“In his room, just a little while before he went. He was waiting there, everything packed and ready, waiting for the boat.”
“And he said nothing to you about changing his plans?”
“No, I don’t believe he had changed his plans. It was his holiday, he’d been looking forward to it, he was crazy to go.”
“Did he make any mention of an interview he’d had with Mr. Bassett?”
“No—I don’t think he said a thing about Mr. Bassett.”
“And he told you he was going, wanted to go. Was he jolly and good-humored like a person starting on a holiday?”
“Yes—why shouldn’t he be? It was what he’d been longing to do for years. After I left him I went to my room and dressed and when I went down-stairs I saw that his bag and fishing-rod, which he told me he’d left by the entrance, were gone, and I thought of course he was. And he has, he’s gone some other way.”
Bassett looked at Rawson and murmured:
“That’s the explanation.”
Rawson went on without noticing: