Cooney paused and shuddered. Great beads of perspiration poured down his face. Then he resumed once more.
“Well, he was dead, and there was an end of it. Just for the moment I wasn’t thinking about much besides my little happy home. I pocketed all the valuables I could lay my hands upon, and carried them away. You may say that that was a mad thing to do, but after I saw Mr. Delahay lying dead at my feet, it seemed to me as if he wasn’t likely to miss ’em. Oh, I know as I stand in what the papers call a serious position. But that’s the gospel truth, and I can’t tell you any more. It seems to me I have said enough. And now, if you will call a cab, sir, I am ready for you.”
A cab was called, and Dallas drove off in the direction of Bow Street with his prisoner. He stopped just a moment to exchange a few words with Lance and Venables.
“There is no reason why Mrs. Delahay should not know this just yet?” Walter asked. “You may be sure that she feels her position keenly. Would there be any objection to getting her to accompany us as far as Cannon Green tonight? You will understand why.”
“None at all,” Dallas said. “I’ll send a message to the man who is watching outside the Grand Hotel, and let him know that his presence there is needed no longer. All the same, we have still got to find the culprit. It isn’t Cooney. He told us the truth, I’m certain. The culprit is at Cannon Green! What a fool I’ve been!”
Mrs. Delahay received her visitors in a dull, apathetic way, which had never left her since the night of the tragedy. But her face cleared, and her manner became more soft and gentle as she listened to the story which Walter had to tell. She dropped into a chair, and for some moments the tears ran unrestrainedly down her cheeks. She wiped her eyes presently. There was something like a smile on her lips as she turned to Walter.
“I believe those tears saved my reason,” she said. “I have not been able to cry. I have not been able to feel the last few days. The death of my husband was bad enough. The knowledge that I was suspected of his murder was worse, but the feeling that my own sister possibly had a hand in the tragedy was worse than all the rest. There are one or two matters to be explained yet, but the great truth is growing plain, and I feel like a living being once more. Oh, yes; I will come down to Cannon Green with you; I am looking forward to it with something like pleasure. I know that when I have seen my sister everything will be cleared up.”
It was a different woman who came down from her room half an hour later, ready for the journey. She looked sad and pathetic enough in her deep mourning. The trouble still brooded in her eyes, but the look of stony despair was no longer there. They came at length to the house on the common. The windows were lighted up, the hall looked comfortable and cheery.
In the drawing-room were the Countess Flavio and Vera. They rose as Mrs. Delahay entered.
“I have brought your sister,” Walter explained briefly. “She has much to say to you. Perhaps I had better leave you alone.”
XLV
Count Flavio’s Diary
It was getting exceedingly late now, but the two sisters Descarti, together with Vera, were still in the drawing-room. Nobody cared to disturb them. It was felt that they would have much to say to one another. And no doubt, all they had to tell would be disclosed when the proper time came. Valdo had not recovered consciousness again. He lay there overhead, with a vigilant-eyed nurse watching him. Venables had not come down with Mrs. Delahay and Walter. He had excused himself on the plea of business, and on the understanding that he would visit Cannon Green the following day. In the dining-room for the last hour or two Walter had been seated, deeply engrossed in the slim, parchment-covered volume which had been sent him by Countess Flavio at the urgent request of her dying servant.
Time was going on, and still Walter did not look up from the book. It was long past two before he finished. Then with a
