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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4996-8.txt b/4996-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f41dae5 --- /dev/null +++ b/4996-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8865 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Number Seventeen, by Louis Tracy + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Number Seventeen + +Author: Louis Tracy + +Posting Date: June 9, 2011 [EBook #4996] +Release Date: January, 2004 +[This file was first posted on April 7, 2002] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NUMBER SEVENTEEN *** + + + + +Produced by Jim Weiler, xooqi.com + + + + + + + +Number Seventeen + +BY + +Louis Tracy + +1915 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE OUTCOME OF ARTISTIC CURIOSITY + + +"Taxi, sir? Yes, sir. No. 4 will be yours." + +A red-faced, loud-breathing commissionaire, engaged in the lucrative +task of pocketing sixpences as quickly as he could summon cabs, vanished +in a swirl of macintoshes and umbrellas. + +People who had arrived at the theater in fine weather were emerging into +a drizzle of rain. "All London," as the phrase goes, was flocking to see +the latest musical comedy at Daly's, but all London, regarded thus +collectively, is far from owning motor cars, or even affording taxicabs, +so the majority of the play-goers were hurrying on foot towards tube +railways and omnibus routes. + +Still, a popular light opera could hardly fail to draw many patrons from +the upper ranks of society, and, in the crush at the main exit, Francis +Berrold Theydon, hesitating whether to walk or wait the hazard of a cab, +deemed himself fortunate when a panting commissionaire promised to +secure a taxi "in half a minute." + +Automobiles of every known variety were snorting up to the curb and +bustling off again as promptly as their users could enter and bestow +themselves in dim interiors. Being a considerate person--wishful also to +light a cigarette--Theydon moved out of the way. In so doing, he was +cannoned against by an impetuous footman, whose cry, "Your car, sir," +led him to follow the man's alert eyes. + +He saw a tall, elderly gentleman, with clean-shaven, shrewd, and highly +intelligent features, of the type which finance, or the law, or a +combination of both, seems to evolve only in big cities, escorting a +young lady from the vestibule. Then Theydon remembered that he had +noticed this self-same girl's remarkable beauty as she was silhouetted +in white against the dark background of a first-tier box. He had even +speculated idly as to her identity, and had come to the conclusion, on +catching her face in profile, that she must be the daughter of the man +seated by her side but half-hidden behind a heavy curtain. + +The likeness was momentarily lost now while the two neared him, yet +discovered anew when they halted for a second at his elbow. Oddly +enough, the man was carrying an umbrella, which he proceeded to open, +and his daughter's astonished question put their relationship beyond +doubt. + +"Dad," she said, with a charming smile in which there was just a hint of +a pout, "aren't you coming home with me?" + +"No. I must look in at the Constitutional Club. It's only a step. I'll +take no harm. This sleet looks worse than it is when every drop shines +in the glare of so many lamps. Now, in with you, Evelyn! Tell Downs to +come back, and don't forget which club. Anyhow, I'll tell him myself." + +"Shall I wait up for you?" + +"Well--er--I shan't be late. I'll be free by the time Downs returns." + +"No. 4 taxi!" came a voice, and Theydon saw his commissionaire perched +on the step of a cab swinging in deftly behind the waiting car. The +girl, gazing at her father, happened to look for an instant at Theydon, +who, fearful lest his candidly admiring glance might have been a trifle +too sustained, pretended a hurried interest in an unlighted cigarette. +That was all. The three crossed the pavement almost simultaneously. + +The next moment the unknown goddess was gone, though Theydon snatched a +final glimpse of her, faintly visible, yet no less radiantly lovely, as +she leaned forward from the depths of the limousine, and waved a +white-gloved hand to her father through a window jeweled with raindrops. + +There was nothing in the incident to provoke a second thought. +Assuredly, Frank Theydon--as his friends called him--was not the only +man in the vestibule of Daly's Theater who had found the girl well worth +looking at, and it was the mere accident of propinquity which enabled +him to overhear the quite commonplace remarks of father and daughter. + +A score of similar occurrences had probably taken place in the like +circumstances that night in London, and the maddest dreamer of fantastic +dreams would not have heard the fluttering wings of the spirit of +romance in connection with any one of them. It was by no means +marvelous, therefore, but rather in obedience to the accepted law of +things as they are when contrasted with things as they might be, if +Theydon both failed to attach any importance to that chance meeting and +proceeded forthwith to think of something else. + +He did not forget it, of course. His artist's eyes had been far too +interested in a certain rare quality of delicate femininity in the +girl's face and figure, and his ear too quick to appreciate the music of +her cultured voice, that he should not be able to recall such pleasant +memories later. Indeed, during those fleeting moments on the threshold +of the theater, he had garnered quite a number of minor impressions, not +only of the girl, but of her father. + +In some respects they were singularly alike. Thus, each had the same +proud, self-reliant carriage, the same large, brilliant eyes, serene +brow and firm mouth, the same repose of manner, the same clear, incisive +enunciation. Neither could move in any company, however eclectic, +without evoking comment. + +They held in common that air of refinement and good breeding which is, +or should be, the best-marked attribute of an aristocracy. It was +impossible to imagine either in rags, but, given such a transformation, +each would be notable because of the amazing difference that would exist +between garb and mien. + +It must not be imagined that Theydon indulged in this close analysis of +the physical characteristics of two complete strangers while his cab was +wheeling into the scurry of traffic in Cranbourn Street. Rather did he +essay a third time to light the cigarette which he still held between +his lips. And yet a third time was his intent balked. + +A policeman stopped the east-bound stream of vehicles somewhat suddenly +at the corner of Charing Cross road; owing to the mud, the taxi skidded +a few feet beyond the line; a lamp was torn off by a heavy wagon coming +south; and a fierce argument between taxi driver and policeman resulted +in "numbers" being demanded for future vengeance. Then Theydon took a +hand in the dispute, poured oil on the troubled waters by tipping the +policeman half a crown and the driver half a sovereign--these sums being +his private estimate of damages to dignity and lamp--and the journey was +resumed, with a net loss, to the person who had absolutely nothing to do +with the affair, of twelve and sixpence in money and nearly ten minutes +in time. + +Theydon was not rich, as shall be seen in due course, but he was +generous and impulsive. He hated the notion of any one suffering for +having done him a service, and the taxi man might reasonably be deemed a +real benefactor on that sloppy night. + +So far as he was concerned, the delay of ten minutes was of no +consequence. It only meant a slightly deferred snuggling down into an +easy chair in his flat with a book and a pipe. That is how he would have +expressed himself if questioned on the point. In reality it influenced +and controlled his future in the most vital way, because, once the cab +had crossed Oxford Street and turned into the quiet thoroughfare on +which the first block of Innesmore Mansions abutted, he passed into a +new phase of existence. + +The cigarette, lighted at last after the altercation, had filled the cab +with smoke to such an extent that Theydon lowered a window. At that +moment the driver was slowing down to take the corner of the even more +secluded road which contained Innesmore Mansions and the gardens +appertaining thereto, and nothing else. Necessarily, Theydon was looking +out, and he was very greatly surprised at seeing the unknown gentleman +of the theater walking rapidly round the same corner. + +He could not be mistaken. The stranger tilted back his umbrella and +raised his eyes to ascertain the name of the street, as though he was +not quite sure of his whereabouts, and the glare of a lamp fell directly +on his clean-cut, almost classical face. + +Being thus occupied, he did not glance at the passing cab, or +recognition might possibly have been mutual--possibly, though not +probably, because, during that brief pause on the steps of the theater, +he stood beside Theydon; hence, he was half-turned toward his daughter +while they were discussing the night's immediate program. + +In itself the fact that he had gone in the direction of Innesmore +Mansions rather than toward the Constitutional Club was in nowise +remarkable. Nevertheless, he had deceived his daughter--deceived her +intentionally, and the knowledge came as a shock to his unsuspected +critic in Theydon. + +He did not look the sort of man who would stoop to petty evasion of the +truth. It was as though a statue of Praxiteles, miraculously gifted with +life, should express its emotions, not in Attic Greek, but in the +up-to-date slang of the Strand. + +"Well, I'm dashed!" said Theydon, or words to that effect, and his cab +sped on to the third doorway. Innesmore Mansions arranged its roomy +flats in blocks of six, and he occupied No. 18. + +He held a florin in readiness; the rain, now falling heavily, did not +encourage any loitering on the pavement. For all that, he saw out of the +tail of his eye that the other man was approaching, though he had paused +to examine the numbers blazoned on a lamp over the first doorway. + +"Good night, sir, and thank you!" said the taxi driver. + +The cab made off as Theydon ran up a short flight of steps. Innesmore +Mansions did not boast elevators. The flats were comfortable, but not +absurdly expensive, and their inmates climbed stairs cheerfully; at +most, they had only to mount to a second storey. Each block owned a +uniformed porter, who, on a night like this, even in May, needed rousing +from his lair by a bell if in demand. + +Theydon took the stairs two at a stride, opened the door of No. 18, +which, with No. 17, occupied the top landing. He was valeted and cooked +for by an ex-sergeant of the Army Service Corps and his wife, an +admirable couple named Bates, and the male of the species appeared +before Theydon had removed coat and opera hat in the tiny hall. + +"Bring my tray in fifteen minutes, Bates, and that will be all for +tonight," said Theydon. + +"Yes, sir," said Bates. "Remarkable change in the weather, sir." + +"Rotten. Who would have expected this downpour after such a fine day?" + +Bates took the coat and hat, and Theydon entered his sitting room, a +spacious, square apartment which faced the gardens. He had purposely +prevented Bates from coming immediately with his nightly fare, which +consisted of a glass of milk and a plate of bread and butter. + +Truth to tell, the artistic temperament contains a spice of curiosity, +which is, in some sense, an exercise of the perceptive faculties. +Theydon wanted to raise a window and look out, an unusual action, and +one which, therefore, would induce Bates to wonder as to its cause. + +For once in his life a man who bothered his head very little about other +people's business was puzzled, and meant to ascertain whether or not the +unknown was really calling on some resident in Innesmore Mansions. It +was a harmless bit of espionage. Theydon scarcely knew the names of the +other dwellers in his own block, and his acquaintance did not even go +that far with any of the remaining tenants of 48 flats, all told. + +Still, to a writer, the vagaries of the tall stranger were decidedly +interesting, so he did open a window, and did thrust his head out, and +was just in time to see the owner of the limousine which would call at +the Constitutional Club in a quarter of an hour mount the steps leading +to Nos. 13-18. Somehow, the discovery gave Theydon a veritable thrill. + +Could that pretty girl's father, by any chance, be coming to visit him? +A wildly improbable development had been whittled down to a five-to-one +chance. He closed the window and waited, yes, actually waited, for the +bell to ring! + +The sitting room door was open, and it faced the hall door. Footsteps +sounded sharply on the slate steps of the stairway; when Theydon heard +some one climbing to the topmost landing he was almost convinced that, +as usual, the unexpected was about to happen. It did happen, but took +its own peculiar path. The unknown rang the bell of No. 17, and, after a +slight delay, was admitted. + +Theydon smiled at the anticlimax. A trivial mystery had developed along +strictly orthodox lines. A rather good-looking and distinctly +well-dressed lady, a Mrs. Lester, occupied No. 17. She lived alone, too, +he believed. At any rate, he had never seen any other person, except an +elderly servant, enter or leave the opposite flat, and he had +encountered the tenant herself so seldom that he was not quite certain +of recognizing her apart from the environment of the staircase which +provided their occasional meeting place. + +Then he sighed. Romance evidently denied her magic presence to one who +wooed her assiduously by his pen. He was yet to learn that the alluring +sprite had not only favored him with her attentions during the past +twenty minutes, but meant to stick to him like his own shadow for many a +day. And he frowned, too. + +He did not approve of that pretty girl's father visiting the attractive +Mrs. Lester in conditions which savored of something underhanded and +clandestine. The man had deliberately misled his daughter. He left her +with a lie on his lips; yet never were appearances more deceptive, for +the stranger had the outward aspect of one whose word was his bond. + +"Oh, dash it all, what business is it of mine, anyhow?" growled Theydon, +and he laughed sourly as he sat down to write a letter which Bates could +take to the post, thus himself practicing a slight deceit intended +solely to account for the deferred bringing of the tray. + +It was apparently an unimportant missive which could well have been +postponed till the morning, being merely an announcement to a firm of +publishers that he would pay a business call later in the week. In less +than five minutes it, and another, making an appointment for Wednesday, +this being the night of Monday, were written, sealed, directed and +stamped. + +He rang. Bates came, with laden hands, thinking the tray was in demand. + +"Kindly post those for me," said Theydon, glancing at the letters. +"Better take an umbrella. It's raining cats and dogs." + +The man had found the door open, and left it so when he entered. Before +he could answer, the door of No. 17 was opened and closed, with the +jingle inseparable from the presence of many small panes of glass in +leaden casing, and footsteps sounded on the stairs. For some +reason--probably because of the unusual fact that any one should be +leaving Mrs. Lester's flat at so late an hour, both men listened. + +Then Bates recollected himself. + +"Yes, sir," he said. + +Oddly enough, the man's marked pause suggested a question to his +employer. + +"Mrs. Lester's visitor didn't stop long," was the comment. "He came up +almost on my heels." + +"I thought it must ha' bin a gentleman," said Bates. + +"Why a 'gentleman'?" laughed Theydon. + +"I mean, sir, that the step didn't sound like a lady's." + +"Ah, I see." + +Vaguely aware that he had committed himself to a definite knowledge as +to the sex of Mrs. Lester's visitor, Theydon added: + +"I didn't actually see any one on the stairs, but I heard an arrival, +and jumped to the same conclusion as you, Bates." + +Tacitly, master and man shared the same opinion--it was satisfactory to +know that Mrs. Lester's male visitors who called at the unconventional +hour of 11:30 p. m. were shown out so speedily. Innesmore Mansions were +intensely respectable. + +No lady could live there alone whose credentials had not satisfied a +sharp-eyed secretary. Further, Theydon was aware of a momentary +disloyalty of thought toward the distinguished-looking father of that +remarkably handsome girl, and it pleased him to find that he had erred. + +Bates went out, closing the door behind him: he donned an overcoat, +secured an umbrella and presently descended to the street. Yielding +again to impulse, Theydon reopened the window and peered down. The +stranger was walking away rapidly. A policeman, glistening in cape and +overalls, stood at the corner, near a pillar box. + +The tall man, who topped the burly constable by some inches, halted for +a moment to post a letter. Whether by accident or design he held his +umbrella so that the other could not see his face. Then he disappeared. +Bates came into view. He dropped Theydon's letters into the box, but he +and the policeman exchanged a few words, which, his employer guessed, +must surely have dealt with the vagaries of the weather. + +For an author of repute Theydon's surmises had been wide of the mark +several times that night. The policeman had seen the unknown coming out +from the doorway of Nos. 13-18, and had noted his stature and +appearance. + +"Who's the toff who just left your lot?" he said, when Bates arrived. + +"Dunno," said Bates. "Some one callin' on Mrs. Lester, I fancy. Why?" + +"O, nothing. On'y, if I was togged up regardless on a night like this +I'd blue a cab fare." + +"I didn't see him meself," commented Bates. "My boss 'eard him come, an' +both of us 'eard him go. He didn't stay more'n five minnits." + +"Wish I was in his shoes. I've got to stick round here till six in the +morning," grinned the policeman. + +"Well, cheer-o, mate." + +"Cheer-o." + +Bates looked in on his master before retiring for the night. + +"What time shall I call you, sir?" he said. + +Theydon was in the pipe and book stage, having exchanged his dress coat +for a smoking jacket. He was reading a treatise on aeronautics, and, +like every novice, had already formulated a flying scheme which would +supersede all known inventions. + +"Not later than 8," he said. "I must be out by 9. And, by the way, I may +as well tell you now. After lunch tomorrow I am going to Brooklands. I +return to Waterloo at 6:40. As I have to dine in the West End at 7:30, +and my train may be a few minutes behind time, I want you to meet me +with a suitcase at the hairdresser's place on the main platform. I'll +dress there and go straight to my friend's house. It would be cutting +things rather fine if I attempted to come here." + +"I'll have everything ready, sir." + +Bates was eminently reliable in such matters. He could be depended on to +the last stud. + +The storm which had raged overnight must have cleared the skies for the +following day, because Theydon never enjoyed an outing more than his +trip to the famous motor track. His business there, however, lay with +aviation. A popular magazine had commissioned him to write an article +summing up the progress and practical aims of the airmen and he was +devoting afternoon and evening to the quest of information. A couple of +experts and a photographer had given him plenty of raw material in the +open, but he looked forward with special zest to an undisturbed chat +that night with Mr. James Creighton Forbes, millionaire and +philanthropist, whose peculiar yet forcible theories as to the peaceful +conquest of the air were for the hour engaging the attention of the +world's press. + +He had never met Mr. Forbes. When on the point of writing for an +appointment he had luckily remembered that the great man was a lifelong +friend of the professor of physics at his (Theydon's) university, and a +delightfully cordial introductory note was forthcoming in the course of +a couple of posts. This brought the invitation to dinner. "On Tuesday +evening I am dining _en famille_," wrote Mr. Forbes, "so, if you are +free, join us at 7:30, and we can talk uninterruptedly afterward." + +The train was not late. Bates, erect and soldierly, was standing at the +rendezvous. With him were two men whom Theydon had never before seen. +One, a bulky, stalwart, florid-faced man of forty, had something of the +military aspect; the other supplied his direct antithesis, being small, +wizened and sallow. + +The big man had a round, bullet head, prominent bright blue eyes, and +the cheek bones, chin and physical development of a heavyweight +pugilist. His companion, whose dark and recessed eyes were noticeably +bright, too, could not be more than half his weight, and Theydon would +not have been surprised if told that this diminutive person was a +dancing master. Naturally he classed both as acquaintances of his valet, +encountered by chance on the platform at Waterloo. + +He was slightly astonished, therefore, when the two faced him, together +with Bates. A dramatic explanation of their presence was soon supplied. + +"These gentlemen, sir, are Chief Inspector Winter and Detective +Inspector Furneaux of Scotland Yard," said the ex-sergeant, in the awed +tone which some people cannot help using when speaking of members of the +Criminal Investigation Department. + +Though daylight had not yet failed it was rather dark in that corner of +the station, and Theydon saw now what he had not perceived earlier, that +the usually sedate Bates was pale and harassed looking. + +"Why, what's up?" he inquired, gazing blankly from one to the other of +the ominous pair. + +"Haven't you seen the evening papers, Mr. Theydon?" said Winter, the +giant of the two. + +"No, I've been at Brooklands since two o'clock. But what is it?" + +"You don't know, then, that a murder was committed in the Innesmore +Mansions last night or early this morning?" + +"Good Lord, no! Who was killed?" + +"A Mrs. Lester, the lady--" + +"Mrs. Lester, who lives in No. 17?" + +"Yes." + +"What a horrible thing! Why, only the day before yesterday I met her on +the stairs." + +It was a banal statement, and Theydon knew it, but he blurted out the +first crazy words that would serve to cloak the monstrous thought which +leaped into his brain. And a picture danced before his mind's eye, a +picture, not of the fair and gracious woman who had been done to death, +but of a sweet-voiced girl in a white satin dress who was saying to a +fine-looking man standing by her side: "Dad, aren't you coming home with +me?" + +His blurred senses were conscious of the strange medley produced by the +familiar noises of a railway station blending with the quietly +authoritative voice of the chief inspector. + +"Mr. Furneaux and I have the inquiry in hand, Mr. Theydon," the +detective was saying. "We called at your flat, and Bates told us of the +sounds you both heard about 11:30 last night. I'm afraid we have rather +upset you by coming here, but Bates was unable to say what time you +would return home, so I thought you would not mind if we accompanied him +in order to find out the hour at which it would be convenient for you to +meet us at your flat--this evening, of course." + +"You have certainly given me the shock of my life," Theydon gasped. +"That poor woman dead, murdered! It's too awful! How was she killed?" + +"She was strangled." + +"O, this is dreadful! Shall I wire an apology to the man I'm dining +with?" + +"No need for that, Mr. Theydon," said Winter, sympathetically. "I'm +sorry now we blurted out our unpleasant news. But you had to be told, +and it was essential that we should get your story some time tonight. +Can you be home by eleven?" + +"Yes, yes. I'll be there without fail." + +"Thank you. We have a good many inquiries to make in the meantime. +Goodby, for the present." + +The two made off. Winter had done all the talking, but Theydon was far +too disturbed to pay heed to the trivial fact that Furneaux, after one +swift glance, seemed to regard him as a negligible quantity. It was +borne in on him that the detective evidently believed he had something +of importance to say, and meant to render it almost impossible that he +should escape questioning while his memory was still active with +reference to events of the previous night. + +And he had so little, yet so much, to tell. On his testimony alone it +would be a comparatively easy matter to establish beyond doubt the +identity of Mrs. Lester's last known visitor. And what would be the +outcome? He dared hardly trust his own too lively imagination. Whether +or not his testimony gave a clew to the police, the one irrevocable +issue was that somewhere in London there was a girl named Evelyn who +would regard a certain young man, Francis Berrold Theydon to wit, as a +loathsome and despicable Paul Pry. + +Bates, somewhat relieved by the departure of the emissaries of Scotland +Yard, recalled his master's scattered wits to the affairs of the moment. + +"It's getting on for seven, sir," he said. "I've engaged a dressing +room." + +"Tell you what, Bates," said Theydon abstractedly, "it is my fixed +belief that you and I could do with a brandy and soda apiece." + +"That would be a good idea, sir." + +The good idea was duly acted on. While Theydon was dressing Bates told +him what little he knew of the tragedy, which was discovered by Mrs. +Lester's maid when she brought a cup of tea to her mistress' bedroom at +ten o'clock that morning. + +Bates himself was the first person appealed to by the distracted woman, +and he had the good sense to leave the body and its surroundings +untouched until a doctor and the police had been summoned by telephone. +Thenceforth the day had passed in a whirl of excitement, active in +respect to police inquiries and passive in its resistance to newspaper +interviewers. He saw no valid reason why his employer's plans should be +disturbed, so made no effort to communicate with him at Brooklands. + +"Them 'tecs were very pressin', sir," said Bates, rather indignantly, +"very pressin', especially the little one. He almost wanted to know what +we had for breakfast." + +At that Theydon laughed dolefully, and, as it happened, Bates's grim +humor prevented him from ascertaining the exact nature of Furneaux's +pertinacity. Moreover, the time was passing. At 7:15 Theydon called a +taxi and was carried swiftly to Mr. Forbes's house in Belgravia, while +Bates disposed himself and the dressing case on top of a northbound +omnibus. + +The mere change of clothing, aided by the stimulant, had cleared +Theydon's faculties. Though he would gladly have foregone the dinner, he +realized that it was not a bad thing that he should be forced, as it +were, to wrench his thoughts from the nightmare of a crime with which +such a man as "Evelyn's" father might be associated, even innocently. + +At any rate, he was given some hours to marshal his forces for the +discussion with the representatives of Scotland Yard. He knew well that +he must then face the dilemma boldly. Two courses were open. He could +either share Bates's scanty knowledge, no more and no less, or avow his +ampler observations. And why should he adopt the first of these +alternatives? Was he not bringing himself practically within the law? + +Why should any man be shielded, no matter what his social position or +how beautiful his daughter, who might possibly have caused the death of +the pleasant-mannered and ladylike woman fated now to remain for ever a +tragic ghost in the memory of one who had dwelt under the same roof with +her for five months? + +It was a thorny problem, yet it permitted of only one solution. Duty +must be done though the heavens fell. + +This conviction grew on Theydon as his cab scurried across the Thames +and along Birdcage Walk. A pretty conceit could not be allowed to sweep +aside the first principles of citizenship. Indeed, so reassuring was +this reasoned judgment that he felt a sense of relief as he paid off the +cab and rang the bell of the Forbes mansion. + +He gave his name to a footman, who disposed of his overcoat and hat, and +led him to an upstairs drawing room. Even the most fleeting glances at +hall and staircase revealed evidences of a highly trained artistic taste +gratified by great wealth. The furniture, the china, the pictures, were +each and all rare and well chosen. + +"Mr. Theydon," announced the man, throwing wide the door. + +A lady, bent over some prints spread on a distant table, turned at the +words, and hastened to greet the guest. + +"My father is expecting you, Mr. Theydon," she said. "He was detained +rather late in the city, but will be here now at any moment." + +Theydon was no neurotic boy, whose surcharged nerves were liable to +crack in a crisis demanding some unusual measure of self-control. Yet +the room and its contents--and, not least, the graceful girl advancing +with outstretched hand--swam before his eyes. + +Because this was "Evelyn," and it was certain as the succession of night +to day that Mrs. Lester's mysterious visitor must have been "Evelyn's" +father, James Creighton Forbes. