Pons shook his head.
"Parker will drive me, if he will be so kind. I have a mind to sample the pleasures of Tolleshunt D'Arcy, and a tour round the marshes would not come amiss. The mist has lifted a little this morning."
"Even so, Mr. Pons, I should not stay out after dark. It has a habit of thickening up in wintertime, as it did last night."
"Have no fear, Colonel Parker and I will be back in time for tea at the latest And no doubt you and Miss Mortimer have much to talk about and a great deal to do in preparing for your forthcoming party."
His gaze rested ironically on his host and his fiancée in turn and the flush in the girl's cheeks was a pleasant thing to see.
"Well, Parker," said Pons in the pause which followed. "If you have quite finished your coffee, we will retire to
our rooms to prepare for our little expedition. We would be able to obtain lunch in Tolleshunt D'Arcy, no doubt?"
Our host nodded.
"Certainly, Mr. Pons. There are two good hotels and other establishments."
"Excellent. Until tonight, then."
A few minutes later we were driving away down the winding road through the park in a powerful little covered touring car that the chauffeur had provided. I was unfamiliar with the gears and suffered some tart comments from Pons until I had mastered the vehicle and we gained the main road. Pons was silent, during the journey, looking out. across the bleak landscape which was wreathed in low-lying mist, now and again touched by a deep red winter sun that hung close to the horizon.
We reached the cluster of houses that was Tolleshunt D'Arcy and after we had parked in the main street, soon found the offices that were our destination for that afternoon. Pons continued silent and absorbed and paced about the streets, now and again making trivial purchases at various shops, engaging in desultory and, to my mind, highly irrelevant conversation with their proprietors.
Later we returned to the car and drove out in a great wide looping circle across the marshlands. The sun had dispersed the mist now and glittered on the hoarfrost that stiffened the grass and turned the coats of the patient cattle in the fields to a pale gold. The scene had a certain bleak beauty, and Pons so far overcame his indifference to what he called the neutrality of landscape that he became quite voluble on the subject.
"We seem to have spent an aimless morning, Pons," I said, as we once again entered Tolleshunt D'Arcy and parked in front of an imposing oak-beamed hotel
"Patience, Parker, was never one of your greatest virtues," said my companion succinctly.
"But all these conversations and purchases of useless boxes of matches, Pons."
"Method, Parker, method. One learns a great deal about small communities by such seemingly idle chatter."
"Come, Pons, I did not hear anything of any value."
"A correction, Parker. You heard a great deal but you did not deduce anything of any value from what you heard."
I sniffed. We walked through the entrance of the George and seated ourselves at a comfortable table in the agreeably old-fashioned dining room.
"Perhaps you could enlighten me, Pons."
Solar Pons smiled and tented his lean fingers before him as his sharp eyes surveyed the people in the dining room.
For example, my dear fellow, it emerges that Colonel d'Arcy is an honest and agreeable employer, if these people's opinion is to be respected and I maintain that it is. Miss Mortimer is highly thought of and her family have been here for generations. Mrs. Karswell is a model housekeeper and has the affection of the local community, for which she does much charitable work. Vickers is disliked fend receives a character assassination at the hands of these people."
"You astonish me, Pons! I did not gather all this."
Solar Pons shrugged, studying the menu the waiter had produced for us.
"I am not surprised, Parker. After all, it is not your forte. But one reads between the lines. The inflection of a voice, a pause, a lowering of the tones, the merest hesitation in answering a question — these things can tell one a great deal."
"And have you come to any conclusions, Pons?"
Solar Pons smiled.
"Let us say I have some mental reservations and some strong suspicions. Nothing that I would care to talk about at this moment."
And with that I had to be content, for Pons did not speak again until three o'clock had chimed from the church tower and we were walking up the stairs into Mr. Chad- burn Bradshaw's comfortable office.
The solicitor's clerk, a burly, middle-aged man with bee- ding eyebrows, had no sooner ushered us into the book- lined apartment than Bradshaw came bustling over from his desk to greet us. He seated us in two leather armchairs facing his desk and resumed his own seat. Today he wore a
salt and pepper suit with a discreet gray tie that bore the symbol of some club or other.
"Would you care for some refreshment, gentlemen? I am afraid I can offer only tea."
This with a wry smile. Pons shook his head.
"Thank you, no, Mr. Bradshaw. We have not long lunched at The George."
"An excellent establishment, Mr. Pons. But this is not purely a social visit?"
Pons came straight to the point
"You have guessed right, Mr. Bradshaw. Colonel d'Arcy takes you into his confidence, I believe?"
Bradshaw sat back in his seat and drummed with restless fingers upon his desk.
"I have that honor, Mr. Pons. I administered his late uncle's estate. The family were old friends."
"So that you are familiar with the tragic incidents that have taken place at The Briars over the past few years?"
Bradshaw nodded. He hesitated a moment, his eyes focused on the far distance beyond the bookcases.
"You appreciate, Mr. Pons, that I am Colonel d'Arcy's legal adviser. I cannot breach confidences."
"But you could stretch a point or two, Mr. Bradshaw, in the interests of your client. Particularly in a matter involving life or death."
The lawyer nodded. He gave a bleak smile.
"Ah, I see that you are familiar with the incident involving Mr. Adrian Renfrew. Then l am also correct in assuming that your interest in this matter is not merely one of idle curiosity."
Solar Pons crossed one lean leg over the other and bent forward in his chair.
"You would be correct, Mr. Bradshaw. There is no reason why you should not know. We believe the colonel's life is in danger. That is why I have been retained in the matter."
There was a long silence in the room. Bradshaw gazed from one to the other of us, a serious expression on his face. The red winter sunlight spilling in through the window at his side made a carmine mask of his features.
"Well, of course, Mr. Pons," he said composedly. "That puts a different complexion on things. I am at your disposal so long as it is understood that I cannot do anything which could be construed as a breach of professional ethics."
"Naturally," Solar Pons assured him.
He was sitting bolt upright in the chair now, his figure alert and energetic, his left hand pulling at the lobe of his ear.
"My friend Parker and I have pledged ourselves to protect the colonel from whatever harm threatens. I too cannot go into much detail for professional reasons. Consulting detectives, as well as solicitors may have ethical standards.
There were little sparks of humor in Pons's eyes, and the solicitor's own glance was filled with ironic amusement as though he appreciated the point. His whitening hair and the silver mustache were all crimsoned with the dying winter sunlight now.
"What do you wish to know, sir?"
"You administer the colonel's considerable, estate, Mr. Bradshaw. I believe someone is trying to get control of the family's assets. I would like to know if you have any documents in your possession or any knowledge which might lead my inquiries in any specific direction."