And the Infinite is always mysterious, Sir
Nigel. But as to whether they have any bearing upon the disappearances of
those two men is a horse of another colour. We'll look into that later
on. In coal-mines marsh gas is considered highly dangerous, and the
miners call it fire-damp. But that is by the way. What enters into the
immediate question is the fact that there is a patch of charred grass
upon the Fens where you say the vanished man, Dacre Wynne's footprints
suddenly ended. Hmm."
He stopped speaking suddenly, and getting up again crossed over to the
window. He stood for a moment looking out of it, his brows drawn down,
his face set in the stern lines that betokened concentration of thought.
Mr. Narkom and Merriton watched him with something of wonder in their
eyes. To Merriton, at any rate, who really knew so little of Cleek's
unique and powerful mind, the fact of a policeman having such extensive
information was surprising in the extreme.
"You don't think, then," he said, breaking the silence that had fallen
upon them, "that this--er--marsh gas could have caused the death of Wynne
and Collins? Burnt 'em alive, so to speak?"
Cleek did not move at this question.
Pages:
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127