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE COMPACT + + +So petrified was Theydon by coming face to face with the last person +breathing whom he expected to meet in that room, that he stumbled over a +small chair which lay directly between him and his hostess. At any other +time the gaucherie would have annoyed him exceedingly; in the existing +circumstances, no more fortunate incident could have happened, since it +brought Evelyn Forbes herself unwittingly to the rescue. + +"I have spoken twenty times about chairs being left in that absurd +position," she cried, as their hands met, "but you know how +wooden-headed servants are. They will not learn to discriminate. People +often sit in that very place of an afternoon, because any one seated +just there sees the Canaletto on the opposite wall in the best light. +When the lamps are on, the reason for the chair simply ceases to exist, +and it becomes a trap for the unwary. You are by no means the first who +has been caught in it." + +Theydon realized, with a species of irritation, that the girl was +discoursing volubly about the offending chair merely in order to +extricate an apparently shy and tongue-tied young man from a morass of +his own creation. + +That an author of some note should not only behave like a country +bumpkin, but actually seem to need encouragement so that he should "feel +at home" in a London drawing room, was a fact so ridiculous that it +spurred his bemused wits into something approaching their normal +activity. + +"I have not the excuse of the Canaletto," he said, compelling a pleasant +smile, "but may I plead an even more distracting vision? I came here +expecting to meet an elderly gentleman of the class which flippant +Americans describe as 'high-brow,' and I am suddenly brought face to +face with a Romney 'portrait of a lady' in real life. Is it likely that +such an insignificant object as a chair, and a small one at that, would +succeed in catching my eye?" + +Evelyn Forbes laughed, with a joyous mingling of surprise and relief. +Most certainly, Mr. Theydon's manner of speech differed vastly from the +disconcerting expression of positive bewilderment, if not actual fright, +which marred his entrance. + +"Do I really resemble a Romney? Which one?" she cried. + +"An admitted masterpiece." + +"Ah, but people who pay compliments deserve to be put on the rack. I +insist on a definition." + +"Lady Hamilton as Joan of Arc." + +He drew the bow at random, and was gratified to see that his hearer was +puzzled. + +"I don't know that particular picture," she said, "but I cannot imagine +any model less adapted to the subject." + +"Romney immortalized the best qualities of both," he answered promptly. +"Please, may I look at the Canaletto which indirectly waylaid me?" + +She turned to cross the room, but stopped and faced him again with a +suddenness that argued an impulsive temperament. + +"Now, I remember," she said. "Dad told me you had written novels and +some essays. Have you ever really seen Romney's portrait of Lady +Hamilton as Joan of Arc?" + +Those fine eyes of hers pierced him with a glance of such candid inquiry +that he cast pretence to the winds. + +"No," he said. + +"Then you just invented the comparison as an excuse for colliding with +the chair?" + +"Yes. At the same time I throw myself on the mercy of the court." + +"It was rather clever of you." + +He laughed, and their eyes met, at very close range. + +"May I share the joke?" said a voice, and Theydon knew, before he +turned, that the man he had last seen disappearing around the corner of +Innesmore Mansions in a heavy rainstorm was in the room. + +"Why did you tell me that Mr. Theydon was a serious scientific person?" +cried the girl. "He is anything but that. He can talk nonsense quite +admirably." + +"So can a great many serious scientific persons, Evelyn. Glad to see +you, Mr. Theydon. Professor Scarth's letter paved the way for something +more than a formal meeting, so I thought you wouldn't mind giving us an +evening. My wife is not in town. She is a martyr to hay fever, and has +to fly from London to the sea early in May to escape. If caught here in +June nothing can save her. Tonight, as it happens, you're our only +guest, but my daughter is going to a musicale at Lady de Winton's after +dinner, so you and I will be free to soar into the empyrean through a +blaze of tobacco smoke." + +Standing there, in that delightful drawing room, made welcome by a man +like Forbes, and admitted to a degree of charming intimacy by a girl +like Forbes's daughter, Theydon tried to believe that his meeting with +those ill-omened detectives at Waterloo Station was, in some sort, a +figment of the imagination. + +But he was instantly and effectually brought back to a dour sense of +reality by Evelyn Forbes's next words. She, by chance, looked at Theydon +just as she had looked at him the previous night. + +"Were you at Daly's Theater last night?" she inquired suddenly. + +"Yes," he said. Then, finding there was no help for it, he went on:---- + +"You and I have hit on the same discovery, Miss Forbes. We three stood +together at the exit. I was waiting for a taxi, and saw you get into +your car. Now you know just why I fell over the chair." + +Forbes glanced up quickly. + +"Don't tell me Tomlinson forgot to move that infernal chair again!" he +cried. "Really, I must get rid either of our butler or the Canaletto, +yet I prize both." + +"Don't blame Tomlinson, Dad," laughed the girl. "If Mr. Theydon hadn't +made an unconventional entry we would have talked about the weather, or +something equally stupid." + +At that moment Tomlinson himself, imperturbable and portly, announced +that dinner was served. The three descended the stairs, chatting lightly +about the musical comedy witnessed overnight. It was no new revelation +to Theydon that truth should prove stranger than fiction, but the trite +phrase was fast assuming a fresh and sinister personal significance. He +believed, and not without good reason, that no man living had ever +undergone an experience comparable with his present adventure. + +When he left that house he was going straight to two officers of the law +whose bounden duty it would become to call upon Mr. Forbes for a full +and true explanation of his visit to Mrs. Lester--provided, that is, he +(Theydon) told them what he knew. Talk about a death's-head grinning at +a feast! At that bright dinner-table he was a prey to keener emotion +than ever shook a Borgia entertaining one whom he meant to poison. + +In sheer self-defense he talked with an animation he seldom displayed. +Evelyn was evidently much taken by him, and, fired by her manifest +interest, he indulged in fantastic paradox and wild flights of fancy. +Seemingly his exuberance stimulated Forbes, himself a well-informed and +epigrammatic talker. + +An hour sped all too soon. The girl rose with a sigh. + +"It's too bad that I should have to go," she said. "I shall be bored +stiff at Lady de Winton's. But I can't get out of it except by telling a +positive fib over the telephone. Dad, next time you ask Mr. Theydon to +dinner, please let me know in good time, and neither of you will be rid +of me so easily." + +She shook hands with Theydon. While she was giving her father a parting +kiss the guest moved to the door and held it open. As she passed out she +smiled and her eyes said plainly: + +"I like you. Come again soon." + +Then she was gone and the pleasant room lost some of its glow and color. + +"Don't sit down again, Theydon," said Forbes, rising. "We'll have coffee +brought to my den. What is your favorite liqueur--or shall we tell +Tomlinson to send along that decanter of port? It's a first-rate wine. +Another glass won't hurt you, or me, for that matter." + +Theydon had hardly dared to touch the champagne supplied during the +meal. Abstemious at all times, because he found that wine or spirits +interfered with his capacity for work, he felt that a clear head and +steady nerves were called for that night more than any other night in +his life. Following the lead given by his host, therefore, he elected +for the port. + +"You are right, too," said Forbes. "You remember Dr. Johnson's dictum: +'Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a +hero must drink brandy'? Tonight, not aspiring to the heroic, we'll +stick to port." + +"It is a curious fact that on my return from Brooklands today I took a +glass of brandy," confessed Theydon. "I seldom, if ever, drink any +intoxicant before dining, but I needed a stimulant of a sort, and some +unknown tissue in me cried aloud for brandy." + +He hoped vaguely that the comment would lead to something more explicit, +and thus bring him, without undue emphasis, so to speak, to the one +topic on which he was now resolved to obtain a decisive statement from +the man chiefly concerned before he faced the representatives of +Scotland Yard. + +But Forbes, motioning to an easy chair in a well-appointed library, and +flinging himself into another, gave heed only to the one +word--Brooklands. + +"Did you fly?" he asked. + +"No. I was soaking in theory, not practice." + +"Ah, theory. It would, indeed, seem to be true that folded away in some +convolution of our brain are the faculties of the fish and the bird. +Those latent powers are expanding daily. The submarine has already gone +far beyond the practical achievement of aerial craft. But why, in the +name of humanity, should every such development of man's almost +immeasurable resources be dedicated to warlike purposes? I am sick at +heart when I hear the first question put in these days to each inventor: +'Can you enable us to kill more of our fellowmen than we can kill with +existing appliances?' Is it a new engine, a new amalgam of metals, a new +explosive, a new field of electrical energy, one hears the same +vulture's cry--'How many, how far, how safely can we slay?' I regard +this lust for destruction as contemptible. It is a strange and +ignominious feature of modern life. Forgive me, Mr. Theydon, if I speak +strongly on this matter. The men who spread the bounds of science today +are, nominally, at any rate, Christians. They tell of peace and goodwill +to all, yet prepare unceasingly for some awful Armageddon.[*] We teach +Christ's gospel in pulpit and schoolhouse, strive to express it in our +laws, obey it in our lives and social relations, yet we are armed to the +teeth and ever arming, adding strength to the plates of our warships and +distance to the range of our guns, constantly riveting and welding and +forging monsters which shall shatter men and cities and States." + +[*] This story was written before the outbreak of war in 1914.] + +It was not the younger man now who talked brilliantly and forcibly. +Theydon, frankly abandoning the effort to twist the conversation to that +enigma which, the more he saw and heard of Forbes the more incredible it +became, listened enthralled to one who spoke with the conviction and +earnestness of a prophet. + +"Don't imagine that I am framing an indictment against Christianity," +went on Forbes passionately. "The Sermon on the Mount inspires all that +is great and noble in our everyday existence, all that is eternally +beautiful in our dreams of the future. But why this din of war, this +smoke of arsenals, this marching and drilling of the world's youth? +Nature's law appears to have two simple clauses. It enforces a principle +in the struggle for existence, a test in the survival of the fittest. +Great heavens, are not these enough, without having our ears deafened by +powder and drumming? That is why I am devoting a good deal of time and +no small amount of money to an international crusade against the warlike +idea, and I see no reason why a beginning should not be made with the +airship and the airplane. We are too late with the submarine, but, +before the golden hour passes, let us stop the navigation of the air +from forming part of the equipment of murder. Surely it can be done. +England and the United States, Italy, France and the rest of Europe--the +founts of civilization--can write the edict, with all the blazonry of +their glorious histories to illuminate the page--There shall be no war +in the air!'" + +Theydon was carried away in spite of himself. + +"You believe that the airship might develop along the unemotional lines +of the parcel post?" he inquired. + +Forbes laughed. + +"Exactly," he said. "I like your simile. No one suggests that we Britons +should endeavor to destroy our hated rivals by sending bombs through the +mails. Why, then, in the name of common sense, should the first--I might +almost say the only use of which the airship is commonly supposed +capable--be that of destruction? Don't you see the instant result of a +war-limiting ordinance of the kind I advocate? Suppose the peoples and +the rulers declared in their wisdom that soldiers and war material +should be contraband of the air--and suppose that airships do become +vehicles of practical utility--what a farce would soon be all the grim +fortresses, the guns, the giant steel structures now designed as +floating hells! Humanity has yet time to declare that the flying machine +shall be as harmless and serviceable as the penny post. I believe it can +be done. Come now, Mr. Theydon, I think you've caught on to my +scheme--will you help?" + +Help! Here was a man expounding a new evangel, which might, indeed, be +visionary and impracticable, but was none the less essentially noble and +Christian in spirit, yet Theydon was debating whether or not he should +give testimony which would bring to that very room a couple of +detectives whose first questions would make clear to Forbes that he was +suspected of blood-guiltiness! + +The notion was so utterly repellent that Theydon sighed deeply; his host +not unnaturally looked surprised. + +"Of course, such a revolutionary idea strikes you as outside the pale of +common sense," he began, but the younger man stayed him with a gesture. +Here was an opportunity that must not be allowed to pass. No matter what +the cost--if he never saw Evelyn Forbes or her father again--he must +dispel the waking nightmare which held him in such an abnormal condition +of uncertainty and foreboding. + +"Now that your daughter is gone I may venture to speak plainly," he +said. "I told you that, I felt the need of a brandy and soda at +Waterloo. As a matter of fact, I did not leave the Brooklands track +until six o'clock, and, as Innesmore Mansions, where I live, lie north, +and I was due here at 7:30, I had my man meet me at the station with a +suitcase, meaning to change my clothes in the dressing room there, and +come straight here. Guess my astonishment when I found Bates--Bates is +the name of my factotum--in the company of two strangers, whom he +introduced as representing the Criminal Investigation Department." + +He paused. He had brought in his own address skilfully enough, and kept +his voice sufficiently under control that no tremor betrayed a knowledge +of Forbes's vital interest in any mention of that one block of flats +among the multitude. + +Now, for the first time, Innesmore Mansions figured as his abode, the +correspondence which led to the dinner having centered in his club. But +not a flicker of eyelid nor twitch of mobile lips showed the slightest +concern on Forbes's part. Rather did he display at once a well-bred +astonishment on hearing Theydon's concluding words. + +"Do you mean detectives from Scotland Yard?" he cried. + +"Yes." + +Forbes smiled, and commenced filling a pipe. + +"Evidently they did not want you as a principal," he said. + +His tone was genial, but slightly guarded. Theydon realized that this +man of great wealth and high social position had reminded himself that +his guest, though armed with the best of credentials, was quite unknown +to him otherwise, and that, perhaps, he had acted unwisely in inviting a +stranger to his house without making some preliminary inquiry. This +reversal of their roles was a conceit so ludicrous that Theydon smiled +too. + +At any rate, he meant now to pursue an unpleasing task, and have done +with it. + +"No," he said slowly. "It seems that I am the worst sort of witness in a +murder case. I may have heard, I may even have seen, the person +suspected of committing the crime, or, if that is going too far, the +person whom the police have good reason to regard as the last who saw +the poor victim alive and in ordinary conditions. But my testimony, such +as it is, is so slight and inconclusive that, of itself, no one could +hang a cat on it." + +"Good gracious! That sounds interesting, though you have my sympathy. It +must be rather distressing to be mixed up in such an affair, even +indirectly." + +Forbes struck precisely the right note of friendly inquiry. He wished to +hear more, and was at the same time relieved to find that Professor +Scarth had not introduced a notorious malefactor in the guise of a young +writer seeking material for an article on airships! + +Theydon could have laughed aloud at this comedy of errors, but the fact +that at any moment it might develop into a tragedy exercises a wholesome +restraint. + +"I happen to live at No. 18 Innesmore Mansions," he said. "Opposite--on +the same floor, I mean--lives, or did live, a Mrs. Lester. I do not--" + +"Are you telling me that a Mrs. Lester of No. 17 Innesmore Mansions is +dead--has been murdered?" + +Forbes's voice rang out vibrant, incisive. His ordinarily pale face had +blanched, and his deep-set eyes blazed with the fire of some fierce +emotion, but, beyond the slight elevation of tone and the change of +expression, he revealed to Theydon's quietly watchful scrutiny no sign +of the terror or distress which an evildoer might be expected to show on +learning that the law's vengeance was already shadowing him, even in so +remote a way as was indicated by the presence under his roof of a +witness regarded by the police as an important one. + +"Yes!" stammered Theydon, quite taken aback by his companion's +vehemence. "Do you--know the lady? If so--I am sorry--I spoke so +unguardedly--" + +"Good heavens, man, don't apologize for that! I am not a child or +weakling, that I should flinch in horror from one of life's dramatic +surprises! But, are you sure of what you are saying? Mrs. Lester +murdered! When?" + +"About midnight last night, the doctor believes. That is what Bates told +me. I was so shaken on hearing his news, which was confirmed by the two +detectives, that I really gave little heed to details.... She was +strangled--a peculiarly atrocious thing where an attractive and ladylike +woman is concerned. I have never spoken to her, but have met her at odd +times on the stairs. I was immeasurably shocked, I assure you. In fact, +I was on the point of telegraphing an excuse to you for this evening, +but the Chief Inspector--Winter, I think his name is--said it would +suffice for his purpose if I met him at my flat about eleven o'clock, as +he was engaged on other inquiries which would occupy the intervening +hours." + +"But if the news of this dastardly crime only reached you tonight at +Waterloo Station, and you have no personal acquaintance with Mrs. +Lester, what evidence can you give that will assist the police?" + +"Mrs. Lester received a visitor last night, an incident so unusual that +I, who heard him arrive, and Bates, who was in my sitting room when we +both heard him depart, commented on the strangeness of it. That, I +suppose, is the reason why I am in request by Scotland Yard." + +"You say 'him.' How did you know it was a man? Did you see him?" + +"Er--that was impossible. We were in my flat, behind its closed door. +Bates and I deduced his sex from the sound of his footsteps." + +Again Theydon nearly stammered. Events had certainly turned in the most +amazing way. Instead of carrying himself almost in the manner of a +judge, he was figuring rather as an unwilling witness in the hands of a +skilled and merciless cross-examining counsel. + +"Did the police officers supply any theory of motive for the crime? Was +this poor woman killed for the sake of her few trinkets?" + +By this time Theydon was stung into a species of revolt. It was he, not +Forbes, who should be snapping out searching questions. + +"I regret to say that my nerves were not sufficiently under control at +Waterloo that I should listen carefully to each word," he said, almost +stiffly. "Bates had picked up such information as was available; but he, +though an ex-sergeant in the Army, was so upset as to be hardly +coherent. When I meet the detectives in the course of another hour I +shall probably gather something definite and reliable in the way of +details." + +Forbes laid the pipe which he had filled but not lighted on the table. +He poured out a glass of port and drank it. + +"Try that," he said, pushing the decanter toward Theydon. "They cannot +trouble you greatly. You have so little to tell." + +"No, thanks. Nothing more for me tonight until the Scotland Yard men +have cleared out." + +Forbes rose as he spoke and strode the length of the room and back with +the air of a man debating some weighty and difficult point. + +"Mr. Theydon," he said, at last, halting in front of the younger man and +gazing down at him with a direct intensity that was highly embarrassing +to one who had good cause to connect him with the actual crime. "I want +you to do me a favor--a great favor. It was in my mind at first to ask +you to permit me to go with you to Innesmore Mansions, and to be present +during the interview with the detectives. But a man in my position must +be circumspect. It would, perhaps, be unwise to appear too openly +interested. I don't mind telling you in confidence that I have known +Mrs. Lester many years. The shock of her death, severe as it must have +been to you, is slight as compared with my own sorrow and dismay. More +than that I dare not say until better informed. I remember now hearing +the newsboys shouting their ghoulish news, and I saw contents bills +making large type display of 'Murder of a lady,' but little did I +imagine that the victim was one whom--one whose loss I shall deplore.... +Are you on the telephone?" + +"Yes," said Theydon, thoroughly mystified anew by the announcement that +Forbes had even contemplated, or so much as hinted at, the astounding +imprudence of visiting Innesmore Mansions that night. + +"Ring me up when the detectives have gone. I shall esteem your +assistance during this crisis as a real service." + +For the life of him, Theydon could not frame the protest which ought to +have been made without delay and without hesitation. + +"Yes," he said. "I'll do that. You can trust me absolutely." + +Thus was he committed to secrecy. That promise sealed his lips. