"Don't worry," I said, "I've got him all right."
Bobby looked round blankly. "Well, where is he?" he demanded. "In
the basket?"
"No," I explained. "That's a little addition to the larder.
Campbell couldn't get away till the six o'clock train. He's coming
straight through to Martlesea, and I've arranged for you to pick him
up at the station."
With a satisfied nod Robert relieved me of my burden, and having paid
the cabman, we started off together up the jetty.
"There's no reason why you shouldn't shove off at once," I added,
"not if you're in a hurry. We can't do anything here till Campbell
arrives."
"I suppose I ought to," said Bobby rather doubtfully. "All the same,
I'm not over keen on leaving you alone."
He stepped down with the hamper into the dinghy, and I took my place
at the tiller.
"I shan't get into any mischief," I assured him. "I shall take
Campbell's tip and lock myself up in the house with a loaded
revolver. He's heard the whole yarn and he quite approves of our
present arrangements."
As briefly as possible I went on to describe my interview in Angel
Court and the dramatic news which the Inspector had given me with
regard to Manning's real identity.
"I always knew he was a bad egg," grunted Bobby, tugging away grimly
at his oars. "It's uncommon lucky for you that you happened to make
a hit with that girl of yours. If it hadn't been for her----"
He left the sentence unfinished, and with a few vicious strokes ran
up alongside the motor-boat, where Jenkins was awaiting our arrival.
"Well, you pop off," I said, preparing to take his seat. "I've told
Campbell to look out for you on the platform, so you can't very well
miss each other. I'll expect you back here about eight-thirty."
Bobby clambered on board, and, waving him farewell, I rowed on to the
landing-stage, where I proceeded to disembark. I stood there until
they had cast off their moorings and were heading out into the
estuary; then with the hamper on my shoulder I trudged off towards
the house.
The first thing I did on getting inside was to lock the front door
and close up all the shutters. It was rather an undignified
business--barricading oneself in one's own house in broad
daylight--but, as somebody says in the Bible, "there's a time for
everything," and it seemed to me that this was the right occasion for
a little judicious cowardice.
Having secured my defences, my next step was to unpack the hamper. I
arranged its contents in a tempting array on the empty shelves of the
larder, and then, after boiling a kettle and making myself a cup of
tea, I settled down on the hall sofa with a bundle of papers which I
had brought down from town.
For any use they were to me, however, I might as well have left them
behind. Try as I would, I was quite unable to fix my attention on
what I was reading, and in a very little while I gave up the attempt
in despair, and finally abandoned myself to my own thoughts.
Now that I had done everything I could I was once more beginning to
feel intensely worried about Christine. Not a word or message had
come from her since she had disappeared into the fog at Pen Mill, and
knowing, as she must have done, the state of anxiety I should be in,
this complete silence was all the more ominous and suggestive.
The murder of Bascomb and the facts which Campbell had discovered
with reference to Manning's past history added to my misgivings.
Except for the poor protection afforded by her uncle and the old
French servant, she was at the mercy of one of the most cunning and
pitiless scoundrels who had ever escaped the gallows. Every evil
impulse in his nature must have been roused to life by the events of
the previous afternoon, and still more bitterly than before I cursed
my own folly and weakness in ever having permitted her to leave the
island.
I was sitting there gnawing my lip and staring at the empty grate
when a sudden sound in the verandah outside attracted my attention.
Faint as it was, every muscle in my body stiffened instinctively. In
one rapid movement I whipped out Manning's revolver, and the next
moment I was crouching forward, my eyes fixed on the shutters.
For perhaps a couple of seconds the silence remained unbroken. Then,
clear and unmistakable, came a low whistle, followed almost
immediately by two sharp taps upon the pane.