"What's up?" whispered Runnells anxiously.
"I'm afraid we've been spotted," said Captain Francis Newcombe tersely.
"Spotted!" Runnells echoed the word with a gulp. "Who by?"
"Some swine from the Yard, I suppose," replied Captain Francis Newcombe as tersely as before. "Do you remember Detective-Sergeant Mullins?"
"Him?" gasped Runnells. "My Gawd, he ain't followed us here, has he? Strike me pink! My Gawd! I said all along it was damned queer him showing up at the rooms that night. Are you sure?"
"Not yet—and I never will be if you stand there gawking," said Captain Francis Newcombe sharply. "Go and get your clothes on—and hurry up about it! It'll soon be daylight. Every minute counts. Meet me down on the verandah."
He did not wait for Runnells' reply. It was not necessary. Runnells had swallowed bait, hook and line. Captain Francis Newcombe indulged in a low, savage chuckle, as, descending the stairs, he unlocked the front door and stepped quietly out on the verandah. He had not lunged in the dark, nor was it chance that had prompted him to endow his bogey with the personality of Detective-Sergeant Mullins—he had not forgotten Runnells' white face on the occasion when the man from Scotland Yard had sent in his card!
And now as he waited on the verandah, the low, savage chuckle came again. The boathouse would serve admirably—since Runnells seemed to have a penchant for it! It was far enough away to obviate the possibility of any sound carrying to the house; and, inside, it possessed light. He wanted light when he handled Runnells! Quite apart from the fact that darkness in itself afforded too many chances for a lucky escape, he could not read Runnells in the darkness. Also, affording him a malicious delight, there was exquisite irony in the thought that the setting for what was to come should be the one that Runnells had himself chosen to-night—for quite another purpose than that it should be the scene of his own undoing!
The front door opened and Runnells emerged.
"What's the game?" Runnells asked hoarsely. "D'ye know where he is?"