Our client shook her head.
"By no means, Mr. Pons. I did not wish to give the impression that I distrusted my uncle. These things get back too easily in a small village."
"Quite so."
Solar Pons breathed out another swathe of smoke.
"Of course, he might merely have followed you to the station and have caught the same train. Would that be possible?"
"Quite possible. I had no eyes for anything or anybody with the shock I had suffered. Then again, I asked a policeman outside the tube station the best way to this address. If my uncle was close behind he might have gained my query from the officer."
"Perhaps," muttered Solar Pons. "But that is of mere academic interest now. The important thing is that he suspects you of coming to me. Which might put your life in danger."
"Heavens, Pons!" I interjected. "Miss Brentwood has been frightened enough already."
"I am sorry for that, Parker, but it is no good blinking at the facts. These are deep waters and there is little time to lose." "But what does it all mean, Mr. Pons?"
"It means that I will take the case most willingly, my dear young lady. The first thing we must do is to accompany you to Surrey by the first available train. this afternoon and make sure that your uncle's temper does not get the better of him. He may say nothing, of course."
"How do you make that out, Pons?"
My companion shot me an irritated glance.
"For the simple reason that it was obvious when he arrived that we knew nothing of his niece. He will be off balance, to say the least. If he questions his niece about a visit to Praed Street he will give away his hand."
"Whatever that is, Pons?" I said bitterly. "I must confess I am all at sea."
Solar Pons smiled faintly.
"You have often had a heaving deck beneath your feet, friend Parker," he said jocularly, "but I have always brought you safe to shore, have I not?"
"That's true," I conceded.
Solar Pons rose briskly from his chair.
"Is there a hotel nearby where Parker and I could put up for the night?"
"There is the Green Dragon in Peas Pleasance."
Pons shook his head.
"I think not, Miss Brentwood. That would be too close for comfort in a tiny hamlet. I think it will have to be Godalming. We should be within easy striking distance from there, providing we can hire a car."
He reached out a lean forefinger and took down his large-scale map from a shelf near the mantel.
"Can you find the time to come to Surrey, Parker?"
"I have already found the time, Pons," I said. "I will just make my arrangements and will be ready within the half-hour. But I am still worried about Miss Brentwood."
"So am I," said Solar Pons somberly; looking down at the frail figure of the girl. "She must have a story ready for her uncle. I would suggest a sudden impulse to get away from the house as a result of her illness and concussion. Have you any friends in London, Miss Brentwood?"
"I have an old school friend who lives in Park Street." "There you are, then."
Solar Pons had a smile of triumph on his face.
"You must first telephone your friend and vet her to corroborate your story. should your uncle check. You went to this lady at Park Street, but owing to your confused state of mind you got lost. Roseacre will think you asked the policeman the way to Park Street and that he misheard the direction for Praed Street. Of course, if he has already been to the rector, that will not do. But I am convinced he will not question you too closely or he will give his game away."
"What game, Pons?"
"All in good time, Parker," said Solar Pons imperturbably.
"And now, if you will excuse me, while Miss Brentwood is telephoning, I will just take a few minutes to throw some things into a bag and we will be off. And bring your revolver, Parker. We might well have need of it."
4
It was already dark when we alighted from the train at Godalming in the early evening and the thin mist was persisting. I pulled up my collar round my frozen ears and assisted the girl across the platform. Pons had telephoned for a rented car and the driver was already in the station forecourt. We adjourned to the waiting room while I signed the necessary papers and paid my deposit. Pons and the girl had already ensconced themselves in the car when I returned.
I drove on into the town and we stopped at The Blue Boar while Pons and I registered, were shown to our rooms and deposited our luggage. We had left the girl in the hotel lounge and over a drink in that comfortable, warm-paneled room she seemed to recover her spirits. Solar Pons toasted her over the rim of his glass.
"These are passing shadows, Miss Brentwood," he said. "To better days."
"I heartily concur, Pons," I added, sipping my whisky and soda gratefully.
Pons sat down in our booth with its leather seats and crossed his tweed-covered knees.
"We must just plan our campaign, Miss Brentwood. Is your housekeeper to be trusted?"
"Indeed, Mr. Pons. She is quite devoted to me."
"Excellent. So she would be discreet if Parker and I arrived at the house during your uncle's absence?"
"Absolutely."
"I hope I can rely on that, because it is vitally important. Now, what is The Priory like? For example, can your quarters be seen from the public road?'
"Oh, indeed. There is only a moderate-sized lawn between the house and the front gate. The main garden is at the rear." "So your room is in front?'
"Yes. The central window on the first floor."
Solar Pons nodded in satisfaction.
"You mentioned shutters at your bedroom window. It would be of the greatest assistance to us if you would fasten the shutters over your window, day or night, whenever your
uncle is absent from home. Parker and I will then be able to see if the coast is clear without venturing farther than the main road and can act accordingly."
"First-rate, Pons," I said enthusiastically. "I could not have thought of a better plan myself."
"I am sure of it, Parker," my friend returned.
"What are your immediate plans, Mr. Pons?'
"Parker and I will take you home now, Miss Brentwood. We will come back on foot at about ten o'clock tomorrow morning and look for your signal. Is there any other way we can approach the house other than from the main road?"
"There is a small lane which loops round the back garden; but of course, you will not be able to see the signal from there."
Pons was silent for a moment.
"Well, we will meet that when we come to it. In the meantime I think a small reconnaissance is in order this evening, when we take Miss Brentwood back. And do not worry. With the story we have concocted and your friend's corroboration by telephone, I do not think your uncle will dare arouse suspicion by causing a scene this evening."
"Let us hope you are right."
A few minutes later we left the comfort of the hotel and, directed by the young lady, drove out slowly by narrow lanes through dark mist to the hamlet of Peas Pleasance. As our client had indicated, it was a strange and lonely countryside — it was not difficult to imagine how friendless and bleak her childhood and young womanhood must have been in this desolate spot.
After a while we passed through the hamlet of scattered houses and turned right at a small village green. On Miss Brentwood's direction I steered the car into the entrance of a narrow lane, ran it in under the shadow of some trees and stopped.
"It will be best if we walk from here, Dr. Parker," Miss Brentwood whispered. "It is only a few hundred yards."
Pons nodded, knocking out his pipe and turning up the collar of his overcoat against the bitterly cold air. We walked on the grass verge in silence, the lights of the small hamlet rapidly disappearing behind us. The mist was thickening, if anything, and our feet rustled in dead leaves with a melancholy sound. The only other noise that broke the silence was the occasional shriek of a distant owl.