Arthur Upfield - The Mountains have a Secret

“What is the date, Sister?” he again asked.

“Well, it’s the fourth of April,” she conceded. “Now just lie quiet. Doctor will want to see you. Please don’t fret.”

She watched his eyes cloud and she thought her patient was about to weep. When she saw his lips moving and the effort to speak, she thought it wise to listen and soothe.

“Did they trace the plane, Sister?” he asked weakly, and she answered:

“Yes. It was found near Portland. It was deserted and none of those on board have been found, as far as I know. Now you really must not talk any more, and I must fetch Doctor.”

“Your finest achievement, Bony,” Superintendent Bolt told him the next day. “Finding those two girls and getting them away was damned good work. The newspapers are full of it. Like us, they’re raring to know the whys and wherefores. You just take your time and tell your old pal about it. Must have been quite a ruddy war.”

“You did not arrest the people who got away in the plane?” Bony asked.

“No. The machine was landed on a farm owned by Benson seven miles out from Portland. It wasn’t located until the afternoon of that day it flew from Baden Park, because Mulligan had to go as far as Dunkeld to communicate. Telephone wires were cut in half a dozen places, and that caused vital delay. Having found the plane, enquiries resulted in learning that a van had unloaded a large box and several men into a small boat, which took all hands and their box to Benson’s ocean-going launch, which at once put to sea. The next day a sea-search was made for the launch with boats and planes, but it was not sighted. They’re still hunting.”

“Just too bad, Super, that I couldn’t stay on my feet long enough to report to Mulligan. What of the Benson woman? Did they take her?”

“Yes. But she won’t talk, and we can only charge her with abduction-so far.”

“What did they get from Shannon?”

“Nothing but Mavis, Mavis, Mavis. Says he won’t crowd you.”

“You are not holding him, are you?”

“No. Oh no. He’s being married this morning. Mulligan’s taking time off to be his best man. Now tell us the story-or I’ll bust.”

In fair sequence Bony related his experiences from the time he had entered Baden Park by the back door, the only item not included being what he had seen in the casket; that fantastic idea, that face he had seen with the aid of a spluttering match, that glimpse of the unbelievable.

“They were a bad lot, all right,” Bolt continued. “Old Man Simpson was nearly frightened to death when Mulligan and his crowd went through the hotel. The fright made him properly balmy, poor old bloke. Mulligan says the place was wired, and they hadn’t been insidemore’n a minute when they found that their entry raised the alarm at Baden Park. There was nothing else, no evidence worth a hoot. Now, Bony, please tell your pal what was in the box.”

“I don’t know, Super.”

“Oh yes, you do.”

Bony closed his eyes as though he were tired, as, indeed, he was.

The sister intervened, saying that her patient was exhausted and that the Superintendent must go. Bony looked up into the troubled face of a man for whom he had great respect and not a little liking and he said:

“I can make a couple of guesses what was in the box, Super, and perhaps when we have both retired I may tell you what those guesses are. Had I been able to capture the box and its contents, the world, I think, might have been startled.

“I made a very great mistake when I guessed I had killed the butler, Heinrich, and I am not making another mistake by guessing. Had I made certain whether Heinrich was dead or alive, and, if alive, had taken measure to incapacitate him, he would not have turned up to give the alarm. Ah me, Super! I am a vain fool. If only I had not attempted to grab all the glory. If only I had waited for Mulligan.”

“What was in the box?” pleaded Superintendent Bolt. “Tell us your guess. Go on-be a sport.”

“Well, Super, I have the idea-the idea, mind you-that the contents of that box were of supreme importance to Benson and his associates.”

Bolt sighed. He shook his head and said with exaggerated emphasis:

“You’re telling me.”

He watched the smile flit into Bony’s eyes, and he heard Bony say with slow and equal emphasis:

“You have, I fear, been associating with Glen Shannon from Texas.”