THE PROBLEM
When he had finished his breakfast, and after he had had the wash of which he certainly stood in considerable need, Dunn made his way to the garage and there occupied himself cleaning the car.
He noticed that the mud with which it was liberally covered was of a light sandy sort, and he discovered on one of the tyres a small shell.
Apparently, therefore, last night's wild journey had been to the coast, and it was a natural inference that the sea had provided a secure hiding-place for the packing-case and its dreadful contents.
But then that meant that there was no evidence left on which he could take action.
As he busied himself with his task, he tried to think out as clearly as he could the position in which he found himself and to decide what he ought to do next.
To his quick and hasty nature the swiftest action was always the most congenial, and had he followed his instinct, he would have lost no time in denouncing Deede Dawson.But his cooler thoughts told him that he dared not do that, since it would be to involve risks, not for himself, but for others, that he simply dared not contemplate.
He felt that the police, even if they credited his story, which he also felt that very likely they would not do, could not act on his sole evidence.
And even if they did act and did arrest Deede Dawson, it was certain no jury would convict on so strange a story, so entirely uncorroborated.
The only result would be to strengthen Deede Dawson's position by the warning, to show him his danger, and to give him the opportunity, if he chose to use it, of disappearing and beginning again his plots and plans after some fresh and perhaps more deadly fashion.
"Whereas at present," he mused, "at any rate, I'm here and he doesn't seem to suspect me, and I can watch and wait for a time, till I see my way more clearly."And this decision he came to was a great relief to him, for he desired very greatly to know more before he acted and in especial to find out for certain what was Ella's position in all this.
It was Deede Dawson's voice that broke in upon his meditations.
"Ah, you're busy," he said."That's right, I like to see a man working hard.I've got some new things for you I think may fi fairly well, and Mrs.Dawson is going to get one of the attics ready for you to sleep in.
"Very good, sir," said Dunn.
He wondered which attic was to be assigned to him and if it would be that one in which he had found his friend's body.He suspected, too, that he was to be lodged in the house so that Deede Dawson might watch him, and this pleased him, since it meant that he, in his turn, would be able to watch Deede Dawson.
Not that there appeared much to watch, for the days passed on and it seemed a very harmless and quiet life that Deede Dawson lived with his wife and stepdaughter.
But for the memory, burned into Dunn's mind, of what he had seen that night of his arrival, he would have been inclined to say that no more harmless, gentle soul existed than Deede Dawson.
But as it was, the man's very gentleness and smiling urbanity filled him with a loathing that it was at times all he could do to control.
The attic assigned to him to sleep in was that where he had made his dreadful discovery, and he believed this had been done as a further test of his ignorance, for he was sure Deede Dawson watched him closely to see if the idea of being there was in any way repugnant to him.
Indeed at another time he might have shrunk from the idea of sleeping each night in the very room where his friend had been foully done to death, but now he derived a certain grim satisfaction and a strengthening of his nerves for the task that lay before him.
Only a very few visitors came to Bittermeads, especially now that Mr.John Clive, who had, come often, was laid up.But one or two of the people from the village came occasionally, and the vicar appeared two or three times every week, ostensibly to play chess with Deede Dawson, but in reality, Dunn thought, drawn there by Ella, who, however, seemed quite unaware of the attraction she exercised over the good man.
Dunn did not find that he was expected to do very much work, and in fact, he was left a good deal to himself.
Once or twice the car was taken out, and occasionally Deede Dawson would come into the garden and chat with him idly for a few minutes on indifferent subjects.When it was fine he would often bring out a little travelling set of chessmen and board and proceed to amuse himself, working out or composing problems.
One day he called Dunn up to admire a problem he had just composed.
"Pretty clever, eh?" he said, admiring his own work with much complacence."Quite an original idea of mine and I think the key move will take some finding.What do you say? I suppose you do play chess?""Only a very little," answered Dunn.
"Try a game with me," said Deede Dawson, and won it easily, for in fact, Dunn was by no means a strong player.
His swift victory appeared to delight Deede Dawson immensely.
"A very pretty mate I brought off there against you," he declared.
"I've not often seen a prettier.Now you try to solve that problem of mine, it's easy enough once you hit on the key move."Dunn thought to himself that there were other and more important problems which would soon be solved if only the key move could be discovered.
