An Apostle of Gloom Read Online Free PDF Page B

mean—”
    â€œOh, yes,” said Janet quickly. She poured milk into the cups, picked up the teapot – and stared at the plain water coming out. Mark gaped. Roger asked irritably what had happened.
    â€œI forgot to put the tea in,” Janet said, jumping up hastily. “I won’t be a moment!”
    The little incident eased the prevailing tension, because, Roger said, it showed how completely they had gone to pieces; the situation demanded careful thought. Mark insisted that he knew no more than Pep Morgan’s cryptic telephone call and none of them doubted that Morgan had visited the house – either in person or by proxy – and taken ‘something’ away. None of them wanted to admit it but in their hearts they acknowledged that the ‘something’ could only be the ‘sum of money’ for which Abbott had come.
    As they drank hot tea and ate cold, doughy muffins, Janet said: “It won’t be dark for two hours, we can’t wait and do nothing all that time.”
    â€œPatience is a virtue,” declared Mark, brightly.
    â€œAss!” said Janet. “Roger, what are you going to do?”
    Mark beamed. “The brilliant young idol of the Yard has offended his Superintendent, has behaved in a way wholly reprehensible and has therefore made it impossible for him to act. Had he reasoned with Abbott he might have got something; as it is—” he shrugged. “Not that I don’t sympathise,” he added.
    â€œAbbott makes shivers run up and down my spine, too; he’s the coldest individual I’ve ever met.”
    â€œOught you to have raged at him?” Janet asked.
    Roger laughed shortly. “Oh, no! I ought to have patted his back and told him it was very nice of him to have come himself instead of leaving the dirty work to Martin. Confound the fellow! He knew what was coming this morning, but he didn’t have the decency to warn me that I was under suspicion. He did ask me whether I would be at home – I suppose he thought I would see what he was driving at and would try to get the stuff away. That’s why Martin shadowed me. Of all the—”
    â€œBe reasonable,” Mark said, judicial. “He wanted you to be caught red-handed. Handsome West here, piles of dirty dough there, case all cut and dried, snap go the darbies!”
    â€œYour turn of wit is execrable,” Roger said, pointedly.
    â€œMy common sense is remarkable,” Mark retorted. “You wouldn’t seriously expect him to warn you, would you?”
    Roger said: “This kind of thing has happened before. It’s usual for a Superintendent or the Assistant Commissioner to call the suspect in and tell him bluntly what is alleged against him. He’s asked whether he has anything to say and, if necessary, is detained until a search has been made and inquiries are completed.” Frowning, he conceded: “There’s just one thing – they might have believed that the money would be brought here sometime to-day – that if they acted too soon they would give me a chance to get it somewhere else. Hence the dog-watch.”
    â€œAh, light dawns on the troubled mind,” said Mark. “You were out for lunch, weren’t you? During lunch the lucre was doubtless planted. Pep heard about it and—”
    â€œI can’t believe it!” snapped Roger.
    â€œYou can and you do,” Mark told him quietly, “but the crisis is past, you weren’t caught with the stuff, so you’ve a chance of proving that you’re really a detective.” There was a note of raillery in his voice. “We’re talking on supposition, but if Pep learned that goods were to be planted on you, obviously someone was to do it. There’s your problem – who, and why?”
    â€œYe-es,” admitted Roger, slowly. He finished his tea in silence, then leaned back and studied the ceiling. The others did not