go on with this case, my intention is to seek this explanation
personally – by myself, I mean where it may be picked up. That is
in a certain shop in Brett Street, and on the lips of a certain
secret agent once upon a time the confidential and trusted spy of
the late Baron Stott-Wartenheim, Ambassador of a Great Power to the
Court of St James.”
The Assistant Commissioner paused, then added: “Those fellows are a
perfect pest.” In order to raise his drooping glance to the
speaker’s face, the Personage on the hearthrug had gradually tilted
his head farther back, which gave him an aspect of extraordinary
haughtiness.
“Why not leave it to Heat?”
“Because he is an old departmental hand. They have their own
morality. My line of inquiry would appear to him an awful
perversion of duty. For him the plain duty is to fasten the guilt
upon as many prominent anarchists as he can on some slight
indications he had picked up in the course of his investigation on
the spot; whereas I, he would say, am bent upon vindicating their
innocence. I am trying to be as lucid as I can in presenting this
obscure matter to you without details.”
“He would, would he?” muttered the proud head of Sir Ethelred from
its lofty elevation.
“I am afraid so – with an indignation and disgust of which you or I
can have no idea. He’s an excellent servant. We must not put an
undue strain on his loyalty. That’s always a mistake. Besides, I
want a free hand – a freer hand than it would be perhaps advisable
to give Chief Inspector Heat. I haven’t the slightest wish to
spare this man Verloc. He will, I imagine, be extremely startled
to find his connection with this affair, whatever it may be,
brought home to him so quickly. Frightening him will not be very
difficult. But our true objective lies behind him somewhere. I
want your authority to give him such assurances of personal safety
as I may think proper.”
“Certainly,” said the Personage on the hearthrug. “Find out as
much as you can; find it out in your own way.”
“I must set about it without loss of time, this very evening,” said
the Assistant Commissioner.
Sir Ethelred shifted one hand under his coat tails, and tilting
back his head, looked at him steadily.
“We’ll have a late sitting to-night,” he said. “Come to the House
with your discoveries if we are not gone home. I’ll warn Toodles
to look out for you. He’ll take you into my room.”
The numerous family and the wide connections of the youthful-
looking Private Secretary cherished for him the hope of an austere
and exalted destiny. Meantime the social sphere he adorned in his
hours of idleness chose to pet him under the above nickname. And
Sir Ethelred, hearing it on the lips of his wife and girls every
day (mostly at breakfast-time), had conferred upon it the dignity
of unsmiling adoption.
The Assistant Commissioner was surprised and gratified extremely.
“I shall certainly bring my discoveries to the House on the chance
of you having the time to – ”
“I won’t have the time,” interrupted the great Personage. “But I
will see you. I haven’t the time now – And you are going
yourself?”
“Yes, Sir Ethelred. I think it the best way.”
The Personage had tilted his head so far back that, in order to
keep the Assistant Commissioner under his observation, he had to
nearly close his eyes.
“H’m. Ha! And how do you propose – Will you assume a disguise?”
“Hardly a disguise! I’ll change my clothes, of course.”
“Of course,” repeated the great man, with a sort of absent-minded
loftiness. He turned his big head slowly, and over his shoulder
gave a haughty oblique stare to the ponderous marble timepiece with
the sly, feeble tick. The gilt hands had taken the opportunity to
steal through no less than five and twenty minutes behind his back.
The Assistant Commissioner, who could not see them, grew a little
nervous in the interval. But the great man presented to him a calm
and undismayed face.
“Very well,” he said, and paused, as if in deliberate contempt of
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130