THE AFFAIR OF THE PINK PEARL (continued)
Tuppence watched him drive off in the car with a faint misgiving. Tommy
was very sure--she herself was not so sure. There were one or two
things she did not quite understand.
She was still standing by the window, watching the road, when she saw
a man leave the shelter of a gateway opposite, cross the road and ring
the bell.
In a flash Tuppence was out of the room and down the stairs. Gladys
Hill, the parlormaid, was emerging from the back part of the house, but
Tuppence motioned her back authoritatively. Then she went to the front
door and opened it.
A lanky young man with ill-fitting clothes, and eager dark eyes was
standing on the step.
He hesitated a moment, and then said, "Is Miss Kingston Bruce in?"
"Will you come inside?" said Tuppence.
She stood aside to let him enter, closing the door.
"Mr. Rennie, I think?" she said sweetly.
He shot a quick glance at her.
"Er--yes."
"Will you come in here, please?"
She opened the study door. The room was empty, and Tuppence entered it
after him, closing the door behind her. He turned on her with a frown.
"I want to see Miss Kingston Bruce."
"I am not quite sure that you can," said Tuppence composedly.
"Look here, who the devil are you?" said Mr. Rennie rudely.
"International Detective Agency," said Tuppence succinctly--and noticed
Mr. Rennie's uncontrollable start.
"Please sit down, Mr. Rennie," she went on. "To begin with, we know all
about Miss Kingston Bruce's visit to you this morning."
It was a bold guess, but it succeeded. Perceiving his consternation,
Tuppence went on quickly.
"The recovery of the pearl is the great thing, Mr. Rennie. No one
in this house is anxious for--publicity. Can't we come to some
arrangement?"
The young man looked at her keenly.
"I wonder how much you know," he said thoughtfully. "Let me think for a
moment."
He buried his head in his hands--then asked a most unexpected question.
"I say, is it really true that young St. Vincent is engaged to be
married?"
"Quite true," said Tuppence. "I know the girl."
Mr. Rennie suddenly became confidential.
"It's been hell," he confided. "They've been asking him here morning,
noon and night--chucking Beatrice at his head. All because he'll come
into a title some day. If I had my way--"
"Don't let's talk politics," said Tuppence hastily. "Do you mind
telling me, Mr. Rennie, why you think Miss Kingston Bruce took the
pearl?"
"I--I don't."
"You do," said Tuppence calmly. "You wait to see the detective, as you
think, drive off and the coast clear, and then you come and ask for
her. It's obvious. If you'd taken the pearl yourself, you wouldn't be
half so upset."
"Her manner was so odd," said the young man. "She came this morning and
told me about the robbery, explaining that she was on her way to a firm
of private detectives. She seemed anxious to say something, and yet not
able to get it out."
"Well," said Tuppence. "All I want is the pearl. You'd better go and
talk to her."
But at that moment Colonel Kingston Bruce opened the door.
"Lunch is ready, Miss Robinson. You will lunch with us, I hope. The--"
Then he stopped and glared at the guest.
"Clearly," said Mr. Rennie, "you don't want to ask me to lunch. All
right, I'll go."
"Come back later," whispered Tuppence, as he passed her.
Tuppence followed Colonel Kingston Bruce, still growling into his
moustache about the pestilential impudence of some people, into a
massive dining-room where the family was already assembled. Only one
person present was unknown to Tuppence.
"This, Lady Laura, is Miss Robinson who is kindly assisting us."
Lady Laura bent her head, and then proceeded to stare at Tuppence
through her pince nez. She was a tall, thin woman, with a sad smile, a
gentle voice, and very hard shrewd eyes. Tuppence returned her stare,
and Lady Laura's eyes dropped.
After lunch Lady Laura entered into conversation with an air of gentle
curiosity. How was the inquiry proceeding? Tuppence laid suitable
stress on the suspicion attaching to the parlormaid, but her mind was
not really on Lady Laura. Lady Laura might conceal teaspoons and other
articles in her clothing, but Tuppence felt fairly sure that she had
not taken the pink pearl.
