THE FOURTH MAN

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 112, 15 May 1933, Page 15

THE FOURTH MAN

By R. A. J. WALLING.

' Author of "The Merafleld Mystery," "The Third Degree," etc., eto.

CHAPTER XXVH. The conversation that followed was pure comedy. When Pinson and Juan talked in Spanish I could not follow it, but no great effort of imagination was needed, with Pinson'a face in view, to understand how thoroughly the excellent and grateful inspector was being bulldozed.

"I should be greatly obliged if you would translate questions and replies for me," the inspector had eaid. "We know thia little fellow very well, sir. He's been here more than a year looking after this cottage, which was bought about that time ago by a Mr. Marple, of London. He's always seemed, as you say, an inoffensive little man. He knows enough English to say 'bread' or 'meat' and so on,°and we see him in town buying his suppliles. He pays cash, and is quite popular with the shopkeepers. But when it comes to understanding anything else—» The inspector shrugged.

"What is it you want to ask him?" Pinson inquired.

And then the palaver began. The in- ! spector wanted to know where Marple was. Juan didn't know. When had Marple been there last? Juan said lie arrived a week ago. How? Juan didn't know; he just walked in. How long did he stay? Juan counted on his fingers: five days. And what did he do while he was there ? Juan said he walked on the moor, br sat in the sun looking at the water, or reading a book, and smoking a cigar—amusing himself as a senor might do. And when did he leave? Juan said he left on Saturday. And how? Juan didn't know: he just walked out as ho had walked in. And where had he gone? Juan didn't know: it was no business of his to inquire about the movements of his "amo." He merely listened and obeyed. "His not to wonder why. His but to do and die," quoted Pinson, who had been inventing Juan's replies to the questions. "He doesn't seem to know much, does he?"

"Oh, quite hopeless," said the inspector lugubriously. "Would it be indiscreet," Pinson asked, "to inquire whether anything serious has happened to Mr. Maplo?" "Marple, sir," said the inspector. M-a-r-p-1-e—Marple's the name. I suppose you have not seen the report that Mr. Marple is wanted in connection with the Waller House case?"

"Waller House ?" Pinson queried. "Now which is that? There arc so many cases." "Murder of a solicitor named Sclwyn in a house in West London." "Oh, I hadn't thought of Waller H OUS e_that was Selwyn's house, was it? Poor Selwyn! Dear me, I knew him very well. You don't mean to say that this man Marple had anything to do with it?" "Not the murder, exactly, sir. He's wanted for an alleged robbery from Selwyn—and you never know what may be behind an affair like that."

"No, of course you don't," said Pineon. "Hum, hum—very serious. But evidently this little man knows nothing, Mr. Inspector. He's a rather uneducated type, you know. Just a servant, without two ideas in his head." "I suppose so," said the inspector, with a superior air. "I'm much obliged to you, sir. If you would give me your name —" , , "Oh, certainly," said Pinson, and, much to my surprise, took out a case, extracted a card and handed it over. "Mr Noel Pinson—ah, the barrister. I've heard of you, sir." The inspector's respect for his interpreter grew visibly. "You've done me a great favour, sir. Lucky and remarkable that you should have been on the spot. Really extraordinary when you come to think of it. "Yes, isn't it?" said Pinson, enjoying himself immensely. "Just having a day or two's motoring in the west, and my friend here learnt this moining in Bodmin of this fabled lake in the hills, so we- just came along to have a look." "Oh, quite, quite," said the inspector. "Well if you'll excuse me, I want to think'this over. You're pretty certain you can't get anything more out of this fellow?" '~ _. , ... "Not a thing, I should say. Oh, by the way, we never asked him if he had his papers." , ~ , „ "I was just going to suggest that, said the inspector, without a blush. "Would you ask him ?" Juan produced his certificate, which was discovered to be quite sound. We stepped aoide and continued our stroll along the shore of the lake. Juan stood in tiie doorway immobile. "I've "-one as far- as possible, said Pinson when we were out of earshot. "The old chap thinks Juan is ignorant and harmless. Anyhow, he's not acquired I the slightest inkling that anybody else was here with Marple. Now, if he carts off Juan we can't help it." Turning my head, I saw the inspector ff oin<* into the cottage while the constabfe held Juan by the arm.

CHAPTER XXVIII. ! This seemed ominous, but we could not go back to interfere. We would , give them plenty of time, said Pinson— walk right round the lake if need were. ; Within a few hundred yards we wore out of sight of the cottage. This remarkable mere was larger even than it seemed from the side at which we approached it. Little bays bit into the land; there were large stretches of boggy ground with weeds growing high and tussocks of coarse grass. We disturbed water birds at almost every dozen steps. Our progress might-have been tracked from a distance by their rising from the sedges. Here and there where the water came close to rocky ground was a tiny beach of the whitest granite sand. We had reached .a point perhaps half a mile from Marple's cottage, where a huge crag rose directly from the water in fantastic shape. Between us and the rock stretched one of the little beaches, which could not have been more than twenty yards across. We were about to step down to it when Pinson caught me by the arm. _ ' "Stop!" he said. "Look—Man Friday. He pointed to the sand immediately below us, and I saw a line of footprints made by someone who had stepped out of the rushes just where we stood, and had made a zigzagging track to the edge of the water. "Don't go on it," said Pinson. Follow it with your eye—down to the water, and then back at another angle to the corner of that rock." "You think—" I began. "No nothing," he answered. For the present T see. And you must have observed. Quitter', that these are the first footprints we have encountered, lhey jjSH g«»tt* tissue aaLfteak. JO** P*«

suggest something We would like to know. Let's work round to the rock and look at them from there." We walked through the rough at the back of the beach and came to the foot of the crag, a miniature cliff. The footprints came zigzagging back from the waterside to this spot. "Man Friday didn't walk very straight," said Pinson. "I wonder—" What he had in mind was plain, and the speculation proved to be accurate, for among the rushes I saw a gleam of white, and picked up a handkerchief soaked with water and dabbled with blood. "So, hurrah!" Pinson exclaimed. "Juan did give him a crack on the head with the poker, and this is where the halfblind man came to waah his wound and get out of the way of the interfering persons who had prevented him from finishing his job." "Then," said I, "while we were in the cottage looking after Juan —"

"Goggles was over here feeling sorry for himself. Yes, it can't be doubted. And if ever he had any idea of returning to discover whether he had really put his man to sleep, the lights in the cottage and the row we made must have caused him to think better of it. I wonder what he did then?"