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +IN THE TOILS + + +Theydon, though blessed, or cursed, with an active imagination--which +must surely be the prime equipment of a novelist--was shrewd and +level-headed in dealing with everyday affairs. + +It was no small achievement that the son of a country rector, aided only +by a stout heart, a university education and an excellent physique--good +recommendations, each and all, but forming the stock-in-trade of many a +man on whose subsequent career "failure" is writ large--should have +forced himself to the front rank of the most overcrowded among the +professions before attaining his twenty-sixth year. + +It may be taken for granted, therefore, that he was not lacking in the +qualities of close observation and critical analysis. He would, for +instance, be readier than the majority of his fellows to note the small +beginnings of events destined to become important. + +Often, of course, his deductions would prove erroneous, but the mere +fact that he habitually exercised his wits in such a way rendered it +equally certain that his judgment would be accurate sometimes. One such +occasion presented itself a few seconds after he had left the Forbes +mansion. + +A taxi, summoned by a footman, was in waiting, and Theydon was crossing +the pavement when he noticed a gray landaulet car at rest beneath the +trees at some distance. Mr. Forbes's house stood in a square, and the +gray car had been drawn up on the quiet side of the roadway, being +stationed there, apparently, to await its owner's behest. Gray cars are +common enough in London, but they are usually of the touring class. + +Not often does one see a gray-painted landaulet; hence, the odd though +hardly remarkable fact occurred to Theydon that a precisely similar gray +automobile had occupied the center of the station yard at Waterloo when +he took a taxi from the rank. + +Admittedly he was in a nervous and excited state. It could hardly be +otherwise after the strain of that astounding conversation with Forbes, +and there was no prospect of the tension being relaxed until the close +of the interview with the detectives, which he now regarded as the worse +ordeal of the two. + +But this subconscious neurasthenia in no wise affected the reflex action +of his ordinary faculties. When, on leaving the square, and while his +cab was rattling along an aristocratic thoroughfare leading to +Knightsbridge, he peered through a tiny observation window in the back +of the vehicle, and ascertained that the gray car was stealing along +quietly about a hundred yards in the rear, he began to believe that its +presence both at Waterloo and outside Mr. Forbes's residence could not +be wholly accidental. When he had watched its persistent treading on his +heels along Piccadilly its intent became almost unmistakable. + +The route to Innesmore Mansions traversed some of London's main +arteries, but, despite the rush of traffic due to the first flight of +homeward-bound playgoers, the gray car kept steadily on his track. +Amused at first, he became angry because of a notion which grew out of +the wonderment of finding himself the object of this persistent +espionage. + +To make sure, and at the same time discover the sort of person who was +spying on him, he adopted a ruse. Leaning out, when about to cross +Oxford Street into Tottenham Court Road, he said to his driver: "Turn +sharp to the right in Store Street, and pull up. I'll tell you when to +go on again." + +The man obeyed. Theydon posted himself at the outer window, and in a +space of time so short that the excellence of the gray car's accelerator +was amply demonstrated, the pursuer swung into sight. A stolid-faced +chauffeur at the wheel did not appear discomfited at coming on his +quarry thus unexpectedly. He whirled past, seemingly quite oblivious of +Theydon's fixed stare. Though the weather was mild he wore an overcoat +with upturned collar, so that between its protecting flaps and a +low-peaked cap his face was well hidden. Still, Theydon received an +impression of a curiously wooden physiognomy. + +The man might have been an automaton for all the heed he gave to the +taxi or its inquisitive occupant. But his aspect was almost forgotten in +the far stranger discovery that the car was empty. Both windows were +open, and the bright lights of a corner shop flashed into the interior, +yet not a soul was visible. Moreover, the car sped on unhesitatingly, +stopping some two hundred yards ahead. + +So far as Theydon could tell, no one alighted. He jotted down the +number--XY 1314--on his shirt cuff. + +"Did you happen to see that car waiting near the house I came from?" he +said to the taxi man, who, of course, provided an interested audience of +one. + +"Yes, sir," was the ready answer. "It's not a London car. I've never +seen them letters afore." + +"In other words, it may be a faked number." + +"Likely enough, sir, but rather risky. The police are quick at spotting +that sort of thing." + +"Can you take a hand in the game? I want to know where that car goes +to." + +The man grinned. + +"I wouldn't like to humbug you, sir. That there machine can lose me +quicker'n a Derby winner could pass a keb horse. Didn't you hear the hum +of the engine as it went by?" + +"Thanks. Now go ahead to Innesmore Mansions." + +He was paying the driver when the gray car stole quietly past the end of +the street, and that was the last he saw of it. + +"There it goes again, sir," said the man. "Tell you wot, gimme your name +an' address. I'll make a few inquiries, an' keep me eyes open as well. +Then, if I hear anythink, I'll let you know." + +Theydon scribbled the number of his flat on a card. + +"There you are," he said. "Even if I happen to be out, I'll leave +instructions that you are to be paid half a crown for your trouble if +you call. By the way, what is your name?" + +"Evans, sir." + +There was really little doubt in Theydon's mind as to the reason why he +had been followed. He was fuming about it when Bates met him in the hall +of No. 18 with the whisper: + +"Them two are waiting here now, sir." + +Theydon glanced at his watch. The hour was ten minutes past eleven. + +"Sorry I'm late, gentlemen," he said, on entering the sitting room and +finding the detectives seated at his table, seemingly comparing notes, +because the Chief Inspector was talking, while Furneaux, the diminutive, +was glancing at a notebook. + +"We have no reason to complain of being kept waiting a few minutes in +such comfortable quarters," said Winter pleasantly. + +"O, I fancy I was detained by some zealous assistant of yours," said +Theydon, determined to carry the war into the enemy's territory. + +At that Furneaux looked up quickly. + +"Will you kindly tell me just what you mean, Mr. Theydon?" said Winter. + +"Why? Is it news to you that a gray limousine car stalked me from +Waterloo to--to my friend's house, waited there three hours or more, and +has carefully escorted me home? I dislike that sort of thing. Moreover, +it strikes me as stupid. I didn't kill Mrs. Lester. It will save you and +me a good deal of time and worry if you accept that plain statement as a +fact." + +"Won't you sit down?" said Winter quietly. "And--may I smoke? I didn't +like to ask Bates for permission to light up in your absence." + +Theydon was not to be outdone in coolness. He opened a corner cupboard +and produced various boxes. + +"The cigars are genuine Havanas," he said. "A birthday present from a +maiden aunt, who is wise enough to judge the quality of tobacco by the +price. Here, too, are Virginian, Turkish and Egyptian cigarettes." + +Winter inspected the cigars gravely. + +"By Jove!" he cried, his big eyes bulging in joyous surprise. "Last +year's crop from the Don Juan y Guerrero plantation. Treasure that aunt +of yours, Mr. Theydon. None but herself can be her equal." + +Theydon saw that the little man did not follow his chief's example. + +"Don't you smoke?" he said. + +"No, but if you'll not be horrified, I would like to smell one of those +Turks." + +"Smell it?" + +"Yes. That is the only way to enjoy the aroma and avoid nicotine +poisoning. My worthy chief dulls a sound intellect by the cigar habit. +What is worse, he excites a nervous system which is normally somewhat +bovine. You, also, I take it, are a confirmed smoker, so both of you are +at cross-purposes already." + +Furneaux's voice was pitched in the curious piping note usually +associated with comic relief in a melodrama, but his wizened face was +solemn as a red Indian's. It was Theydon who smiled. His preconceived +ideas as to the appearance and demeanor of the London detective were +shattered. Really, there was no need to take these two seriously. + +Winter, while lighting the cigar, grinned amiably at his colleague. +Furneaux passed a cigarette to and fro under his nostrils and sniffed. +Theydon reached for a pipe and tobacco jar and drew up a chair. + +"Well," he said, "it is not my business to criticise your methods. I +have very little to tell you. I suppose Bates--" + +"The really important thing is this car which followed you tonight," +broke in Winter. "The details are fresh in your memory. What type of car +was it? Did you see the driver and occupants? What's its number?" + +Theydon had not expected these questions. He looked his astonishment. + +"Ha!" cackled Furneaux. "What did I tell you?" + +"O, shut up!" growled Winter. "I am asking just what you yourself are +itching to know." + +"May I take it that the car has not been dogging me by your +instructions?" said Theydon. He was inclined to be skeptical, yet the +Chief Inspector seemed to have spoken quite candidly. + +"Yes," said Winter, meeting the other's glance squarely. "We have no +reason on earth to doubt the truth of anything you have said, or may +say, with regard to this inquiry. The car is not ours. This is the first +we have heard of it. We accepted your word, Mr. Theydon, that you were +dining with a friend. Perhaps you will tell us now what his name is and +where he lives." + +Theydon hesitated the fraction of a second. That, he knew instantly, was +a blunder, so he proceeded to rectify it. + +"I was dining with Mr. James Creighton Forbes, of No. 11, Fortescue +Square," he said. "Probably you are acquainted with his name, so you +will realize that if my evidence proves of the slightest value I would +not like any reference to be made to the fact that I was his guest +tonight." + +"I don't see how that can possibly enter into the matter, except in its +bearing on this mysterious car." + +Though Winter was taking the lead, Theydon was aware that Furneaux, who +had given him scant attention hitherto, was now looking at him fixedly. +He imagined that the queer little man was all agog to learn something +about the automobile which had thrust itself so abruptly into the +affair. + +"Exactly," he agreed. "I visited Mr. Forbes tonight for the first time. +We are mutually interested in aviation. That is why I went to Brooklands +today, and the invitation to dinner was the outcome of a letter of +introduction given me by Professor Scarth." + +Then, thinking he had said enough on that point, he described the gray +car and its stolid-faced chauffeur to the best of his ability. He told +of the brief chat with the taxi driver and its result. + +"Good!" nodded Winter. "I'm glad you did that. It may help. I am +doubtful of any information turning up, but you never can tell. The +number plate, at any rate, is certainly misleading. Now, about last +night? Try and be as accurate as possible with regard to time. Can you +give us the exact hour when you returned home?" + +"I happened to note by the clock on the mantelpiece that I came in at +11:35." + +Winter compared the clock's time with his watch. + +"You had been to a theater?" he said. + +"Yes--Daly's." + +"It was raining heavily. Did you take a cab?" + +"Yes." + +"Were you delayed? The piece ended at 11:05." + +"My cab met with a slight accident." + +"What sort of accident?" + +Theydon explained. + +"In all likelihood you can discover the driver," he smiled, "and he will +establish my alibi." + +His tone seemed to annoy Furneaux, who broke in: + +"Don't you write novels?" + +"Yes." + +"Sensational?" + +"Occasionally." + +"Then you ought to be tickled to death, as the Americans say, at being +mixed up in a first-rate murder. This is no ordinary crime. Several +people will be older and wiser before the culprit is found and hanged." + +"What Mr. Furneaux has in mind," purred Winter cheerfully, "is the +curious habit of some witnesses when questioned by the police. They arm +themselves against attack, as it were. You see, Mr. Theydon, we suspect +nobody. We try to ascertain facts, and hope to deduce a theory from +them. Over and over again we are mistaken. We are no more astute than +other men. Our sole advantage is a wide experience of criminal methods. +The detective of romance--if you'll forgive the allusion--simply doesn't +exist in real life." + +"I accept the rebuke," said Theydon. "I suppose the gray car was still +rankling in my mind. From this moment I start afresh. At any rate, the +man who brought me from the theater might check my recollection of the +time." + +Winter nodded. He was evidently pleased that Theydon was inclined to +share his view of the difficulties Scotland Yard encountered in its +fight against malefactors. + +"Did you see or meet any one in particular while your car approached +these mansions, or when you ascended the stairs?" + +"No," said Theydon. + +He perceived intuitively that if the detectives found the driver of the +taxi which brought him from the theater it was possible the man might +have noticed Forbes, who had certainly been scrutinized a few minutes +later by a policeman, so he hastened to add: + +"You said 'any one in particular.' I did see a tall, well-dressed +gentleman at the corner of the street, but there is nothing remarkable +in that." + +"Which way was he heading?" + +"In this direction." + +"Then it is conceivable that he might be the man who called on Mrs. +Lester?" + +"Yes." + +"Aren't you pretty sure he was the man?" + +Theydon permitted himself to look astonished. + +"I?" he said. "How can I be sure? If you mean that, judging from the +interval of time between my seeing him at the corner and the sound of +footsteps on the stairs, followed by the opening of the door at No. 17, +it could be he, I accept that." + +Winter nodded again. Apparently he was content with Theydon's +correction. + +"As the weather was bad, you probably hurried in when your cab stopped?" +he said. + +"That is equivalent to saying you credit me with sense enough to get in +out of the wet," smiled Theydon. + +"Just so. And you wore an overcoat, which you removed on entering your +hall?" + +"Yes," and Theydon's tone showed a certain bewilderment at these +trivialities. + +"Then if you paid no special heed to the movements of the tall gentleman +you have mentioned, why did you open one of these windows and look out +soon after Bates went to the post?" + +Theydon flushed like a schoolboy caught by a master under circumstances +which youth generally describes as "a clean cop." + +"How on earth do you know I looked out?" he almost gasped. + +"I'll tell you willingly. The discovery was Mr. Furneaux's, not mine. +When we came here this morning, and ascertained that you had been out at +a late hour last night, we asked your man if he could enlighten us as to +your movements. He did so. To the best of his belief you dined at a +club, and occupied a stall at Daly's Theater subsequently. He was sure, +too, you had not walked home through the rain, so it was easy to draw +the conclusion that you returned in a covered vehicle. Mr. Furneaux +requested Bates to produce the clothes you had worn, which, owing to the +uproar created by the news of the murder, had not been brushed and put +away. As a consequence the silk collar and part of the back of your +dress-coat bore the marks of raindrops. How had they got there? The only +logical deduction was that you had thrust your head and shoulders +through a window, and the time of the action is established almost +beyond doubt, because you had changed the coat when Bates came from the +pillar-box. It was either directly after you came in, or while Bates was +absent. Of course you may have looked out twice. Did you? Whether once +or twice, why did you do it?" + +Theydon's feelings changed rapidly while Winter was delivering this very +convincing analysis of a few simple facts. He had passed at a bound from +the detected schoolboy stage to that of a man forcing his way through a +thicket who finds himself on the very lip of a precipice. + +He remembered hazily that Bates had said something at Waterloo with +regard to the manner in which the detectives, especially Furneaux, had +questioned him. But it was too late to apply the warning thus conveyed. +If he faltered now he was forever discredited. These men would read his +perplexed face as if it were a printed page. In his distress he was +prepared to hear Winter or that little satyr, Furneaux, say mockingly: + +"Why are you trying to screen James Creighton Forbes? What is he to you? +What matter his fame or social rank? We are here to see that justice is +done. Out with the truth, let who may suffer." + +But neither of the pair said anything of the sort. Furneaux only +interjected a sarcastic comment. + +"You will observe, Mr. Theydon, that even in a minor instance of +deductive reasoning, such as this, the man who smells rather than the +man who smokes tobacco solves the problem promptly." + +Theydon threw out his hands in token of surrender. He thought he saw a +means of escape, and took it unhesitatingly. + +"I'm vanquished," he said. "You force me to admit that I do know a +little, a very little, more than I have confessed hitherto about the man +who visited Mrs. Lester's flat last night. I have said nothing about the +matter thus far because I didn't want to be convicted of a piece of idle +curiosity worthy of a gossip-loving housemaid. I noticed the man I have +described staring at the name tablet of the street as my cab turned the +corner. I did not know him. I had never seen him before last night, but +he was of such distinguished appearance and his face was of so rare a +type that I was interested and wished to ascertain, if possible, on whom +he meant calling if, as it seemed, he was searching for an address in +these flats. Therefore, I did look out, and saw him enter the doorway +beneath. In due course I heard him arrive at Mrs. Lester's door--that +is, I assume it was he. Five minutes later Bates and I heard him depart. +To make sure, I looked out a second time. If you ask me why I behaved in +that way I cannot tell you. I have occupied this flat during the past +five months, and I have never previously, within my recollection, lifted +a window and gazed out to watch anybody's comings and goings. The thing +is inexplicable. All I can say is that it just happened." + +"Would you recognize him if you saw him again?" + +"Yes." + +Theydon gave the assurance readily. It was beyond credence that either +detective should put the one question to which he was now firmly +resolved to give a misleading answer, and in this belief he was +justified, since not even Furneaux's uncanny intelligence could suggest +the fantastic notion that the man who walked through the rain the +previous night and the man with whom Theydon had dined that evening were +one and the same person. + +"I don't blame you for adopting a policy of partial concealment," said +the Chief Inspector, spryly. "You are not the first, and you certainly +will not be the last witness from whom the police have to drag the +facts. Now that we have reached more intimate terms, can you help by +describing this stranger?" + +Theydon complied at once. He drew just such a general sketch of Forbes +as a skilled observer of men might be expected to formulate after one +direct glance close at hand, supplemented by a view into a lamp-lit +street from a second-storey window on a rainy night. + +"So far, so good," said Winter. "You have contrived to fill in several +details lacking in the description supplied by a policeman who chanced +to be standing at the corner when Mrs. Lester's visitor posted a letter. +Did you notice that?" + +"Yes. Indeed, I believed that, whether intentionally or not, he held an +open umbrella at an angle which prevented the constable from seeing his +face." + +"In fact, it's marvellous what you really do know when your memory is +jogged," snapped Furneaux. + +Theydon did not resent the sarcasm. He smiled candidly into the little +detective's eyes. + +"I suppose I deserve that," he said meekly. + +"Why did you hide your knowledge of Mrs. Lester's visitor from your man +Bates?" + +"I was rather ashamed of the subterfuge adopted in order to get him out +of the room while I opened the window the first time." + +"That was understandable last night, but I fail to follow your reasoning +for a policy of silence when we told you at Waterloo that Mrs. Lester +had been killed." + +"I was utterly taken aback by your news. I wanted time to think. I never +meant to hide any material fact at this interview." + +"You have contrived to delay and hamper our inquiry for twelve +hours--twenty-four in reality. I can't make you out, Mr. Theydon. You +would never have said a word about your very accurate acquaintance with +this mysterious stranger's appearance had not last night's rainstorm +left its legible record on your clothes. Do you now vouch for it that +the man was completely unknown to you?" + +"You are pleased to be severe, Mr. Furneaux, but, having placed myself +in a false position, I must accept your strictures. I assure you, on my +honor, that the man I saw was an absolute stranger." + +Happily, Theydon was under no compulsion to choose his words. He met the +detective's searching gaze unflinchingly. Fate, after terrifying him, +had been kind. If Furneaux had expressed himself differently--if, for +instance, he had said: "Had you ever before seen the man?" or "Have you +now any reason for believing that you know his name?"--he would have +forced Theydon's hand in a way he was far from suspecting. + +"It may surprise you to hear," piped the shrill, cracked voice, "that +there are dozens of policemen walking about London who would arrest you +on suspicion had you treated them as you have treated us." + +"Then I can only say that I am fortunate in my inquisitors," smiled +Theydon. + +Winter held up a massive fist in deprecation of these acerbities. + +"You have nothing more to tell us?" he queried. + +"Nothing!" + +"Then we need not trouble you further tonight. Of course, if luck favors +us and we find the gentleman with the classical features--the most +unlikely person to commit a murder I have ever heard of--we shall want +you to identify him." + +"I am at your service at any time. But before you go won't you enlighten +me somewhat? What did really happen? I have not even seen a newspaper +account of the crime." + +"Would you care to examine No. 17?" + +It was Furneaux who put the question, and Theydon was genuinely +astonished. + +"Do you mean--" he began, but Furneaux laughed, almost savagely. + +"I mean Mrs. Lester's flat," he said. "The poor woman's body is at the +mortuary. If you come with us we can reconstruct the crime. It occurred +about this very hour if the doctor's calculations are well founded." + +Theydon rose. + +"I shall be most--interested," he said. "By the way, Mr. Furneaux, yours +is a French name. Are you a Frenchman, may I ask?" + +"A Jersey man. You think I am adopting some of the methods of the French +_juge d'instruction_, eh?" + +"No. I cannot bring myself to believe that you regard me as a murderer." + +The three passed out into the hall. Mr. and Mrs. Bates immediately +showed scared faces at the kitchen door. + +"It's all right, Bates," said Theydon airily. "I'm not a prisoner. I'll +be with you again in a few minutes." + +But Bates was profoundly disturbed. + +"Wot beats me," he said to his wife when they were alone, "is why that +little ferret wanted to see the guv'nor's clothes. I looked 'em over +carefully afterwards, an' there wasn't a speck on 'em except some spots +of rain on the coat collar. It's a queer business, no matter how you +look at it. Mr. Theydon's manner was strange when he kem in last night. +He seemed to be list'nin' for something. I don't know wot to make of it, +Eliza. I reely don't." + +In effect, since no man is a hero to his valet, what would Tomlinson, +butler at No. 11 Fortescue Square, have thought of his master if told +that Mrs. Lester's last known visitor was James Creighton Forbes? + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A TELEPHONIC TALK AND ITS CONSEQUENCES + + +Theydon's journalistic experiences had been, for the most part, those of +the "special correspondent," or descriptive writer. He had never entered +one of those fetid slums of a great city in which, too often, murder is +done, never sickened with the physical nausea of death in its most +revolting aspect, when some unhappy wretch's foul body serves only to +further pollute air already vile. + +It was passing strange, therefore, that Winter had no sooner opened the +door of No. 17 than the novice of the party became aware of a heavy, +pungent scent which he associated with some affrighting and unclean +thing. At first he swept aside the phantasy. Strong as he was, his +nervous system had been subjected to severe strain that evening. He knew +well that the mind can create its own specters, that the five senses can +be subjugated by forces which science has not as yet either measured or +defined. + +Moreover, he was standing in a hall furnished with a taste and quiet +elegance that must surely indicate similar features in each room of a +suite which, in other respects, bore an almost exact resemblance of his +own apartments. In sheer protest against the riot of an overwrought +imagination he brushed a hand across his eyes. + +The chief inspector noted the action. + +"You will find nothing grewsome here, I assure you," he said, quietly. +"Beyond a few signs of hurried rummaging of drawers and boxes there is +absolutely no indication of a crime having been committed." + +"Mr. Theydon came prepared to see ghosts," squeaked Furneaux. "Evidently +he is not acquainted with the peculiar smell of a joss stick." + +Theydon turned troubled eyes on the wizened little man who seemed to +have the power of reading his secret thought. + +"A joss stick," he repeated. "Isn't that some sort of incense used by +Chinese in their temples?" + +"Yes," said Furneaux. + +"Lots of ladies burn them in their boudoirs nowadays," explained Winter +offhandedly. + +"The Chinese burn them to propitiate evil spirits," murmured Furneaux. +"The Taou gods are mostly deities of a very unpleasant frame of mind. +The mere scowl of one of them from a painted fan suggests novel and +painful forms of torture. I've seen Shang Ti grinning at me from a +porcelain vase, otherwise exquisite, and felt my hair rising." + +"I do wish you wouldn't talk nonsense, Charles," said Winter, frowning +heavily. + +"Am I talking nonsense, Mr. Theydon?" demanded Furneaux. "Didn't your +flesh creep when that queer perfume assailed your nostrils, which are +not yet altogether atrophied by the reek of thousands of rank cigars?" + +"Stop it!" commanded Winter, throwing open a door. + +"And they christened him Leander--Leander, who swam the Hellespont for +love of a woman!" muttered Furneaux. + +Theydon began to believe that both detectives were cranks of the first +order. Furneaux, whose extraordinary insight he actually feared, was +obviously an excellent example of the alliance between insanity and +genius. In a word, he failed, and not unreasonably, to understand that +when the Jersey man was mouthing a strange jargon of knowledge and +incoherence, and Winter was inclined to be snappy with his subordinate, +and each was more than rude to the other, they were then giving tongue +like hounds hot on the trail. + +Winter's Christian names were James Leander, the latter being conferred +for no more classical reason than his father's association with a famous +boating club, but the fact supplied Furneaux with material for many a +quip. These things Theydon learnt later. At present he was giving all +his attention to Winter, who led the way into a dainty furnished +bedroom. The electric lights were governed by two switches. A pair of +lamps occupied the usual place in front of a dressing table; a third was +suspended from a canopy over the bed, and was controlled also by an +alternate switch behind the bolster. Winter turned on all three lights, +so the room was brilliantly illuminated. + +Any place less likely to become the scene of a brutal crime could hardly +be imagined. It looked exactly what it was, the bedchamber of a refined +and well-bred woman, whose trained sense of color and design was shown +by the harmony of carpet, rugs, wall paper and furniture. + +Winter pointed to a slight depression on the side of the bed. A white +linen coverlet was rumpled as though some one had sat there. + +"That is where Ann Rogers, the maid, found her mistress at ten o'clock +this morning," he said. "As you see, the bed had not been slept in. +Indeed, Mrs. Lester was fully dressed. My belief is that she was pounced +on the instant she entered the room--probably to retire for the +night--strangled before she could utter a sound, and flung here when +dead." + +Again Theydon was aware of the subtle, penetrating, and not wholly +unpleasing scent which Furneaux had attributed to the burning of a joss +stick, but his mind was focused on the detective's words, which +suggested a queer discrepancy between certain vague possibilities +already flitting through his brain and the terrible drama as it +presented itself to a skilled criminologist. + +"But," he said, almost protestingly, "from what I have seen of Mrs. +Lester she was a strong and active woman. It is inconceivable that the +man who came here last night could have murdered her while I was writing +two brief notes. I am positive he did not remain five minutes, and Bates +or I, or both of us, must have heard some trampling of feet, some +indications of a struggle. Moreover, you think she was about to retire. +Doesn't that opinion conflict with the known facts?" + +"What known facts?" + +"Well--or--those I have mentioned. The brief visit, the open nature of +the arrival and departure, the posting of a letter, which, by the way, +may have been written in his presence." + +"It was." + +Theydon positively jumped. He would not be surprised now if Forbes's +name came out. + +"How do you know that?" he asked. + +"Mrs. Lester wrote to an aunt in Oxfordshire, a lady who lives in the +village of Iffley, near the first lock on the Thames below Oxford. As it +happened, this aunt, a Miss Beale, was lunching with a friend in Oxford +today, and some one showed her an early edition of a London evening +newspaper containing an account of the murder. Instead of yielding to +hysteria, and passing from one fainting fit into another, Miss Beale had +the rare good sense to go straight to the police station. One of our men +has interviewed her this evening, and she is coming here tomorrow, but +in the meantime the Oxford police telephoned the gist of the letter, +which is headed 'Monday, 11:30 p. m.' The hour is not quite accurate, +but near enough, since the context shows that a 'friend' had just called +and given certain information which had determined the writer to leave +London 'to-morrow'--meaning today--'or Wednesday at latest.' So you see, +Mr. Theydon, if the unknown is an honest man, he will soon hear of the +hue and cry raised by the murder, and declare himself to the police. +Indeed, for all I