"Ah! the vans were, no doubt, painted with our names specially, in order to mislead the police," he said. "There"s some shady transaction somewhere, sir, depend upon it. Perhaps the gentleman wanted to get his things away, eh?"
"No. He had no necessity for so doing. He was quite well off--no debts, or anything of that kind."
"Well, it"s evident that if our name is registered in the police occurrences the vans were painted with our name for some illegal purpose. The gentleman"s disappeared, you say."
"Yes. And--well, to tell you the truth, I suspect foul play."
"Have you told the police that?" asked the man, suddenly interested.
"No; not yet. I"ve come to you first."
"Then if I were you I"d tell the police the result of your inquiries,"
the manager said. "No doubt there"s a crooked incident somewhere."
"That"s just what I fear. Quite a number of men most have been engaged in clearing the place out."
"Have you been over it? Is it entirely cleared?"
"Nearly. The grand piano and a big book-case have been; left."
"I wonder if it"s been done by professional removers, or by amateurs?"
suggested the manager.
"Ah! I don"t know. If you saw the state of the place you"d know, wouldn"t you?"
"Most probably."
"Then if you"ll come with me I"ll be delighted to show you, and you can give me your opinion."
So the pair entered a cab, and a quarter of an hour later were pa.s.sing along the hall of the empty house. The manager of Harmer"s removals inspected room after room, noticed how the curtains had been torn down, and noted in the fire grate of the drawing-room a quant.i.ty of tinder where a number of papers seemed to have been burned.
"No," he said presently. "This removal was carried out by amateurs, who were in a very violent hurry. Those vans were faked--bought, perhaps, and repainted with our name. It"s evident that they deceived the constable very cleverly."
"But the whole affair is so extraordinary?" gasped Max, staring at his companion.
"Yes. It would appear so. Your friend, the Doctor, evidently wished to get his goods away with the least possible delay and in the greatest secrecy."
"But the employment of so many men did not admit of much secrecy, surely!"
"They were only employed to load. They did not unload. Only the three drivers probably know the destination of the furniture. It was valuable old stuff, I should say, if one is to judge by what is remaining."
"Yes, the place was well and comfortably furnished."
"Then I really think, sir, that if you suspect foul play it"s your duty to tell the police. In cases like this an hour"s delay is often fatal to success in elucidating the mystery." Max was undecided how to act.
It was his duty to tell the police his suspicions and show them that blood-stained coat. And yet he felt so certain that the Doctor must in the course of the day take him into his confidence that he hesitated to make a suggestion of foul play and thus bring the affair into public prominence.
The fact that Harmer"s name had been upon vans not belonging to that firm was in itself sufficient proof that there had been a conspiracy somewhere.
But of what nature was it? What could possibly have been its object?
What was Maud"s "terrible confession!"
The expert in removals was examining some litter in the dining-room.
"They evidently did not stop to pack anything," he remarked, "but simply bundled it out with all possible speed. One fact strikes me as very peculiar."
"What is that?"
"Well, if they wanted to empty the place they might have done so, leaving the curtains up, and the palms and things in the windows in order to lead people to believe that the house was still occupied.
Apparently, however, they disregarded that precaution altogether."
"Yes. That"s true. The object of the sudden flight is a complete mystery," Max remarked. He had not taken the man to the top room, where, in the cupboard, the woman"s dress was hidden.
"You say that the Doctor was rich. Therefore, it wasn"t to escape from an execution threatened by the landlord."
"Certainly not."
"Well, you may rest a.s.sured, sir, that the removal was not effected by professional men. The way in which carpets have been torn up and damaged, curtains torn from their rings, and crockery smashed in moving, shows them to have been amateurs."
They had ascended to the front bedroom, wherein remained a large, heavy old-fashioned mahogany chest of drawers, and he had walked across to them.
"Indeed," he added. "It almost looks as though it were the work of thieves?"
"Thieves! Why?"
"Well--look at this. They had no keys, so they broke open the drawers, and removed the contents," he answered. "And look across there!"
He pointed to a small iron fireproof safe let into the wall--a safe evidently intended originally as a place for the lady of the house to keep her jewels.
The door stood ajar, and Max, as he opened it, saw that it was empty.
The curious part of the affair was that Max was convinced within himself that when he had searched the house on the previous night that safe was not there. If it was, then the door must have been closed and concealed.
He remembered most distinctly entering that room and looking around.
The chest of drawers had been moved since he was last there. When he had seen them they had been standing in their place concealing the iron door of the safe, which, when shut, closed flush with the wall. Someone had been there since! And whoever it was, had moved the heavy piece of furniture and found the safe.
He examined the door, and from its blackened condition, the twisted iron, and the broken lock, no second glance was needed to ascertain that it had been blown open by explosives.
Whatever valuables Dr Petrovitch had kept there had disappeared.
The theory of theft was certainly substantiated by these discoveries.
Max stood by the empty safe silent and wondering.
"I noticed downstairs in the study that a board had been prised up, as though somebody has been searching for something," the man from Harmer"s remarked. "Probably the Doctor had something in his possession of which the thieves desired to get possession."
"Well," said Max, "I must say that this safe being open looks as though the affair has actually been the work of thieves. If so, then where is the Doctor, where is his daughter Maud, and where are the servants?"
"Yes. I agree. The whole affair is a complete mystery, sir," the other replied. "There have been thieves here without a doubt. Perhaps the Doctor knows all about it, but for some reason dare not utter a word of complaint. Indeed, that"s my theory. He may be in fear of them, you know. It"s a gang that have done it, without a doubt."