Page:The Whisper on the Stair by Lyon Mearson (1924).djvu/148



’ interview with the night man confirmed his suspicions. A taxi chauffeur had called with a personal message for Mr. Morley—a message which he was at pains to deliver personally. And Mr. Morley had gone away with him in the taxicab with no loss of time.

Eddie nodded his head in confirmation of what he had been thinking. There was just one thing that would call Valentine Morley out at that time of the night—a message from Miss Pomeroy. She was in trouble, and Mr. Morley had gone to her assistance. Or—and this came to Eddie like a sudden shaft of light—suppose Mr. Morley had been that Miss Pomeroy needed him. Suppose that somebody wanted Mr. Morley out of the way—and conceived this means of removing him.

Having removed him thus, what had they done with him then? That was something for Eddie to find out, supposing his assumption was correct and his employer was not on some legitimate business that was none of his, Eddie’s, affair. But Eddie rather thought that if Mr. Morley was able to come home, he would already have done so. Not having done so was an indication to him either that his employer could not, physically, come home, or that the business upon which he was engaged was of such magnitude that it necessitated his Rh