"Give me my chequebook," he rasped. "Quick — out of my coat pocket —"
He opened it frantically and stared at a blank stub with his face growing haggard.
"What's today?" he asked.
"This is Saturday, sir," answered the surprised valet.
"What time?"
"Eleven o'clock, sir. You said I wasn't to call you —"
But Mr. Melford Croon was clawing for the telephone at his bedside. In a few seconds he was through to his bank in London. They told him that his cheque had been cashed at ten.
Mr. Croon lay back on the pillows and tried to think out how it could have been done.
He even went so far as to tell his incredible story to Scotland Yard, though he was not by nature inclined to attract the attention of the police.
A methodical search was made in Lloyd's Register, but no mention of a ship called the Christabel Jane could be found. Which was not surprising, for Christabel Jane was the name temporarily bestowed by Simon Templar on a dilapidated Thames tug which had wallowed very convincingly for a few hours in the gigantic tank at the World Features studio at Teddington for the filming of storm scenes at sea, which would undoubtedly have been a great asset to Mr. Croon's Consolidated Albion Film Company if the negotiations for the lease had been successful.