“Yes, yes,” replied the Commissioner impatiently. “Get on, man, I can’t stop talking to you here. We are holding a conference in the Home Secretary’s room.”
“Oh, that’s it, is it? Well, I’ll give you the facts as briefly as I can. I knew of a way in which pressure could be brought upon Comstock. I happen to have come across a pretty sticky piece of work. There’s a woman in it, of course. You’ll hardly believe me when I tell you—”
“Not on the telephone. Never mind about that. What happened when you got there?”
“A devil of a lot happened. I drove up, and found that young chap Mills at the door. Can’t say that I was struck by the look of him. Wanted to keep me out, I fancy. But I soon put a stop to that nonsense. Told him that I meant to see Comstock, whatever he said. At last the fellow showed me into what looked like a drawing-room, and shut the door on me. And as soon as he’d gone, I heard voices from the next room. Comstock and somebody else having a devil of a row, I could tell that.
“I looked about the room a bit, and found that there was a dummy panel, forming a door, which must lead into the room where Comstock was kicking up all the rumpus. I didn’t want to butt in, so I strolled across the room and looked out of the window on to a sort of lawn. There was nobody about outside as far as I could see but a gardener chap pottering about the flower beds.”
“Did you see a car in the drive, besides the one you came in?” interrupted the Commissioner.
“Hullo! What do you know about that car? No, I didn’t see it, that’s the queer thing. Next thing was, I heard people moving about in the hall, and after a bit everything became quiet in Comstock’s room. I waited for a bit, expecting that young chap Mills to come and show me in to see Comstock. But he didn’t come, and I got a bit impatient. I meant to see Comstock, whether he and his secretary liked it or not. So I just opened that concealed door and looked in. I tell you, Hampton, it takes a lot to surprise me. But when I looked into that room I got the shock of my life.”
“What did you see?” the Commissioner asked coldly.
“I saw Comstock lying in a heap in front of his desk with his chair on top of him. Of course, I went in then. Couldn’t very well do anything else. Didn’t take me long to see what had happened. Wound in the head, still bleeding. Chap dead all right, must have been killed instantaneously. And while I was looking at him, I heard a car drive off from somewhere in the drive. Fellow who killed Comstock, I concluded.”
The Commissioner frowned. “Did you touch the body or anything in the room? “he asked.
“Hardly. Besides, I hadn’t time. Just a chance I might catch that car, you see. I made for the open window, and jumped out. Lucky I didn’t break my neck. It was a lot farther to the ground than I had bargained for. Crocked one knee a bit, as it was. However, I managed to run to my car, and set off after the chap I’d heard.
“Then a rotten thing happened. I swung out at the gate, going like hell, I’ll admit, and before I knew where I was I was into a constable riding a bicycle. The idiot was right over on the wrong side of his road, and I couldn’t help myself. ’Pon my word, Hampton, I didn’t know what to do. If I stopped to pick him up, I should lose all hope of catching the car I was after. But the fellow lay so darned still, with the bicycle twisted up like a Chinese puzzle, that I felt I couldn’t leave him there. So I stopped the car, got out, and had a look at him. And then I saw that he was pretty badly injured. Only thing to do was to take him to hospital.
“I had noticed a hospital place on my way to Hursley Lodge. I picked the poor fellow up and hoisted him into the back of the car, and off I went. After all, Comstock was dead, and I couldn’t do any more for him. But I might save this chap’s life if I could get a doctor to him at once.”
“A live dog being better than a dead lion,” remarked the Commissioner. “Get on, man.”
“Well, my luck was dead out. I suppose it was a couple of miles or so to the hospital. And I was just about half way there when I ran out of petrol. There’ll be hell about that when I get back to the Yard. My orders are that my car is always to be filled up as soon as she’s brought in. Of course, I was carrying a spare can, and I tipped that in. But the blessed autovac didn’t seem to suck properly. I had to crank up the engine for a devil of a time before I could get any petrol to the carburetter.”
“Yes, yes; never mind these details. You were delayed. What then?”
“I got the poor devil to hospital, but there seemed to be nobody there but a fool of a woman. Matron, I suppose. Regular cottage hospital, more cottage than hospital. Got the poor chap to bed. Rang up a doctor. Out. Rang up another. Out. Matron woman warned me that patient was in a very bad way. Getting desperate, when a doctor looked in. I was afraid the poor chap was done for this time, but after a good wait doctor came down and told me he had a fighting chance, lot of ribs done in, and heaven knows what else. And then I got him to have a look at my knee, which was devilish painful and so stiff I could hardly move it. Altogether, it was past a quarter to two before I got away from that infernal hospital.
“It struck me then that I had never seen the number of the car I’d been chasing. I drove back to Hursley Lodge, thinking that someone about the place must have noticed it. But at first I couldn’t find anybody with any sense in their heads. There was a local sergeant in charge, chap like a bullock, with about as much intelligence. He told me that the local superintendent, Weston, or some such name, had been mucking about the place. Destroyed every vestige of a clue, I expect. You know what these local men are. And, if you please, he trotted all the likely witnesses up to town. Did you ever hear of such an ass?”
“Superintendent Easton acted upon my instructions,” the Commissioner remarked acidly.
“Sorry, I didn’t know that. It looked to me as though the local people were blundering, as usual. So I thought I’d better do what I could to put things straight. I went round to the garage, and there I found Comstock’s chauffeur, a very decent, sensible chap by the name of Scotney.
“He had seen the other car, all right. It had been standing in the drive for quite a long time. It’s difficult to explain, but the drive’s got a sort of kink in it. Goes round in a circle, with a clump of trees in the middle—”
“Yes, I know all about that,” the Commissioner interrupted. “The trees were between you and the car, so that you couldn’t see it. What about this chauffeur?”
“You seem to know the dickens of a lot, Hampton. The chauffeur? Oh, most observant chap. He had noticed the number, all right. QZ7623. Came out with it pat. Hadn’t ever seen the car before, he told me. Twenty horse Armstrong saloon, nearly new, painted blue. Very fine car, according to Scotney. And, would you believe it, the local chaps had never even asked him for the description!
“Well, I happened to remember that QZ are the registration letters of the borough of Winborough, not more than seven or eight miles away. So off I went, straight away, to see the licensing authorities there. Sleepy old place, and sleepy old people. Took me a devil of a time at the Town Hall to find the man I wanted. Then we looked up the records, and found that QZ7623 had been allotted to the parson, Canon Pritchard. Chap at the Town Hall told me that his parishioners had just presented him with an Austin Seven. I saw at once there was something wrong, but I went on to the vicarage. There was the Austin in the garage, where Mrs. Pritchard swore it had been all the morning. Couldn’t see the vicar himself. Up in London, they told me, attending some sort of a conference of parsons.”
“Convocation, of course. Well, what then?”
“Well, it’s clear that the car that was at Hursley Lodge is sailing under false colours. I got on the ’phone to the Yard, to give orders to stop any car with the number QZ7623. As soon as I got through they told me that you had been asking for me, and were now at the Home Office. So I put a call through, and here I am. Any orders?”
The Commissioner hesitated. It was