He found Mr. Multenius in his parlour--he was counting a lot of bank-
notes--they must, said Parslett, have represented a large sum. The old man
bade him leave the mushrooms, said he'd send him the money across
presently, and motioned him out. Parslett put the dish of mushrooms aside
on a chiffonier and went away. Somewhat later, chancing to be at his front
door and looking out into the street, he saw Chen Li open the door of
Multenius's shop and go swiftly away. Half-an-hour after that he heard
that something had happened at Multenius's--later in the evening he heard
definitely that the old man had been assaulted under circumstances which
pointed to murder for the sake of robbery. And then he, Parslett, now put
two and two together--and had fixed on Chen Li as the culprit. And now--
how much, was Chen Li going to pay for silence?
According to Yada, Chen Li had had little to say--his chief anxiety,
indeed, had been to find out what the man wanted. Parslett was definite
enough about that. He wanted a thousand pounds--and he wanted it in gold,
and as much of it as Chen Li could hand out there and then.
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