human
You'll be the death of me yet, lad, he remarked merrily,
gpt
They giv me a drink, Guv'nor, of very strong whisky it were, an' when I asked 'em where it come from an 'oo made it, thinkin' I'd lay in a bottle or two fer when we gets back ter Clarges Street, a feller wot just come in (an' a bit tight 'e were, too) slaps me on the back and says, 'Hoo noo, laddie? It's frae the valley, under the little brookies and amangst th' gravel.'
human
And what did you say, Dollops?
gpt
I told him in good old English ter go tell that ter the marines and stow the gaff, and he ups and larfs at me, and he says, says 'e, 'I'll show ye if I speak the truith or no.' And then a lot o' 'em says, 'Hoots' and 'toots' and 'nah,' as though they was monkeys in the zoo, and set up such a gabbling as you never 'eared of, and the end of it was that ole Barmy tykes me by the arm and pushes me through the door. 'Come from Lunnon, does yer?' he says ter me. 'Well, then, never any tellin' but ye can gie us a han' wi' disposin' of our wares.' And with that he ups and pulls Minnie along with him, in spite of them uvvers, and off we goes dahn th' 'ill inter a deep sort of gravel-pit, and there--the blinkin' thing was, sir, as large as life and twice as nateril!
human
My dear chap!--what the dickens does he mean, Cleek?
gpt
Simply what he says. And it was there, was it, Dollops?
human
It were, sir ; Dollops's tone was portentous with mystery;
gpt
Gad! you've surely found out something, Dollops, and done a good day's work, bless your heart, said Cleek admiringly, slipping his arm through the boy's on one side and through Mr. Narkom's on the other.
human
Well, it's to the gravel-pit with the lot of us this evening--at least for you and me, Dollops. You had better remain here at the Castle, Mr. Narkom, while we're gone. And meet me at midnight under the big gate. But let's not be seen, Dollops, else the fat will be in the fire with a vengeance. Anything else?
gpt
One uvver fing, sir--an' wot I calls the piece of resisters, he said in a low voice.
human
As I comes aw'y, 'oo should I see a-runnin' dahn the 'ill, side by side with Dicky-Dago, but that there young feller as they calls Cyril (sickenin' sissy sort er nyme ter give a chap, too!), an' I jumps back inter the bushes wiv Minnie clinging ter me arm, an' waits till they've gorn parst. An' I 'ears the youngster s'y you nyme--'Mr. Deland,' he says, an' 'clever'--and then summink else, wot I didn't 'ear, but wot made Dicky-Dago give out a sort er garsp and gurgle in 'is froat, an' says something which sounded like a Russian patent medicine, an'--that's all.
gpt
And a very good 'all', too, Dollops, ejaculated Cleek, giving the boy's arm a squeeze.
human
You have surely done your share of unravelling in this case, at all events. What do you say about it, Mr. Narkom?... There'll be a nice five-pound note to add to that growing account of yours for this night's job, I promise you.... And so Cyril is mixed up in it, too-- _Cyril!_ That boy! Gad! what does it mean, eh? And in league with those scoundrels.... 'Ten o'clock for bedtime,' says he, so frankly. Ten o'clock! And the young underhanded rascal roaming the countryside just before that in company with an Italian of questionable character! Looks bad, every way you look at it. And with Lady Paula's actions and secret meetings taken into account as well, puts a pretty black face upon _their_ little share in last night's tragedy. Now, I wonder if this Dago, as Dollops calls him, is a lover of the lady's or what?... Gad! Mr. Narkom, what's your opinion?
gpt
No two questions about it, to my way of thinking, said he quietly, as they traversed the darkness together.
human
That Captain Macdonald did the thing--because of those footprints of his outside the window--and as he couldn't or wouldn't give the reason of why he was in the grounds here last night at that identical time. And the person he was shielding was obviously Lady Paula. She, too, has been involved in this, though whether in the actual murder or not, I'm not prepared to say. And Ross Duggan, too. I imagine the whole thing is a put-up job; don't you, Cleek?
gpt
I can't rightly say, returned Cleek in an uncertain tone.
human
Sometimes it points one way and sometimes another. And I'm inclined to agree with you where Lady Paula is concerned. She knows a good deal more than she says, and is wily--deuced wily, as all drug-takers are. And the motive would be there all right, judging from what Maud Duggan told me was the share which Sir Andrew had apportioned out for his widow and her boy. She'll double that easily enough. But to _kill_ for such a thing seems incredible--though I've known of worse crimes for less reason than that. But Ross Duggan's is the greatest motive of all, taking into consideration just when the thing happened--_before_ his name was erased, you must remember, Mr. Narkom, and as he's a dabster at electricity and the only person with an air-pistol in the house ... well, circumstantial evidence looks pretty black against him, doesn't it?
gpt
It certainly does. Mr. Narkom's voice was a trifle apologetic.
human
Well, I hardly know what to think, Cleek. And you're such a beggar for stringing evidence together, and never forgetting it! And there's such a dickens of a lot of evidence in this case that a chap gets horribly involved, and his memory is likely to play him tricks. And then that Italian chap whom Dollops has seen such a lot of to-day--where does he come in?
gpt
Right into the midst of the whole caboosh, returned Cleek enigmatically,
human
Who the dickens is Tweed Coat?
gpt
The gentleman whom Dollops so aptly described a few moments ago, returned Cleek quietly.
human
Perhaps you didn't notice Ross Duggan's coat this morning, Mr. Narkom? No? Well, it was made of a very sweetly smelling cloth called Harris tweed; and when Dollops described the one he saw to me this evening, I recognized it at once.
gpt
Then Tweed Coat is Ross Duggan, Cleek?
human
Who else?
gpt
of which Dollops had spoken, and padded soft-footedly down the hill toward the little