Half an hour later, Hannah came out to the verandah again.
“Verity, Mr Melmoth said to bring you to the drawing room. He’s still talking to Mohan, but he asked if you would come now. He said he doesn’t want to waste any time.”
“Yours or his?” said SP, quizzically. “I’ll come with you, Verity.”
You’ve heard of love at first sight? Well, this was the opposite. Though Mr Melmoth was an unattractive man – short, burly and muscular, with a purplish-red face and beady eyes – it wasn’t his appearance that put me off. Nor was it the way he strutted around as if he owned the place. It was his rudeness to Mohan.
“But sir,” Mohan was saying. “What I am telling you is true.”
“You’d say anything to save your skin.”
“But sir–”
“That’s enough. Get out.”
Mohan, outwardly calm, bowed and obeyed.
“Stupid lascar,” said Mr Melmoth. “Waste of time trying to get any sense out of him. So.” He looked me over. “You’re the young lady who witnessed the kidnapping, eh? And you, sir? Who are you?”
“I’m Saddington Plush, a family friend.”
“You fancy yourself as a detective, Mr Leviny tells me,” sneered Mr Melmoth.
SP didn’t allow his expression to change. “I will do whatever I can to help Miss Deane and Mrs Petrov.”
Mr Melmoth’s lip curled. “What you can do is stay out of my way. I don’t want any interference from amateurs.”
SP nodded. “I won’t interfere.” With Drucilla missing? I thought it wasn’t like him at all.
“Very well.” With a contemptuous smile, Mr Melmoth turned away from SP and greeted me. “Good morning, miss. Please be seated.” Those were the first and last polite words I heard from him. He began firing questions like bullets from a gun. “How many of them?”
“Three.”
“Were they armed?”
“No, I am definite they were not armed.”
“How were they dressed?”
I thought carefully. All the while Mr Melmoth tapped his fingers impatiently on the marble mantelpiece. Then he began to crack his knuckles.
“Come on, come on,” he muttered. “It’s a simple question.”
“They were dressed alike, in brown coats and broad-brimmed hats. No, that’s not right. One man was hatless. Their boots …” I always looked at feet, for the Professor had taught me the importance of footwear.
Mr Melmoth cut me short. “Their boots are irrelevant. Masked?”
“Yes, they had scarves–”
“Scarves over their faces; yes, I know. Did you see their eyes? Hair?”
“Well, one of them had light hair. His eyes were an odd colour, a kind of yellowish-brown, like a topaz.”
“Very poetic, miss. The others?”
“The man who took hold of Beauty was dark. The one who stayed on his horse had red hair and a bushy beard.”
“Aha! All reports say that the leader of the gang was red-headed. He must have liked the colour.” He pointed to the red hand drawn on the note. “Well, he’ll be sorry.” He paced the length of the room with a self-satisfied smile on his face. “This will end badly for the Red Gauntlet and his gang.”
“I’d like to ask a question, Mr Melmoth,” said SP. “Do you have any theories on why they kidnapped the two ladies? I mean to say–”
Mr Melmoth had no intention of hearing anything SP had to say.
“Well, it’s obvious. Or at least, it is if you know the case as intimately as I do.” Mr Melmoth was enjoying himself, showing off in front of SP. “Mistaken identity,” he said.
SP and I were equally mystified.
“Yes, yes, it’s quite obvious. The Gauntlet Gang knew that Mrs Leviny and Mrs Petrov were due to drive out in the buggy. Servants’ gossip is the obvious culprit – that Indian fella blabbed to someone, I’ll be bound. They thought your governess – Miss What’s-her-name – was Mrs Leviny.” Mr Melmoth’s tone was patronising. “You may not know that it was Mr Leviny’s offer of a reward that led to the break-up of the Red Gauntlet Gang.”
“When was this, Mr Melmoth?” asked SP.
Mr Melmoth didn’t like being questioned. “In the autumn of 1861,” he snapped. Then he smiled, if you could call it that, as if recalling a particularly pleasant memory. “I discovered that the gang was holed up in a cave to the north of Bendigo. With a large reward posted for the return of Mr Leviny’s silver cup, they began to mistrust each other. They quarrelled. Unfortunately, when the troopers surrounded their hide-out, they found that the birds had flown. Well, two birds out of the three. One of the gang was left.”
“What did he say?” asked SP.
“He said nothing,” said Mr Melmoth with obvious relish. “He was stone-cold dead. Throat cut from ear to ear. Honour among thieves? I think not. So now, at last, the Red Gauntlet is back. He wants money – and he wants revenge. And so do I.”
SP thought for a few seconds and then scratched his head. “I’m sorry, sir, but …well, I don’t quite understand. If he wants revenge, why would he send the communication to Mr Petrov and not Mr Leviny?”
That wiped the satisfied smile off the great detective’s face. He glared at SP. “No doubt for some twisted reason of his own,” he snapped. “It is widely known that the two men are friends. Perhaps, by ignoring Mr Leviny, the Red Gauntlet is trying to increase that poor man’s distress.”
SP nodded slowly. “You may be right.”
“I know I’m right. I have the information I need. My next step will be to stir things up. Get the cockroaches crawling out of the woodwork, so to speak. Will you ring for the servant, Mr Plush? I’ll go back to Mr Leviny’s now, but I’ll keep you informed about Miss … Miss Whatever-her-name-is. The governess.”
“Miss Deane,” said SP in a quiet voice.
“Yes, that’s her. And Mr Plush … keep out of it, won’t you?”
Hannah came to the door with Mr Melmoth’s hat and coat. He snatched them from her – no thank you or good day – and hurried away.
SP took a deep breath. He made a fist and then slowly uncurled his fingers. “What a toad of a man,” he said. “He is not only rude, he is incompetent. And stupid. Miss Whatever-her-name-is.”
“SP, you’re not really going to stay out of the investigation?”
“Hardly! But – this Red Gauntlet business – I’m not convinced. It was such a long time ago. How can he be so sure?”
“That.” I pointed to the mantelpiece. The glove was still sitting where Papa had put it. “A red glove was the bushranger’s calling card. And this was on the seat of the phaeton when Harold found it.” I reached out and picked it up. Then everything went black.