know, he may have reported himself to the Yard +already. In that event you will probably meet him again quite soon." + +An electric bell jarred at the end of the main passage. It smote on +their ears with the loud emphasis of a pistol shot. Even the detectives +were startled, and Winter said, in a tone of distinct annoyance: + +"Go and see who the deuce that is, Furneaux." + +Furneaux returned promptly with Bates, pallid and apologetic. + +"Beg pardon, sir," said the intruder, addressing Theydon, but allowing +his eyes to roam furtively about the room as though he expected to see +something ghoul-like and sinister, "Mr. Forbes has rung up--" + +Theydon's voice literally quavered. For the first time in his life he +knew why a woman shrieks in the stress of sudden excitement. + +"Tell Mr. Forbes I am still engaged with the gentlemen from Scotland +Yard," he gasped. "I'll give him a call the moment I'm free. He will +understand. Anyhow, I can't explain further now." + +"Yes, sir," and Bates disappeared. + +"Mr. Forbes? The gentleman you were dining with?" inquired Winter. + +"Yes," said Theydon. He knew he ought to add something by way of +explanation, but his heart was thumping madly, and he dared not trust +his voice. + +"You told him, I suppose, that Scotland Yard was worrying you, and he +wants to know the result?" + +Then Theydon saw an avenue of escape, and took it eagerly. + +"I spoke of the murder, of course," he said, "but Mr. Forbes was hardly +interested. He had seen the newspaper placards, and that was all he knew +of it. The truth is, he is wholly wrapped up in a scheme for reforming +mankind by excluding airships and aeroplanes from warlike operations, +and found me a somewhat preoccupied listener. He wants my help, such as +it is, and I have no doubt the present call is a preliminary to another +meeting tomorrow." + +"Why not go to him? We'll wait. We can do nothing more tonight after +leaving here." + +"Speaking candidly, I am not in a mood to discuss such visionary +projects. I shall be glad if Mr. Forbes has gone to bed when I do ring +him up." + +Winter shook his head. + +"Excuse me, Mr. Theydon, but I am older than you, and may 'venture on +advice,'" he said. "A writer who has his way to make in the world cannot +afford to slight a man of Mr. Forbes's standing. Go to him at once. It +will please him. Don't hurry." + +Theydon realized that a continued refusal would certainly set Furneaux's +wits at work, and he dreaded the outcome. He went without another word. +When the outer door had closed behind him Winter turned to Furneaux. + +"Well?" he said. + +For answer Furneaux waved a hand and tiptoed into the hall. Waiting +until he heard the door of No. 18 slam he opened the latch of No. 17 so +cautiously that no sound was forthcoming. Soon he had an ear to +Theydon's letter box and was following attentively a one-sided +conversation. + +Now, Theydon had thought hard during the few strides from one flat to +the other. His telephone was fixed close to the party wall dividing the +two sets of apartments and he was not certain that, in the absolute +quietude prevailing in Innesmore Mansions at that late hour, a voice +could not be overheard. True, he did not count on Furneaux playing the +eavesdropper at the slit of the letter box, but he resolved to take no +risks and say nothing that any one could make capital of. + +So, when he had asked the exchange to reconnect him with the caller who +had just rung up, and he was put through, this is what Furneaux heard: + +"That you, Mr. Forbes. Sorry I sent my man just now with a message that +must leave sounded rather curt, but the Scotland Yard people kindly +excused me, so I can give you a minute or two.... No, I'm sorry, but I +cannot come to luncheon tomorrow, nor go to Brooklands again this week. +You see, this dreadful murder which I spoke of will necessitate my +presence at an inquest, and the police seem to attach much significance +to the visit to Mrs. Lester last night of a man whom I saw in the +street, and whom Bates and I heard entering and leaving the poor lady's +flat.... Bates? O, he is my general factotum. He and his wife keep house +for me.... Yes, I'll gladly let you know the earliest date when I'll be +free. Then you and I can go into the flying proposition thoroughly.... +No. The detectives have apparently not got any clew to the murderer, nor +even discovered any motive for the crime. They have taken me into No. +17. In fact, I was there when your call was made.... The murderer +ransacked the place thoroughly, but did not touch money or jewelry, I +understand. The only peculiar thing, if I may so describe it, about the +place, is the scent of a burnt joss stick. It clings to the passage and +the bedroom in which the body was found.... Ah, by the way, Mrs. Lester +wrote a letter, which her visitor posted, and the addressee, her aunt, +is in communication with the police. The text tends to clear the man of +suspicion.... Yes, if, by chance, I find myself at liberty tomorrow, +I'll 'phone you at your city office. I'll find the number in the +directory, of course?... O, thanks--I'll jot it down--00400 Bank.... +Goodnight! Too bad that this wretched affair should interfere with our +crusade, which, the more I think of it, the stronger it appeals. _Au +revoir_, then." + +In reality, Forbes had not said one word about his peace propaganda, but +he had evidently been quick to realize that Theydon was purposely giving +their talk a twist in that direction. A muttered "I +understand--perfectly," showed this, and he did not strive to conceal +the alarm which possessed him when Theydon spoke of the joss stick. He +murmured distinctly, "Great Heavens! Then I was not mistaken," and again +voiced his distress on hearing of the letter. + +But he made matters easy by pressing Theydon to come and see him on the +morrow, either at his office in Old Broad Street or at his residence. On +the whole, Theydon did not care who heard what he had said, but it was a +relief to find that he had to ring for readmission to No. 17. + +Furneaux opened the door. + +"You soon got rid of your friend, then?" said the detective, while they +were on the way to rejoin Winter. + +"Yes. It was just what I imagined--a pressing invitation to plunge +forthwith into Mr. Forbes's project for the regeneration of mankind. I +had to tell him frankly that you gentlemen had first claim on me. I +suppose I shall be wanted at the inquest?" + +"Not tomorrow. The coroner will hear the medical evidence, and that of +Ann Rogers, if she is in a condition to appear, and there will be an +adjournment for a week." + +"Ah, that reminds me. Didn't Mrs. Lester's servant admit the visitor +last night?" + +Theydon put the question advisedly. He was calmer now, and had made up +his mind as to the course he should pursue. Although he had assured +Winter that he would recognize the stranger if confronted with him, and, +if Forbes was brought into the inquiry, the admission might prove +awkward, he meant to say that he had, indeed, noticed a remarkable +resemblance in the millionaire to the man he had seen looking up at the +name tablet on the corner, but felt that the likeness was only one of +those singular coincidences which abound in a cosmopolitan city. + +The smartest cross-examiner at the bar could not shake him if he took +that stand. The sheer improbability of Forbes being the mysterious +visitor would justify his attitude, and the notion was so consoling that +he faced the two detectives with new confidence and a self-possession +that was exceedingly pleasant when compared, with his earlier +embarrassment. + +"No," said Winter. "By a most remarkable chance, Ann Rogers was given +leave to spend the night with her father, who lives in Camden Town. He +is an old man and was taken ill last evening. He believes he asked some +one to telegraph to his daughter, asking her to come to him. She +certainly received a telegram and as certainly did visit him. Of course, +that phase of the affair will be cleared up thoroughly, but the main +facts are indisputable. Ann Rogers has her own latchkey. As Mrs. Lester +usually sat up late, being a lover of books, and seldom stirred before +ten o'clock, the maid waited until that hour before bringing her +mistress's cup of tea. That stain on the carpet near the door shows +where the tray fell from her hands." + +Sometimes an artist obtains the strongest effect by one deft sweep of +the brush. Winter, though he would have blushed if described as an +artist in words, had achieved a similar result by his concluding +sentence. Theydon pictured the scene. He saw the limp form thrown across +the bed, the distorted face, the hands and arms posed grotesquely. + +He heard the shrill scream of the terrified servant, an elderly woman +whom Bates described as "a quiet body," and could imagine the clatter of +the laden tray as it dropped from nerveless fingers. A sort of fury rose +within him. Mrs. Lester had been done to death in a horrible and +insensate way, and no matter who suffered, be he millionaire or pauper, +the wretch who committed the crime should be made to pay the penalty of +the law. + +In that moment he forgot Evelyn Forbes, and thought only of the fair and +gracious woman whose agonized spirit had taken flight under the +compulsion of the tiger grip of some human brute now moving among his +fellow-creatures unknown and unsuspected. It was inconceivable that +Forbes should be guilty, but why should he not avow his acquaintance +with the victim, and thus aid the police in their quest? + +He glowered savagely at the telltale stain, and vowed to rid his +conscience of an incubus. He would wait till the morrow and force Forbes +to come out into the open. Otherwise-- + +"You wish you had the murderer here now?" + +Furneaux spoke softly, and with no trace of his wonted irony, but +Theydon was aware that once more the little detective had peered into +his very soul. + +"Yes," he said, and there was a new gravity in his tone. "I do wish +that. I have never before been brought in contact with a crime of this +magnitude. It conveys a sort of personal responsibility. To think that I +was in my room, reading about aviation, while a woman's life was being +choked out of her within a few feet of where I was seated! O, it is +monstrous! Let me tell you two, here and now, that if I can do anything +to bring Mrs. Lester's slayer to justice, you can count on me, no matter +what the cost." + +"I'm sure you mean what you say, Mr. Theydon," said Winter soothingly. +"Well, I suppose we can do no more tonight. I have little else to tell +you--" + +"The skull--the ivory skull!" put in Furneaux. + +For an instant an expression of annoyance flitted across the chief +inspector's good-humored face. Theydon did not see it, because +Furneaux's odd-sounding words caused him to look with astonishment at +the man who uttered them. + +"An ivory skull!" he cried. "What has an ivory skull to do with the +murder of Mrs. Lester?" + +"We cannot even begin to guess at its meaning yet," said Winter, who, +after one fierce glance at his colleague, had recovered his poise. "That +is why I did not mention it. I hate the introduction of bizarre features +into an inquiry of this sort. But, now that the thing has been spoken +of, I may as well state that when the medical examination was being made +at the mortuary a tiny skull, not bigger than a pea, and made of ivory, +was found inside Mrs. Lester's underbodice. The curious fact is that it +was loose. Had it been attached to a cord, or secured in some way, one +might regard it as a charm or amulet, because some women, even in the +London of today, are not beyond the reach of superstition in such +matters. But, as I say, it was not safeguarded at all, so we may +reasonably assume that it was not carried habitually. Of course, +Furneaux readily evolved a far-fetched theory that it is a sign, or +symbol, and was thrust out of sight among the clothing on the dead +woman's breast by the man who killed her. But that is idle guesswork. We +of the Yard seldom pay heed to theatrical notions of that kind. Here is +the article. I don't mind letting you see it, but kindly remember that +its existence must not be made known. I must have your promise not to +mention it to a living creature." + +Furneaux chuckled derisively. + +"That is precisely the sort of thing anybody would say who attached no +importance to the exhibit," he piped. + +Winter so nearly lost his temper that he repressed the retort on his +lips. He contented himself, however, with producing a small white object +from his waistcoat pocket, and handed it to Theydon. It was a bit of +ivory, hollow, and very light, and fashioned as a skull. + +Yet, it was by no means an ordinary creation. The artist who fashioned +it had gratified a morbid taste by imparting to the eyeless sockets and +close-set rows of teeth a malign and threatening grin. Wickedness, not +death, was suggested, but the craftsmanship was faultless. A collector +would have paid a large sum for it, while the average citizen would +refuse to have it in his house. + +"What an extraordinary thing," said Theydon, turning the curio round and +round in his fingers. + +"It's wonderfully well carved," agreed Winter. + +"From that point of view it's a masterpiece, but what I meant was the +astounding fact that it should have been discovered on the dead woman's +body. Was it placed over her heart?" + +"Why do you ask that?" came the sharp demand. + +"Because--if it is a token of some vendetta--if the murderer wished to +signify that he had glutted his vengeance--" + +"O, you're as bad as Furneaux," cried Winter impatiently. "Give it to +me. I must be off. The hour is long past midnight and I have a busy day +before me tomorrow." + +Back in the seclusion of his own rooms, Theydon debated the question +whether or not he should endeavor to communicate with Forbes again that +night. Somehow it seemed to him that Forbes would be most concerned at +hearing of the gray car. And what of the ivory skull? + +Suppose he knew of that! But a certain revulsion of feeling had come +over Theydon since the sheer brutality of the murder had been revealed. +He failed to see now why he should be so solicitous for Forbes's +welfare. No matter what private purpose the man might serve by +concealing his visit to Mrs. Lester, it ought to give way before the +paramount importance of tracking a pitiless and callous criminal. + +So Theydon hardened his heart and went to bed, and, being sound in mind +and constitution, slept like a just man wearied. Nevertheless, the last +thing he saw before the curtain fell on his tired brain was an ivory +skull dancing in the darkness. + +Greatly as the many problems attached to Mrs. Lester's death bewildered +him, he would have been even more perplexed if he had overheard the +conversation between Winter and Furneaux when they entered a taxi and +gave Scotland Yard as their destination. + +"Look here, Charles," began Winter firmly; but the other stayed him with +a clutch of thin, nervous fingers on an arm strong enough to fell an ox. + +"Listen first, James--lecture me afterward," pleaded Furneaux. "I can't +help yielding to impulse. And why should I strive to help it, anyhow? +How often has impulse led me to the goal when by every known rule of +evidence I was completely beaten? That is my plea. That is why I brought +that young fellow into No. 17, and watched the story of the tragedy +reshaping itself in his imagination. That is why, too, I spoke of the +ivory skull. Think what it means to one with the writer's temperament. +The skull will never leave his mind's eye. It will focus and control his +thoughts and actions. And I feel it in my bones that only by keeping in +touch with Mr. Francis Theydon shall we solve the Innesmore Mansions +mystery. I can't explain why I think this, no more than the receiver of +a wireless message can account for the waves of energy it picks up from +the void and transmutes into the ordered sequences of the Morse code. +All I know is that when I am near him I am, as the children say, 'warm,' +and when away from him, 'cold.' While he was examining the skull I was +positively 'hot,' and was half inclined to treat him as a thought +transference medium and order him sternly to speak.... No. Be calm! I +even bid you be honest. When have you, ever before, admitted an outsider +to your councils? And, if you make an exception of Theydon, why are you +doing it?" + +Winter bit the end off a cigar with a vicious jerk of his round head. He +struck a match and created such a volume of smoke that Furneaux coughed +affectedly. + +"The real clew," he said at last, "rests with the gray car. What did you +make of that?" + +"That, my bulky friend, will figure in my memory as a reproach for many +a year. When, if ever, I am tempted to preen myself on some peculiarly +close piece of ratiocinative reasoning, I shall say: 'Little man, pigmy, +remember the gray car.'" + +"You think that some one had the impudence to follow us, watch us in +Waterloo, and take up Theydon's trail when we had revealed it?" + +"A-ha. It touched you, too, did it?" + +"But why?" + +"The some one in question wants to know that." + +"You mean they are anxious to find out what we are doing?" + +"Exactly." + +Winter laughed cheerfully. + +"Before long I shall begin to enjoy this hunt, Charles. I like to find +originality in a felon. It varies the routine. At any rate, it is +something new that you and I should be shadowed by the very people we +are in pursuit of--O, I was nearly forgetting. Anything fresh in that +telephone talk?" + +"It seemed all right." + +"Seemed?" + +"Well, it was too straightforward. Theydon puzzles me. I admit it +frankly. He also worries me. But let me handle him in my own way. Have +no fear that he will use our material for newspaper purposes. With +regard to the Innesmore Mansions affair, Theydon will lie close as a +fish. Why? No use asking you, of course. You despise intuition. When you +die some one should begin your epitaph: 'From information received.' But +I'll stick to Theydon. See if I don't, even if I have to go up with him +in one of Forbes's airships." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A LEAP IN THE DARK + + +With the morning Theydon brought a mature and impartial judgment to bear +on his perplexities. The average man, if asked to form an opinion on any +difficult point, will probably arrive at a saner decision during the +first pipe after breakfast than at any other given hour of the day. +Excellent physiological reasons account for this truism. The sound mind +in a sound body is then working under the most favorable conditions. + +It is free from the strain of affairs. The cold, clear morning light +divests problems of the undue importance, or, it may be, the glamour of +novelty, which they possessed overnight. At any rate, Frank Theydon, +clenching a pipe between his teeth, and gazing thoughtfully through an +open window at the trees in Innesmore Gardens, reviewed yesterday's +happenings calmly and critically, and arrived at the settled conviction +that his proper course was to visit Scotland Yard and make known to the +authorities the one vital fact he had withheld from their ken thus far. + +It was not for him to assess the significance of Mr. Forbes's desire to +remain in the background. If the millionaire's excuse, or explanation, +of his failure to communicate at once with the Criminal Investigation +Department was a sufficiently valid one, Scotland Yard would be +satisfied and might agree to keep his name out of the inquiry. + +On the other hand, he, Theydon, might be balking the course of justice +by holding his tongue. There was yet a third possibility, one fraught +with personal discredit. Mr. Forbes himself might realize that a policy +of candor offered the only dignified course. + +Suppose he was minded to tell the detectives that he was the man who +visited Mrs. Lester shortly before midnight, what would Winter and +Furneaux think of the young gentleman who had actually dined with Forbes +before they took him into their confidence--who heard with such +righteous indignation how Mrs. Lester met her death--yet brazenly +concealed the fact that he had just left the house of one whom they were +so anxious to meet and question? + +Of course, the radiant vision of Evelyn Forbes intruded on this +well-considered and unemotional analysis; but Theydon resolutely shook +his head. + +"No, by Jove!" he communed. "You mustn't make an ass of yourself, my +boy, because a pretty girl was gracious for an hour or so. Be honest +with yourself, old chap! If there were no Evelyn, or if Evelyn were +harelipped and squinted, you wouldn't hesitate a second--now, would +you?" + +Yet he had given a promise. How reconcile an immediate call on Scotland +Yard with the guarantee of secrecy demanded by Forbes? Well, he must put +himself right with Forbes without delay--tell him straightforwardly that +the bond could not hold. Theydon was no lawyer, but he was assured that +an agreement founded on positive wrong was not tenable, legally or +morally. + +He would be adamant with Forbes, and decline to countenance any plea in +support of continued silence. If Forbes's demand was reasonable, +Scotland Yard would grant it. If justice compelled Forbes to come out +into the open, no private citizen should attempt to defeat the ends of +justice. + +"So that settles it," announced Theydon firmly if not cheerfully. "I'll +ring up Forbes, and get the thing over and done with. I'll never see his +daughter again, I suppose, but that can't be helped. 'Tis better to have +seen and lost than never to have seen at all." + +He turned from the window, walked to the fireplace, tapped his pipe +firmly on the grate, and was about to go into the hall and call up the +telephone exchange, when the door-bell rang. He was aware of a muffled +conversation between Bates and a visitor. Then the valet appeared, +obviously ill at ease. + +"If you please, sir," he announced, "a lady, a Miss Beale, of Oxford, +who says she is Mrs. Lester's aunt, wishes to see you." + +Theydon was immensely surprised, as well he might be. But there was only +one thing to be done. + +"Show her in," he said. + +Miss Beale entered. She was slight of figure, middle-aged and +gray-haired. The wanness of her thin features was accentuated by an +attire of deep mourning, but the pallor in her cheeks fled for an +instant when she set eyes on Theydon. + +"Pray forgive the intrusion," she faltered. "I--I expected to meet an +older man." + +It was a curious utterance, and Theydon tried to relieve her evident +nervousness by being mildly humorous. + +"I hope to correct my juvenile appearance in course of time," he said, +smiling. "Meanwhile, won't you be seated? You are not quite unknown to +me, Miss Beale. That is--I heard of you last night from the Scotland +Yard people." + +She sat down at once, but seemed to be at a loss for words. Her lips +trembled, and Theydon thought she was going to cry. + +"Have you traveled from Oxford this morning?" he said, simulating a +courteous nonchalance he was far from feeling. "If so, you must have +started from home at an ungodly hour. Let me have some breakfast +prepared for you." + +"No--no," she stammered. + +"Well, a cup of tea, then? Come, now, no woman ever refuses a cup of +tea." + +"You are very kind." + +He rang the bell. + +"I would not have ventured to call on you if I had not seen your name in +the newspaper," she went on. + +Miss Beale certainly had the knack of saying unexpected things. It was +nothing new that Theydon should find his own name in print, but on this +occasion he could not choose but associate the distinction with the +crime in No. 17; that he should be mentioned in connection with it was +neither anticipated nor pleasing. At the same time he realized the +astounding fact that he had not even glanced at a newspaper during +twenty-four hours. + +"What in the world have the newspapers to say about me?" he cried. + +"It--it said--that Mr. Francis Berrold Theydon, the well-known author, +lived in No. 18, the flat exactly opposite that which my unhappy niece +occupied. I--I have read some of your books, Mr. Theydon, and I pictured +you quite a serious-looking person of my own age." + +He laughed. Bates entered, and was almost shocked at finding his master +in such lively mood. + +"Oh, this lady has traveled from Oxford this morning; a cup of tea and +some nice toast, please, Bates," said Theydon. Then when the two were +alone together again, he brushed aside the question of his age as +irrelevant. + +"I assure you that since this time yesterday I have lost some of the +careless buoyancy of youth," he said. "I had not the honor of Mrs. +Lester's acquaintance, but I knew her well by sight, and I received the +shock of my life last evening when I heard of her terrible end. It is an +extraordinary thing, seeing that we were such close neighbors, but I +believe you got the news long before I did, because I left home early +and heard nothing of what had happened till my man met me at Waterloo in +the evening." + +"You have seen the--the detectives in the meantime?" + +"Yes." + +"Then you will be able to tell me something definite. I have promised to +call at Scotland Yard at eleven o'clock, and the only scraps of +intelligence I have gathered are those in the papers. I would have come +to London last night, but was afraid to travel, lest I should faint in +the train. Moreover, some one in London promised to send a detective to +see me. He came, but could give no information. Indeed, he wanted to +learn certain things from me. So, after a weary night, I caught the +first train, and it occurred to me, as you lived so near, that you might +be kind enough to--to--" + +The long speech was too much for her, and her lips quivered pitifully a +second time. + +"I fully understand," said Theydon sympathetically. "Now, I'm positive +you have eaten hardly anything today. Won't you let me order an egg?" + +"No, please. I'll be glad of the tea, but I cannot make a meal--yet. Is +it true that my niece was absolutely alone in her flat on Monday night?" + +Seeing that Miss Beale was consumed with anxiety to hear an intelligible +version of the tragedy, Theydon at once recited all, or nearly all, that +was known to him. The only points he suppressed were those with +reference to the gray car and the ivory skull. The lady listened +attentively and with more self-control than he gave her credit for. + +Bates came in with a laden tray, on which a boiled egg appeared. Mrs. +Bates had used her discretion, and decided that any one who had set out +from Oxford so early in the day must be in need of more solid +refreshment than tea and toast. Thus cozened, as it were, into eating, +Miss Beale tackled the egg, and Theydon was glad to note that she made a +fairly good meal, being probably unaware of her hunger until the means +of sating it presented itself. + +But she missed no word of his story, and when he made an end, put some +shrewd questions. + +"I take it," she said, "that the strange gentleman who visited my niece +on Monday night posted the very letter which I received by the second +delivery yesterday?" + +"That is what the police believe," replied Theydon. + +"Then it would seem that she resolved to come to me at Iffley as the +result of something he told her?" + +"Why do you think that?" + +"Because I heard from her only last Saturday, and she not only said +nothing about coming to Oxfordshire, but asked me to arrange to spend a +fortnight in London before we both went to Cornwall for the Summer." + +"Ah! That is rather important, I should imagine," said Theydon +thoughtfully. + +"It is odd, too, that you and the detectives should have noticed the +smell of a joss stick in the flat," went on Miss Beale. "Edith--my +niece, you know--could not bear the smell of joss sticks. They reminded +her of Shanghai, where she lost her husband." + +Theydon looked more startled than such a seemingly simple statement +warranted. He had realized already that the ivory skull was the work of +an Oriental artist, and the mention of Shanghai brought that sinister +symbol very vividly to his mind's eye. + +"Mrs. Lester had lived in China, then?" he said. + +"Yes. She was out there nearly six years. Her husband died suddenly last +October--he was poisoned, she firmly believed--and, of course, she came +home at once." + +"What was Mr. Lester's business, or profession?" + +"He was a barrister. I do not mean that he practised in the Consular +courts. He was making his way in England, but was offered some sort of +appointment in Shanghai. The post was so lucrative that he relinquished +a growing connection at the bar. I have never really understood what he +did. I fancy he had to report on commercial matters to some firm of +bankers in London, but he supplied very little positive information +before Edith and he sailed. Indeed, I took it that his mission was +highly confidential, and about that time there was a lot in the +newspapers about rival negotiators for a big Chinese loan, so I formed +the opinion that he was sent out in connection with something of the +sort. Neither he nor Edith meant to remain long in the Far East. At +first their letters always spoke of an early return. Then, when the +years dragged on, and I asked for definite news of their homecoming, +Edith said that Arthur could not get away until the country's political +affairs were in a more settled state. Finally came a cablegram from +Edith: 'Arthur dead; sailing immediately,' and my niece was with me +within a few weeks. The supposed cause of her husband's death was some +virulent type of fever, but, as I said, Edith was convinced that he had +been poisoned." + +"Why?" + +"That I never understood. She never willingly talked about Shanghai, or +her life there. Indeed, she was always most anxious that no one should +know she had ever lived in China. Yet she had plenty of friends out +there. I gathered that Arthur had left her well provided for +financially, and they were a most devoted couple. Edith was the only +relative I possessed. It is very dreadful, Mr. Theydon, that she should +be taken from me in such a way." + +Her hearer was almost thankful that she yielded to the inevitable rush +of emotion. It gave him time to collect his wits, which had lost their +poise when that wicked-looking little skull was, so to speak, thrust +forcibly into his recollection. + +"In a word," he said, at last, "you are Mrs. Lester's next-of-kin and +probably her heiress?" + +"Yes, I suppose so, though I was not thinking of that," came the tearful +answer. + +"Yet the relationship entails certain responsibilities," said Theydon +firmly. "You should be legally represented at the inquest. Are your +affairs in the hands of any firm of solicitors?" + +"Yes--at Oxford. I contrived to call at their office yesterday and they +recommended me to consult these people," and Miss Beale produced a card +from a handbag. Theydon read the name and address of a well-known West +End firm. + +"Good," he said. "I recommend you to go there at once. By the way, was +any one looking after Mrs. Lester's interests? Surely she had dealings +with a bank or an agency?" + +"Y--yes. I do happen to know the source from which her income came. +She--made a secret of it--in a measure." + +"Pray don't tell me anything of that sort. Your legal adviser might not +approve." + +"But what does it matter now? Poor Edith is dead. Her affairs cannot +help being dragged into the light of day. She had some railway shares +and bonds, some of which were left to her by her father, and others +which came under a marriage settlement, but the greater part of her +revenue was derived from a monthly payment made by the bank of which Mr. +James Creighton Forbes is the head." + +Miss Beale naturally misinterpreted the blank stare with which Theydon +received this remarkable statement. + +"I don't see why any one should wish to conceal a simple matter of +business like that," she said nervously. "May I explain that I have an +impression, not founded on anything quite tangible, that Mr. Forbes was +largely interested in the syndicate which sent Arthur Lester to China, +so it is very likely that the payment of an annuity, or pension, to +Arthur's widow would be left in his care. I do not know. I am only +guessing. But that matter, and others, can hardly fail to be cleared up +by the police inquiry." + +Theydon recovered his self-control as rapidly as he had lost it. He +glanced at the clock--10:15. Within half an hour, or less, Miss Beale +would be on her way to Scotland Yard. He must act promptly and +decisively, or he would find himself in a distinctly unfavorable +position in his relations with the Criminal Investigation Department. + +"I happen to be acquainted with Mr. Forbes," he said, striving +desperately to appear cool and methodical when his brain was seething. +"Would you mind if I just rang him up on the telephone? A few words now +might enlighten us materially." + +"O, you are most helpful," said the lady, blushing again with timid +gratitude. "I am so glad I summoned up courage to call on you. I was +terrified at the idea of going to the Police Headquarters, but I shall +not mind it at all now." + +Soon Theydon was asking for "00400, Bank." He had left the door of his +sitting room open purposely. No matter what the outcome, he no longer +dared keep the compact of silence into which he had entered with Forbes. +But the millionaire was not at his office. In response to a very +determined request for a word with some one in authority, "on a matter +of real urgency," the clerk who had answered the call brought "Mr. +Forbes's secretary," a Mr. Macdonald, to the telephone. + +"It is important, vitally important, that I should speak with Mr. Forbes +within the next few minutes," said Theydon, after giving his name and +address. "Do you expect him to arrive soon? Or shall I try and reach him +at Fortescue Square?" + +"Mr. Forbes will not be here till midday," came a voice with a +pronounced Scottish intonation. "I'm doubtful, too, if ye'll catch him +at home. Can I give him a message?" + +"Do you know where he is?" + +"Well, I cannot say." + +"But do you know?" + +"I'll be glad to give him a message." + +"It will be too late, then. Please understand, Mr. Macdonald, that I am +making this call at Mr. Forbes's express wish. It is, as I have said, +vitally important that I should get in touch with him without delay." + +Scottish caution was not to be overcome by an appeal of that sort. + +"I cannot go beyond what I have said," was the reply. "If you like to +ask at his house--" + +"O, ring off!" cried Theydon, who pictured the secretary as a lanky +hollow-cheeked Scot, a model of discretion and trustworthiness, no +doubt, but utterly unequal to a crisis demanding some measure of +self-confident initiative. In reality, Mr. Macdonald was short and +stout, and quite a jovial little man. + +After an exasperating delay, he got into communication with the Forbes +mansion in Fortescue Square. + +"I'm Mr. Frank Theydon," he said, striving to speak unconcernedly. "Is +Mr. Forbes in?" + +"No, sir." + +"Is that you, Tomlinson?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Can you tell me where I can find Mr. Forbes at once?" + +"Isn't he at his office, sir?" + +"No. He will not be there till 12 o'clock." + +A pause of indecision on Tomlinson's part. Then, a possible solution of +the difficulty. + +"Would you care to have a word with Miss Evelyn, sir?" + +"O, yes, yes." + +Theydon blurted out this emphatic acceptance of the butler's suggestion +without a thought as to its possible consequences. He was racking his +brain in a frenzy of uncertainty as to how he should frame his words +when he heard quite clearly a woman's footsteps on the parquet flooring, +and caught Evelyn Forbes's voice saying to Tomlinson: "How fortunate! +Mr. Theydon is the very person I wished to speak to, but I simply dared +not ring him up." + +The slight incident only provided Theydon with a new source of +wonderment. Why should Evelyn Forbes want speech with him at that early +hour? Perhaps she would explain. He could only hope so, and trust to +luck in the choice of his own phrases. + +"That you, Mr. Theydon?" came the girl's voice, sweet in its cadence yet +ominously eager. "How nice of you to anticipate my unspoken thought! I +have been horribly anxious ever since I read of that awful affair at +Innesmore Mansions. That poor lady's flat is next door to yours, is it +not?" + +"Yes, but--" + +"O, you cannot choke off a woman's curiosity quite so easily. You see, I +happen to know that Mrs. Lester's sad death affects my father in some +way, and I realize now that you two were just on pins and needles to get +rid of me last night so that you might talk freely." + +"Miss Forbes, I assure you--" + +"Wait till I've finished, and you will not be under the necessity of +telling me any polite fibs. You men are all alike. You think the giddy +feminine brain is not fitted to cope with mysteries, and that is where +you are utterly mistaken. A woman's intuition often peers deeper than a +man's logic. I--" + +"Do forgive me," broke in Theydon despairingly, "but I am really most +anxious to know how and where I can get a word with your father. I would +not be so rude as to interrupt you if I hadn't the best of excuses. Tell +me where to find him now, and I promise to give you a call immediately +afterward." + +"He's at the Home Office." + +"At the Home Office!" + +Some hint of utter bewilderment in Theydon's tone must have reached the +girl's alert ear. + +"Ah! _Touché!_" she cried. "Now will you be good and tell me why Dad +should receive a little ivory skull by this morning's post?" + +Theydon knew that he paled. His very scalp tingled with an apprehension +of some shadowy yet none the less affrighting evil. But he schooled +himself to say, with a semblance of calm interest: + +"What exactly do you mean, Miss Forbes?" + +She laughed lightly. Theydon was so flurried that he did not realize the +possibility of Evelyn Forbes being as quick to mask her real feelings as +he himself was. + +"Dad and I make a point of breakfasting together at nine o'clock every +morning," she said. "We were talking about you, and he told me of the +dreadful thing that happened to Mrs. Lester. I was reading the account +of the tragedy in a newspaper, when I happened to glance at him. He was +going through his letters, and I was just a trifle curious to know what +was in a flat box which came by registered post. He opened it carelessly +and something fell out and rolled across the table. I picked it up and +saw that it was a small piece of ivory, carved with extraordinary skill +to represent a skull. Indeed, it was so clever as to be decidedly +repulsive. I was going to say something when I saw that the letter which +was in the same box had alarmed him so greatly that, for a second or +two, I thought he would faint. But he can be very strong and stern at +times, and he recovered himself instantly, was quite vexed with me +because I had examined the ivory skull, and forbade my going out until +he had returned from the Home Office. Tomlinson and the other men have +orders not to admit any one to the house, no matter on what pretext, and +I'm sure the letter and its nasty little token are bound up in some way +with Mrs. Lester's death. Won't you let me into the secret? I shan't +scream or do anything foolish, but I do think I am entitled to know what +you know if it affects my father." + +A sudden change in the girl's voice warned Theydon of a restraint of +which he had been unconscious hitherto. He tried to temporize, to +whittle away her fears. That was a duty he owed to Forbes, who was +clearly resolved not to take his daughter into his confidence--for the +present, at any rate. + +"I really fail to see why you should assume some connection between the +crime which was committed here on Monday night and the arrival of a +somewhat singular package at your house this morning," he said +reassuringly. + +"Like every other woman, I jump at conclusions," she answered. "Why +should this crime, in particular, have worried my father? Unfortunately, +the newspapers are full of such horrid things, yet he hardly ever pays +them any attention. No, Mr. Theydon, I am not mistaken. He either knew +Mrs. Lester, and was shocked at her death, or saw in it some personal +menace. Then comes the letter, with its obvious threat, and I am ordered +to remain at home, under a strong guard, while he hurries off to +Whitehall. You have met my father, Mr. Theydon. Do you regard him as the +sort of man who would rush off in a panic to consult the Home Secretary +without very grave and weighty reasons?" + +"But you can hardly be certain that a wretched crime in this +comparatively insignificant quarter of London supplies the actual motive +of Mr. Forbes's action," urged Theydon. + +The girl stamped an impatient foot. He heard it distinctly. + +"Of course I am certain," she cried. "Why won't you be candid? You know +I am right--I can tell it from your voice, and your guarded way of +talking--" + +An inspiration came to Theydon's relief in that instant. + +"Pardon the interruption," he said, "but I must point out that both of +us are acting unwisely in discussing such matters over the telephone. +Really, neither must say another word, except this--when I have found +your father I'll ask his permission to come and see you. Perhaps we +three can arrange to meet somewhere for luncheon. That is absolutely the +farthest limit to which I dare go at this moment." + +"O, very well!" + +The receiver was hung up in a temper, and the prompt ring-off jarred +disagreeably in Theydon's ear. If he was puzzled before, he was +thoroughly at sea now. But he took a bold course, and cared not a jot +whether or not it was a prudent one. + +The mere sound of Evelyn Forbes's voice had steeled his heart and +conscience against the dictates of common sense. Let the detectives +think what they might, the girl's father must be allowed to carry +through his plans without let or hindrance. + +"Miss Beale," said Theydon, gazing fixedly into the sorrow-laden eyes of +the quiet little lady whom he found seated where he had left her, "I'm +going to tell you something very important, very serious, something so +far-reaching and momentous that neither you nor I can measure its +effect. You heard the conversation on the telephone?" + +"I heard what you were saying, but could not understand much of it," +said his visitor in a scared way. + +"I have been trying to communicate with Mr. Forbes, but his daughter +tells me that the murder of your niece seems to have affected him in a +manner which is incomprehensible to her, and even more so to me, though +I am acquainted with facts which her father and I have purposely kept +from her knowledge. Mr. Forbes has gone hurriedly to the Home Office. I +suppose you know what that means? He is about to give the Home Secretary +certain information, and it is not for you or me to interfere with his +discretion. Now, if you tell the Scotland Yard people what you have told +me, namely, that Mr. Forbes was the intermediary through whom Mrs. +Lester received the greater part of her income, he will be brought +prominently into the inquiry. You see that, don't you?" + +"Yes. I suppose that something of the sort must happen." + +"Well, I want you to suppress that vital fact until we know more about +this affair. It will not be for long. Each of us must tell our story +without reservation at some future date--whether this afternoon, or +tomorrow, or a week hence, I cannot say now. But I do ask you to keep +your knowledge to yourself until I have had an opportunity of consulting +Mr. Forbes. I undertake to tell you the exact position of matters +without delay, and I accept all responsibility for my present advice." + +"I know little of the world, Mr. Theydon," said Miss Beale, rising, and +beginning to draw on her gloves, "but I shall be very greatly surprised +if you are advising me to act otherwise than honorably. I shall +certainly not utter a word about Mr. Forbes at Scotland Yard. When all +is said and done, my statement to you was largely guesswork. You must +remember that I have never seen Mr. Forbes, nor hardly ever heard his +name except in connection with public matters in the Press. O, yes. I +make that promise readily. I trust you implicitly!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +CLOSE QUARTERS + + +Theydon escorted Miss Beale downstairs. As they passed the closed door +of No. 17, the lady shivered. + +"To think that within the next few days I would have been staying there +with Edith, and planning evenings at the theater before going to +Newquay!" she murmured; there was a pitiful catch in her voice that told +better than words how the remainder of her existence would be darkened +by the tragedy. + +At best she was a shrinking, timid little woman, for whom life probably +held but narrow interests. Such as they were, their placid content was +forever shattered. The death of her niece had closed the one chief +avenue leading to the outer world. She would retire to the quiet +back-water of Iffley, to become more faded, more insignificant, more +lonely each year. + +Theydon commiserated with her deeply and did not hesitate to utter his +thoughts while putting her into a cab. + +"Have you no friends in London?" he inquired. "I don't like the notion +of sending you off alone into this wilderness. London is the worst place +in the world for any one in distress. The heedless multitude seems to be +callous and unsympathetic. It isn't, in reality. It simply doesn't know, +and doesn't bother." + +"I used to claim some acquaintances here, but I have lost track of them +for years," she said. "In any event, I shall have more than enough to +occupy my mind today. The inquest opens at three o'clock, and I must +face the ordeal of identifying Edith's body. The detective told me that +this should be done by a relation, while the only other person who could +act--Ann Rogers--has been nearly out of her mind since yesterday +morning." + +"Where are you staying?" + +She mentioned a small hotel in the West End. + +"I used to go there with my people when I was a girl," she added, sadly. + +"Then I'll get my sister to call. You'll like her. She's a jolly good +sort, and a chat with another woman will be far more beneficial than the +society of detectives and lawyers and such-like strange fowl. Keep your +spirits up, Miss Beale. Nothing that you can say or do now will restore +the life so cruelly taken, but you and I, each in our own way, can +strive to bring the murderer to justice. I am convinced that a distinct +step in that direction will be taken this very day. You can count on +seeing or hearing from me as soon as possible after I have discussed +matters with Mr. Forbes. Meanwhile, don't forget to have a lawyer +representing you at the inquest." + +They parted as though they were friends of long standing. Theydon was +genuinely sorry for this gray-haired woman's plight, and she evidently +regarded him as a kind-hearted and eminently trustworthy young man. He +stood and watched the cab as it bore her off swiftly into the maelstrom +of London. He could not help thinking that seldom had he met one less +fitted for the notoriety thrust upon all connected with a much-talked-of +crime. + +When the press interviewers, the photographers, the hundred and one +officials with whom she must be brought in contact, were done with her, +poor Miss Beale would retire to her Oxfordshire nook in a state of +mental bewilderment that would baffle description. In one of his books +Theydon had endeavored to depict just such a middle-aged spinster +confronted with a situation not wholly unlike that which now faced Miss +Beale. + +He smiled grimly when he realized how far fiction had wandered from +fact. The woman of his imagination had acted with a strength of +character, a decisiveness, that outwitted and confounded certain +scheming personages in the story. How different was the reality! Miss +Beale, rushing across London in a taxi, reminded him of nothing more +masterful than a cage-bird turned loose in a tempest. + +He was about to reenter the mansions, meaning to telephone to both the +Fortescue Square house and the Old Broad Street offices, and ask for +instant news of Mr. Forbes in either locality. He was so preoccupied +that he failed to notice an approaching taxicab, though the driver was +signaling, and even tooted a motor horn loudly in the endeavor to +attract his attention. + +He did, however, catch his own name, and halted. + +"Beg pardon, sir, but you are Mr. Theydon, aren't you?" said the man. + +Then Theydon recognized Evans, the taxi-driver, who had brought him from +Fortescue Square. + +"Hullo!" he cried. "Any news of the gray car?" + +"Yes, sir, I think so," was the somewhat surprising answer. "When I +dropped you last night I got a fare to Euston. Then I took a gentleman +to the Langham, an', as I felt like a snack, I pulled into the nearest +cab rank. I was having some corfee an' a sandwich when I 'appened to +speak about the gray car to one of the chaps. 'That's odd,' he said. +'Quarter of an hour ago I had a theater job to Langham Plice, an' a gray +landaulette stopped in front of the Chinese Embassy. It kem along from +the east side, too.' He didn't notice the number, sir, so there may be +nothink in it, after all, but I thought you might like to hear wot my +pal said." + +"Was the car empty? Did it call for some one at the Embassy?" + +"That's the queer part of it, sir. I axed pertic'ler. This gray car +brought a gentleman, a small, youngish man, 'oo skipped up the Embassy +steps like a lamplighter, and went in afore you could s'y 'knife.' +Somebody might ha' bin watchin' for him through the keyhole, the door +was opened that quick. Then the car went off. My friend wouldn't ha' +given a second thought to it if the gentleman hadn't vanished like a +jack-in-the-box. That's w'y he remembered the color of the car." + +Theydon tried to look as though Evans's statement merely puzzled him, +whereas his mind was already busy with the extraordinary coincidences +which the haphazard events of a few hours had produced. Was the Far East +bound up in some mysterious way with Mrs. Lester's death? Did the crime +possess a political significance? If so, an explanation by Forbes was +more than ever demanded. + +"Your informant was not mistaken about the Chinese Embassy, I suppose?" +he said. + +"No, sir. He's always in that district. His garage is at the back of +Great Portland Street. He knows most of them there Chinks by sight." + +"Then that gray car can hardly have been our gray car," commented +Theydon, deeming it wise to prevent the sharp-witted taxi-driver from +jumping at conclusions. + +"I'm afraid not, sir. Still, I just took the liberty--" + +"I'm very much obliged to you, of course. I said half-a-crown, didn't I? +Here you are. Keep an eye open for XY 1314 and let me know if you hear +or see anything of it." + +"Thank you, sir." Then Evans lifted his eyes to the block of buildings. +"A nasty business this murder which was done 'ere the other night, sir," +he went on. "One 'ud hardly b'lieve it possible for such things to tike +plice in London nowadays." + +Much as he was disinclined for gossip of the sort at the moment, Theydon +saw that he must endeavor to dissociate the gray car and the crime from +their dangerous juxtaposition in the man's mind, so he spoke about Mrs. +Lester's attractive appearance, harped on the apparent aimlessness of +the deed, hinted darkly at clews in the possession of the police, and +finally got rid of the well-meaning chauffeur. Back he went to his +telephone, and having ascertained that Mr. Forbes was fully expected to +put in an appearance at the city office before noon, settled down to +read the newspapers. + +They contained sensational but fairly accurate accounts of the tragedy. +One enterprising journal had published an interview with Bates, whom the +reporter described as "a typical British man-servant," which was +amusing, since Bates had "retired noncommissioned officer" written all +over his square frame and soldierly features. + +The same journalist spoke of Theydon himself, and had even ferreted out +the fact that Mrs. Lester was the widow of an English barrister who had +died at Shanghai. On reaction, Theydon saw that there was nothing +unusual in this statement. The connection between the metropolitan press +and the bar is old and intimate, and scores of junior barristers must +remember Arthur Lester's beginnings. + +Resolved to possess his soul in patience till twelve o'clock, the hour +being yet barely 11:30 a. m., Theydon tackled a page of reviews, since +there is always consolation for a writer in learning at second hand what +sheer drivel others can produce. + +He was growling at the discovery that some hapless essayist had +appropriated a title which he himself had marked down for his next book, +when the door-bell rang. He did not give much heed, because so many +tradesmen called during the course of each morning, so he was surprised +and startled when Bates announced: + +"Mr. Forbes to see you, sir." + +Had a powerful spring concealed in the seat of his chair been released +suddenly, Theydon could not have bounced to his feet with greater speed. +Forbes came in. He was pale, but self-contained and clear-eyed. + +"Forgive an unceremonious visit," he said. "I'm glad to find you at +home. I meant to arrive here sooner, but I was detained on business of +some importance." + +By this time Bates had closed the door; Theydon explained his presence +in the flat by saying that within a few minutes he would have been +telephoning again to Old Broad Street. + +"Ah! Did you speak to Macdonald?" said Forbes, dropping into a chair +with a curious lassitude of manner which did not escape Theydon. + +"Yes. I have been most anxious to have a word with you--" + +Forbes broke in with a short laugh. + +"You would get nothing out of Macdonald," he said. "He knows that my +visits to the Chinese Embassy are few and far between and generally have +to do with--but what is it now? Why should you be so perturbed when I +mention the Chinese Embassy?" + +Theydon was literally astounded, and did not strive to hide his +agitation. But he was by no means tongue-tied. Now, most emphatically, +was he determined to have done with pretense. Whether by accident or +design, Forbes had placed himself with his back to the window. + +The younger man deliberately crossed the room, pulled up the blind, thus +admitting the flood of light which comes only from the upper third of a +window, and sat down in such a position that Forbes was compelled to +turn in order to face him. + +"Before you utter another word, Mr. Forbes," he said gravely, "let me +tell you that in my efforts to trace your whereabouts I also called up +Fortescue Square. Miss Forbes came to the telephone. She said you had +gone to the Home Office. By some feminine necromancy, too, she divined +the link which binds you with the death of Mrs. Lester. She was +distressed on your account, and I was hard put to it to extricate myself +from the risk of saying something which I might regret. I--" + +"What do you imply by that remark?" interrupted Forbes, piercing the +other with a look that was strangely reminiscent of his daughter's +candid scrutiny. + +"I imply the serious fact that I know who visited Mrs. Lester before she +met her death. I not only heard her visitor's arrival and departure, but +saw him at the corner of these mansions while on my way home from Daly's +Theater, and again when he posted a letter in the pillar box on the same +corner. If such unwonted interest on my part in the movements of one who +was then a complete stranger surprises you, let me remind you that only +a few minutes earlier I had stood by his side at the door of the theater +and heard him telling his daughter that he intended