“Mr。Fentolinwouldliketospeaktoyou,inspector,“hesaid,“ifyouwillcomethisway。“
TheinspectorfollowedGeraldandsalutedthelittlegroupsolemnly。
Mr。Fentolinheldouthishand。
“Yougotmytelephonemessage,inspector?“heasked。
“WehavenotreceivedanymessagethatIknowof,sir,“theinspectorreplied。“Ihavecomeoverhereinaccordancewithinstructionsreceivedfromheadquarters-infactfromScotlandYard。“
“Quiteso,“Mr。Fentolinassented。“You’vecomeover,Ipresume,tomakeenquiriesconcerningMr。JohnP。Dunster?“
“Thatisthenameofthegentleman,sir。“
“Ionlyunderstoodto-dayfrommyfrienaLordSaxthorpe,“Mr。
Fentolincontinued,“thatMr。Dunsterwasbeingenquiredaboutasthoughhehaddisappeared。MynephewbroughthimhereaftertherailwayaccidentatWymondham,sincewhenhehasbeenunderthecareofmyownphysician。Itrustthatyouhavenothingseriousagainsthim?“
“Myfirstduty,sir,“theinspectorpronounced,“istoseethegentlemaninquestion。“
“Byallmeans,“Mr。Fentolinagreed。“Gerald,willyoutaketheinspectoruptoMr。Dunster’srooms?Orstop,Iwillgomyself。“
Mr。Fentolinstartedhischairandbeckonedtheinspectortofollowhim。Meekins,whowaswaitinginsidethehall,escortedthembymeansofthelifttothesecondfloor。TheymadetheirwaytoMr。
Dunster’sroom。Mr。Fentolinknockedsoftlyatthedoor。Itwasopenedbythenurse。
“Howisthepatient?“Mr。Fentolinenquired。
DoctorSarsonappearedfromtheinterioroftheroom。
“Stillunconscious,“hereported。“Otherwise,thesymptomsarefavourable。Heisquiteunfit,“thedoctoradded,lookingsteadilyattheinspector,“toberemovedorquestioned。“
“Thereisnoideaofanythingofthesort,“Mr。Fentolinexplained。
“ItisInspectorYardley’sdutytosatisfyhimselfthatMr。Dunsterishere。Itisnecessaryfortheinspectortoseeyourpatient,sothathecanmakehisreportatheadquarters。“
DoctorSarsonbowed。
“Thatisquitesimple,sir,“hesaid。“Pleasestepin。“
Theyallenteredtheroom,whichwaslargeandhandsomelyfurnished。
Throughtheopenwindowscameagentlecurrentoffreshair。Mr。
Dunsterlayinthemidstofalltheluxuryoffinelinensheetsandembroideredpillow-cases。Theinspectorlookedathimstolidly。
“Isheasleep?“heasked。
Thedoctorshookhishead。
“Itisthethirddayofhisconcussion,“hewhispered。“Heisstillunconscious。Hewillremaininthesameconditionforanothertwodays。Afterthathewillbegintorecover。“
Mr。Fentolintouchedtheinspectoronthearm。
“Youseehisclothingatthefootofthebed,“hepointedout。
“Hislinenismarkedwithhisname。Thatishisdressing-casewithhisnamepaintedonit。“
“Iamquitesatisfied,sir,“theinspectorannounced。“Iwillnotintrudeanyfurther。“
Theylefttheroom。Mr。Fentolinhimselfescortedtheinspectorintothelibraryandorderedwhiskyandcigars。
“Idon’tknowwhetherIamunreasonablycurious,“Mr。Fentolinremarked,“butisitreallytruethatyouhavehadenquiriesfromScotlandYardaboutthepoorfellowup-stairs?“
“Wehadaveryimportantenquiryindeed,sir,“theinspectorreplied。
“IhaveinstructionstotelegraphallIhavebeenabletodiscover,immediately。“
“Pardonmyputtingitplainly,“Mr。Fentolinasked,“butisourfriendacriminal?“
“Iwouldn’tgosofarasthat,sir,“theinspectoranswered。“I
knowofnochargeagainsthim。Idon’tknowthatIhavetherighttosaysomuch,“headded,sippinghiswhiskyandsoda,“butputtingtwoandtwotogether,Ishouldrathercometotheconclusionthathewasapersonofsomepoliticalimportance。“
“Notacriminalatall?“
