WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Roused by the angry uproar of the dogs, a tall, round-shouldered
individual appeared in the doorway. He had a melancholy cast of face
which was intensified by the lank black hair which hung upon his
shoulders. Indeed, the man looked more like some street preacher than
a suspect with a record of crime behind him. But the eyes were shrewd
enough, and so was the smile with which Perks greeted Venables when
the latter disclosed his identity.
"Ah, well, you was always one for your little games, sir," he said.
"Take care of that dog for you? Of course I will. And a rare beauty he
is. Is there anything else, gentlemen?"
"No," Venables explained. "Mind the dog is for sale if anybody asks
questions. You have had him for some time, and you want a big price
for him. Maybe we shall be able to find a job for you after dark
tonight, but as to that I can say nothing for the present. At any
rate, there is a five-pound note for you so long as you are discreet
and silent. I suppose I can come into your house and write a letter?
I'll get you to post it presently."
Perks intimated that his house was at the disposal of the visitors,
and they all trooped inside. The place looked cosy and comfortable
enough, though it was somewhat untidy. At one end of the table was a
china bowl, which was filled with odds and ends of small gold and
silver ornaments. Venables winked at Perks, and the latter grinned
sheepishly. He snatched up the bowl, and hastily removed it to a side
table. Ravenspur held out a detaining hand.
"One moment," he said, "I am rather fond of those kind of things. I
don't wish to be inquisitive, or to ask idle questions, but unless I
am greatly mistaken you have a Commonwealth porringer amongst those
things. I should like to look at it."
Perks bowed to the inevitable. He cursed himself slightly under his
breath for his folly in not removing everything, but he felt safe in
the hands of his visitors. They would not be likely to ask any
questions as to whence the plunder came. By the time that Venables had
written and stamped his letter, Lord Ravenspur came forward with a
small metal disc in his hand.
"This is a bit of a curio in its way," he said. "Intrinsically it is
worth very little, only a few shillings at the outside. If you like to
take a sovereign for it----"
Perks fell in with the suggestion eagerly enough. There was no reason
to stay any longer, and the trio set out for the hotel, feeling now
that it was possible to move without the slightest fear of alarming
the inhabitants of the cottage on the common.
"I suppose that was stolen property we caught Perks looking over?"
Ravenspur asked.
"Not the slightest doubt of it," Venables said coolly. "I daresay if
we had been voted suspicious the signal would have been flashed back
to the house to hide it at once. But if you thought it was stolen
property, Lord Ravenspur, why did you invest in that little disc which
you took such a fancy to?"
"I am going to tell you something startling," Ravenspur replied.
"Walter, you recollect that little ornament which I bought in Rome,
and subsequently gave to poor Delahay who took a great fancy to it? I
had his initials engraved on the back. He wore it on his watch-chain."
"I recollect it perfectly well," Walter said. "Delahay was wearing it
the last time I ever saw him. But what has all this got to do with
your purchase of this morning?"
"Only that it happens to be the same thing," Ravenspur said quietly.
"I recognised it in a moment. Oh, there is no mistake. Here is the
disc for you to examine for yourself. You will see the initials and
the date on the back of it. As soon as we get time, we must ascertain
from Inspector Dallas if Delahay's watch was missing when his body was
found. If so, then this opens quite a new phase of the mystery. On the
whole, I am not at all sorry that we came here today. Of course, I
kept my knowledge to myself, because I didn't want to arouse Perks'
suspicions. But if we can contrive to find out from whom he bought
this thing we shall be going a long way to clear up the mystery of
poor Delahay's death."
The matter was discussed at some length over the breakfast, to which
all of them did ample justice. Once this was finished, they made their
way back to the common again, and sat down on the grass to mature
their plan of campaign.
