The Golden Scorpion. Sax Rohmer
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and moustache and heavily marked eyebrows. He seemed to be very
short-sighted and kept his eyes so screwed up that it was impossible
to detect their colour, by night at any rate."
"What sort of wound had he on his skull?"
"A short ugly gash. He had caught his head on the footboard in falling.
I may add that on the occasion of his professional visit his breath
smelled strongly of spirits, and I rather suspected that his accident
might have been traceable to his condition."
"But he wasn't actually drunk?"
"By no means. He was perfectly sober, but he had recently been
drinking--possibly because his fall had shaken him, of course."
"His hands?"
"Small and very muscular. Quite steady. Also very dirty."
"What part of the country should you say he hailed from?"
"London. He had a marked cockney accent."
"What make of cab was it?"
"I couldn't say."
"An old cab?"
"Yes. The fittings were dilapidated, I remember, and the cab had a
very musty smell."
"Ah," said Dunbar, making several notes. "And now--the lady: about
what would be her age?"
"Difficult to say, Inspector. She had Eastern blood and may have been
much younger than she appeared to be. Judged from a European standpoint
and from her appearance and manner of dress, she might be about
twenty-three or twenty-four."
"Complexion?"
"Wonderful. Fresh as a flower."
"Eyes?"
"Dark. They looked black at night."
"Hair?"
"Brown and 'fuzzy' with copper tints."
"Tall?"
"No; slight but beautifully shaped."
"Now--from her accent what should you judge her nationality to be?"
Stuart paced up and down the room, his head lowered in reflection,
then:
"She pronounced both English and French words with an intonation which
suggested familiarity with Arabic."
"Arabic? That still leaves a fairly wide field."
"It does, Inspector, but I had no means of learning more. She had
certainly lived for a long time somewhere in the Near East."
"Her jewellery?"
"Some of it was European and some of it Oriental, but not
characteristic of any particular country of the Orient."
"Did she use perfume?"
"Yes, but it was scarcely discernible. Jasmine--probably the Eastern
preparation."
"Her ailment was imaginary?"
"I fear so."
"H'm--and now you say that Mrs. M'Gregor saw the car?"
"Yes, but she has retired."
"Her evidence will do to-morrow. We come to the man in the hood. Can
you give me any kind of a description of him?"
"He appeared to be tall, but a shadow is deceptive, and his
extraordinary costume would produce that effect, too. I can tell you
absolutely nothing further about him. Remember, I thought I was
dreaming. I could not credit my senses."
Inspector Dunbar glanced over the notes which he had made, then
returning the note-book and pen to his pocket, he took up the long
smoke-discoloured envelope and with a paper-knife which lay upon the
table slit one end open. Inserting two fingers, he drew out the second
envelope which the first enclosed. It was an ordinary commercial
envelope only notable by reason of the number, 30, appearing in large
red figures upon it and because it was sealed with black wax bearing
a weird-looking device:
Stuart bent over him intently as he slit this envelope in turn. Again,
he inserted two fingers--and brought forth the sole contents... a
plain piece of cardboard, roughly rectangular and obviously cut in
haste from the lid of a common cardboard box!
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