The Mystery of a Butcher's Shop Read Online Free PDF

apparently switched off the electric light.
    â€˜For goodness’ sake, Aubrey, come away from that window and let me go to bed,’ said Mrs Bryce Harringay petulantly. ‘Here is Louise. Good night, dear.’
    â€˜Good night, mater. So long.’ And he slipped out. The maid bestowed upon his back the special smile she kept for every member of his sex, and turned to attend her mistress.
    Aubrey shot into his own room like lightning, kicked off his pumps, pulled on a pair of rubber-soled gymnasium-shoes, flung off his dress clothes and climbed into shorts and a sweater, then tiptoed to the door, regardless of the wild disorder he was leaving in his bedroom. As quickly as he could manage to do without making a noise, he shot downstairs and into the library. It was in darkness, but a strong scent of roses with which the hot night filled the room informed him that the French windows were wide open. Fearful of being too late to see the fun, he stepped out on the gravel path, slipped quickly aside on to the short, friendly turf of the lawn which would deaden the sound of his footsteps, and ran towards the garage and the stables.
    â€˜Elementary, Watson, you goop!’ crowed Aubrey, as, coming within sight of the stables, the circle of light cast by a hurricane lamp met his gaze. ‘So there you are, Jimsey my buck! Now we shall find out what the spade is for. Perhaps he’s robbed old Rupert’s safe and is going to bury the spoils! I wonder what the little game really is, though?’
    Seeking the shelter of a thick clump of laurels, he lay with his face as close to the ground as was possible, and waited patiently. He crushed a spider, which was tunnelling a panic-stricken way between his shirt and his body, by the simple expedient of rolling on it, scratched his left ear, which was beginning to itch maddeningly, and held his breath so as not to betray his presence. He had not long to wait. A muffled oath, in a voice unmistakably belonging to his cousin James Redsey, who had dropped the spade with a clatter upon the brick flooring of the stable, was followed by the appearance of a large black shadow looming against the starlit-scented dimness of the night, and Redsey passed by at a swift pace, carrying the hurricane lamp in his left hand and the spade across his right shoulder. He seemed in great haste, and was obviously bent upon some secret and important errand.
    â€˜Got gymmers on, like me,’ thought Aubrey, noting Redsey’s noiseless footsteps. ‘Silly ass to tread on the very edge of the turf like that, though! Any idiot could trace him to-morrow.’
    He allowed Jim about thirty paces’ start, then, moving like the shadow of a cat, sinuous, gliding, and without a sound, he began to follow him.
    When they were well away from the windows of the house, Jim abandoned the cover afforded by bushes and flowering plants, and struck out boldly across the park. On this open ground, Aubrey had need to exercise much care in order to keep his presence secret. At irregular intervals, Jim Redsey halted and looked round as though some sixth mysterious sense were warning him that he was being followed. Rejoicing at the absence of the moon, Aubrey, who was bending nearly double in his determination to avoid being discovered, sank down and lay full length in the dew-drenched grass of this open country and was soaked to the skin by the time they reached the outskirts of the Manor Woods. Here Jim made his last halt before plunging in among the trees.
    He was immediately lost to sight, and a less venturesome person than Aubrey Harringay would have paused at this juncture and contemplated abandoning the chase. Such a thought, however, did not enter Aubrey’s head, so, although the chances were decidedly in favour of his running full tilt into his cousin in the confusion engendered by the countless tree-trunks and the darkness, he plunged in after Jim and was immediately swallowed up among the