Part 29

We! Then they were both implicated in the plot, whatever its nature.

"Fear!" echoed De Gex. "Suppose he made some very compromising statement to the London police."

"And in doing so he would compromise himself! He posed as a medical man, and gave the death certificate in return for payment--five thousand pounds. Beyond, he committed forgery by signing the name of Gordon Garfield. No, Mr. De Gex, I feel sure he will never court prosecution. He may busy himself in trying to solve what no doubt appears to him a complete enigma--as indeed it is to us. But he will never expose us--never!"

The millionaire grunted dubiously.

"Well, what are we to do now? What do you suggest, Moroni? Your brain is always so fertile where crooked business is concerned."

"I have no suggestion. I came here to learn yours."

"Yes. I called you here to show you what I have shown you, and also because I have a certain person here as guest at my wife's dance to-night--you know whom I mean."

"Certainly. She is equally dangerous. You asked me to bring the little tube. Here it is. But I urge you to use it with extreme caution. When you break the glass be certain that none of the jelly inside touches your fingers. If it does, wash them instantly in carbolic. It is highly contagious."

De Gex gave vent to a queer laugh of satisfaction, as, no doubt, he took the mysterious glass tube in his hand.

"I am not yet certain whether to try the experiment--or not," he remarked with hesitation.

"It is, to say the least, a highly dangerous one."

"You mean dangerous from the point of view of discovery--eh?"

"No, not at all. Your act cannot be discovered, but it may be dangerous for yourself and those about you--highly dangerous. I have obeyed your orders, signore, as I always do, and I have brought it. But my suggestion is that you should not break that tube and disperse its contents."

"You seem to be growing unusually apprehensive, my dear Moroni. The appearance in Florence of this young electrical engineer seems to have quite upset you!" he laughed harshly. I could hear every word.

"I confess his presence here has not inspired me with confidence. We do not know the extent of his knowledge, or what he has discovered," replied the doctor. "If he establishes one fact--you know to what I refer--then he will become a very grave menace to us both."

"But surely he won't dare to reveal anything for his own sake. That is why I made the bribe a substantial one."

"If he established that one fact to which I have referred, then it would be quite within the bounds of possibility that he might face the music, and lay bare the whole facts of the mystery of Stretton Street," Moroni remarked in a rather lower tone. "At present I think he will keep a still tongue."

"Then one thing is quite plain," said the millionaire. "He must not be allowed to prosecute his inquiries any further. And it is for you, Moroni, to rid us of this ever-growing menace. If he is allowed to go on, then we shall one day awake to find our secret revealed."

"I quite agree. But how shall we act?"

"Ah! I leave that to you," replied De Gex. "You have many ways and means within your power. He is a patient of yours," he added grimly.

"Yes. But I happen to know that he is sufficiently wide awake not to take any of my mixtures."

"Ah! Then he suspects you! You must act with greatest caution, Moroni. Act as you will, but we must, at all costs, get rid of this fellow."

"I suggested that after the affair at Stretton Street. It would then have been so very easy."

"I know! I was a fool! I did not foresee the consequences if he met and recognized the girl. Even now we do not know where and how he met her. But the menace to us is the same. We must get rid of him--and quickly, too! The trap must be baited--and what better bait than the girl herself?"

CHAPTER THE EIGHTH

LITTLE MRS. CULLERTON

For nearly half an hour Oswald De Gex and the Italian doctor, Moroni, sat chatting in the darkness.

De Gex apologized to his visitor for not offering him a cigarette, remarking that the striking of a match might reveal their presence to anyone strolling in the grounds, for guests at dances frequently have that habit.