, such a deal of food thatwas absolutely strange to him. The butler behind made him shiver.Hitherto in Merritt's investigations into great houses he had foughtparticularly shy of butlers and coachmen and upper servants of thatkind. The butler's sniff and his cold suggestion as to hock slightlyraised Merritt's combative spirit. And the champagne was poor, thinstuff after all. A jorum of gin and water, or a mug of beer, was whatMerritt's soul longed for.
And what a lot of plate there was on the table and sideboard! Some of itwas gold, too. Merritt's greedy professional eye appraised the collectionat some hundreds of pounds--hundreds of pounds--that is, after the stuffhad been disposed of. In imagination he had already drugged the butlerand was stuffing the plate into his bag.
Henson said very little. He was too busily engaged in watching hisconfederate. He wished from the bottom of his heart now that Chris hadnever seen Merritt. She was smiling at him now and apparently hanging onevery word. Henson had seen society ladies doing this kind of thingbefore with well-concealed contempt. So long as people liked to play hisgame for him he had no objection. But this was quite different. Merrithad warmed a little under the influence of his fifth glass of champagne,but his eye looked lovingly and longingly in the direction of a silverspirit-stand on the sideboard. The dinner came to an end at length, toHenson's great relief, and presently the whole party wandered out to theterrace. Bell dropped behind with Chris.
"Now is your time," he whispered. "Henson dare not lose sight of Merrittbefore he goes to bed, and I'll keep the latter out here for a good longspell. I've muffled the striker of the telephone so that the bell willmake no noise when you get your call back from Brighton, so that youmust be near enough to the instrument to hear the click of the striker.Make haste."
Chris dropped back to the library and rapidly fluttered over the leavesof the "Telephone Directory." She found what she wanted at length andasked to be put on to Brighton. Then she sat down in an armchair in thedarkness close under the telephone, prepared to wait patiently. Shecould just see the men on the terrace, could catch the dull glow red oftheir cigars.
Her patience was not unduly tried. At the end of a quarter of an hour thestriker clicked furiously. Chris reached for the receiver and lay backcomfortably in her chair with the diaphragm to her ear. "Are you there?"she asked, quietly. "Is that you, Mr. Steel?" To her great relief theanswering voice was Steel's own. He seemed to be a little puzzled as towho his questioner was.
"Can't you guess?" Chris replied. "This is not the first time I have hadyou called. You have not forgotten 218, Brunswick Square, yet?"
Chris smiled as she heard Steel's sudden exclamation.
"So you are my fair friend whom I saw in the dark?" he said. "Yes, Irecognise your voice now. You are Miss Chris--well, I won't mention thename aloud, because people might ask what a well-regulated corpse meantby rousing respectable people up at midnight. I hope you are not going toget me into trouble again."
"No, but I am going to ask your advice and assistance. I want you to beso good as to give me the plot of a story after I have told you thedetails. And you are to scheme the thing out at once, please, becausedelay is dangerous. Dr. Bell--"
"What's that? Will you tell me where you are speaking from?"
"I am at present located at Littimer Castle. Yes, Dr. Bell is here. Doyou want him?"
"I should think so," Steel exclaimed. "Please tell him at once that theman who was found here half dead--you know the man I mean--got up anddressed himself in the absence of the nurse and walked out of thehospital this morning. Since then he has not been seen or heard of. Ihave been looking up Bell everywhere. Will you tell him this at once?I'll go into your matter afterwards. Don't be afraid; I'll tell thetelephone people not to cut us off till I ring. Please go at once."
The voice was urgent, not to say imperative. Chris dropped thereceiver into its space and crept into the darkness in the directionof the terrace.