AgathaChristie-ParkerPineDetective
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him--and he obeys. There's the contradictory man.
Bully him the opposite way from that in which you want
him to go. Then there's the suggestible person, the com-monest
type of all. Those are the people who have seen a
motor, because they have heard a motor horn; who see a
postman because they hear the rattle of the letter box;
who see a knife in a wound because they are told a man
has been stabbed; or who will have heard the pistol if
they are told a man has been shot."
"I guess no one could put that sort of stuff over on
me," said Carol incredulously.
"You're too smart for that, honey," said her father.
"It is very true what you say," said the Frenchman
reflectively. "The preconceived idea, it deceives the
senses."
Carol yawned. "I'm going to my cave. I'm tired to
death. ^bbas Effendi said we had to start early tomor-row.
He's going to take us up to the place of sacrifice--whatever
that is."
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155
"It's where they sacrifice young and beautiful girls,"
said Sir Donald.
· "Mercy, I hope not! Well, good night, all. Oh, I've
dropped my earring."
Colonel Dubosc picked it up from where it had rolled
across the table and returned it to her.
"Are they real?" asked Sir Donald abruptly. Discourteous
for the moment, he was staring at the two
large solitaire pearls at her ears.
"They're real, all right," said Carol.
"Cost me eighty thousand dollars," said her father
with relish. "And she screws them in so loosely that they
fall off and roll about the table. Want to ruin me, girl?"
"I'd say it wouldn't ruin you even if you had to buy
me a new pair," said Carol fondly.
"I guess it wouldn't," her father acquiesced. "I could
but you three pairs of earrings without noticing it in my
bank balance." He looked proudly around.
"How nice for you!" said Sir Donald.
"Well, gentlemen, I think I'll turn in now," said
Blundell. "Good night." Young Hurst went with him.
The other four smiled at one another, as though in
sympathy over some thought.
"Well," drawled Sir Donald, "it's nice to know he
wouldn't miss the money. Purse-proud hog!" he added
viciously.
"They have too much money, these Americans," said
Dubosc.
"It is difficult," said Mr. Parker Pyne gently, "for a
rich man to be appreciated by the poor."
Dubosc laughed. "Envy and malice?" he suggested.
"You are right, Monsieur. We all wish to be rich; to buy
the pearl earrings several times over. Except, perhaps,
Monsieur here."
He bowed to Doctor Carver who, as seemed usual
with him, was once more far away. He was fiddling with
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$llt, the %
E bject in his hand.
ovet I He roused Mmself. No, I must admit I don t
is to'rge pearls. Money is always useful, of course."
'-:. , put it where it belonged "But look at this," he
' .
'
--",';"° 't ere is something' a hundred times more inter
,,whan pearls."
,,it,it is it?"
5
,,en, a cylinder seal of black hematite and it's got a
;;libation scene engraved on it--a god introducing a
,:,,, ht to a more important enthroned god. The sup-
nd y so that it must have been made just four thous
He [ rs ago."
,.,ok alum of plasticine from his pocket and
h moment the spell of the past was laid upon them
all' from outside, the voice of Mr. Blundell was
a hmusically.
darned you fellows! Change my baggage out of this
-,,. cave and into a tent! The no-see-ums are biting
l;°,';hd hard. I shan't get a wink of sleep."
,,p ee-ums?" Sir Donald queried.
'
,,ilaably sand flies," said Doctor Carver.
tch l'?(e no-see-ums," said Mr. Parker Pyne. "It's a
"re suggestive name."
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157
The Party started early the following morning, getting
under way after various exclamations at the color and
marking of the rocks. The "rose-red" city was indeed a
freak invented by Nature in her most extravagant and
colorful mood. The party proceeded slowly, since Doc
tor Carver walked with his eyes bent on the ground, oc
casionally pausing to pick up small objects.
"You can always tell the archaeologist--so," said
Colonel Dubosc, smiling. "He regards never the sky,
nor the hills, nor the beauties of nature. He walks with
head bent, searching."
"Yes, but what for?" said Carol. "What are the
things you are picking up, Doctor Carver."
With a slight smile the archaeologist held out a couple
of muddy fragments of pottery.
"That rubbish!" cried Carol scornfully.
"Pottery is more interesting than gold," said Doctor
Carver. Carol looked disbelieving.
