"What's that?" he muttered to himself.
He stepped back and peered cautiously through the window again. There he could see a soldier, moving stealthily behind a bush.
He drew back further and thought a minute. He must not alarm us.
Then he wrote a few words on a piece of paper and tore it so that he could hold it in his palm. Next he hurried from the kitchen and entered the study.
Del Mar had scarcely begun to outline to us a long and circumstantial pseudo-investigation into what he was pleased to hint had been the death of Kennedy, when we were interrupted again by the entrance of his valet.
"Excuse me, sir," apologized Henry, as Del Mar frowned, then noted that something was wrong.
As the valet said the words, he managed surreptitiously to hand to Del Mar the paper which he had written, now folded up into a very small space.
I had turned from Del Mar when the valet entered, apparently to speak to Elaine, but in reality to throw them off their guard.
Under that cover I was able to watch the precious pair from the tail of my eye, I saw Del Mar nod to the valet as though he understood that some warning was about to be conveyed. Although nothing was said, Del Mar was indicating by dumb show orders of some kind. I had no idea what it was all about but I stood ready to whip out my gun on the slightest suspicious move from either.
"I hope you'll pardon me, Miss Dodge," Del Mar deprecated, as the valet retreated toward the door to the kitchen and pantry. "But, you see, I have to be housekeeper here, too, it seems."