1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:06,240 Speaker 1: The game played in the dark by Ernest Brammer. It's 2 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:11,359 a funny thing, Sir, said Inspector Beadle, regarding mister Carrados, 3 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:14,640 with the pensive respect that he always extended towards the 4 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:19,480 blind amateur. It's a funny thing, but nothing seems to 5 00:00:19,519 --> 00:00:22,320 go on abroad. Are but what you'll find some trace 6 00:00:22,359 --> 00:00:24,920 of it here in London if you take trouble to 7 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:31,039 look in the right quarter, contributed Carrados. Why yes, agreed 8 00:00:31,079 --> 00:00:35,000 the inspector. But nothing comes of it nine times out 9 00:00:35,039 --> 00:00:38,240 of ten, cause it thou wants particular business to look here. 10 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:40,960 All the thing's been taken up and finished from the 11 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:46,000 other end. I don't mean ordinary murders or single handed burglaries, 12 00:00:46,039 --> 00:00:49,960 of course, but a modest ring of professional pride betrayed 13 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:56,240 the quiet enthusiast. We'll first class crimes the state Antonio 14 00:00:56,359 --> 00:01:02,679 five percent bond coupons, suggested Cardos. Oh you're right, mister 15 00:01:02,759 --> 00:01:07,040 Carandors Beadle shook his head sadly, as though perhaps on 16 00:01:07,079 --> 00:01:11,640 that occasion someone ought to have looked. A man has 17 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:14,319 a fit in the Inquiry Office of the Agent General 18 00:01:14,359 --> 00:01:18,640 for British Equatoria and two hundred and fifty thousand pounds 19 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,840 worth of fake securities is the result in Mexico. Then 20 00:01:22,879 --> 00:01:26,159 look at that jade phil Fox charm pawn for one 21 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:28,959 and three down the basin, and the use that could 22 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:31,799 have been made of it at the Carkoff whichual murder 23 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:36,120 trial the West Hampstead had lost memory puzzle, and the 24 00:01:36,159 --> 00:01:39,599 barry Per bomb conspiracy that might have been smothered if 25 00:01:39,599 --> 00:01:44,319 one had known quite true, sir, and the three children 26 00:01:44,359 --> 00:01:50,280 of that Chicago millionaire Cyrus V. Bunting, wasn't it kidnapped 27 00:01:50,319 --> 00:01:54,040 him broad daylight outside the New York Lyric And here, 28 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,760 three weeks later the dumb girl who chalked the ball 29 00:01:57,799 --> 00:02:02,359 at Charing Cross. The reading on in a financial article 30 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:05,799 that every piece of foreign gold had a string from 31 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:09,639 it leading to thread Needle Street A vigorous speech, so, 32 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:14,960 of course, but apt enough, I don't doubt well. It 33 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,840 seems to me that every big crime done abroad leaves 34 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:23,080 a finger print here in London, if only, as you say, 35 00:02:23,439 --> 00:02:27,479 we look in the right quarter and at the right moment, 36 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:32,439 added Carrados, the time is often the present, the place, 37 00:02:32,599 --> 00:02:36,039 the spot between our very noses. We take a step, 38 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:40,919 and the chance has gone forever the inspector nodded and 39 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:47,120 contributed a weighty monosterable of sympathetic agreement, the most prosaic 40 00:02:47,159 --> 00:02:50,280 of men, in the pursuit of his ordinary duties. It 41 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:54,639 nevertheless subtly appealed to some half dormant streak of vanity 42 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:58,159 to have his profession taken romantically when there was no 43 00:02:58,319 --> 00:03:04,199 serious work on hand. No, perhaps not for ever in 44 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:07,840 one case in a thousand, after all, amended the blind 45 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:11,800 man thoughtfully. This perpetual duel between the law and the 46 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,520 criminal has sometimes appeared to me in the terms of 47 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:18,439 a game of cricket. Inspector, Law is in the field, 48 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,400 the criminal at the wicked. If Law makes a mistake, 49 00:03:22,879 --> 00:03:26,080 sends down a loose ball or drops a catch, the 50 00:03:26,159 --> 00:03:29,159 criminal scores a little or has another lease of life. 51 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:32,759 But if he makes a mistake, if he lets a 52 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:37,240 straight ball pass or spoons towards a steady man, he's done. 53 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:41,319 For his mistakes are fatal. Those of the law are 54 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:47,199 only temporary and retrievable. Very good, Sir, said mister Beadle rising. 55 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,080 The conversation had taken place in the study at the Turrets, 56 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:56,280 where Beadle had found occasion to present himself very apt. Indeed, 57 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:00,879 I must remember that well, Sir, I hope that this 58 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:06,120 Guido the Razor Lot will send a catch in our direction, 59 00:04:07,479 --> 00:04:12,879 that this delicately marked Inspector Beadle's instinctive contempt for Guido. 60 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,839 As a craftsman, he was compelled on his reputation to 61 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:21,120 respect him, and he had accordingly availed himself of Carrados's 62 00:04:21,199 --> 00:04:26,000 friendship for a confabulation. As a man, he was a foreigner, 63 00:04:26,439 --> 00:04:30,199 worse an Italian, and if left to his own resources, 64 00:04:30,399 --> 00:04:34,800 the Inspector would have proposed, to his sinuous flexibility, those rigid, 65 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:38,800 essentially Britannia metal methods of the force that strike the 66 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:44,480 impartial observers so ponderous, so amateurish and conventional, and it 67 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:50,959 must be admitted, often so curiously and inexplicably successful. The 68 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:55,399 offense that had circuitously brought il Rasojo and his Lot 69 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:59,519 within the cognizance of Scotland Yard outlines the kind of 70 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:03,399 story that is discreetly hinted at by the society paragraphist 71 00:05:03,519 --> 00:05:07,720 of the day, politely disbelieved by the astute reader, and 72 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,759 then at last laid indiscreetly bare in all its details 73 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:17,120 by the inevitable princessly recollections of a generation later. It 74 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:21,439 centered round an impending royal marriage in Vienna, a certain 75 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,439 jealous countess X. There you have the discretion of a 76 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,360 paragrapher and a document or two that might be relied 77 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:34,199 upon the aristocratic biographer will impartially sum up the contingencies 78 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,319 to play the deuce with the approaching nuptials. To procure 79 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:42,160 the evidence of these papers, the countess enlisted the services 80 00:05:42,199 --> 00:05:45,639 of Guido, as reliable as scoundrel as she could probably 81 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:49,439 have selected for the commission to a certain point to 82 00:05:49,519 --> 00:05:53,279 the abstraction of the papers. In fact, he succeeded, but 83 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:57,600 it was with pursuit close upon his heels. There was 84 00:05:57,639 --> 00:06:00,639 that disadvantage of employing a rogue to do the work 85 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:05,360 that implicated roguery. For whatever moral right the countess had 86 00:06:05,399 --> 00:06:08,839 to the property, her accomplice had no legal right whatever 87 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,439 to his liberty. On half a dozen charges, at least 88 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:15,160 he could be arrested on site in as many capitals 89 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:19,040 of Europe. He slipped out of Vienna by the Nord Barn, 90 00:06:19,439 --> 00:06:25,000 with his destination known, resourcefully stopped the express outside Sasslau 91 00:06:25,079 --> 00:06:29,079 and got away across to Khrudin. By this time the 92 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:31,839 game and the moves were pretty well understood in more 93 00:06:31,879 --> 00:06:37,160 than one keenly interested quarter. Diplomacy supplemented justice, and the 94 00:06:37,199 --> 00:06:40,680 immediate history of Guido became that of a fox hunted 95 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:43,839 from covert to covert, with all the familiar earths stopped 96 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:47,639 against him. From partu Bits, he passed on to Glatz, 97 00:06:47,959 --> 00:06:52,079 