CHAPTER XXX

TIME!

Four people went back to the Albany that night, and sat in Kit's snug den smoking and clearing up the odd threads which remained of the Triangle mystery. Bill Kennedy; Inspector Teal, once more phlegmatic and somnolent; Susan, a trifle pale but very lovely; and--Christopher Arden Bulsaid, Storm, Lord Hannassay.

"_Curtain_--and an effective tab, too," murmured Storm.

His face was considerably damaged, and every limb ached, but he felt supremely happy. He smiled. Between his bruised lips a cigarette canted skywards at the old optimistic, devil-may-care angle.

"Yeh! Lord Hannassay the late was the Alpha Triangle. You all know how he got the bug of revenge in his brain, and you can all imagine how it grew up till it filled his whole mind with ideas of making himself a tyrant over all London. He might've done it, given complete sanity to add to his genius. Lombroso'd tell you that wasn't possible. I hope Cesare's right--it's lucky for all concerned if he is. Hannassay couldn't put his scheme into practice till he had money. He got that when his father died in India, leaving him the title and bags of cash. Then Hannassay got busy. Created a Mr. Brome, in which _rôle_ he got in touch with the underworld; and an Oscar Raegenssen to handle the financial side of the organisation. Things got a shade too warm around Lord Hannassay, so we had Fake Death Number One. Later on, things began to hum around Siegfried the Pelican too, so Hannassay trotted out Fake Death Number Two and just carried on as Snooper. You can write in most of the rest for yourselves. Among other things, you'll be keen to know why Hannassay fainted when he saw me the day--night, rather--Morini went gunning for Miss Hawthorne. You remember there was only the reading-lamp on in the library? The shade was turned up, and the light came on my face. He thought he was seeing the ghost of his wife, Sylvia Mattock, Jimmy's sister. Hannassay started off his campaign of revenge by shopping Mattock over a forged cheque. Hannassay was rather a brute to my mother, so when Jimmy came out of stir he had a double grudge to settle off his own bat. Hannassay made his second bloomer when he took Mattock on in Raegenssen's. His idea was, of course, to stop him again, since the first shopping hadn't functioned strong enough. But Mattock got wise to a thing or two--one of them was when Raegenssen got in the way of my auto and spoke with Lord Hannassay's voice. That leaves only the Alpha part of it--a bit of supplementary evidence. You mayn't know it, but the Greek _alpha_ was supposed in its original form to represent the head and horns of an ox. Bulsaid--_bull's head_.... Got it?"

Storm stretched himself.

"And I think that's the complete rehash, according to Cocker," he remarked after a pause. "Oh, except for Uncle Joe."

"There's a great detective lost in Uncle Joe," said Teal sadly. "D'you know, he cut the wires connecting with the charge of nitrogen trichloride under Buckingham Palace? He heard the Apex threatening you with it and crept along behind the hangings till he found 'em. Uncle Joe's got nerve--he'll be able to write a wonderful book after to-night. By the way, somebody's going to have a ticklish job digging all that H.E. out before the ice melts off it," added Mr. Teal lusciously.

"I'll tell you how I figure it out that Uncle Joe found the house," said Storm. "Mattock, I think, must've joined up in the Triangle, once he got a line on the big boss, in the hope of finding out enough to put Hannassay in the Awful Place. Hannassay'd 've been glad to have him in, as it'd make shopping him easier. Matter of fact, Hannassay didn't go on with that scheme--he was too busy trying to get his fifteen million thick 'uns out of the Treasury. Before that, he'd also got Joan Sands in, to give him a bigger hold over Mattock than ever. That was all done through Snooper. Snooper had the telephone tapped and the bookcase put in, and told each of 'em separately not to touch it or talk about it. Mattock didn't associate Snooper with the Triangle at that time, or we'd have been saved a lot of trouble, so he obeyed orders. God knows why! Anyway, after the Piccadilly Circus explosion, Mattock got less dumb. He put two and two together and made--Snooper! So he went chasing Snooper last night, and Uncle Joe trailed _him_. They went down Buckingham Gate in procession, and all landed up in the right place. If we owe something to Uncle Joe, we owe a darn sight more to Jimmy! I said he was going to kill Raegenssen, and, by hookey! he did. What's happened to Uncle Joe, by the way?"

Teal grimaced.

"Last time I saw him, he was rushing round to talk to Joan. He's been talking to her and pulling the sympathy gag nearly all day. How any man can be so keen on studying criminology," said Mr. Teal, wilfully dense, "beats me."

The four of them had dined together, and the silent-footed Cork had not long cleared the table and taken his departure. The coffee cups in front of them were still warm, and yet already a subtle restraint had forced itself into the air. Two of the guests began to wonder if, even in that short time, they had not overstayed their welcome.

Mr. Assistant Commissioner William Kennedy glared at Mr. Central Detective-Inspector Teal, and Mr. Teal stared sombrely back at Mr. Kennedy with sleepy eyes. Solemnly each of them nodded to the other.

As one man, they rose to their feet.

"I've got a lot of work to get through before I can seek my well-earned rest," said Bill gravely. "Your own particular jaunt may be over, but crime goes on for ever."

"I," said the drowsy Teal, "have been working all day, and I'm very tired."

In the sacred cause of Accuracy, one must put it on record that Storm lapsed lamentably from strictly good manners. He expressed no regret that they could not stay longer, nor did he beg them to remain. In fact, he bade them farewell in haste, as if he were afraid that they might change their minds. Only when they were irrevocably hatted and gloved did he become aware of his duties as a host.

"Not even a quick one before you go?" he suggested half-heartedly.

Mr. Teal shook his head, shifting his gum to the other side of his mouth.

"It's bad for the heart," he said. "Fat men didn't ought to drink...."

Storm closed the door and came back into the sitting-room. He sat on the table, swinging his legs and singing a little tune. Deliberately he crushed out the stump of his cigarette in the ash tray.

Susan got up.

"I suppose I ought to be going, too," she said.

But she did not go.

THE END