“You said it was put there to cover something. Did you mean that it was put there to cover the cylinder with my blue-prints?”
“Yes, Mr. Wray.”
“What makes you think so?”
Miss Silver had brought her knitting-bag with her from her room. She now extracted little Roger’s leggings and began to knit. Above the dark grey wool and the clicking needles she continued to look at Elliot.
“It is very simple, Mr. Wray. At nine o’clock, which was just as the ladies were coming out of the dining-room, the under housemaid, Polly Parsons, went into the study to make up the fire. The Times was then on the paper table. At round about ten minutes to ten, when you and Mr. Pearson and Lane were all in the study within a few minutes of one another, the Times lay on the writing-table at Mr. Paradine’s left hand. Lane says he noticed particularly that it had not been opened, but that it was not lying flat. He seems to have wondered what was under it. It was still there and still unopened when Mrs. Wray came down just after ten, and when Mr. Mark arrived at eleven.”
“For the matter of that it was still there in the morning.”
“And it was covering the cylinder with your blueprints?”
“Yes.”
He made an abrupt change of position, shifting away from the foot-rail and sitting up straight.
Miss Silver said, “There is a strong probability that the cylinder was placed there between nine o’clock, when Polly came in to do the fire, and about ten minutes to ten, when Lane saw the Times in position to cover it.”
Elliot put his hands in his pockets and said,
“That’s not possible.”
Miss Silver’s needles clicked. Little Roger’s leggings revolved.
“Pray, why do you say that, Mr. Wray?”
“Because no one in the family had the opportunity of putting it back between those times. Nobody was alone.”
“Mr. Pearson?”
Elliot frowned.
“Lane was already in the study when he got there. Besides-” He finished the sentence with a shrug.
“I agree that the time would be a very unlikely one for anyone to choose, the Ambrose party having just left, and the family separating for the night.”
“An incredible time,” said Elliot. “Besides Lane was there first. As you say, he noticed the Times.”
“Yes. I was not seriously considering Mr. Pearson. Everything points in another direction. You say that no one had the opportunity of replacing the cylinder between nine and a quarter to ten because no one was alone. I think myself that the time may be narrowed down to the quarter of an hour which elapsed before the men joined the ladies in the drawing-room and Mr. Paradine went to his study. I feel sure that the cylinder was placed there during this period, and there is only one person who had the opportunity of doing so.”
“None of the men left the dining-room, Miss Silver.”
“I am aware of that, Mr. Wray. But one of the ladies did leave the drawing-room.”
Elliot’s fair brows made a rigid line above a gaze of singular intensity. He said, “Who?” and kept his voice so quiet that the word had a toneless sound.
Miss Silver returned the look for a moment with a very steady one of her own. Then she said,
“Miss Paradine.”
Chapter 34
Elliot tipped back his head and laughed. The sound was not a pleasant one.
“You’re a brave woman! Have you any idea what sort of explosive you’re handling?”
Miss Silver coughed.
“I am giving you the result of what I have observed and deduced, Mr. Wray. I should be glad to continue.”
“I should be glad if you would.”
She went on knitting.
“If you will consider the facts quite impartially you will admit that Miss Paradine was the sole member of the family who had the opportunity of replacing your cylinder. Unless you prefer what you have yourself stigmatized as the absurd proposition that Mr. Pearson chose the moment when Lane was bringing in drinks, and the members of the family were exchanging goodnights, to rush into his employer’s presence and confess to a theft.”
Elliot shook his head.
“You can wash that out. Albert is the soul of caution.”
“So I imagine. We therefore return to Miss Paradine, who left the drawing-room at a few minutes after nine with the avowed object of bringing down the New Year’s gifts which she had prepared for her guests. She was away for a very short time, but it would not have taken her long to do what I believe she did do. I think she came along this passage and down the stair at the end of it, and so into the study. It would really hardly delay her at all. Having deposited the cylinder upon Mr. Paradine’s table, she had only to set the baize door ajar and listen, to make sure that there was no one in the hall before she crossed it and returned to the drawing-room with her gifts.”
Elliot gave a long, low whistle.
“Grace Paradine!” he said. “Why?”
Miss Silver’s needles clicked.
“Don’t you know why, Mr. Wray? I think you do. Forgive me if I speak plainly. She hates you-she is jealous of you. She has separated you from your wife. She has a very intense nature, and it is wholly set upon Mrs. Wray. It is quite impossible to be in the same room with the three of you without becoming aware of this. I have been very acutely aware of it. Mrs. Wray is aware of it too. It troubles her deeply. She is pulled in one direction by upbringing and by what she thinks of as loyalty and duty, and in another by all her natural instincts and feelings. Now consider Miss Paradine’s position. She has achieved what I think she set out to achieve-a separation between you and your wife. I do not know how she effected it, but she is a woman of considerable force of character and, I think, quite unscrupulous where her feeling for Mrs. Wray is concerned. She is very dominant, very possessive, very sure of her own claims. And then you come up here on a business visit. She is afraid of a meeting between you and Mrs. Wray-she is afraid of future visits. She casts about for something that will prevent them. It occurs to her that if valuable plans were lost the breach between you and the Paradines might be rendered complete. I do not know whether such a result would have followed, but she might have supposed that it would. You will remember that Mr. Richard Paradine had tea with her on Thursday. It seems from your statement of what Mr. Paradine told you that Mr. Richard was aware that his uncle was bringing home papers of such importance that he would not leave them in the office unguarded whilst he went to wash his hands, but desired Mr. Richard to remain there during his absence. Mr. Richard has struck me as an amiable and rather talkative young man. I think we shall find that he mentioned the papers to his aunt. I am persuaded that she then found some opportunity of abstracting them, and that Mr. Paradine was perfectly well aware that she had done so. He told you that he knew who had taken them, did he not?”
Elliot nodded.
Knitting rapidly, Miss Silver proceeded.
“I have been very specially struck by the fact that Mr. Paradine seems to have felt no uneasiness about the loss of these important blue-prints. You would agree on this point, would you not?”
Elliot’s look had sharpened.
“Yes.”
“You described him as being in very good spirits.”
He said grimly, “Oh, yes-he was enjoying himself.”
The needles clicked briskly.
“Don’t you see what that implies, Mr. Wray? A valuable secret was missing. If Mr. Paradine was able to enjoy the situation, it means he was perfectly persuaded that there was no military reason for the theft. He must, for instance, have been quite certain there was no danger that the blue-prints might be photographed. Think for a moment, and you will see it was incredible that he should temporize as he did if he had the slightest doubt on this point.”
In an expressionless voice Elliot said, “Yes.”
Over the revolving needles Miss Silver’s eyes were as bright as those of a bird-the proverbial early bird with the worm in view. The slight sideways tilt of her neat head was quite in keeping. She said crisply,