reached Breslau, and went down the Odor to Schetin, out 98 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:55,519 of the liberality who his employer's advances, he had ample 99 00:06:55,639 --> 00:06:58,839 funds to keep going, and he dropped and rejoined his 100 00:06:58,879 --> 00:07:03,279 accomplices as the occasion ruled. A week's harrying found him 101 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:06,360 in Copenhagen, still with no time to spare, and he 102 00:07:06,439 --> 00:07:10,160 missed his purpose. There. He crossed to Malmo by ferry, 103 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,639 took the connecting night train to Stockholm, and the same 104 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:17,480 morning sailed down the SATs Yon, ostensibly bound for Obo, 105 00:07:18,079 --> 00:07:21,160 intending to cross the Ravow and so get back to 106 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,759 Central Europe by the less frequented routes. But in this 107 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:28,920 move again luck was against him, and receiving warning just 108 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,240 in time, and by the mysterious agency that had so 109 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,439 far protected him, he contrived to be dropped from the 110 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:38,879 steamer by boat among the islands of the crowded archipelago, 111 00:07:39,519 --> 00:07:42,800 made his way to Helsingfor, and within forty eight hours 112 00:07:42,879 --> 00:07:45,680 was back again on the Friehaven, with pursuit for the 113 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:49,600 moment blinked and a breathing time to the good. To 114 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,879 appreciate the exact significance of these wanderings, it is necessary 115 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:58,079 to recall the conditions. Guido was not zigzagging a course 116 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:01,839 across Europe in an aimless search for the picturesque, still 117 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,560 less inspired by any love of the melodramatic. To him, 118 00:08:05,759 --> 00:08:10,279 every step was vital, each tangent or rebound, the necessary 119 00:08:10,319 --> 00:08:14,519 outcome of his much badgered plans. In his pocket reposed 120 00:08:14,519 --> 00:08:17,439 the papers for which he had run grave risks. The 121 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:20,639 price agreed upon for the service was sufficiently lavished to 122 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:24,639 make the risks worth taking time after time. But in 123 00:08:24,759 --> 00:08:28,160 order to consummate the transaction, it was necessary that the 124 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:33,200 booty should be put into his employer's hand. Halfway across Europe. 125 00:08:33,399 --> 00:08:38,120 That employer was waiting with such patience as she could maintain, herself, 126 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:42,279 watched and shadowed at every step. The Countess X was 127 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:45,960 sufficiently exalted to be personally immune from the high handed 128 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,960 methods of her country's secret service, but every approach to 129 00:08:50,039 --> 00:08:53,600 her was tapped. The problem for Guido was to earn 130 00:08:53,639 --> 00:08:56,559 a long enough respite to enable him to communicate his 131 00:08:56,639 --> 00:09:00,240 position to the Countess, and for her to go to 132 00:09:00,279 --> 00:09:04,320 reach him by her trusty hand. Then the whole fabric 133 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:08,080 of intrigue could fall to pieces. But so far Guido 134 00:09:08,159 --> 00:09:11,000 had been kept successfully on the run, and in the 135 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:16,600 meanwhile time was pressing. They lost him after the utoler 136 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:21,960 Bedell reported in explaining the circumstances to Max Carrados. Three 137 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:24,480 days later they found that he had been back again 138 00:09:24,519 --> 00:09:28,480 in Copenhagen, but by that time he'd flown. Now they're 139 00:09:28,519 --> 00:09:32,279 without a trace except the inference of these orange peach 140 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:36,200 blossom agonies in the times. But the Countess has gone 141 00:09:36,279 --> 00:09:39,799 hurriedly to Paris, and Lava Yard thinks it all points 142 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:43,960 to London. I suppose the Foreign Office is anxious to 143 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:49,840 oblige just now. I expect so, sir, agreed Bidell. But 144 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,679 of course my instructions don't come from that quarter. What 145 00:09:53,799 --> 00:09:55,799 a be used to us is that it would be 146 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,559 a feather in our caps. They are still a little 147 00:09:58,639 --> 00:10:02,519 sore up at the Yard about hands the piper naturally 148 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:07,240 assented Carrados, Well, I'll see what I can do. If 149 00:10:07,279 --> 00:10:11,120 there's any real occasion, let me know anything, And if 150 00:10:11,159 --> 00:10:14,000 you see your chance yourself, come round for a talk 151 00:10:14,039 --> 00:10:18,080 if you like, on today's Wednesday. I shall be in 152 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,759 at any rate on Friday evening. Without being a precision, 153 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:26,799 the blind man was usually exact in such matters. There 154 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:29,440 are those who hold that an engagement must be kept 155 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:32,639 at all hazard, men who would miss a deathbed message 156 00:10:32,639 --> 00:10:36,039 in order to keep literal faith with a beggar. Cardos 157 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:41,200 took lower, if more substantial ground. My word, he sometimes 158 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:45,320 had occasion to remark, is subject to contingencies, like everything 159 00:10:45,399 --> 00:10:48,799 else about me. If I make a promise, it is 160 00:10:48,879 --> 00:10:52,080 conditional on nothing which seems more important to rising to 161 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,919 counteract it. And that among men of sense is understood. 162 00:10:56,879 --> 00:11:00,879 And as it happened, something did occur. On this occasion. 163 00:11:01,879 --> 00:11:04,559 He was summoned to the telephone just before dinner on 164 00:11:04,639 --> 00:11:08,799 Friday evening to receive a message personally greater X. His 165 00:11:08,879 --> 00:11:12,000 secretary had taken the call, but came in to say 166 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,360 that the caller would give him nothing beyond his name, Bredna. 167 00:11:15,919 --> 00:11:19,440 The name was unknown to Carrados, but such incidents were 168 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:25,159 not uncommon, and he proceeded to comply. Yes, he responded, 169 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:30,120 I am Max Cardoff speaking what is it? Oh, it's 170 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:33,240 you Sorr is it er? Mister Brickwill told me to 171 00:11:33,279 --> 00:11:37,360 get to you direct. Well are you all right, Brickwill? 172 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:42,080 Are you the British Museum? Yes, yes, I am Brebner 173 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:46,519 in the Chaldean art department, the agreed stew here. We 174 00:11:46,759 --> 00:11:48,720 just found out that some one has managed to get 175 00:11:48,799 --> 00:11:51,919 access to the second inner Greek room and looted some 176 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,960 of the cabinets there. It's all a mystery as yet. 177 00:11:56,039 --> 00:12:00,039 What is missing? Asked Cardos. It's so far we we 178 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:02,679 can only definitely speak of about the six trays of 179 00:12:02,759 --> 00:12:07,720 Greek coins one hundred tow one hundred and twenty roughly important. 180 00:12:08,639 --> 00:12:12,960 The line conveyed a caustic bark of tragic amusement. Why yes, 181 00:12:13,039 --> 00:12:15,639 I should say so. The beggar seems to have known 182 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:20,200 his business, all fine specimens for the best period Syracuse 183 00:12:20,279 --> 00:12:27,240 Misana croton amphipholis Eanese, the Vientos kimmons. The chief quite wept. 184 00:12:28,039 --> 00:12:31,120 Carados groaned. There was not a peace among them that 185 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:35,679 he had not handled lovingly. What are you doing, he demanded. 186 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:40,000 Mister Brickwell has been to Scotland Yard and our advice. 