Sir James brushed past Julius and hurriedly bent1 over the fallen woman.
“Heart,” he said sharply. “Seeing us so suddenly must have given her ashock. Brandy—and quickly, or she’ll slip through our fingers.”
Julius hurried to the washstand.
“Not here,” said Tuppence over her shoulder. “In the tantalus in the din-ing room. Second door down the passage.”
Between them Sir James and Tuppence lifted Mrs. Vandemeyer and car-ried her to the bed. There they dashed water on her face, but with no res-ult. The lawyer fingered her pulse.
“Touch and go,” he muttered. “I wish that young fellow would hurry upwith the brandy.”
At that moment Julius re-entered the room, carrying a glass half full ofthe spirit which he handed to Sir James. While Tuppence lifted her headthe lawyer tried to force a little of the spirit between her closed lips. Fi-nally the woman opened her eyes feebly. Tuppence held the glass to herlips.
“Drink this.”
Mrs. Vandemeyer complied. The brandy brought the colour back to herwhite cheeks, and revived her in a marvellous fashion. She tried to sit up—then fell back with a groan2, her hand to her side.
“It’s my heart,” she whispered. “I mustn’t talk.”
She lay back with closed eyes.
Sir James kept his finger on her wrist a minute longer, then withdrew itwith a nod.
“She’ll do now.”
All three moved away, and stood together talking in low voices. One andall were conscious of a certain feeling of anticlimax3. Clearly any schemefor cross-questioning the lady was out of the question for the moment. Forthe time being they were baffled, and could do nothing.
Tuppence related how Mrs. Vandemeyer had declared herself willing todisclose the identity of Mr. Brown, and how she had consented to discoverand reveal to them the whereabouts of Jane Finn. Julius was congratulat-ory.
“That’s all right, Miss Tuppence. Splendid! I guess that hundred thou-sand pounds will look just as good in the morning to the lady as it didovernight. There’s nothing to worry over. She won’t speak without thecash anyway, you bet!”
There was certainly a good deal of common sense in this, and Tuppencefelt a little comforted.
“What you say is true,” said Sir James meditatively4. “I must confess,however, that I cannot help wishing we had not interrupted at the minutewe did. Still, it cannot be helped, it is only a matter of waiting until themorning.”
He looked across at the inert5 figure on the bed. Mrs. Vandemeyer layperfectly passive with closed eyes. He shook his head.
“Well,” said Tuppence, with an attempt at cheerfulness, “we must waituntil the morning, that’s all. But I don’t think we ought to leave the flat.”
“What about leaving that bright boy of yours on guard?”
“Albert? And suppose she came round again and hooked it. Albertcouldn’t stop her.”
“I guess she won’t want to make tracks away from the dollars.”
“She might. She seemed very frightened of ‘Mr. Brown.’ ”
“What? Real plumb6 scared of him?”
“Yes. She looked round and said even walls had ears.”
“Maybe she meant a dictaphone,” said Julius with interest.
“Miss Tuppence is right,” said Sir James quietly. “We must not leave theflat—if only for Mrs. Vandemeyer’s sake.”
Julius stared at him.
“You think he’d get after her? Between now and tomorrow morning.
How could he know, even?”
“You forget your own suggestion of a dictaphone,” said Sir James dryly.
“We have a very formidable adversary7. I believe, if we exercise all duecare, that there is a very good chance of his being delivered into ourhands. But we must neglect no precaution. We have an important witness,but she must be safeguarded. I would suggest that Miss Tuppence shouldgo to bed, and that you and I, Mr. Hersheimmer, should share the vigil.”
Tuppence was about to protest, but happening to glance at the bed shesaw Mrs. Vandemeyer, her eyes half open, with such an expression ofmingled fear and malevolence8 on her face that it quite froze the words onher lips.
For a moment she wondered whether the faint and the heart attack hadbeen a gigantic sham9, but remembering the deadly pallor she could hardlycredit the supposition. As she looked the expression disappeared as bymagic, and Mrs. Vandemeyer lay inert and motionless as before. For a mo-ment the girl fancied she must have dreamt it. But she determined10 never-theless to be on the alert.
“Well,” said Julius, “I guess we’d better make a move out of here any-way.”
