Part 41 (1/2)
”So you've changed ident.i.ties again!”
”Surely you don't mind?” he said, grinning over the evasion.
”But you denied being Ismay aboard the Autocratic.”
”My dear lady, you couldn't reasonably expect me to plead guilty to a crime which I had not yet committed.”
”Oh, get down to business!” Staff interrupted impatiently. ”You're wasting time--yours as well as ours.”
”Peevish person, your young friend,” Ismay commented confidentially to Alison. ”Still, there's something in what he says. Shall we--ah--begin to negotiate?”
”I think you may as well,” she agreed coldly.
”Very well, then. The case is simple enough. I'm here to offer to secure the return of the Cadogan collar for an appropriate reward.”
”Ten thousand dollars has been offered,” she began.
”Not half enough, my dear lady,” he interposed. ”You insult the necklace by naming such a meagre sum--to say nothing of undervaluing _my_ intelligence.”
”So that's it!” she said reflectively.
”That is it, precisely. I am in communication with the person who stole your necklace; she's willing to return it for a reward of reasonable size.”
”She? You mean Miss Searle?”
The man made a deprecating gesture. ”Please don't ask me to name the lady....”
”I knew it!” Alison cried triumphantly.
”You puppy!” Staff exclaimed. ”Haven't you the common manhood to shoulder the responsibility for your crimes yourself?”
”Tush,” said the man gently--”tus.h.!.+ Not a pretty way to talk at all--calling names! I'm surprised. Besides, I ought to know better than you, acting as I do as agent for the lady in question.”
”That's a flat lie,” said Staff. ”If you repeat it--I warn you--I'll jump you as sure 's my name's Staff, pistol or no pistol!”
”Aren't you rather excited in your defence of this woman?” Alison turned on him with a curling lip.
”I've a right to my emotions,” he retorted--”to betray them as I see fit.”
”And I,” Ismay put it, ”to my freedom of speech--”
”Not in my rooms,” Staff interrupted hotly. ”I've warned you. Drop this nonsense about Miss Searle if you want to stop here another minute without a fight. Drop it! Say what you want to say to Miss Landis----and get out!”
He was thoroughly enraged, and his manner of expressing himself seemed to convince the thief. With a slight shrug of his shoulders he again addressed himself directly to Alison.
”In the matter of the reward,” he said, ”we're of the opinion that you've offered too little by half. Twenty thousand at the least--”
”You forget I have the duty to pay.”
”My dear lady, if you had not been anxious to evade payment of the duty you would be enjoying the owners.h.i.+p of your necklace today.”