HamelmetKinsleyshortlybeforeoneo’clockthefollowingafternoon,intheloungeoftheRoyalHotelatNorwich。
“Yougotmywire,then?“thelatterasked,asheheldouthishand。
“IhaditsentbyspecialmessengerfromWells。“
“Itarriveddirectlyafterbreakfast,“Hamelreplied。“Itwasn’ttheeasiestmattertogethere,eventhen,forthereareonlyabouttwotrainsaday,andIdidn’twanttoborrowacarfromMr。
Fentolin。“
“Quiteright,“Kinsleyagreed。“Iwantedyoutocomeabsolutelyonyourown。Let’sgetintothecoffee-roomandhavesomelunchnow。
Iwanttocatchtheafternoontrainhacktotown。“
“Doyoumeantosaythatyou’vecomeallthewaydownheretotalktomeforhalfanhourorso?“Hameldemanded,astheytooktheirplacesatatable。
“Allthewayfromtown,“Kinsleyassented,“anduptotheeyesinworkweare,too。Dick,whatdoyouthinkofMilesFentolin?“
“HangedifIknow!“Hamelanswered,withasigh。
“Nothingdefinitetotellus,then?“Nothing!“
“WhataboutMr。JohnP。Dunster?“
“Heleftyesterdaymorning,“Hamelsaid。“Isawhimgo。Helookedveryshaky。IunderstoodthatMr。FentolinsenthimtoYarmouth。“
“DidMr。Fentolinknowthattherewasanenquiryonfootaboutthisman’sdisappearance?“Kinsleyasked。
“Certainly。IheardLordSaxthorpetellhimthatthepolicehadreceivedorderstoscourthecountryforhim,andthattheywerecomingtoSt。David’sHall。“
Kinsley,foramoment,wassingularlyandeloquentlyprofane。
“That’swhyMr。Fentolinlethimgo,then。IfSaxthorpehadonlyheldhistongue,orifthoseinfernalpolicehadn’tgotchatteringwiththemagistrates,wemighthavemadeacoup。Asitis,thegame’sup。Mr。DunsterleftforYarmouth,yousay,yesterdaymorning?“
“Isawhimgomyself。Helookedveryshakyandill,buthewasabletosmokeabigcigarandwalkdown-stairsleaningonthedoctor’sarm。“
“Idon’tdoubt,“Kinsleyremarked,“butthatyousawwhatyousayyousaw。Atthesametime,youmaybesurprisedtohearthatMr。
Dunsterhasdisappearedagain。“
“Disappearedagain?“Hamelmuttered。
“Itlooksverymuch,“Kinsleycontinued,“asthoughyourfriendMilesFentolinhasbeenplayingwithhimlikeacatwithamouse。
Hehasbeenobligedtoturnhimoutofonehiding-place,andhehassimplytransferredhimtoanother。“
Hamellookeddoubtful。
“Mr。Dunsterleftquitealoneinthecar,“hesaid。“Hewasonhisguardtoo,forMr。Fentolinandhehadhadwords。1reallycan’tseehowitwaspossibleforhimtohavegotintoanymoretrouble。“
“Whereishe,then?“Kinsleydemanded。“Come,Iwillletyoualittlefurtherintoourconfidence。Wehavereasontobelievethathecarrieswithhimawrittenmessagewhichispracticallytheonlychancewehaveofavoidingdisasterduringthenextfewdays。ThatwrittenmessageisaddressedtothedelegatesatTheHague,whoarenowsitting。NothinghadbeenheardofDunsterorthedocumenthecarries。NowordhascomefromhimofanysortsinceheleftSt。
David’sHall。“
“Haveyoutriedtotracehimfromthere?“Hamelasked。
“Tracehim?“Kinsleyrepeated。“Byheavens,youdon’tseemtounderstand,Dick,theimmense,theextraordinaryimportanceofthismantous!ThecleverestdetectiveinEnglandspentyesterdayunderyournoseatSt。David’sHall。Thereareadozenothersworkinguponthejobashardastheycan。Allthereportsconfirmwhatyousay-thatDunsterleftSt。David’sHallathalf-pastnineyesterdaymorning,andhecertainlyarrivedinYarmouthatalittlebeforetwelve。Fromthereheseems,however,tohavecompletelydisappeared。ThecarwentbacktoSt。David’sHallempty;themanonlystayedlongenoughinYarmouth,infact,tohavehisdinner。
Wecannotfindasinglesmackownerwhowasapproachedinanywayforthehireofaboat。Yarmouthhasbeenransackedinvain。HecertainlyhasnotarrivedatTheHagueorweshouldhaveheardnewsatonce。Asalastresource,Irandownheretoseeyouonthechanceofyourhavingpickedupanyinformation。“
Hamelshookhishead。
“YouseemtoknowagooddealmorethanIdo,already,“hesaid。
