She seemed somewhat dubious, replying: —
“I’m very much afraid, sir, that I won’t be able to do it. But I’ll try, if you like.”
“Yes, try,” I said eagerly. “I shall pass by now and again about this same hour in the morning, and when you’ve been successful, tell me. By the way, what kind of man is Mr. Purvis?”
“Well, sir, ’e’s very thin, rather tall, with a pale face and sandy hair. But I must get on; Mrs. Graham’s coming down.”
“Recollect what I’ve told you, and if you say nothing to anybody I’ll make it thirty shillings. You understand?”
“All right, sir,” answered the girl, bending again to her work, and I passed along the street and out again to the Gray’s Inn Road.
I was once more disappointed, for I believed that I had tracked my rival to his home. But it seemed that the fellow was far too wary. He received his correspondence through the hands of this woman, Mrs. Graham, thus showing that he wished to conceal his place of abode. When a woman is the receiver of a man’s letters, it is always looked upon by the police as a bad sign.
Having a description of this man Purvis, I resolved to lay in wait for him to visit Mrs. Graham, and then to follow him home. Therefore, through that day and several days following I kept such a watchful eye upon all that went on in Calthorpe Street that I saw the policeman on the beat suspected me of loitering for the purpose of committing a felony. I therefore called him aside, gave him a card, and told him that I was keeping observation for the arrival of a tall, fair, thin gentleman, who would call at No. 7, and that if he assisted me I would make it worth his while.
We were not long in making the compact, and the fact that he could watch while I went into a saloon bar in the Gray’s Inn Road to snatch my hasty meals made the observation much more certain and easy.
A whole week I spent in those squalid, smoky streets, sometimes lounging at one end of Calthorpe Street and sometimes at the other, relieved now and then by the constable, who came and stood at the opposite corner as signal that I was allowed half an hour’s repose.