"The awakening came on that evening when I saw you at the Temple gate talking with Doctor Berkeley. I suspected immediately that something was gone amiss and that it was too late to take any useful action. Since then, I have waited here in hourly expectation of this visit. And now the time has come. You have made the winning move and it remains only for me to pay my debts like an honest gambler."
He paused and quietly lit his cigarette. Inspector Badger yawned and put away his notebook.
"Have you done, Mr. Jellicoe?" the inspector asked. "I want to carry out my contract to the letter, you know, though it's getting devilish late."
Mr. Jellicoe took his cigarette from his mouth and drank a glass of water.
"I forgot to ask," he said, "whether you unrolled the mummy—if I may apply the term to the imperfectly treated remains of my deceased client."
"I did not open the mummy-case," replied Thorndyke.
"You did not!" exclaimed Mr. Jellicoe. "Then how did you verify your suspicions?"
"I took an X-ray photograph."
"Ah! Indeed!" Mr. Jellicoe pondered for some moments. "Astonishing!" he murmured; "and most ingenious. The resources of science at the present day are truly wonderful."
"Is there anything more that you want to say?" asked Badger; "because if you don't, time's up."