187 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:43,159 We are not making it public as yet. We don't 188 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:45,240 want a hint of it to be dropped anywhere. If 189 00:12:45,279 --> 00:12:48,759 you don't mind, sir, that will be all right. It 190 00:12:48,919 --> 00:12:50,720 was for that reason that I was to speak with 191 00:12:50,799 --> 00:12:55,000 you personally. We're notifying the chief dealers and likely collectors 192 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:57,120 to whom the coins or some of them may be 193 00:12:57,240 --> 00:12:59,559 offered at once if it is thought. We haven't found 194 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:03,679 out yet. Judging from the expertness displayed in the selection, 195 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,320 we don't think there's any danger of the lot being 196 00:13:06,399 --> 00:13:09,399 sold to a pawnbroker or metal dealer, so that we're 197 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:14,200 running very little real risk in not advertising the loss. Yes, 198 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:18,919 probably it is as well, replied Kardos. Is there anything 199 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:22,720 that mister Brickwell wishes me to do? Only this, sir. 200 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:26,120 If you are offered a suspicious lot of Greek coins, 201 00:13:26,279 --> 00:13:28,440 or hear of them, would you have a look, I 202 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,799 mean ascertain whether they are likely to be ours, and 203 00:13:31,919 --> 00:13:35,159 if you think they are, communicate with us in Scotland 204 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:40,399 Yard at once. Certainly, replied the blind man. Tell mister 205 00:13:40,399 --> 00:13:42,960 Brickwall that he can rely on me. If any indication 206 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:46,480 comes my way, convey my regrets to him and tell 207 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:49,600 him that I feel the loss quite as a personal one. 208 00:13:50,159 --> 00:13:52,399 I don't think that you and I have met as yet, 209 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:57,480 mister Brebner, No, sir, said the voice diffidently, But I 210 00:13:57,519 --> 00:14:00,320 have looked forward to the pleasure. Perhaps it's unfor at 211 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:04,720 business will bring me an introduction. Your very kind was 212 00:14:04,799 --> 00:14:10,279 Carrados's acknowledgment of the compliment. Any time, I was going 213 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:12,679 to say that, perhaps you don't know my weakness, but 214 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,080 I have spent many pleasant hours over your wonderful collection 215 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:22,480 that ensures the personal element. Good Bye. Carrados was really 216 00:14:22,519 --> 00:14:25,960 disturbed by the loss, although his concern was tempered by 217 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:28,720 the reflection that the coins would inevitably, in the end 218 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:32,600 find their way back to the museum. That their restitution 219 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:36,120 might involve ransom to the extent of several thousand pounds 220 00:14:36,559 --> 00:14:40,120 was the least poignant detail of the situation. The one 221 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:44,039 harrowing thought was that the booty might, through stress or ignorance, 222 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:48,120 find its way into the melting pot. That dreadful contingency, 223 00:14:48,399 --> 00:14:51,639 remote but insistent, was enough to affect the appetite of 224 00:14:51,679 --> 00:14:56,679 the blind enthusiast. He was expecting Inspector Beadle, who would 225 00:14:56,679 --> 00:14:58,879 be full of his own case. But he could not 226 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:04,120 altogether dismiss the aspects of possibility that Brebner's communication opened 227 00:15:04,159 --> 00:15:07,799 before his mind. He was still concerned with the chances 228 00:15:07,799 --> 00:15:11,639 of destruction, and a very indifferent companion for Greater ex 229 00:15:11,679 --> 00:15:16,360 who alone sat with him. When Parkinson presented himself. Dinner 230 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:20,159 was over, but Carrados had remained rather longer than his custom, 231 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:25,679 smoking his mild Turkish cigarette in silence. A lady wishes 232 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:28,320 to see you, sir. She said, you would not know 233 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:32,399 her name, but that her business would interest you. The 234 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:35,720 form of message was sufficiently unusual to take the attention 235 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:39,759 of both men. You don't know her, of course, Parkinson 236 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:45,000 inquired his master. For just a second, the immaculate Parkinson 237 00:15:45,039 --> 00:15:48,519 seemed tongue tied. Then he delivered himself in his most 238 00:15:48,559 --> 00:15:53,120 ceremonial strain. I regret to say that I cannot claim 239 00:15:53,159 --> 00:15:57,360 the advantage, sir, he replied. Better let me tackle her, Sir, 240 00:15:57,679 --> 00:16:01,639 suggested Greater X with easy confidence. It's probably a sub 241 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:04,960 The sportive offer was declined by a smile and a 242 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:08,840 shake of the head. Carrados turned to his attendant I 243 00:16:08,879 --> 00:16:11,440 shall be in the study. Parkinson, show her there. In 244 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:15,000 three minutes you stay and have another cigarette greater X. 245 00:16:15,279 --> 00:16:18,120 By that time she'll either have gone nor have interested me. 246 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,480 In three minutes time, Parkinson threw open the studied door. 247 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:28,720 The lady sir, he announced, Could he have seen Karados 248 00:16:28,759 --> 00:16:31,960 would have received the impression of a plainly, almost dowdily 249 00:16:32,039 --> 00:16:35,679 dressed young woman of buxom figure. She wore a light veil, 250 00:16:35,799 --> 00:16:38,879 but it was ineffective in concealing the unattraction of the 251 00:16:38,919 --> 00:16:42,720 face beneath. The features were fought, and the upper lip 252 00:16:42,919 --> 00:16:46,559 darkened with the more than incipient mustache of the southern brunette. 253 00:16:47,679 --> 00:16:51,360 The worse remained for a disfiguring rash had assailed patches 254 00:16:51,399 --> 00:16:55,000 of her skin. As she entered. She swept the room 255 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:59,679 and its occupant with a quiet but comprehensive survey. Please 256 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:03,440 take a chair, madam, you wish to see me. The 257 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:06,519 ghost of a demure smile flickered about her mouth as 258 00:17:06,519 --> 00:17:10,839 she complied, and in that moment her face seemed less uncomely. 259 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:14,079 Her eye lingered for a moment on a cabinet above 260 00:17:14,079 --> 00:17:16,960 the desk, and one might have noticed that her eye 261 00:17:17,039 --> 00:17:23,039 was very bright. Then she replied, you are Signor Carrados 262 00:17:23,519 --> 00:17:28,519 in the person. Carrados made his smiling admission and changed 263 00:17:28,559 --> 00:17:32,599 his position of fraction, possibly to catch her curiously pitched voice. 264 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:38,240 The better. They are great collector of the antiquities. I 265 00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:42,559 do collect a little, he admitted guardedly. Though you will 266 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:46,720 forgive me, Signora, if my language is not altogether good. 267 00:17:47,279 --> 00:17:49,359 And when I live at the Naples with my mother, 268 00:17:49,559 --> 00:17:52,880 we let boardings her chiefly to English and American. Sir, 269 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:55,880 I pick up the words a bit, since I many 270 00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:00,839 and gotti living Callaria. My English has gone nor read them. No, 271 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:04,480 you say an ARSTI yes, that is it, quite a rusty. 272 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,960 It is excellent, said Carrados. I am sure we shall 273 00:18:09,039 --> 00:18:13,799 understand one another perfectly. The lady shot a penetrating glance, 274 00:18:14,319 --> 00:18:17,759 but the blind man's expression was merely suave and courteous. 275 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:23,000 Then she continued, my husband is of the name of Raga, 276 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:27,599 Michhael Fraga. We have a vignyard and a little proverty 277 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:31,599 near Foranzanna. She paused to examine the tips of her 278 00:18:31,599 --> 00:18:36,240 gloves for quite an appreciable moment. Signor, she burst out, 279 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:40,119 with some vehemence, the laws of my country are not 280 00:18:40,319 --> 00:18:43,839 good at all from what I hear on all sides, 281 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:48,160 said Carrados, I am afraid that your country is not alone, 282 00:18:48,519 --> 00:18:52,799 that is in Forranzana, poor laborer jia Verde of name, 283 00:18:53,519 --> 00:18:57,519 continued the visitor, dashing volubly into her narrative. He is 284 00:18:57,599 --> 00:19:00,839 a one day a digging in the vignyard, the vineyard 285 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:05,200 of my husband, when his spade strikes itself upon an abstraction. 286 00:19:06,519 --> 00:19:10,319 AHAs is Yan, what have we here? And he goes 287 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:13,559 down upon his knees to see it is an oil 288 00:19:13,759 --> 00:19:18,920 jar of rederta signor such as once anciently used, and 289 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,720 in it is filled with the silver money. Yan is poor, 290 00:19:22,799 --> 00:19:26,480 but he is the wiser. Does he call upon the authorities? 291 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:30,720 And no, no, he understands that they are all corrupt. 292 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:34,519 He carries what he has found to my usband, for 293 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:37,039 he knows him to be a man of great honor. 294 00:19:38,079 --> 00:19:42,119 My husband also is of brief decision. His mind is 295 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:46,279 made up, Yan, He says, keep your mouth shut, this 296 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:50,839 will be your ultimate profit. Yan understands, for he can't 297 00:19:50,839 --> 00:19:55,000 trust my husband. He makes a sign of a mutual implication. 