Pons swilled the whisky round moodily in his glass and turned toward me as the servant withdrew. The girl was facing away from us as the coffee-room waiter poured her another cup from the silver-plated pot and Pons lowered his voice as he spoke.
“I am worried about the young lady’s safety, Parker. I am convinced the Colonel will make some attempt against her before we reach our destination. With her removal goes the last obstacle to him obtaining her property. You brought your revolver, as I requested?”
“Certainly, Pons,” I replied. “It is securely packed in my luggage. Do you wish me to stand guard tonight outside the young lady’s room?”
Pons glanced at me sharply and then gave me an affectionate smile.
“Hardly that, Parker, though it is good of you to discount your comfort in such a manner. I do not think the danger will manifest itself directly and Miss Hayling is safe enough among such surroundings. But there are a number of ways in which she may be approached.”
I looked round quickly at the coffee-room waiter, who was exchanging a few commonplaces with Pons’ client.
“Good heavens, Pons. Not through her food and drink, surely?”
Solar Pons shook his head, his eyes fixed thoughtfully on the old waiter.
“I hardly think so, Parker. It would be far too difficult for a stranger to penetrate the kitchen of such a hotel as this. And then there would be the difficulty of ascertaining which dish was intended for which guest. I fancy such an approach as I envisage would come from one of two sources. A fellow guest, perhaps…?”
He broke off as if something had occurred to him, and then listened intently to the girl’s explanations of our intended travel arrangements for the morrow. We would travel by train to Inverness, catching the ten o’clock fast and the gardener from the estate would meet us at Inverness with a pony and trap.
“That seems perfectly satisfactory, Pons,” I said.
“As far as it goes, Parker,” he said slowly. “Frankly, I do not like this weather and the thicker it is likely to get the farther north we go, particularly among the mountains.”
“There is little we can do about it,” I returned.
He shook his head.
“You are quite right, Parker. But a wise general makes his dispositions accordingly, taking account of both the weather and the movements of the enemy.”
The girl turned very bright eyes on my companion.
“The danger is not past then, Mr Pons?”
“Not yet, Miss Hayling. I have no wish to alarm you, but we must still remain on our guard. I would like your promise that you will lock your room door tonight and not stir from it, except for any personal request from myself or Dr Parker.”
Miss Hayling looked puzzled.
“I am not even to open to the hotel servants?”
Pons shook his head.
“Not even for the servants. In such an event please telephone to my room and I will come along. We will attend your room at eight o’clock tomorrow morning to escort you to breakfast.”
The girl rose.
“Very well, Mr Pons. Goodnight.”
When I had returned from seeing Miss Hayling to her room I found Pons sprawled in the smoking-room chair, a hazy cloud of smoke about him, a re-filled whisky glass at his elbow.
“Well, I think that about takes care of everything, Pons,” I said with satisfaction.
My companion turned sombre eyes to me.
“We shall see, Parker, we shall see,” he said slowly.
And he picked up his whisky glass again.
5
I was up betimes in the morning but early as I was, passing through the hotel lobby to fetch a newspaper, I was astonished to see Pons coming in from the open air. It was a bitterly cold day and mist had quite closed in the square outside and beads of gleaming moisture were stippling my friend’s overcoat as he strode in through the main entrance.
“What on earth, Pons…” I began, when he rudely interrupted me.
“I have just been outside reconnoitring, Parker. A brief conversation with the Scottish taxi-driver, for example, is extremely rewarding. They do not often miss much of importance which takes place outside a large hotel.”
“And what did you learn, Pons?”
“Very little, Parker. There has been nothing out of the ordinary. Which has me worried.”
“Worried, Pons?”
Solar Pons’ lean face was furrowed with concentration. He shook his head toward the misty street outside the vast glass doors.
“I shall not breathe easily until Miss Hayling is once again safe within her own four walls.”
“Why do you think, if danger does threaten, that she was not molested on her way down to see us?”
“Because, Parker, it was not in the Colonel’s interests to do anything precipitate. And the girl’s telegram may have caught him off balance. Now that we are in the field he has nothing to lose.”
He glanced up at the clock.
“Ah, it is five to eight. We have just time to collect Miss Hayling for breakfast.”
We were ascending the great ornamental staircase that led to the upper floors when the hotel porter came down and met us at a turn in the stair. His face brightened.
“Ah, Mr Pons, I could not find you. I have just delivered the parcel to Miss Hayling’s room. She would not open at first until she had identified my voice.”
I had never seen such a change as that which came over Pons’ face.
“Parcel? What parcel?”
“Why, sir, the parcel for Miss Hayling which came by special messenger a few minutes ago.”
“And you have just delivered it to her?”
My friend did not wait for the porter’s answer. He was electrified into action.
“Come, Parker! We have not a moment to lose!”
He took the stairs two at a time so that I was hard put to keep up with him. A few seconds later he was beating a tattoo at the girl’s door.
“Miss Hayling! It is imperative that you do not open the packet which has just been delivered.”
“Oh, Mr Pons. What is the matter?”
To our relief there came the grating of the key in the lock and the surprised face of the girl appeared in the opening of the door. Pons unceremoniously brushed by her and strode into the room, every line of his body denoting energy and purpose.
“Ah, there we are!”
I crossed quickly to Pons’ side and looked at the small sandalwood box which the girl had set down on a side table. It bore a plain white label with Miss Hayling’s name and hotel inked on it. It was about six inches square and had small holes drilled in the sides. I bent down close to it and it may have been my imagination but I sensed I could hear a faint rustling noise from inside.
Pons turned back to his client.
“You have made no attempt to open it?”
The fair girl shook her head.
“No, Mr Pons. I would not even let the porter in at first, as I remembered what you had told me.”
“Excellent!”
Solar Pons rubbed his thin fingers together. The girl’s eyes opened in surprise and she turned white.
“You do not think there is any danger in that packet?”
“We shall see, Miss Hayling. In the meantime I suggest you descend to the dining room and order breakfast. We will join you in a few minutes.”
I could see by the spirited look in the girl’s eyes that she was inclined to argue but the tense expression on Pons’ face silenced her. She left us quickly and I stood in the open door of the room until she had descended the stairs.
When I turned back I could not see Pons for a moment and then I heard him call out from the adjoining bathroom.
“Just come in here for a moment will you, my dear fellow.” I found Pons with his sleeves rolled up, a grim look on his face. He started running hot water into the bath.