Om—Roger had looked it up—was the reverent name by which the Tibetans referred to the All Highest, to Our Eternal Father.
It was sometimes spelled A-u-m, also, he had found out.
From his view of the rich, scintillating gem, the unbelievably many, tiny, flat, facet surfaces, turned in every direction, well symbolised the name, the Eye of Aum or Om, the All-seeing Gaze of the Supreme God.
Well, for that jewel, what would not some characters do?
He wondered, gazing idly, behind which window Doctor Ryder might be a prisoner; and he thought how he might discover it.
If the man could look out, he thought, Doctor Ryder might give him some signal.
He stood up, pretending to stretch, facing the house. He got up on the wall, and knew that he was noticed, for a footman moved out toward him. He jumped down, watching the upper windows.
No response. No signal. If only he could be seen from all four sides of the house, he reflected, it might be different!
“Private property, son,” said the footman, arriving at the gate.
Some remembrance of detectives who had “taken the bull by the horns” and had “bluffed” people into telling the truth, who had tricked suspected people into revealing things they tried to hide, made Roger act without fully canvassing what the possible outcome might be.