WHERE IS THE RING?
Van Sneck looked up with some signs of confusion. He had not
expected a question of that kind. There was just the suggestion of
cunning on his face.
"A ring!" he murmured, vaguely. "A ring! What ring?"
"Now, look here," David said, sternly. "You are more or less in our
power, you know, but we are not disposed to be hard on you so long as you
are quite candid with us. Henson required something that he believed to
be in your possession; indeed, you have as good as said you had it with
you. Henson lured you into my house to get that more than anything else.
That he would have killed you even after he got it, I firmly believe. But
that is not the point. Now, was not Henson looking for Prince Rupert's
ring that you got from him by means of a trick?"
Van Sneck dropped his hands helplessly on the bed.
"Gentlemen," he whined, "you are too much for me. The marvellous
accuracy of your knowledge is absolutely overwhelming. It was the ring
Henson was after."
"The one you stole from him years ago! But what did you know about it?"
Van Sneck smiled.
"There is no living man who knows more about those things than I do," he
said. "It is a passion and a study with me. And some seven years ago, in
Holland, Henson gave me the description of a ring he wanted me to copy.
Henson never told me what the ring was called, but I knew it was the
Prince Rupert ring. I made the copy, and Henson was pleased with it. Some
time later he came to me with the original, and asked for another copy. I
meant to be honest, but my love for those things got the better of me. I
made him two copies: the one good, and the other an exact facsimile of
the Prince Rupert. These I handed over to Henson, and he went away
perfectly satisfied that he had a good copy and the original. I chuckled
to myself, feeling pretty sure that he would never find out."
"But he did find out?" David said.
"Only lately. Probably he took it to an expert for valuation or perhaps
for sale. Lately his idea was to offer the ring to Lord Littimer for a
huge sum of money, but when he discovered he had been done he knew that
Lord Littimer would not be so deceived. Also he had a pretty good idea
that I should keep the ring about me. You see, I dared not sell an
historic gem like that. And, as usual, Henson was perfectly right."
"Then you had the ring in your pocket the night you came here?" asked
Steel, with a commendable effort at coolness. "Did Henson get it?"
"No, he didn't," Van Sneck chuckled. "Come what might, I had made up my
mind that he should never see that ring again. You see, I was frightened
and confused, and I was not properly sober, and I did something with the
ring, though to save my life I couldn't say what I did. Do you know, Dr.
Bell, I have lost my sense of smell?"
Steel wriggled impatiently about on his chair. The interruption was
exasperating. Bell, however, seemed to take a different view of the
matter altogether.
"Quite naturally," he said. "The blow on your head held all your senses
suspended for a time. After the operation I should not have been
surprised to have found you half blind and stone deaf into the bargain.
But one thing is certain--your smell will come back to you. It may remain
in abeyance for a few days, it may return in a few moments."
"What on earth has this to do with our interview?" David asked.
"I fancy a great deal," Bell said. "The sense of smell has a great deal
to do with memory. Doesn't the scent of flowers bring back vivid
recollections of things sometimes for years forgotten? Van Sneck was
going to say the air was heavy with the fragrance of some particular
blossom when he was struck down by Henson in your conservatory."
"Very clever man, Dr. Bell," Van Sneck said, admiringly. "He seems to see
right through your mind and out at the other side. To a great extent I
recollect all that happened that eventful night. And just at the very
last I seem to smell something powerful. That smell came to my nostrils
just like a flash and then had gone again. Gentlemen, if I could have a
good long scent at that flower I tell you what I did with that ring."
"Sounds rather complex," David said.
"Not a bit of it," Bell retorted. "Our friend is talking sound common
sense, and our friend is going to rest now late into the afternoon, when
we'll put him into an armchair with some pillows and let him sit in the
conservatory. Associating with familiar surroundings frequently works
wonders. Van Sneck, you go to sleep."
Van Sneck closed his eyes obediently. He was somewhat tired with the
interview. But, on the whole, Bell decided that he was doing very well
indeed. And there was very little more to be done for the present. The
two men smoked their cigars peacefully.
"We have got to the end," Bell said.
"I fancy so," David murmured, "But we can't save the scandal. I don't see
how Reginald Henson is going to get out of the mess without a
prosecution."
Any further speculation as to the future of that engaging rascal was cut
short by a pleasant surprise, no other than the unexpected arrival of
Ruth Gates and Chris Henson. The latter was beaming with health and
happiness; she had discarded her disguise, and stood confessed before all
the world like the beautiful creature that she was.
