登陆注册
19970700000022

第22章

"I made a few notes, some questions I wanted to ask you about and Lady Bartholomew was the subject of one of them.I have had her under observation for six months; do you want it kept up?"T.X.thought awhile, then shook his head.

"I am only interested in Lady Bartholomew in so far as Kara is interested in her.There is a criminal for you, my friend!" he added, admiringly.

Mansus busily engaged in going through the bundles of letters, slips of paper and little notebooks he had taken from his pocket, sniffed audibly.

"Have you a cold?" asked T.X.politely.

"No, sir," was the reply, "only I haven't much opinion of Kara as a criminal.Besides, what has he got to be a criminal about? He has all that he requires in the money department, he's one of the most popular people in London, and certainly one of the best-looking men I've ever seen in my life.He needs nothing."T.X.regarded him scornfully.

"You're a poor blind brute," he said, shaking his head; don't you know that great criminals are never influenced by material desires, or by the prospect of concrete gains? The man, who robs his employer's till in order to give the girl of his heart the 25-pearl and ruby brooch her soul desires, gains nothing but the glow of satisfaction which comes to the man who is thought well of.The majority of crimes in the world are committed by people for the same reason - they want to be thought well of.Here is Doctor X.who murdered his wife because she was a drunkard and a slut, and he dared not leave her for fear the neighbours would have doubts as to his respectability.Here is another gentleman who murders his wives in their baths in order that he should keep up some sort of position and earn the respect of his friends and his associates.Nothing roused him more quickly to a frenzy of passion than the suggestion that he was not respectable.Here is the great financier, who has embezzled a million and a quarter, not because he needed money, but because people looked up to him.

Therefore, he must build great mansions, submarine pleasure courts and must lay out huge estates - because he wished that he should be thought well of.

Mansus sniffed again.

"What about the man who half murders his wife, does he do that to be well thought of?" he asked, with a tinge of sarcasm.

T.X.looked at him pityingly.

"The low-brow who beats his wife, my poor Mansus," he said, "does so because she doesn't think well of him.That is our ruling passion, our national characteristic, the primary cause of most crimes, big or little.That is why Kara is a bad criminal and will, as I say, end his life very violently."He took down his glossy silk hat from the peg and slipped into his overcoat.

"I am going down to see my friend Kara," he said."I have a feeling that I should like to talk with him.He might tell me something."His acquaintance with Kara's menage had been mere hearsay.He had interviewed the Greek once after his return, but since all his efforts to secure information concerning the whereabouts of John Lexman and his wife - the main reason for his visit been in vain, he had not repeated his visit.

The house in Cadogan Square was a large one, occupying a corner site.It was peculiarly English in appearance with its window boxes, its discreet curtains, its polished brass and enamelled doorway.It had been the town house of Lord Henry Gratham, that eccentric connoisseur of wine and follower of witless pleasure.

It had been built by him "round a bottle of port," as his friends said, meaning thereby that his first consideration had been the cellarage of the house, and that when those cellars had been built and provision made for the safe storage of his priceless wines, the house had been built without the architect's being greatly troubled by his lordship.The double cellars of Gratham House had, in their time, been one of the sights of London.When Henry Gratham lay under eight feet of Congo earth (he was killed by an elephant whilst on a hunting trip) his executors had been singularly fortunate in finding an immediate purchaser.Rumour had it that Kara, who was no lover of wine, had bricked up the cellars, and their very existence passed into domestic legendary.

The door was opened by a well-dressed and deferential man-servant and T.X.was ushered into the hall.A fire burnt cheerily in a bronze grate and T.X.had a glimpse of a big oil painting of Kara above the marble mantle-piece.

"Mr.Kara is very busy, sir," said the man.

"Just take in my card," said T.X."I think he may care to see me."The man bowed, produced from some mysterious corner a silver salver and glided upstairs in that manner which well-trained servants have, a manner which seems to call for no bodily effort.

In a minute he returned.

"Will you come this way, sir," he said, and led the way up a broad flight of stairs.

At the head of the stairs was a corridor which ran to the left and to the right.From this there gave four rooms.One at the extreme end of the passage on the right, one on the left, and two at fairly regular intervals in the centre.

When the man's hand was on one of the doors, T.X.asked quietly, "I think I have seen you before somewhere, my friend."The man smiled.

"It is very possible, sir.I was a waiter at the Constitutional for some time."T.X.nodded.

"That is where it must have been," he said.

The man opened the door and announced the visitor.

T.X.found himself in a large room, very handsomely furnished, but just lacking that sense of cosiness and comfort which is the feature of the Englishman's home.