298 00:19:56,240 --> 00:20:00,000 Then he goes back to the spade digging my osband, 299 00:20:00,079 --> 00:20:03,039 and he understands a little of these things, but are 300 00:20:03,079 --> 00:20:06,440 not enough. We go to the collections of messina and 301 00:20:06,559 --> 00:20:10,640 apples and ifanoroma, and there we see other pieces of 302 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:15,480 silver manny similar and learn that they are of great value. 303 00:20:16,079 --> 00:20:18,920 They are of different sizes, but most will covering clearer 304 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:22,160 and of the thickness of two And on one side, 305 00:20:22,599 --> 00:20:25,720 imagine the great head of a peg and a deity, 306 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:30,720 none the other, nor so many things I cannot remember 307 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:37,240 what a gesture of circumferential despair indicated, the hopeless variety 308 00:20:37,279 --> 00:20:43,559 of design A bigger or quadriga of mules suggested karadas, 309 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:47,200 an eagle carrying off a hair, a figure flying with 310 00:20:47,279 --> 00:20:50,400 a wreath, a trophy of arms. Some of those perhaps 311 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:55,799 see is he man cried Madame farraja A. You understand 312 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,279 that I perceive a signor and we are very cautious, 313 00:20:59,319 --> 00:21:03,359 for on a reside is extocon and an unjust law. 314 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:07,279 See it is even forbidden to take these things out 315 00:21:07,279 --> 00:21:10,079 of the country. Yet if we try to dispose of 316 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:13,079 them at home, they will be seized and we punished. 317 00:21:13,079 --> 00:21:18,720 A rare trestora robato, what you call tresure troven and 318 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:23,400 belonging to the state. These coins, which are the industry 319 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:27,319 of Yan discovered and which had learned for so long 320 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:31,559 in the ground of my husbands a vignyard. So you 321 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:35,039 brought them to England as he is in your It 322 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:37,720 is a spoken of us, a land of justice, and 323 00:21:37,759 --> 00:21:43,480 a rich and nobility who buy these things at highest prices. Also, 324 00:21:43,599 --> 00:21:47,240 my speaking a dittle of the language would serve us here. 325 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,880 I suppose you have the coins for disposal, then you 326 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:56,680 can show them to me. My husband retains them. I 327 00:21:56,759 --> 00:21:59,960 will take you, but you must first give up para 328 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:04,720 pola do noorre of an English signor not to betray us, sir, 329 00:22:04,839 --> 00:22:10,240 or to speak of the circumstances to another. Carrados had 330 00:22:10,279 --> 00:22:14,720 already foreseen this eventuality and decided to accept it. Whether 331 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,480 a promise exacted on the plea of treasure Trove would 332 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:20,319 bind him to respect the despoilers of the British Museum 333 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:25,759 was a point for subsequent consideration. Prudence demanded that he 334 00:22:25,799 --> 00:22:29,200 should investigate the offer at once, and to cavil over. 335 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:33,480 Madame Ferraja's conditions would be fatal to that object. If 336 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:36,319 the coins were as there seemed little reason to doubt 337 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,680 the proceeds of the robbery. A modest ransom might be 338 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:43,519 the safest way of preserving irreplaceable treasures, and in that 339 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:47,920 case Carrados could offer his services as the necessary intermediary. 340 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:53,839 I give you the promise you require, Madame, he accordingly declared. 341 00:22:55,039 --> 00:22:59,640 It is soficiente assented, Madame. I will now take you 342 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:03,440 to the spot. It is necessary that you alone should 343 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,319 accompany me, For my husband is so distraught in the 344 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:10,880 country where he understands not a word of what is spoken, 345 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:15,400 that his poor spirit would cry, we are surrounded if 346 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,119 he thought tool strangers approached the house. Oh, he is 347 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:23,839 become most dreadful in his anxiety. My husband, imagine only 348 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:27,720 he keeps under fire a chuldron of molten lead, and 349 00:23:27,839 --> 00:23:30,240 he would not hesitate to plunge into it at this 350 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:35,799 treasure and obliterate it existence, Sir, if he imagined himself endangered, 351 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:42,000 so speculated Karrados inwardly, a likely precaution for a simple 352 00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:48,039 vine grower of Calabria. Very well, he assented aloud, I 353 00:23:48,079 --> 00:23:52,480 will go with you alone. Where is the place? Madame 354 00:23:52,559 --> 00:23:55,880 Vraja searched in the ancient purse that she discovered in 355 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:59,119 her rusty hand bag and produced a scrap of paper. 356 00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:03,839 People do not understand sometimes my ear my way of 357 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:10,480 saying it. She explained, Sit dear Ingbourne, May, I said Karados. 358 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:14,240 Stretching out his hand. He took the paper and touched 359 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:18,599 the writing with his fingertiss. Oh, yes, seven Heronsbourne Place. 360 00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:21,440 That is on the edge of Heronsbourne Park, is it not? 361 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:25,240 He transferred the paper casually to his desk as he 362 00:24:25,319 --> 00:24:29,160 spoke and stood up. How did you come, Madame Ferrajes. 363 00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:33,559 Madame Farage followed the curl of action with a discreet 364 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:37,599 smile that did not touch her voice. By a motor bus, 365 00:24:37,599 --> 00:24:42,400 sir first to one and then another, inquiring at every turning, 366 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:48,200 Oh but it trous in Termindaubler sighed the lady. My 367 00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:50,920 driver is off for the evening. I did not expect 368 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:53,079 to be going out, but I will phone up a 369 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:55,319 taxi and it will be at the gate as soon 370 00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:59,240 as we are. He despatched the message, and then turning 371 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:03,160 to the house teller, switched on to Greater Ex. I 372 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:06,799 am just going round to Heronsbourne Park, he explained, don't 373 00:25:06,839 --> 00:25:10,079 stay Greater X. But if anyone calls expecting to see me, 374 00:25:10,599 --> 00:25:13,359 they can say that I don't anticipate being away more 375 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:18,480 than an hour. Parkinson was hovering about the hall with 376 00:25:18,599 --> 00:25:22,240 quite novel officiousness. He pressed upon his master a succession 377 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:26,839 of articles that were not required. Over this usually complacent attendant, 378 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:31,240 the unattractive features of Madame Varraga appeared to exercise a 379 00:25:31,279 --> 00:25:35,480 stealthy fascination. For a dozen times the lady detected his 380 00:25:35,599 --> 00:25:39,319 eyes questioning her face, and a dozen times he looked 381 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:43,680 guiltily away again. But his incongruities could not delay for 382 00:25:43,759 --> 00:25:45,880 more than a few minutes the opening of the door. 383 00:25:47,279 --> 00:25:51,119 I do not accompany you, sir, he inquired, with the 384 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,200 suggestion plainly tendered in his voice. But it would be 385 00:25:54,279 --> 00:25:59,880 much better if he did not this time. Parkinson very well, sir. 386 00:26:00,799 --> 00:26:03,839 Is there any particular address which we can telephone in 387 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:08,880 case you are required? Sir? Mister greater X has instructions. 