*CHAPTER VII.*
*A GRIP OF STEEL.*
Sir Clement had not gone to bed yet. He sat over a final pipe in hisdressing-room, the fumes of the acrid tobacco lingered everywhere. Theowner of the house leant back, his eyes half closed, and the smile onhis face suggestive of one who is recalling some exquisite comedy. Ashocking tragedy had been enacted almost under his very eyes, and yetfrom Frobisher's attitude the thing had pleased him, he was not in theleast disturbed.
He began to kick off his clothing slowly, the filthy clay pipe betweenhis lips. He touched a bell, and Hafid slid into the room. There wasterror in his eyes enough and to spare. He might have been a detectedmurderer in the presence of his accuser. He trembled, his lips weretwitching piteously, there was something about him of the rabbit tryingto escape.
"Well, mooncalf," Frobisher said with bitter raillery. "Well, myparalytic pearl of idiots. Why do you stand there as if somebody wastickling your midriff with a bowie knife?"
"Take it and burn it, and destroy it," Hafid muttered. The man wassilly with terror. "Take it and burn it, and destroy it."
"Oh, Lord, was there ever such a fool since the world began?" Frobishercried. "If you make that remark again I'll jamb your head against thewall till your teeth chatter."
"Take it and burn it, and destroy it," Hafid went on mechanically."Master, I can't help it. My tongue does not seem able to say anythingelse. Let me go, send me away. I'm not longer to be trusted. I shallrun wild into the night with my story."
"Yes, and I shall run wild with my story in the day-time, and where willyou be then, my blusterer? What's the matter with the man? Has anybodybeen murdered?"
"No," Hafid said slowly, as if the words were being dragged out of him."At least, the law could not say so. No, master, nobody has beenmurdered."
"Then what are you making all this silly fuss about? Nobody has beenmurdered but an inquisitive thief who has accidentally met with hisdeath. Other inquisitive thieves are likely to meet with the same fate.Past master amongst congenial idiots, go to bed."
Frobisher shouted the command backed up by a sounding smack on the sideof Hafid's head. He went off without sense or feeling; indeed, he washardly conscious of the blow. Frobisher sat there smiling, sucking atthe marrow of his pipe, and slowly preparing for bed. His alertness andattention never relaxed a moment, his quick ears lost nothing.
"Who's moving in the house?" he muttered. "I heard a door open softly.When people want to get about a house at dead of night it is a mistaketo move softly. The action is suspicious, whereas if the thing wereopenly done, one doesn't trouble."
Frobisher snapped out the lights and stood in the doorway, rigid toattention. Presently the darkness seemed to rustle and breathe, therewas a faint suggestion of air in motion, and then silence again.Frobisher grinned to himself as he slipped back into his room.
"Angela," he said softly; "I could detect that faint fragrance of heranywhere. Now what's she creeping about the house at this time for? Ifshe isn't back again in a quarter of an hour I shall proceed toinvestigate. My cold and haughty Angela on assignation bent! Oh, oh!"
Angela slipped silently down the broad stairway, utterly unconscious ofthe fact that she had been discovered. She was usually self-containedenough, but her heart was beating a little faster than usual. In somevague way she could not disassociate this visit of Harold's from thetragedy of the earlier evening. And to a certain extent Harold wascompromising her, a thing he would have hesitated to do unless the needhad been very pressing. By instinct Angela found her way to thegarden-room window, the well-oiled catch came back with a click, andHarold was in the room. They wanted no light, the moon was more thansufficient. Harold's face was pale and distressed in the softened raysof light.
"My dearest, I had to come," he whispered in extenuation. "It was myonly chance. I could not possibly enter Sir Frobisher's house bylegitimate means, and yet at the same time it is important that I shouldsee certain things here. If I could only tell you everything!"
"Tell me all or as little as you like," Angela whispered. "I can trustyou all the same."
"It is good to hear you say that, Angela. It was wrong of me to come,and yet there was no other way. Did you show Sir Clement those blossomsthat I gave you?"
"My dear, there was no possible chance. I placed the spray in theconservatory, intending to give my guardian a pleasant surpriseto-morrow, and then the tragedy happened. But of course you knownothing of that."
"Indeed I do, Angela. I know all about it. Jessop, the judge, who dinedhere to-night, came into the club full of it. Manfred, Count Lefroy'ssecretary, wasn't it?"
"The same man. I cannot understand it. Harold. There was a man in theconservatory, or rather there was a man going towards the conservatory,who had no business there. Anybody could see that from his manner. Myidea was to place the spray there and to ask the intruder what he wasdoing. When I reached the conservatory the place was empty. Absolutelyempty, and yet I had seen the man enter! There is no exit either. Iwent back to my room not knowing what to think. And shortly afterwardsI heard Hafid cry out. From the top of the stairs I heard all that wasgoing on. And the man who had been strangled in the conservatory wasthe very man I had seen."
Denvers said nothing for the moment. He was breathing hard and his facewas pale with horror. Angela could feel his hand trembling as she laidher own upon it.
"I think you understand," she whispered. "I fancy that you know.Harold, tell me what all this strange mystery means."
"Not yet," Denvers replied. "You must wait. Nobody ever heard the likeof it before. And so long as you are under the same roof as--but whatam I talking about? But this much I may say: the whole horrible problemrevolves round the Cardinal Moth."
