It was ten o’clock on the following morning. The sun poured in throughthe windows of the library, where Superintendent Battle had been at worksince six. On a summons from him, George Lomax, Sir Oswald Coote andJimmy Thesiger had just joined him, having repaired the fatigues3 of thenight with a substantial breakfast. Jimmy’s arm was in a sling4, but he borelittle trace of the night’s affray.
The Superintendent eyed all three of them benevolently5, somewhat withthe air of a kindly6 curator explaining a museum to little boys. On the tablebeside him were various objects, neatly7 labelled. Amongst them Jimmy re-cognized Leopold.
“Ah, Superintendent,” said George, “I have been anxious to know howyou have progressed. Have you caught the man?”
“He’ll take a lot of catching8, he will,” said the Superintendent.
His failure in that respect did not appear to rankle9 with him.
George Lomax did not look particularly well-pleased. He detested10 levityof any kind.
“I’ve got everything taped out pretty clearly,” went on the detective.
He took up two objects from the table.
“Here we’ve got the two bullets. The largest is a .455, fired from Mr.
Thesiger’s Colt automatic. Grazed the window sash and I found it embed-ded in the trunk of that cedar11 tree. This little fellow was fired from theMauser .25. After passing through Mr. Thesiger’s arm, it embedded12 itselfin this armchair here. As for the pistol itself—”
“Well?” said Sir Oswald eagerly. “Any fingerprints13?”
Battle shook his head.
“The man who handled it wore gloves,” he said slowly.
“A pity,” said Sir Oswald.
“A man who knew his business would wear gloves. Am I right in think-ing, Sir Oswald, that you found this pistol just about twenty yards from thebottom of the steps leading up to the terrace?”
Sir Oswald stepped to the window.
“Yes, almost exactly, I should say.”
“I don’t want to find fault, but it would have been wiser on your part,sir, to leave it exactly as you found it.”
“I am sorry,” said Sir Oswald stiffly.
“Oh, it doesn’t matter. I’ve been able to reconstruct things. There wereyour footprints, you see, leading up from the bottom of the garden, and aplace where you had obviously stopped and stooped down, and a kind ofdent in the grass which was highly suggestive. By the way, what was yourtheory of the pistol being there?”
“I presumed that it had been dropped by the man in his flight.”
Battle shook his head.
“Not dropped. Sir Oswald. There are two points against that. To beginwith, there are only one set of footprints crossing the lawn just there—your own.”
“I see,” said Sir Oswald thoughtfully.
“Can you be sure of that, Battle?” put in George.
“Quite sure, sir. There is one other set of tracks crossing the lawn, MissWade’s, but they are a good deal further to the left.”
He paused, and then went on: “And there’s the dent2 in the ground. Thepistol must have struck the ground with some force. It all points to its hav-ing been thrown.”
“Well, why not?” said Sir Oswald. “Say the man fled down the path tothe left. He’d leave no footprints on the path and he’d hurl15 the pistol awayfrom him into the middle of the lawn, eh, Lomax?”
George agreed by a nod of the head.
“It’s true that he’d leave no footprints on the path,” said Battle, “butfrom the shape of the dent and the way the turf was cut, I don’t think thepistol was thrown from that direction. I think it was thrown from the ter-race here.”
“Very likely,” said Sir Oswald. “Does it matter, Superintendent?”
“Ah, yes, Battle,” broke in George. “Is it—er—strictly relevant?”
“Perhaps not, Mr. Lomax. But we like to get things just so, you know. Iwonder now if one of you gentlemen would take this pistol and throw it.
Will you, Sir Oswald? That’s very kind. Stand just there in the window.
Now fling it into the middle of the lawn.”
Sir Oswald complied, sending the pistol flying through the air with apowerful sweep of his arm. Jimmy Thesiger drew near with breathless in-terest. The Superintendent lumbered16 off after it like a well- trained re-triever. He reappeared with a beaming face.
“That’s it, sir. Just the same kind of mark. Although, by the way, you sentit a good ten yards farther. But then, you’re a very powerfully built man,aren’t you, Sir Oswald? Excuse me, I thought I heard someone at thedoor.”
