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That the jewel had something to do with it I was now quite convinced. Could I warn them somehow? No. That would draw the whole attention of the law to Beryl and me, and I considered the mystery about her was a matter for me alone to solve.
    One thing I did know. I had got to see inside that cellar of hers. She had warned me to keep out, but just now things were so complex I had just got to act. I came to a decision.
    Going upstairs, I got four sleeping tablets from the phial in the bathroom cupboard, and returned downstairs with them in my pocket. Beryl looked at me rather curiously, and on the incredible assumption that she could perhaps read thoughts I purposely diverted my mind from my intention. Back went her eyes to her textbook.
    We had a light supper of biscuits and wine, during which process I took good care to slip the four tablets into her glass unnoticed. Then, without a word to each other we made tracks for retiring....

CHAPTER FIVE
    IT WORKED! Inside thirty minutes Beryl was sleeping like a log; but I waited until the hall clock boomed out one before I moved, then I slipped into pants, shirt and shoes, sped downstairs and got my torch from the library desk.
    I found the cellar door under the stairs tightly locked—and a new lock at that. Beryl had had the old one replaced with one of the most foolproof and expensive ones made.
    Back I went upstairs, searched around for some sign of a key. At last I found it, on a silk cord round her neck. In fact there were two keys on the ring.
    Gently I disentangled the cord and hurried back, found the appropriate key and swung the cellar door open gently.
    I stepped forward, closed the door behind me, switched on my torch so that the beam fell down the stone steps. Queer, to pay rent for this darned place and I’d never been allowed to see the basements!
    I hurried down to the first basement, went through its emptiness to the second one. What I beheld here was neither revolting nor terrible: all the dark thoughts I’d conjured up had been groundless. What I saw was more surprising than anything else.
    There was quite a deal of electrical apparatus, with cables soldered very professionally to the main house power wire. This feed wire led back to a device that looked like a carbon arc holder. In fact that was exactly what it was, when I looked more closely—only it was of unusual design with a metal matrix fixed at the carbon point gaps, what for I had no idea.
    In a far corner was something like a long cylinder, half completed, with little tubes sprouting out of one end. It looked very like a bomb. Its metal was enormously tough and burnished, as though intended to stand an enormous amount of wear and tear.
    The rest comprised a bench full of up-to-date tools—all for metal-work apparently. There was also a chunk of wax among other things, which gave me the bright inspiration of taking an impression of the two keys I had got....
    That seemed to be everything—No, not everything, for my final glance around revealed a shelf in the shadows on which reposed a number of new books. So far everything was checking up. Beryl had said books, instruments, and odds and ends.... Right!
    First book I took down was a new edition of Gems, Stones, and Their Origins , identical with the library copy I had studied. I flipped the pages and studied the column about the bloodstone. Significant and obvious thing!
    The names of the owners of the quartered bloodstone were underlined in red ink! Even more significant, the names of Boyd Harkness and Madame Elva Borini were ticked in red over the top. A sort of mute ‘Account settled.’
    I went hastily through the rest of the books. They were brand new up-to-date Directories most of them—one for London, one for Naples, Italy, a smaller one giving particulars of addresses of British officials in Bermuda— The address of Boyd Harkness had not been necessary anyway, being close at hand. But Lord! What! How? Of all the