"I don't like the look of it at all, Des," said his brother
shaking his head, "but first we must make sure that there has
been no misunderstanding about Miss Mackwayte. You say your
housekeeper was already here when you came back from the Dyke
Inn. She may have seen her. Let's have old Martha in!"
Between fright, bewilderment and indignation at the invasion of
the house, old Martha was, if anything, deafer and more stupid
than usual. After much interrogation they had to be satisfied
with her repeated assertion that "she 'adn't seen no young lady"
and allowed her to hobble back to her kitchen.
The two brothers stared at one another blankly. Francis was the
first to speak. His eyes were shining and his manner was rather
tense.
"Des," he asked; "what do you make of it? From what Strangwise
let fall in the library here tonight, it seems probable that Miss
Mackwayte, instead of coming here to see you as she was told--or
she may have called during your absence--went to the Dyke Inn and
saw Nur-el-Din. The muffed cry you heard at the inn suggests foul
play to me and that suspicion is deepened in my mind by the fact
that Matthews found Nur-el-Din at the Dyke Inn, as he reported to
me by telephone just now; but he says nothing about Miss
Mackwayte.
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