attendant, but I do not know a Mr. Brandt.”
“That 5a?” The man sounded astonished.
“Yes, sir. Mr. Rollison may be able to help you, but I don’t think he is likely to be in tonight. He might be in tomorrow morning. Would you care to leave a telephone number, so that he is able to get in touch with you ?”
“I guess I’ll call him again,” said the American, and rang off.
Jolly put the receiver down quietly, went back and finished the tea-tray, and then went to his own bed-sitting room, which was small but extremely well-furnished, and poured himself a whisky and soda: he used plenty of soda. He kept listening for sounds at the front door, but for a long time there was silence. Then he heard the expected footsteps, jumped up, and hurried to the door. He opened it before Rollison had his key out, and stood aside.
Rollison was with Grice, whom Jolly knew well. “Hallo, Jolly,” Rollison said. “Not in bed yet?”
“I was about to retire, sir.”
“I’ll have a look round before you do,” said Grice, and as he spoke two plain clothes men came up the stairs; it was obvious to Jolly that he was not doing this by halves. Grice looked grim, almost angry. He strode into the big room, ignored the Trophy Wall, then went into the spare room, next the kitchen, finally the bathrooms and Rollison’s bedroom.
Rollison and Jolly were together in the large room when he came striding in.
“Come on,” he barked. “Where is he?”
“If you mean Mr. Brandt, sir, he left some time ago,” Jolly answered promptly. “I understand that he was to stay here until Mr. Rollison returned, but he said that he had some urgent task to perform, and that he would call or telephone in the morning. If I’d known he should have been detained, sir, I would have done my best.”
Grice said harshly: “Roily, you’re a damned fool. That man’s almost certainly a killer. Where is he ?”
Rollison was meek.
“You heard what Jolly said. Bill.”
“If anyone else gets killed in this affair, you’ll be to blame,” Grice said. Jolly had seldom seen him nearer to losing his temper. “Now, let’s have the truth. How much do you know about this business? What’s the secret of Selby Farm?”
“If I knew that, I’d be on top of the world,” Rollison replied quite honestly. “Bill, I didn’t know a thing about all this until this morning. I know less than you. I told Brandt to come here, and he came, but he probably got worried because I was away so long.”
“You mean you telephoned him and told him to climb over the roof,” said Grice. “I ought to take you to the Yard for assaulting a police officer.”
“In a lift? With no witnesses? And when the so-called assailant was waiting downstairs for you, all ready to come quietly ?” asked Rollison. “Think again, Bill.”
“Roily,” said Grice, softly now, “you’re the man who ought to have second thoughts. The man named William, alias Tex Brandt, is a killer. I had that information over the radio telephone from New York this morning. That’s why I took so much trouble to make sure he couldn’t get away. That’s why I was going to hold him tonight. He’s wanted for several murders in America. He calls himself an inquiry agent, and once upon a time he had a licence, but he lost that when he first went to jail. He missed the electric chair by a hair’s-breadth. That’s the man you’ve befriended; that’s the man you’ve allowed to escape.”
It was almost the only time Jolly could remember seeing his employer look really taken aback. That showed in Rollison’s expression, in his eyes, in the way his mouth went slack. He recovered quickly, but that didn’t alter the fact that Grice had really shaken him.
Grice said: “I’ll let you stay here for the night because I hope he’ll try to get in touch with you. If he does, I want the Yard to know at once. Don’t take any more chances, because you might be the next one to get a knife between your ribs.”
Grice turned away, and went out, taking his two men with him.
“Jolly,” said Rollison, very quietly, “you’re slipping.”
Jolly stood looking at him, as he in turn looked at the Trophy Wall.
“I’m extremely sorry, sir.”
“You should keep a closer eye on me. You should have told me I was due for retirement months ago. All these souvenirs, and not another to add.”
“I shouldn’t be too despondent, sir.”
“You wouldn’t, but I think I should,” said Rollison. “I have been too slow and too late from the beginning of this affair, and——” he broke off and smiled faintly; and then actually chuckled. “Well, I didn’t exactly crawl this morning, but ever since then I’ve been running after suspects, peeking through keyholes, and generally trailing my coat. I haven’t answered the main questions either. Why has M.M.M. changed so remarkably? And why did two people try to kill him ? I’m beginning to see daylight—I think. But I really ought to take a nice long holiday. Yes,” he went on, his eyes kindling again, “a nice long holiday, perhaps down on a farm. How does it sound. Jolly ?”
“I think I ought to stay here, sir,”
“You’re probably right. Apart from getting our electric chair candidate away, have you done anything tonight?”
“Very little, sir. There was one message.” Jolly reported on the American’s second call, and then added : “I think you would be wise to stay here until hearing from Mr. Grice in the morning. If you leave now, then it might really exasperate him, and there is no point in being incarcerated, is there? It wouldn’t help anyone.”
17
