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.Before one door on the upper floor he hesitated and finally, with an effort,slipped the key in the lock and threw open the door.Looking past him, Mary saw a room such as she had not imagined would befound in this rather shabby old house.In spite of the dust which coveredeverything it was a beautiful apartment, furnished with a luxury that amazedher.It seemed to be a bed and sitting-room, divided by heavy velvet curtainswhich were now drawn.A thick carpet covered the floor, the few pictures thatthe room contained had evidently been carefully chosen.Old French furniture,silver light brackets on the walls, every fuse and every fitting spoke of lavishexpenditure. What a lovely room! she exclaimed when she had recovered her breath. Yes& lovely. He stared gloomily into the nest which had once known Gwenda Milton, inthe days before tragedy had come to her.29 Better than Malpas Mansions, Mary, eh? The frown had vanished from hisface; he was his old smiling self. A little cleaning, a, little dusting, and there isa room for a princess in fact, my dear, I shall put it entirely at your disposal. My disposal! she stared at him. How absurd, Maurice I am living withJohnny and I couldn t possibly stay here, ever. He shrugged. Johnny? Yes.But you may be detained one night or Johnny may be away.I shouldn t like to think you were alone in that wretched flat. He closed and locked the door and followed her down the stairs. However, that is a matter for you entirely, he said lightly. There is theroom if you ever need it. She made no answer to this, for her mind was busy with speculation.Theroom had been lived in, she was sure of that.A woman had lived there it wasno man s room.Mary felt a little uneasy.Of Maurice Meister and his privatelife she knew nothing.She remembered vaguely that Johnny had hinted of someaffair that Meister had had, but she was not curious.Gwenda Milton!She remembered the name with a start.Gwenda Milton, the sister of acriminal.She shivered as her mind strayed back to that gorgeous little suite,peopled with the ghost of a dead love, and she had the illusion that a white face,tense with agony, was peering at her as she sat at the typewriter.She lookedround with a shudder, but the room was empty and from somewhere near athand she heard the sound of a man humming a popular tune.Maurice Meister did not believe in ghosts.30 CHAPTER 8On the afternoon of the day that Mary Lenley went to Meister s house theOlympic was warped into dock at Southampton.The two Scotland Yard menwho had accompanied the ship from Cherbourg, and who had made a verycareful scrutiny of the passengers, were the first to land and took up their stationat the foot of the gangway.They had a long time to wait whilst the passportexaminations were taking place, but soon the passengers began to straggledown to the quay.Presently one of the detectives saw a face which he had not seen on the ship.A man of middle height, rather slight, with a tiny pointed beard and a blackmoustache appeared at the ship s side and came slowly down.The two detectives exchanged glances and as the passenger reached the quayone of them stepped to his side and said: Excuse me, sir, I did not see you on the ship. For a second the bearded man surveyed the other coldly. Are you making me responsible for your blindness? he asked.They were looking for a bank robber who had crossed from New York, andthey were taking no chances. May I see your passport? The bearded passenger hesitated, then slipping his hand into his inside pocketpulled out, not a passport but a leather note-case.From this he extracted a card.The detective took it and read:CENTRAL INSPECTOR BLISS.C.I.D.Scotland Yard.Attached Washington Embassy. I beg your pardon, sir. The detective pushed the card back into the other s hand and his attitudechanged. I didn t recognise you, Mr.Bliss.You hadn t grown a beard when you leftthe Yard. Who are you looking for? he asked harshly.The second detective gave a brief explanation. He s not on the ship, I can tell you that, said Bliss, and with a nod turnedaway.31 He did not carry his bag into the Customs, but depositing it at his feet, hestood with his back to the wall of the Custom House and watched thepassengers disembark.Presently he saw the girl for whom he had been looking.Slim, svelte, immensely capable, entirely and utterly fearless this was thefirst impression Inspector Bliss had received.He never had reason to revise hisverdict.Her olive skin was faultless, the dark eyes under delicately pencilledeyebrows were insolent, knowledgeable.Here was a girl not to be tamperedwith, not to be fooled; an exquisite product of modernity.Expensively and alittle over-dressed, perhaps.One white hand glittered with diamonds [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Before one door on the upper floor he hesitated and finally, with an effort,slipped the key in the lock and threw open the door.Looking past him, Mary saw a room such as she had not imagined would befound in this rather shabby old house.In spite of the dust which coveredeverything it was a beautiful apartment, furnished with a luxury that amazedher.It seemed to be a bed and sitting-room, divided by heavy velvet curtainswhich were now drawn.A thick carpet covered the floor, the few pictures thatthe room contained had evidently been carefully chosen.Old French furniture,silver light brackets on the walls, every fuse and every fitting spoke of lavishexpenditure. What a lovely room! she exclaimed when she had recovered her breath. Yes& lovely. He stared gloomily into the nest which had once known Gwenda Milton, inthe days before tragedy had come to her.29 Better than Malpas Mansions, Mary, eh? The frown had vanished from hisface; he was his old smiling self. A little cleaning, a, little dusting, and there isa room for a princess in fact, my dear, I shall put it entirely at your disposal. My disposal! she stared at him. How absurd, Maurice I am living withJohnny and I couldn t possibly stay here, ever. He shrugged. Johnny? Yes.But you may be detained one night or Johnny may be away.I shouldn t like to think you were alone in that wretched flat. He closed and locked the door and followed her down the stairs. However, that is a matter for you entirely, he said lightly. There is theroom if you ever need it. She made no answer to this, for her mind was busy with speculation.Theroom had been lived in, she was sure of that.A woman had lived there it wasno man s room.Mary felt a little uneasy.Of Maurice Meister and his privatelife she knew nothing.She remembered vaguely that Johnny had hinted of someaffair that Meister had had, but she was not curious.Gwenda Milton!She remembered the name with a start.Gwenda Milton, the sister of acriminal.She shivered as her mind strayed back to that gorgeous little suite,peopled with the ghost of a dead love, and she had the illusion that a white face,tense with agony, was peering at her as she sat at the typewriter.She lookedround with a shudder, but the room was empty and from somewhere near athand she heard the sound of a man humming a popular tune.Maurice Meister did not believe in ghosts.30 CHAPTER 8On the afternoon of the day that Mary Lenley went to Meister s house theOlympic was warped into dock at Southampton.The two Scotland Yard menwho had accompanied the ship from Cherbourg, and who had made a verycareful scrutiny of the passengers, were the first to land and took up their stationat the foot of the gangway.They had a long time to wait whilst the passportexaminations were taking place, but soon the passengers began to straggledown to the quay.Presently one of the detectives saw a face which he had not seen on the ship.A man of middle height, rather slight, with a tiny pointed beard and a blackmoustache appeared at the ship s side and came slowly down.The two detectives exchanged glances and as the passenger reached the quayone of them stepped to his side and said: Excuse me, sir, I did not see you on the ship. For a second the bearded man surveyed the other coldly. Are you making me responsible for your blindness? he asked.They were looking for a bank robber who had crossed from New York, andthey were taking no chances. May I see your passport? The bearded passenger hesitated, then slipping his hand into his inside pocketpulled out, not a passport but a leather note-case.From this he extracted a card.The detective took it and read:CENTRAL INSPECTOR BLISS.C.I.D.Scotland Yard.Attached Washington Embassy. I beg your pardon, sir. The detective pushed the card back into the other s hand and his attitudechanged. I didn t recognise you, Mr.Bliss.You hadn t grown a beard when you leftthe Yard. Who are you looking for? he asked harshly.The second detective gave a brief explanation. He s not on the ship, I can tell you that, said Bliss, and with a nod turnedaway.31 He did not carry his bag into the Customs, but depositing it at his feet, hestood with his back to the wall of the Custom House and watched thepassengers disembark.Presently he saw the girl for whom he had been looking.Slim, svelte, immensely capable, entirely and utterly fearless this was thefirst impression Inspector Bliss had received.He never had reason to revise hisverdict.Her olive skin was faultless, the dark eyes under delicately pencilledeyebrows were insolent, knowledgeable.Here was a girl not to be tamperedwith, not to be fooled; an exquisite product of modernity.Expensively and alittle over-dressed, perhaps.One white hand glittered with diamonds [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]