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And he had asked for money only a trifling sum, yet Graham would grasp at the fact to support his earlier suspicion. Paredes's arrival possessed one virtue: It diverted Bobby's thoughts temporarily from his own dilemma, from his inability to chart a course. Graham, on the other hand, was ill at ease. Beyond a doubt he was disarmed by Paredes's good humour.
The doctor's uneasy glance sought the opening in the wall. "I thought you had examined all these walls," he grumbled. "How did you miss this?" Robinson ran his fingers through his hair. "That's what I've been asking myself," he said. "I went over that panelling a dozen times myself." Bobby and Katherine went closer. Bobby had been from the first puzzled by Paredes's easy manner.
He draped it over his arm. "The doctor," he said to Katherine, "wants a basin of warm water, some old linen, carbolic acid, if you have it." She nodded and went back to the kitchen while Bobby returned with the detective to the hall. Paredes's eyes remained closed. "Where did you get the cloak, Rawlins?" Robinson asked. "The young lady," Rawlins answered with soft satisfaction, "just wore it in.
Bobby followed them out, suspecting Graham's purpose, unwilling that action should be taken too hastily against the Panamanian; for even now guilty knowledge seemed incompatible with Paredes's polished reserve. When he joined the others, indeed, Graham with an aggressive air was demanding the district attorney's intentions.
That fleeting, satanic impression of yesterday came back, sharper, more alarming. Paredes's clear challenge to the district attorney was the measure of his strength. His mind was subtler than theirs. His reserve and easy daring mastered them all; and always, as now, he laughed at the futility of their efforts to sound his purposes, to limit his freedom of action.
It was as if Paredes's far-fetched fear had been realized. Blackburn was not in his chair, nor was he to be found in the hall. Even then, with the exception of Paredes, they wouldn't take the thing seriously. Since the old man wasn't in the hall; since he couldn't have gone upstairs, unobserved by them, he must be either in the library, the dining room, or the rear part of the house.
He wanted Bobby out of the way while he searched his room again, this time for a sharp, slender instrument capable of penetrating between the bones at the base of a man's brain. Paredes lighted a cigarette and warmed his back at the fire. The doctor settled himself in his chair. He paid no attention to the others. He wouldn't answer Paredes's slow remarks. "Interesting, doctor!
Blackburn under close observation. But he has a fair idea of Paredes's habits, his haunts, and his friends in New York. He might be able to learn things the police couldn't. I've one or two matters to take me to town. I would make myself personally responsible for his return " The district attorney interrupted. "I see what you mean. Wait a minute."
Katherine appeared in the doorway. She had evidently overheard Paredes's comment, for she nodded. The determination in her eyes suggested that she had struggled with the situation during these last moments and had reached a definite conclusions That quality was in her voice. "At least, Hartley," she said, "you must send for Doctor Groom before you notify the police." Graham waved his hand.
Graham drew a chair between Paredes and the doctor. Bobby lounged against the mantel, trying to find in the Panamanian's face some clue as to his real feelings. But Paredes's eyes were closed. His hand drooped across the chair arm. His slender, pointed fingers held, as if from mere habit, a lifeless cigarette. "Asleep," Graham whispered.
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