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I thought I should, and he accordingly set about the preparations in his deft methodical way, but with an air of abstraction that was unusual with him. "The Doctor said he should be home by five," he remarked, as he laid the tea-pot on the tray. "Then he is a defaulter," I answered. "We shall have to water his tea." "A wonderful punctual man, sir, is the Doctor," pursued Polton.
Britton, and I don't want to be caught and delayed just now." However, it was Mr. Britton; a breezy alert-looking middle-aged man, who came in escorted by Polton and shook our hands cordially, having been previously warned of my presence. He carried a small but solid hand-bag, to which he clung tenaciously up to the very moment when its contents were required for use.
I was burning with impatience to impart my news to him, and this fact, together with the ghostly proceedings of Polton, worked me up to a state of nervous tension that rendered either rest or thought equally impossible. I looked out of the window at the lamp below, glaring redly through the fog, and then, opening the door, went out on to the landing to listen.
For the next few days, Thorndyke was very much occupied with one or two civil cases, which kept him in court during the whole of the sitting; and when he came home, he seemed indisposed to talk on professional topics. Meanwhile, Polton worked steadily at the photographs of the signatures, and, with a view to gaining experience, I assisted him and watched his methods.
He gave one sudden, comprehending glance toward the other couple; then he took the widow's hand, led her up to Dora, and said, in low yet penetrating tones. "Will you wish us joy, Mrs. Polton?" The squire, Rippleby, and Algy Stanton were round them in an instant. I kept my place, watching now the face of Trix Queenborough. She turned first flaming red, then very pale.
I couldn't see the boat, 'cause it was a very dark night." "Very well. Now I am going to ask you about another matter. Do you know anyone of the name of Polton?" "Yes," replied Gummer, turning a dusky red. "I've just found out his real name. I thought he was called Simmons." "Tell us what you know about him," said Anstey, with a mischievous smile.
The first evidence I had of his renewed activity appeared when I returned to the chambers at about eleven o'clock in the morning, to find Polton hovering dejectedly about the sitting-room, apparently perpetrating as near an approach to a "spring clean" as could be permitted in a bachelor establishment. "Hallo, Polton!"
We were none too soon, for even as Polton was removing the mould, the electric bell, which I had switched on to the laboratory, announced a visitor, and when I went down I found a police-sergeant waiting with a note from Superintendent Miller, requesting the immediate transfer of the hat.
This was highly flattering and quite atoned for the small disappointment; with deep gratification at the trust that Thorndyke had reposed in me, I pocketed the letter, handed my notes to Polton, wished him "Good evening," and betook myself to Fetter Lane. The Probate Court wore an air of studious repose when I entered with Miss Bellingham and her father.
"Well," said the boy, with a ferocious scowl at the bland and smiling Polton, "one day he come down to the yacht when the gentlemen had gone ashore. I believe he'd seen 'em go. And he offers me ten shillin' to let him see all the boots and shoes we'd got on board. I didn't see no harm, so I turns out the whole lot in the cabin for him to look at.
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