`How do you know?' put in C. B. quietly.
`Because Jules de Grasse told me so himself,' John replied, and went on to give an account of the visit he had received that morning.
`Sounds good enough on the face of it,' commented the Colonel. `All right. Carry on.'
`I was only going to add that, while we haven't the ghost of an idea why the Canon wants to get hold of Christina, I believe we would be more than half way to solving the whole problem if we could find out what is wrong with the girl herself.!
'Good reasoning, John. Your mother is convinced that it is a case of possession : but what do you think?'
`I'm damned if I know. There can be no question about these changes in her personality. I've seen them for myself. During the day time she is a nice kid straightforward, good natured, and as far as worldliness goes you wouldn't put her age as much over seventeen. But at night she becomes utterly different bold, sensual as a cat and, according to her own account, evil minded and malicious. If we were still living in mediaeval times I suppose one would regard possession by the Devil as a perfectly reasonable explanation; but it is a bit much to swallow in these days, isn't it?'
`For you, perhaps; but not for me. I've seen scores of such cases, John; and at this very moment there are hundreds of people in our asylums whose apparent lunacy is really due to an evil spirit or, to call it by its right name, which I prefer, a demon having got into their bodies.'
`Well,' John gave a faint smile, `as you and Mother are both so positive that such things still happen I suppose I must accept it that they do. But if what you say about the asylums is correct, why is no attempt ever made to get the devils out of all these poor wretches?'
`Because the modem medicos refuse to recognise the facts. Even if they did they wouldn't know how to set about it; and for that matter very few other people would either.'
`When Mother and I were talking about it last night, she seemed to think you would.'
`Lord bless you, no ! I'm no exorcist. I've never dabbled in Magic Black or White in my life. I regard it as much too dangerous.'
`Does that mean you won't be able to do anything for Christina?'
`That depends.' Conky Bill's voice became low and slightly conspiratorial. `If I can get a half Nelson on the Black who has bewitched her, I could. Even a few facts about minor breaches of the law might enable me to pull a fast one. There is nothing that these birds dislike so much as the police taking an interest in their affairs, and given something to go on there would be a good chance for me to exert enough pressure on them to get the spell taken off.,
'You think Mother's right, then, about her having been bewitched?'
`I am accepting that theory for the moment!
'But why in the world should they pick on a girl like Christina? She has never been mixed up in spiritualism, or anything of that kind.!
'Ask me another, young feller. But I expect we shall find that there is a tie up of some sort. On the other hand, any girl who has so few intimate relationships is always particularly vulnerable. Nine times out of ten they are the ones who disappear; because they have no friends and relatives to start a hue and cry about them. If those people at the place where she was at in Paris had been crooks, she might have been shipped off to Buenos Aires, and her father would have been none the wiser for months afterwards.'
`It looks to me as if he got in first; and it is the very fact that he got wise to it that something pretty nasty was being planned against her that accounts for her present situation.'
C. B. nodded. `Yes, you've got something there.!
'Do you think their object is to White Slave her?'
`No; although if they did get hold of her she would be a dam' sight better off in a brothel.'
`What exactly is their game, then?'
`They are always on the hunt for neophytes. Satan is a greedy master, and to retain his favour they need a constant supply of new bodies to defile and souls to corrupt. The more victims they can offer up, the greater becomes their power.'
`Apart from that, is Mother right in what she told me last night, about their being a menace to all established Governments that stand for freedom and decency?'
`Yes, if she was speaking of the high direction of the show, she was. Of course, there are lots of little outer circles, or covens, as they are called. They are generally run by ordinary crooks who have muscled in on the game. Most of the time their object is blackmail. They get hold of paederasts, lesbians and over sexed people of all ages, and provide them with the chance to indulge their secret vices. Then in due course they put on the squeeze and make quite a bit of money by it. Pedaling dope is another of their activities and generally proves a pretty useful side line.'
C. B, paused to fiddle. with his pipe, then went on, `But the big shots are right up and away above that sort of thing. In most cases I doubt if they even know the chiefs of the little covens. Anyhow, they leave it to their subordinates to supervise them and pick likely lads to form new ones. Their job is to use occult forces to destroy good influences. Their usual line is to cause the illness or death at a time of crisis of the key man who might be able to tide it over; or, alternatively, to produce conditions which will favour some unscrupulous individual getting control of the situation. The best example I can give you of an ace high Black Magician in modern times is the monk Rasputin. He did more than all the Bolsheviks put together to bring about the Russian revolution; and I don't need to tell you the extent of the evil that has brought to Russia, and may yet bring to the rest of the world.'
Molly rejoined them at that moment, and as John got up to get her a drink she enquired how he had enjoyed his day.
`Oh, all right,' he replied casually. `We found a nice place to picnic, but as a matter of fact we slept for most of the afternoon.'
`Dear me, you must have been bored then.' With a smile she turned to C. B. `This business really is rather hard luck on Johnny. Three days of his holiday have gone already, and he hasn't had a moment yet to look up his old friends or hit any of .the high spots along the coast. I think he is being very sweet to devote all his time to this poor girl.'
`Perhaps he doesn't find her as boring as you think,' C. B. smiled back; and, standing up, he carefully removed a long brown hair from the open collar of John's pale blue sweat shirt.
`Well played, Sherlock,' John laughed. `But don't let that little souvenir give either of you any wrong ideas. It signifies only the sealing of the sort of deal that Hitler used to call “A pact of Eternal Friendship” when it suited his book to enter into a political understanding with someone for a few weeks.' He told them about his phony engagement to Christina, and the reason that had prompted him to suggest it.
`Now I'm here, I'll be able to get the French police moving, should we need them,' C. B. commented, `but all the same it was quite a sound idea.'
Then Molly added, `Christina showed me your father's ring and explained why she was wearing it directly we got upstairs. She told me, too, about Count Jules' visit after I left this morning.'
`John has just given me particulars of that.' C. B. stretched out his long legs, and went on thoughtfully, `In view of young de Grasse's threat, I think we ought to set a watch to night, just in case they attempt a snatch. We could put an armchair on the landing outside her room. I need very little sleep, so I can easily sit up reading until two. Then if John relieved me until five, I'd come on again then. By seven your bonne will be about, so I could get another couple of hours shut eye before breakfast. How about it, John; are you game to do the three hours before dawn?'