further.
'And now,' said Superintendent Battle, looking round with a slight twinkle in his eye, 'now that we're together and friendly like – I should like to hear just how Miss Wade happened to arrive on the scene so pat.'
'She ought to be ashamed of herself,' said Jimmy. 'Hood-winking us all as she did.'
'Why should I be kept out of it all?' cried Loraine passionately. 'I never meant to be – no, not the very first day in your rooms when you both explained how the best thing for me to do was to stay quietly at home and keep out of danger. I didn't say anything, but I made up my mind then.'
'I half suspected it,' said Bundle. 'You were so surprisingly meek about it. I might have known you were up to something.'
'I thought you were remarkably sensible,' said Jimmy Thesiger.
'You would, Jimmy dear,' said Loraine. 'It was easy enough to deceive you.'
'Thank you for these kind words,' said Jimmy. 'Go on, and don't mind me.'
'When you rang up and said there might be danger, I was more determined than ever,' went on Loraine. 'I went to Harrods and I bought a pistol. Here it is.'
She produced the dainty weapon, and Superintendent Battle took it from her and examined it.
'Quite a deadly little toy, Miss Wade,' he said. 'Have you had much – er – practice with it?'
'None at all,' said Loraine. 'But I thought if I took it with me – well, that it would give me a comforting feeling.'
'Quite so,' said Battle gravely.
'My idea was to come over here and see what was going on. I left the car in the road and climbed through the hedge and came up to the terrace. I was just looking about me when – plop – something fell right at my feet. I picked it up and then looked to see where it could have come from. And then I saw the man climbing down the ivy and I ran.'
'Just so,' said Battle . 'Now, Miss Wade, can you describe that man at all?'
The girl shook her head.
'It was too dark to see much. I think he was a big man – but that's about all.'
'And now you, Mr. Thesiger.' Battle turned to him. 'You struggled with the man – can you tell me anything about him?'
'He was a pretty hefty individual – that's all I can say. He gave a few hoarse whispers – that's when I had him by the throat. He said 'Lemme go, guvnor,' something like that.'
'An uneducated man, then?'
'Yes, I suppose he was. He spoke like one.'
'I still don't quite understand about the packet,' said Loraine. 'Why should he throw it down as he did? Was it because it hampered him climbing?'
'No,' said Battle . 'I've got an entirely different theory about that. That packet, Miss Wade, was deliberately thrown down to you – or so I believe.'
'To me?'
'Shall we say – to the person the thief thought you were.'
'This is getting very involved,' said Jimmy.
'Mr. Thesiger, when you came into this room, did you switch on the light at all?'
'Yes.'
'And there was no one in the room?'
'No one at all.'
'But previously you thought you heard someone moving about down here?'
'Yes.'
'And then, after trying the window, you switched off the light again and locked the door?'
Jimmy nodded.
Superintendent Battle looked slowly round him. His glance was arrested by a big screen of Spanish leather which stood near one of the bookcases.
Brusquely he strode across the room and looked behind it.
He uttered a sharp ejaculation, which brought the three young people quickly to his side.
Huddled on the floor, in a dead faint, lay the Countess Radzky.
Chapter 22
THE COUNTESS RADZKY'S STORY
The Countess's return to consciousness was very different from that of Jimmy Thesiger. It was more prolonged and infinitely more artistic.
Artistic was Bundle's word. She had been zealous in her ministrations – largely consisting of the application of cold water – and the Countess had instantly responded, passing a white, bewildered hand across her brow and murmuring faintly.
It was at this point that Bill, at last relieved from his duties with telephone and doctors, had come bustling into the room and had instantly proceeded to make (in Bundle's opinion) a most regrettable idiot of himself. He had hung over the Countess with a concerned and anxious face and had addressed a series of singularly idiotic remarks to her:
'I say, Countess. It's all right. It's really all right. Don't try to talk. It's bad for you. Just lie still. You'll be all right in a minute. It'll all come back to you. Don't say anything till you're quite all right. Take your time. Just lie still and close your eyes. You'll remember everything in a minute. Have another sip of water. Have some brandy. That's the stuff. Don't you think, Bundle, that some brandy…?'
'For God's sake, Bill, leave her alone,' said Bundle crossly. 'She'll be all right.'
And with an expert hand she flipped a good deal of cold water on to the exquisite makeup of the Countess's face.
The Countess flinched and sat up. She looked considerably more wide awake.
'Ah!' she murmured. 'I am here. Yes, I am here.'
'Take your time,' said Bill. 'Don't talk till you feel quite all right again.'
The Countess drew the folds of a very transparent negligйe closer around her.
'It is coming back to me,' she murmured. 'Yes, it is coming back.'
She looked at the little crowd grouped around her. Perhaps something in the attentive faces struck her as unsympathetic.
In any case she smiled deliberately up at the one face which clearly displayed a very opposite emotion.
'Ah, my big Englishman,' she said very softly, 'do not distress yourself. All is well with me.'
'Oh! I say, but are you sure?' demanded Bill anxiously.
'Quite sure.' She smiled at him reassuringly. 'We Hungarians, we have nerves of steel.'
A look of intense relief passed over Bill's face. A fatuous look settled down there instead – a look which made Bundle earnestly long to kick him.
'Have some water,' she said coldly.
The Countess refused water. Jimmy, kindlier to beauty in distress, suggested a cocktail. The Countess reacted favourably to this suggestion. When she had swallowed it, she looked round once more, this time with a livelier eye.
'Tell me, what has happened?' she demanded briskly.
'We were hoping you might be able to tell us that,' said Superintendent Battle.
The Countess looked at him sharply. She seemed to become aware of the big, quiet man for the first time.
'I went to your room,' said Bundle. 'The bed hadn't been slept in and you weren't there.'
She paused – looking accusingly at the Countess. The latter closed her eyes and nodded her head slowly.
'Yes, yes, I remember it all now. Oh, it was horrible!' She shuddered. 'Do you want me to tell you?'
