Then he turned to Moses Moss. “Did you ever come across a man called Wallace?” he asked. “Moderate height, clean-shaven with a blue chin. Thick black hair, close-cropped?”

Now came perhaps the greatest shock which Shelley had hitherto sustained in this case. Blankly, his face showing total ignorance, Moss shook his head. “No. Never met him in my life,” he said.

“And what do we do now?” asked Shelley.

Nobody enlightened him.

Chapter XVII

Chapter XVII

An Astounding Offer

Violet was terrified, but she was firmly determined not to show it. Whatever might be the remarkable offer which this strange man was going to make, she steeled herself to meet it with real stoicism. She had nearly reached the end of her tether, and her nerves were ragged and on edge; but she kept a firm grip on herself, being resolved not to show the man the terror that had laid hold upon her.

He smiled an oily smile, and settled himself on the edge of the bed. She was standing in the middle of the room.

“Won’t you take a seat, my dear young lady?” he said, leering at her unpleasantly.

“Thank you,” she replied in the stiffest, most formal tones she could command, “but I think that I prefer to stand.”

“As you like,” he murmured with a shrug of his shoulders; “but what I have to say to you may well take some considerable time, and I feel sure that you will be tired with standing all that time. Are you certain that you will not sit down? Honestly, it is entirely for your own good that I suggest it. There is no ulterior motive in the suggestion. I can assure you of that.”

There was still a queer little trace of foreign accent in his speech, and Violet kept asking herself what was his nationality. She could not, however, make up her mind about the matter—and in any case, she told herself, what on earth did that matter?

“If you insist,” she said, “I will sit down. But I ask you, please, to be as quick as you can. I have no desire to have a long interview.”

She found herself unconsciously slipping into the stiff, formal phraseology, as if she felt that by thus keeping him conversationally at a distance, she would be able to ward off whatever danger might be threatening her.

“Well, neither have I,” he admitted. “I say that quite frankly. But I fear that what I have to say—the proposition I am going to put before you—requires a certain amount of explanation, and cannot be disposed of in two or three minutes, as it would seem you wish.”