He considered, for some minutes in silence, rubbing his hand slowly over his chin. Then—
‘This promises to be a more delicate piece of work than I expected. Either we must act together, fair and square and above-board, you understand, sir, without reserve on either side; or you must leave it all to me; or I must retire from the business, making the best case I can for myself to the authorities, and leave it all to you. It is a ticklish enough job either way. Now which shall it be, sir? The decision rests with you, since you are, in a sense, my employer; but I must ask you to make it at once, before I give you any further information. And please remember, sir, that while I am ready to do all in my power to meet your wishes and spare the young nobleman’s feelings, my first duty and first object is to bring the guilty party, or parties, to justice, whatsoever and whosoever they may be.’
It was my turn now to consider, since I could not but admit the soundness of his position. And I found myself, I own, in a dilemma. To leave all to Lavender appeared to me at once cowardly and somewhat lacking in good faith towards the dear boy; while to take the entire responsibility upon myself would be, I feared, both presumptuous and foolhardy.
‘No, we must work together, Inspector,’ I said, finally. ‘You may depend upon my loyalty; and I may, I am sure, depend upon your discretion, so long as the ends of justice are in no wise imperilled.’
‘Well said, sir,’ he replied. ‘I believe you will have no reason to regret your decision.’
And we proceeded to talk matters over thoroughly, he asking me again for a careful description of Marsigli.—Tall, of good figure and distinguished appearance, as I told him, a genuine North Italian type, crisp black hair, clear olive skin, and regular features; a serious and courtly manner, moreover.
Lavender consulted some notes.
‘Yes, sir,’ he said, ‘that tallies with the account of an individual my men have had under observation for the best part of a fortnight. Twice he has called at the house I spoke of. Our gentleman has added a neatly-grown moustache and beard to his other attractions, recently, as I fancy; but it will hardly prevent your recognising him—that is if Lavender’s luck holds, sir, and I can procure you a good look at him.’
Regarding my mission to Fédore—we agreed, since Hartover could not be back in town under a couple of days at soonest—it might very well stand over until to-morrow, and that meanwhile I should place my time entirely at my companion’s disposal.
‘If we have not laid hands on this fellow before midnight, you shall be free to follow your own wishes as to visiting the lady,’ he promised me; and therewith, calling a coach, bore me off south-westward to Chelsea.