388 00:26:09,519 --> 00:26:14,720 Parkinson stood aside, his resources exhausted. Madame Farage laughed a 389 00:26:14,759 --> 00:26:19,480 little mockingly as they walked down the drive. Yon a man, sir, 390 00:26:19,559 --> 00:26:26,119 venteth I may eat your signor Carrados, sir, she declared vivaciously. Carrados, 391 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:29,920 who held the key of his usually exact attendants perturbation, 392 00:26:30,599 --> 00:26:34,759 for he himself had recognized in Madame Farrage the angelic 393 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:39,200 Nina Brun of the Sicilian Tetradram incident from the moment 394 00:26:39,279 --> 00:26:42,960 she opened her mouth admitted to himself the humor of 395 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,200 her audacity. But it was not until half an hour 396 00:26:46,279 --> 00:26:51,880 later that enlightenment rewarded Parkinson. Inspector Beadle had just arrived 397 00:26:52,279 --> 00:26:55,519 and was speaking with greater x when the conscientious valet, 398 00:26:55,759 --> 00:26:59,240 who had been winnowing his memory in solitude, broke in 399 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:02,400 upon them, more distressed than either had ever seen him 400 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:06,720 in his life before, and with the breathless introduction it 401 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,960 was the ears, Sir, I have her ears at last 402 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:14,480 poured out his tale of suspicion, recognition and his present fears. 403 00:27:15,599 --> 00:27:18,920 In the meantime, the two objects of his concern had 404 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:23,200 reached the gate. As the summoned taxicab drew up. Seven 405 00:27:23,319 --> 00:27:27,799 heronsbourn Place called carrados to the driver, and no No 406 00:27:28,279 --> 00:27:31,440 interposed the lady with decision and let him stop out 407 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:34,119 the beginning of the street. Her it is not far 408 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:36,599 to walk, and my husband would be on the verge 409 00:27:36,599 --> 00:27:40,000 of distraction if he thought in the dark that it 410 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:44,720 was the arrival of the police, who knows Black Edge Road, 411 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:49,799 opposite the end of Heron's Bourn Place amended Carrados. Heron's 412 00:27:49,839 --> 00:27:52,920 Born Place had the reputation, among those who were curious 413 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:56,680 in such matters of being the most reclusive residential spot 414 00:27:56,759 --> 00:28:00,359 inside the four mile circle. To earn that distant action, 415 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,240 it was needless to say a cul de sac. It 416 00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:07,039 bounded one side of Heronsbourne Park, but did not, at 417 00:28:07,079 --> 00:28:09,759 any point of its length give access to that pleasence. 418 00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:14,880 It was entirely devoted to unostentatious little houses, something between 419 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:18,400 the villa and the cottage, some detached and some in pairs, 420 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:23,079 but all possessing the endowment of larger, more umbrageous gardens 421 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:26,880 than can generally be secured within the radius. The local 422 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:32,839 house agent described them as delightfully old world or completely modernized, 423 00:28:33,039 --> 00:28:37,160 according to the requirement of the applicant. The cab was 424 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:41,039 dismissed at the corner, and Madame Farrage guided her companion 425 00:28:41,119 --> 00:28:44,680 along the silent and deserted way. She had begun to 426 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:49,000 talk with renewed animation, but her ceaseless chatter only served 427 00:28:49,039 --> 00:28:52,119 to emphasize the Carrados. The one fact that it was 428 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:55,960 contrived to disguise. I am not causing you to miss 429 00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:59,960 the house with looking after me. Number seven, Madame Farage, 430 00:29:00,079 --> 00:29:05,680 he interposed, No, certainly, she replied readily. It is a 431 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:09,200 little further. The numbers are from the upper winder, but 432 00:29:09,559 --> 00:29:13,279 we are there. Cho She stopped at the gate and 433 00:29:13,359 --> 00:29:17,039 opened it, still guiding him. They passed into a garden 434 00:29:17,559 --> 00:29:21,359 moist and sweet, scented with distillate odors of a dewy evening. 435 00:29:22,559 --> 00:29:25,720 As she turned to relatch the gate, the blind man 436 00:29:25,799 --> 00:29:29,720 endeavored politely to anticipate her. Between them, his hat fell 437 00:29:29,759 --> 00:29:34,680 to the ground. My clumsiness, he apologized, recovering it from 438 00:29:34,759 --> 00:29:39,559 the step. My old impulses and my present helplessness, alas 439 00:29:39,599 --> 00:29:46,359 Madame Perraja wonder Len's appuldance by experience, Sir, said Madame sagely. 440 00:29:47,119 --> 00:29:49,920 She was scarcely to know, poor lady. But even as 441 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:54,079 she uttered this triteaphorism under cover of darkness and his hat, 442 00:29:54,319 --> 00:29:58,119 mister Karados had just ruined his signaturing by blazoning a 443 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:02,599 golden seven upon her garden step, to establish its identity 444 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:05,880 if need be. A cul de sac that numbered from 445 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:11,799 the closed end seemed to demand some investigation. Seldom he 446 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:15,200 replied to her remark, but one goes on taking risks, 447 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:20,039 So we are there. Madame Farraga had opened the front 448 00:30:20,039 --> 00:30:22,759 door with the natch key. She dropped the latch and 449 00:30:23,039 --> 00:30:26,759 led Carados forward along the narrow hall. The room they 450 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:29,400 entered was at the back of the house, and from 451 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:33,759 the position of the road, it therefore overlook the park. Again, 452 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:39,759 the door was knocked behind them, they celebrated. Mister Ricard 453 00:30:39,799 --> 00:30:44,319 does sir, announced Madame Farraga, with a sparkle of triumph 454 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:47,640 in her voice. She waved her hand towards a lean 455 00:30:47,759 --> 00:30:50,680 dark man who had stood beside the door as they entered. 456 00:30:51,119 --> 00:30:56,559 And my asbander beneath our poor Ruth in the most 457 00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:01,359 fraternal manner, commented the dark man in the same derisive spirit. 458 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:07,079 But it is wonderful, the even more celebrated Monsieur Danpierre. 459 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:11,839 Unless I am mistaken, retorted Carrados, blandly, I bow on 460 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:17,640 our first real meeting, you knew, exclaimed the Danpierre of 461 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:22,680 the earlier incident. Incredulously, Stoker, you were right, and I 462 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:27,119 owe you a hundred lira. Who recognized unina ma? How 463 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:31,160 should I know? Demanded the real Madame Danpierre. Crossly this 464 00:31:31,359 --> 00:31:36,160 blind man himself. By chance, you pay a poor compliment 465 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:39,359 to your charming wife's personality to imagine that one could 466 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:42,519 forget her so soon. Put in Carrados, and you are 467 00:31:42,559 --> 00:31:48,960 Frenchman Danpierre. You knew Monsieur Carrados, and yet you ventured here. 468 00:31:49,519 --> 00:31:53,759 You are either a fool or a hero an enthusiast. 469 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:57,200 It is the same as both interposed. The lady, what 470 00:31:57,319 --> 00:31:59,640 did I tell you? What does it matter? If he 471 00:31:59,759 --> 00:32:06,720 ignized you see, surely you exaggerate, Monsieur Danpierre contributed Carrados. 472 00:32:07,119 --> 00:32:10,359 I may yet pay tribute to your industry. Perhaps I 473 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:13,839 regret the circumstance and the necessity, but I am here 474 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:16,400 to make the best of it. Let me see the 475 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,799 things Madame has spoken of, and then we can consider 476 00:32:19,839 --> 00:32:23,400 the detail of their price, either for myself or on 477 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:27,960 behalf of others. There was no immediate reply. From Don Pierre. 478 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:31,799 Came a saturnine chuckle, and from Madame Danpierre a titter 479 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:35,119 that accompanied a grimace. For one of the rare occasions 480 00:32:35,119 --> 00:32:38,599 in his life, Cardos found himself wholly out of touch 481 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:43,119 with the atmosphere of the situation. Instinctively, he turned his 482 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:46,079 face towards the other occupant of the room, the man 483 00:32:46,119 --> 00:32:49,480 addressed as Stoker, whom he knew to be standing near 484 00:32:49,519 --> 00:32:54,079 the window. This unfortunate business has brought me an introduction, 485 00:32:54,799 --> 00:32:59,319 said a familiar voice. For one dreadful moment, the universe 486 00:32:59,359 --> 00:33:04,079 stood still round Carrados. Then, with the crash and grind 487 00:33:04,119 --> 00:33:08,799 of overwhelming mental tumult, the whole stratagy revealed itself, like 488 00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:12,279 the sections of a gigantic puzzle, falling into place before 489 00:33:12,279 --> 00:33:16,400 his eyes. There had been no robbery at the British Museum. 