The others fell in with his suggestion. Sir James again felt Mrs. Vande-meyer’s pulse.
“Perfectly satisfactory,” he said in a low voice to Tuppence. “She’ll be ab-solutely all right after a night’s rest.”
The girl hesitated a moment by the bed. The intensity11 of the expressionshe had surprised had impressed her powerfully. Mrs. Vandemeyer liftedher eyelids12. She seemed to be struggling to speak. Tuppence bent over her.
“Don’t—leave—” she seemed unable to proceed, murmuring somethingthat sounded like “sleepy.” Then she tried again.
Tuppence bent lower still. It was only a breath.
“Mr.—Brown—” The voice stopped.
But the half-closed eyes seemed still to send an agonized14 message.
Moved by a sudden impulse, the girl said quickly:
“I shan’t leave the flat. I shall sit up all night.”
A flash of relief showed before the lids descended15 once more. Appar-ently Mrs. Vandemeyer slept. But her words had awakened16 a new uneasi-ness in Tuppence. What had she meant by that low murmur13. “Mr.
Brown?” Tuppence caught herself nervously17 looking over her shoulder.
The big wardrobe loomed18 up in a sinister19 fashion before her eyes. Plentyof room for a man to hide in that .?.?.
Half-ashamed of herself Tuppence pulled it open and looked inside. Noone—of course! She stooped down and looked under the bed. There wasno other possible hiding place.
Tuppence gave her familiar shake of the shoulders. It was absurd, thisgiving way to nerves! Slowly she went out of the room. Julius and SirJames were talking in a low voice. Sir James turned to her.
“Lock the door on the outside, please, Miss Tuppence, and take out thekey. There must be no chance of anyone entering that room.”
The gravity of his manner impressed them, and Tuppence felt lessashamed of her attack of “nerves.”
“Say,” remarked Julius suddenly, “there’s Tuppence’s bright boy. I guessI’d better go down and ease his young mind. That’s some lad, Tuppence.”
“How did you get in, by the way?” asked Tuppence suddenly. “I forgot toask.”
“Well, Albert got me on the phone all right. I ran round for Sir Jameshere, and we came right on. The boy was on the lookout20 for us, and wasjust a mite21 worried about what might have happened to you. He’d beenlistening outside the door of the flat, but couldn’t hear anything. Anyhowhe suggested sending us up in the coal lift instead of ringing the bell. Andsure enough we landed in the scullery and came right along to find you.
Albert’s still below, and must be hopping22 mad by this time.” With whichJulius departed abruptly23.
“Now then, Miss Tuppence,” said Sir James, “you know this place betterthan I do. Where do you suggest we should take up our quarters?”
Tuppence considered for a moment or two.
“I think Mrs. Vandemeyer’s boudoir would be the most comfortable,”
she said at last, and led the way there.
Sir James looked round approvingly.
“This will do very well, and now, my dear young lady, do go to bed andget some sleep.”
Tuppence shook her head resolutely24.
“I couldn’t, thank you, Sir James. I should dream of Mr. Brown allnight!”
“But you’ll be so tired, child.”
“No, I shan’t. I’d rather stay up—really.”
The lawyer gave in.
Julius reappeared some minutes later, having reassured25 Albert and re-warded him lavishly26 for his services. Having in his turn failed to persuadeTuppence to go to bed, he said decisively:
“At any rate, you’ve got to have something to eat right away. Where’sthe larder27?”
Tuppence directed him, and he returned in a few minutes with a coldpie and three plates.
After a hearty28 meal, the girl felt inclined to pooh-pooh her fancies ofhalf an hour before. The power of the money bribe29 could not fail.
“And now, Miss Tuppence,” said Sir James, “we want to hear your ad-ventures.”
“That’s so,” agreed Julius.
Tuppence narrated30 her adventures with some complacence. Julius occa-sionally interjected an admiring “Bully.” Sir James said nothing until shehad finished, when his quiet “Well done, Miss Tuppence,” made her flushwith pleasure.
“There’s one thing I don’t get clearly,” said Julius. “What put her up toclearing out?”
“I don’t know,” confessed Tuppence.
Sir James stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“The room was in great disorder31. That looks as though her flight was un-premeditated. Almost as though she got a sudden warning to go fromsomeone.”
