"Quite so, Miss Stuart. The police discovered nothing, then?"
"The sergeant had inquiries made but there was no trace of the man with the scarred thumb. More than a month had passed and though I had not forgotten the incident, it had faded a little from my mind when something else happened. It was late January and I was coming back from the village where I had been shopping. I had entered the garden and was about to put the key in the front door when I heard a scream from the direction of my mother’s room.
"I rushed upstairs and found my mother in a state of collapse. She had been in her bedroom and had gone to her window, which was uncurtained. There was a great deal of light shining from the kitchen window below which fell across the flagged area of the garden. Standing four-square in the light below her was an evil-looking man with a beard. My mother said he turned his eyes up toward her as she looked out and she had seldom seen such malevolence on a human face. In fact she said it was more like a wild beast than a human being."
Solar Pons tented his fingers in front of him and leaned forward in his chair.
"So this man would have been in the garden at about the same time you were putting your key in the front door?"
"It would seem so, Mr. Pons. I telephoned the police, put on the porch light and rushed out into the garden with one of my father’s walking sticks, but could see nothing."
"That was extremely brave but very unwise," said Solar Pons somberly.
"I realize it now, but I was so indignant on my mother's behalf at the time, Mr. Pons," said our fair visitor. "Another search was made; again it resulted in nothing. I was beginning to have a feeling of persecution by this time. Why should this creature be hanging about our house and what could he hope to achieve by breaking in? We are not rich and there are many more imposing houses in the district. Though my mother and father collected some nice pieces of china and silver, there is little at The Old Rectory to attract a thief and my father was certainly not rich in monetary terms."
"Pray compose yourself, Miss Stuart," said Pons soothingly. "This is what I hope to find out."
"Then you will take the case, Mr. Pons?"
"By all means, Miss Stuart, though I would prefer you to repeat the story to its end in order that Dr. Parker should be fully au fait with the circumstances."
"Certainly, Mr. Pons," the fair girl said, a flush on her cheeks, looking quickly at me.
"Nothing else happened until about mid-April. Again, it was dusk. I had been for a walk across the heathland, which has very pretty views. I came up the garden path, but walking on the strip of lawn alongside. It was nearly eight o'clock and a beautiful evening and I suppose I did not want to break the spell by makinga noise.
"There was only the sound of a few birds going to their nests and a trace of light still lingered in the sky. I was up near the front door when my spaniel, who had been with me, suddenly barked. At the same moment the door of an old garden shed we have, up near the kitchen entrance, opened, blocking the view along the flagstone walk. Someone went away, walking very quickly in the dusk. By the time I got to the shed there was only a vague shadow going through the gate to the churchyard. The dog rushed off barking excitedly, but returned in a very short while, looking crest-fallen."
Solar Pons sat pulling the lobe of his right ear with his right hand as he frequently did when concentrating.
"You looked in the shed?"
"I did, Mr. Pons. There was nothing of any significance, that I could see. An old box had been pulled out, undoubtedly for someone to sit on. It crossed my mind that someone had been keeping observation on the house through a crack in the door, waiting until dark."
"An exceedingly unpleasant business!" I said, unable to contain myself any longer.
"I am inclined to agree with you, my dear Parker," said Solar Pons, frowning at Miss Stuart. "Once again, you displayed commendable courage. Did you inform the police on this occasion?"
Our visitor shook her head.
"I am afraid I did not, Mr. Pons. I have little faith in them by now, and they already regard me as a fanciful and over-nervous female. It did not seem likely to me that they would be any more successful in tracing the man than on the previous occasions. But I made sure the doors and windows were securely bolted and barred whenever we retired for the night. I did not mention the matter to my mother either, as she had already suffered considerable fright."
Pons consulted the sheet of paper in his hand.
"That brings us to two nights ago, Miss Stuart."
"It has been a heat wave the past two weeks, as you know, Mr. Pons. The day had been sweltering and all the doors and windows into the garden had been left open. Mother took the dog out for a walk and to visit friends on Saturday night. It was Hannan's day off and I was alone in the house.
"I sat in the study reading, curled up in a big wing chair. Dusk came on and the light faded. I stopped my reading but sat on in the chair without the light. It was such a beautiful evening. There was no sound but the faint rustle of the breeze, bringing with it the perfume of flowers from the garden.
"I was still sitting there, half drowsing in the dusk and the silence, when I heard a faint rustling noise. Something made me behave with caution. I slowly turned in my chair and peeped over the back. I was sitting in shadow and in any case could not have been seen because the chair is a big, high-backed one. Someone was in the room with me, Mr. Pons.
"I shall never forget it to my dying day. The person was standing behind one of the bookcases up toward the French windows, carefully searching through the shelves, because I could hear the furtive sound of books being taken from and replaced upon them. Then, as I looked more closely, half-paralyzed with fright, something white caught my eye. The man was evidently reading something, holding the book with his left hand. With his right he supported himself by holding on to the edge of the shelf facing me. Mr. Pons, the patch of white was the same misshapen hand with the scar upon the thumb!”
3
"Great heavens!" I could not help ejaculating. "What did you do?"
"Screamed, of course," said our visitor with commendable frankness. "Screamed with all my might, gentlemen. There was a bang, as though a heap of books had fallen to the floor and a man came scrambling out from behind the shelving, into the light. He was so agitated he collided with the edge of the French doors. He turned his head quickly back over his shoulder. It was a bearded face, all seamed and lined with evil passions, Mr. Pons. The yellow eyes glared with hatred and he hissed something back at me as I jumped up from the chair and rushed to the light-switch. Then the creature was gone and there was nothing but the scratching echo of footsteps down the flagged path and the squeak of the garden gate. Of course, I ran out into the sanity of the street but there was nothing there. It is just as though The Old Rectory is haunted, gentlemen."
A long silence was broken at length by Pons.
"It is a remarkable story, Miss Stuart, and it presents a number of features of outstanding interest, as well as a line of reasoning I am inclined to follow. From what you tell me in your letter, you did not call the police on this occasion either?"
Miss Stuart's eyes were skeptical.
"Certainly, not, Mr. Pons. I took some advice from a friend in legal practice in the village. I did not, of course, tell him the facts I have just outlined to you. But he immediately advised me to enlist your aid."
"You have done wisely, Miss Stuart."
Pons rose from his seat and paced up and down the room, his empty pipe in his mouth.
"You have no idea what this person could have wanted in your father’s study?"