"Come with me, and I"ll explain," he said, curtly.
The dining-room was in pitchy darkness, for the lights there had been on the short circuit; indeed, the lights on the ground floor had all failed with the exception of the hall, which fortunately had been on another circuit. The fact had saved Van Sneck"s life, for if Bell had not speedily used that one live wire the patient must have perished.
Henson looked up from his sofa with a start and a smile.
"I am afraid I must have been asleep," he said, languidly.
"Liar," Bell thundered. "You have been plotting murder. And but for a mere accident the plot would have been successful. You have worked out the whole thing in your mind; you came here on purpose. You came here to stifle the light at the very moment when we were operating on Van Sneck.
You thought that all the lights on the floor would be on the same circuit; you have been here before."
"Are you mad?" Henson gasped. "When have I been here before--"
"The night that you lured Van Sneck here by a forged letter and left him for dead."
Henson gasped, his lips moved, but no words came from them.
"You have a little knowledge of electricity," Bell went on. "And you saw your way pretty clear to spoil our operation to-night. You got that idea from yonder wall-plug, into which goes the plunger of the reading lamp on the cabinet yonder. At the critical moment all you had to do was to dip your fingers in water and press the tips of them against the live wire in the wall-plug. You did so, and immediately the wires fired all over the circuit and plunged us in darkness. But the hall light remained sound, and Van Sneck was saved. If it is any consolation to you, he will be as sensible as any of us to-morrow."
"Hensen had risen to his feet, pale and trembling, He protested, but it was all in vain. Bell approached the china wall-plug and pointed to it.
"Hold the candle down," he said. "There! You can see that the surface is still wet, there is water in the holes now, and some of it has trickled down the distemper on the wall. You ought to be shot where you stand, murderous dog."
Henson protested, with some dignity. It was all so much Greek to him, he said. He had been sleeping so quietly that he had not seen the light fail. Bell cut him short.
"Get out," he cried. "Go away; you poison the air that honest men breathe, and you are as fit and well as I am. Why don"t you pitch him into the street, Steel? Why don"t you telephone to Marley at the police-station, and say that the Huddersfield swindler is here? Oh, if you only knew what an effort it is to keep my hands off him!"
Henson made for the door with alacrity. A moment later and he was in the street, dazed, confused, and baffled, and with the conviction strong upon him that he had failed in his great _coup_. Van Sneck would be sensible to-morrow--he would speak. And then--
But he dared not think of that at present. He wanted all his nerve and courage now. He had just one last chance, one single opportunity of making money, and then he must get out of the country without delay. He almost wished now that he had not been quite so precipitate in the matter of James Merritt. That humble tool might have been of great advantage to him at this moment. But Merritt had threatened to be troublesome and must be got out of the way. But then, the police had not picked Merritt up yet. Was it possible that Merritt had found out that--
But Henson did not care to think of that, either, He would go back to the quiet lodgings he had taken in Kemp Town for a day or two, he would change his clothes and walk over to Longdean Grange, and it would go hard if he failed to get a cheque from the misguided lady there. If he were quick he could be there by eleven o"clock.
He pa.s.sed into his little room. He started back to see a man sleeping in his armchair. Then the man, disturbed by the noise of the newcomer, opened his eyes. And those eyes were gleaming with a glow that filled Henson"s heart with horrible dread. It was Merritt who sat opposite him, and it was Merritt whose eyes told Henson that he knew of the latter"s black treachery. Henson was face to face with death, and he knew it.
He turned and fled for his life; he scudded along the streets, past the hospital and up towards the downs, with Merritt after him. The start was not long, but it was sufficient. Merritt took the wrong turn, and, with a heart beating fast and hard, Henson climbed upwards. It was a long time before his courage came back to him. He did not feel really easy in his mind until he had pa.s.sed the lodge-gates at Longdean Grange, where he was fortunate enough, after a call or two, to rouse up Williams.
The latter came with more alacrity than usual. There was a queer grin on his face and a suggestion of laughter in his eyes.
