"With the Superintendent's permission," said Solar Pons with a slight bow to the Scotland Yard man.
We followed the President through a metal gate and up a path to a large red-brick building set back amid gracious lawns and flower beds. It obviously fronted on to the Inner Circle because I could hear the faint hum of motor traffic from a roadway somewhere beyond. The facade of the building was a blaze of light and the large room into which Sir Clive led us was thronged with chattering groups of officials and attendants in uniform.
A respectful silence fell as we entered and a thin young man with sandy hair detached himself from a knot of people in soberly dressed clothing and hurried toward us.
"Everything is in readiness, Sir Clive."
"Good. This is my secretary, Conrad Foster. Superintendent Heathfield. Mr Solar Pons. Dr Lyndon Parker."
The young man nodded pleasantly.
"Welcome, gentlemen. Shall I lead on, sir?"
"By all means. I have just to give some instructions."
The secretary ushered us up a wooden staircase at the side of the building and into Sir Clive's office, a pleasant, simply furnished apartment, evidently one of a number debouching from a long corridor. There were framed photographs of wild animals on the walls, some obviously taken in Africa; and one group included Sir Clive in tropical uniform watching water buffalo through binoculars.
"Please make yourselves comfortable, gentlemen. Sir Clive will not be long."
As he spoke the Zoo chief's tread sounded along the corridor and the little man bounced in and took his place behind the desk, the secretary at his right.
"If you will take notes, Foster, I think we will shortly begin."
He looked at Heathfield and Pons with a quick, birdlike inclination of the head.
"With your permission, gentlemen, I will conduct the preliminary inquiry on today's incident, on behalf of the Society. Naturally you will be free to ask your own questions at any stage of the proceedings. Similarly, any particular member of the staff you require to be questioned can be brought here at short notice."
He sniffed, a smug expression on his face.
"Though I do not think that will be necessary, as almost everybody who could have the slightest bearing on the matter is waiting down below."
"I see."
Superintendent Heathfield nodded, his eye catching Pons with a twinkle.
"I cannot speak for Mr Pons, of course, but that seems perfectly satisfactory to me."
My companion nodded.
"I should like to see the Polar bear enclosure and the body of the animal, if it has not yet been removed, despite the lateness of the hour."
Sir Clive shifted in his chair.
"There will be no difficulty, Mr Pons. We have our own pathology department here where dead animals are dissected, as well as a well-equipped dispensary for the care of our charges."
"Excellent, Sir Clive," said Solar Pons crisply. "I would also particularly like to have a few words with your Head Keeper, Norman Stebbins, before you begin."
Mortimer looked discomfited.
"But he was not concerned in today's incident, Mr Pons."
"Exactly, Sir Clive. That is why I wish to see him." The President turned a little pink around the ears. "But Mr Pons, I fail…"
"Tut, tut, Sir Clive," said Solar Pons calmly. "It is surely self-evident. Stebbins is in charge of all your staff, is he not? And he obviously knows a good deal about them. I would like him present throughout even if only to corroborate the other attendants' stories. It is vitally important that we have a reliable check on such matters. It will save a good deal of time and can only act in the interests of my client, Hardcastle. Incidentally, I shall require Hardcastle to be present throughout, just as soon as he arrives."
"Very well, Mr Pons," said Sir Clive grudgingly. "There is a good deal of commonsense in what you say."
"It is good of you to say so," said Solar Pons ironically, evading Superintendent Heathfield's eye. "Now I would suggest we summon Stebbins without more ado."
The Head Keeper proved to be a thickset, muscular man in his early forties with a bright, intelligent face bisected by a heavy brown moustache. He was evidently ill at ease in the presence of the Zoological Society chief but sat down at Pons' request and waited expectantly for the questioning to begin. Sir Clive opened his mouth to speak but before he could do so my companion cut in smoothly.
"I would just like to ask a few questions, Sir Clive." "As you wish, Mr Pons," said the President in a disgruntled voice.
Solar Pons turned to the Head Keeper, tenting his fingers before him.
"That was a first-rate effort at the Lion House, Stebbins. You undoubtedly averted what might have been a major tragedy."
The Head Keeper's face flushed with pleasure.
"It is good of you to say so, Mr Pons."
Sir Clive cleared his throat.
"The Council has not overlooked the matter, Mr Pons. A presentation is to be made at a later date."
"I am glad to hear you say so, Sir Clive. A loyal and devoted staff is beyond price in these days of changing values."
Again the annoying throat-clearing by Sir Clive. "Quite so, Mr Pons."
Solar Pons turned back to Stebbins.
"Let us just hear your opinion of these strange goings-on."
"Well, sir, begging Sir Clive's pardon, there's not much sense to any of it. Trivial, silly things, like monkey cages being opened. Or windows broken and paint being smeared across buildings. Then the person responsible seems to become enraged and do something dangerous, or even murderous."
Solar Pons chuckled.
"Ah, so you have noticed that have you? I must commend your intelligence. You have no theory to account for it?"
Stebbins shook his head.
"The whole thing is pointless, Mr Pons, unless a member of the public has a grudge."
"That is what I particularly wanted to ask you, Stebbins. Would access not be difficult for the public?"
An embarrassed look passed across the Head Keeper's face.
"I get your drift, Mr Pons. I would be loath to suggest that any member of my staff would be responsible. Everyone here loves animals. That goes without saying, or they wouldn't work here."
"Yet dangerous animals have been loosed to kill or maim as they fancy. Is it not so?"
Stebbins nodded reluctantly.
"That is correct, Mr Pons. But it would not be beyond the bounds for members of the public to gain access to the Zoological Gardens after dark. There are a number of places where an athletic man could get over fences. I would say it seems like the work of an unbalanced person."
An alert expression passed across Solar Pons' feral features.
"What makes you say that?"
"Because locks have been smashed on cages where the doors could simply have been opened by the catches. Yet on the cages of dangerous animals such as the tigress, Sheba, or at the Polar bear pit today, heavy pad- locks, which one would expect to be smashed have been unlocked as with a key or a picklock."
There was a heavy silence in the room, broken only by the deep-throated roaring of some animal far off across the park. It seemed to give a dark and sinister cast to the subject under discussion.
"That is extremely interesting, Stebbins."
Solar Pons turned to me.
"You may remember, Parker, I told you there is a great deal more here than meets the eye."
"I must confess I am all at sea, Mr Pons," said the President, obviously nonplussed.
"Nevertheless, we progress, Sir Clive. Our talk here with your Head Keeper is proving invaluable. He is evidently a man who keeps his eyes open and knows his staff."
"I do my best, sir."
"I am sure you do. You will kindly remain here and give us the benefit of your wisdom when Sir Clive questions the other actors in this strange drama. Ah, here is Hardcastle, none the worse for his little adventure at the Yard."