"I do," said Gatton shortly, "and to the woman who visited you here
and stole the statuette of Bâst! The history of Edward Hines and his
predecessor, which you have so admirably summarized, points to the
presence in the Upper Crossleys neighborhood of such a character as we
have been seeking ever since your experience here (I refer to the
cat-eyes which looked in through the window)."
"I begin to see, Gatton," I said slowly.
"With what object this unknown woman visited you at the Abbey Inn I
cannot conjecture, but doubtless this would have been revealed had not
her visit been interrupted and terminated by the appearance of the
Eurasian doctor upon the scene. From your own account she recognized
that she had committed an indiscretion by coming there, and of the
doctor's anger--- which he was quite unable to conceal--you have told
me. Note also that the next episode was your being followed by Cassim,
the Nubian, undoubtedly with murderous intent. Then, recognizing that
he had hopelessly compromised himself, the Eurasian took desperate
means to silence you for ever."
"He did," I said, "and came very near to succeeding. But to return,
Gatton, to this problem of the image of Bâst. You see, the figure of
a cat was painted upon the case in which Sir Marcus's body was found
and the image of a cat was discovered inside the case. Then, you will
not have overlooked the significance of the fact that Edward Hines was
the recipient of a present from his unknown friend which also took the
form of a gold figure of a cat, and which I found, when I examined it,
to be of ancient Egyptian workmanship."
"Right!" said Gatton, and emphatically bringing his open hand down
upon the table: "I said at the very beginning of the case, Mr.
Addison, that it turned upon the history of this Egyptian goddess, and
I think my theory has been substantiated at every point."
"It has, Inspector," I agreed; "but I don't know that the fact
enlightens us very much; for it merely indicates that the man whom you
declare to be the central figure of the conspiracy is only a secondary
figure, and that all we know about the person whom we may regard as
the prime mover is that she is a woman--apparently possessing
supernormal eyes which glitter in the dark. She is also associated in
some way with the figure of Bâst. What is her relation to Dr. Damar
Greefe and in what way is she interested in the destruction of the
Coverly family?"
Gatton smoked in silence for a while, staring at me reflectively,
then:
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