490 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:21,359 That plausible concoction was as fictitious as the intentionally transparent 491 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:26,559 tale of treasure Trove. Carrados recognized now how ineffective the 492 00:33:26,599 --> 00:33:29,640 one device would have been without the other in drawing him, 493 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:33,400 how convincing the two together, and whilst smarting at the 494 00:33:33,519 --> 00:33:36,880 humiliation of his plight, he could not restrain a dash 495 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:41,279 of admiration at the ingenuity, the accurately conjectured line of 496 00:33:41,319 --> 00:33:44,960 inference of the plot. It was again the familiar artifice 497 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:48,880 of the cunning pitfall, masked by the clumsily contrived trap 498 00:33:49,079 --> 00:33:52,720 just beyond it and straightway into it. He had blundered, 499 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:59,240 And this continued the same voice is Carrados, Max Carrados, 500 00:34:00,079 --> 00:34:04,160 on whose perspicuity a government only the present government, emmy 501 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:09,800 injustice say, depends to outwit the undesirable alien. My country, 502 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:16,480 oh my country? Is it really, Monsieur Carrados, inquired Dompierre 503 00:34:16,639 --> 00:34:20,039 in polite sarcasm. Are you sure, Nina that you have 504 00:34:20,159 --> 00:34:25,280 not brought a man from Scotland yard instead? Maaster, he 505 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:27,800 is here. What more do you want? Do not mark 506 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:32,719 the poor, sightless and gentlemen? Answered Madame Dompierre in doubtful sympathy. 507 00:34:34,119 --> 00:34:38,400 That's exactly what I was wondering, ventured Carrados mildly. I 508 00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:42,800 am here. What more do you want? Perhaps you, mister Stoker, 509 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:48,320 excuse me. Stoker is a mere colloquial appellation based on 510 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:51,280 a trifling incident of my career in connection with the 511 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:55,800 disabled Liner. The title illustrates the childish weakness of the 512 00:34:55,800 --> 00:35:00,639 criminal classes for nicknames, together with their pitiable baldness invention. 513 00:35:01,079 --> 00:35:05,920 My real name is A Montmorency, mister Carrados, Eustace Montmorency. 514 00:35:07,519 --> 00:35:11,480 Thank you, mister Montmorency, said Carrados gravely. We are on 515 00:35:11,559 --> 00:35:14,079 opposite sides of the table here to night. But I 516 00:35:14,079 --> 00:35:15,880 should be proud to have been with you in the 517 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:21,800 stokehold of the Benvenuto. That was pleasure, muttered the Englishman. 518 00:35:22,199 --> 00:35:27,960 This is business, oh quite so, agreed Carrados. So far 519 00:35:28,079 --> 00:35:31,039 I am not exactly complaining, but I think it is 520 00:35:31,119 --> 00:35:34,320 high time to be told. And I addressed myself to 521 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:38,000 you why I have been decoyed here? And what your 522 00:35:38,039 --> 00:35:44,719 purpose is? Mister Montmorency turned to his accomplice Dampierre. He remarked, 523 00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:49,239 with great clearness, why the devil is mister Carrados kept standing? 524 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:55,119 Oh oh heaven, exclaimed Madame Danpierre with tragic resignation, and 525 00:35:55,199 --> 00:35:59,440 flung herself down on a couch. A scoozy grinned the 526 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:03,079 lean man, and with burlesque grace, he placed a chair 527 00:36:03,199 --> 00:36:09,519 for their guest's acceptance. Your curiosity is natural, continued mister Montmorency, 528 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:14,239 with a cold eye towards Dompierre's antics. Although I rarely 529 00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:16,320 think that by this time you ought to have guessed 530 00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:19,360 the truth. In fact, I don't doubt that you have guessed, 531 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:22,519 mister Carrados, and that you are only endeavoring to gain 532 00:36:22,639 --> 00:36:26,639 time for that reason, because it will perhaps convince you 533 00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:30,199 that we have nothing to fear. I don't mind obliging 534 00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:37,679 you better, Ason, murmured Dompierre uneasily. Thank you, Bill, said 535 00:36:37,679 --> 00:36:41,519 the Englishman, with genial effrontery. I won't fail to report 536 00:36:41,599 --> 00:36:46,559 your intelligence to the rassujour. Yes, mister Carrados, as you 537 00:36:46,679 --> 00:36:50,239 have already conjectured, it is the affair of the Countess 538 00:36:50,559 --> 00:36:54,480 X to which you owe this inconvenience. You will appreciate 539 00:36:54,559 --> 00:37:00,000 the compliment that underlies your temporary seclusion. I'm sure. When circumstance, 540 00:37:00,039 --> 00:37:03,440 chance has favored our plans and London became the inevitable 541 00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:06,960 place of meeting you and you alone stood in the way. 542 00:37:08,199 --> 00:37:11,079 We guessed that you would be consulted, and we frankly 543 00:37:11,119 --> 00:37:15,840 feared your intervention. You were consulted. We know that Inspector 544 00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:19,039 Beadle visited you two days ago, and he has no 545 00:37:19,119 --> 00:37:22,920 other case in hand. Your quiescence for just three days 546 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:26,519 had to be obtained at any cost. So here you are, 547 00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:32,360 I see, assented Carrados. And having got me here, how 548 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:36,400 do you propose to keep me? Of course, that detail 549 00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:40,679 has received consideration. In fact, we secured this furnished house 550 00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:44,719 solely with that in view. There are three courses before us. 551 00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:49,840 The first quite pleasant hangs on your acquiescence. The second, 552 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:54,679 more drastic, comes into operation if you decline the third. 553 00:37:55,679 --> 00:37:58,679 But really, mister Cardoss, I hope you wonn't obliged me 554 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:02,079 even to discuss the third. You will understand that it 555 00:38:02,159 --> 00:38:05,639 is rather objectionable for me to contemplate the necessity of 556 00:38:05,719 --> 00:38:09,119 two able bodied men having to use even the smallest 557 00:38:09,159 --> 00:38:12,760 amount of physical compulsion to one who is blind and helpless. 558 00:38:13,559 --> 00:38:16,440 I hope you will be reasonable and accept the inevitable. 559 00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:21,079 The inevitable is the one thing that I invariably accept, 560 00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:26,239 replied Carradoss. What does it involve? You will write a 561 00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:29,599 note to your secretary explaining that what you have learned 562 00:38:29,639 --> 00:38:33,039 at seven Heron's born Place makes it necessary for you 563 00:38:33,119 --> 00:38:36,599 to go immediately abroad for a few days. And, by 564 00:38:36,599 --> 00:38:39,920 the way, mister Carradoss, although this is Heron's born place, 565 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:44,639 it is not number seven. Dear dear me, sighed the 566 00:38:44,639 --> 00:38:47,719 prisoner you seem to have had me at every turn, 567 00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:53,280 Mister Montmorency an obvious precaution, the wider course of giving 568 00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:56,400 you a different street. Altogether, we reject it as being 569 00:38:56,440 --> 00:39:01,199 too risky in getting you here to continue to give 570 00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:04,760 conviction to the message. You will direct your man Parkinson 571 00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:08,000 to follow by the first boat train tomorrow with all 572 00:39:08,039 --> 00:39:11,000 the requirements for a short stay, and to put up 573 00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:17,519 at Mascots as usual, waiting your arrival there and very convincing, agreed, Karados, 574 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:21,679 Where shall I be in reality in a charming though 575 00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:25,599 rather isolated bungalow on the south coast. Your wants will 576 00:39:25,639 --> 00:39:29,119 be attended to. There's a boat you can row or fish. 577 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:31,679 You will be run down by motor car and brought 578 00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:34,800 back to your own gate. It's really very pleasant for 579 00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:39,159 a few days. I've often stayed there myself. Your recommendation 580 00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:43,079 carries way to suppose, for the sake of curiosity, that 581 00:39:43,159 --> 00:39:46,599 I decline. You will still go there, but your treatment 582 00:39:46,679 --> 00:39:50,119 will be commensurate with your behavior. The car to take 583 00:39:50,199 --> 00:39:53,039 you is at this moment waiting in a convenient spot 584 00:39:53,079 --> 00:39:55,599 on the other side of the park. We shall go 585 00:39:55,679 --> 00:39:58,280 down the garden at the back, cross the park and 586 00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:03,360 put you in the car. Anyway, And if I resist, 587 00:40:04,639 --> 00:40:07,159 the man whose pleasantry it had been to call himself 588 00:40:07,199 --> 00:40:13,280 Eustace Montmorency shrugged his shoulders. Don't be a fool, he said, tolerantly. 