The Secret Adversary

‘All in good time. What an awful place Piccadilly Circus is. There’s a huge bus bearing down on us. It would be too terrible if they killed the five-pound notes!’

‘Grill room?’ inquired Tommy, as they reached the opposite pavement in safety.

‘The other’s more expensive,’ demurred Tuppence.

‘That’s mere wicked wanton extravagance. Come on below.’

‘Are you sure I can get all the things I want there?’

‘That extremely unwholesome menu you were outlining just now? Of course you can—or as much as is good for you, anyway.’

‘And now tell me,’ said Tommy, unable to restrain his pent-up curiosity any longer, as they sat in state surrounded by the many hors d’oeuvre of Tuppence’s dreams.

Miss Cowley told him.

‘And the curious part of it is,’ she ended, ‘that I really did invent the name of Jane Finn! I didn’t want to give my own because of poor father—in case I should get mixed up in anything shady.’

‘Perhaps that’s so,’ said Tommy slowly. ‘But you didn’t invent it.’

‘What?’

‘No. I told it to you. Don’t you remember, I said yesterday I’d overheard two people talking about a female called Jane Finn? That’s what brought the name into your mind so pat.’

‘So you did. I remember now. How extraordinary—’ Tuppence tailed off into silence. Suddenly she roused herself. ‘Tommy!’

‘Yes?’

‘What were they like, the two men you passed?’

Tommy frowned in an effort at remembrance.

‘One was a big fat sort of chap. Clean shaven. I think—and dark.’

‘That’s him,’ cried Tuppence, in an ungrammatical squeal. ‘That’s Whittington! What was the other man like?’

‘I can’t remember. I didn’t notice him particularly. It was really the outlandish name that caught my attention.’

‘And people say that coincidences don’t happen!’ Tuppence tackled her pêche Melba happily.

But Tommy had become serious.

‘Look here, Tuppence, old girl, what is this going to lead to?’

‘More money,’ replied his companion.

‘I know that. You’ve only got one idea in your head. What I mean is, what about the next step? How are you going to keep the game up?’

‘Oh!’ Tuppence laid down her spoon. ‘You’re right, Tommy, it is a bit of a poser.’

‘After all, you know, you can’t bluff him for ever. You’re sure to slip up sooner or later. And, anyway, I’m not at all sure that it isn’t actionable—blackmail, you know.’

‘Nonsense. Blackmail is saying you’ll tell unless you are given money. Now, there’s nothing I could tell, because I don’t really know anything.’

‘H’m,’ said Tommy doubtfully. ‘Well, anyway, what are we going to do? Whittington was in a hurry to get rid of you this morning, but next time he’ll want to know something more before he parts with his money. He’ll want to know how much you know, and where you got your information from, and a lot of other things that you can’t cope with. What are you going to do about it?’

Tuppence frowned severely.

‘We must think. Order some Turkish coffee, Tommy. Stimulating to the brain. Oh, dear, what a lot I have eaten!’

‘You have made rather a hog of yourself ! So have I for that matter, but I flatter myself that my choice of dishes was more judicious than yours. Two coffees.’ (This was to the waiter.) ‘One Turkish, one French.’

Tuppence sipped her coffee with a deeply reflective air, and snubbed Tommy when he spoke to her.

‘Be quiet. I’m thinking.’

‘Shades of Pelmanism!’ said Tommy, and relapsed into silence.

‘There!’ said Tuppence at last. ‘I’ve got a plan. Obviously what we’ve got to do is find out more about it all.’

Tommy applauded.

‘Don’t jeer. We can only find out through Whittington. We must discover where he lives, what he does—sleuth him, in fact! Now I can’t do it, because he knows me, but he only saw you for a minute or two in Lyons’. He’s not likely to recognize you. After all, one young man is much like another.’

‘I repudiate that remark utterly. I’m sure my pleasing features and distinguished appearance would single me out from any crowd.’

‘My plan is this,’ Tuppence went on calmly. ‘I’ll go alone tomorrow. I’ll put him off again like I did today. It doesn’t matter if I don’t get any more money at once. Fifty pounds ought to last us a few days.’

‘Or even longer!’

‘You’ll hang about outside. When I come out I shan’t speak to you in case he’s watching. But I’ll take up my stand somewhere near, and when he comes out of the building I’ll drop a handkerchief or something, and off you go!’

‘Off I go where?’

‘Follow him, of course, silly! What do you think of the idea?’

‘Sort of thing one reads about in books. I somehow feel that in real life one will feel a bit of an ass standing in the street for hours with nothing to do. People will wonder what I’m up to.’

‘Not in the city. Everyone’s in such a hurry. Probably no one will even notice you at all.’

‘That’s the second time you’ve made that sort of remark. Never mind, I forgive you. Anyway, it will be rather a lark. What are you doing this afternoon?’

‘Well,’ said Tuppence meditatively. ‘I had thought of hats! Or perhaps silk stockings! Or perhaps—’

‘Hold hard,’ admonished Tommy. ‘There’s a limit to fifty pounds! But let’s do dinner and a show tonight at all events.’

‘Rather.’

The day passed pleasantly. The evening even more so. Two of the five-pound notes were now irretrievably dead.