"What does it all mean?" David asked. "What will Longdean village say?"
"What does Longdean village know?" Chris retorted. "They are vaguely
aware that somebody was taken away from the house a short time ago to be
buried, but that is all their knowledge. And there is no more need for
disguise, Lord Littimer says. He knows pretty well everything. He has
been very restless and uneasy for the past day or two, and yesterday he
left saying that he had business in London. Early to-day I had a
characteristic telegram from him saying that he was at Longdean, and that
I was necessary to his comfort there. I was to come clothed in my right
mind, and I was to bring Mr. Steel and Dr. Bell along."
"It can't be managed," said Bell. "We've got Van Sneck here."
"And I had forgotten all about him," said Chris. "Was the operation
successful?"
Bell told his budget of good news down to the story of the ring and the
mysterious manner in which it had disappeared again. David had followed
Ruth into the conservatory, where she stood with her dainty head buried
over a rose.
She looked up with a warm, shy smile on her face.
"I hope you are satisfied," she said, "you are safe now?"
"I was never very much alarmed, dearest," Steel said. "If this thing had
never happened I might never have met you. And as soon as this business
is definitely settled I shall come and see your uncle. I am a very
impatient man, Ruth."
"And you shall see my uncle when you please, dear," she said. "You will
find him quite as charming as you say your mother is. What will she say?"
"Say? That you are the dearest and sweetest girl in the world, and that I
am a lucky fellow. But you are not going off already?"
"Indeed, we must. We have a cab at the door. And I am going to brave the
horrors of Longdean Grange and spend the night there. Only, I fancy that
the horrors have gone for ever. I shall be very disappointed if you don't
come to-morrow."
Behind a friendly palm David bent and kissed the shy lips, with a vow
that he would see Longdean Grange on the morrow. Then Chris caught up
Ruth with a whirl, and they were gone.
It was after ten that Bell and Steel managed to convey Van Sneck to the
conservatory. The place was filled with brightness and scent and colour
and the afterglow of the sunshine. The artistic eye of the Dutchman
lighted up with genuine pleasure.
"They say you islanders are crude and cold, and have no sense of the
beautiful," he said. "But there are no houses anywhere to compare with
those of the better-class Englishman. Look at those colours blending--"
"Hang those colours," said Bell, vigorously. "Steel, there is nothing
like moisture to bring out the full fragrance of flowers. Turn on your
hose and give your plants a good watering."
"It's the proper time," David laughed. "Turn on the tap for me."
A cooling stream played on the flowers; plants dropped their heads filled
with the diamond moisture; the whole atmosphere was filled with the odour
of moist earth. Then the air seemed laden with the mingled scent.
"I can smell the soil," Van Sneck cried. "How good it is to smell
anything again! And I can just catch a suggestion of the perfume of
something familiar. What's that red bloom?"
He pointed to a creeper growing up the wall. David broke off a spray.
"That's a kind of Japanese passion flower," he said. "It has a lovely
full-flavoured scent like a mixture of violets and almonds. Smell it."
Van Sneck placed the wet dripping spray to his nose. Just for an instant
it conveyed nothing to him. Then he half rose with a triumphant cry.
"Steady there," said Bell. "You mustn't get up, you know. I see you are
excited. Has it come back to you again?"
"That's the scent," Van Sneck cried. "The air was full of that as I fell
backwards. And Henson stood over me exactly by that cracked tile where
Mr. Steel is now. Give me a moment and I shall be able to tell you
everything ... Oh, yes, the first time I slipped on purpose. I told you I
stumbled. But that was a ruse. And as I fell I took the ring from my
waistcoat-pocket ... Let me have another sniff of that bloom. Yes, I've
got it now quite clear."
"You know where the ring is?" David asked, eagerly.
"Well, not quite that. I took it from my pocket and pitched it away from
me ... I saw it fall on to a pot covered with moss, but I can't say which
pot or in which corner. I only know that I threw it over my shoulder, and
that it dropped into the thick moss that lies on the top of all the pots.
I laughed to myself as it fell, and I rejoiced to see that Henson knew
nothing of it."
"And it is still here?" Bell demanded.
Van Sneck nodded solemnly.
"I swear it," he said. "Prince Rupert's ring is in this conservatory."