"I don"t quite like it, Sage." Colonel Walton knitted his brows.
"It"s giving the Yard something to do," was Sage"s indifferent retort.
"They"re buzzing about John Dene like flies to-day. He"s expressing himself to them in choice Canadian too, so Thompson tells me."
Thompson gave an appreciative grin.
"I dropped in there this morning, sir, and----" He did not conclude his sentence; but his look was one of keen appreciation. "He"s got some words, has Inspector Bluggers," he added, "but Mr. Dene left him standing."
"We"ve just been going over the points of Finlay and the Bergen man,"
explained Sage. "They"re pretty well in agreement. Personally I believe there"s a lot in that ring. We stripped the other fellow of his clothes, Finlay insisted on having them baked. Fussy sort of chap in things like that," he added, "but that ring. Men don"t generally wear turquoises set in an eccentric pattern. Ha!" He looked up suddenly.
Colonel Walton looked across at him interrogatingly.
"You remember the initials inside, chief?"
Colonel Walton nodded.
"D.U.A. weren"t they?"
"What about Deutsches uber alles?"
"A bit obvious," suggested Colonel Walton.
"The Hun always is."
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in," called Colonel Walton.
A moment later there entered a man of foreign appearance, with dark well-brushed hair, sallow skin and the deprecating manner of one who is in a country where he is not quite sure either of the customs or of the language. For a moment he stood smiling.
Malcolm Sage caught Colonel Walton"s eye. Upon Thompson"s face there spread a grin of admiration.
"Wonderful, Finlay," said Colonel Walton. "Wonderful."
"You think it is like?" enquired he who had been addressed as Finlay.
"Wonderful," repeated Colonel Walton, "but," he added a moment after, "it"s a dangerous game."
Finlay shrugged his shoulders in a manner that was almost aggressively un-English. He possessed one remarkable characteristic, once he had a.s.sumed a personality, he continued to be that man until he finally relinquished the part.
"He"ll put you to sleep if you make a mistake," said Sage with uncompromising candour.
Again the shrug of the shoulders.
"That ring," said Sage, pointing to a flat gold band on the third finger of the left hand in which were set three turquoises in the form of a triangle. "What do you make of the inscription?"
"I do not know," said Finlay with the finnicking inflection of one talking in a strange tongue.
"What about Deutsches uber alles?" suggested Walton.
"Ah! you have discovered."
"Perfect," said Sage, "absolutely perfect. You"re a genius, Finlay."
With a smile and a half-shrug of his shoulders, Finlay deprecated the compliment.
"Where are you going to stay?" enquired Colonel Walton.
"At the Ritzton with John Dene, same floor if possible," said Sage.
"He starts from the Tower to-morrow. Released, you know."
Colonel Walton nodded. "By the way, Thompson, you didn"t happen to drop any finger prints about in Waterloo Place?"
"Rubber gloves, sir," said Thompson with a smile.
Malcolm Sage nodded.
"It would embarra.s.s us a bit if you got lodged in Brixton prison," said Colonel Walton.
"No chance of that, sir," was the confident retort.
"The account will be in the papers this afternoon, I understand."
Malcolm Sage nodded.
"Well, Finlay," said Walton, "off you go and the best of luck. If you bring this off you ought to get a C.B.E."
"Gott in himmel!" cried Finlay in such tragic consternation, that both Colonel Walton and Sage were forced to smile.
"No, sir," said Sage drily, "we must guard Department Z. against the Order of the British Empire; it deserves well of the country.
"When does he go to Streatham?" enquired Colonel Walton.
"I go now," responded Finlay, "if I find the place. These suburbs!"
He rolled his eyes expressively.
Malcolm Sage smiled grimly.
II
For some time Mr. Naylor had sat staring in front of him, immobile but for the movement of his eyes and the compression of his pouch-like lips as he swallowed. Irritation or anxiety always caused him to swallow with a noisy gulp-like sound.
Since lunch he had scowled impartially upon everything. Mrs. Naylor, Susan, James, the paper, his food, all seemed to come under the ban of his displeasure. From time to time he muttered under his breath. He made several efforts to concentrate upon the newspaper before him, but without success. His eyes would wander from the page and scowl into vacancy. The heavy jowls seemed to mould his face into a brutal square, which with his persistent swallowing gave him the appearance of a toad.
His original anger at the threatened advent of a visitor seemed to have changed into irritation at his non-arrival. From time to time he looked at his watch. A step echoing in the street brought him to a listening att.i.tude. When at last a ring sounded at the bell, followed by a peremptory "rat-tat," he started violently. He listened intently to the pad of Mrs. Naylor"s footsteps along the pa.s.sage, to the murmur of voices that followed, and the sound of steps approaching.
When the door opened, the scowl had fled from Mr. Naylor"s features, the jowls had lifted, the set frown had pa.s.sed from his brows. His mouth was pursed up into a smile only one degree less repellent than the look that it had replaced. Mr. Naylor had a.s.sumed his best public-meeting manner.