Lesson 14

 Chapter Twenty-Six: nocturnal adventure

The inexplicable absence of Moira worried Bobby more than he cared to admit. He told himself repeatedly that it was absurd to jump to conclusions — that it was fantastic to imagine that Moira had been done away with in a house full of possible witnesses — that there was probably some perfectly simple explanation and that at the worst she could only bе a prisoner in the Grange.

That she had left Staverley of her own free will Bobby did not for one minute believe. He was convinced that she would never have gone off like that without sending him a word of explanation. Besides, she had stated emphatically that she had nowhere to go.

No, the sinister Dr. Nicholson was at the bottom of this.

Somehow or other he must have become aware of Moira's activities, and this was his countermove. Somewhere within the sinister walls of the Grange, Moira was a prisoner, unable to communicate with the outside world.

But she might not remain a prisoner long, Bobby believed implicitly every word Moira had uttered. Her fears were neither the result of a vivid imagination nor the result of nerves. They were simple stark truth.

Nicholson meant to get rid of his wife. Several times his plans had miscarried. Now Moira, by communicating her fears to others, had forced his hand.* He must act quickly or not at all.

Would he have the nerve to act? Bobby believed he would. He must know that, even if these strangers had listened to his wife's fears, they had no evidence. Also, he would believe that he had only Frankie to deal with. It was possible that he had suspected her from the first — his pertinent questioning as to her 'accident' seemed to point to that. But as Lady Frances's chauffeur Bobby did not believe that he himself was suspected of being anything other than he appeared to be.

Yes, Nicholson would act. Moira's body would probably be found in some district far from Staverley. It might, perhaps, be washed up by the sea. Or it might be found at the foot of a cliff. The thing would appear to be, Bobby was almost sure, an 'accident'. Nicholson specialized in 'accidents'.

Nevertheless, Bobby believed that the planning and carrying out of such an accident would need time — not much time, but a certain amount. Nicholson's hand was being forced — he had to act more quickly than he had anticipated. It seemed reasonable to suppose that twenty-four hours at least must elapse before he could put any plan into operation.

Before that interval had elapsed Bobby meant to have found Moira if she were in the Grange.

After he had left Frankie in Brook Street, he started to put his plans into operation. He judged it wise to give the mews a wide berth.* For all he knew a watch might be being kept on it. As Hawkins, he believed himself to be still unsuspected. Now Hawkins in turn was about to disappear.

That evening a young man with a mustache, dressed in a cheap dark-blue suit, arrived at the bustling little town of Ambledever. He put up at a hotel near the station, registering as George Parker. Having deposited his suitcase there, he strolled out and entered into negotiations for hiring a motorcycle.

At ten o'clock that evening a motorcyclist in cap and goggles passed through the village of Staverley and came to a, halt at a deserted part of the road not far from the Grange.

Hastily shoving the bicycle behind some convenient bushes, Bobby looked up and down the road. It was quite deserted.

Then he sauntered along the wall till he came to the little door. As before it was unlocked. With another look up and down the road to make sure he was not observed, Bobby slipped quietly inside. He put his hand into the pocket of his coat where a bulge showed the presence of his service revolver. The feel of it was reassuring.

Inside the grounds of the Grange everything seemed quiet. Bobby grinned to himself as he recalled bloodcurdling stories where the villain of the piece kept a cheetah or some exciting V beast of prey* about the place to deal with intruders.

Dr. Nicholson seemed content with mere bolts and bars, and even there he seemed to be somewhat remiss. Bobby felt certain that this little door should not have been left open. As the villain of the piece, Dr. Nicholson seemed regrettably careless.

No tame pythons, thought Bobby, no cheetahs, no electrically charged wires — the man is shamefully behind the times.

He made these reflections more to cheer himself up than for any other reason. Every time he thought of Moira a queer constriction seemed to tighten round his heart. Her face rose in the air before him — the trembling lips — the wide terrified eyes. It was just about here that he had first seen her in the flesh. A little thrill ran through him as he remembered how he had put his arm round her to steady her.

Moira — where was she now? What had that sinister doctor done with her? If only she were still alive!

"She must be," said Bobby grimly between set lips. "I'm not going to think anything else."

He made a careful reconnaissance round the house. Some of the upstairs windows had lights in them and there was one lighted window on the ground floor. Toward this window Bobby crept. The curtains were drawn across it, but there was a slight chink between them. Bobby put a knee on the window sill and hoisted himself noiselessly up. He peered through the slit.

He could see a man's arm and shoulder moving along as though writing. Presently the man shifted his position and his profile came into view. It was Dr. Nicholson.

It was a curious situation. Quite unconscious that he was being watched, the doctor wrote steadily on. A queer sort of fascination stole over Bobby. The man was so near him that, but for the intervening glass, Bobby could have stretched out his arm and touched him.

For the first time, Bobby felt, he was really seeing the man. It was a forceful profile — the big bold nose, the jutting chin, the crisp, well-shaven line of the jaw. The ears, Bobby noted, were small and laid flat to the head, and the lobe of the ear was actually joined to the cheek. He had an idea that ears like these were said to have some special significance.

The doctor wrote on, calm and unhurried, now pausing for a moment or two as though to think of the right word — then setting to once more. His pen moved over the paper, precisely and evenly. Once he took off his pince-nez, polished them, and put them on again.

At last with a sigh, Bobby let himself slide noiselessly to the ground. From the look of it Nicholson would be writing for some time to come. Now was the moment to gain admission to the house.

If Bobby could force an entrance by a window while the doctor was writing in his study, he could explore the building at his leisure later in the night.

He made a circuit of the house again and singled out a window on the first floor. The sash was open at the top, but there was no light in the room, so that it was probably unoccupied at the moment. Moreover, a very convenient tree seemed to promise an easy means of access.

In another minute Bobby was swarming up the tree. All went well and he was just stretching out his hand to take a grip of the window ledge when an ominous crack came from the branch he was on, and the next minute the bough, a rotten one, had snapped and Bobby was pitch forked headfirst* into a clump of hydrangea bushes below, which fortunately broke his fall.

The window of Nicholson's study was farther along on the same side of the house. Bobby heard an exclamation in the doctor's voice, and the window was flung up. Bobby, recovering from the first shock of his fall, sprang up, disentangled himself from the hydrangeas and bolted across a dark patch of shadow into the pathway leading to the little door. He went a short way along it, then dived into the bushes.

He heard the sound of voices and saw lights moving near the trampled and broken hydrangeas. Bobby kept still and held his breath. They might come along the path. If so, finding the door open, they would probably conclude that the intruder had escaped that way and would not prosecute the search further.

However, the minutes passed, and nobody came. Presently Bobby heard Nicholson's voice raised in a question. He did not hear the words but he heard an answer given in a hoarse, rather uneducated voice.

"All present and correct, sir. I've been the rounds."

The sounds gradually died down, the lights disappeared. Everyone seemed to have returned to the house.

Very cautiously Bobby came out of his hiding-place. He emerged onto the path listening. All was still. He took a step or two toward the house.

And then out of the darkness, something struck him on the back of the neck. He fell forward — into darkness.

 Questions and Tasks

1. Find antonyms to the words and expressions (where possible).

inexplicable

at the worst

negotiations

a deserted part

cheetah

an intruder

tame

a python

cautiously

2. Transcribe them on the blackboard.

3. Ask questions with these expressions.

4. Find the description of Dr. Nicholson. What kind of person do you think he was?

5. Describe Bobby’s adventure.

6. Write down the gist of the chapter using the active vocabulary (3-4 sentences).

7. Retell the chapter as if you were Dr. Nicolson.