Narkom touched the bell upon his
table. Immediately the door opened and Petrie appeared followed closely
by young Sir Nigel Merriton, whose clean-cut face was grim and whose
mouth was set forbiddingly.
And in this fashion was Cleek introduced to the chief character of a case
which was to prove one of the strangest of his whole career. There was
nothing about Sir Nigel, a well-dressed man about town, to indicate that
he was to be the centre of an extraordinary drama, yet such was to be the
case.
He was obviously perturbed, but those who sought Mr. Narkom's counsel
were frequently agitated; for no one can be even remotely connected with
crime in one form or another without showing excitement to a greater or
lesser degree. And so his manner by no means set Sir Nigel apart from
many another visitor to the Superintendent's sanctum.
Mr. Narkom's cordial nod brought from the young man a demand to see "Mr.
Cleek," of whom he had heard such wonderful tales. Mr. Narkom, with one
eye on that very gentleman's back, announced gravely that Cleek was
absent on a government case, and asked what he could do.
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