We tried for further traces of his passage. The reeds in this little corner were trampled, but that was all. On the hard ground beyond nobody could have seen a spoor. "Nothing more doing, Quilter, I'm afraid. But I'm full of ideas to-day. I think we shall be meeting Goggles before Ion". Here's the little article that s going to do for him." He pulled from his pocket the pair of glasses which he had found on the floor of Marple s bedroom. "Now shall we toddle back and see what has happened to Juan?" Nothing had happened to Juan. He had been allowed to go back to the cottage, and the inspector and his constable were talking outside. "Anything fresh?" Pinson asked breezily as we came up. . "No sir," the inspector answered. "I've been all through the place. Everything in order. The little man keeps it like°a new pin. I don't sec I can do anvthing with him. What I propose to do is to leave this constable here to watch in case Marple returns, and he can keep an eye on the dago at the same time. , "Good scheme!" said Pinson explosively. He was hard put to it to save himself from bursting into laughter at the idea that Marple would be so obliging as to walk into the policeman's

™f course, you've not been able to convey that to the little man. .Shall I tell him?" . , . _„.i,i»» "Not too much, sir-not too much! cried the inspector hastily. XOU haven't hinted to him that JO want his master specially for anything? "Oh no," said Pinson solemnly. "Then I should just tell him that the constable fa staying here to keep watch over him and look after him, as we have reason to suppose .there are marauders about." Both Pinson and I were stupefied by this remark. Was it possible that the officer suspected the existence of Gog-r-les? He did not, in fact, suspect anythin": it was his invention for Juans special benefit on the spur of the moment, and he was rather proud of it as an effort of the imagination. "Ah, jolly good idea!" said Pinson. "I'll t'ell him." He went into the cottage and said a few words to Juan, telling him to be cheerful and reminding him that the constable would be useful if he should have another visit from Goggles. He advised him to feed the policeman well. The inspector promieed to send a relief to his man in the evening, and the three of us moved off, leaving Marple s castle thoroughly invested.

CHAPTER XXIX. Wo gave the Ford a very long start, and did not trouble to overtake it on the way down to Bodmin. The episode of Tregeagle's Pool was closed. ine police being now established there, it was no place for us. We had dropped the clue of the sailor in goggles and left London in order to warn Marplc and Olver of their danger. They had either received a prior warning or had obeyed some subtle instinct scenting danger. Now for Goggles. That was Pinson's order of the day when we had parked the car in the hotel yard and had some lunch. He had a notion to test out. "I want to go to a shop," said he. "You'd better come. Afterwards we shall have to send a wire to London to tell them whether or not to expect us back." . , , The shop, which his curious eye had noted in the morning, was in a narrow street debouching in the Court House Square, and it displayed the wares of an optician, or optologist. I forget which name it had. Anyway, it sold spectacles. To the grey-headed and dark-eyed old gentleman who attended him, Pmson produced the glasses which he had found at Marple's. "I want you to tell me, if you will, said he, "whether these glasses arc particularly valuable or important. An acquaintance of mine has loft them behind him, and if he is likely to be at a great loss without them I want to telegraph to him." The optician took the glasses and . rubbed them bright with a leather , wiper. ~ "They're valuable up to a point, said he. "Very fine German lenses. Not ' worth a mint of money, but good. A< . to their importance, sir, it's almost inconceivable that anybody forced to wear : glasses like that would leave them , about. He would be nearly blind without them." "Then I take it that such glasses ari [ not to be had everywhere for the t asking?" .. „ "Why, no; .they're exceptionally » powerful." ■ T "Not much in demand?" ' "Hardly any. But it's a rathei t strange thing that this very . morning j I could have sold such a pair. ins e man was so myoptic that he was almost sightless without lenses. I sold hnr r the strongest I had, but they wen ■ really not good enough." e "Just enough to see his way aboul with, I suppose?" said Pinson. "He'd have to go cautiously. Couldn 1 e distinguish anything more than 10ft 01 e 12ft !iway—like « n<nii in a thick t<>U rt "What n coincidence!" finsnii ex y - claimed. "1 suppose itcgiildu't by am I phaace hase beau ja* fjaead.iunaelfg-

(To be continued daily.)

"Oh, no, sir; I should think not. He| seemed a wayfaring man. I should say he'd been in some rough and tumble business and had his glasses smashed. He had a nasty gash on his temple, and altogether looked too much the worse for wear to be a friend of yours." _

"Doesn't sound likely," said Pinson, "Tall man?"

"Oh, dear, no. Just an ordinarylooking fellow —workman, sailor, engineer. He might have been anything like that. A man of fifty or so." "Ah, that settles it. My friend is young and tall. Well, how very strange! You don't mind being troubled ? I must wire him at once and get the things sent to him."

So did Pinson get on the trail of the man we knew as Goggles. "Goggles begins to take shape eh, Quilter? He must have had literally to feel his way into the town. But 1 thought he would have to come to it. Now for the wire."