to walk to the +Constitutional Club." + +Forbes smiled, but uttered no word. His expression was inscrutable. His +pallor reminded Theydon of the tint of ivory, of that waxen-white Dutch +grisaille beloved of fifteenth century illuminators of manuscripts. His +silence was disturbing, almost irritating, his manner singularly calm. + +These negative indications conveyed absolutely nothing to Theydon, who +for the second time in their brief acquaintance found himself in the +ridiculous position of one explaining a fault rather than, as he +imagined, arraigning a man under suspicion. + +"So we had better dispense with ambiguities, Mr. Forbes," he went on, +speaking with a precision that sounded oddly in his own ears. "It was +you who called on Mrs. Lester on Monday night, you who posted the letter +she wrote to Miss Beale at Iffley, Oxfordshire, you for whom the police +are now searching. I have contrived thus far to keep your secret, but +the situation is passing out of my control. I would help you if I +could--" + +"Why?" + +The monosyllable, sharp and insistent, was disconcerting as the +unexpected crack of a whip, but Theydon answered valiantly: + +"Because of the monstrous absurdities with which Fate has plagued me +during the past two days, I appeal now for outspokenness, so I set an +example. Had it not been for your daughter's remarkably attractive +appearance I should not, in all likelihood, have given a second glance +at my neighbors on the steps of the theater. But I cannot forget that I +did see both her and you--indeed, Miss Forbes herself recalled the +incident--and the close questioning of the Scotland Yard men who were +here last night showed me the folly of imagining that I could deny all +knowledge of you. I recognize now that some impish contriving of +circumstances forced this knowledge upon me. The sudden downpour of +rain, and the fact that I was delayed by a slight accident to my cab, +conspired with the apparently simple chance which led me to overhear the +conversation between Miss Forbes and yourself. I tried hard to baffle +the detectives--" + +"Again I ask 'Why?'" + +Theydon was rapidly being wound up to a pitch of excited resentment. + +"Why?" he cried. "Was I not your guest? How could I come from a house +where I had been admitted to a delightful intimacy and tell the +representatives of the law that my host was the man they were looking +for?" + +During some seconds Forbes bent his eyes on the floor, seemingly in deep +thought. + +"Theydon," he said at last, looking up in his direct way, "I am your +senior by a good many years--am old enough, as the saying goes, to be +your father. I may venture, therefore, to give you a piece of sound +advice. Pack a kit-bag, catch the afternoon boat train for Boulogne, and +go for a walking tour in Normandy and Brittany. When I was your age and +a junior in a bank I had to take my holidays in May; each year I tramped +that corner of France. I recommend it as a playground. It will appeal to +your literary instincts, and it has the immeasurable advantage just now +of being practically as remote from London as the Sahara." + +It must not be forgotten that Theydon was a romancer, an idealist. The +"lounge suit" of the modern tailor hampers the play of such qualities no +more than the beaten armor of the age of chivalry. + +"If my departure for France will relieve Miss Forbes of anxiety on your +behalf, I'll go," he vowed. + +Forbes regarded him with a new interest. + +"I believe you mean that," he said. + +"I do." + +"But I cannot send you out of the country on a false pretense. It was +your safety and well-being, not my daughter's, that I was thinking of." + +"What have I to fear?" + +"I do not know. I am like a man wandering by night in a jungle alive +with fearsome beasts and reptiles." + +"Yet you had some reason for suggesting my prompt departure." + +"Yes. It is an absurd thing to say, but I believe I am putting you in +danger of your life by coming here this morning." + +"Can't you speak plainly, Mr. Forbes? What good purpose do you serve by +holding forth these vague terrors? If, as Miss Forbes told me, you have +visited the Home Office, I take it you made yourself clear to the +authorities--assuming, that is, you went there in connection with the +amazing conditions which seem to be bound up with this crime." + +"There is a certain class of knowledge which is in itself dangerous to +those who possess it, no matter whether or not it affects them in any +particular. I recommend you, in good faith, to leave London today." + +"If my own safety is the only consideration I refuse as readily as I +agreed before." + +Theydon's tone grew somewhat impatient. He really fancied that Forbes +was trifling with him. Indeed, a queer doubt of the man's complete +sanity now peeped up in him. Forbes was regarded as a crank by a large +section of the public on account of his peace propaganda; if that +opinion were justified why should he not be eccentric in other respects? + +It was fantastic, almost stupid, to look upon him as responsible for +Mrs. Lester's murder, but there was always a possibility that he might +be utilizing the chance which led him to her apartments shortly before +the crime was committed to cover himself and his movements with a veil +of spurious mystery. In a word, though Theydon had likened his visitor's +face to a mask of ivory he had momentarily forgotten the ominous token +found on Mrs. Lester's body and duplicated in Forbes's own house by the +morning's post. + +Forbes spread wide his hands with the air of one who heard, but was +allowing his thoughts to wander. When next he spoke it was only to +increase the crazy inconsequence of their talk. + +"Later--perhaps today--perhaps it may never be necessary--I may explain +myself to your heart's content," he said slowly. "At present I am here +to ask a favor. In the first place, is Mrs. Lester's flat in charge of +the police?" + +"I suppose so," said Theydon. + +"Is there a detective or constable on duty there now?" + +"I am not sure. I imagine there is not. When the Scotland Yard men and I +came out after midnight they locked the door and took away the key. +The--er--body is at the mortuary, awaiting the opening of the inquest at +three o'clock." + +"Ah! I hoped that would be so. Can you ascertain for certain?" + +"But why?" + +"Because I wish to go in there. And that brings me to the favor I seek. +The secretary of these flats, even the hall porter, should have a master +key. Borrow it on some pretext. They will give it to you." + +"Really, Mr. Forbes--" gasped Theydon, voicing his surprise as a +preliminary to a decided refusal. He was interrupted by the insistent +clang of the telephone--that curt herald which brooks no delay in +answering its demand for an audience. + +"Pardon me one moment," he said. "I'll just see who that is." + +The inquirer was Evelyn Forbes. + +"I've waited patiently--" she began, but he stopped her instantly by +saying that her father was with him. + +"Please ask him to come to the phone," she said. + +Forbes rose at once. He merely assured the girl that he was engaged in +important business and would be home soon after the luncheon hour. +Meanwhile, she was not to go out, and his orders must be obeyed to the +letter. + +"Now, Theydon," he said, coming back to the sitting room, "what about +that key?" + +The most extraordinary feature of an extraordinary case was the way in +which the mere sound of Evelyn Forbes's voice stilled any qualms of +conscience in Theydon's breast. He knew he was acting foolishly in +conducting a blind inquiry on his own account, an inquiry which might +well arouse the anger and active resentment of the police, but he +offered a sop to his better judgment by consulting Bates. + +Then came a veritable surprise. + +"The fact is, sir," admitted Bates nervously, "we have Ann Rogers's key +in the kitchen. When she went away on Monday she left it here, bein' +afraid of losin' it. Of course, she took it on Tuesday mornin', and +after goin' from one fit of hysterics into another she gev it to us +again." + +Theydon's face was eloquent of the serious view of this avowal. + +"Did you tell the police?" he said. + +"No, sir. My missus an' me clean forgot all about it." + +"So, while Mrs. Lester was being killed, the key of her flat was +actually in your possession?" + +"I suppose it might be put that way, sir." + +By this time Theydon was becoming exasperated at the veritable +conspiracy which fate had engineered for the express purpose, +apparently, of entangling him in an abominable crime. + +"Why on earth didn't you mention such an important fact to the +detectives?" he almost shouted, "Don't you see they are bound to +think--" + +"O, a plague on the detectives and on what they think!" broke in Forbes +imperiously. "It doesn't matter a straw what they think, and very little +what they do. This affair goes a long way beyond the four-mile radius, +Theydon. The vital point is that your man has the key. Where is it? Let +us go in there at once!" + +"You offered me some advice, Mr. Forbes," said Theydon firmly. "Let me +now return it in kind. If you wish to examine Mrs. Lester's flat why not +seek the permission of Scotland Yard?" + +"My good fellow, I have spent a valuable hour this morning in persuading +the Home Secretary that the less Scotland Yard interferes in my behalf +the more effectually shall I be protected. I don't want any detective +within a mile of my house or office. But, as I have told you already, +explanations must wait--You, Bates, look a man who can hold his tongue. +Do so, and with Mr. Theydon's permission I'll make it worth your while +when this storm has blown over--Now, give me that key." + +Theydon was silenced, if not convinced. He realized, of course, that he +must make a full confession to the Criminal Investigation Department +before the sun went down, but argued that he might as well see the +present adventure through. + +Soon he and Forbes were standing at the door of No. 17. Forbes curbed +his impatience sufficiently to permit of any one who happened to be in +the interior answering the summons of the electric bell. Of course, no +one came. The police had no reason to remain in charge of the place, and +Ann Rogers would have become a raving lunatic if left alone there for +one half-hour. + +The aromatic odor of the burnt joss stick still clung to the suite of +apartments, and Forbes noticed it at once. + +"Where was the body found?" he asked. + +Theydon led the way to the bedroom. He related Winter's theory of the +crime, and pointed out its seeming aimlessness. So far as the police +could ascertain from the half-crazy servant, none of Mrs. Lester's +jewels was missing. Even her gold purse, containing a fair sum of money, +was found on the dressing-table. + +He did not know that the detectives had taken away a few scraps of torn +paper thrown carelessly into the grate and had carefully gathered up a +tiny snake-like curl of white ash from the tiled hearth, which, on +analysis, would probably prove to be the remains of the joss stick. + +Forbes gazed at the impression on the side of the bed as though the body +of the woman whom he had last seen in full possession of her grace and +beauty were still lying there. The vision seemed to affect him +profoundly. He did not speak for fully a minute, and, when speech came, +his voice was low and strained. + +"Tell me everything you know," he said. "The Scotland Yard men took an +unusual step in admitting you to their conclave. They must have had some +motive. Tell me what they said, their very words, if you can recall +them." + +Theydon was uncomfortably aware of a strange compulsion to obey. His +commonplace, everyday senses cried out in revolt, and warned him that he +was tampering dangerously with matters which should be left to the cold +scrutiny of the law, but some subconscious instinct overpowered these +prudent monitors, and he gave an almost exact account of his talk with +Winter and Furneaux. + +Then followed questions, eager, searching, almost uncanny in their +prescience. + +"The little one--who strikes me as having more brains than I credit the +ordinary London policeman with--spoke of the evil deities of China. How +did such an extraordinary topic crop up?" + +"In connection with the joss stick." + +"Yes, yes. But I don't see the inference." + +"Mr. Winter alluded to the habit some ladies have of burning such +incense in their houses, whereupon Furneaux remarked that the Chinese +use them to propitiate harmful spirits." + +"Was that all?" + +Theydon felt insensibly that his companion was hinting at something more +definite, but he was bound in honor to respect the confidence reposed in +him. + +"I don't quite understand," he temporized. + +"Was nothing said as to the finding of some object, such as a small +article obviously Chinese in origin, which might turn an inquirer's +thought into that channel?" + +"The conversation I am relating took place the moment after we had +entered the flat. We were standing in the hall. It was wholly the +outcome of the strange smell which was immediately perceptible." + +Forbes passed a hand over his eyes. + +"I wonder," he breathed. + +Then, turning quickly on Theydon, he repeats the question. + +"Are you quite sure they did not mention the discovery in this room of +any object which could be regarded, even remotely, as a sign or symbol +left by the murderer to show that his crime was an act of vengeance, or +retaliation?" + +Theydon hesitated. Unquestionably he was in a position of no ordinary +difficulty. But his doubts were solved by an interruption that brought +his heart into his mouth, because a thin, high-pitched voice came +through the half-open door: + +"Are you thinking of a small ivory skull, Mr. Forbes?" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +WHEREIN MR. FORBES EXPLAINS HIMSELF + + +Even the boldest may flinch when confronted with that which is +apparently a manifestation of the supernatural. Theydon and Forbes were +standing in a chamber of death. To the best of their belief they were +alone in an otherwise empty flat, and those ominous words coming from +some one unknown and unseen blanched their faces with terror. + +But Theydon was a healthy and athletic young Englishman, and Forbes was +of the rare order which combines a frame of exceptional physique with a +mind accustomed to think imperially; two such men might be trusted to +display real grit if surrounded by a horde of veritable spooks. + +The door was thrown wide as they turned at the sound of the words, and +Theydon recognized in a strange little figure--wearing a blue serge +suit, a straw hat and brown boots--Furneaux, the man whom he had looked +on as somewhat of a crank and visionary during their talk of the +previous night. + +"You?" he gasped, and the note of recognition was sharpened by a sudden +sense of dismay, almost of alarm, because of the overwhelming knowledge +that now all his scheming had collapsed, while the representatives of +Scotland Yard would regard him as nothing more than a poor sort of +trickster. + +But Forbes was not in the habit of yielding to any man, no matter what +his status, or howsoever awe-inspiring might be the department of state +which he represented. + +"Who the devil are you, at any rate?" he cried angrily. "And what right +have you to spy on gentlemen in this manner, listening to their +conversation, and breaking in with a cheap stage effect obviously +intended to startle?" + +Furneaux remained motionless, his feet set well apart and his hands +thrust into his trousers pockets. The trim, natty figure, the spruce and +Summer-like attire, the small, wizened face with its cynically humorous +and wide-awake aspect--above all, a certain jauntiness of air and +cocksure expression--certainly did not suggest a comedian fresh from the +boards. + +"You tell," he said, nodding to Theydon. + +"This is Mr. Furneaux of Scotland Yard," said the latter nervously. He +imagined he could detect in Furneaux's glance a mixture of amusement and +contempt, amusement at the notion that any amateur should harbor the +belief that the two best men in the "Yard" could be egregiously +hoodwinked, and contempt of one who so far forgot himself as even to +dare attempt such a thing in relation to a police inquiry into a murder. + +"I don't know, and care less, who Mr. Furneaux of Scotland Yard may be," +went on Forbes hotly. "I resent his intrusion, and wish to be relieved +of his presence." + +"Why?" said Furneaux. + +"I have given my reasons to the Home Secretary. That mere statement must +suffice for you." + +"Really, I must ask you to be more explicit." + +"I visited the Home Office this morning, and placed such evidence in the +hands of the Home Secretary that Scotland Yard will be requested to +suspend all further investigation into the death of Mrs. Lester." + +"Do you mean that the Home Secretary has sanctioned the breaking off of +this inquiry." + +"In the conditions--" + +"Because, if that is what your words imply, Mr. Forbes, I may tell you +at once that I don't believe you. It is more than any Home Secretary +dare do, and if you harbor any lingering doubts on the point, go to Mr. +Theydon's telephone, ring up the Home Office, and tell the gentleman at +the other end of the wire exactly what I have said. Of course you really +don't mean anything of the sort. By virtue of some special and inside +knowledge of certain facts communicated to the Home Secretary, you may +have persuaded him to promise that, provided the ends of justice are not +defeated thereby, every precaution will be taken to keep the main lines +of the inquiry secret until the whole position can be laid before the +law officers of the Crown. The Home Secretary may have gone that far, +Mr. Forbes, but not one inch farther, and you know it." + +The two antagonists, so singularly disproportionate in size, were yet so +perfectly matched in the vastly more important qualities of brain and +nerve that the contest lost all sense of inequality. Theydon felt +himself of no account in this duel. He was like an urchin watching +open-mouthed a combat of gladiators. + +Forbes, not without a perceptible effort, choked down his wrath and +recovered his poise. + +"You have gaged the state of affairs accurately enough," he said, +speaking more calmly. "May I, then, recommend you to consult your direct +superiors before carrying your investigations any furthur, Mr.--" + +"Furneaux--Charles Francois Furneaux." + +"Just so, Mr. Charles Francois Furneaux." + +"I give you my full name, because one of the peculiar features of this +case is the inability of some persons mixed up in it to recall names, or +even the mere salient facts," and the detective's glance dwelt for an +instant on Theydon, who, again, in his own estimation, shrank into the +boots of a fourth-form boy detected by a master in an overt breach of +college rules. + +But the little man was speaking impressively, and, Theydon compelled his +wandering wits to pay attention. + +"It will clear the air, perhaps," went on Furneaux, "if I point out that +if any one here is playing the spy--carrying on some underhanded game, +that is--it is not I. These apartments are in charge of the police. The +manager of the whole block of flats and the porter of this particular +section have been warned that no one can be allowed to enter No. 17, on +any pretext, until our inquiry is closed. Now, Mr. Forbes, kindly +explain how you contrived to get possession of a key." + +An experienced man of the world like Forbes could hardly fail to see +that he was in a false position, and that any persistent attempt to +browbeat the detective would not only meet with utter failure but might +possibly compromise him gravely. + +"That was a simple matter," he said. "Mrs. Lester's servant left her key +in Mr. Theydon's establishment. Bates surprised both his master and me +by producing it when I expressed a wish to examine the place." + +"But why adopt such a clandestine method?" + +Forbes's face, usually so classic in outline, assumed a certain +rigidity, and his firm chin grew markedly aggressive. + +"I don't answer questions put in that way," he said. + +Furneaux laughed sardonically. + +"You meet with greater respect in Capel Court, I have no doubt," he +snapped. "There you stand on a pedestal, with one hand flourishing a +check-book and the other resting gracefully on the neck of a golden +calf. Here, you are simply an ordinary citizen behaving in a suspicious +manner. If the uniformed policeman on the neighboring beat knew what I +know of your recent movements he would arrest you without ceremony, and +charge you with being concerned in the murder of Mrs. Lester. Between +you and Mr. Theydon, the work of my department has been hindered and +burked most scandalously. Don't glare at me like that! I don't care +tuppence for your millions and your social position. What I do care +about is the horrible risk you and each member of your family are +incurring. You know why, and while you are still alive I mean to force +you to speak. Tell me now why Mrs. Lester was killed. Tell me, too, why +the same hand which thrust a little ivory skull into the dead woman's +underbodice caused a similar token to be delivered to you by this +morning's post. Ah, that touches you, does it? Now, my worthy financier +and philanthropist, step down from your pedestal and behave like a being +of flesh and blood!" + +Forbes positively wilted under that extraordinary attack. His white face +grew wan, and his eyes dilated with surprise and terror. The detective's +words seemed to have the effect of a paralytic shock. Thenceforth he was +under dog in the fight. + +"How do you know," he gasped, "that I received an ivory skull this +morning? Have you been to my house? Did my daughter tell you?" + +Furneaux chuckled. + +"You're ready to listen, eh? Well, I don't mind telling you that I have +not stirred out of this flat since seven o'clock this morning, and I +question if your letters were delivered in Fortescue Square at that +hour." + +"I give in," said Forbes curtly. "Need we remain here? The smell of that +cursed joss stick oppresses me." + +Then Theydon found his tongue. + +"If Mr. Furneaux cares to abandon his vigil, my flat is entirely at your +disposal," he said. + +"My vigil, as you accurately describe it, has ended for the time being," +said Furneaux, apparently mollified by the millionaire's surrender. "I +was sure that if I remained here long enough I would clear away some of +the fog attached to a case which promises to be one of the most +remarkable I have ever investigated. Come, gentlemen, let us be amiable +to one another. I'm sorry if I lost my temper just now, but I regard +myself as being the only detective in existence who uses other sections +of his brain than those governed by statutes made and provided, and it +riles me when men of superior intelligence like yourselves treat me as +though my mission in life was to direct the traffic and keep a sharp eye +on mischievous juveniles.... Mr. Theydon, can that soldier-servant of +yours make coffee?" + +"His wife can," said Theydon. + +"Will you be good enough, then, to set her to work? Thus far, since the +sun rose, I have stayed the pangs of hunger with an apple and a glass of +water." + +By this time, Theydon had thoroughly revised his first estimate of the +diminutive detective. Indeed, he was beginning to look on him as a quite +noteworthy person, a man whose mental equipment it was most unwise to +assess at any lower valuation than the somewhat exalted one which +Furneaux himself had set forth with such refreshing candor. + +As for Forbes, the millionaire seemed to have sunk into a species of +stupor since Furneaux spoke of the ivory skull. He uttered no word until +the three were seated in Theydon's room, and his expression was so +woebegone that it stirred even the mercurial Jerseyite to pity. + +"I imagine that a cup of coffee will do you also a world of good," he +said. Then, whirling round on Theydon, he stuck a question into him as +if each word was a stiletto. + +"Where do you get your coffee?" + +"At the grocer's," was the surprised answer. + +"Is that all you know about it?" + +"Yes." + +"Singular thing, isn't it?" mused the detective aloud, "how idiotic men +and women can be in their attitude to the supreme things of life. What +is of greater importance than the food we eat and the liquors we drink? +Through them the body reconstitutes itself hourly and daily. Providence +gives us a perfect engine, yet we clog and choke its shafts and +cylinders by supplying it haphazard with any sort of fuel and lubricant, +no matter how unsuited either may be to its purpose. Take coffee, for +instance. The physiological action of coffee depends on the presence of +the alkaloid caffeine, which varies from 0.6 percent in the Arabian +berry to 2 percent in that of Sierra Leone. Again, the aromatic oil, +caffeine, which is developed by roasting, increases in quantity the +longer the seeds are kept. Unfortunately, coffee beans lose weight +during storage, so you have a clear commercial reason why grocers should +not sell the best coffee, unless under compulsion of an enlightened +public opinion. Now you, Mr. Forbes, would never dream of putting your +money into a investment without full and careful inquiry into the +history and scope of the proposed undertaking, while our young friend +here would snort furiously at a split infinitive or a false rhyme, yet, +when I submit the vital problem of the sort of coffee you imbibe--the +very essence and nutriment of your brains and bodies--you hear the kind +of answer I receive." + +All this, of course, was excellent fooling, intended to dispel the +brooding horror which had suddenly descended upon Forbes since it was +borne in on him that the demoniac wrath wreaked on Mrs. Lester was now +directed with equal ferocity against his family and himself. + +To an extent, Furneaux's scheme succeeded. A gleam of interest shot from +the millionaire's eyes. They lost their introspective look. He even +smiled wistfully. + +"You are a man after my own heart, Mr. Furneaux," he said. "I had no +idea that the Criminal Investigation Department employed philosophers of +your caliber. I suppose that you and I are about to swallow coffee +containing indeterminate percentages of the chief constituents you +named." + +"One does not look at gift coffee in the cup," grinned the little man, +obviously well pleased with himself. "But, if ever you two gentlemen +favor my obscure dwelling with a visit, and partake of a meal, you will +have a strict analysis with every bite and sup. There is a grocer in +Battersea who used to tremble at sight of me. Now he has learned wisdom, +and has quadrupled his trade by publishing learned disquisitions on the +nature and quality of each principal article he sells. You ought to read +his treatise on butter. He is an authority on the dietetic value of jam. +The nutritive properties of his cheese are ruining the local butchers." + +Furneaux's efforts were rewarded when the really excellent beverage +provided by Mrs. Bates was disposed of. Forbes seemingly atoned for his +earlier secretiveness by placing every fact in his possession fully and +fairly before his auditors. + +"Nearly seven years ago," he said, "I made a very large sum of money by +amalgamating certain shipping interests at a favorable moment. Thus, as +it happened, I had at command practically unlimited resources when I was +asked to finance the cause of reform in China. The wretched lot of the +Chinese Nation had always appealed to my sympathies. Some hundreds of +millions of the most industrious and peace-loving people in the world +have been exploited for centuries by a predatory caste. Given a chance +to expand, freed from the shackles of the Manchus, the Chinese, in my +opinion, contain the elements which go to form a great race. But the +Manchus held them in bondage, body and soul, and, so powerful is +self-interest, there has never been an