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.If you fancy the brand, I'llmail you the rest of the box to-morrow.""Come in," said Teal.He led the way, and the Saint followed.In the tinysitting-room, Teal un-wrapped the cigar, and the Saint lighted a cigarette."Also," said Teal, "I've got a warrant for your ar-rest.""And no case to use it on," said Simon."You've got your man back.""You flogged him.""He's the only man who can bring that charge against me.You can't.""If you steal something and send it back, that doesn't dispose of the chargeof theft-if we care to prosecute.""But you wouldn't," smiled the Saint, watching Teal light the cigar."Frankly,now, between our-selves, would it be worth it? I notice the papers haven'tPage 55ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlsaid anything about the affair.That was wise of you.But if you charged me,you couldn't keep it out of the papers.And all England would be laugh-ingover the story of how the great Claud Eustace Teal"-the detective winced-"wascaught on the bend with the old, old doped cigar.Honestly- wouldn't it bebetter to call it a day?"Teal frowned, looking straight at the smiling young man before him.From thehour of his first meeting with the Saint, Teal had recognized an indefinablesuperiority.It lay in nothing that the Saint did or said.It was simplythere.Simon Temp-lar was not common clay; and Teal, who was of the good redearth earthy, realized the fact without resentment."Seriously, then,Templar," said Teal, "don't you see the hole you put me in? You took Farrastaway and flogged him-that remains.And he saw you talking to me in the train.If he liked, he could say in court that we were secretly aiding and abettingyou.The police are in the limelight just now, and a lot of the mud wouldstick.""Farrast is dumb," answered Simon."I promise you that.Because I told himthat if he breathed a word of what had happened, I should find him and killhim.And he believes it.You see, I appreciated your difficulty."Teal could think fast.He nodded."You win again," he said."I think thecommissioner'll pass it-this once-since you've sent the man back.But anothertime-""I never repeat myself," said the Saint."That's why you'll never catch me.But thanks, all the same."He picked up his hat, but he turned back at the door."By the way-has thisaffair, on top of the diamonds, put you in bad with the commissioner?""I won't deny it."The Saint looked at the ceiling."I'd like to put that right," he said."Now,there's a receiver of stolen goods living in Netting Hill, named AlbertHanders.Most of the big stuff passes through his hands, and I know you'vebeen wanting him for a longish while."Teal started."How the deuce-""Never mind that.If you really want to smooth down the commissioner, you'llwait for Handers at Croydon Aërodrome tomorrow morning, when he proposes tofly to Amsterdam with the proceeds of the Asheton robbery.The diamonds willbe sewn into the carrying handle of his valise.I wonder you've never thoughtof that, the times you've stopped him and searched him.Night-night, sonnyboy!" He was gone before the plump detec-tive could stop him; and that nightthe Saint slept again in Brook Street.But the information which the Saint had given came from Dicky Tremayne,another of the gang, and it signalled the beginning of the end of the coup towhich Tremayne had devoted a year of patient preparation.This is the story ofDicky Tremayne.Chapter IIDICKY TREMAYNE walked into the Saint's flat late one night, and found theSaint, in pajamas and dressing-gown, reading by the open window.DickyTremayne was able to walk in at any hour, because, like Roger Conway, he hadhis own key.Dicky Tremayne said: "Saint, I feel I'm going to fell in love."Page 56ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlThe Saint slewed round, raising his eyes to heaven."What-not again?" he protested."Again," snapped Dicky."It's an infernal nui-sance, but there you are.A manmust do some-thing."Simon put away his book and reached for a cigarette from the box that stoodconveniently open on the table at his elbow."Bum it," said Simon."I alwaysthought Archie Sheridan was bad enough.Till he went and got married, I usedto spend my spare time wondering why he never got landed.But since you cameout of your hermitage, and we let you go and live unchaperoned in Paris-""I know," snapped Dicky."I can't help it.But it may be serious this time."Match in hand, Simon regarded him.Norman Kent was the most darkly attractiveof the Saints; Archie Sheridan had been the most delightfully ir-responsible;Roger Conway was the most good-looking; but Dicky-Dicky Tremayne was dark andhandsome in the clean keen-faced way which is the despairing envy of theLatin, and with it Dicky's elegance had a Continental polish and his eye awicked Continental gleam.Dicky was what roman-tic maidens call a sheik-andyet he was unspoiled.Also he had a courage and a cheerfulness which neverfailed him.The Saint had a very real affection for Dicky."Who is it thistime, son?" he asked.Tremayne walked to the window and stared out."Her house in Park Lane wastaken in the name of the Countess Anusia Marova," he said."So was the yachtshe's chartered for the season.But she was born in Boston, Mass.,twenty-three years ago, and her parents called her Audrey Perowne.She's had alot of names since then, but the Amsterdam police knew her best as 'Straight'Audrey.You know who I mean.""And you-""You know what I've done.I spent all my time in Paris working in withHilloran, who was her right-hand man in the States, because we were surethey'd get together sooner or later, and then we'd make one killing of thepair [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]