The Man Without A Face
Page 33
“I can understand that, sir,” said Henry; “but the scene?”
“Miss Williams must have been particularly anxious to have me put away,” answered Harrison. “It was obviously too much of a risk for her to take herself in the open street and the two men with her did not strike me as first-class assassins. She was not in touch with members of Cross’s gang who were and she had to play for time. The scene outside the café was only to have a case ready for M. Berthay whom, you remember, she had communicated with beforehand.”
“Yes, sir,” said Henry, “but if you had gone to prison, supposing M. Berthay had not known you were in Havre, I should have soon got you out.”
“Not as soon as you think, Henry,” answered Harrison, “but however short the time, Miss Williams was reckoning it would be long enough for her purpose. My dear Henry, I solemnly believe that if M. Berthay had taken me back to Havre there and then, whatever precautions might have been taken to get me safely on the ship when the mistake had been cleared up, Miss Williams and her friends would have found some way of seeing to it that I did not leave Havre alive.”
Again there was silence and after a moment Henry went out of the room. He returned, carrying a large flat package which he handed to Harrison.
“Oh, yes, Henry, they ought to see this,” he said, undoing the wrapping. “I received this from Paris yesterday.”
Very carefully he brought to light a large photograph.
“Helen Williams,” exclaimed Mrs. Marston.
“It’s a pity that there should be no photographer’s name on such a good likeness,” said Harrison, holding it up, “where by chance or not, that particular shoulder which she is revealing for us to admire is the very one which was so roughly displayed during what Henry calls ‘the scene at Havre.’ But I think the inscription is the most important part of the gift.”
They all drew near and saw, written in a firm rather flourishing hand, the words:
“Clay Harrison, from a humbled admirer.”
First published in the United Kingdom in 1932 by Ernest Benn Limited
This edition published in the United Kingdom in 2016 by
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Copyright © 1932 by Clifton Robbins
The moral right of Clifton Robbins to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781911420064
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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