Emperor or statesman who strove +to elevate the masses who was not mercilessly assassinated as soon as he +allowed his intent to become known. The only path to freedom lay through +revolution, and I had reason to believe that the ruling faction could be +overthrown by a well-organized and properly financed movement without +the appalling bloodshed which often accompanies such dynastic changes. +At any rate, I entered the conspiracy, heart and soul. But I met with +two difficulties at the outset. I could not exercise efficient financial +control in London, and I could neither go and live in the Far East nor +transact my business through ordinary banking channels. So I had to find +a substitute, and my choice fell on a rising young barrister named +Arthur Lester, whom I had known since he was a boy who had married the +daughter of an old friend. He had a taste for adventure, and was alive +to the magnificent career which lay before one who helped materially in +the rebirth of China. In a word, he went to Shanghai as my agent, and +the outcome of his work there is the present Chinese constitution. Of +course, as holds good in all human affairs, events did not follow the +precise track mapped out for them. But, on the whole, he and I were +satisfied. China is awake at last. The giant has stirred, and, if his +first uncertain steps have deviated from the open road of reform, he +will never again sink into the torpor of the past centuries. Manchu +arrogance and domination, at any rate, are shadows of the past, but +unhappily, the conquerors who have been so effectually thrust aside have +now embarked on a secret campaign of vengeance and reaction. A society +which calls itself the 'Young Manchus' is inspired by one principle, and +one only, and that is 'death to the reformers.' I don't suppose you +gentlemen follow closely the trend of affairs in China, but you must +have read of the assassinations of prominent men reported occasionally +in the newspapers." + +Furneaux clicked his tongue so loudly that Forbes stopped speaking and +looked at him, thinking, apparently, that the little detective meant to +say something. He did, but it was Theydon whom he addressed. + +"I'd give a week's pay if Winter was here now, and I could see those big +eyes of his bulging out of his head," he cackled. + +Theydon nodded. He understood perfectly. Then he caught Forbes's +inquiring glance, and explained matters. + +"Mr. Furneaux hinted last night at some such development as that which +your present statement conveys, and his colleague, Mr. Winter, pretended +to scout it," he said. + +"Pretended!" shrieked Furneaux, instantly in a rage. + +"That was how it struck me," said Theydon coolly. + +"Didn't I drag the Chinese aspect of the crime out of him with pincers?" +came the indignant demand. + +"Unquestionably. I only remark that your large-sized friend had it +tucked away all the time at the back of his head." + +Furneaux pounded the table so viciously that the cups rattled. + +"Of course, he has a nose to smell joss sticks, and eyes to see an ivory +skull, but didn't he say I was talking nonsense when I spoke about Shang +Ti scowling from a porcelain vase?" he shrilled. + +"Yes. For all that, I don't think he missed the least hint of your +meaning." + +Furneaux gazed at Theydon fixedly. + +"Sorry," he said, with an acid tone that was almost malicious. "I +imagined you were so busy throwing dust in our eyes that you wouldn't +have noticed such fine shades of perception on Winter's part." + +But Theydon was now able to measure this strange little man with some +degree of accuracy; he only smiled. + +"As a thrower of dust I was a most abject failure," he said. + +Furneaux smiled and turned to the millionaire. + +"Pardon the interruption," he said. "Like every artist, I am pained when +my best efforts are scoffed at by heedless mediocrity. You, at least, +will understand what a big thing it was to deduce even the vaguest +outline of the truth from the facts at my command." + +"I certainly do," agreed Forbes. "Until this morning I was convinced +that Mrs. Lester's death removed the one person in England who knew of +my connection with the revolution in China. To revert to the Young +Manchus--they have secured far more victims than the world at large is +aware of. I am sure that they poisoned Arthur Lester, and his wife held +the same view. They aim at nothing less than the extinction of the +democratic cause by the murder of every prominent man connected with it. +But they never yet have been able to obtain a full and authentic list of +the reform leaders. They suspected poor Lester of complicity in the +movement, and killed him. It was through Mrs. Lester that I first became +aware of their existence as an active organization, and I hoped that +when she had returned to England, and was living quietly in London, she +would be lost sight of--ignored, in fact. Nevertheless, both she and I +thought it prudent that our acquaintance should cease until the turmoil +in China had subsided. For that reason I never visited her, nor did I +permit the growth of friendship between her and my wife and daughter--a +friendship which, in happier conditions, would have been natural and +inevitable. But we were woefully mistaken. An Oriental vendetta neither +slackens nor dies. By some means wholly unknown to me, the Young Manchus +must have discovered, or guessed, that in leaving Lester's widow out of +their reckoning they had lost a promising clew. Be that as it may, they +followed her to London, and, by a singular fatality, I was the first to +know of it. Last Monday, while driving home from the city, my car was +held up in Piccadilly for a few seconds. Looking idly out at the passing +crowd, I saw a Chinaman in European clothes. He was waiting to cross the +road, so I was able to scrutinize him carefully, and, owing to a scar on +the left side of his face, recognized him. His name is Wong Li Fu, a +Manchu of the Manchus, a mandarin of almost imperial lineage. Some years +ago he was a young attaché at the Chinese Embassy here. Suddenly, while +on the way to my house, I recollected that certain members of the +Revolutionary Committee had spoken of this very man as being one of the +ablest and most unscrupulous adherents of the Manchu faction in Pekin. +Somehow, his presence in London was disconcerting and menacing. Who more +likely than he, I argued, to be a leading spirit among the Young +Manchus? In any event, London was not big enough to hold both Mrs. +Lester and him, and I decided to visit her that very night, tell her I +had seen Wong Li Fu, and advise her to go away into the country, leaving +no record of her whereabouts. I happened to be taking my daughter to +Daly's Theater, and contrived to slip away on some pretext after the +performance. I found Mrs. Lester alone in her flat, and she fell in with +my views at once, because she, too, had heard of this very man, and the +mere sound of his name terrified her. I was half inclined to urge that +she should go to an hotel for the night, but the lateness of the hour +and the seeming fact that if danger threatened she was safe at least +till the morrow, prevented me." + +Furneaux, sitting on the edge of a chair, his head bent forward, his +piercing black eyes intent as those of a hawk, a hand resting on each +knee, his attitude curiously suggestive of a readiness to spring forward +at any instant, now leaned over and tapped the millionaire decisively on +the shoulder. + +"You couldn't have saved her, Mr. Forbes," he said gravely. "She was +marked down as the first warning. Didn't the letter you received this +morning tell you something of the sort?" + +Agitation gave place to utter astonishment in Forbes's face. + +"In Heaven's name, how do you know anything of any letter?" he cried. + +"I will tell you later. But am I not right?" + +"Yes, you are." + +"Where is it? May I see it?" + +Forbes took a creased and soiled document from a small, flat cardboard +box which he carried in the breast pocket of his coat. But first he +withdrew from the box a little object, and placed it on the table. It +was an ivory skull, and the very presence of such a sinister token +brought some hint of the charnel-house into the cozy and sunlit room. + +Furneaux, a creature oddly constituted either of all nerves or of no +nerves, disregarded the skull. He had eyes only for the few words typed +on a single sheet of note-paper. They ran: + +"James Creighton Forbes: If you are willing to come to terms, announce +the fact by advertisement in Thursday's Times. Address your reply to Y. +M., and sign it 'J. C. F.' Yield, and you will hear further. Refuse, and +no other warning will be given." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE FIRST COUNTER-STROKE + + +Furneaux apparently made up his mind with reference to the contents of a +somewhat enigmatic message after one quick, unerring perusal. + +"The man who wrote that took a great many things for granted," he said. +"He assumed, firstly, that you knew of Mrs. Lester's death and +understood its significance; secondly, that you are aware of the nature +of the 'terms' he will offer; thirdly, that you may hesitate between +compliance and threatened death. 'Y. M.,' of course, can be read as +'Young Manchus.' Even there, the writer exhibits artistic reticence.... +Frankly, Mr. Forbes, I wish you had come straight to Scotland Yard on +Monday evening instead of wasting those precious hours at Daly's +Theater." + +Forbes was moved to energetic protest. + +"How was I to deduce the true nature of these hell hounds' mission from +a casual glance vouchsafed of one who may or may not be their leader?" +he cried. + +"Yet you treated your discovery as serious enough to warrant a prompt +visit to the woman with whom association was dangerous?" + +"Yes; I wanted to act secretly." + +"Just so. You were afraid the police would bungle the job. Between you +and Mr. Theydon, you have exhibited remarkable skill in heading us off +the scent. Fortunately, we were able to dispense with your assistance, +having other matters to occupy our brains. You two were ripe nuts +waiting to be cracked and have the contents extracted at leisure. There +were a few freshly broken shells lying about which invited immediate +attention. For instance, some four months ago, a well-known and +reputable firm of private inquiry agents was instructed from Canton to +secure all possible information about Mrs. Lester and you--yes, you, Mr. +Forbes--your household, friends, methods of living, servants, +tradesmen,--every sort of fact, indeed, which might be useful to a +thoroughgoing and well-organized society of cutthroats like the Young +Manchus. The inquiry agents did their work well, and were handsomely +paid for it. I haven't the least doubt that Wong Li Fu knows what brand +of cigars you favor, and what you eat for breakfast. His informants sent +us a copy of their notes an hour after the murder was announced in the +newspapers. Mr. Lester is 'removed' in Shanghai. His widow comes home. +The inquiry agents receive instructions. They forward their report to +Canton, and Wong Li Fu turns up in London. The program is a tribute to +the excellence and regularity of the mail service between England and +the Far East." + +While the detective was speaking, Forbes's face, already haggard, had +grown desperate. + +"I care little for my own life," he said, "but I shall stop short of no +measures to protect my wife and daughter." + +"I certainly recommend that an armed guard should be on duty day and +night in any house where you may happen to be living at the moment," +replied Furneaux airily. "I really think that if your safety alone were +at stake I would do you a good turn by arresting you on suspicion." + +"On suspicion of what crime?" + +"Of killing Mrs. Lester, to be sure." + +"I regard you as a clever man, Mr. Furneaux, so may I remind you that +this is neither the time nor the place for a display of gross humor?" + +Theydon expected that Furneaux would flare into anger at this +well-deserved rebuke; but, much to his surprise, the detective treated +the matter argumentatively. + +"Personally, I have looked on you from the outset as an innocent man," +he said placidly. "But, just to show how circumstantial evidence may be +twisted into plausible error, let me point out that nearly all the known +facts conspire against you. Have you considered how dexterously a +prosecuting counsel would treat your admission that Mrs. Lester was the +one person in England who knew of your connection with the revolutionary +party in China? And how would you set about convincing a stolid British +jury that you were acting in the interests of law and order in +concealing your visit to No. 17 on the night of the murder? These +fine-drawn speculations, however, are a sheer waste of breath. Suppose +we concoct an advertisement for the Times?" + +"Do you mean that I am to parley with these ruffians?" + +"Of course you are." + +"But the Home Secretary agreed with me that no action should be taken +until the Chinese Legation had considered the matter." + +"And, pray, what can the Legation do?" + +"They have their own sources of information. When all is said and done, +Orientals are best fitted to deal with Orientals." + +Furneaux laughed sarcastically. + +"If I remember rightly, the way in which the Chinese Embassy dealt with +one of your pet reformers some years ago did not win general approval. +No, Mr. Forbes, we must try and circumvent the wily Chinese by other +methods than torture and imprisonment. Of what avail will it be if this +fellow, Wong Li Fu, is laid by the heels? Isn't it more than certain +that he has plenty of determined helpers? Do you imagine that he killed +Mrs. Lester? Not a bit of it. He will be able to produce the clearest +proof that he was miles away from Innesmore Mansions on Monday night. +Now, let's see how we can get him to show his hand a little more openly. +How would this be? 'Y. M.--Terms can be arranged. J. C. F.' The terms +are, of course, that the whole gang be hanged or sent to penal servitude +and deported." + +"One moment," struck in Theydon. "I have something to say before you +decide on any definite action. I need hardly inflict on you, Mr. +Furneaux, an explanation of my silence hitherto. I don't even apologize +for it. Faced by a similar dilemma tomorrow I should probably take the +same line. But, to adopt your own simile, now that Mr. Forbes has come +out of his shell, and admits his presence here on Monday night, my +self-imposed restrictions cease. In the first place, then, Miss Beale +came here this morning--" + +"Excellent! I wondered who the lady was," put in Furneaux. + +"And, secondly, the gray car which pursued me on Monday seems to have +been partly identified later. A car resembling it in every detail +deposited some one at the Chinese Legation in Portland Place, at an hour +which corresponds closely with its presence here." + +"Ah, that is important! I like that! I wasn't far wrong when I sensed +you as an absolute carrier of clew-germs in this affair," cried +Furneaux. + +"The Chinese Embassy!" gasped Forbes. "What car? And why should any car +pursue you? Do you mean that you were followed on leaving my house?" + +It was lamentable to watch the inroad which each successive shock was +making on Forbes's physical resources, but Theydon affected to ignore +the new fright in his eyes, and told him what had happened. Although he +could see that Furneaux was in a fever of impatience to learn the later +news, he thought that Forbes should know the facts in view of the +remarkable statement that he had visited the Chinese Embassy that +morning. + +In one respect, the recital was a test of the millionaire's professed +readiness to deal candidly with the police. Theydon was half inclined to +believe that the other was still wishful to conceal that part of the +day's doings. But he was mistaken. When he had finished his own story, +and given the taxi-man's version of the gray car's appearance in +Portland Place, Forbes threw out his hands in a gesture of despair. + +"If the Embassy people are playing me false I do not know whom to +trust," he said brokenly; "I have just come from there, and they assure +me that if Wong Li Fu and his gang are in London they are absolutely +ignorant of the fact." + +"Pooh!" cried Furneaux, snapping a thumb and forefinger. "Don't worry +about that! Put yourself in the position of the Chinese Ambassador. He +can't even guess who may be the ruler of China from one day to another. +Yesterday it was an old woman, today a dictator, tomorrow the mob; who +can foretell what shape the lava erupted from a volcano will take? Bet +you a new hat, Mr. Forbes, that the minute the embassy heard of Mrs. +Lester's murder they put two and two together and kept a sharp eye on +these mansions and on your house. That gray car is nothing more nor less +than a red herring accidentally drawn across the trail. Some cute +Chinaman said 'Hallo! that murdered woman is the wife of Forbes's agent +in Shanghai. Now, let's see what Forbes is doing, and who visits him, +and perhaps we'll learn something.' Want a bet?" + +Forbes could not help but recover some of his shattered nerve in view of +the detective's airy optimism. Still, he was shaken and dubious. + +"Don't forget that the Chinese Ambassador has no knowledge whatsoever of +my share in the revolution," he said. + +"And don't forget that for ways which are dark and tricks which are vain +the heathen Chinee is peculiar," retorted Furneaux. "How can you be sure +that there is not in the Embassy at this moment a full statement of your +payments into the reformers' funds, as well as the list of conspirators +which our friend Wong Li Fu is in search of?" + +"I think that such a thing is almost impossible." + +"Is there anything really impossible? We used to believe that once a man +was dead he could not be brought to life again. A Frenchman has just +demonstrated that by a judicious application of galvanism to the heart +and salt water to the veins any average corpse can be revived." + +Evidently Furneaux was enjoying himself. He sat there, absorbing new +impressions and irradiating scraps of irrelevant knowledge in a way that +would have been full of significance to Winter had he been present. +Furneaux was never so mercurial, never so ready to jump from one subject +to another, as when his subtle brain was working at high pressure. + +He actually reveled in a crime which lay on the borderland of the exotic +and the grotesque. Like the French philosopher in Poe's "Tales of +Mystery and Imagination," the savant who read his newspaper in a dingy +Paris room, and solved by sheer force of intellect extraordinary +criminal problems which baffled the shrewdest official minds, he felt in +relation to this particular tragedy that he required only to be brought +in touch with certain contingent forces bound up with it--Forbes, for +instance, and, in a minor degree, Theydon--and in due course he would be +able to go forth and find the master wrongdoer. + +Suddenly the millionaire seemed to cast off the cloak of despair which +clogged his energies and impaired his brilliant intellect. He rose to +his feet and involuntarily squared his shoulders. + +"Surely we are wasting valuable hours which should be given to action," +he cried. "I am going to the city and shall arrange for a prolonged +absence from my office. Then I'll hurry home, perfect my defenses, and +defy these murderous curs. My wife must come to London. In a crisis like +this I must have my loved ones under my own personal supervision. I can +still shoot straight and quick, and woe betide any man, white or yellow, +who enters my house unbidden. As for this infernal symbol--!" + +He raised a clenched fist, and would have pounded into fragments the +thin fabric of the ivory skull still lying where he had placed it on the +table had not Furneaux snatched it into safety. + +"No, no!" protested the detective. "I want that for purposes of +comparison. Kindly give me that typed note, too, Mr. Forbes. It may bear +finger-marks. You never can tell. The cardboard box in which it was +posted also. Thank you. Now, a few more questions before you go. How +much money did you provide for the revolutionaries?" + +"Two millions sterling." + +"As a gift or a loan?" + +"If they failed, I lost every farthing, of course. If they succeeded, I +was to recoup myself by financing the new government." + +"But I gather that they have neither failed nor succeeded. China has a +constitution, but the Presidential election was conducted on lines +suspiciously akin to those recently adopted in Mexico." + +"Nevertheless negotiations are now on foot for a big loan." + +"If you died, what would become of the two millions?" + +"They would be lost irretrievably." + +Furneaux sat back in his chair. + +"That gives one furiously to think," he said. "The gray car comes back +into the picture." + +"What do you mean?" + +"I don't know. But I'll tell you what--the man who first spoke of a +Chinese puzzle as a metaphor for something downright bewildering knew +what he was talking about." + +Forbes put a hand to his forehead in an unconscious gesture of +hopelessness. + +"My brain is reeling," he muttered. "To think that in the London of +today we should live in abject terror of a band of Mongolian ruffians! +Why do you remain here, man? You vaunt the prowess of your +department--why are you not scouring every haunt of Chinamen in the East +End? Spread your net widely enough, and you will surely get hold of some +minor scoundrel who will talk for fear or money. Bribe him to the point +where he cannot refuse to speak. Wong Li Fu is the only man I fear. Put +him where he can accomplish no mischief, and the rest of his crew will +be powerless!" + +"When you come to count up the achievements of my friend Winter and +myself--in the face of stupid but none the less disheartening +obstacles--we have not done so badly in two days," said Furneaux +complacently. + +"Can I drive you anywhere? My car is waiting." + +"No, thanks. The truth is, Mr. Forbes, I look on you as a disturbing +influence. A man who can talk as calmly as you about dropping two +millions on a crazy project to introduce Western methods into China is +not fitted for the phlegmatic and judicial atmosphere of Scotland Yard. +If I want any money I'll come to you. If not, and all goes well at No. +11 Fortescue Square, the next time I'll trouble you will be when you are +asked to identify Wong Li Fu, dead or alive." + +Forbes seemed hardly to be aware of Furneaux's words. He went out. +Theydon accompanied him, and, as they descended the stairs together, the +older man said brokenly: + +"It is my wife and daughter for whom I fear. I can hardly control my +senses when I think of these yellow fiends contemplating vengeance on me +through them. Theydon--do you believe in that detective? He is either a +vain fool or a genius. By the way, I forgot to ask him how he found out +that I had received the warning delivered by this morning's post." + +"I'll try and worm an explanation out of him. If he tells me I'll +telephone you later. He is an extraordinary creature, but abnormally +clever at his work, I am sure. For my own part, I feel disposed to trust +him implicitly. I wish you had met his colleague, Chief Inspector +Winter. He is the sort of man whose mere presence inspires confidence." + +Forbes halted on the step of the automobile and glanced at his watch. + +"I shall be home in an hour," he said. "After that I shall not stir out +all day. Telephone me if you have any news. Why not dine with us +tonight?" + +Theydon's eyes sparkled. He was longing to meet Evelyn Forbes once more, +but a wretched doubt diminished the glow of gratification which the +prospect brought. Should he, or should he not, tell the girl's father of +the rather indiscreet admissions she had made during their brief talk +that morning? + +That minor worry, however, was banished suddenly and forever. Furneaux, +taking the three steps which led from entrance hall to pavement with a +flying leap, cannoned right into Forbes, whom he grasped with both +hands, quite as much by way of emphasis as to check the impetus of his +diminutive body. + +"In with you!" he piped. "Tell your chauffeur to obey my orders, no +matter what they are!" + +Action, determination, were as the breath of the millionaire's nostrils. +He aroused himself instantly. + +"You hear, Downs!" he said to the chauffeur. + +Downs was one of those strange beings who have been evolved by the age +of petrol, an automaton compounded, seemingly, of steel springs and +leather. He had long ago lost the art of speech, having cultivated +delicacy of hearing and quickness of sight at the expense of all other +human faculties. The old-time coachman possessed a certain fluent +jargon, which enabled him to chide or encourage his horses and exchange +suitable comments with the drivers of brewers' drays and market carts, +but the modern chauffeur is all an ear for the rhythm of machinery, all +an eye for the nice calculation of the hazards of the road fifty yards +ahead. + +At any rate, Downs mumbled something which resembled "Yes, sir," Forbes +sprang in and slammed the door, Furneaux raced round the front of the +car and perched himself beside Downs, and the heavy automobile was +almost into its normal stride before it had traveled twice its own +length. + +Theydon was left gaping on the pavement. He saw that the car turned +west, and caught a glimpse of Furneaux's outstretched hand with +forefinger pointing like the barrel of a pistol. + +"Fool!" he cried, in bitter self-apostrophe. "Why didn't I jump in after +Forbes? Now I am out of the hunt! I wonder what the deuce Furneaux saw +or heard?" + +That concluding thought sent him back to the flat, two steps at a time. + +"Bates!" he shouted. "Has Mr. Furneaux used the telephone, or did any +one ring up?" + +"No, sir," said Bates, coming hurriedly at that urgent call. "Fust thing +I knew was he was tearin' out, an' runnin' downstairs like mad." + +"O, double-distilled idiot that I am!" growled Theydon again. "Why +didn't I go with them!" + +As though the gods heard his plaint and meant to crush him with their +answer, the telephone bell sounded at his elbow. Mechanically, he lifted +the receiver off its hook, and immediately became aware of Tomlinson's +voice, with some element of flurry and distress in its unctuous accents. + +"That you, Mr. Theydon?" said the butler. + +"Yes." + +"Have you had any news of Mr. Forbes, sir?" + +"Yes. He has just left me." + +"Ah, if only I had known, and had given you a call before ringing up the +city!" + +"What is it? Can I do anything?" + +"It's Miss Evelyn, sir." + +"Yes, what of her?" + +"She's gone, sir." + +Theydon's heart apparently stopped for a second, and then raced madly +into tumultuous action again. + +"Gone! Good Lord, man, what do you mean?" he almost groaned. + +"A telegram came from Mrs. Forbes, at Eastbourne, saying she was ill and +wanted Miss Evelyn. I tried all I knew to persuade Miss Evelyn to wait +until she had spoken to her father, but she wouldn't listen--she just +threw on a hat and a wrap, and took a taxi to Victoria." + +Some membrane or film of tissue which might have served hitherto to shut +off from Frank Theydon's cheery temperament any real knowledge of the +pitfalls which may beset the path of the unwary seemed in that instant +to shrivel as though it had been devoured by flame. + +He knew, how or why he could never tell, that the girl had been drawn +into the plot which had already claimed so many victims and sought so +many more. All doubt vanished. He spoke and acted with the swift +certainty of a man tackling an emergency for which he had prepared +during a long period of training and expectation. + +"Mr. Forbes may arrive at any moment, Tomlinson," he said. "Tell his +office people to let you know if he goes first to the city. When you +hear from or see him, say that I have either accompanied or followed +Miss Evelyn to Eastbourne. If I do not catch the same train I shall take +prompt measures in other respects. Got that?" + +"Yes, sir." + +It was easy to distinguish the relief in Tomlinson's utterance, relief +mingled, doubtless, with astonishment that a comparative stranger should +display such an authoritative and prompt interest in the family affairs. + +"That is all. Write down my message, lest you omit any part of it." + +Theydon rang off. + +"Come!" he said to Bates, who had not retired to his den, but was +listening, discreet yet rabbit-eared, to these queer proceedings. +Followed by the man-servant, he darted into the sitting room and did +several things at once. + +He unlocked a drawer and took from it a considerable sum of money which +he kept there for emergency journeys, also pocketing an automatic +pistol. Pouncing on an A B C time table, he looked up the trains for +Eastbourne. A fast train left Victoria at 1:25 p. m. The hour was now +1:05. + +Meanwhile he was talking. + +"Bates," he said, "I promised Miss Beale, the lady who came here this +morning, that my sister, Mrs. Paxton, would visit her this evening, say +about six. Miss Beale is staying at Smith's Hotel, Jermyn Street. Go to +Mrs. Paxton, and see her, waiting at her house if she happens to be out. +Tell everything you know about Mrs. Lester's death, and ask her to take +care of Miss Beale this evening. She will understand. I'll wire her at +Smith's Hotel before the dinner hour, if possible. If anybody calls +here, I leave it to your discretion and your wife's whether or not they +should be informed of my movements. Mr. Forbes or the police, of course, +must be told everything. Miss Forbes is probably in the 1:25 p. m. train +for Eastbourne, and I am going with her. Do you understand?