Pagett looked even more mysterious. He came a pace nearer and dropped his voice.
“If you ask me, the whole thing is very queer, Sir Eustace. Look at that illness of mine before we started—”
“My dear fellow,” I interrupted brutally, “that was a bilious attack. You’re always having bilious attacks.”
Pagett winced slightly. “It wasn’t the usual sort of bilious attack. This time—”
“For God’s sake, don’t go into the details of your condition, Pagett. I don’t want to hear them.”
“Very well, Sir Eustace. But my belief is that I was deliberately poisoned !”
“Ah!” I said. “You’ve been talking to Rayburn.”
He did not deny it.
“At any rate, Sir Eustace, he thinks so—and he should be in a position to know.”
“By the way, where is the chap?” I asked. “I’ve not set eyes on him since we came on board.”
“He gives out that he’s ill, and stays in his cabin, Sir Eustace.” Pagett’s voice dropped again. “But that’s camouflage , I’m sure. So that he can watch better.”
“Watch?”
“Over your safety, Sir Eustace. In case an attack should be made upon you.”