He struck a match and lit the office lamp. Having done so, he looked at Ellison. His surprise found vent in a little cry.

"My dear chap, you do looked hipped indeed. Hold on a second."

He fled the scene, to return two minutes later with the whiskey bottle and a gla.s.s. Having given him a strong dose of the spirit, he said:

"Sit yourself down and try and tell me all about it. Who knows but what I may be in a position to help you?"

Thereupon Ellison told him everything.

"By Jove!" was the rejoinder, "I don't like the look of things at all.

It's a bad business--a very bad business. Somebody has evidently found out about the pearl, got a duplicate made, and palmed it off on you. Is it possible to have one made here, d'you think?"

"Nothing easier. Any of the Cinghalese over the way could make one."

"Then he must have got one there, taken the real one, and subst.i.tuted this in place of it. Now whom have you told about it? Think well."

"n.o.body--bar Murkard, and of course he does not count. Why, I have never even told you."

"I'm precious glad you haven't, or you might have fancied I had purloined it. Well, we must dismiss Murkard from our minds; he is like Caesar's wife, above suspicion. Now who had admittance to that safe? Any duplicate keys?"

"Only one."

"And who has that?"

"Murkard. It is necessary that he should have one, as I am so often away."

"Humph! This is certainly a tangled skein. Has anyone been away from the island within the last few days?"

"Not a soul."

"Well, we must roust out Murkard, and see if he can help us."

"He's not here."

"Not here--what d'ye mean? I saw him here this afternoon."

"He went across to the township at sundown, just before the dealer came."

Merton whistled.

"Look here, Ellison, you believe, though I've only known you a short time, that I'm a firm friend of yours, don't you?"

"Of course I do. You need not ask that."

"Well, I'm going to hit you pretty hard on a soft spot. You'll hate me for it, but as things are now I can't help that. This is not a time for half measures."

"What are you driving at?"

"Hold on, and you'll see. How long have you known Murkard?"

"No, no! it won't do, Merton. That dog won't fight. You needn't bring Murkard into the business at all. He knows nothing of it, I'll stake my life."

"Don't be foolish. I only ask you how long you've known him?"

"About three years."

"What was he when you knew him first?"

"Well, to tell the truth, he was in very much the same condition as myself."

"A dead-beat--beach-comber?"

"Well, if you put it like that--yes!"

"You know nothing of his history?"

"Nothing. He's not the sort of man to talk of his past."

"I believe you. Well, look here, Ellison, I'm going to tell you his past."

"How do you know it?"

"Never mind, it is enough that I do know it."

"Well, I don't want to hear it. You'll never make me think him guilty, so don't waste your breath trying."

"Perhaps not, but you _must_ know his career. You owe it to yourself, and, pardon my saying so, you owe it to your wife to hear it."

"We'll leave my wife out of the question, thank you."

"Very good. That is of course your own affair. I will be as brief as I can. You must put two and two together yourself. In the first place, Murkard is not his name--what it is, does not matter. I'm an old friend of his family, so I dare not tell you. He started life with everything in his favour, consequently his fall was the greater."

"How did he fall?"

"He was deeply in debt. To get out of his difficulties he appropriated--I won't use a stronger term--some diamonds belonging to a lady in whose house he was staying. She was reluctantly compelled to prosecute, and he received a sentence of five years' penal servitude. He served his time, and then vanished from England and the ken of all those who knew him."

"Is this true, or are you lying to me?"

"Ellison, if you were not a little off your balance, I should resent that question. I am a man of honour, and I don't tell lies."

"I beg your pardon. I am not myself by a great deal to-night. Forgive me. Poor Murkard!"

"Poor devil! Yes, you may well say that. But don't you see, Ellison, if that happened once it might happen again. What is the evidence? You would not cheat yourself out of a valuable pearl, would you? What else could get at the safe? Only Murkard. He has been ill--delirious. Perhaps the value of the thing preyed upon his mind, and he may have taken it out of the safe while off his head. That is the charitable conclusion to come to. At any rate, his disappearance to-day is a point against him, you must admit that. If I were you I would certainly not believe him guilty till I had proved it, but just as certainly I should try to find him and see if he knows anything about it. D'you know, I rather think you owe as much, in common fairness, to him. If he denies any knowledge of the affair--well, in that case you must decide for yourself whether you know him well enough to believe him. Don't you think I'm right?"

"I do. Honestly, I do."

"Very well then. Pack your traps, pull yourself together, and go across and see if you can find him. You'll know the truth the sooner--or, perhaps, what would be better, let me go."