Chapter 30 Chapter 30 Escape

The man on the floor glared upward at them.His pince-nez and hat were knocked off, making no further attempt at disguise possible.A slight trace of make-up was visible on his brows, but otherwise, this pleasing, somewhat bewildered face bore the true face of Roger Bassington-French. He spoke in his melodious tenor voice, in the tone of an admirable monologue. "It's funny," he said, "I'm really aware that people who are tied up like you can't throw their boots at the skylight, but since the boots are in the broken glass, I take this as the cause and the phenomenon." Conclude that, though impossible, the impossible has happened. The idea of ​​intriguing constrains brain activity."

As no one answered, he continued in the same brooding tone: "All in all, you've won once. It's extremely unexpected and extremely regrettable. I thought I had outwitted you." "You did," said Frankie. "I suppose it was your forged letter from Bobby?" "I have a talent for that," said Roger modestly. "And what about Bobby?" Lying on his back, smiling contentedly, Roger seemed to take a confident pleasure in instructing them. "I knew he was going to Grange Mansion, and I had only to wait in the bushes near the road. I was right behind him when he fell clumsily from a tree and backed away. When the noise died down, I Hit him cleanly in the back of the neck with a sandbag. All I had to do was get him out to where I parked, stuff him in the seat, and drive him here. I was home again before dawn." "And Moira?" Bobby demanded. "Did you manage to lure her away?"

Roger giggled.The question seemed to amuse him. "Counterfeiting is a very useful art, my dear Jones," said he. "You bastard!" Bobby swore. Frankie cut in.She was still curious, and their captive seemed to be in a helpful mood. "Why are you pretending to be Dr. Nicholson?" she asked. "Why me?" said Roger, as if asking himself the question. "Partly, I suppose, to see if I could tease the kind of fun you two had. You were pretty sure poor old Nicholson was involved." In the matter." He laughed, and Frankie blushed. "Just because he grilled you about the details of the car accident in a pompous way. It's a penchant for him to piss people off."

"So he's really completely innocent?" asked Frankie softly. "As innocent as an unborn child," said Roger, "but he did one thing in my favour. He brought your car accident to my attention. One thing after another made me Got it, you're not the innocent young lady who appears on the surface. Then, one morning when you called, I was standing next to you and I heard your driver's voice call you 'Frankie'. I'm pretty good of hearing .I asked to go into town with you, and you reluctantly agreed; and you were very comfortable when I changed my mind. Since then..." He broke off, shrugging his bound shoulders as best he could. "It's been quite a lot of fun seeing you all busy with Nicholson, too. He's a harmless old jerk, but he sure looks like one of those learned super-criminals in the movies. I thought it would work The deception goes on. You don't know it after all. Well-laid plans go awry, as my current situation shows."

"There's something you've got to tell me," said Frankie, "that's driving me crazy out of curiosity. Who's Evans?" "Ah!" said Roger, "so you don't know?" He laughed out loud, and laughed and laughed. "It's so funny," he said, "it shows how stupid people can be!" "You mean us?" asked Frankie. "No," said Roger, "meaning me in this matter. You know, if you don't know who Evans is, I don't think I'll tell you. As a little personal secret, I don't Tell someone about it."

Things got weird.They would have seemed to have the upper hand on Roger, but he stole their victory in some unique way.Now he, lying on the floor like a chained captive, took control. "May I ask what you're going to do now?" he asked rhetorically. So far no one has any plans.Bobby mumbled a little uncertainly about the police. "Better do it," Roger said excitedly. "Call them up and hand me over to them. I think the charge will be kidnapping. I can't quite deny that." Looking at Frankie, "I will plead guilty." Frankie blushed. "What about murder?" she asked.

"My dear, you have no proof, absolutely not. When you think about it, you will see that you have no proof." "Badger," said Bobby, "you'd better stay here and keep an eye on him. I'll go downstairs and ring the police." "You'd better watch out," said Frankie, "we don't know how many of them there are in this house." "There's no one else but me," said Roger. "I did it alone." "I'm not going to take your words seriously," said Bobby gruffly.He bent down to examine the knots on Roger's body.

