"It's painfully simple," Forester replied. "Everything we might be likely to want was moved from here, naturally; so there was no occasion for anyone to enter the place. But death, of course, in the climate up here ought to be notified and dealt with promptly."
Weymouth nodded.
"Greville got me to agree to be quiet for the present, and nobody else knew, except Ali. "
"You're sure no one else knew? What about the men? "
"They live in Kuma. None were in camp. We removed the chief in the darkness-- didn't we, Greville? and next morning I gave out that he had gone across to Luxor with Greville, here, and was proceeding down to Cairo. I stopped all work, of course. "
"Yes, I see. "
"At about dusk to-night--I should say last night--I thought it advisable to--er--inspect the body. "
"Quite! "
"I opened the door, looked in, and... the hut was as you see it now. "
"What about the blanket? "
"The blanket had disappeared, as well as the body. "
"You're sure the door was locked? "
"Perfectly sure. I unlocked it. "
"The window? "
"Fastened on the inside as you found it. "
"Thank you," said Weymouth quietly.
He stared across at Dr. Petrie and there was a silence of some seconds' duration; a very odd silence, in which I sensed a mental communion going on between these two men, based upon some common knowledge which Forester and I didn't share. But at last it was broken by Dr. Petrie.
"Strangely like his handiwork!"
I began to be a bit ruffled. I thought the time had come for pooling of the known facts. Indeed I was about to say so, when Weymouth spoke again.
"Was there anyone in the habit of visiting this camp? "
"No," said Forester; "the chief wouldn't allow a soul past the barriers." He stared across at me. "I except Madame Ingomar," he added. "But Greville can tell you more about the lady than I can. "
"Why do you say that?" I cried angrily.
"Evidently because he thinks so," said Weymouth in a stem voice. This is no time, gentlemen, for personal matters. You are assisting at an official inquiry. "
"I am sorry." Forester replied; "my remark was quite out of place. The truth is, Superintendent, that neither Greville nor I know very much about Madame Ingomar. But she seemed to favour Greville's society, and we used to pull his leg about it...."
My thoughts began to stray again. Had I been blind? And where I had been blind, had Rima seen?
"Who is this woman?"
Weymouth's terse query brought me back to the job in hand.
Forester laughed dryly, and: "A question I have often put to Greville," he replied; "but which I know he was no more able to answer than anyone else, except the chief. "
"Oh, I see. A friend of Sir Lionel's?"
I nodded. Weymouth was staring in my direction.
"What nationality?"
I shook my head blankly.
"I always said Hungarian," Forester declared; "simply because of her name. Greville thought she was Japanese. "
"Japanese!" Dr. Petrie rapped the word out with startled suddenness. "Why Japanese? "
"Well," said Forester, "it isn't an unrea- sonable guess, because her eyes did slant slightly."
Weymouth exchanged a rapid glance with Dr. Petrie and stood up.
"An attractive woman--young?" he chal- lenged--for the words were spoken almost like a challenge.
"Undoubtedly," I replied. "Smart, cultured and evidently well-to-do. "
"Dark? "
"Very. "
"What coloured eyes? "
"Jade-green," said Forester.
Again I detected a rapid exchange of glances between Petrie and Weymouth.
"Tall?" asked the former.
"Yes, unusually tall. "
"An old friend of Sir Lionel's? "
"We were given to understand," said Forester "that she was the widow of a certain Dr. Ingomar, whom the chief knew well at one time. "
"Was she staying at one of the Luxor hotels?" Weymouth asked.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you," I replied. "She wasn't staying at the Winter Palace. "
"You mean neither of you know. Does Miss Barton know? "
"I have never asked her. "
"When was she last here? "
"On Monday," Forester answered promptly; "the day the chief switched the quarters around and put up barricades. "
"But did Sir Lionel never speak other?" asked Dr. Petrie.
"No," I said. "He was a man who gave few confidences, as you are aware. "
"Was there any suggestion of intimacy between them?" Weymouth was the speaker. "Did Sir Lionel show any jealousy, for instance? "
"Not that I ever noticed," Forester replied. "He treated her as he treated every- body--with good-humoured tolerance! After all, the chief must have said good-bye to sixty, Weymouth! "
"Stranger things have happened," Petrie commented dryly. "I think, Weymouth, our next step is to establish the identity of this Madame Ingomar. Do you agree with me? "
"I do," said Weymouth; "absolutely"-- and his expression had grown very grim.
He stared from me to Forester, and: "You're both getting annoyed," he said. "I can see it. You know that the doctor here and I have a theory which we haven't shared with you. Very well, you shall know the facts. Ask Miss Rima Barton to join us, and arm Ali Mahmoud. Tell him to mount guard and shoot anything he sees moving!" "What on earth does this mean?" Forester demanded. "It means," said Petrie, "that we are dealing with agents of Dr. Fu Manchu...."
Dr. Fu Manchu! When that story was told, the story which Weymouth unfolded in the hut in the wadi, whilst I can't answer for Forester, personally I was amazed beyond belief.
Rima's sweet face, where she sat half in shadow, was a fascinating study. She had ridden up from Kuma with Ali Mahmoud. In the tent, when I had found her in my arms, she had worn riding kit; but now she had changed into a simple frock and had even made some attempt to straighten the tangle other windblown hair. The night ride had whipped a wild colour into her tanned cheeks; her grave Irish eyes seemed even brighter than usual as she listened spell- bound.
Some of the things Weymouth spoke of aroused echoes in my memory. I had been too young at the time to associate these events one with another. But I remembered having heard of them. I was considering the advantages of a legal calling when the war disturbed my promising career. The doings of this great and evil man, some of whose history I learned that morning, had reached me merely as rumours in the midst of alto- gether more personal business.
But now I grasped the fact that if these two clever and experienced men were correct in their theories, a veritable plague was about to be loosed upon the world.
Dr. Fu Manchu!
"Sir Lionel and I," said Dr. Petrie, "and Nayland Smith were last of those on the side of the angels to see him alive. It's possible he survived; but I am not prepared to believe it. What I am prepared to believe is that someone else may be carrying on his work. What was a dacoit--probably a Burman--a professional robber and murderer, doing in the courtyard of my house in Cairo last night? We know now, Greville, he was following you. But the cry points to an accomplice. He was not alone! The old net, Weymouth"--he turned to the latter --"closing round us again! Then--this camp is watched. "
"I have said it before," Weymouth declared, "but I'll say it again; if only Nayland Smith could join us! "
"You refer, of course, to Sir Denis Nayland Smith," said Forester, "one of the assistant commissioners at Scotland Yard? I know people who know him. Used to be a police official in Burma? "
"He did," Petrie replied. "He also saved the British Empire, by the way. But if we have many unknown enemies, we have at least one unknown friend. "
"Who is that?" I asked.
"The well-informed stranger," Petrie replied, "who wired me in Cairo--and who wired Weymouth. Whoever he may be, he takes no chances. Dr. Fu Manchu was master of a method for inducing artificial catalepsy. It was one of the most dangerous weapons in his armoury. I alone, as I believe, possess a drop of the antidote. The man who sent that telegram knew this! "