The Dark Palace

‘But in the playing card, the eye was poked out – does that not convey the opposite message?’

‘I confess, sir, I do not have every detail worked out.’ Macadam bowed his head, crestfallen.

‘But it is indubitably a co

FIFTY-ONE

A circle of darkness fell from Hartma

‘You appear to have broken your monocle,’ Qui

Hartma

‘We wish to talk to you about the London Nitrate Company.’

‘I see.’

‘You are the chairman of that company, are you not?’

‘Is that a crime?’

‘Not in itself. Lord Dunwich and Harry Le

‘Yes, of course. This is publicly available information. No doubt you discovered it by looking in the Stock Exchange Yearbook, though why you would wish to do so, I ca

‘Last night there was a bomb outrage at the offices of the Daily Clarion. That may be construed as an attack on something very dear to Harry Le

‘Are you sure? I ca

‘At any rate, she was a woman in whom Lord Dunwich took an amorous interest.’

‘You will have to ask his lordship about that.’

‘But you see the co

‘I am afraid I struggle to.’

‘Both men were on the board of the London Nitrate Company. Both men received strange anonymous packages addressed in green ink – such as you use here at Visionary Productions. Both men are co

‘I am afraid I really don’t understand what you are hinting at.’

‘Nitrate. It is used in the manufacture of guncotton, is it not? Incidentally, it is highly likely that that was the explosive used in the attack on the Daily Clarion. But more to the point, control of the world’s nitrate resources could play a pivotal role in any future war between our nations.’

‘You are talking about celluloid nitrate. It is used to make many products. You could say, it is a very useful material. My own interest in it stems from the production of kinematographic film stock. Were it my ambition to control the world’s stock of sodium nitrate – which it is not, I hasten to add – my sole motivation would be to place myself at an advantage over my competitors in the motion picture production industry. But I was interested in what you said about the packages Le

‘It is the same hand,’ observed Qui

‘Why, this monocle that I broke as you came in. There was already a crack in the lens, so it was useless anyhow. I ca

‘A billiard ball painted to look like an eye. And a playing card. The Jack of Hearts. Curiously the eye had been poked through.’

‘Curious indeed, Inspector.’

‘Sir, may I have a word with you?’

Qui

Qui

‘Celluloid nitrate, yes. Though due to the explosive qualities of the material, its use in billiard ball manufacture is limited these days. There were one or two cases of billiard balls exploding against one another when struck particularly forcibly, I believe. Interestingly, celluloid nitrate may also have been used to create the layer of tint that has been put on the glass of this monocle lens.’

Qui

‘Yes.’

‘How do we know you didn’t send it to yourself?’

‘Why would I do that?’

‘Sir, there is a chance …’

‘Yes, I know, Macadam. If someone wanted to hurt you, Mr Hartma

‘What an extraordinary question! If this is some kind of joke, Inspector …’

‘I am perfectly serious.’

‘I … well, I have no family here in England. I live mainly for my work. For the films, you understand. My colleagues are my family. The cast and crew that I work with. I suppose someone might attack Visionary Productions, or perhaps …’

‘What is it, Mr Hartma

‘Eloise. Eloise Dumont – she is my star. Without her, I would not be able to go on.’

‘Where is she now?’

‘She is safe. She is still at the Savoy, as far as I know. She is being looked after by two of our people.’

‘We could telephone the Savoy from here, sir,’ suggested Macadam. ‘To reassure ourselves. Then perhaps we could arrange for a police guard.’

Hartma

Qui

Qui