The Sea Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts

Author:Freeman Wills Crofts [Crofts, Freeman Wills]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Detective and mystery stories, Police -- Great Britain -- Fiction, French, Joseph (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
Publisher: Standard Ebooks
Published: 2024-04-16T16:07:20+00:00

XII

The Duplicator

The saying “it never rains but what it pours” is a popular expression of the unhappy fact that misfortunes never come singly. Fortunately for suffering humanity, the phrase expresses only half the truth. Runs of good luck occur as well as runs of bad.

As French was smoking his after-breakfast pipe in the lounge next morning it was borne in on him that he was at that time experiencing one of the most phenomenal runs of good luck that had ever fallen to his lot. Four days ago he had proved that the dead man was Pyke. Two days later he had learned how the breakdown of the car had been faked. Yesterday he had found the explanation of the watchman’s inaction, and today, just at that very moment, an idea had occurred to him which bade fair to solve the problem of the disposal of the duplicator! Unfortunately, nothing could be done towards putting it to the test until the evening. He spent the day, therefore, in a long tramp on the moor, then about five o’clock walked for the second time to Gurney’s house.

“I want to have another chat with you,” he explained. “I haven’t time to wait now, but I shall come up to the works later in the evening. Listen out for my ring.”

He strolled back to the town, had a leisurely dinner, visited the local picture house, and killed time until after eleven. Then when the little town was asleep he went up to the works. Five minutes later he was seated with Gurney in the boiler-house.

“I have been thinking over this affair, Gurney,” he began, “and I am more than ever certain that some terrible deeds were done here on that night when you were drugged. I want to have another look around. But you must not under any circumstances let it be known that I was here.”

“That’s all right, guv’nor. I ain’t goin’ to say nothing.”

French nodded.

“You told me that you had been a mechanic in the works before your rheumatism got bad. Have you worked at any of those duplicators like what was packed in the crate?”

“I worked at all kinds of erecting works—duplicators an’ files an’ indexes an’ addressing machines an’ all the rest o’ them. I knows them all.”

“Good! Now I want you to come round to the store and show me the different parts of a duplicator.”

Gurney led the way from the boiler-house.

“Don’t switch on the light,” French directed. “I don’t want the windows to show lit up. I have a torch.”

They passed through the packing-shed and into the completed-machine store adjoining. Here French called a halt.

“Just let’s look at one of these duplicators again,” he said. “Suppose you wanted to take one of them to pieces, let me see how you would set about it. Should I be correct in saying that if five or six of the larger pieces were got rid of, all the rest could be carried in a handbag?”

“That’s right, sir.”

“Now show me the bins where these larger parts are stocked.

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