I don't want to swim for it before I must. I begin
to wish I'd taken your advice, Bunny, and left the ship at Genoa. But
I've not the smallest doubt that Mac was watching both ship and station
till the last moment. That's why he ran it so fine."

He took a cigarette and handed me the case, but I shook my head
impatiently.

"I still don't understand," said I. "Why should he be after you? He
couldn't come all this way about a jewel which was perfectly safe for
all he knew. What's your own theory?"

"Simply that he's been on my track for some time, probably ever since
friend Crawshay slipped clean through his fingers last November. There
have been other indications. I am really not unprepared for this. But
it can only be pure suspicion. I'll defy him to bring anything home,
and I'll defy him to find the pearl! Theory, my dear Bunny? I know
how he's got here as well as though I'd been inside that Scotchman's
skin, and I know what he'll do next. He found out I'd gone abroad, and
looked for a motive; he found out about von Heumann and his mission,
and there was his motive cut-and-dried. Great chance--to nab me on a
new job altogether. But he won't do it, Bunny; mark my words, he'll
search the ship and search us all, when the loss is known; but he'll
search in vain. And there's the skipper beckoning the whippersnapper
to his cabin: the fat will be in the fire in five minutes!"

Yet there was no conflagration, no fuss, no searching of the
passengers, no whisper of what had happened in the air; instead of a
stir there was portentous peace; and it was clear to me that Raffles
was not a little disturbed at the falsification of all his predictions.
There was something sinister in silence under such a loss, and the
silence was sustained for hours during which Mackenzie never
reappeared. But he was abroad during the luncheon-hour--he was in our
cabin! I had left my book in Raffles's berth, and in taking it after
lunch I touched the quilt. It was warm from the recent pressure of
flesh and blood, and on an instinct I sprang to the ventilator; as I
opened it the ventilator opposite was closed with a snap.

I waylaid Raffles. "All right! Let him find the pearl."

"Have you dumped it overboard?"

"That's a question I shan't condescend to answer."

He turned on his heel, and at subsequent intervals I saw him making the
most of his last afternoon with the inevitable Miss Werner. I remember
that she looked bo