They came to a sharp bend and passed two or three
rock-cut tombs. The ascent was somewhat trying. The
Bedouin guards went ahead, swinging up the precipitous
slopes unconcernedly, without a downward glance at
the sheer drop on one side of them.
Carol looked rather pale. One guard leaned down
from above and extended a hand. Hurst sprang up in
front of her and held out his stick like a rail on the
precipitous side. She thanked him with a glance, and a
minute later stood safely on a broad path of rock. The
others followed slowly. The sun was now high and the
heat was beginning to be felt.
At last they reached a broad plateau almost at the
top. An easy climb led to the summit of a big square
block of rock. Blundell signified to the guide that the
party would go up alone. The Bedouins disposed themselves
comfortably against the rocks and began to
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smoke. A few short minutes and the others had reached
the summit.
It was a curious, bare place. The view was marvelous
embracing the valley on every side. They stood on a
plain rectangular floor, with rock basins cut in the side
and a kind of sacrificial altar.
"A heavenly place for sacrifices," said Carol with en-thusiasm.
"But my, they must have had a time getting
the victims up here!"
"There was originally a kind of zigzag rock road,"
explained Doctor Carver. "We shall sec traces of it as
we go down the other way."
They were some time longer commenting and talking.
Then there was a tiny chink, and Doctor Carver said:
"I believe you've dropped your earring again, Miss
Blundell."
Carol clapped a hand to her ear. "Why, so I have."
Dubosc and Hurst began searching about.
"It must be just here," said the Frenchman. "It can't
have rolled away, because there is nowhere for it to roll
to. The place is like a square box."
"It can
't have rolled into a crack?" queried Carol.
"There's not a crack anywhere," said Mr. Parker
Pyne. "'You can.see for yourself. The place is perfectly
smooth. Ah, you have found something, Colonel?"
"Only a little pebble," said Dubosc, smiling and
throwing it away.
Gradually a different spirit--a spirit of tension--came
over the search. They were not said aloud, but the
words "eighty thousand dollars" were present in every-body's
mind.
"You are sure you had it, Carol?" snapped her
father. "I mean, perhalSs you dropped it on the way
up."
"I had it just as we stepped onto the plateau here,"
said Carol. "I know, because Doctor Carver pointed
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out tO me that it was loose and he screwed it up for
That's so, isn't it, doctor?"
Doctor Carver assented. It was Sir Donald w
voiced the thoughts in everybody's mind.
"This is rather an unpleasant business, Mr. Blt
dell," he said. "You were telling us last night what
value of these earrings is. One of them alone is wortl
small fortune. If this earring is not found, and it
not look as though it will be found, every one of us
be under a certain suspicion."
"And for one, I ask to be searched," broke in
onel Dubosc. "I do not ask, I demand it as a right!"
"You can search me, too," said Hurst. His vo
sounded harsh.
"What does everyone else feel?" asked Sir Donal
looking around.
"Certainly," said Mr. Parker Pyne.
"An excellent idea," said Doctor Carver.
I'll be in on this too, gentlemen," said Mr. Blunde.
"I've got my reasons, though I don't want to stre
them."
"Just as you like, of course, Mr. Blundell,'' said
Donald courteously.
"Carol, my dear, will you go down and wait with
guides?"
Without a word the girl left them. Her face was s
and grim. There was a despairing look upon it th
caught the attention of one member of the party,
least. He wondered just what it meant.
The search proceeded. It was drastic and thorough-and
completely unsatisfactory. One thing was certail
No one was carrying the earring on his person. It was
subdued little troop that negotiated the descent
listened halfheartedly to the guide's descriptions
information.
Mr. Parker Pyne had just finished dressing for lunc
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when a figure appeared at the door of his tent.
"Mr. Pyne, may I come in?"
"Certainly, my dear young lady, certainly."
Carol came in and sat down on the bed. Her face had
the same grim look upon it that he had noticed earlier in
the day.
"You pretend to straighten out things for people
when they are unhappy, don't you?" she demanded.
"I am on holiday, Miss Blundell. I am not taking any
cases."
"Well, you're going to take this one," said the girl
calmly. "Look here, Mr. Pyne, I'm just as wretched as
anyone could well be."
"What is troubling you?" he asked. "Is it this busi-ness
of the earring?"
"That's just it. You've said it. Jim Hurst didn't take
it, Mr. Pyne. I know he didn't."
