as tanza spoke he laid on the table a small, brass-bound, mahogany box, the patent lock of which had been forced; indeed, the whole thing appeared to have been so badly used that even the neatly made hinges were out of place. inside were drawers and trays lined with crimson velvet, all wet and saturated as if they had been soaked in water for some time.
"you see what it is, then?" tanza observed. "this is a jewel box. on the lid you will notice a little glass frame behind which is a sheet of paper inscribed with a list of the articles which at one time formed the contents of the box. when this casket was brought to me it was empty as you see it now; indeed, one of my men found it at low tide not very far away from the landing-stage, half imbedded in the sand. it is easy to guess whom it belongs to, seeing that the owner's monogram is on the outside, together with an address. beyond question this once belonged to mrs. charlock. mind you, i haven't heard that mrs. charlock was robbed of her jewels. i am simply deducing the thing from the condition this casket is in at present. in the first place, you see the casket has been forced open. now, nobody but a thief would do that. in the second place, the casket was thrown into the sea, which is also what a thief would do. now, who would be the most likely person to commit a crime of this sort? who would be in a position to do so? but you know that my deductions are correct, because that rascal bark told us who the thief was. where the stones are is another matter. that will be something for us to find out when the mystery of the woman's death is cleared up. meanwhile, we had better stick to the original mystery and do one thing at a time. i am bound to confess that i have slightly changed my mind, and should not be surprised to find that this lady's maid committed suicide. it is possible that mrs. charlock discovered her loss and traced it home to the thief. on the spur of the moment the latter goes off and drowns herself in the fountain by the sundial."
"and there," grey said emphatically, "you are wrong. i shall be able to prove that to you before long. i, on my part, have not been altogether idle. still, we will keep to our bargain, as you say, and each go his own way. clever as you are, and much as i respect your opinion, i am prepared to back myself to get to the bottom of this mystery before you do. within a week i promise not only to solve the mystery of hortense's death, but also to produce the missing jewels."
"ah, that's all right," tanza exclaimed. "you are a pupil after my own heart. do you mean to say you suspect the place where the jewels are hidden?"
"i don't suspect anything," grey said quietly. "i know. i could put my hands upon the jewels within four-and-twenty hours."
tanza nodded approvingly. it was characteristic of the man that he displayed no curiosity and asked no further questions. nor had it occurred to him that grey was speaking in a boastful spirit. he made no effort to move when grey rose from his chair, saying he had important business on shore which might detain him to a late hour.
"all right," he said. "i presume you are on the same business still. you will be able to tell me what has happened in the morning. well, good-night and good luck to you."
it was very late when at length grey skirted the town and proceeded along the shore to the small block of buildings where rent was carrying on his experiments. the buildings were in darkness. but that did not seem to trouble grey, who threw himself down upon a bed of sea pinks and proceeded to light a cigarette. he had barely finished two before a tiny speck of light appeared in one of the windows, followed by a brilliant illumination behind the blinds as if some one was turning on the gas. as a fact, it was electric light, as grey very well knew. he moved forward almost immediately until he stood under the shadow of the buildings. the main door was slightly open, and grey hesitated whether he should enter or not. there was no one about, so far as he could see, though he could hear voices in the room where the light had been turned on. there was nothing to gain by timidity, so he pushed his way into the building and felt cautiously along the corridor. the door of the room where the light was stood ajar, and the intruder could see swift standing on one side of the table and bark opposite.
"and now you have got me here," swift was saying, "what do you want? why all this mystery? why couldn't you have come to my lodgings like any other man? instead, you drag me here as if i were a thief or something to be ashamed of."
"what else are you?" bark said brutally. "and what else is that employer of yours, for that matter, either? look here, my friend, i know too much about both of you to stand any nonsense. i don't want to put the cat among the pigeons, but unless i have this money by midday to-morrow somebody is going to get into trouble. that is all i have to say."
"but i haven't got it," swift said passionately. "i haven't got a tenth part of it. mr. rent will be here to-morrow and you had better see him for yourself. i am sick of all this business. i begin to wish i had never come here at all. and now the sooner you clear out the better."
"i'm going when i like," bark said sullenly. "and, mind you, i won't be played with any more. i can say too much and i can prove too much to be treated as if i were some tramp trying to beg a copper or two. if you take my advice you will leave arnold rent to his own resources. no man ever yet trusted him without repenting it afterwards. poor as i am, i wouldn't be under a favour to that man unless i was obliged to, and it is possible that i may not have to come here to-morrow, after all. i have a scheme on, and if it turns out trumps you can tell your employer that he isn't likely to see me for a bit. what are you up to here? what's the little game?"
"we came here on a purely scientific errand," swift said coldly. "and, in any case, our experiments will not be of the least interest to you. and now, as i am busy——"
"oh, i'm off," bark laughed. "i don't want to pry into your secrets; i've plenty of my own to worry about. good-night."
bark turned away and swaggered down the passage, so close that grey could have touched him as he passed. he emerged into the road and went off towards the town with the air of a man who has much to do before he seeks his bed. grey followed him at a respectful distance until he came to the lodge gate leading to the house recently occupied by john charlock. bark pushed through the gate and made his way along the grass towards the lawn at the back of the house. here he stopped and produced a box of matches from his pocket. there was little or no wind, so that the match flamed out clearly, so clearly that the watcher could see bark's evil face carefully examining a piece of paper which he had in his hand. so still was it that grey could hear bark's muttered comments.
"hang me if i can make it out. what an awful fist she wrote, to be sure. now, is it on this side or the other? and what does she mean by a hundred and fifty to the right? and where the dickens is the right supposed to begin? i wish i had a tape measure. not that it would be much use on a dark night like this. still, it won't do to work with a lantern."
the match went out and bark's musings came to an end. grey had been gazing so steadfastly at the match that when it was extinguished suddenly he could not see anything for the moment. then, when his eyes became accustomed again to the gloom, he found that bark had vanished, leaving not the slightest trace behind.
the incident was annoying as it was unexpected. there were trees all about the lawn standing back in dense shadow, so that it was almost impossible to make out in which direction bark had gone. grey could do nothing but go back to the road and wait till bark came back again. there was, of course, a chance that his time might be wasted. but he had gone so far now that he did not care to abandon his search. he went slowly and cautiously back to the road and stood by the lodge gate for the best part of an hour. he was thinking of giving up the adventure when bark came down the avenue muttering to himself and groaning as if he were in considerable pain. he did not appear to think it extraordinary that grey should be there. on the contrary, he grinned knowingly and inquired affectionately after tanza's welfare.
"you are wasting your time to-night, anyway," he said. "so am i, for the matter of that. there is something wrong with this place. never mind why i am here. i stumbled over a fountain arrangement in the garden and fell with one hand in the water. it was only for a second, and now look at my fingers. painful! well, rather. but what the devil is it? strike a match and look for yourself."
bark held up a shaking hand in the light of the match. his fingers were shrivelled and blue, as if they had been badly scalded. there were blisters here and there, and bark writhed with the pain he made no effort to conceal.
"what do you make of it?" he groaned. "tell me what you make of it."
