Soon afterwards Arabian got up and said he must go. As he said this he looked pleadingly at Miss Van Tuyn. But she sat still in her chair, a cigarette between her lips. He said “good-bye” to her formally. Garstin went down with Arabian to let him out, and was away for three or four minutes. From her chair Miss Van Tuyn heard a murmur of voices, then presently a loud bass: “To-morrow morning at eleven sharp,” then the bang of a door. A minute later Garstin bounded up the stairs heavily, yet with a strong agility.
“I’ve got him, my girl! He’s afraid of it like the devil, but I’ve got him. I hit on the only way. I found the only bait which my fish would take. Now for another cigar.”
He seized the box.
“Did you see his eyes when I said I’d give him the picture?”
“No; I was looking at you.”
“Then you missed revelation. I had diagnosed him all right.”
“Tell me your diagnosis.”
“I told it you long ago. That fellow is a being of the underworld.”
Miss Van Tuyn slightly reddened.
“I wonder!” she said. “I’m not at all sure that you’re right, Dick.”