"
"It didn't look to you like--the shadow of a hand?"
"It might have been, but I could not be positive."
Adderley groaned.
"Knox," he said, "money is a curse. It has been a curse to me.
If I have had my fun, God knows I have paid for it."
"Your idea of fun is probably a peculiar one," I said dryly.
Let me confess that I was only suffering the man's society
because of an intense curiosity which now possessed me on
learning that the lady of Katong was still in Adderley's company.
Whether my repugnance for his society would have enabled me to
remain any longer I cannot say. But as if Fate had deliberately
planned that I should become a witness of the concluding phases
of this secret drama, we were now interrupted a second time, and
again in a dramatic fashion.
Adderley's nondescript valet came in with letters and a rather
large brown paper parcel sealed and fastened with great care.
As the man went out:
"Surely that is from Singapore," muttered Adderley, taking up the
parcel.
He seemed to become temporarily oblivious of my presence, and his
face grew even more haggard as he studied the writing upon the
wrapper. With unsteady fingers he untied it, and I lingered,
watching curiously.
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