"I see. It was a box number?"
"Exactly, Mr. Pons."
I got up at Pons' glance and refilled the teacups for all of us.
"But I was within three places of the door before a girl came out with whom I had traveled down from London. She was angry and had a heavy flush on her cheeks. She came across to me and had time for a few words before the woman, who was letting in a new applicant, came back. She said she was not asked for references or even any questions. A tall, dark woman was sitting at a desk and she looked at someone obviously sitting behind a heavy screen who was concealed from the applicant. He must have had some method of observing the candidate but in every case the answer had been no, for the woman merely nodded and said that the interview was closed. My informant said she was merely asked her name, address and if it were true that she was an orphan. It was obvious that even these questions were a mere formality."
"An orphan, Miss Helstone?"
Solar Pons had narrowed his eyes, and on his face was the alert expression I had noted so often when moments of great enterprise were afoot.
"Why, yes, Mr. Pons. That was one of the stipulations of the advertisements. I have one here in my handbag. Another requirement was that applicants should be single or widows."
"Sounds most peculiar, Pons," I put in.
"Does it not, Parker?"
Solar Pons glanced at the newspaper clipping Miss Helstone had passed to him and read it with increasing interest. "Just listen to this, Parker."
He smoothed out the clipping on the table in front of him and read as follows:
"YOUNG GOVERNESS REQUIRED FOR TWO SMALL CHILDREN IN HOME OF WEALTHY SURREY WIDOWER. LARGE MANSION, CONGENIAL SURROUNDINGS. DISCRETION ESSENTIAL, MANY ADVANTAGES. SALARY 500 POUNDS PER ANNUM. NO ONE OVER THIRTY NEED APPLY. REPLY INITIALLY IN WRITING AND WITH TWO REFERENCES. THE POSITION IS FOR THE BENEFIT OF ORPHANED YOUNG LADIES ONLY. BOX 990."
Solar Pons frowned and looked at me quizzically.
"Extraordinary, is it not, Parker. I am obliged to you, Miss Helstone. Despite my enthusiasm for bizarre clippings, this is something I missed. There are a number of unusual points, Parker."
"Indeed, Pons. The orphan stipulation is strange, to say the least."
"And tells us a great deal," said Solar Pons slyly. "Coupled with the lavish inducements, it indicates a certain line of thought. What happened at your own interview, Miss Helstone?"
Our visitor put down her teacup and wiped her mouth fastidiously with a small lace handkerchief, waving away my proffered plate of toast.
"That was the most extraordinary thing of all, Mr. Pons. Within thirty minutes of my arrival at The Priory, thirty applicants had passed through those doors and then it was my turn. It was a large, though quite ordinary room, except for a circular window high up, which made it a dark, shadowy place. There was a desk underneath the window and a desk lamp on it, which threw the light forward onto a chair placed in front of the desk.
"A dark-haired, pleasant-looking woman with a Central European accent asked me to sit down and then put to me some perfunctory questions. I naturally observed the large, heavy screen to the right of the desk and was then startled to see, in an angled mirror placed so as to favor my place on the chair, the reflections of a man's bearded face, with eyes of burning intensity."
2
There was another long pause which I used to refill my teacup. Miss Helstone leaned back in her chair and put out her hands to the fire, which was now blazing cheerfully.
"Some signal must have passed between the two because the woman at the desk gave a relieved smile and, as though making the decision herself, informed me that the position was mine. She called me over to another table in the corner and asked me to sign a document. I just had time to see that this asserted that I was an orphan, specified my age and verified my references, before I heard a door close softly somewhere. I was sure that the man behind the screen had left the room, Mr. Pons, and when we went back to the desk, I could see that a chair placed behind the screen was empty."
Solar Pons rubbed his hands briskly.
"Admirable, Miss Helstone. This is distinctly promising. I may point out, by the way, that the document you signed has no legal standing whatsoever."
The girl smiled.
"I am glad to hear you say so, Mr. Pons. But that is the least of my worries. You may imagine the consternation and dismay among the young ladies in the anteroom when they heard the position was filled. I was astonished when Mrs. Dresden, the dark-haired woman, whom I then learned was the housekeeper, said I should start on my duties at once. But I prevailed upon her to let me return to my old employers to collect my luggage and to inform them of my new post, though even then they insisted on sending me by chauffeur-driven car in order to save time."
"You did not think this at all strange, Miss Helstone?"
"Strange indeed, Mr. Pons, but the salary was so princely that I did not hesitate, I was so excited."
"So you left The Priory without seeing your future charges?"
"That is correct, Mr. Pons. I was told the children were on holiday and would not be back until the following Monday.
"When I returned, I was a little perturbed to see that the grounds were patrolled by similar men to those at the main gate and I realized then that I would not be free to get out and about as I had hoped and in the manner I had become used to in my other situations."
"You met this mysterious Mr. Basden?"
"Almost at once on my return, Mr. Pons. He was quite an ordinary little man, an Englishman obviously, and rather ill at ease, I thought, among the foreign-sounding employees among his retinue."
Solar Pons tented his fingers and stared at me somberly. "Does not that strike you as strange also, Parker?" "Perhaps he had served in India, Pons?"
Solar Pons shook his head with a thin smile.
"I believe the young lady referred to Central Europeans, Parker."
"That is correct, Mr. Pons. There were other extraordinary requirements in my new duties also. For example, I was asked by the housekeeper to leave my own clothes in my room. She supplied me with a new wardrobe. They were very expensive clothes, Mr. Pons, but I had no objections, of course."
"Indeed," I put in.
"But then Mrs. Dresden asked me to put my hair up in a different style and gave me expensive jewelry to wear. I was a little apprehensive in case I lost any but was told not to worry, as Mr. Basden was a very wealthy man. I was given the run of the magnificent house and was told I would be treated as a member of the family.
"I dined with Mr. Basden that evening and my impression of him being ill at ease in his own house was reinforced. He said little and after two days at The Priory I knew very little more about the post than when I arrived. I noticed one other odd thing, also. I could go almost anywhere I liked in the house, but there was a wing stretching off the main landing. Mrs. Dresden forbade me to go there, as it was private.
"But I could not help seeing what went on, Mr. Pons. There were disturbances in the night once, and I have seen what looked like nurses with trays of medicine. One morning also I surprised a tall, dark man with a little black bag, on the stairs. He looked grave and I was convinced he was a doctor."