"It's tied tight," he said, "as strong as a house. We'd better go down together and lock the door." "That's too suspicious, man," said Roger. "I've got a pistol in my pocket if you want it. It'll make your day more pleasant. Guns won't do me any good in the situation I'm in." Bobby ignored his mocking tone and leaned down and drew his pistol. "Thank you for mentioning the pistol," said Bobby. "It did entertain me, if you were wondering." "Well," said Roger, "there's bullets in the gun."

Bobby took the candle, and they went out one after the other, leaving Roger on the floor alone.Bobby locked the door, put the key in his pocket, and held the pistol in his hand. "I'm going," said Bobby. "We've got to be very careful now that we don't mess things up." "He's a . "He's a nasty loser," said Frankie.Until now she had not quite recovered from the charm of that distinctive young man, Roger Bassington-French. A rickety staircase leads down to the main landing.Everything was silent.Bobby looked down the banister. The phone was down the hall.

"We'd better check the rooms first," said Bobby. "We don't want to be attacked from behind." Badger pushed open each door in turn, and three of the four bedrooms were empty.A slender figure lay on the bed in the fourth room. "It's Moira!" cried Frankie. The other two rushed into the room.Moira lay there dead, only her chest rising and falling faintly. "Is she asleep?" Bobby asked. "I think she's drugged," said Frankie.She looked around and saw a table near the window with a syringe in a small enamel dish, a small alcohol lamp and a morphine needle on the table.

"I think she's all right," said Frankie, "but we ought to get a doctor." "Let's go downstairs and make the phone," said Bobby. They came to the hall below.Frankie also had some concerns that the phone line might be cut, but her fears proved unfounded.They got through to the police easily, but found it difficult to make things clear.The local police department even tended to suggest that their emergency calls were a joke. However, they finally believed it, and Bobby sighed and put down the phone.He explained that they still needed a doctor here, and the police promised to bring a doctor. Ten minutes later a superintendent, a constable, and an older man, apparently a doctor, arrived in vehicles. Bobby and Frankie received them, briefly described what had happened again, and led them up to the top floor.Bobby had just unlocked the door, and then stood dumbfounded on the threshold.In the middle of the floor is a pile of ropes, and under the broken universe, there is a chair on the iron bed.These things were dragged under the sunroof. Roger Bassington-French disappeared without a trace. Bobby, Badger and Frankie were stunned. "As for Houdini," said Bobby, "he must have been a head over Houdini. How the hell did he cut the rope?" "He must have had a knife in his pocket," said Frankie. "Even so, how can he get the knife out? Both hands are bound together behind the back." The inspector coughed, and his earlier suspicions came back to him.He felt more strongly than before that the matter was a hoax. Frankie and Bobby felt like they had told a long story that sounded impossible.The doctor saved their emergency. When the doctor was shown into the room where Moira lay, he announced at once that she had been anesthetized with morphine or some opiate compound.He didn't think her condition was very serious, and thought she would wake up naturally in four or five hours.He suggested at the time that Moira be sent to a good nursing home nearby. Bobby and Frankie agreed with him, but didn't know how to do it.They left their names and addresses with the inspector, who evidently disbelieved Frankie very much.Then they were allowed to leave the Duze villa, and with the help of the inspector, they were admitted to the "Seven Star" hotel in the village. When they got there, though they still felt they were being regarded as criminals, they thanked each other and went to their respective rooms.Bobby and Badger had a double room, and Frankie had a very small single room. Five minutes after Bobby and Badger had fallen asleep, they heard a knock at the door. It's Frankie. "One thing comes to mind," she said, "if that stupid inspector insists that we made up everything, I have evidence that I was chloroformed anyway." "You have proof? Where is it?" "In the coal box," said Frankie decisively.