"I don't quite follow you, Miss Blundell. Why should
anyone assume he had?"
"Because of his record. Jim Hurst was once a thief,
Mr. Pyne. He was caught in our house. I--I was sorry
for him. He looked so young and desperate--"
"And so good-looking,'! thought Mr. Parker Pyne.
"I persuaded Pop to give him a chance to make good.
My father will do anything for me. Well, he gave Jim his
chance and Jim has made good. Father's come to rely
on him and to trust him with all his business secrets.
And in the end he'll come around altogether, or would
have if this hadn't happened."
"When you say 'come around'--?"
"I mean that I want to marry Jim and he wants to
marry me."
"And Sir Donald?"
"Sir Donald is Father's idea. He's not mine. Do you
think I want to marry a stuffed fish like Sir Donald?"
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l
Without expressing any views as to this description
the young Englishman, Mr. Parker Pyne asked: "A
Sir Donald himself?"
"I dare say he thinks I'd be good for his impoverish
acres," said Carol scornfully.
Mr. Parker Pyne considered the situation. "I shot
like to ask you about two things," he said. "Last ni
the remark was made, 'once a thief, always a thief.'"
The girl nodded.
"I see now the reason for the embarrassment t
remark seemed to cause."
"Yes, it was awkward for Jim--and for me and Pc
too. I was so afraid Jim's face would show somethi
that I just trotted out the first remarks I could thi
of."
Mr. Parker Pyne nodded thoughtfully. Then
asked: "Just why did your father insist on bei
searched today?"
"You didn't get that? I did. Pop had it in his mL
that I might think the whole business was a frame-t
against Jim. You see, he's crazy for me to marry ti
Englishman. Well, he wanted to show me that he hadr
done the dirty on Jim."
"Dear me,', said Mr. Parker Pyne, "this is all very
luminating. In a general sense, I mean. It hardly hel
us in our particular inquiry."
"You're not going to hand in your checks?"
"No, no." He was silent a moment, then he sai
"What is it exactly you want me to do, Miss Carol?"
"Prove it wasn't Jim who took that pearl."
"And suppose--excuse me--that it was?"
"If you think so, you're wrong--dead wrong."
"Yes, but have you really considered the case cal.
fully? Don't you think that the pearl might prove a sue
den temptation to Mr. Hurst? The sale of it would brir
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in a large sum of moncy--a foundation on which to
speculate, shall we say?--which will make him indepen-dent,
so that he can marry you with or without your
father's consent."
"Jim didn't do it," said the girl simply.
This time Mr. Parker Pyne accepted her statement.
"Well, I'll do my best."
She nodded abruptly and left the tent. Mr. Parker
Pyne in his turn sat down on the bed. He gave himself
up to thought. Suddenly he chuckled.
"I'm growing slow-witted," he said, aloud. At lunch
he was very cheerful.
The afternoon passed peacefully. Most people slept.
When Mr. Parker Pync came into the big tent at a quar-ter
past four only Doctor Carver was there. He was ex-amining
some fragments of pottery.
"Ah!" said Mr. Parker Pyne, drawing up a chair to
the table. "Just the man I want to see. Can you let me
have that hit of plasticine you carry about?"
The doctor felt in his pockets and produced a stick of
plasticine, which he offered to Mr. Parker Pyne.
<
br /> "No," said Mr. Parker Pyne, waving it away, "that's
not the one I want. I want that lump you had last night.
To be frank, it's not the plasticine I want. It's the con-tents
of it."
There was a pause, and then Doctor Carver said
quietly. "I don't think I quite understand you."
"I think you do," said Mr. Parker-Pyne. "I want
Miss Blundell's pearl earring."
There was a minute's dead silence. Then Carver
slipped his hand into his pocket and took out a shapeless
lump of plasticine.
"Clever of you," he said. His face was expression-less.
"I wish you'd tell me about it," said Mr. Parker
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Pyne. His fingers were busy. With a grunt, he extracted
a somewhat smeared pearl earring. "Just curiosity, I
know," he added apologetically. "But I should like to
hear about it."
"VII tell you," said Carver, "if you'll tell me just how
you happened to pitch upon me. You didn't see any-thing,
did you?"
Mr. Parker Pyne shook his head. "I just thought
about it," he said.
"It was really sheer accident, to start with," said
Carver. "I was behind you all this morning and I came
across it lying in front of me--it must have fallen from