Francis Durbridge - Send for Paul Temple

‘You think that sounds silly, don’t you?’ she asked with a half-smile.

‘Well, er—’ Temple felt a little embarrassed to have his feelings so accurately analyzed, ‘it sounds a little unusual!’

At all cost Steve Trent wanted Paul Temple to believe in her. To have complete faith in her story.

‘Mr. Temple!’ she spoke with the deepest emotion in her voice. ‘Do you believe me? Do you believe my story about this man – Lorraine?’

Temple had been wavering. Now he made up his mind.

‘Yes.’ He paused. ‘Yes, I believe you. But tell me, did your brother ever see him; did they ever meet?’

‘No!’ she replied. ‘No, not once. But he knew his methods – he knew everything about him – and he was afraid.’

Paul Temple at last put his pipe down; it had grown cold some time before. Now he plunged his hands into the pockets of his well-worn tweed jacket and finally brought out with some triumph a cherry-wood pipe. This he proceeded to fill with great deliberation. Filling a pipe was a very serious business with Paul Temple. If careful filling were going to provide him with a better smoke, then carefully filled it should be. He applied the Principle of the Conservation of Energy to himself very literally, and had no intentions of wasting energy that could be better devoted to other purposes. After a few seconds had elapsed he pressed the bell-push by the side of the mantelpiece.

Pryce’s face showed the surprise he felt when he came in. Fully convinced of some strange romance suddenly blossoming forth, his respect for the mental powers of the man he almost worshipped, decreased very violently. Although Miss Trent was very nearly thirty, Pryce numbered her with the bright young things, of whom he heartily disapproved.

As soon as Pryce had received his instructions, Temple came back to the subject.

‘That night your brother came to my house, he told me that he was firmly convinced that a well-directed criminal organization existed. But he didn’t mention anything about this man – Max Lorraine. Why not, I wonder?’

‘I don’t know,’ replied Steve Trent. ‘He intended to, I’m sure of that. He wanted your help over this case. He had a very great admiration for you.’ Then she produced another surprise.

‘It was Gerald who persuaded me to start the “Send for Paul Temple” campaign in The Evening Post !’

The victim began to laugh. ‘By Timothy, you certainly started something.’ Then he again became very serious. ‘A little while ago, you said you chose the name of “Steve Trent” not only for professional reasons, but partly for another reason too. What did you mean by that?’

‘Gerald was terrified that Lorraine might find out that he had a sister,’ she replied quietly. ‘Even in Cape Town, Gerald made me live with relatives under an assumed name.’

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.