589 00:40:13,639 --> 00:40:15,880 You know who you are. Dealing with, and the kind 590 00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:19,199 of risks we run. If you call out or endanger 591 00:40:19,239 --> 00:40:22,199 us at a critical point, we shall not hesitate to 592 00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:26,800 silence you effectively. The blind man knew that it was 593 00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:29,840 no idle threat. In spite of a cloak of humor 594 00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:32,840 and fantasy thrown over the proceedings. He was in the 595 00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:37,360 power of coolly desperate men. The window was curtained and 596 00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:41,159 shuttered against sight and sound. The door behind him locked. 597 00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:45,719 Possibly at that moment a revolver threatened him. Certainly, weapons 598 00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:50,280 lay within reach of both his keepers. Tell me what 599 00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:55,199 to write, he asked, with capitulation in his voice. Don 600 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:59,440 Pierre twirled his mustachios in relieved approval. Madame laughed from 601 00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:01,480 her place on the couch and picked up a book, 602 00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:05,760 watching Montmorency over the cover of its pages. As for 603 00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:09,760 that gentleman, he masked his satisfaction by the practical business 604 00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:13,239 of placing on the table before Carrados. The accessories of 605 00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:17,280 the letter put into your own words the message that 606 00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:23,199 I outline just now, perhaps are to make it altogether natural. 607 00:41:23,360 --> 00:41:25,599 I had better write on a page of the notebook 608 00:41:25,639 --> 00:41:30,519 that I always use, suggested Carrados. Do you wish to 609 00:41:30,599 --> 00:41:35,360 make it natural, demanded Montmorency, with latent suspicion. If the 610 00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:38,000 miscarriage of your plan is to result in my head 611 00:41:38,039 --> 00:41:44,320 being not, yes, I do, was the reply. Good chuckled Dompierre, 612 00:41:44,639 --> 00:41:48,679 and sought to avoid mister Montmorenc's cold glance by turning 613 00:41:48,719 --> 00:41:51,440 on the electric table lamp for the blind man's benefit. 614 00:41:52,079 --> 00:41:57,880 Madame Dompierre laughed shrilly. Thank you, monsieur, said Cardos, you 615 00:41:57,960 --> 00:42:01,039 have done quite right. What is like you is warmth 616 00:42:01,119 --> 00:42:07,400 to me, heat, energy, inspiration. Now to business. He took 617 00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:10,239 out the pocket book he had spoken of and leisurely 618 00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:13,000 proceeded to flatten it down upon the table before him, 619 00:42:13,599 --> 00:42:17,239 as his tranquil, pleasant eyes ranged the room. Meanwhile, it 620 00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:20,119 was hard to believe that the shutters of an impenetrable 621 00:42:20,199 --> 00:42:23,960 darkness lay between them and the world. They rested for 622 00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:26,760 a moment on The two accomplices who stood beyond the 623 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:30,559 table picked out Madame Danpierre, lolling on the sofa to 624 00:42:30,599 --> 00:42:35,079 his right, and measured the proportions of the long, narrow room. 625 00:42:35,639 --> 00:42:38,079 They seemed to note the positions of the window at 626 00:42:38,079 --> 00:42:40,480 the one end and the door almost at the other, 627 00:42:41,079 --> 00:42:44,559 and even to take into account the single pendent electric light, 628 00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:48,519 which up till then had been the sole illuminant. You 629 00:42:48,639 --> 00:42:54,719 prefer pencil, asked Montmorency. I generally use it for casual purposes, 630 00:42:55,079 --> 00:42:59,079 but not, he added, touching the point critically like this, 631 00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:03,280 alert for any sign of retaliation. They watched him take 632 00:43:03,320 --> 00:43:07,119 an insignificant penknife from his pocket and begin to trim 633 00:43:07,159 --> 00:43:10,719 the pencil. Was there in his mind any mad impulse 634 00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:14,960 to force conclusions with that puny weapon. Don Pierre worked 635 00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:18,840 his face into a fiercer expression and touched reassuringly the 636 00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:22,800 handle of his knife. Montmorency looked on for a moment, 637 00:43:23,199 --> 00:43:26,519 and then, whistling softly to himself, turned his back on 638 00:43:26,599 --> 00:43:30,440 the table and strolled towards the window, avoiding Madame Nina's 639 00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:36,159 pursuant eye. Then, with overwhelming suddenness, it came, and its 640 00:43:36,199 --> 00:43:41,000 form altogether unexpected. Carrados had been putting the last strokes 641 00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:44,239 to the pencil, whittling it down upon the table. There 642 00:43:44,239 --> 00:43:47,400 had been no hasty movement, no violent act to give 643 00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:51,199 them warning. Only the little blade had pushed itself nearer 644 00:43:51,239 --> 00:43:54,960 and nearer to the electric light cord lying there, and 645 00:43:55,199 --> 00:44:00,239 suddenly and instantly the room was plunged into absolute darkness 646 00:44:00,960 --> 00:44:04,159 to the door. Tom shouted Montmorency in a flash. I'm 647 00:44:04,199 --> 00:44:06,039 at the window. Don't let him pass, and we are 648 00:44:06,079 --> 00:44:10,840 all right. I am here, replied Don Pierre from the door. 649 00:44:12,079 --> 00:44:15,000 He will not attempt to pass. Came the quiet voice 650 00:44:15,039 --> 00:44:18,400 of Carrodors from across the room. You are now all 651 00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:22,159 exactly where I want you. You are both covered. If 652 00:44:22,199 --> 00:44:25,360 either moves an inch, I fire, and remember that I 653 00:44:25,440 --> 00:44:29,079 shoot by sound, not sight. But but what does it mean, 654 00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:33,519 stammered Montmorency, above the despairing wail of Madame Don Pierre. 655 00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:37,519 It means that we are now on equal terms, three 656 00:44:37,519 --> 00:44:41,199 blind men in a dark room. The numerical advantage that 657 00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:44,239 you possess is counterbalance by the fact that you are 658 00:44:44,360 --> 00:44:50,440 out of your element. I am in mine, dom, whispered 659 00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:54,679 Montmorency across the dark space. Strike a match I have none. 660 00:44:55,320 --> 00:44:58,039 I would not, Don Pierre, if I were, you, advised 661 00:44:58,079 --> 00:45:03,400 Carados with a short laugh, it might be dangerous. At once, 662 00:45:03,440 --> 00:45:06,000 his voice seemed to leap into a passion. Drop that 663 00:45:06,079 --> 00:45:09,199 match box, he cried. You are standing on the brink 664 00:45:09,199 --> 00:45:11,519 of your grave, you fool. Drop it, I say, let 665 00:45:11,519 --> 00:45:15,480 me hear it fall a breath of thought, almost too 666 00:45:15,519 --> 00:45:18,280 short to call a pause. Then a little thud of 667 00:45:18,320 --> 00:45:22,000 surrender sounded from the carpet by the door. The two 668 00:45:22,039 --> 00:45:27,159 conspirators seemed to hold their breath. That's right, the clacid 669 00:45:27,239 --> 00:45:31,679 voice once more resumed its sway. Why cannot things be agreeable? 670 00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:34,159 I hate to have to shout, but you seem far 671 00:45:34,199 --> 00:45:37,880 from grasping the situation. Yet, remember that I do not 672 00:45:37,960 --> 00:45:42,760 take the slightest risk. Also, please remember, mister Montmorency, that 673 00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:47,039 the action, even of a hair trigger automatic, scrapes slightly 674 00:45:47,119 --> 00:45:49,559 as it comes up. And remind you of that for 675 00:45:49,599 --> 00:45:53,079 your own good, Because if you are so ill advised 676 00:45:53,079 --> 00:45:54,960 to think of trying to pot me in the dark, 677 00:45:55,760 --> 00:45:58,679 that noise gives me a fifth of a second's start. 678 00:45:58,719 --> 00:46:02,760 Of you were any chance know Zinghi's in Mercer Street 679 00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:09,559 the shooting gallery, asked mister Montmorency, A little sulkany the same, 680 00:46:10,199 --> 00:46:13,440 If you happen to come through this alive and are interested, 681 00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:16,440 you might ask Zinghi to show you a target of 682 00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:20,280 mine that he keeps seven shots at twenty yards, the 683 00:46:20,360 --> 00:46:24,119 target indicated by four watches, none of them so loud 684 00:46:24,159 --> 00:46:26,679 as the one you are wearing. He keeps it as 685 00:46:26,719 --> 00:46:32,960 a curiosity. I wear no watch, muttered Dompierre, expressing his 686 00:46:33,039 --> 00:46:37,159 thought aloud. No, Monsieur Danpierre, but you wear a heart, 687 00:46:37,320 --> 00:46:41,519 and that's not on your sleeve, said Carrados. Just now 688 00:46:41,639 --> 00:46:44,920 it is quite as loud as mister Montmorence's watch. It 689 00:46:45,039 --> 00:46:47,800 is more central too. I shall not have to allow 690 00:46:47,840 --> 00:46:53,000 any margin. That's right. Breathe naturally for the unhappy Danpierre 691 00:46:53,119 --> 00:46:56,480 had given a gasp of apprehension. It does not make 692 00:46:56,480 --> 00:46:59,719 any difference to me. And after a time holding one's breath, 693 00:46:59,760 --> 00:47:05,440 because I am really painful, monsieur, declared Dampierre earnestly. There 694 00:47:05,599 --> 00:47:09,400 was no intention of submitting you injury. I swear this 695 00:47:09,559 --> 00:47:13,159 englishman did but speak within his act, and the most 696 00:47:13,199 --> 00:47:16,360 extreme you would have been but bound and gagged. Take care. 697 00:47:16,840 --> 00:47:20,880 Killing is a dangerous game for you, not for me, 698 00:47:21,360 --> 00:47:24,039 was the bland rejoinder. If you kill me, you will 699 00:47:24,079 --> 00:47:27,159 be hanged for it. If I kill you, I shall 700 00:47:27,159 --> 00:47:31,440 be honorably acquitted. You can imagine seeing the sympathetic court, 701 00:47:31,639 --> 00:47:36,039 the recital of your villainies, the story of my indignities. Then, 702 00:47:36,079 --> 00:47:39,519 with stumbling feet and groping hands, the helpless blind man 703 00:47:39,639 --> 00:47:44,280 is led forward to give evidence sensation. No, no, it 704 00:47:44,360 --> 00:47:47,119 isn't really fair, but I can kill you both with 705 00:47:47,199 --> 00:47:51,800 absolute certainty, and Providence will be saddled with all the responsibility. 