"It was in my mind to warn your lordship," Shields observed.
Dredlinton's fear merged into fury,—a blind and nerveless passion.
"But this is outrageous!" he exclaimed, striking the table with his fist. "Do you mean to say that you can come here to me from Scotland Yard—to me, a peer of England, living in the heart of London—and tell me that a friend and a business connection of mine has been kidnapped and practically warn me against the same fate? What on earth do we pay our police for? What sort of a country are we living in? Are you all nincompoops?"
"We remain what we are, notwithstanding your lordship's opinion," the inspector answered, with a shade of sarcasm in his level tone. "I may add that I am not the only one engaged in this Investigation, and I can only do my duty according to the best of my ability."
"You've done nothing—nothing at all!" Dredlinton protested angrily. "Added to that, you actually come here and warn me that I, too, may be the victim of a plot, against the ringleaders of which you seem to be helpless. The British and Imperial Granaries is a perfectly legitimate company doing a perfectly legitimate business. We're not out for our health—who is in the City? If we can make money out of wheat, it's our business and nobody else's."
The inspector was a little weary, but he continued without any sign of impatience.
"I know nothing about the British and Imperial Granaries, my lord," he said. "My time is too fully occupied to take any interest in outside affairs. In the course of time," he went on, "we shall inevitably get to the bottom of this very cleverly engineered conspiracy. Crime of every sort is detected sooner or later, except in the case, say, of a single-handed murder, or an offence of that nature. In the present instance, there is evidence that a very large number of persons were concerned, and detection finally becomes, therefore, a certainty. In the meantime, however, I thought it as well to pass you a word of warning."
"Warning, indeed!" Dredlinton muttered. "I won't move out of the house without a bodyguard. If any one dares to interfere with me, I'll—I'll shoot them! What happens to a man, Inspector, if he shoots another in self-defence, eh?"
"It depends upon the circumstances, my lord," was the cautious reply. "The law in England requires self-defence to be very clearly established."
Dredlinton moved to the sideboard, poured himself out a liqueur and drank it off.