Part 35 (2/2)
”I spent the whole of the evening in the kitchen.”
”Except a quarter of an hour,” said T. X.
The man nodded.
”That's true, sir, I went out to see a pal of mine.”
”The man who is in this!” asked T. X.
Fisher hesitated.
”Yes, sir. He was with me in this but there was nothing wrong about the business--as far as we went. I don't mind admitting that I was planning a Big Thing. I'm not going to blow on it, if it's going to get me into trouble, but if you'll promise me that it won't, I'll tell you the whole story.”
”Against whom was this coup of yours planned?”
”Against Mr. Kara, sir,” said Fisher.
”Go on with your story,” nodded T. X.
The story was a short and commonplace one. Fisher had met a man who knew another man who was either a Turk or an Albanian. They had learnt that Kara was in the habit of keeping large sums of money in the house and they had planned to rob him. That was the story in a nutsh.e.l.l. Somewhere the plan miscarried. It was when he came to the incidents that occurred on the night of the murder that T. X. followed him with the greatest interest.
”The old gentleman came in,” said Fisher, ”and I saw him up to the room. I heard him coming out and I went up and spoke to him while he was having a chat with Mr. Kara at the open door.”
”Did you hear Mr. Kara speak?”
”I fancy I did, sir,” said Fisher; ”anyway the old gentleman was quite pleased with himself.”
”Why do you say 'old gentleman'!” asked T. X.; ”he was not an old man.”
”Not exactly, sir,” said Fisher, ”but he had a sort of fussy irritable way that old gentlemen sometimes have and I somehow got it fixed in my mind that he was old. As a matter of fact, he was about forty-five, he may have been fifty.”
”You have told me all this before. Was there anything peculiar about him!”
Fisher hesitated.
”Nothing, sir, except the fact that one of his arms was a game one.”
”Meaning that it was--”
”Meaning that it was an artificial one, sir, so far as I can make out.”
”Was it his right or his left arm that was game!” interrupted T. X.
”His left arm, sir.”
”You're sure?”
”I'd swear to it, sir.”
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