The Rayner-Slade Amalgamation by J. S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher
page 80 of 298 (26%)
page 80 of 298 (26%)
![]() | ![]() |
|
replied Allerdyke. "He had them when he left Christiania--he had them
when he entered the Hull hotel--" Fullaway, who had been listening intently, leant forward with a shake of his head. "Stop at that, Allerdyke," he said. "We don't know, now, that he did have them when he entered the hotel at Hull! He mayn't have had. Miss Lennard--we'll drop the professional name and turn to the real one," he said, with a bow to the prima donna--"Miss Lennard here thinks she had her jewels in her little box when she entered the Hull hotel, and also when she came to this hotel, here in Edinburgh, but--" "Do you mean to say that I hadn't?" she exclaimed. "Do you mean--" "I mean," replied Fullaway, "that, knowing what I now know, I believe that both you and the dead man, James Allerdyke, were robbed on the _Perisco_. And I want to ask you a question at once. Where is your maid!" Celia Lennard dropped her knife and fork and sat back, suddenly turning pale. "My maid!" she said faintly. "Good heavens! you don't think--oh, you aren't suggesting that she's the thief? Because--oh, this is dreadful! You see--I never thought of it before--when she and I arrived at Hull that night she was met by a man who described himself as her brother. He was in a great state of agitation--he said he'd rushed up to Hull to meet her, to beg her to go straight with him to their mother, who was dying in London. Of course, I let her go at once--they drove straight from the riverside at Hull to the station to catch the train. What else could I |
|