"Round the flower that you gave me to-night, Harold! And that soinnocent looking and beautiful."
"Well, there it is. I have been on the fringe of it for some time.Angela, you must give me back that spray of blossom, you must notmention it to Sir Clement at all. And now I must have a look into theconservatory, indeed I came on purpose."
"You came expecting to find something, a clue to the mystery there?"
"Well, yes, if you like to put it that way," Denvers murmured, avoidingAngela's eyes for the first time. "I had a plant of that Cardinal Mothwhich I deemed safely hidden in Streatham. Why I had to hide it I willtell you in due course. It had a great deal to do between myself andthe Shan of Koordstan, with whom I hoped to do important business. Imentioned it to him and he showed me a paragraph in a paper which forthe moment has scattered all my plans. As soon as I read that paragraphI felt certain that my Moth had been stolen, though it cost one life toget it. When I heard of the tragedy here to-night, I was absolutely sureas to my facts. Angela, my Moth is in the conservatory here, andManfred lost his life trying to steal it for somebody else."
Angela listened with a vague feeling that she would wake presently andfind it all a dream. A new horror had been added to the house in thelast few minutes.
"Let us hope you are wrong," she said with a shudder. "Come and see atonce. But what do you propose to do if you find that your suspicionsare correct?"
Denvers hardly knew; he had had no time to think that part out. Hereached out to find a switch for the light, but Angela's gentle handdetained him.
"The moon must suffice," she said. "Sir Clement has eyes like a hawk.What's that?"
A thud in the hall followed by an unmistakable cry of pain. It was onlyjust for an instant, and then there was silence again. Angela drew herlover back into the shadow of the curtain.
"That was Sir Clement," she whispered. "Whether he has found me out, orhas merely come down for something, I can't say. Probably he kickedagainst something in the dark. Harold!"
For Harold had darted out from the curtain and gripped something thatlooked like a shadow. As he dragged his burden forward the moon shoneon the dull feat
ures of Hafid. Taken suddenly as he had been, he didnot display the slightest traces of fear.
"My beautiful mistress is watched," he said smoothly. "I came to warnher. Sir Clement has gone up to his dressing-room for his slippers. Hestruck his illustrious toe against a marble table and----"
"Then follow him and lock him in," Harold said hurriedly. "Do that andyou shall not be forgotten. Lock the dressing-room door whilst you arepretending to look for the slippers."
"You could do me no greater service," Angela whispered sweetly.
Hafid hastened off as noiselessly as a cat. There was nothing short ofmurder that he would not have done for Angela. There was no light inFrobisher's dressing-room, by the aid of the moon he was fumbling forhis slippers. He turned as Hafid entered.
"My master was moving and I heard him," Hafid said. "Is there anythingthat I can do?"
"Yes," Frobisher said crisply. "You can hunt round and find myconfounded slippers. That fool of a man of mine never puts things inthe same place twice."
Hafid came back presently with the missing articles. The key of thedressing-room was in his pocket, he slipped through the bedroom andlocked that door also. Frobisher stood listening a minute or two with aqueer, uneasy grin on his face. Evidently this little accident had notfrightened the game away. He turned the handle softly, but with noeffect. He shook the door passionately. Something seemed to have gonewrong with the lock. That Hafid should have dared to play such a tricknever for one moment entered Frobisher's mind. With his well-trainedphilosophy Frobisher sat down and filled his pipe. What a woman had donesafely once, she was certain to attempt again, he argued, perhaps tryand attempt a better move. And there were other light nights before themoon had passed the full. Denvers stood listening, but no further soundcame. The attempt must be made now or never.
"Show me the conservatory," he whispered. "There are long folding steps,of course? Then you can stay in the doorway till I have finished, Mydarling, I am truly sorry to expose you to all this, but----"
Angela led the way. It was fairly light in the great glass tank withits tangle of blooms, but as Denvers entered a great gush of steam shotup from the automatic pipe and filled the dome with vapour. Haroldquickly drew the long steps to the centre and mounted. He disappearedin the mist and was quickly lost amongst the tangle of ropes andblossoms. He had to wait for the periodical cloud of vapour to passaway before he could make a searching examination. So far as Angelacould see, nobody was in the roof at all, it was as if Denvers haddisappeared, leaving no trace behind.
There was another gush of steam followed by a shower of fallingblossoms, and a quick cry of pain from the dome. As Angela dartedforward the cry of pain came again, there was a confused vision of astruggling figure, and then Denvers came staggering down the stepsholding his right arm to his side, his face bedabbled with a moisturethat was caused by something beyond the heated atmosphere.
"What has happened?" Angela asked hurriedly. "Have you had an accidentwith your arm?"
Denvers stood there gasping and reeling for a moment. The steam had allevaporated now, and there was nothing to be seen in the dome but atangle of blossoms on their rigid cords. At Denvers' feet lay a sprayof the Cardinal Moth. Despite his pain he placed it in his pocket.
"Look here," he said hoarsely. "This is witchcraft. Somebody graspedmy arm, some unseen force clutched me. I managed to get away by sheerstrength, but look here."
There was a ring of blood all round Denvers' wrist, the flesh had beencut almost to the bone. It seemed almost impossible for a human hand tograsp like that, but there it was. And up in the dome now there wasnothing to be seen but the tangled masses of glorious blooms.
The Cardinal Moth Page 7