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Page 12
"But the scented envelopes?"
"In the swampy forests of the district I have referred to a rare
species of orchid, almost green, and with a peculiar scent,
is sometimes met with. I recognized the heavy perfume at once.
I take it that the thing which kills the traveler is attracted
by this orchid. You will notice that the perfume clings to whatever
it touches. I doubt if it can be washed off in the ordinary way.
After at least one unsuccessful attempt to kill Sir Crichton--
you recall that he thought there was something concealed in his study
on a previous occasion?--Fu-Manchu hit upon the perfumed envelopes.
He may have a supply of these green orchids in his possession--
possibly to feed the creature."
"What creature? How could any kind of creature have got into Sir
Crichton's room tonight?"
"You no doubt observed that I examined the grate of the study.
I found a fair quantity of fallen soot. I at once assumed, since it
appeared to be the only means of entrance, that something has been
dropped down; and I took it for granted that the thing, whatever it was,
must still be concealed either in the study or in the library.
But when I had obtained the evidence of the groom, Wills, I perceived
that the cry from the lane or from the park was a signal.
I noted that the movements of anyone seated at the study table
were visible, in shadow, on the blind, and that the study occupied
the corner of a two-storied wing and, therefore, had a short chimney.
What did the signal mean? That Sir Crichton had leaped up from
his chair, and either had received the Zayat Kiss or had seen the thing
which someone on the roof had lowered down the straight chimney.
It was the signal to withdraw that deadly thing. By means of
the iron stairway at the rear of Major-General Platt-Houston's, I
quite easily, gained access to the roof above Sir Crichton's study--
and I found this."
Out from his pocket Nayland Smith drew a tangled piece of silk,
mixed up with which were a brass ring and a number of unusually
large-sized split-shot, nipped on in the manner usual on a fishing-line.
"My theory proven," he resumed. "Not anticipating a search on the roof,
they had been careless. This was to weight the line and to prevent
the creature clinging to the walls of the chimney. Directly it had dropped
in the grate, however, by means of this ring I assume that the weighted
line was withdrawn, and the thing was only held by one slender thread,
which sufficed, though, to draw it back again when it had done its work.
It might have got tangled, of course, but they reckoned on its making
straight up the carved leg of the writing-table for the prepared envelope.
From there to the hand of Sir Crichton--which, from having touched
the envelope, would also be scented with the perfume--was a certain move."
"My God! How horrible!" I exclaimed, and glanced apprehensively into
the dusky shadows of the room. "What is your theory respecting this creature--
what shape, what color--?"
"It is something that moves rapidly and silently. I will
venture no more at present, but I think it works in the dark.
The study was dark, remember, save for the bright patch beneath
the reading-lamp. I have observed that the rear of this
house is ivy-covered right up to and above your bedroom.
Let us make ostentatious preparations to retire, and I think
we may rely upon Fu-Manchu's servants to attempt my removal,
at any rate--if not yours."
"But, my dear fellow, it is a climb of thirty-five feet at the very least."
"You remember the cry in the back lane? It suggested something to me,
and I tested my idea--successfully. It was the cry of a dacoit.
Oh, dacoity, though quiescent, is by no means extinct. Fu-Manchu has
dacoits in his train, and probably it is one who operates the Zayat Kiss,
since it was a dacoit who watched the window of the study this evening.
To such a man an ivy-covered wall is a grand staircase."
The horrible events that followed are punctuated, in my mind,
by the striking of a distant clock. It is singular how
trivialities thus assert themselves in moments of high tension.
I will proceed, then, by these punctuations, to the coming
of the horror that it was written we should encounter.
The clock across the common struck two.
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