Page:Edgar Jepson--the four philanthropists.djvu/69

Rh back Pudleigh's removal to my mind in a very disquieting fashion, and with a lively foreboding of evil afoot I went and opened it.

Outside stood Bottiger, scared and nervous.

"You are here!" he cried. "You've given us a devil of a fright! We thought the police had got you!"

"By Jove! I quite forgot I'd arranged to come round to your rooms," I said, snapped the oak to, and led the way into the sitting-room.

As luck would have it, the first thing that caught Bottiger's eye was the girl's hat lying on a chair.

"Well, I'll be hanged! " he cried. "Of all the coolness! You come straight back from murdering a financier to this kind of thing! Well, of all the coolness!"

"It's my sister's. I found her waiting for me on the landing. She's run away from school," I said, lying valiantly.

"I never knew you had a sister," said Bottiger.

"Ah, one doesn't talk about one's womankind to all the men one knows," I said nastily.

"I don't believe it is your sister's," said Bottiger, and he eyed the hat suspiciously.

"Look here, what you want is your neck wringing! We can't all be in Debrett. It is my sister's. If you come round to-morrow, you'll see," I said truculently.

"Murder does your temper no good, that's