Michael nodded.
“For three nights he has been haunting Longvale’s house.”
“Longvale’s!”
Where was Adele? That was the one dominant question, the one thought uppermost in Michael Brixan’s mind. And where was the baronet? What was the meaning of that open door? None of the servants could tell him, and for some reason he saw that they were speaking the truth. Only Penne and the girl—and this great ape—knew, unless——
He hurried back to where he had left a detective trying to revive the unconscious Stella Mendoza.
“She has passed from one fainting fit to another,” said the officer. “I can get nothing out of her except that once she said ‘Kill him, Adele.’ ”
“Then she has seen her!” said Michael.
One of the officers he had left outside to watch the building had a report to make. He had seen a dark figure climbing the wall and disappear apparently through the solid brickwork. A few minutes later it had come out again.
“That was Bhag,” said Michael. “I knew he was not here when we arrived. He must have come in through the opening while we were upstairs.”
The car that had carried Adele had been found. It was Stella’s, and at first Michael suspected that the girl was a party to the abduction. He learnt afterwards that, whilst the woman’s chauffeur had been in the kitchen, virtually a prisoner, Penne himself had driven the car to the girl’s house, and it was the sight of the machine, which she knew belonged to Stella, that had lulled any suspicions she may have had.