There was no sound. The silence was profound. There was nothing to indicate a reason for the pencil’s movement. And the pencil moved ... slowly, stealthily, cautiously it moved away from the chalk mark. It moved six inches and then it stopped. Mr. Neuburg looked into her face and grinned. His hand indicated the door leading to Clement Seadon’s bathroom.
Then the woman, looking closer at the pencil, understood. Round the waist of the pencil was a thin line, a line of thread. The thread ran from the pencil under the closed door. Undoubtedly it was attached to the inner door of the pair by a piece of wax. She understood at once that the Englishman was in the other room. Thread and wax would be invisible in the dim light and in the almost imperceptible space between the double doors; but as Clement’s door opened, its movement would be shown by the movements of the pencil.
The pencil had moved. The Englishman had opened his door. He was at the opening of the door now—listening for what he might learn through the closed door of Mr. Neuburg’s room.
The woman Méduse in a flash understood how the Englishman had learned the name of Joe, which he had used to get her away from Heloise at lunch time. Mr. Neuburg, in his brilliant manner, had solved that riddle.
Mr. Neuburg, in his brilliant manner, was going to make the most of his knowledge. Very quietly he led the woman back to the door through which she had entered. He left her standing there with a soundless command to silence. He went to his chair and lowered himself softly into it. He picked up a newspaper and rustled it. He cleared his throat. He moved so that his chair would creak. He did this for a long ten minutes. Then abruptly he sprang up, making a definite noise, and moved towards her. “Ah, you are back, my dear Méduse,” he said aloud. “Where is the girl?”
Méduse played up—played up well.
“She wished to go for a drive alone in the Battlefield Park. No, the Englishman was not with her. She may be going to meet him, but I do not think so. The whole thing seemed a sudden thought on her part.”
“We cannot help it, anyhow,” said Mr. Neuburg, smiling in his sinister manner. “I do not think, on the whole, her seeing him will have much effect. I have good news—Siwash Mike has arrived.”
The companion Méduse was a little startled at that, but she played up. “But—is that possible? You did not expect him for a day or two.”
“It is a fact. He has arrived, my mild Méduse. I had a telephone message from No. 7 Sault Algonquin this afternoon.”