it was as nothing to the loveliness that now went fully adorned. Tuppence had performed her part faithfully. The model gown supplied by a famous dressmaker had been entitled ‘A tiger lily’. It was all golds and reds and browns, and out of it rose the pure column of the girl’s white throat, and the bronze masses of hair that crowned her lovely head. There was admiration in every eye, as she took her seat.
Soon the supper party was in full swing, and with one accord Tommy was called upon for a full and complete explanation.
‘You’ve been too darned close about the whole business,’ Julius accused him. ‘You let on to me that you were off to the Argentine – though I guess you had your reasons for that. The idea of both you and Tuppence casting me for the part of Mr Brown just tickles me to death!’
‘The idea was not original to them,’ said Mr Carter gravely. ‘It was suggested, and the poison very carefully instilled, by a past-master in the art. The paragraph in the New York paper suggested the plan to him, and by means of it he wove a web that nearly enmeshed you fatally.’
‘I never liked him,’ said Julius. ‘I felt from the first that there was something wrong about him, and I always suspected that it was he who silenced Mrs Vandemeyer so appositely. But it wasn’t till I heard that the order for Tommy’s execution came right on the heels of our interview with him that Sunday that I began to tumble to the fact that he was the big bug himself.’
‘I never suspected it at all,’ lamented Tuppence. ‘I’ve always thought I was so much cleverer than Tommy – but he’s undoubtedly scored over me handsomely.’
Julius agreed.
‘Tommy’s been the goods this trip! And, instead of sitting there as dumb as a fish, let him banish his blushes, and tell us all about it.’
‘Hear! hear!’
‘There’s nothing to tell,’ said Tommy, acutely uncomfortable. ‘I was an awful mug – right up to the time I found that photograph of Annette, and realized that she was Jane Finn. Then I remembered how persistently she had shouted out that word “Marguerite” – and I thought of the pictures, and – well, that’s that. Then of course I went over the whole thing to see where I’d made an ass of myself.’
‘Go on,’ said Mr Carter, as Tommy showed signs of taking refuge in silence once more.
‘That business about Mrs Vandemeyer had worried me when Julius told me about it. On the face of it, it seemed that he or Sir James must have done the trick. But I didn’t know which. Finding that photograph in the drawer, after that story of how it had been got from him by Inspector Brown, made me suspect Julius. Then I remembered that it was Sir James who had discovered the false Jane Finn. In the end, I couldn’t make up my mind – and just decided to take no chances either way. I left a note for Julius, in case he was Mr Brown, saying I was off to the Argentine, and I dropped Sir James’s letter with the offer of the job by the desk so that he would see it was a genuine stunt. Then I wrote my letter to Mr Carter and rang up Sir James. Taking him into my confidence would be the best thing either way, so I told him everything except where I believed the papers to be hidden. The way he helped me to get on the track of Tuppence and Annette almost disarmed me, but not quite. I kept my mind open between the two of them. And then I got a bogus note from Tuppence – and then I knew!’
‘But how?’
Tommy took the note in question from his pocket and passed it round the table.
‘It’s her handwriting all right, but I knew it wasn’t from her because of the signature. She’d never spell her name “Twopence,” but anyone who’d never seen it written might quite easily do so. Julius had seen it – he showed me a note of hers to him once – but Sir James hadn’t! After that everything was plain sailing. I sent off Albert post-haste to Mr Carter. I pretended to go away, but doubled back again. When Julius came bursting up in his car, I felt it wasn’t part of Mr Brown’s plan – and that there would probably be trouble. Unless Sir James was actually caught in the act, so to speak, I knew Mr Carter would never believe it of him on my bare word –’
‘I didn’t,’ interposed Mr Carter ruefully.
‘That’s why I sent the girls off to Sir James. I was sure they’d fetch up at the house in Soho sooner or later. I threatened Julius with the revolver, because I wanted Tuppence to repeat that to Sir James, so that he wouldn’t worry about us. The moment the girls were out of sight I told Julius to drive like hell for London, and as we went along I told him the whole story. We got to the Soho house in plenty of time and met Mr Carter outside. After arranging things with him we went in and hid behind the curtain in the recess. The policemen had orders to say, if they were asked, that no one had gone into the house. That’s all.’
And Tommy came to an abrupt halt.
There was silence for a moment.
‘By the way,’ said Julius suddenly, ‘you’re all wrong about that photograph of Jane. It was taken from me, but I found it again.’
‘Where?’ cried Tuppence.
‘In that little safe on the wall in Mrs Vandermeyer’s bedroom.’
‘I knew you found something,’ said Tuppence reproachfully. ‘To tell you the truth, that’s what started me off suspecting you. Why didn’t you say?’
‘I guess I was a mite suspicious too. It had been got away from me once, and I determined I wouldn’t let on I’d got it until a photographer had made a dozen copies of it!’
‘We all kept back something or other,’ said Tuppence thoughtfully. ‘I suppose secret service work makes you like that!’
In the pause that ensued, Mr Carter took from his pocket a small shabby brown book.
‘Beresford has just said that I would not have believed Sir James Peel Edgerton to be guilty unless, so to speak, he was caught in the act. That is so. Indeed, not until I read the entries in this little book could I bring myself fully to credit the amazing truth. This book will pass into the possession of Scotland Yard, but it will never be publicly exhibited. Sir James’s long association with the law would make it undesirable. But to you, who know the truth, I propose to read certain passages which will throw some light on the extraordinary mentality of this great man.’
He opened the book, and turned the thin pages.
‘… It is madness to keep this book. I know that. It is documentary evidence against me. But I have never shrunk from taking risks. And I feel an urgent need for self-expression … The book will only be taken from my dead body …
‘… From an early age I realized that I had exceptional abilities. Only a fool underestimates his capabilities. My brain power was greatly above the average. I know that I was born to succeed. My appearance was the only thing against me. I was quiet and insignificant – utterly nondescript …
‘… When I was a boy I heard a famous murder trial. I was deeply impressed by the power and eloquence of the counsel for the defence. For the first time I entertained the idea of taking my talents to that particular market … Then I studied the criminal in the dock … The man was a fool – he had been incredibly, unbelievably stupid. Even the eloquence of his counsel was hardly likely to save him … I felt an immeasurable contempt for him … Then it occurred to me that the criminal standard was a low one. It was the wastrels, the failures, the general riff-raff of civilization who drifted into crime … Strange that
