“I’ve got the loan of one, Mr. French, or at least I’ll get it first thing tomorrow. From a quarry close by. It’s a rotary hand-pump, and Mr. Glenn, the manager, tells me that it will throw far faster than anything we’ll want.”
“We shall have to fix it down in the well?”
“Yes, the well’s forty-two feet deep. It’s thirty to the water and there’s twelve feet of water. But there’ll be no trouble about that. The beams that carry the old pump will take it, too.”
“You think they’re strong enough?”
“We’ll just have to try them.”
“What about ladders?”
“I’ve got a fifty-foot length of rope ladder from the same quarry.”
“Good. What time can we start tomorrow?”
“I shall have the pump by .”
“Then we should be at the colonel’s shortly after .”
This time French thought it would be wise to have Domlio present at their experiment. He therefore rang him up and made an appointment for .
Early next morning a heavily loaded car left Ashburton. In addition to the driver it contained French, Daw, and two constables in plain clothes, as well as a low, squat pump with detachable handle, an immense coil of armoured hose, another huge coil of rope ladder, and several tools and small parts.
“Another rush to Klondyke,” said French, at which priceless pearl of humour Daw smiled and the plain clothes men guffawed heavily.
“I should have thought that tailor could have fixed up the ownership of the coat,” Daw remarked, presently. “Shouldn’t you, sir?”
“Of course, Sergeant. But we shall get it, all right, even if we have to do all the work ourselves. I thought it wasn’t worth troubling about. It’s pretty certain the coat is not the only thing that was thrown into the well and we shall get our identification from something else.”
The car was run into the yard, unloaded, and dismissed, while French went to the hall door and asked for Colonel Domlio.
“Sorry to trouble you at this hour, Colonel, but I want you to be present at a small experiment I am carrying out.” He watched the other keenly as he spoke. “Will you please come out into the yard, where I have left Sergeant Daw and some men?”
Surprise showed on the colonel’s face, but not, so far as French could see, apprehension.
“This is very interesting, Inspector. I’m glad I’m at least being informed of what is taking place on my own ground. I shall certainly see what you are doing.”
As they turned the corner and the purpose of the visit became apparent to Domlio, his surprise seemed to deepen, but still there was no appearance of uneasiness. The police had lifted the cover of the well and were getting the pump rigged. Coombe and Mee had joined the others and stood speechlessly regarding the preparations.
“Ah, an invasion? I presume, Inspector, you have adequate authority for these somewhat unusual proceedings?”
“I think you’ll find that’s all right, sir. With your permission we’re going to pump out the well.”
“The removal of the well cover and the pump rather suggested something of the kind, but for the moment I can’t quite recall the permission.”
“I feel sure that under the circumstance you won’t withhold it. Better lower that lantern with the candle, Sergeant, before you send a man down. We want to be sure the air is good.”
“If it’s not an impertinence,” Domlio remarked, with ironic politeness, “I should be interested to know why you are not using the existing pump.”
“I didn’t think it was in working order. Is the well used?”
“An explanation, complete, no doubt, but scarcely satisfying. It did not occur to you to try it?”
“No, sir. Too noisy. But what about the well?”
“Ah yes, the well. The well is used—in summer. We have a gravity supply from the hill behind the house, but it fails in summer; hence pumping from the well.”
This statement was very satisfactory to French. It cleared up a point which had been worrying him. If it were possible to get rid of the clothes by throwing them down the well, why had Pyke’s body not been disposed of in the same way? But now this was explained. The condition of the water in the following summer would have led to investigation.
“Try the fixed pump, Sergeant. It may save us rigging the other.”
But a test showed that the valve leathers were dry and not holding, and they went on with their original program.
French had been puzzled by the colonel’s attitude. If beneath his cynical manner he were consumed by the anxiety which, were he guilty, he could scarcely help feeling, he was concealing it in a way that was little short of marvellous. However, the preparations would take time and it was impossible that if the man knew what would be found he could hide all signs of tension.
The candle, lowered to the surface of the water, burned clearly, showing that the air was fresh. The rope ladder was then made fast to the stonework and Sergeant Daw climbed down. Presently he returned to say that the beams on which the old pump rested were sound. The new pump was therefore lowered and one of the constables sent down to begin work.
Getting rid of the water turned out a bigger job than French had anticipated. Slowly the level dropped. At intervals the men spelled each other, French and Daw taking their turns. By lunchtime the water had gone down seven feet, though during the meal it rose six inches. After that they worked with renewed energy to get the remaining five feet six inches out before dusk.
“You have a second well, have you not, Colonel?” French enquired. “I noticed a pump near the kitchen door.”
“Yes. We use it for drinking purposes. This is only good enough for washing the car and so on.”
On more than one occasion Domlio had protested against what he called the waste of his time in watching the work. But French insisted on his remaining till the search was
