He produced from his pocket an object somewhat like a watchmaker’s eye-glass, and having fixed it in his eye to show me how it worked, handed it to me with the request that I would try it. I did so, and was considerably surprised at the efficiency of the appliance; for it gave me a perfectly clear view of the street almost directly behind me.
“I am very much obliged to you, Polton,” I said, enthusiastically. “This is a most valuable gift, especially under the present circumstances.”
He was profoundly gratified. “I think you will find it useful, Sir,” he said. “The doctor uses these things sometimes, and so do I if the occasion arises. You see, Sir, if you are being shadowed it is a fatal thing to turn round and look behind you. You never get a chance of seeing what the stalker is like, and you put him on his guard.”
I saw this clearly enough and once more thanked him for his timely gift. Then, having shaken his hand and sped him on his way, I entered the lobby and shut the outer door, at the same time transferring Thorndyke’s photograph from my letter-case to my jacket pocket. When I passed through into the studio I found Marion putting the finishing touches to a plaster case. She greeted me with a smile as I entered and then plunged her hand once more into the bowl of rapidly thickening plaster; whereupon I took the opportunity to lay the photograph on a side-bench as I walked towards the table on which she was working.
“Good afternoon, Marion,” said I.
“Good afternoon, Stephen,” she responded, adding, “I cannot shake hands until I have washed,” and held out her emplastered hands in evidence.
“That will be too late,” said I; and as she looked up at me inquiringly I stooped and kissed her.
“You are very resourceful,” she remarked with a smile and a warm blush, as she scooped up another handful of plaster; and then, as if to cover her slight confusion, she asked: “What was all that solemn pow-wow about with Mr. Polton? And why did he wait for you at the door in that suspicious manner? Had he some secret message for you?”
“I don’t know whether it was intended to be secret,” I answered; “but it isn’t going to be so far as you are concerned;” and I repeated to her the substance of Thorndyke’s message, to which she listened with an eagerness that rather surprised me, until her further inquiries explained it.
“This sounds rather encouraging,” she said; “as if Dr. Thorndyke had been making some progress in his investigations. I wonder if he has. Do you think he really knows much more than we do?”