"
"Oh, I see."
The Inspector cleared his throat.
"Someone broke into Cray's Folly, then, a fact which was not reported
to me, a suspicious loiterer was seen in the grounds, again not
reported, and someone played a silly practical joke by nailing the wing
of a bat, you say, to the door. Might I ask, Mr. Harley, why you
mention this matter? The other things are serious, but why you should
mention the trick of some mischievous boy at a time like this I can't
imagine."
"No," said Harley, wearily, "it does sound absurd, Inspector; I quite
appreciate the fact. But, you see, Colonel Menendez regarded it as the
most significant episode of them all."
"What! The bat wing nailed on the door?"
"The bat wing, decidedly. He believed it to be the token of a negro
secret society which had determined upon his death, hence my enquiries
regarding coloured men in the neighbourhood. Do you understand,
Inspector?"
Inspector Aylesbury took a large handkerchief from his pocket and blew
his nose. Replacing the handkerchief he cleared his throat, and:
"Am I to understand," he enquired, "that the late Colonel Menendez had
expected to be attacked?"
"You may understand that," replied Harley.
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