It was growing shadowy in the room. Nemo took of! his hat and brushed its brim across his forehead. He gestured with it.
"I'll tell you," he said, "why you can't beat What's cut out for you at birth. I'll fill up your story. I'll show you how a trick nobody could help cheated me out of the cushiest soft spot on earth. And those kids — they thought it was funny…
"I won't tell you who I am," he said, looking round at them with a curious expression which reminded Morgan of Woodcock squinting at the ceiling in the writing-room. "I might be anybody. You'll never know. I could say I was Harry Jones of Surbiton, or Bill Smith of Yonkers — or maybe somebody not very much different from the man I was impersonating. I'll tell you what I am, though — I'm a ghost. Reason that out how you like; I'm not telling. I'll never have any occasion to tell."
He grinned. Nobody spoke. The yellow twilight outside showed in queer colour his face peering at Dr. Fell, at Jennings, at Morgan.
"Or maybe I'm only Mad Tommy, of.. who's going to tell? But what I will tell you is that I put through that trick neatly. I passed as Sturton without anybody being suspicious, but I won't tell you how I managed it, because it might get others in trouble. I deceived his secretary. I admit she'd only been with him for a month or two — but I deceived her. If I was an eccentric who couldn't remember my business affairs, she took care of it. She was nice." He stroked the air and chortled. "I did it so well that I thought, 'Nemo, you only intended to impersonate Sturton long enough to make a haul; but why not keep on?'
"I kept her with me. I shouldn't have killed MacGee in New York; but he was a diamond man, and I couldn't resist diamonds. When I sailed aboard that ship I had unlimited cash of Sturton's — ever see me imitate a signature? — and nearly five hundred thousand pounds in jewels. The only thing people knew I had was the emerald elephant. And what did I intend to do? Pay duty on it, like an honest man; no fuss at all. For the rest, I was the well-known Sturton; / wouldn't smuggle in other things, and they'd be very careless about my luggage. I knew that, being close to me aboardship, Hilda — Miss Keller, my Hilda — might find out who I was. But I wanted her to. I was going to say: 'You're in deep; too deep; I'm the one you'll have to stick with; so' " — he made a gesture and spoke in a rather, thick ghastly voice—" 'so move your belongings into my berth, Hilda,' I'd say to her. Ha!…"
"If you had all that money," said Dr. Fell, sharply, "why did you want to steal the film?"
"Trouble," said Nemo, tapping his free hand on the side of his nose. "To make trouble for — oh, everybody I could, do you see? No, you don't. I meant to give away that film, free, to whoever could do the most damage with it. You don't see? But I do. I'm like Sturton. I might be Sturton's ghost; I hate — people." He laughed, and massaged his head. "I'd heard of it in Washington. Hilda, still not knowing who I was, came to my cabin that afternoon. She told me all about a very, very curious radiogram she'd overheard. Then my wits— my wits — remembered. And I thought, 'Here's my chance to break it to her gently.' I'd get the film, I'd show it her, and we'd appreciate — both of us — how much trouble we could make.
"I did," said Nemo, in a sudden loud, harsh voice like a crow. "But she didn't understand. That was why I had to kill her.
"And what happened just before that? Eh? Eh? I had another inspiration, to make her love me still more. When I first planned to rob old Sturton, I hadn't intended to impersonate him; never mind all that; I was after the elephant, and I had a nearly perfect duplicate made to switch on him. That was the way I meant to work it…