“Mr. Brown, I suppose,” said Julius scoffingly32.
The lawyer looked at him deliberately33 for a minute or two.
“Why not?” he said. “Remember, you yourself have once been worstedby him.”
Julius flushed with vexation.
“I feel just mad when I think of how I handed out Jane’s photograph tohim like a lamb. Gee34, if I ever lay hands on it again, I’ll freeze on to it—likehell!”
“That contingency35 is likely to be a remote one,” said the other dryly.
“I guess you’re right,” said Julius frankly36. “And, in any case, it’s the ori-ginal I’m out after. Where do you think she can be, Sir James?”
The lawyer shook his head.
“Impossible to say. But I’ve a very good idea where she has been.”
“You have? Where?”
Sir James smiled.
“At the scene of your nocturnal adventures, the Bournemouth nursinghome.”
“There? Impossible. I asked.”
“No, my dear sir, you asked if anyone of the name of Jane Finn had beenthere. Now, if the girl had been placed there it would almost certainly beunder an assumed name.”
“Bully for you,” cried Julius. “I never thought of that!”
“It was fairly obvious,” said the other.
“Perhaps the doctor’s in it too,” suggested Tuppence.
Julius shook his head.
“I don’t think so. I took to him at once. No, I’m pretty sure Dr. Hall’s allright.”
“Hall, did you say?” asked Sir James. “That is curious—really very curi-ous.”
“Why?” demanded Tuppence.
“Because I happened to meet him this morning. I’ve known him slightlyon and off for some years, and this morning I ran across him in the street.
Staying at the Metropole, he told me.” He turned to Julius. “Didn’t he tellyou he was coming up to town?”
Julius shook his head.
“Curious,” mused37 Sir James. “You did not mention his name this after-noon, or I would have suggested your going to him for further informationwith my card as introduction.”
“I guess I’m a mutt,” said Julius with unusual humility38. “I ought to havethought of the false name stunt39.”
“How could you think of anything after falling out of that tree?” criedTuppence. “I’m sure anyone else would have been killed right off.”
“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now, anyway,” said Julius. “We’ve gotMrs. Vandemeyer on a string, and that’s all we need.”
“Yes,” said Tuppence, but there was a lack of assurance in her voice.
A silence settled down over the party. Little by little the magic of thenight began to gain hold on them. There were sudden creaks in the fur-niture, imperceptible rustlings in the curtains. Suddenly Tuppence sprangup with a cry.
“I can’t help it. I know Mr. Brown’s somewhere in the flat! I can feelhim.”
“Sure, Tuppence, how could he be? This door’s open into the hall. Noone could have come in by the front door without our seeing and hearinghim.”
“I can’t help it. I feel he’s here!”
She looked appealingly at Sir James, who replied gravely:
“With due deference40 to your feelings, Miss Tuppence (and mine as wellfor that matter), I do not see how it is humanly possible for anyone to bein the flat without our knowledge.”
The girl was a little comforted by his words.
“Sitting up at night is always rather jumpy,” she confessed.
“Yes,” said Sir James. “We are in the condition of people holding aséance. Perhaps if a medium were present we might get some marvellousresults.”
“Do you believe in spiritualism?” asked Tuppence, opening her eyeswide.
The lawyer shrugged41 his shoulders.
“There is some truth in it, without a doubt. But most of the testimonywould not pass muster42 in the witness-box.”
The hours drew on. With the first faint glimmerings of dawn, Sir Jamesdrew aside the curtains. They beheld43, what few Londoners see, the slowrising of the sun over the sleeping city. Somehow, with the coming of thelight, the dreads44 and fancies of the past night seemed absurd. Tuppence’sspirits revived to the normal.
“Hooray!” she said. “It’s going to be a gorgeous day. And we shall findTommy. And Jane Finn. And everything will be lovely. I shall ask Mr.
Carter if I can’t be made a Dame45!”
At seven o’clock Tuppence volunteered to go and make some tea. She re-turned with a tray, containing the teapot and four cups.
“Who’s the other cup for?” inquired Julius.
“The prisoner, of course. I suppose we might call her that?”
“Taking her tea seems a kind of anticlimax to last night,” said Juliusthoughtfully.
