"I am not sure that you haven't," Uzali said drily.
"But all this belongs to you," Russell protested.
"That is why I am not speaking without book," Uzali replied. "One thing is certain—if it hadn't been for Mercer and you I should never have found it. You will find that if anything happens to Flower and that scoundrel Cotter learns that Jansen is dead, he will lose no time in trying to lay a hand on the plunder. That, at least, is my theory, but the fact remains that, in the eye of the law, everything in this vault is mine and, with your permission, I'll put the key in my pocket till the proper time comes to claim possession."
So saying Uzali took up the candle and followed Russell out of the vault. He locked the door and together they made their way back to the dining-room. Tranquillity reigned throughout the mansion. No sound came from overhead until the closing of a window brought Mercer downstairs.
"What on earth has happened?" he asked. "I began to wonder if you were coming back."
"How is Flower getting on?" said Russell.
"He is in a very bad way," Wilfrid said gravely. "He has an exceedingly rapid pulse and his temperature has gone up in the most alarming fashion. It is extraordinary how that strange cry excited him. It seemed to penetrate to the well-spring of life and restore him to consciousness. One might have thought he was a man running away from some hideous doom. But now he is in a most critical state, and I should not be surprised if he did not last till morning. Not that I am disposed to waste sympathy on Samuel Flower. Goodness knows he has done me harm enough and to spare. And now if you will tell me what has been going on the last hour I shall be glad. As for Russell, he looks as if he had been face to face with tragedy."
Russell murmured that he had been a witness to no fewer than three. He told his grim story first, the detail being filled in by Uzali. The whole combined narrative was so amazing that it took Wilfrid some time to grasp it all.
"What are you going to do?" he asked.
"We shall do nothing," Uzali said calmly. "We shall notify the police in the morning of the finding of Jansen's body, and they can put their own construction on the rest. The authorities will regard the whole thing as a case of attempted burglary. Probably they will take no steps to have those packages in the vault examined, for the idea of treasure lying there would be beyond ordinary police imagination. What I wish is to avoid scandal. When the sensation has blown over, I think I can show a way to settle matters without raising unpleasant questions. Meanwhile I should like to sleep for an hour or so. I suppose one could manage that."