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."Simon's glance flickered over the room like a rapier blade, and settledpricklingly on an open french window."Did you have to fetch her in from the garden?' he asked sympathetically."I I don't understand, sir.""Don't you? Neither do I.But that window was closed when I saw it last.""I opened it just now, sir, to give Miss Chase some fresh air."The Saint held his eyes ruthlessly, but the butler did not try to look away."All right," he said at length."We'll check up on that presently.Just forthe moment, you can both go back to the kitchen."The stout woman got to her feet with the laboured mo-tions of a rheumaticcamel." 'Oo do you think you are," she demanded indignantly, "to be bossingPage 59 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmleverybody about in this 'ouse ?""I am the Grand Gugnunc of Waziristan," answered the Saint pleasantly."And Isaid get back to the kitchen."He followed them back himself, and went on through to find Hoppy Uniatz.Theother door of the kitchen conveni-ently opened into the small rear hall intowhich the back stairs came down and from which the back door also opened.Simon locked and bolted the back door, and drew Hoppy into the kitchen doorwayand propped him up against the jamb."If you stand here," he said, "you'll beable to cover the back stairs and this gang in the kitchen at the same time.And that's what I want you to do.None of them is to move out of yoursight not even to get somebody else some fresh air.""Okay, boss," said Mr Uniatz dimly."If I only had a drink ""Tell Jeeves to buy you one."The Saint was on his way out again when the butler stop-ped him."Please, sir, I'm sure I could be of some use ""You are being useful," said the Saint, and closed the door on him.Rosemary Chase was sitting up when he returned to the drawing-room."I'm sorry," she said weakly."I'm afraid I fainted.""I'm afraid you did," said the Saint."I poked you in the tummy to make sureit was real, and it was.It looks as if I've been wrong about you all theevening.I've got a lot of apologies to make, and you'll have to imagine mostof them.Would you like a drink?"She nodded; and he turned to the table and operated with a bottle and siphon.While he was doing it, he said with matter-of-fact naturalness: "How manyservants do you keep here?""The butler and his wife, a housemaid, and a parlourmaid.""Then they're all rounded up and accounted for.How long have you known them?""Only about three weeks since we've been here.""So that means nothing.I should have had them corralled before, but I didn'tthink fast enough." He brought the drink over and gave it to her."Anyway,they're corralled now, under Hoppy's thirsty eye, so if anything else happenswe'll know they didn't have anything to do with it.If that's any help.Which leaves only us and Quintus.""What happened to him?""He said he got whacked on the head by our roving bogey-man.""Hadn't you better look after him ?""Sure.In a minute."Simon crossed the room and closed the open window, and drew the curtains.Hecame back and stood by the table to light a cigarette.There had been so muchessential activity during the past few minutes that he had had no time to doany constructive thinking; but now he had to get every possible blank filledin before the next move was made.He put his lighter away and studied her withcool and friendly encouragement, as if they had a couple of years to spare inwhich to straighten out misunderstandings.She sipped her drink and looked up at him with dark stricken eyes from which,he knew, all pretence and con-cealment had now been wiped away.They were eyesthat he would have liked to see without the grief in them; and the pallor ofher face made him remember its loveliness as he had first seen it.Her redlips formed bitter words without flinching."I'm the one who ought to have been killed.If I hadn't been such a fool thismight never have happened.I ought to be thrown in the river with a weightround my neck.Why don't you say so ?""That wouldn't be any use now," he said."I'd rather you made up for it.Giveme the story."She brushed the hair off her forehead with a weary gesture."The trouble is I can't.There isn't any story that's worth telling.Just thatI was trying to be clever.It all began when I read a letter that I hadn't anyright to read.It was in this room.I'd been out.I came in through the frenchwindows, and I sat down at the desk because I'd just remembered some-thing IPage 60 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlhad to make a note of.The letter was on the blotter in front of me the letteryou got.Nora must have just finished it, and then left the room for a moment,just before I came in, not thinking anyone else would be around.I saw yourname on it.I'd heard of you, of course.It startled me so much that I wasreading on before I knew what I was doing.And then I couldn't stop.I read itall.Then I heard Nora coming back
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