Fire-Tongue by Sax Rohmer (the best electronic book reader txt) 📖

out of London. We had only ten minutes to catch the train. He’s gone to get the tickets.”

“Where did you meet him?”

“In the Green Park.”

“When?”

“About a month ago.”

“Was he going to marry you?”

“Yes.”

“What did you do to the serviettes on the night Sir Charles died?”

“Oh, my God! I didn’t do anything to hurt him—I didn’t do anything to hurt him!”

“Answer me.”

“Sidney—”

“Oh, he called himself Sidney, did he? It isn’t his name. But go on.”

“He asked me to get one of the serviettes, with the ring, and to lend it to him.”

“You did this?”

“Yes. But he brought it back.”

“When?”

“The afternoon—”

“Before Sir Charles’s death? Yes. Go on. What did he tell you to do with this serviette?”

“It—was in a box. He said I was not to open the box until I put the serviette on the table, and that it had to be put by Sir Charles’s plate. It had to be put there just before the meal began.”

“What else?”

“I had to burn the box.”

“Well?”

“That night I couldn’t see how it was to be done. Benson had laid the dinner table and Mrs. Howett was pottering about. Then, when I thought I had my chance, Sir Charles sat down in the dining room and began to read. He was still there and I had the box hidden in the hall stand, all ready, when Sidney—rang up.”

“Rang you up?”

“Yes. We had arranged it. He said he was my brother. I had to tell him I couldn’t do it.”

“Yes!”

“He said: ‘You must.’ I told him Sir Charles was in the dining room, and he said: ‘I’ll get him away. Directly he goes, don’t fail to do what I told you.’”

“And then?”

“Another ‘phone call came—for Sir Charles. I knew who it was, because I had told Sidney about the case Sir Charles was attending in the square. When Sir Charles went out I changed the serviettes. Mrs. Howett found me in the dining room and played hell. But afterward I managed to burn the box in the kitchen. That’s all I know. What harm was there?”

“Harm enough!” said Harley, grimly. “And now—what was it that ‘Sidney’ stole from Sir Charles’s bureau in the study?”

The girl started and bit her lip convulsively. “It wasn’t stealing,” she muttered. “It wasn’t worth anything.”

“Answer me. What did he take?”

“He took nothing.”

“For the last time: answer.”

“It wasn’t Sidney who took it. I took it.”

“You took what?”

“A paper.”

“You mean that you stole Sir Charles’s keys and opened his bureau?”

“There was no stealing. He was out and they were lying on his dressing table. Sidney had told me to do it the first time I got a chance.”

“What had he told you to do?”

“To search through Sir Charles’s papers and see if there was anything with the word ‘Fire-Tongue’ in it!”

“Ah!” exclaimed Harley, a note of suppressed triumph in his voice. “Go on.”

“There was only one paper about it,” continued the girl, now speaking rapidly, “or only one that I could find. I put the bureau straight again and took this paper to Sidney.”

“But you must have read the paper?”

“Only a bit of it. When I came to the word ‘Fire-Tongue,’ I didn’t read any more.”

“What was it about—the part you did read?”

“The beginning was all about India. I couldn’t understand it. I jumped a whole lot. I hadn’t much time and I was afraid Mrs. Howett would find me. Then, further on, I came to ‘Fire-Tongue’.”

“But what did it say about ‘Fire-Tongue’?”

“I couldn’t make it out, sir. Oh, indeed I’m telling you the truth! It seemed to me that Fire-Tongue was some sort of mark.”

“Mark?”

“Yes—a mark Sir Charles had seen in India, and then again in London—”

“In London! Where in London?”

“On someone’s arm.”

“What! Tell me the name of this person!”

“I can’t remember, sir! Oh, truly I can’t.”

“Was the name mentioned?”

“Yes.”

“Was it Armand?”

“No.”

“Ormond?”

“No.”

“Anything like Ormond?”

The girl shook her head.

“It was not Ormuz Khan?”

“No. I am sure it wasn’t.”

Paul Harley’s expression underwent a sudden change. “Was it Brown?” he asked.

She hesitated. “I believe it did begin with a B,” she admitted.

“Was it Brunn?”

“No! I remember, sir. It was Brinn!”

“Good God!” muttered Harley. “Are you sure?”

“Quite sure.”

“Do you know any one of that name?”

“No, sir.”

“And is this positively all you remember?”

“On my oath, it is.”

“How often have you seen Sidney since your dismissal?”

“I saw him on the morning I left.”