The Superintendent’s ears must have been very much sharper than any-one else’s. Nobody else had heard a sound, but Battle was proved right, forLady Coote stood outside, a medicine glass in her hand.
“Your medicine, Oswald,” she said, advancing into the room. “You forgotit after breakfast.”
“I’m very busy, Maria,” said Sir Oswald. “I don’t want my medicine.”
“You would never take it if it wasn’t for me,” said his wife serenely17, ad-vancing upon him. “You’re just like a naughty little boy. Drink it up now.”
And meekly18, obediently, the great steel magnate drank it up!
Lady Coote smiled sadly and sweetly at everyone.
“Am I interrupting you? Are you very busy? Oh, look at those revolvers.
Nasty, noisy, murdering things. To think, Oswald, that you might havebeen shot by the burglar last night.”
“You must have been alarmed when you found he was missing, LadyCoote,” said Battle.
“I didn’t think of it at first,” confessed Lady Coote. “This poor boyhere”—she indicated Jimmy—“being shot—and everything so dreadful,but so exciting. It wasn’t till Mr. Bateman asked me where Sir Oswald wasthat I remembered he’d gone out half an hour before for a stroll.”
“Sleepless, eh, Sir Oswald?” asked Battle.
“I am usually an excellent sleeper,” said Sir Oswald. “But I must confessthat last night I felt unusually restless. I thought the night air would do megood.”
“You came out through this window, I suppose?”
Was it his fancy, or did Sir Oswald hesitate for a moment before reply-ing?
“Yes.”
“In your pumps too,” said Lady Coote, “instead of putting thick shoes on.
What would you do without me to look after you?”
She shook her head sadly.
“I think, Maria, if you don’t mind leaving us—we have still a lot to dis-cuss.”
“I know, dear, I’m just going.”
Lady Coote withdrew, carrying the empty medicine glass as though itwere a goblet19 out of which she had just administered a death potion.
“Well, Battle,” said George Lomax, “it all seems clear enough. Yes, per-fectly clear. The man fires a shot, disabling Mr. Thesiger, flings away theweapon, runs along the terrace and down the gravel20 path.”
“Where he ought to have been caught by my men,” put in Battle.
“Your men, if I may say so, Battle, seem to have been singularly remiss21.
They didn’t see Miss Wade14 come in. If they could miss her coming in, theycould easily miss the thief going out.”
Superintendent Battle opened his mouth to speak, then seemed to thinkbetter of it. Jimmy Thesiger looked at him curiously22. He would have givena lot to know just what was in Superintendent Battle’s mind.
“Must have been a champion runner,” was all the Scotland Yard mancontented himself with saying.
“How do you mean, Battle?”
“Just what I say, Mr. Lomax. I was round the corner of the terrace my-self not fifty seconds after the shot was fired. And for a man to run all thatdistance towards me and get round the corner of the path before I ap-peared round the side of the house—well, as I say, he must have been achampion runner.”
“I am at a loss to understand you, Battle. You have some idea of yourown which I have not yet—er—grasped. You say the man did not go acrossthe lawn, and now you hint—What exactly do you hint? That the man didnot go down the path? Then in your opinion—er—where did he go?”
For answer, Superintendent Battle jerked an eloquent23 thumb upwards24.
“Eh?” said George.
The Superintendent jerked harder than ever. George raised his headand looked at the ceiling.
“Up there,” said Battle. “Up the ivy25 again.”
“Nonsense, Superintendent. What you are suggesting is impossible.”
“Not at all impossible, sir. He’d done it once. He could do it twice.”
“I don’t mean impossible in that sense. But if the man wanted to escape,he’d never bolt back into the house.”
“Safest place for him, Mr. Lomax.”
“But Mr. O’Rourke’s door was still locked on the inside when we came tohim.”
“And how did you get to him? Through Sir Stanley’s room. That’s theway our man went. Lady Eileen tells me she saw the door knob of Mr.
O’Rourke’s room move. That was when our friend was up there the firsttime. I suspect the key was under Mr. O’Rourke’s pillow. But his exit isclear enough the second time — through the communicating door andthrough Sir Stanley’s room, which, of course, was empty. Like everyoneelse, Sir Stanley is rushing downstairs to the library. Our man’s got a clearcourse.”
