“Mr. Humphreys is away, sir—in Edinburgh,” the fair-haired clerk at the key-office informed me.
Edinburgh! Old Feng had left me suddenly to go there! Was it a coincidence, or were they meeting in Scotland for some purpose?
“We expect him back tomorrow night,” the young man added.
So I turned away.
Next day, knowing that Thelma was going shopping with her cousin in the West End, I spent the afternoon wandering in Regent Street in the hope of meeting them. I had telephoned to Highgate with the intention of making an appointment and taking them to tea, but they had already left. Thelma’s aunt, who spoke to me, had mentioned several shops they intended visiting, and I had spent nearly an hour and a half in search of them, when suddenly near the Oxford Circus end of Regent Street, I noticed a rather shabbily dressed old man standing at a window, examining the jewelry displayed.
Next second my heart gave a bound. It was Doctor Feng, but so well disguised was he that I was compelled to look twice in order to reassure myself that I was not mistaken. Gone was the erect alert figure I knew so well. The man before me stooped heavily, with his chin kept well down; Doctor Feng’s usually well-cut and well-tended clothing had given place to garments utterly frayed and shabby, while the old felt hat on his head was badly stained and worn.
Instantly I drew back in astonishment, not wishing to reveal myself. For what reason was he idling there in that garb? He presented a broken-down appearance, as if he were a professional man who had fallen on evil times.
It was clear that his interest in the jewelry was only feigned, and before long I saw he was keenly watching the entrance to a well-known milliner’s, though from such a position he was not likely to attract the notice of anyone emerging.
I stood there watching the watcher, for perhaps ten minutes. Then Thelma and her cousin came out and turned towards Piccadilly Circus. Feng at once moved slowly on, following their movements. I was within a few yards of him, but so intent was his watch upon the two girls that he never once turned round. Otherwise he would almost certainly have seen me, for I knew his eyesight was remarkably good.
He watched them enter two shops, keeping himself well away from observation. At last they entered a tea-shop. Then having apparently satisfied himself that they had seated themselves, he strolled away.