& 16. The Clue Conclusive.
He was still frowning over it when Dr. Fell stumped back, leaning on his two canes. Under one arm Dr. Fell held a package wrapped in brown paper, and in the other an envelope ripped open. Many things he could conceal: the insight and strategy of his nimble, rocket-brilliant, childlike brain, and these he could conceal because, out of a desire to spring his surprise, he liked to fog them round with genial talk. But a certain relief he could not conceal. Morgan saw it and half rose from his chair.
"Rubbish, rubbish!" boomed the doctor, nodding jovi-ially. "Sit down, sit down! Heh! As I was about to say—"
"Have you—?"
"Now, now! Let me get comfortab… aah! So. Well, my boy, whatever's done is already done. Either the Blind Barber has got away or he hasn't. If he has got away, I think it's highly likely we shall catch him sooner or later. I don't think he intended to keep his present disguise after he had landed in either France or England; then, safely out of it, he could perform another of his quick changes and disappear. He's by way of being a genius. I wonder who he really is?"
"But you said—"
"Oh, I know the name he's using at the moment. But I warned you long ago that the garb was only a mask and a dummy; and I should like to see how his real mind works… In any event, the boat has docked. Didn't you tell me that young Warren was coming to see me? What arrangements have you made about that?"
"I gave him your address and said to look up the phone number if he needed to communicate. He and Peggy and the old man are coming on to London as soon as they can get the boat train. But listen! Who is it? Is he going to get away, after all? What, in God's name, is the real explanation of the whole thing?"
"Heh!" said Dr. Fell. "Heh-heh! You read my last eight clues and still don't know? You had the evidence of that steel box staring you in the face and still couldn't make your wits work? Tut, now, I don't blame you. You were doing too much action to think. If a man's required to turn round every second and pick up a new person who has been knocked out by somebody, he isn't apt to have much time for cool reflection… You see this parcel?" He put it on the table. "No, don't look at it just yet. We've still some time before a final consultation, and there are a few points on which I should like enlightenment… What was the upshot of the matter after Uncle Jules was haled away to clink? Does Whistler still think Uncle Jules was the thief? And what about the marionette show? The thing seems to me to be incomplete. From the very first, as a matter of fact, I had a strong feeling that your band would
I somehow be enticed into that marionette show and would be forced by the Parcae into putting on a performance…"