The Toff In New York Read Free Page B

trickster, ready to walk off, but” Conway broke off.
    Somehow he had managed to hold Valerie’s interest, and for a few minutes the nagging anxiety about her brother had faded. She watched the strong, handsome face, while Conway slid a hand into his coat pocket, and then brought it out.
    He held a small stone about the size of a pigeon’s egg, but rough instead of smooth.
    â€œThat’s what he gave me as security,” he said. “That’s my talisman for the rest of my life. A little piece of rock, worth how much? Worth nothing - until you run the Geiger counter over it. Then you get the rattle, then you know there’s radio-active material in that piece of rock, and it’s called uranium! And there’s another word for uranium, Valerie - money. Fortune! Why, if you knew”
    He broke off again, and this time his expression was ludicrous. He slipped the rock away, took both her hands, and gave an apologetic little laugh.
    â€œWhat’s the matter with me, Valerie? I’m really sorry; I know how worried you are; I was forgetting. But this piece of rock shows you how worried you can get without any need. I wouldn’t mind betting that your brother will turn up before long, and you’ll be as happy as you’ve ever been. You start unpacking, and I’ll go and make some inquiries.”
    â€œAll right,” Valerie said. “How long will you be?”
    â€œI won’t be a minute longer than I can help,” Conway promised. “Not a second, take it from me.”
    He squeezed her hands, and went out.
    After he had gone, she watched the door for several seconds and then, still worriedly and very thoughtfully, she went across to a window and looked through the net curtains. Slowly she pulled one aside. Park Avenue wasn’t brilliantly illuminated, like some of the other streets, but there was light enough. Cars flashed by. Some people strolled. Not far away there were lights of a hundred colours, and they spread their glow high into the sky.
    Valerie turned away from the window.
    It wasn’t easy to get on with the unpacking, or to take her mind off her fears for her brother, or her doubts - inescapable doubts - about Conway and Halloran, who were so obviously confidence tricksters that it was inconceivable that they believed they had fooled her.
    She opened a case, took out a few things, put them in a drawer - and then went to the window again, as if she could hope to see her brother from there. She was at the window for nearly three minutes, and still looking out when the telephone bell rang.
    She swung round, and her eyes lit up.
    â€œIt’ll be Wilf!” She flew across the room to the bed and snatched up the telephone from the bedside table. “Hallo!” she cried. “Wilf, darling!”
    â€œJust a minute, please; I have a call for you,” the operator said, and kept her waiting. She dropped on to the foam-rubber comfort of the bed, and sank into it. She leaned back and drew her legs up, curled there with her head on the pillow, a sight to warm the heart and excite the hopes of any man. The belief that the caller was her brother might be illogical, but for these few seconds it drove fear away.
    Then:
    â€œIs that Miss Valerie Hall?” The voice was rather hoarse, and unmistakably American; not Wilf’s. Disappointment made Valerie sit up, slowly; worriedly.
    â€œYes,” she said.
    â€œListen, Miss Hall,” the man said quickly; “your brother’s in bad trouble, and you’ve got to help him quick. Can I come and see you right now?”
    She didn’t speak; fear seemed to paralyse her.
    â€œMay I come and see you right now?” the man demanded, and his voice rose. “I think I can help, but there isn’t any time to lose.”
    â€œPlea - please come at once,” Valerie said, and then with a rush: “Where is my brother, what . . .“
    She didn’t finish, for the man rang