Part 12 (1/2)

”That's very important,” said the Queen. ”Anything more?”

”No,” he said, ”that's all I've got.”

The Queen handed over the diary. It was Phillips' turn to write.

”I observed,” she said, ”that the envelope is of the kind used by business men, an office envelope; also that the stamp is put on crooked.”

Phillips looked at the stamp. It was put on crooked.

”From this I infer,” said the Queen, ”either that the man in London----What did you call him?”

”Person at present unknown,” said Phillips.

”Either that the person at present unknown was (a) habitually careless about details, or that (b) though usually careful he was in a hurry when he despatched this letter.”

”By Jove!” said Phillips, ”but, I say, mightn't somebody else, an office boy or some one, have put on the stamp?”

”Not on a letter of this kind,” said the Queen. ”The writer wouldn't have trusted any one else.”

”It's frightfully clever of you,” said Phillips, ”to have thought of all that.”

”It does not lead to anything very definite yet,” said the Queen. ”But you'll find it will all fit together--like a jigsaw puzzle you know--when we get to work on the other two clues. We can't expect to solve a mystery of this sort straight off. We've only been at it two hours.”

Kalliope stood all the time at the far end of the balcony watching the Queen. She knew nothing about the investigation of the island mystery which was going on under her eyes. But she was a young woman who had lived a simple and natural life. In some things she was far wiser than her mistress. She seems to have realized that the Queen and Phillips were making, without knowing it, considerable progress into the heart of another, much more enthralling, mystery. As a chaperone Kalliope was negligible.

”The next clue,” said the Queen, ”is Smith. We must shadow him.”

”Day and night,” said Phillips.

”And Stephanos. Stephanos was with him when he went to the cavern that morning.”

”Stephanos is in it up to the neck,” said Phillips. They shadowed Smith for the rest of that day. They stole on tip-toe about the house and burst suddenly into rooms where Smith was at work, coming upon him unexpectedly. They hid in cupboards and behind curtains in rooms which Smith was likely to enter. They left letters, written in cipher, and marked coins in prominent places where Smith could hardly fail to see them. Kalliope conceived that an elaborate game of hide-and-seek was being played. She joined in, enthusiastically but unintelligently, concealing herself in various parts of the house without regard to Smith's habits. Once she remained obstinately hidden for more than an hour under the Queen's bed.

The results were most unsatisfactory. Smith spent his day sweeping floors, making beds, cooking food and compounding c.o.c.ktails for Mr.

Donovan. His few leisure moments were spent in polis.h.i.+ng silver. He was totally uninterested in cipher doc.u.ments and never looked at marked coins.

Smith still slept on the steamer, so it fell to Phillips to keep guard over him at night. He adopted the ingenious, though not very novel plan of pasting a strip of paper across the door of Smith's cabin. In the morning, very early, he went to look at the door. The paper was intact.

So far as could be discovered Smith led a dull, laborious but innocent life, working hard all day and sleeping sound at night. But the time spent in shadowing him was not wholly wasted. The Queen and Mr.

Phillips enjoyed themselves thoroughly. So did Kalliope. So, I have no doubt, did Smith.

”I do call this sleuth work jolly,” said the Queen. ”Let's try old Stephanos.”

They gave a whole day to Stephanos the Elder. During the early hours he sat outside the door of his cottage, rolling cigarettes in thin brown paper and smoking them. When the Queen came near him he stood up and bowed gravely. When she pa.s.sed he sat down again. At noon he went indoors and dined. The Queen sent Kalliope across the harbour to the palace with a note to Smith. She returned with a large basket. The Queen and Phillips picnicked on the beach.

Early in the afternoon Stephanos walked through the vineyards which lay behind the village and sat down under a mulberry tree. The Queen stalked him. She made her approach in a most approved fas.h.i.+on, creeping through some low bushes with the utmost caution. She was even careful to advance against the wind in case Stephanos should have an unusually acute sense of smell. Phillips and Kalliope watched her from a hiding-place near the village. When she got within twenty yards of the old man, he rose to his feet, laid his hand on his heart and bowed to the Queen with dignified courtesy. If he felt any surprise at seeing the Queen crawling along the ground on her stomach he did not show it. His face expressed paternal but quite respectful benignity.

The Queen returned from this expedition very much heated, with her hair dishevelled. Kalliope spent some time trying to rub the dirt off the front of her frock.

An hour later Stephanos climbed slowly to the high plateau of the island and sat down on the edge of a cliff. This time Phillips stalked him, making his way up the steep gully which led to a part of the cliff behind the old man's seat. Stephanos sat gazing at the sea, apparently unconscious that any one was near him. But when Phillips emerged from his gully the old man was there waiting for him, bowing with placid politeness just as he had bowed to the Queen.