“I do. Signore,” said Varney, as he leaned over him.
In the dying man’s eyes came a gleam of satisfaction and hope.
“Ah! Thank Heaven! Then listen,” he said. “I want you to do something for me—something—” and he halted as though in reflection. “Well,” he went on, “twenty years ago I did a great wrong in conjunction with another man. Go to him and tell him that Giovanni Roselli, his old comrade, implores him, from his deathbed, to make reparation. You will find him in Manchester. He was the head of the Compagnia Corezzo, and his name is James—”
The surname was never told. As he strove to utter it, the end came. Giovanni Roselli had delivered his message, but he had gone into the shadows, before he could utter the full name of the man to whom it was conveyed. Varney translated the dying man’s message to Strange, but he made no comment.
Smeaton sat in silence for a long time when the recital was finished.
“A house of sinister inmates with sinister secrets,” he said at length. “What you have told me may have a bearing upon something that has gone before.”
Briefly he narrated to Varney the discovery of the threatening letter, and his visit to the engraver and stationer.
Varney saw at once what had occurred to him.
“The Compagnia Corezzo gives us a clue—eh?—the initials ‘C.C.,’ which are the initials on the envelope. Was it an envelope from the company’s office? You say that the old engraver thought the man who ordered the cipher came from Manchester or Liverpool. Roselli tells us we can find his man in Manchester?” Smeaton rose. “I’m in hopes that something may come out of it all,” he said, as they shook hands. “Anyway, stay down here, and keep a close watch on the place. An inquest will be held and sooner or later something of importance will happen. I’ve kept the taxi waiting; shall I give you a lift to Horsham? But I noticed a bike outside the inn-door. I suppose it is yours.” Varney nodded. “Yes, it is part of my machinery. I shall go for a good long spin, and think over all that has happened.”
As Smeaton put his foot on the step of the taxi a sudden thought struck him. He turned back, and drew the young man aside.