furnish me with a screw-driver, and he did.â
âIt was the identical one?â
âIt was.â
âBy Jove, Heather!â exclaimed Vereker, but with little show of excitement.
âThere doesnât seem much in it, though,â continued Heather thoughtfully, âbecause hardly had Farnish handed the tool over to me than he volunteered the information that his lordship had lost a key to one of his bureau drawers and had broken it open some days before he leftââwith the same screw-driver.ââ
âYou didnât believe him, of course.â
âI wonât say that, but I noticed that of the several bundles of papers in the drawer all were tied with a proper reef-knot, and only one with a granny-knot.â
âAnd you deducedâ?â
âNothing as yet, Mr. Vereker, but Iâve taken the usual note. You know the contents of the will?â
âYesâand I know youâve taken a note that Farnish is left £500 under its terms.â
âQuite so. But from my interrogation of all the servants I find that Farnish neither drinks, smokes nor intends to get married. Heâs a careful, honest, punctilious man and devoted to his lordship.â
âNow, now, Heather, youâre not going to tell me youâre impressed by that stuff. I can already see you getting the handcuffs ready for dear old Farnish.â
Inspector Heather laughed and continued:
âTheyâve just rung me up from headquarters and told me that about six months ago Lord Bygrave got his bankers to dispose of about £10,000 worth of registered securities, and had them transferred into bearer bonds.â
âSix months ago?â queried Vereker listlessly.
âYes; but why?â
âWell, that was last May. Anything could have happened to them since then. Now, if this transaction had taken place just before Lord Bygraveâs departure for Hartwood there might be some significance in it.â
âI can find no trace of them, anyhow. Theyâre not at his bankers and theyâre not in his private safe here, and it is unlikely that he would carry £10,000 about with him on a holiday,â argued the inspector.
âThen I make another brilliant deduction, HeatherâLord Bygrave simply blewed them!â said Vereker.
âIâve more news for you, Mr. Vereker,â continued the inspector. âMr. Grierson rang up to say that he would like to see you. He is coming down from town and ought to be here in a few minutes. Meanwhile I think Iâll go and send off some telegrams.â
Chapter Six
After Inspector Heatherâs departure Vereker sank back in a comfortable arm-chair, lit his pipe and gave himself up to a lengthy reverie. There was a look of uneasiness on his face; it could hardly be termed annoyance, for it took a great deal really to annoy Mr. Algernon Vereker. This uneasy look was the signal that he had been suddenly confronted with the unexpected, and it was all due to Walterâs story of the heavily-veiled ladyâs visit to Bygrave Hall. This sudden irruption of a female figure into the chaotic tangle of events which constituted the mystery of Lord Bygraveâs disappearance was undeniably disconcerting.
âA woman in the caseâthe last damned thing I would have expected!â he exclaimed. âWhat earthly right has a woman to figure in this case at all? It discloses a facet of Bygraveâs life the existence of which I had never suspected. Itâs enough to make me forswear the rôle of amateur detective for ever and to give up the quest here and now.â
He pondered over the incident, looking at it in many lights. There might be a romance, some romance of Bygraveâs early life, of which he knew nothing. It might be one of the most prosaic of occurrences. But why had Lord Bygrave been agitated? There was no explanation forthcoming at the moment. It might disclose itself later. In any case
1802-1870 Alexandre Dumas