Doria preserved
the best possible temper, but his Latin love of a certain sort of
fun seemed cynical and almost inhuman under the circumstances.
They spoke of the mystery and, upon that subject, the motor boatman
declared himself as quite unable to find any explanation; but, with
respect to Brendon's failure, he did not hesitate to make a sly
allusion. Indeed he hinted at things which Mark was to hear six
months later in a more responsible mouth.
"Above all, what has puzzled me most in this horrid affair is you,
Brendon," declared Giuseppe. "You are a great sleuth, we know; yet
you are no better than the rest of us stupid people before these
happenings and horrors. That made me wonder for a long time; but now
I wonder no longer."
"I'm beat and I own it. I've missed something vital--the keystone of
the arch. But why do you say that you wonder no more? Because you
know me now and find me a very dull dog?"
"Not so, my friend, far from it. You are a very wily, clever dog.
But--well, as we say in Italy, 'if you put a cat into gloves, she
will not catch mice.
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