“NotasIknowof,“theinspectorassented。
“Thatisn’tthewayIreadtheenquiriesatall。“
“Yourelieveme,“Mr。Fentolindeclared。“Nowwhatabouthispossessions?“
“There’samancomingdownshortlyfromScotlandYard,“theinspectorannounced,alittlegloomily。“Myordersweretotouchnothing,buttolocatehim。“
“Well,you’vesucceededsofar,“Mr。Fentolinremarked。“Hereheis,andhereIthinkhewillstayuntilsomedaysafteryourfriendfromScotlandYardcangethere。“
“Itdoesseemso,indeed,“theinspectoragreed。“Tomehelooksterribleill。Butthere’sonethingsure,he’shavingallthecareandattentionthat’spossible。Andnow,sir,I’llnotintrudefurtheruponyourtime。I’lljustmakemyreport,andyou’llprobablyhaveavisitfromtheScotlandYardmansometimewithinthenextfewdays。“
Mr。Fentolinescortedtheinspectortohisdog-cart,shookhandswithhim,andwatchedhimdriveoff。OnlyMrs。SeymourFentolinremainedupontheterrace。Heglidedovertoherside。
“Mydearflorence,“heasked,“wherearetheothers?“
“Mr。HamelandEstherhavegoneforawalk,“sheanswered。“Geraldhasdisappearedsomewhere。Hasanything-iseverythingallright?“
“Naturally,“Mr。Fentolinrepliedeasily。“AllthattheinspectordesiredwastoseeMr。Dunster。Hehasseenhim。Thepoorfellowwasunfortunatelyunconscious,butourfriendwillatleastbeabletoreportthathewasingoodhandsandwellcaredfor。“
“Unconscious,“Mrs。Fentolinrepeated。“Ithoughtthathewasbetter。“
“Oneisalwayssubjecttothoseslightrelapsesinanaffairofconcussion,“Mr。Fentolinexplained。
Mrs。Fentolinlaiddownherworkandleanedalittletowardsherbrother-in-law。Herhandresteduponhis。Hervoicehadfallentoawhisper。
“Miles,“shesaid,“forgiveme,butareyousurethatyouarenotgettingalittleoutofyourdepth?Rememberthattherearesomeriskswhicharenotworthwhile。“
“Quitetrue,“heanswered。“Andtherearesomerisks,mydearFlorence,whicharewortheverydropofbloodinaman’sbody,andeverybreathoflife。ThepeaceofEuropeturnsuponthatmanup-stairs。Itisworthtakingalittleriskfor,worthalittledanger。Ihavemademyplans,andImeantocarrythemthrough。
Tellme,whenIwasup-stairs,thisfellowHamel-washetalkingconfidentiallytoGerald?“
“Notparticularly。“
“IamnotsurethatItrusthim,“Mr。Fentolincontinued。“HehadatelegramyesterdayfromamanintheForeignOffice,atelegramwhichIdidnotsee。Hetookthetroubletowalkthreemilestosendthereplytoitfromanotheroffice。“
“Butafterall,“Mrs。Fentolinprotested,“youknowwhoheis。YouknowthatheisPeterHamel’sson。Hehadadefinitepurposeincominghere。“
Mr。Fentolinnodded。
“Quitetrue,“headmitted。“Butforthat,Mr。Hamelwouldhavefoundalittletroublebeforenow。Asitis,hemustbewatched。
IfanyonecomesbetweenmeandthethingsforwhichIamschemingto-day,theywillriskdeath。“
Mrs。Fentolinsighed。ShewaswatchingthefiguresofEstherandHamelfarawayinthedistance,pickingtheirwayacrossthelaststripofmarshlandwhichlaybetweenthemandthesea。
“Miles,“shesaidearnestly,“youtakeadvicefromnoone。Youwillgoyourownway,Iknow。Andyet,itseemstomethatlifeholdssomanycompensationsforyouwithoutyourtakingtheseterriblerisks。Iamnotthinkingofanyoneelse。Iamnotpleadingtoyouforthesakeofanyoneelse。Iamthinkingonlyofyourself。Ihavehadasortoffeelingeversincethismanwasbroughtintothehouse,thattroublewouldcomeofit。Tomethetroubleseemstobegatheringevennow。“
Mr。Fentolinlaughedsoftly,alittlecontemptuously。