"Oh, he wanted to buy it right enough, and wired to Malta," said Random,
"but in reply he received a letter stating that it had been sold to you
and was being taken to England on The Diver. I followed The Diver in my
yacht and arrived at Pierside an hour after she did."
"Ah!" Braddock glared. "I begin to see light. This infernal Spaniard was
on board, and wanted my mummy. He knew that Bolton had taken it to the
Sailor's Rest and went there to kill the poor lad and get my--"
"Nothing of the sort," interrupted Sir Frank impatiently. "Don Pedro
remained behind in Genoa, intending to write and ask if you would sell
him the mummy. I wrote and told him of the murder of your assistant
and related all that had happened. He wired to me that he was coming to
England at once, as--as I told you. He will be in Gartley in a couple of
days. That is the whole story."
"It is a sufficiently strange one," grumbled Braddock, frowning. "What
does he want with my mummy?"
"I cannot tell you. But if you will sell--"
"Sell! sell! sell!" vociferated Braddock furiously.
"Don Pedro will give you a good price," finished Random calmly.
"I haven't got the mummy," said the Professor, sitting down and wiping
his pink head, "and if I had, I certainly would not sell. However, I'll
hear what this gentleman has to say when he arrives. Perhaps he can
throw some light on the mystery of this crime."
"I am perfectly certain that he cannot, sir. Don Pedro--as I said--was
left behind in Genoa."
"Humph!" said the Professor, unconvinced. "He could easily employ a
third party."
Random rose, looking and feeling annoyed.
"I assure you that Don Pedro is a gentleman and a man of honor. He would
not stoop to--"
"There! there!" Braddock waved his hands. "Sit down: sit down."
"You shouldn't say such things, Professor."
"I say what I desire to say," retorted the old gentleman tartly; "but we
can dismiss the subject for the time being."
"I am only too glad to do so," said Random, who was ruffled out of his
usual calm by the veiled accusation which Braddock had brought against
his foreign friend, "and to get to a more agreeable subject, tell me how
Miss Kendal is keeping."
"She is ill, very ill," said the Professor solemnly.
"Ill? Why, Hope, whom I met the other day, said that she was feeling
very well and very happy."
"So Hope thinks, because he has forced her into an engagement."
Random started to his feet.
"Forced her? Nonsense!"
"It isn't nonsense, and don't dare to speak like that to me, sir. I
repeat that Lucy--poor child--is breaking her heart for you."