The Seven Dials Mystery - Agatha Christie [65]
‘You have disturbed me,’ said George. ‘You have disturbed me greatly.’
His eyes appeared more protuberant than ever.
To distract him, Jimmy poked delicately at a curious blackened object on the table.
‘What’s this?’ he asked.
‘That’s exhibit Z,’ said Battle. ‘The last of our little lot. It is, or rather it has been, a glove.’
He picked it up, the charred relic, and manipulated it with pride.
‘Where did you find it?’ asked Sir Oswald.
Battle jerked his head over his shoulder.
‘In the grate–nearly burnt, but not quite. Queer; looks as though it had been chewed by a dog.’
‘It might possibly be Miss Wade’s,’ suggested Jimmy. ‘She has several dogs.’
The Superintendent shook his head.
‘This isn’t a lady’s glove–no, not even the large kind of loose glove ladies wear nowadays. Put it on, sir, a moment.’
He adjusted the blackened object over Jimmy’s hand.
‘You see–it’s large even for you.’
‘Do you attach importance to this discovery?’ inquired Sir Oswald coldly.
‘You never know, Sir Oswald, what’s going to be important or what isn’t.’
There was a sharp tap at the door and Bundle entered.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she said apologetically. ‘But Father has just rung up. He says I must come home because everybody is worrying him.’
She paused.
‘Yes, my dear Eileen?’ said George encouragingly, perceiving that there was more to come.
‘I wouldn’t have interrupted you–only that I thought it might perhaps have something to do with all this. You see, what has upset Father is that one of our footmen is missing. He went out last night and hasn’t come back.’
‘What is the man’s name?’ It was Sir Oswald who took up the cross-examination.
‘John Bauer.’
‘An Englishman?’
‘I believe he calls himself a Swiss–but I think he’s a German. He speaks English perfectly, though.’
‘Ah!’ Sir Oswald drew in his breath with a long, satisfied hiss. ‘And he has been at Chimneys–how long?’
‘Just under a month.’
Sir Oswald turned to the other two.
‘Here is our missing man. You know, Lomax, as well as I do, that several foreign Governments are after the thing. I remember the man now perfectly–tall, well-drilled fellow. Came about a fortnight before we left. A clever move. Any new servants here would be closely scrutinized, but at Chimneys, five miles away–’ He did not finish the sentence.
‘You think the plan was laid so long beforehand?’
‘Why not? There are millions in that formula, Lomax. Doubtless Bauer hoped to get access to my private papers at Chimneys, and to learn something of forthcoming arrangements from them. It seems likely that he may have had an accomplice in this house–someone who put him wise to the lie of the land and who saw to the doping of O’Rourke. But Bauer was the man Miss Wade saw climbing down the ivy–the big, powerful man.’
He turned to Superintendent Battle.
‘Bauer was your man, Superintendent. And, somehow or other, you let him slip through your fingers.’
Chapter 24
Bundle Wonders
There was no doubt that Superintendent Battle was taken aback. He fingered his chin thoughtfully.
‘Sir Oswald is right, Battle,’ said George. ‘This is the man. Any hope of catching him?’
‘There may be, sir. It certainly looks–well, suspicious. Of course the man may turn up again–at Chimneys, I mean.’
‘Do you think it likely?’
‘No, it isn’t,’ confessed Battle. ‘Yes, it certainly looks as though Bauer were the man. But I can’t quite see how he got in and out of these grounds unobserved.’
‘I have already told you my opinion of the men you posted,’ said George. ‘Hopelessly inefficient–I don’t mean to blame you, Superintendent, but–’ His pause was eloquent.
‘Ah, well,’ said Battle lightly, ‘my shoulders are broad.’
He shook his head and sighed.
‘I must get to the telephone at once. Excuse me, gentlemen. I’m sorry, Mr Lomax–I feel I’ve rather bungled this business, But it’s been puzzling, more puzzling than you know.’
He strode hurriedly from the room.
‘Come into the garden,’ said Bundle to Jimmy. ‘I want to talk to