`Something like that. Naturally, I joked about it. I remember asking, "What's the matter; are you afraid he'll steal your hat?" And he said, "It's' not my hat I'm worried about. It's my head."
There was a silence. Then Hadley spoke casually:
`So you left the Tower. to go to his place. What then?'
`Now comes the odd part of it. I drove up to the garage; it's in Dane Street, High Holborn. The mechanic was busy on a job at the moment. He said he could fix the horn in a few minutes, but I should have to wait until he finished with the car he was working on. So I decided to walk to the flat, and pick up the car later. There was no hurry.'
Hadley reached for his notebook. `The address of the flat?' 'Tavistock Chambers, 34 Tavistock Square, WC. It's number two, on the ground floor…. Well, when I got there I rang at his door for a long time, and nobody answered.` So I went in.'
`The door was open?'
`No. But I have a key. You see, the gates of the Tower of London are closed at ten o'clock sharp every night, and the King himself would have a time getting in after that. So, when I went to a theatre or a dance or something of the sort, I had to have a place to stay the night, and I usually stopped on the couch in Phil's sitting-room…. Where was I? Oh yes. Well, I sat down to wait for him.'
Dalrye drew a long breath. He put the palm of his hand suddenly down on the table.
`About fifteen minutes or so after I had left the Tower, Phil Driscoll appeared at the general's quarters here and asked for me. Parker naturally said I had gone out in response to his phone message. Then, Parker says, Phil got as pale as death; he began to rave and call Parker mad. He had phoned that morning asking to see me at one o'clock… But he swore he had not changed the appointment. He swore he had never telephoned a second time at all.'