"And Mr. Levendale with him--hadn't
you better have them straight in?" he went on, turning to the inspector.
"They both look as if they'd things to tell."
But Ayscough had already made for the door and within a moment was
ushering in the new arrivals. And Purdie was quick to note that the
Levendale who entered, a sheaf of morning papers in his hand, was a vastly
different Levendale to the man he had seen nine hours before, dirty,
unkempt, and worn out with weariness. The trim beard and mustache were
hopelessly lost, and there were lines on Levendale's face which they
concealed, but Levendale himself was now smartly groomed and carefully
dressed, and business-like, and it was with the air of a man who means
business that he strode into the room and threw a calm nod to the
officials.
"Now, Inspector," he said, going straight to the desk, while Stephen
Purvis turned to his brother. "I see from the papers that you've all been
much exercised about Mr. Purvis and myself--it just shows how a couple of
men can disappear and give some trouble before they're found. But here we
are!--and why we're here is because we're beaten--we took our own course
in trying to find our own property--and we're done! We can do no more--and
so we come to you.
Pages:
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310