“WhatdoyouthinkofMr。Fentolin?Youhavestayedinhishouse。
Youhavehadanopportunityofstudyinghim。“
“Sofarasmyimpressionsgo,“Hamelreplied,“everythingwhichyouhavesuggestedmightverywellbetrue。Ithinkthateitheroutofsheerloveofmischief,orfromsomesubtlermotive,heiscapableofanything。Everyoneintheplace,exceptonepoorwoman,seemstolookuponhimasasortofsupernaturalbeing。Hegivesmoneyawaytoworthlesspeoplewithbothhands。YetIshareyouropinionofhim。Ibelievethatheisacreaturewithoutconscienceormorals。
Ihavesatathistableandshiveredwhenhehassmiled。“
“AreyoustayingatSt。David’sHallnow?“
“Ileftyesterday。“
“Whereareyounow,then?“
“IamatSt。David’sTower-thelittleplaceItoldyouofthatbelongedtomyfather-butIdon’tknowwhetherIshallbeabletostopthere。Mr。Fentolin,forsomereasonorother,verymuchresentedmyleavingtheHallandwasveryannoyedatmyinsistinguponclaimingtheTower。WhenIwentdowntothevillagetogetsomeonetocomeupandlookafterme,therewasn’tawomantherewhowouldcome。Itdidn’tmatterwhatIoffered,theywereallthesame。Theyallmutteredsomeexcuseorother,andseemedonlyanxioustoshowmeout。Atthevillageshoptheyseemedtohatetoservemewithanything。ItwasallIcoulddotogetapacketoftobaccoyesterdayafternoon。YouwouldreallythinkthatIwasthemostunpopularpersonwhoeverlived,anditcanonlybebecauseofMr。Fentolin’sinfluence。“
“Mr。Fentolinevidentlydoesn’tliketohaveyouinthelocality,“
Kinsleyremarkedthoughtfully。
“HewasallrightsolongasIwasatSt。David’sHall,“Hamelobserved。
“What’sthislittleplacelike-St。David’sTower,youcallit?“
Kinsleyasked。
“Justalittlestonebuildingactuallyonthebeach,“Hamelexplained。“ThereisalargeshedwhichMr。Fentolinkeepslockedup,andthehabitableportionconsistsjustofabedroomandsitting-room。FromwhatIcansee,Mr。Fentolinhasbeenmakingasortofhobbyoftheplace。Thereistelephoniccommunicationwiththehouse,andheseemstohaveusedthesitting-roomasasortofstudio。Hepaintsseapicturesandreallypaintsthemerywell。“
Amancameintothecoffee-room,madesomeenquiryofthewaiterandwentoutagain。Hamelstaredathiminapuzzledmanner。Forthemomenthecouldonlyrememberthatthefacewasfamiliar。Thenhesuddenlygaveventtoalittleexclamation。
“AnyonewouldthinkthatIhadbeenfollowed,“heremarked。“ThemanwhohasjustlookedintotheroomisoneofMr。Fentolin’sparasitesorbodyguards,orwhateveryoucallthem。“
“Youprobablyhave,“Kinsleyagreed。“Whatpostdoesheholdinthehousehold?“
“Ihavenoidea,“Hamelreplied。“IsawhimthefirstdayIarrivedandnotsince。Sortofsecretary,Ishouldthink。“
“Heisaqueer-lookingfellow,anyway,“Kinsleymuttered。“Lookout,Dick。Herehecomesbackagain。“
Mr。Ryanapproachedthetablealittlediffidently。
“Ihopeyouwillforgivetheliberty,sir,“hesaidtoHamel。“Yourememberme,Itrust-Mr。Ryan。IamthelibrarianatSt。David’sHall。“
Hamelnodded。
“IthoughtI’dseenyouthere。“
“Iwaswondering,“themancontinued,“whetheryouhadacarofMr。
Fentolin’sinNorwichto-day,andifso,whetherImightbegaseatbackincaseyouwerereturningbeforethefiveo’clocktrain?I
cameinearlythismorningtogothroughsomemanuscriptsatasecond-handbookseller’shere,andIhaveunfortunatelymissedthetrainback。“
Hamelshookhishead。
“Icameinbytrainmyself,orIwouldhavegivenyoualiftback,withpleasure,“hesaid。
Mr。Ryanexpressedhisthanksbrieflyandlefttheroom。Kinsleywatchedhimfromoverthetopofanewspaper。
“SothatisoneofMr。Fentolin’screatures,too,“heremarked。
“KeepinghiseyeonyouinNorwich,eh?Tellme,Dick,by-the-by,howdoyougetonwiththerestofMr。Fentolin’shousehold,andexactlyofwhomdoesitconsist?“
“Thereishissister-in-law,“Hamelreplied,“Mrs。SeymourFentolin。