"There seems to be a lot of light about," Henson cried. "Take me up to the house, and don"t let anybody know I am here. Your mistress gone to bed?"
"She"s in the drawing-room," Williams said, "singing. And Miss Enid"s there. I am sure they will be glad to see you, sir."
Henson doubted it, but made no reply. There was a chatter of voices in the drawing-room, a chatter of a lightsomeness that Henson had never heard before. Well, he would soon settle all that. He pa.s.sed quietly into the room, then stood in puzzled fear and amazement.
"Our dear nephew," said a cool, sarcastic voice. "Come in, sir, come in.
This is quite charming. Well, my sweet philanthropist and most engaging gentleman, and what may we have the pleasure of doing for you to-night?"
"Lord Littimer?" Henson gasped. "Lord Littimer _here_?"
CHAPTER LIII
UNSEALED LIPS
Bell gave a gesture of relief as the door closed upon Henson. Heritage looked like a man who does not quite understand.
"I haven"t quite got the hang of it yet," he said. "Was that done for my benefit?"
"Of course it was," Bell replied. "Henson found out that Van Sneck was here, as he was certain to do sooner or later. He comes here to make inquiries and finds you; also he comes to spy out the land. Now, without being much of a gambler, I"m willing to stake a large sum that he introduced the subject of your old trouble?"
"He invariably did that," Heritage admitted.
"Naturally. That was part of the game. And you told him that you had got over your illness and that you were going to do the operation. And you told him how. Where were you when the little conversation between Henson and yourself took place?"
"He was asked into the dining-room."
"And then you told him everything. Directly Henson"s eyes fell upon that wall-plug he knew how to act. He made up his mind that the electric light should fail at a critical moment. Hence the dramatic "accident" with the cycle. Once Henson had got into the house the rest was easy. He had only to wet his fingers and press them hard against the two wires in the wallplug and out pops the light, in consequence of the fuses blowing out.
I don"t know where Henson learnt the trick, but I do know that I was a fool not to think of it. You see, the hall light being dropped through from the floor above was on another circuit. If it hadn"t been we should have had our trouble with Van Sneck for nothing."
"He would have died?" David asked.
The two doctors nodded significantly.
"What a poisonous scoundrel he is!" David cried. "Miss Chris Henson does not hesitate to say that he was more or less instrumental in removing two people who helped her and her sister to defeat Henson, and now he makes two attacks on Van Sneck"s life. Really, we ought to inform the police what has happened and have him arrested before he can do any further mischief. Penal servitude for life would about fit the case."
Van Sneck was jealously guarded by Heritage and Bell for the next few hours. He awoke the next morning little the worse for the operation. His eyes were clear now; the restless, eager look had gone from them.
"Where am I?" he demanded. "What has happened?"
Bell explained briefly. As he spoke his anxiety pa.s.sed away. He saw that Van Sneck was following quite intelligently and rationally.
"I remember coming here," the Dutchman said. "I can"t recall the rest just now. I feel like a man who is trying to piece the fragments of a dream together."
"You"ll have it all right in an hour or two," Bell said, with an encouraging smile. "Meanwhile your breakfast is ready. Yes, you can smoke afterwards if you like. And then you shall tell me all about Reginald Henson. As a matter of fact, we know all about it now."
"Oh," Van Sneck said, blankly. "You do, eh?"
"Yes, even to the history of the second Rembrandt, and the reason why Henson stabbed you and gave you that crack over the head. If you tell me the truth you are safe; if you don"t--why, you stand a chance of joining Henson in the dock."
Bell went off, leaving Van Sneck to digest this speech at his leisure.
Van Sneck lay back on his bed, propped up with pillows, and smoked many cigarettes before he expressed a desire to see Bell again. The latter came in with Steel; Heritage had gone elsewhere.
"This gentleman is Mr. Steel?" Van Sneck suggested.
Bell responded somewhat drily that it was. "But I see you are going to tell us everything," he went on. "That being so, suppose you begin at the beginning. When you sold that copy of the "Crimson Blind" to Lord Littimer had you the other copy?"