Kara rose from behind a big writing table, and came with a smile and a quick step to greet the visitor.

"This is a most unexpected pleasure," he said, and shook hands warmly.

T.X.had not seen him for a year and found very little change in this strange young man.He could not be more confident than he had been, nor bear himself with a more graceful carriage.

Whatever social success he had achieved, it had not spoiled him, for his manner was as genial and easy as ever.

同类推荐
  • 案中冤案

    案中冤案

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 诗法家数

    诗法家数

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 九畹史论

    九畹史论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 伤寒舌鉴

    伤寒舌鉴

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 内修十论

    内修十论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 遗忘之都

    遗忘之都

    每一个地方,都有一段历史。每一个人,都有一段过去。在那历史的长河中,谁能看到河底的暗流涌动呢?
  • 暗恋生死

    暗恋生死

    “曾经想讲述过许多故事打了满腹草稿却又不知从何说起.”
  • 邪王独宠:嗜血王妃独冷冷爱

    邪王独宠:嗜血王妃独冷冷爱

    他,是北冥国的王爷,嗜血冷酷杀人如麻。却在一次无意的机会,他救了她,看到她的第一眼就起了兴趣,第二眼,就确定了他们之间的关系。她,是丞相府的嫡长女,却因为天生废材而被人处处欺凌,人人唾弃。被自己的亲妹妹逼下悬崖,醒来之后——一切不复过往!!!某王“默默——”某女“干甚?”某王邪魅一笑“不干甚,干你………”话落,还不等某女反应过来,扑倒………
  • 神魔狂武

    神魔狂武

    吾道,似神非神,似魔非魔。吾之命,逆而不凡。
  • 小四劝退师

    小四劝退师

    体面的家室,轻松的工作,英俊多金的男朋友......都市7分女颜苒本是众人羡慕的对象,怎么都不会想到会有一天被小三。“我爱上他的时候不知道他已婚,凭什么我来承担小三的污名?”感情之事,谁人能凭借对错选择去留?这畸形的社会如果不能忍受,就要学会享受。既然无意间影响了他人的家庭,那就以自己的方式来赎罪。帮正房,斗小四,保护孩子,加把劲~看非传统反典型性小三如何在劝退小四的过程中,升职副经理,嫁给高富帅,走上人生巅峰,觅到此生挚爱。“开玩笑,小三劝退师现在是多高薪的职业!而我,小四劝退师,LEVEL直接高了一个档次了好么?”“颜苒,你是不是脑子有问题?”“你有药啊?”
  • 婚后遇初恋

    婚后遇初恋

    陆瑶意外攀上了慕泽渊那根高枝儿。他:“我还少个女人。”这是什么意思?陆瑶恼羞成怒。他:“我们先结婚。”咦咦咦?这……神奇般地要变成了闪婚的节奏?一切归于平静,只是,在婚后的某一天,她在婚前的男友回来了……
  • 农女小萌妃

    农女小萌妃

    只因顾府的墨王爷喜欢吃蘑菇,小红萝就屁颠屁颠挎着小篮子去丛林里采。然后又欢欢喜喜拿到王府门口去卖。无意中结识了自称是王爷侍卫的顾墨,见面就掐的两个人竟然互相产生好感,最后才发现他就是王爷,可是为了自己喜欢的王爷竟然赔上了自己的小命,唉!
  • 正牌阴阳师

    正牌阴阳师

    在一个不承认鬼神之说的社会中,身为阴阳世家的他,会怎样?!前世今生,身负使命,去改变命运,却发现一切都是因果循环……看“正牌”阴阳师如何调和阴阳,看一个双重性格非常人的寻常经历……敬请关注!
  • 宛若桃花倾满城

    宛若桃花倾满城

    你在她的唇上浅啄,对她说你喜欢她。而她却转身吻进他的心里,对他说她爱他。她是他的徒弟,他是她的师傅。他嗜血成性却唯独对她柔情相许,为她走火入魔三千青丝皆成雪。她知道他是她不该爱的人,她的疏远、她的背叛亲手造就了一个魔鬼。他为她屠杀一座城,最后却死在了她的剑下。“师傅!小衣想你了,小衣再也不离开你了。”少女趴在坟头,眼眸含笑。
  • 至尊封灵系统

    至尊封灵系统

    叶风被妹妹的女师父杀死,重生后的他得到了强大的天道圣典,一步步走向武者的巅峰,脚踩各路强者,更有一位位美女出现在他的身边......“报仇是迟早的,我要先俘虏她的心,再让她......”