But apparently his preparations were not over yet. He crossed to the sideboard and extracted a new and undecanted bottle of whisky. From this he withdrew about a dessertspoonful of the spirit, and replaced it with the contents of a small phial which he took out of his waistcoat pocket. Then he forced back the cork until it was right home, and with the greatest care replaced the cap of tinfoil round the top of the bottle. And the girl, coming over to where he was working, saw that the bottle was again as new.
“What a consummate artist you are, chéri!” she said, laying a hand on his shoulder.
The Reverend Theodosius smiled and passed his arm round her waist.
“One of the earliest essentials of our—er—occupation, my little one, is to learn how to insert dope into an apparently untouched bottle.”
“But do you think you will get him to drink even out of a new bottle?”
“I hope so. I shall drink myself. But even if he doesn’t, the preparation on the chair is the essential thing. Once his neck touches that—”
With an expressive wave of his hand he vanished once more into the bathroom, returning with his coat.
“Don’t you remember that Italian toxicologist—Fransioli?” he remarked. “We met him in Naples three years ago, and he obligingly told me that he had in his possession the secret of one of the real Borgia poisons. I remember I had a most interesting discussion with him on the subject. The internal application is harmless; the external application is what matters. That acts alone, but if the victim can be induced to take it internally as well it acts very much better.”
“Fransioli?” She frowned thoughtfully. “Wasn’t that the name of the man who had the fatal accident on Vesuvius?”
“That’s the fellow,” answered the Reverend Theodosius, arranging a siphon and some glasses on a tray. “He persuaded me to ascend it with him, and on the way up he was foolish enough to tell me that the bottles containing this poison had been stolen from his laboratory. I don’t know whether he suspected me or not—I was an Austrian Baron at the time, if I remember aright—but when he proceeded to peer over the edge of the crater at a most dangerous point I thought it better to take no risks. So—er—the accident occurred. And I gathered he was really a great loss to science.”
He glanced at his watch, and the girl laughed delightedly.
“It will be interesting to see if his claims for it are true,” he continued thoughtfully. “I have only used it once, but on that occasion I inadvertently put too much into the wine, and the patient died. But with the right quantities it produces—so he stated, and I saw him experiment on a dog—a type of partial paralysis, not only of the body, but of the mind. You can see, you can hear, but you can’t speak and you can’t move. What ultimately happens with a human being I don’t know, but the dog recovered.”
A quick double knock came at the door, and with one final glance round the room the Reverend Theodosius crossed to his desk and sat down.
“Come in,” he called, and a small dapper-looking man entered.
“Number 13, sir,” said the newcomer briefly, and the other nodded.
“I am expecting a man here shortly, 13,” remarked the clergyman, “whose voice I shall want you to imitate over the telephone.”
“Only over the telephone, sir?”
“Only over the telephone. You will not be able to be in this room, but there is a bathroom adjoining in which you can hear every word that is spoken.” The other nodded as if satisfied. “For how long will you require to hear him talk?”
“Five or ten minutes, sir, will be ample.”
“Good. You shall have that. There’s the bathroom. Go in, and don’t make a sound.”
“Very good, sir.”
“And wait. Have Giuseppi and Number 10 come yet?”
“They left headquarters, sir, just after I did. They should be here by now.”
The man disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door behind him, and once again the Reverend Theodosius glanced at his watch.
“Our young friend should be here shortly,” he murmured. “And then the single which he seems so anxious to play can begin in earnest.”
The benign expression which he had adopted as part of his role disappeared for an instant to be replaced by a look of cold fury.
“The single will begin in earnest,” he repeated softly, “and it’s the last one he will ever play.”
The girl shrugged her shoulders.
“He has certainly asked for it,” she remarked, “but it strikes me that you had better be careful. You may bet on one thing—that he hasn’t kept his knowledge about you and me to himself. Half those young idiots that run about behind him know everything by this time, and if they go to Scotland Yard it will be very unpleasant for us, mon chéri. And that they certainly will do if anything should happen to dear Hugh.”
The clergyman smiled resignedly.
“After all these years, you think it necessary to say that to me! My dear, you pain me—you positively wound me to the quick. I will guarantee that all Drummond’s friends sleep soundly in their beds tonight, harbouring none but the sweetest thoughts of the kindly and much-maligned old clergyman at the Ritz.”
“And what of Drummond himself?” continued the girl.
“It may be tonight, or it may be tomorrow. But accidents happen at all times—and one is going to happen to him.” He smiled sweetly, and lit a cigar. “A nasty, sticky accident which will deprive us of his presence. I haven’t worried over the details yet—but doubtless the inspiration will come. And here, if I mistake not, is our hero himself.”
The door swung open and Drummond entered.
“Well, Carl, old lad,” he remarked breezily, “here I
