Now or Never by Manning Coles

Author:Manning Coles [Coles, Manning]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

11. Missing, Two Spaniards

Campbell and Forgan were hooded once more, led out to the waiting car, and driven away. When eventually the car stopped they were put down in the Hohestrasse, now empty and deserted.

“Any use taking its number?” asked Campbell.

“It won’t be, but I have,” said Forgan.

“We didn’t get much out of that, did we? Some personal descriptions, that’s all. I wondered that they let us see them so clearly; I expected a solitary candle, not that electric light. By the way, what was the point of all that funny business with the photograph? It didn’t do any good.”

“It didn’t, did it?” said Forgan meekly.

“All the same, I’d like to see Hambledon while the details are still fresh in my mind.”

“Look over your left shoulder and you will,” said Hambledon’s voice as he moved out from the shadow of Anton’s stall.

“Must you pop up like Pepper’s ghost?” demanded Forgan, “Sit still, my heart!”

“Sorry,” said Tommy. “I only did it to point the moral that it might not have been me standing there. See that archway on the right further on? Wander along and step in there. I’ll join you in a moment.” He side-stepped through an empty doorway and immediately disappeared

“We were careless,” said Campbell a moment later, “and he was quite right.”

“Hush,” said Forgan impressively,

They stood in the archway looking about them; there were street lamps still alight in the Hohestrasse, although the darkness was giving way to the grey light of dawn, but they both started nervously when a hand came out of the shadows and drew them further back.

“Do they keep Phospherine in the shops here?” asked Campbell. “I want to buy some.”

“Keep your voices down,” said Hambledon. “What happened?”

They told him; at the description of the old gentleman with the awful umbrella Hambledon frowned,

“And a scar on his neck? Doesn’t suggest anybody to me,” he said

“He was a Big Noise,” said Forgan. “They practically fell on their knees when he came in. Right on the spot, too, he settled the whole business in two ups.”

“He wasn’t so old as he looked,” said Campbell. “His hands weren’t those of an old man, and his bifocal glasses were a fake. The top part was plain glass; I saw his eyes quite plainly through it, and they weren’t an old man’s eyes, either. Much too bright What’s more, when he wanted to look at anything close he looked over the bottom half of the lenses. He wasn’t shortsighted.”

“You’ve given me an excellent description,” said Tommy. “From that I shall be able to make enq—”

“We can do better than that,” said Forgan; “we’ve got his fingerprints.” He took out his wallet and very carefully extracted the photograph he had shown to Heintz.

“I am a fool,” said Campbell suddenly.

“No, no,” said Forgan earnestly.

“Nice glazed print,” said Tommy, taking it carefully by the edges and stowing it away. “I’ll take this to Bonn tomorrow and see what they have to say. Tomorrow, I said; later on this morning is what I mean.

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