The French professor followed with a lengthy discourse, in which he bestowed the highest praise upon Sir Bernard for his long and patient experiments, which, he said, had up to the present been conducted in secret, because he feared that if it were known he had taken up that branch of medical science he might lose his reputation as a lady's doctor.
Then, just as the meeting was being brought to a conclusion, Jevons touched me on the shoulder, and we both slipped out.
"Well," he asked. "What do you think of it all?"
"I've been highly interested," I replied. "But how does this further our inquiries, or throw any light on the tragedy?"
"Be patient," was his response, as we walked together in the direction of the Angel. "Be patient, and I will show you."
The Seven Secrets, each distinct from each other and yet connected; each one in itself a complete enigma, formed a problem of which even Ambler Jevons himself could not discover the solution.
Contrary to his usual methods, he allowed me to accompany him in various directions, making curious inquiries that had apparently nothing to connect them with the mystery of the death of Mr. and Mrs. Courtenay.
In reply to a wire I had sent to Ethelwynn came a message saying that her mother was entirely prostrated, therefore she could not at present leave her. This, when shown to Ambler, caused him to purse his lips and raise his shoulders with that gesture of suspicion which was a peculiarity of his. Was it possible that he actually suspected her?
The name of Slade seemed ever in Jevons' mind. Indeed, most of his inquiries were regarding some person of that name.
One evening, after dining together, he took me in a cab across the City to the Three Nuns Hotel, at Aldgate--where, in the saloon bar, we sat drinking. Before setting out he had urged me to put on a shabby suit of clothes and a soft hat, so that in the East End we should not attract attention as "swells." As for his own personal appearance, it was certainly not that of the spruce city man. He was an adept at disguises, and on this occasion wore a reefer jacket, a peaked cap, and a dark violet scarf in lieu of collar, thus presenting the aspect of a seafarer ashore. He smoked a pipe of the most approved nautical type, and as we sat together in the saloon he told me sea stories, in order that a group of men sitting near might overhear.