The Moonstone - Page 381/404

"What is your own opinion of the case, Sergeant?"

"I think it's serious, sir. Judging by what the boy saw, the Indians are

in it, to begin with."

"Yes. And the sailor is evidently the person to whom Mr. Luker passed

the Diamond. It seems odd that Mr. Bruff, and I, and the man in Mr.

Bruff's employment, should all have been mistaken about who the person

was."

"Not at all, Mr. Blake. Considering the risk that person ran, it's

likely enough that Mr. Luker purposely misled you, by previous

arrangement between them."

"Do you understand the proceedings at the public-house?" I asked. "The

man dressed like a mechanic was acting of course in the employment

of the Indians. But I am as much puzzled to account for his sudden

assumption of drunkenness as Gooseberry himself."

"I think I can give a guess at what it means, sir," said the Sergeant.

"If you will reflect, you will see that the man must have had some

pretty strict instructions from the Indians. They were far too

noticeable themselves to risk being seen at the bank, or in the

public-house--they were obliged to trust everything to their

deputy. Very good. Their deputy hears a certain number named in the

public-house, as the number of the room which the sailor is to have for

the night--that being also the room (unless our notion is all

wrong) which the Diamond is to have for the night, too. Under those

circumstances, the Indians, you may rely on it, would insist on having a

description of the room--of its position in the house, of its capability

of being approached from the outside, and so on. What was the man to do,

with such orders as these? Just what he did! He ran up-stairs to get

a look at the room, before the sailor was taken into it. He was found

there, making his observations--and he shammed drunk, as the easiest way

of getting out of the difficulty. That's how I read the riddle. After he

was turned out of the public-house, he probably went with his report to

the place where his employers were waiting for him. And his employers,

no doubt, sent him back to make sure that the sailor was really settled

at the public-house till the next morning. As for what happened at 'The

Wheel of Fortune,' after the boy left--we ought to have discovered that

last night. It's eleven in the morning, now. We must hope for the best,

and find out what we can."