I walked to the desk . The surface was orderly to the point of madness . Inkpot , pens , books , paper . All had its special place and seemed aligned as though they needed to be arranged in a way that helped them summon clearer thoughts … or spirits .
No ashtray , though . ‘ Sir ,’ I said . ‘ I can ’ t- ‘
‘ It ’ s here somewhere , boy . One of my visitors may have placed it somewhere silly .’
‘ One of your visitors , eh ?’ said Sir Danvers with a wink . ‘ I can only think of one man who would be brassy enough to come in here and mess around with your fixed order of things .’
Jekyll rolled his eyes . ‘ Please , not this again .’
‘ Edward Hyde ,’ said Sir Danvers tapping his cigar ash onto the carpet absentmindedly . ‘ That man has no respect for rules or decency . I saw him last night at my club . He was playing cards and telling the crudest of jokes . I won ’ t repeat them here , but they would make the Devil blush .’
I moved a book from the floor and found the ashtray underneath . I placed it on the coffee table , bowed for some reason , and left the room .
again .
It was another two hours before the bell rang
I took Sir Henry his whiskey . When I entered the room , he was sitting at his desk , preparing his pipe . I placed the whiskey in front of him . With Sir Danvers gone ,
42