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Updated: May 9, 2025
There was no need for van Heerden to ask what he had dropped, for the green lawn which had excited Milsom's admiration was no longer to be seen. In its place was a black irregular patch of earth which looked as though it had been blasted in the furnaces of hell, and the air was filled with the pungent mustiness of decay. It seemed that a grey curtain of mist hung before Oliva's eyes.
He spent the morning following Oliva's marriage in town, transacting certain important business and making no attempt to conceal his comings and goings, though he knew that he was shadowed. Yet he was well aware that every hour that passed brought danger nearer. "I may have a week's grace," he said to Milsom, "and in the space of a week I can do all that I want."
Jake decided to tell him about Oliva. He was now convinced that Don Sebastian knew more than he admitted and that his interest was not unfriendly. Besides, there was somehow a hint of authority in the fellow's thin, dark face. He showed polite attention as Jake narrated the events that had led to Oliva's dismissal, but the lad imagined that he was telling him nothing he had not already heard.
The door is open," whispered van Heerden to the two men who had made their lightning disappearance into the anatomical cases at the sound of Beale's knock. "What shall we do?" "Wait till I come to you. Hurry!" They crossed the landing and passed through the open door of Oliva's flat and the doctor closed the door behind them and returned in time to release the savage Beale.
Are you quite sure you haven't been writing about anything else?" "I am sure. Why do you ask?" "Because, as you see, somebody thought it worth while to steal the top sheet of your blotter," Jake replied. "Now perhaps I'd better tell you something I've just learned." He related what Payne had told him and concluded: "I'm puzzled about Oliva's motive. After all, it could hardly be revenge."
Commercial and political jealousies were very keen, and citizens of all ranks fought and schemed against their neighbors. The place was rank with plots, but it was hard to see how he could be involved. Yet it certainly began to look as if he had been stabbed by Oliva's order, and Oliva was now employed at the Adexe coaling wharf. This seemed to throw a light upon the matter.
He passed through the door to Oliva's sitting-room and was gone a few minutes. When he came back Beale saw his troubled face, and ran forward to meet him. "She's not there," said Kitson. "Not in her room?" "Neither in the sitting-room nor the bedroom. I have rung for her maid. Oh, here you are." Prim Minnie came through the bedroom door. "Where is your mistress?"
They worked well, chattering and laughing, in the early morning, and there was much to be done, because Oliva's dismissal had made a difference. The men flagged, as the sun got higher, and at length Dick sat down in the thin shade of a tree.
Yet he did Beale an injustice if he only knew, for the thought of Oliva's new peril ran through all his speculations, his rapid deductions, his lightning plans. "Miss Cresswell found the ticket and probably extracted it as a curiosity. These things are kept in little envelopes, aren't they, McNorton?" The police chief nodded. "That was it, then.
It was to the doctor's apartment that he was now walking. That gentleman met him in the entrance and accompanied him to his room. There was a light in the fanlight of Oliva's flat, for she had brought some of her work home to finish, but Mr. Beale's flat was dark. This the doctor noted before he closed his own door, and switched on the light.
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