Loyalties | Page 4

a
complete search--in our interests.
WINSOR. I entirely refuse to suspect anybody.
TREISURE. But if Mr De Levis feels otherwise, sir?
DE LEVIS. [Stammering] I? All I know is--the money was there, and
it's gone.
WINSOR. [Compunctious] Quite! It's pretty sickening for you. But so
it is for anybody else. However, we must do our best to get it back for
you.
A knock on the door.
WINSOR. Hallo!
TREISURE opens the door, and GENERAL. CANYNGE enters.
Oh! It's you, General. Come in. Adela's told you?
GENERAL CANYNGE nods. He is a slim man of about sixty, very
well preserved, intensely neat and self-contained, and still in evening
dress. His eyelids droop slightly, but his eyes are keen and his
expression astute.
WINSOR. Well, General, what's the first move?
CANYNGE. [Lifting his eyebrows] Mr De Levis presses the matter?
DE Levis. [Flicked again] Unless you think it's too plebeian of me,
General Canynge--a thousand pounds.
CANYNGE. [Drily] Just so! Then we must wait for the police,
WINSOR. Lady Adela has got through to them. What height are these
rooms from the ground, Treisure?

TREISURE. Twenty-three feet from the terrace, sir.
CANYNGE. Any ladders near?
TREISURE. One in the stables, Sir, very heavy. No others within three
hundred yards.
CANYNGE. Just slip down, and see whether that's been moved.
TREISURE. Very good, General. [He goes out.]
DE LEVIS. [Uneasily] Of course, he--I suppose you--
WINSOR. We do.
CANYNGE. You had better leave this in our hands, De Levis.
DE LEVIS. Certainly; only, the way he--
WINSOR. [Curtly] Treisure has been here since he was a boy. I should
as soon suspect myself.
DE LEVIS. [Looking from one to the other--with sudden anger] You
seem to think--! What was I to do? Take it lying down and let whoever
it is get clear off? I suppose it's natural to want my money back?
CANYNGE looks at his nails; WINSOR out of the window.
WINSOR. [Turning] Of course, De Levis!
DE LEVIS. [Sullenly] Well, I'll go to my room. When the police come,
perhaps you'll let me know. He goes out.
WINSOR. Phew! Did you ever see such a dressing-gown?
The door is opened. LADY ADELA and MARGARET ORME come in.
The latter is a vivid young lady of about twenty-five in a vivid wrapper;
she is smoking a cigarette.
LADY A. I've told the Dancys--she was in bed. And I got through to
Newmarket, Charles, and Inspector Dede is coming like the wind on a
motor cycle.
MARGARET. Did he say "like the wind," Adela? He must have
imagination. Isn't this gorgeous? Poor little Ferdy!
WINSOR. [Vexed] You might take it seriously, Margaret; it's pretty
beastly for us all. What time did you come up?
MARGARET. I came up with Adela. Am I suspected, Charles? How
thrilling!
WINSOR. Did you hear anything?
MARGARET. Only little Ferdy splashing.
WINSOR. And saw nothing?
MARGARET. Not even that, alas!
LADY A. [With a finger held up] Leste! Un peu leste! Oh! Here are the

Dancys. Come in, you two!
MABEL and RONALD DANCY enter. She is a pretty young woman
with bobbed hair, fortunately, for she has just got out of bed, and is in
her nightgown and a wrapper. DANCY is in his smoking jacket. He has
a pale, determined face with high cheekbones, small, deep-set dark eyes,
reddish crisp hair, and looks like a horseman.
WINSOR. Awfully sorry to disturb you, Mrs Dancy; but I suppose you
and Ronny haven't heard anything. De Levis's room is just beyond
Ronny's dressing-room, you know.
MABEL. I've been asleep nearly half an hour, and Ronny's only just
come up.
CANYNGE. Did you happen to look out of your window, Mrs Dancy?
MABEL. Yes. I stood there quite five minutes.
CANYNGE. When?
MABEL. Just about eleven, I should think. It was raining hard then.
CANYNGE. Yes, it's just stopped. You saw nothing?
MABEL. No.
DANCY. What time does he say the money was taken?
WINSOR. Between the quarter and half past. He'd locked his door and
had the key with him.
MARGARET. How quaint! Just like an hotel. Does he put his boots
out?
LADY A. Don't be so naughty, Meg.
CANYNGE. When exactly did you come up, Dance?
DANCY. About ten minutes ago. I'd only just got into my
dressing-room before Lady Adela came. I've been writing letters in the
hall since Colford and I finished billiards.
CANYNGE. You weren't up for anything in between?
DANCY. No.
MARGARET. The mystery of the grey room.
DANCY. Oughtn't the grounds to be searched for footmarks?
CANYNGE. That's for the police.
DANCY. The deuce! Are they coming?
CANYNGE. Directly. [A knock] Yes?
TREISURE enters.
Well?
TREISURE. The ladder has not been moved, General. There isn't a

sign.
WINSOR. All right. Get Robert up, but don't say anything to him. By
the way,