"Now what we want to do," Venables began, "is this. We want to be in a
position to make a close study of yonder house without arousing the
suspicions of the people there. I racked my brain for a long time
before I could think of a feasible scheme. And then it came to to me
like an inspiration. What could we do better than pass ourselves off
as an Ordnance Survey party down here on business? That is why I
procured the official-looking caps, to say nothing of the theodolite
and the notebooks. Now you, Lord Ravenspur, have only got to look wise
and give us directions. You look exactly like the head of an exploring
party. We will pretend to work the theodolite, and make measurements,
and all that kind of thing."
"Inside the grounds?" Walter asked.
"Of course," Venables went on; "that is the beauty of the scheme. No
spot of ground is sacred to an Ordnance party. I have actually seen
them work inside a church. All we have got to do is to go about our
business boldly and be quite firm if anybody attempts to molest us. It
may be news to you that nobody can be prosecuted for trespass unless
specific damage is done."
The instruments were recovered presently from the hiding-place, and
with the theodolite on his shoulder Venables stepped boldly on to the
lawn in front of the house, and gravely went to work. The blinds
were all up by this time. The windows were opened, and a glimpse of
well-furnished rooms could be seen in the background. A couple of
maids stood in one of the windows, and watched the strangers
curiously.
"It looks respectable enough," Venables muttered, pretending to be
exceedingly busy. "You may depend upon it, this is a tougher job than
we anticipated. These servants are all right. You may be sure that
they know nothing of what is going on. However, to make certain, I'll
ask them for myself."
Venables approached the window and asked civilly for the loan of a
small piece of string. He came back presently, after a chat of a
minute or two, and once more appeared to be wholly engrossed in his
instrument. At the same time, he was telling his companions the
information which he had gleaned.
"I knew I was right," he said. "The house has been let furnished to an
Italian gentleman called something or another, I didn't quite catch
what, and the people only came down yesterday. Those servants go with
the freehold, so to speak, and they have all been in their present
situation for some considerable time. Their master is a City
stockbroker, who, with his family, is on the Continent for the next
month or two. If we are lucky we shall probably get a sight of the
Italian presently, though I expect we have all got a pretty shrewd
notion who the gentleman is."
The work proceeded gravely for a quarter of an hour. Levels appeared
to be taken, and there was much entering of figures in the notebooks.
Presently, as Walter glanced around him, he drew a deep breath, for
there was no mistaking the identity of the slim figure that emerged
from one of the open French windows and came striding eagerly down the
lawn.
"Silva," Walter said under his breath. "Don't pretend to see him till
he gets quite close. I think it would be a good thing if we left all
the interviewing to Venables."
The Italian approached the group and superciliously demanded to know
what they were doing there. He looked quite the master of the place in
his cool, flannel suit. He had a cigarette between his strong, white
teeth.
"Why are you trespassing here?" he demanded. "Don't you know that this
is private property? Go, or I will call in the police and give you
into custody."
"The police won't help you in this case," Venables said with the air
of a military man who is quite sure of his ground. "We are here on
Government business. I don't know if you understand what I mean, but
we are surveying, and nobody has a right to interfere with us,
providing we do no damage. We can come into the house if we like.
Indeed, I am not quite sure that we shan't have to. I see you have got
a flat roof, sir, with railings round. If we have occasion to take the
theodolite up there I will ring the bell and let you know."
The whole thing was so coolly and naturally done that Silva was taken
aback for the moment. Evidently he had come out of the house full of
suspicion, and with the fixed intention of getting rid of these
intruders as soon as possible. There was an uneasy look in his eyes as
Venables suggested the roof of the house as the field of action. He
deemed it wise to shift his ground altogether.
"That will be very inconvenient," he said, in quite another voice. "I
hope you will be able to manage without that if you can. However, if
you will give me an hour's notice, I daresay----"
But Walter was no longer listening. He was standing up regarding the
house with a professional eye. His gaze vaguely took in a dormer
window immediately under the roof. There were bars to the window,
pointing to the fact that at some time or another the room had been
used as a nursery. The window was blank for a moment, then a face
appeared and looked out.
That instant was enough for Walter. There was no mistaking those
features. They were those of Vera Rayne.