“Yes, it does,” admitted Tuppence. “But, anyway, here goes. Perhapsyou’d both come, too, in case she springs on me, or anything. You see, wedon’t know what mood she’ll wake up in.”
Sir James and Julius accompanied her to the door.
“Where’s the key? Oh, of course, I’ve got it myself.”
She put it in the lock, and turned it, then paused.
“Supposing, after all, she’s escaped?” she murmured in a whisper.
“Plumb impossible,” replied Julius reassuringly46.
But Sir James said nothing.
Tuppence drew a long breath and entered. She heaved a sigh of relief asshe saw that Mrs. Vandemeyer was lying on the bed.
“Good morning,” she remarked cheerfully. “I’ve brought you some tea.”
Mrs. Vandemeyer did not reply. Tuppence put down the cup on thetable by the bed and went across to draw up the blinds. When she turned,Mrs. Vandemeyer still lay without a movement. With a sudden fear clutch-ing at her heart, Tuppence ran to the bed. The hand she lifted was cold asice .?.?. Mrs. Vandemeyer would never speak now. .?.?.
Her cry brought the others. A very few minutes sufficed. Mrs. Vande-meyer was dead—must have been dead some hours. She had evidentlydied in her sleep.
“If that isn’t the cruellest luck,” cried Julius in despair.
The lawyer was calmer, but there was a curious gleam in his eyes.
“If it is luck,” he replied.
“You don’t think—but, say, that’s plumb impossible—no one could havegot in.”
“No,” admitted the lawyer. “I don’t see how they could. And yet—she ison the point of betraying Mr. Brown, and—she dies. Is it only chance?”
“But how—”
“Yes, how! That is what we must find out.” He stood there silently, gentlystroking his chin. “We must find out,” he said quietly, and Tuppence feltthat if she was Mr. Brown she would not like the tone of those simplewords.
Julius’s glance went to the window.
“The window’s open,” he remarked. “Do you think—”
Tuppence shook her head.
“The balcony only goes along as far as the boudoir. We were there.”
“He might have slipped out—” suggested Julius.
But Sir James interrupted him.
“Mr. Brown’s methods are not so crude. In the meantime we must sendfor a doctor, but before we do so is there anything in this room that mightbe of value to us?”
Hastily, the three searched. A charred47 mass in the grate indicated thatMrs. Vandemeyer had been burning papers on the eve of her flight. Noth-ing of importance remained, though they searched the other rooms aswell.
“There’s that,” said Tuppence suddenly, pointing to a small, old-fash-ioned safe let into the wall. “It’s for jewellery, I believe, but there might besomething else in it.”
The key was in the lock, and Julius swung open the door, and searchedinside. He was some time over the task.
“Well,” said Tuppence impatiently.
There was a pause before Julius answered, then he withdrew his headand shut the door.
“Nothing,” he said.
In five minutes a brisk young doctor arrived, hastily summoned. He wasdeferential to Sir James, whom he recognized.
“Heart failure, or possibly an overdose of some sleeping draught48. Hesniffed. “Rather an odour of chloral in the air.”
Tuppence remembered the glass she had upset. A new thought droveher to the washstand. She found the little bottle from which Mrs. Vande-meyer had poured a few drops.
It had been three parts full. Now—it was empty.
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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anticlimax
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| n.令人扫兴的结局；突降法 | |
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meditatively
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| adv.冥想地 | |
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inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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plumb
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| adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深 | |
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7
adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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malevolence
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| n.恶意，狠毒 | |
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sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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agonized
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| v.使（极度）痛苦，折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 )；苦斗；苦苦思索；感到极度痛苦 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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nervously
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loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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sinister
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lookout
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mite
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hopping
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| n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式 | |
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abruptly
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resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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lavishly
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larder
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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scoffingly
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| 带冷笑地 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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gee
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| n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转 | |
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contingency
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| n.意外事件，可能性 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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mused
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humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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stunt
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| n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长 | |
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40
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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41
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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43
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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44
dreads
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| n.恐惧，畏惧( dread的名词复数 )；令人恐惧的事物v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的第三人称单数 ) | |
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45
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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reassuringly
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| ad.安心，可靠 | |
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charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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48
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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