Changeling

He took my hand and kissed it. “Au revoir, sweet Rebecca.”

I went into the house.

Two days later I received a note from him. It came by hand and was dropped through the letter box. I was glad that I was alone and no explanation was needed as to who my correspondent was.

He was asking me to meet him at three o’clock that afternoon at The Devil’s Crown.

I was taken aback by the proposed venue, but I subdued my uneasiness, as the prospect of hearing something about Celeste.

I arrived there on time.

I was apprehensive as I stood before the building. It was not very far from The Yellow Canary and The Green Light and bore a resemblance to them … a tall, shabby building on the wall of which was the sign, the Devil with cloven feet and horns, and a crown on his head.

I noticed the big brass knocker with a decoration at the top of it. When I looked closer I saw that it was a crowned devil’s head.

I knocked and in a few moments the door was opened by Oliver Gerson.

“I knew you’d be here promptly,” he said. “Come in.”

I stepped into a small room which was empty of furniture. He opened the door and led the way into another room. Like the first it was empty. I was beginning to feel apprehensive. He realized this and said: “I have a reason for bringing you here. I’m sorry. It is not very attractive, is it? It’s empty actually. We have only recently acquired the premises. Plans are in progress for redesigning the whole place.”

“Why did you ask me to come here?”

“I can explain to you here. I can see you are uneasy. Don’t be. You are perfectly safe with me and I think you are going to be glad I brought you here.”

“It’s … a very strange place.”

“Are you thinking of the devil at the door? That is meant to give people a little shiver as they enter.”

He laid a hand on my arm. Instinctively I drew back. I could not help being reminded of Jean Pascal and wondering if I had been foolish enough to wander into another such trap.

“Could we go somewhere to talk?” I suggested. “That tea-shop?”

He shook his head. “It was necessary that you should come here. You must not be afraid of me. I know I am all sorts of a rogue and an adventurer in a way. I climbed to the position I hold now … and not always by the straight and narrow path. Benedict’s grandfather was interested in me. He recognized my talents and said he would exploit them. I had a position of some responsibility in his day and of course continued in it when Benedict took over.”

“I know all this … and that you jeopardized that position. That was unwise surely.”

“Ah, but he couldn’t turn me out. I was too well entrenched. However, that’s neither here nor there. He’s finished with us now and I am still here. But I am wasting time, aren’t I? You want to know why I brought you here.”

“You are going to tell me something about Celeste, I hope.”

“I want to prepare you … gently. I don’t want to give you too much of a shock. You saw us at The Hanging Judge. Yes, I was meeting her. No … not what you are thinking. It was not a love affair. I was sorry for her. I’m not so bad really. There is a little good in the worst of us, you know. I am capable of feeling sorry for someone in distress, and she was certainly that. She confided in me. She wanted to talk to someone who was sympathetic … and worldly enough to understand the situation. So we talked … and then we used to meet occasionally. Then … Benedict threatened to ruin everything for me. I was furious with him. He would not find it easy to be rid of me. There were others concerned and they knew my value. I recalled that other affair of his … his first election when he lost through the scandal about his wife. I was furious. I wanted above all to make him pay. It became an obsession.”

“Go on.”

“I thought I would spoil his chances. I knew how much he wanted that Cabinet post, and I thought, as it happened before through wife number one, why not do it again through wife number three?”

“So you arranged that …”

“She was to disappear. Not run away openly. That might not have had the desired effect. But suppose she disappeared … taking nothing with her? Suppose it could look like murder?”

I stared at him incredulously.

“You … you’ve hidden her. You know where she is. She’s alive.”

He nodded.

“Where is she?”

“You’ll know soon.”

“What a wicked thing to do!”

“Has he not been wicked? Did he not make his first wife unhappy? He has not cared for his daughter. He has made a little monster of that child. And was he a kind stepfather to you … for all those years?”

“It was largely my fault. He might have been different if I had let him.”

“I can see you are determined to make excuses for him. He should be made to see that there are others in the world beside himself. Oh, I know he has turned over a new leaf. Well, he has been punished. You think he has been punished enough. Perhaps you are right.”

“I wish you would tell me everything … now.”