706 00:47:52,440 --> 00:47:55,440 Please don't fidget with your feet, Monsieur Danpierre. I know 707 00:47:55,559 --> 00:47:57,719 that you aren't moving, but one is liable to make 708 00:47:57,800 --> 00:48:03,519 mistakes before or I die, said Montmorency, and for some 709 00:48:03,599 --> 00:48:08,599 reason laughed unconvincingly in the dark before I die, mister Carrados, 710 00:48:08,599 --> 00:48:10,880 I should really like to know what has happened to 711 00:48:10,960 --> 00:48:15,039 the light that surely isn't Providence. Would it be ungenerous 712 00:48:15,079 --> 00:48:17,800 to suggest that you are trying to gain time? You 713 00:48:17,840 --> 00:48:20,519 ought to know what has happened. But as it may 714 00:48:20,559 --> 00:48:23,320 satisfy you that I have nothing to fear from delay, 715 00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:26,880 I don't mind telling you. In my hand was a 716 00:48:26,920 --> 00:48:32,159 sharp knife, contemptible. You were satisfied as a weapon. Beneath 717 00:48:32,199 --> 00:48:35,280 my nose the flex of the electric lamp. It was 718 00:48:35,320 --> 00:48:38,280 only necessary for me to draw the one across the other, 719 00:48:38,719 --> 00:48:41,599 and the system was short circuited. Every lamp on that 720 00:48:41,679 --> 00:48:44,679 fuse is cut off, and in the distributing box in 721 00:48:44,719 --> 00:48:48,639 the hall you will find a burned out wire. You perhaps, 722 00:48:49,360 --> 00:48:52,920 but Monsieur Dantierre's experience in plaiting ought to have put 723 00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:56,800 him up to simple electricity. How did you know that 724 00:48:56,880 --> 00:49:00,480 there is a distributing box? In all? Asked dom? With 725 00:49:00,639 --> 00:49:04,760 dull resentment, My dear Dampierre, why beat the air with 726 00:49:04,880 --> 00:49:08,760 futile questions, replied Max Carrados. What does it matter? Have 727 00:49:08,880 --> 00:49:14,119 it in the cellar if you like? True, interposed Montmorency. 728 00:49:14,199 --> 00:49:18,480 The only thing that need concern us now, but it 729 00:49:18,599 --> 00:49:22,639 is in the all nine feet high, muttered Dompierre in bitterness. 730 00:49:22,760 --> 00:49:26,480 Yet he this blind man, the only thing that need 731 00:49:26,559 --> 00:49:32,079 concern us, repeated the Englishman, severely ignoring the interruption. Is 732 00:49:32,119 --> 00:49:36,760 what you intend doing in the end, mister Carrados. The 733 00:49:37,000 --> 00:49:40,119 end is a little difficult to foresee, was the admission. 734 00:49:40,760 --> 00:49:43,559 So far? I am all for maintaining the status quo. 735 00:49:44,599 --> 00:49:47,400 Will the first gray light of morning find us still 736 00:49:47,400 --> 00:49:51,480 in this impasse? No, For between us we have condemned 737 00:49:51,480 --> 00:49:55,719 the room to eternal darkness. Probably about daybreak Dompierre will 738 00:49:55,800 --> 00:49:58,880 drop off to sleep and roll against the door. Aye, 739 00:49:59,480 --> 00:50:04,360 unfortunate mistaking his attention will send a bullet through. Pardon, madame, 740 00:50:04,559 --> 00:50:08,920 I should have remembered, But pray don't mouse a protest, monsieur, 741 00:50:09,559 --> 00:50:13,440 don't protest, just sit still. Very likely it will be 742 00:50:13,480 --> 00:50:16,320 mister Montmorency who will fall off to sleep the first. 743 00:50:16,360 --> 00:50:21,480 After all, then we will anticipate that difficulty, said the 744 00:50:21,480 --> 00:50:25,159 one in question, speaking with renewed decision. We will play 745 00:50:25,159 --> 00:50:27,960 the last hand with our cards upon the table. If 746 00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:32,519 you like Nina, mister Carrados will not injure you. Whatever happens. 747 00:50:32,559 --> 00:50:35,519 Be sure of that when the moment comes, you will 748 00:50:35,719 --> 00:50:40,960 rise one word put in cardos with determination. My position 749 00:50:41,079 --> 00:50:44,679 is precarious, and I take no risks. As you say, 750 00:50:44,760 --> 00:50:48,199 I cannot injure Madam Danpierre and you two men are 751 00:50:48,239 --> 00:50:52,119 therefore my hostages for her good behavior. If she rises 752 00:50:52,119 --> 00:50:57,360 from the couch, you Dompierre fall. If she advances another step, 753 00:50:57,840 --> 00:51:03,440 mister Montmorency follows, you do nothing, rash Curissima urged her 754 00:51:03,519 --> 00:51:07,639 husband with passionate solicitude. You might get hit in place 755 00:51:07,639 --> 00:51:11,400 of me. We will yet find a better way. You 756 00:51:11,639 --> 00:51:15,440 dare not, mister Karados flung out Montmorency for the first time, 757 00:51:15,519 --> 00:51:18,000 beginning to show signs of wear in this duel of 758 00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:21,320 the temper, He dare not. Don Pierre in cold blood 759 00:51:21,360 --> 00:51:25,880 and unprovoked. No jury would acquit you another who fails 760 00:51:25,920 --> 00:51:28,719 to do you justice. Madam Nina, said the blind man, 761 00:51:28,800 --> 00:51:32,440 with ironic gallantry. The action might be a little high handed, 762 00:51:32,440 --> 00:51:36,239 one admits, But when you appropriately clothed and in your 763 00:51:36,360 --> 00:51:39,960 right complexion, stepped into the witness box, and I said, 764 00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:43,199 gentlemen of the jury, what is my crime that I 765 00:51:43,280 --> 00:51:47,159 made Madame Danpierre a widow? Can you doubt their gratitude 766 00:51:47,199 --> 00:51:50,679 and my acquittal? Truly, my countrymen are not all bats 767 00:51:50,760 --> 00:51:55,159 or monks. Madame Dompierre was breathing with perfect freedom now, 768 00:51:55,800 --> 00:51:58,639 while from the couch came the sounds of stifled emotion. 769 00:51:59,440 --> 00:52:02,159 But whether the lady was involved in a paroxysm of 770 00:52:02,239 --> 00:52:05,239 sobs or of laughter, it might be difficult to swear. 771 00:52:07,519 --> 00:52:09,880 It was perhaps an hour after the flourish of the 772 00:52:09,920 --> 00:52:13,000 introduction with which Madame dan Pierre had closed the door 773 00:52:13,079 --> 00:52:16,480 of the trap upon the blind man's entrance. The minutes 774 00:52:16,519 --> 00:52:21,360 had passed, but the situation remained unchanged, though the ingenuity 775 00:52:21,400 --> 00:52:23,920 of certainly two of the occupants of the room had 776 00:52:23,920 --> 00:52:26,920 been tormented into shreds to discover a means of turning 777 00:52:27,000 --> 00:52:30,960 it to their advantage. So far the terrible omniscience of 778 00:52:30,960 --> 00:52:33,519 the blind man in the dark, and the respect for 779 00:52:33,599 --> 00:52:37,760 his marksmanship with which his coolness had inspired them dominated 780 00:52:37,800 --> 00:52:41,599 the group. But one strong card yet remained to be played, 781 00:52:42,000 --> 00:52:45,360 and at last the moment came upon which the conspirators 782 00:52:45,360 --> 00:52:48,639 had pinned their despairing hopes. There was the sound of 783 00:52:48,679 --> 00:52:52,159 movement in the hall outside, not the first about the house, 784 00:52:52,599 --> 00:52:58,000 but was the new complication. Carrados had been strangely unobservant. True. 785 00:52:58,119 --> 00:53:02,039 Montmorency had talked rather loudly to carry over the dangerous moments. 786 00:53:02,519 --> 00:53:05,639 But now there came an unmistakable step, and to the 787 00:53:05,639 --> 00:53:09,599 accomplices it could only mean one thing. Montmorency was ready 788 00:53:09,639 --> 00:53:13,239 on the instant. Down Tom. He cried, throw yourself down, 789 00:53:13,360 --> 00:53:16,000 Break in, Guido, break in the door. We are held up. 790 00:53:17,280 --> 00:53:20,599 There was an immediate response. The door, under the pressure 791 00:53:20,599 --> 00:53:23,639 of a human battering ram, burst open with a crash 792 00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:26,960 on the threshold. The intruders, four or five in number, 793 00:53:27,280 --> 00:53:30,559 stopped starkly for a moment, held in astonishment by the 794 00:53:30,599 --> 00:53:33,440 extraordinary scene that the light from the hall and their 795 00:53:33,480 --> 00:53:37,360 own bull's eyes revealed flat on their faces to present 796 00:53:37,440 --> 00:53:41,599 the least possible surface to Carradoss's aim. Dompierre and Montmorency 797 00:53:41,719 --> 00:53:45,159 lay extended beside the window and behind the door on 798 00:53:45,280 --> 00:53:48,639 the couch, with her head buried beneath the cushions. Madame 799 00:53:48,719 --> 00:53:51,440 Danpierre sought to shut out the sight and sound of 800 00:53:51,519 --> 00:53:56,840 violence Carados Carrados had not moved, but with arms resting 801 00:53:56,880 --> 00:54:00,920 on the table and fingers placidly locked together, he smiled 802 00:54:00,960 --> 00:54:05,280 benignly on the new arrivals. His attitude, compared with the 803 00:54:05,360 --> 00:54:08,760 extravagance of those around him, gave the impression of a 804 00:54:08,800 --> 00:54:16,719 complaisant modern deity presiding over some grotesque ceremonial of pagan worship. So, Inspector, 805 00:54:16,920 --> 00:54:20,239 you could not wait for me, after all, was his greeting. 806 00:54:22,079 --> 00:54:24,840 End of the game played in the dark.