police could not have seen any of our vans removing furniture from Cromwell Road last night,” protested the manager. “See here for yourself. Yesterday there were four removals only – Croydon to Southsea, Fitzjohn’s Avenue to Lower Norwood, South Audley Street to Ashley Gardens, and Elgin Avenue to Finchley. Here they are,” and he pointed to the page whereon the particulars were inscribed.
“The goods in question were removed by you from Cromwell Road, and stored in your depository at Chiswick.”
“I think, sir, you really must be mistaken,” replied the manager, shaking his head. “Did you see our vans there yourself?”
“No. The police did, and made inquiry.”
“With the usual result, I suppose, that they bungled, and told you the wrong name.”
“They’ve got it written down in their books.”
“Well, all I can say is, that we didn’t remove any furniture from the road you mention.”
“But it was at night.”
“We do not undertake a job at night unless we receive a guarantee from the landlord that the rent is duly paid, and ascertain that no money is owing.”
Max was now puzzled more than ever.
“The police say that the effects were sent to your depository,” he remarked, dissatisfied with the manager’s assurance.
“In that case inquiry is very easy,” he said, and walking to the telephone he rang up the depository at Chiswick.
“Is that you, Merrick?” he asked over the ’phone. “I say! Have you been warehousing any goods either yesterday or to-day, or do you know of a job in Cromwell Road, at the house of a Doctor Petrovitch?”
For a full minute he waited the reply. At last it came, and he heard it to the end.
“No,” he said, putting down the receiver and turning to Barclay. “As I expected. They know nothing of the matter at the depository.”
“But how do you account for your vans – two pantechnicons and a covered van – being there?” he asked.
The manager shook his head.
“We have here the times when each job in London was finished, and when the vans returned to the yard. They were all in by 7:30. Therefore, they could not have been ours.”
“Well, that’s most extraordinary.”
“Is it somebody who has disappeared?”
“Yes.”
“Ah! the vans were, no doubt, painted with our names specially, in order to mislead the police,” he said. “There’s some shady transaction somewhere, sir, depend upon it. Perhaps the gentleman wanted to get his things away, eh?”
“No. He had no necessity for so doing. He was quite well off – no debts, or anything of that kind.”
“Well, it’s evident that if our name is registered in the police occurrences the vans were painted with our name for some illegal purpose. The gentleman’s disappeared, you say.”
“Yes. And – well, to tell you the truth, I suspect foul play.”
“Have you told the police that?” asked the man, suddenly interested.
“No; not yet. I’ve come to you first.”
“Then if I were you I’d tell the police the result of your inquiries,” the manager said. “No doubt there’s a crooked incident somewhere.”
“That’s just what I fear. Quite a number of men most have been engaged in clearing the place out.”
“Have you been over it? Is it entirely cleared?”
“Nearly. The grand piano and a big book-case have been; left.”
“I wonder if it’s been done by professional removers, or by amateurs?” suggested the manager.
“Ah! I don’t know. If you saw the state of the place you’d know, wouldn’t you?”
“Most probably.”
“Then if you’ll come with me I’ll be delighted to show you, and you can give me your opinion.”
So the pair entered a cab, and a quarter of an hour later were passing along the hall of the empty house. The manager of Harmer’s removals inspected room after room, noticed how the curtains had been torn down, and noted in the fire grate of the drawing-room a quantity of tinder where a number of papers seemed to have been burned.
“No,” he said presently. “This removal was carried out by amateurs, who were in a very violent hurry. Those vans were faked – bought, perhaps, and repainted with our name. It’s evident that they deceived the constable very cleverly.”
“But the whole affair is so extraordinary?” gasped Max, staring at his companion.
“Yes. It would appear so. Your friend, the Doctor, evidently wished to get his goods away with the least possible delay and in the greatest secrecy.”
“But the employment of so many men did not admit of much secrecy, surely!”
“They were only employed to load. They did not unload. Only the three drivers probably know the destination of the furniture. It was valuable old stuff, I should say, if one is to judge by what is remaining.”
“Yes, the place was well and comfortably furnished.”
“Then I really think, sir, that if you suspect foul play it’s your duty to tell the police. In cases like this an hour’s delay is often fatal to success in elucidating the mystery.” Max was undecided how to act. It was his duty to tell the police his suspicions and show them that blood-stained coat. And yet he felt so certain that the Doctor must in the course of the day take him into his confidence that he hesitated to make a suggestion of foul play and thus bring the affair into public prominence.
The fact that Harmer’s name had been upon vans not belonging to that firm was in itself sufficient proof that there had been a conspiracy somewhere.
But of what nature was it? What could possibly have been its object? What was Maud’s “terrible confession!”
The expert in removals was examining some litter in the dining-room.
“They evidently did not stop to pack anything,” he remarked, “but simply bundled it out with all possible speed. One fact strikes me as very peculiar.”
“What is that?”
“Well, if they wanted to empty the place they might have done so, leaving the curtains up, and the palms and things in the windows in order to lead people to believe that the house was still occupied. Apparently, however, they disregarded that precaution altogether.”
“Yes. That’s true. The object of the sudden flight is a complete mystery,” Max remarked. He had not taken the man to the top room, where, in the cupboard, the woman’s dress was hidden.
“You say that the Doctor