Presently Tuppence proceeded with her search of the house. Time was
going on. There was no sign of Tommy, and, what mattered far more to
Tuppence, there was no sign of Mr. Rennie. Suddenly Tuppence came out
of a bedroom and collided with Beatrice Kingston Bruce who was going
down stairs. She was fully dressed for the street.
"I'm afraid," said Tuppence, "that you mustn't go out just now."
The other girl looked at her haughtily.
"Whether I go out or not is no business of yours," she said coldly.
"It is my business whether I communicate with the police or not,
though," said Tuppence.
In a minute the girl had turned ashy pale.
"You mustn't--you mustn't--I won't go out--but don't do that." She
clung to Tuppence beseechingly.
"My dear Miss Kingston Bruce," said Tuppence smiling. "The case has
been perfectly clear to me from the start--I--"
But she was interrupted. In the stress of her encounter with the girl,
Tuppence had not heard the front door bell. Now, to her astonishment,
Tommy came bounding up the stairs, and in the hall below she caught
sight of a big burly man in the act of removing a bowler hat.
"Detective Inspector Marriot of Scotland Yard," he said with a grin.
With a cry, Beatrice Kingston Bruce tore herself from Tuppence's grasp
and dashed down the stairs, just as the front door was opened once more
to admit Mr. Rennie.
"Now you _have_ torn it," said Tuppence bitterly.
"Eh?" said Tommy, hurrying into Lady Laura's room. He passed on into
the bathroom, and picked up a large cake of soap which he brought out
in his hands. The Inspector was just mounting the stairs.
"She went quite quietly," he announced. "She's an old hand, and knows
when the game is up. What about the pearl?"
"I rather fancy," said Tommy, handing him the soap, "that you'll find
it in here."
The Inspector's eyes lit up appreciatively.
"An old trick, and a good one. Cut a cake of soap in half, scoop out a
place for the jewel, clap it together again, and smooth the joint well
over with hot water. A very smart piece of work on your part, sir."
Tommy accepted the compliment gracefully. He and Tuppence descended the
stairs. Colonel Kingston Bruce rushed at him and shook him warmly by
the hand.
"My dear sir, I can't thank you enough. Lady Laura wants to thank you
also--"
"I am glad we have given you satisfaction," said Tommy. "But I'm afraid
I can't stop. I have a most urgent appointment. Member of the Cabinet."
He hurried out to the car and jumped in. Tuppence jumped in beside him.
"But Tommy," she cried. "Haven't they arrested Lady Laura, after all?"
"Oh!" said Tommy. "Didn't I tell you? They've not arrested Lady Laura.
They've arrested Elise."
"You see," he went on, as Tuppence sat dumbfounded, "I've often tried
to open a door with soap on my hands myself. It can't be done--your
hands slip. So I wondered what Elise could have been doing with the
soap to get her hands as soapy as all that. She caught up a towel, you
remember, so there were no traces of soap on the handle afterwards. But
it occurred to me that if you were a professional thief, it wouldn't
be a bad plan to be maid to a lady suspected of kleptomania who stayed
about a good deal in different houses. So I managed to get a photo
of her as well as of the room, induced her to handle a glass slide
and toddled off to dear old Scotland Yard. Lightning development of
negative, successful identification of fingerprints--and photo. Elise
was a long lost friend. Useful place, Scotland Yard."
"And to think," said Tuppence, finding her voice, "that those two young
idiots were only suspecting each other in that weak way they do it in
books. But why didn't you tell me what you were up to when you went
off?"
"In the first place, I suspected that Elise was listening on the
landing, and in the second place--"
"Yes?"
"My learned friend forgets," said Tommy. "Thorndyke never tells until
the last moment. Besides, Tuppence, you and your pal Janet Smith put
one over on me last time. This makes us all square."