“And where did he go then?”
Superintendent Battle shrugged26 his burly shoulders and became evas-ive.
“Plenty of ways open. Into an empty room on the other side of the houseand down the ivy again—out through a side door—or, just possibly, if itwas an inside job, he—well, stayed in the house.”
George looked at him in shocked surprise.
“Really, Battle, I should—I should feel it very deeply if one of my ser-vants—er—I have the most perfect reliance on them—it would distress27 mevery much to have to suspect—”
“Nobody’s asking you to suspect anyone, Mr. Lomax. I’m just putting allthe possibilities before you. The servants may be all right—probably are.”
“You have disturbed me,” said George. “You have disturbed me greatly.”
His eyes appeared more protuberant28 than ever.
To distract him, Jimmy poked29 delicately at a curious blackened object onthe table.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“That’s exhibit Z,” said Battle. “The last of our little lot. It is, or rather ithas been, a glove.”
He picked it up, the charred30 relic31, and manipulated it with pride.
“Where did you find it?” asked Sir Oswald.
Battle jerked his head over his shoulder.
“In the grate—nearly burnt, but not quite. Queer looks as though it hadbeen chewed by a dog.”
“It might possibly be Miss Wade’s,” suggested Jimmy. “She has severaldogs.”
The Superintendent shook his head.
“This isn’t a lady’s glove—no, not even the large kind of loose gloveladies wear nowadays. Put it on, sir, a moment.”
He adjusted the blackened object over Jimmy’s hand.
“You see—it’s large even for you.”
“Do you attach importance to this discovery?” inquired Sir Oswaldcoldly.
“You never know, Sir Oswald, what’s going to be important or whatisn’t.”
There was a sharp tap at the door and Bundle entered.
“I’m so sorry,” she said apologetically. “But Father has just rung up. Hesays I must come home because everybody is worrying him.”
She paused.
“Yes, my dear Eileen?” said George encouragingly, perceiving that therewas more to come.
“I wouldn’t have interrupted you—only that I thought it might perhapshave something to do with all this. You see, what has upset Father is thatone of our footmen is missing. He went out last night and hasn’t comeback.”
“What is the man’s name?” It was Sir Oswald who took up the cross-ex-amination.
“John Bauer.”
“An Englishman?”
“I believe he calls himself a Swiss—but I think he’s a German. He speaksEnglish perfectly32, though.”
“Ah!” Sir Oswald drew in his breath with a long, satisfied hiss33. “And hehas been at Chimneys—how long?”
“Just under a month.”
Sir Oswald turned to the other two.
“Here is our missing man. You know, Lomax, as well as I do, that severalforeign Governments are after the thing. I remember the man now per-fectly—tall, well-drilled fellow. Came about a fortnight before we left. Aclever move. Any new servants here would be closely scrutinized34, but atChimneys, five miles away—” He did not finish the sentence.
“You think the plan was laid so long beforehand?”
“Why not? There are millions in that formula, Lomax. Doubtless Bauerhoped to get access to my private papers at Chimneys, and to learn some-thing of forthcoming arrangements from them. It seems likely that he mayhave had an accomplice35 in this house—someone who put him wise to thelie of the land and who saw to the doping of O’Rourke. But Bauer was theman Miss Wade saw climbing down the ivy—the big, powerful man.”
He turned to Superintendent Battle.
“Bauer was your man, Superintendent. And, somehow or other, you lethim slip through your fingers.”
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1
superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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dent
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| n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展 | |
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fatigues
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| n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服 | |
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sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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benevolently
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| adv.仁慈地，行善地 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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rankle
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| v.（怨恨，失望等）难以释怀 | |
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detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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embedded
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| a.扎牢的 | |
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fingerprints
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| n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 ) | |
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wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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15
hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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16
lumbered
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| 砍伐（lumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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serenely
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| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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18
meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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19
goblet
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| n.高脚酒杯 | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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remiss
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| adj.不小心的，马虎 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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25
ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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protuberant
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| adj.突出的，隆起的 | |
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29
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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30
charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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scrutinized
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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accomplice
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| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
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