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I'll wire or 'phone you later." + +Grabbing a straw hat and a bundle of telegraph forms, Theydon vanished, +not even waiting to slam the outer door. Bates, who had seen service, +knew that men in time of stress and danger acted just like the detective +and his own employer. + +"By Jingo!" he muttered, beginning to assemble the empty coffee-cups on +a tray. "Things is wakin' up here, an' no mistake!" + +Theydon was fortunate in finding a taxicab depositing a fare at a +neighboring block. Just before he reached the vehicle a gentleman +hurried out of the building and forestalled him. Theydon dashed up, and +caught the other man by the arm. + +"My need is urgent," he said. "Let, me have this cab." + +The stranger smiled good-humoredly. He was an American and had not the +least objection to being hustled by a Britisher; indeed he rather +appreciated this exhibition of haste as a novel experience. + +"I'm on a hair-trigger myself," he said, pleasantly. "I want to make +Victoria pretty quick. Can I give you a lift?" + +"In with you!" cried Theydon. "Now, cabby, half a sovereign if you get +us to Victoria, Brighton line, in 15 minutes. I'll pay all fines." + +Then they were off, and the Trans-Atlantic cousins were banged against +one another as the cab whirled round in a sharp semicircle. + +"Say!" cried the American, "this reminds one of home. I've been here a +week, an' had a kind of notion that London air was half fog, half dope. +But you're awake all right. Bet you a five spot you're after a girl!" + +"I pay," said Theydon, his eyes glistening. "And such a girl! Her +portrait on the paper wrap of a 50-cent novel would sell it in +millions!" + +"Gee whiz! Is it like that? Go right ahead, Augustus! Never mind me. +Take this old bus all the way to Paris. I'll find the fares and hold +your hat. But kindly shift that gun into your opposite pocket. You've +dug it into my thigh quite often enough. If you want to get first drop +on the other fellow, shove it up your sleeve!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +SHARP WORK + + +The American's easy-going badinage provided the best sort of tonic. +Theydon laughed as he transferred the pistol from one pocket to the +other. + +"My motto is 'Defense, not Defiance,'" he said. "I hope sincerely that I +shall not be called on to shoot, or even threaten any one. Using +firearms, although for self-protection, is a very serious matter in this +country. May I ask your name? Mine's Theydon. I live in those mansions +we have just quitted." + +"And I'm George T. Handyside, 21,097 Park Avenue, Chicago," was the +answer. + +"Is that your telephone number?" + +"No, sir. It's my home address." + +"Well, Mr. Handyside, if ever I come to Chicago, I'll travel along Park +Avenue and give you a call. How many days' journey are you from the +center of the city?" + +"Say, Mr. Theydon, I'm real glad to make your acquaintance. I haven't +been joshed in that way since I left the steamer. This little island of +yours is all right as a beauty spot, but I do wish your people wouldn't +carry such a grouch agin' life generally. Great Scott! It'll do 'em a +heap of good to try a real chesty laugh occasionally." + +"Tell me where I can drop across you in London later in the week, and +I'll see if we can't find a smile somewhere." + +The American scribbled the name of a Strand hotel on a card, which +Theydon disposed in his pocketbook, at the same time producing one of +his own cards. + +"You'll hear from me," he said. "Now, Mr. Handyside, pardon me for the +next few minutes. I have to write telegrams." + +The first was to Forbes, addressed in duplicate to Old Broad Street and +Fortescue Square. It ran: + +"If this message is not qualified by another within a few minutes I am +in the 1:25 train for Eastbourne." + +Then to Winter: + +"Young lady summoned to Eastbourne by telegram stating that her mother +is ill. Suspect the message as bogus and emanating from Y. M. See +Furneaux. He will explain. Am hoping to travel by same train. If +disappointed will wire again immediately.--Theydon." + +He read each slip carefully, to make sure that the phraseology was +clear. The speed at which the cab was traveling rendered his handwriting +somewhat illegible, but he thought he saw a means of circumventing that +difficulty. + +"Which place are you going?" he inquired of his unexpected companion. + +"To a place called Sutton." + +"What time does your train leave?" + +"Guess it's about 1:30." + +"You have five more minutes at your disposal than I have. Will you hand +in these three messages at the telegraph office? I'll read them to you, +in case the counter clerk is doubtful about any of my words." + +"Sure thing, Mr. Theydon. You've interested me. I don't care a row of +beans if I drop out Sutton altogether." + +"I'm greatly obliged, but that is not necessary. You'll have loads of +time. We're in the Park already, and our driver has a clear run to +Victoria. Now, listen!" + +Mr. Handyside did listen, and pricked his ears at the mention of +Scotland Yard. + +"Gosh!" he exclaimed, "this is better'n a life-line movie! For the love +of Millie, let me in by the early door! Now, how's this for a +proposition? You send those telegrams, and I'll fix the cab an' buy the +transportation to Eastbourne for the pair of us. I'm not heeled, but I +may be useful, an' I'll jab any fellow in the solar plexus at call." + +Theydon gazed at this self-avowed knight-errant in surprise. Handyside +was a man of forty, whose dark hair was flecked with gray. He was +quietly dressed, a wide-brimmed high-crowned hat of finely-plaited white +straw providing the solo note of markedly American origin in his attire. +The expression of his well-moulded features was shrewd but pleasing, and +the poise of a spare but sinewy frame gave evidence of active habit and +some considerable degree of physical strength. + +"Pon my honor," said the Englishman. "I'm half inclined to take you at +your word, except in the matter of expenses, which, of course, I must +bear. You see, if my services are called for, and prove effective, I may +need help." + +"Go right ahead," said the other calmly. "Tell me as much or as little +as you like. Where's this place, Eastbourne? On the south coast, I +guess." + +"Yes." + +"I thought it would be. A man on the steamer asked me to come and see +him at Westgate, which is about as far east as you can go in England +without wetting your feet. I'm getting the hang of things here by +degrees. Southport, of course, is away up north, and Northamptonshire in +the midlands." + +Theydon grinned, but the taxi was passing Buckingham Palace, and the +hour was 1:17 p. m. + +"I cannot give you any sort of an explanation now, Mr. Handyside," he +said. "Later in the week, perhaps, I may have a big story for your +private ear. All I can say at the moment is this--I have reason to +believe that a young lady, a daughter of Mr. James Creighton Forbes, a +well-known man in the city of London, is being decoyed to Eastbourne in +the belief that her mother is ill. Now, I may be wholly mistaken. Her +mother may be ill. If that is so, I am making this trip under a +delusion. At any rate, my notion is to try and fall in with Miss Forbes +accidentally, as it were, and watch over her until I am quite sure that +she is with her mother. You follow me?" + +"Seems to me," said the American imperturbably, "it's the most natural +thing in the world that Mr. Theydon should want to show his friend, Mr. +Handyside of Chicago, England's most bracing and attractive seaside +resort, if that's the right way to describe Eastbourne." + +"Both the plan and the description are admirable." + +"The plan sounds all right. As for the description I have been looking +up a selection of posters, and those seven words apply to every +half-mile strip of beach in the island. When it comes to a real +show-down, your poster artists have got our real estate men skinned a +mile. How much did you promise the taxi-man?" + +"Half a sovereign." + +"Two-fifty. Gee! That's the nearest thing to New York I've struck yet. +And the railway tickets--first-class, of course?" + +"Yes." + +The cab stopped. Theydon sprang out and raced to the telegraph office, +where, as he anticipated, there was a slight delay. Handyside awaited +him at the correct barrier, and together they walked down a long +platform, Theydon peering into every carriage, though convinced that +Evelyn Forbes would not travel other than first class. Thus, not being a +detective, but only a very anxious and perplexed young man, he had eyes +only for such ladies as were already seated in the train, and failed to +note the immediate interest his appearance aroused in a man who occupied +a window seat, and who was watching unobtrusively every one who passed. +Oddly enough, after the first wondering glance, this observer was more +closely taken up with Handyside. It was as though he said to himself: + +"Theydon I know, but who in the world is his companion, and why are they +traveling by an Eastbourne express--today of all days?" + +The train was well filled; there were only a few seconds to spare when +Theydon came across Evelyn Forbes in a compartment which held two other +passengers--a lady and a gentleman. + +Recognition was mutual, and Theydon flattered himself that he betrayed +just the right amount of pleasurable astonishment. + +"Miss Forbes!" he cried, raising his hat. "Well, of all the unexpected +meetings! Don't say you are going to Eastbourne!" + +"But I am," she said, and, though she smiled, her eyes were heavy with +unshed tears. She was deeply attached to her mother, and the thought +that the loved one was too ill even to communicate with her by telephone +was distressing beyond measure. + +"Just imagine that!" went on Theydon, determined to rush his fences and +travel with her unless openly forbidden. "I'm taking an American friend +there for the afternoon. May we come in your carriage? Is there room for +two?" + +Now, although Evelyn Forbes had been attracted to Theydon during their +vivacious conversation overnight, she would vastly have preferred the +comparative solitude of a journey with strangers. + +Still, she could hardly refuse such a request, and common sense told her +that a pleasant chat with a man who could talk as well as Theydon +offered a better means of whiling away two and a half hours than +brooding over the nature and extent of her mother's unknown illness. + +"There's plenty of room," she said. + +Without further ado, Theydon entered and Handyside followed. The +compartment held six seats, while a door led to a side corridor running +the length of the coach. The two remaining occupants were worthy Britons +who neither invited nor received any special attention. + +Mr. Handyside was introduced, and promptly said the right thing. + +"I guess I knew what I was doing when I forced Mr. Theydon to take me +out of London today," he said, with a smile which left the girl in no +doubt as to the nature of the implied compliment. + +"But it is hardly an hour since I spoke to my father at Mr. Theydon's +flat," she said. "Were you there, too, Mr. Handyside?" + +"No, in the next block. That was the nearest I got to Mr. Theydon before +we met and took a cab for Victoria." + +Theydon was pleased with his ally. No diplomat, trained during long +years to conceal material facts, could have headed the girl off more +deftly, while every word was literally true. + +"Ah!" she said, glancing meaningly at Theydon, "we are all the sport of +fortune, then. How strange! Of course, Mr. Theydon, you don't know why I +am here. I have had a telegram from my mother, or one sent in her name. +She has been taken ill suddenly." + +"That is bad news," was the sympathetic answer. "If the message has not +come direct from Mrs. Forbes may it not be rather exaggerated in tone? +Some people can never write telegrams. The knowledge that each word +costs a halfpenny weighs on them like a nightmare." + +As he hoped and anticipated, she produced the message itself from her +handbag. + +"This is what it says," she said, and read: "'Mrs. Forbes ill and unable +communicate by telephone. Come at once. Manager Royal Devonshire +Hotel.'" Then she added, with a suspicious break in her voice: "That +sounds serious enough, in all conscience." + +"Is it addressed to you personally?" said Theydon, racking his wits for +some means of lessening the girl's foreboding without tickling the ears +of the other people in the compartment by suggesting that she might have +been brought from her home by some cruel ruse of her father's enemies. + +"Yes." + +"But isn't that somewhat singular in itself? One would imagine that such +a significant message would have been sent to your father." + +"Why?" + +"Well, men are better fitted to withstand these shocks, for one thing. +It was heartless, or, to say the least, thoughtless, to give you such +news with the brutal frankness of a telegram." + +"I cannot understand it at all. Mother wrote this morning telling me +that she was going to Beachy Head this afternoon with a picnic party." + +"I am convinced," said Theydon gravely, "that some one has blundered. It +may be the act of some stupid foreigner. I shall not be content now, +Miss Forbes, until I have gone with you to the Royal Devonshire, and +learnt what the extent of the trouble really is. Then, if Mrs. Forbes +needs your presence, perhaps you will allow me to telephone to your +father, as he will be greatly disturbed when he returns home and learns +the cause of your journey." + +"But I can't think of allowing you two to break up your afternoon on my +account. I'm sure, when we reach Eastbourne, I shall see an array of +golf clubs among your luggage." + +"No," smiled Theydon. "My friend here refuses to play until he has seen +something of the country. He knows that the golfer's vision is bounded +by the nearest bunker." + +Handyside took the cue. + +"That's the exact position, Miss Forbes," he said. "I was warned by the +horrible experience of a friend of mine. He left Newark, N. J., on a +sightseeing tour of Europe, but unfortunately took his clubs with him. +Now, if you ask him what he thought of Westminster Abbey or the Wye +Valley he tells you he hadn't time to look 'em up, but that the fifth +hole at Sandwich is a corker, while the thirteenth at St. Andrews has +been known to restore the faculty of speech to a dumb man. You see, some +poor mute had either to express his feelings or bust." + +Evidently Miss Evelyn Forbes would not be allowed to mope during the run +to Eastbourne. + +As between Theydon and herself, the situation was curiously mixed. On +the one hand, Theydon had now a remarkably close insight into the peril +which threatened Forbes and each member of his family; the girl, on the +other, knew well that her father was bound up in some way with the +tragedy at No. 17 Innesmore Mansions. + +Nevertheless, an open discussion was out of the question, and the two +accepted cheerfully the limitations imposed by circumstances, so that +the strangers in the compartment little suspected what grave issues lay +behind an apparently casual meeting between a pretty girl and two men +that summer's afternoon in the Eastbourne express. + +The American played his part admirably. When not passing some +caustically humorous comment on British ways and manners he was being +even more critical of his fellow-countrymen. + +As he himself put it, he guessed New York society was mighty like London +society with the head cut off, and proved his contention with many wise +saws and modern instances. + +Thus the journey south passed pleasantly enough. When they alighted the +girl reverted to the topic uppermost in her mind. + +"You gentlemen will have to look after your luggage," she said. "I'm +sure you will forgive me if I hurry to the hotel. If you come there, Mr. +Theydon, I'll take care that I see you at once. It is exceedingly kind +of you to bother with my affairs." + +But Theydon had a scheme ready, having foreseen this very difficulty. + +"Mr. Handyside will attend to everything," he said glibly. "Please let +me come with you. I shan't have a moment's peace until assured that Mrs. +Forbes is suffering from little more than a slight indisposition." + +Evelyn looked puzzled, but was willing to agree to anything so long as +she reached her mother quickly. Handyside, too, made matters easy by +lifting his hat and walking off in the direction of the luggage van. + +"Well," she said, "I really don't care what happens if only I lose no +time." + +Suiting the action to the word, she hurried toward the exit, and was +murmuring something that sounded like an apology for her seeming +brusqueness as they passed the ticket collector. Here a momentary +difficulty arose. Theydon had forgotten to ask Handyside for his ticket. +The girl, of course, had her own ticket, but her companion was not +allowed to pass the barrier. He began an explanation to which a busy +official paid no heed. In desperation, he produced a sovereign, and his +card. + +"Here," he said, "you can hold this as a guarantee that my ticket will +be given up. This lady has been called to the bedside of her mother, who +is said to be dangerously ill, and I simply must be allowed to take her +to the Royal Devonshire Hotel." + +Luckily, the railwayman had the wit to see that this earnest-eyed +passenger was speaking the truth. + +"That's all right, sir," he said. "We have to be very particular about +tickets, you know." + +Evelyn Forbes was a few yards in advance, and impatiently awaiting her +escort, when a gentleman approached and spoke to her. + +"Miss Forbes, I believe," he said, raising his hat. + +"Yes," she answered breathlessly, because the man's garb suggested, +before he uttered another syllable, that he was a doctor. He had a +curiously foreign aspect, and spoke with a pronounced lisp. + +"I am assistant to Dr. Sinnett," he said, "and he has sent me to take +you to the hotel. This is his car. Will you come, quick?" + +He pointed to a smart limousine drawn up near the exit, and, in his +eagerness to be polite, almost pushed the girl toward the open door. +Insensibly, she resisted, and turned to explain matters to Theydon, who +had just placated the Cerberus at the gate, and was running alter her. + +"Mr. Theydon--" she began. + +"There ith no time to wathe, I athure you," said Dr. Sinnett's assistant +imperatively. At that instant Theydon came up. His temper was ruffled, +and he did not scrutinize the doctor's appearance as closely as might be +looked for in one who was actually on his guard against foul play. + +"What is it now?" he asked. + +"This gentleman has been sent by Dr. Sinnett to take me to the hotel," +said Evelyn. "Now, Mr. Theydon, perhaps it will be better that you wait +for Mr. Handyside and come on at your leisure." + +"I'm a stiff-necked person," said Theydon, trying to smile +unconcernedly. "I've made up my mind to see you safely to your +destination, and I refuse to leave you on any account. I am sure the +doctor will let me sit beside the chauffeur." + +Then, for the first time, he glanced at the newcomer, and was almost +stupefied to discover that the man, despite his faultless professional +attire, was a Chinaman. Moreover, this Chinaman bore a livid scar down +the left side of his face, and his eyes were set horizontally, a sure +sign of Manchu descent, because all Southern Chinese have the oblique +Mongolian eye. Though prepared for treachery of some kind, the very +simplicity of this scheme almost disconcerted him, and he blurted out +the first words that rose to his lips. + +"Is your name Wong Li Fu?" + +Half unconsciously, a hand dropped to the pocket containing the +revolver. For answer, he was struck a violent blow in the throat and +sent sprawling. The attack was so sudden that he was nearly unprepared +for it--nearly, not quite, because a flicker of baffled spite in the +dark eyes gave him the ghost of a warning. + +It was fortunate that he saved himself by a slight backward flinching, +since he learnt subsequently that his assailant was a master of jiu +jitsu, and that vicious blow was intended to paralyze the nerves which +cluster around the cricoid cartilage. Had he received the punch in its +full force he would at least have been disabled for the remainder of the +day, while there was some chance of the injury proving fatal. + +The Chinaman instantly seized the terrified girl in an irresistible +grip, and was about to thrust her into the automobile when a big, burly +man flung himself into the fray and collared the desperado by neck and +arm. + +"Stop that!" he said authoritatively. "Let go that young lady or I'll +shake the life out of you!" + +By this time Theydon was on his feet again, and rushing to the +assistance of Chief Inspector Winter, who seemed to have miraculously +dropped from the skies at the right moment. The Chinaman, seeing that he +was in imminent danger of capture, released Evelyn, wrenched himself +free by another jiu jitsu trick, swung the girl into Winter's arms, thus +impeding him, and leaped into the car, which made off with a rapidity +that showed how thoroughly the chauffeur was in league with his +principal. + +Naturally, the people coming out from the station, reinforced by the mob +of semi-loafers always in evidence in such localities, gathered in +scores around Evelyn Forbes and her two protectors. Such an +extraordinary scuffle was bound to attract a crowd; few had seen the +commencement of the fray, because nothing could be more usual and +commonplace in a fashionable place like Eastbourne than the sight of a +frock-coated and top-hatted gentleman handing a well-dressed lady into a +motor car. + +The first general intimation of something bizarre and sensational was +provided by Theydon's fall. After that, events traveled rapidly, and the +majority of the onlookers imagined that it was Winter who had knocked +Theydon off his balance, while the rush made by the latter to intercept +Wong Li Fu was actually stopped by a well-intentioned railway porter. + +Worst of all, Theydon was quite unable to speak. He indulged in valiant +pantomime, and Winter fully understood that the Chinaman's escape should +be prevented at all hazards. But the chief inspector accepted the +inevitable. + +The limousine was equipped with a powerful engine, and the only vehicles +available for pursuit were some ancient horse-drawn cabs. He noted the +number on the identification plate, and that was the limit of his +resources for the moment. + +Moreover, Evelyn Forbes, finding herself clutched tightly by a tall, +stout man whom she had never seen before, was rather more indignant than +hurt. + +Disengaging herself from the detective's hands, she looked to Theydon +for an explanation. + +"Has everybody suddenly gone mad?" she said vehemently. "What is the +meaning of this? Did you know who that man was? And why did he try to +force me into the car?" + +Theydon, slowly regaining his breath, stammered brokenly that he would +make things clear in a minute or so. Then he gasped to Winter: + +"That is Wong Li Fu--the man wanted--at No. 17!" + +"We'll get him all right," was the grimly curt answer. "Meanwhile, are +you and Miss Forbes going to the hotel?" + +Hardly less surprising than Winter's appearance on the scene was his +seeming knowledge of the purpose of their journey. + +"We must get out of this," he went on, gazing around wrathfully at the +ring of curious faces. "Here, you!" he cried, singling out a policeman +who was forcing a passage through the crowd, "clear away this mob and +get us a cab!" + +The policeman seemed inclined to resent the masterful directions, but a +word whispered in his ear when he reached Winter acted like magic, and +he soon had the gapers scattered. + +A cab was called, and Evelyn Forbes was already inside when Theydon +remembered the American. He looked around, but could see nothing of him. + +"Where is--Mr. Handyside?" he said, still finding a good deal of +difficulty in articulating his words. + +"Is that the man who came with you from London?" inquired Winter. + +"Yes. He's--an American." + +"Well, he may have been scared, and made a bee-line for the States. He +is not anywhere in sight." + +"O, please, Mr. Theydon, do let us go to the hotel," pleaded Evelyn. She +was pale, and yielding to reaction after the excitement of the fracas. + +Unwillingly, since he was certain now that there was absolutely no +ground for the girl's alarm on her mother's account--at any rate, so far +as illness was concerned--Theydon entered the cab, and Winter followed. + +"The first thing to do," said the chief inspector, when they were en +route, "is to assure this young lady, whom I take to be Miss Forbes, +that she has probably been brought to Eastbourne by a lying telegram, +and that her mother is quite well in health. Secondly, why should Wong +Li Fu be described as the man wanted in the Innesmore Mansions inquiry; +and, thirdly, how does Mr. Handyside come into the picture?" + +"I can't--talk--just yet," wheezed Theydon hoarsely. "In a few +minutes--I'll--tell you everything." + +Evelyn had not realized earlier that her self-appointed champion had +been seriously hurt. She was deeply concerned, and wanted to take him +straight to the nearest doctor. + +But he smiled and essayed to calm her fears by whispering that he would +soon be fully recovered. It was pleasant to know that he had succeeded +in rescuing her from some indefinable though none the less deadly peril, +yet the insistent question in his subconscious mind was not connected +with Evelyn's escape, or the flight of her assailant, or the mysterious +presence of the chief inspector, but with the vanishing of Mr. +Handyside. + +What had become of him? It was the maddest of fantasies to imagine that +he could be bound up in some way with the Young Manchus. Yet why did he +fail to turn up at the station? + +Theydon could not even guess at a plausible explanation. He leaned back +in the cab and closed his eyes. Really, there were times in life when it +would be a relief to faint! + + + + +CHAPTER X + +CAPTURES ON BOTH SIDES + + +Though Theydon was in first-rate athletic trim, that blow on the throat +had nearly stunned him. The effort to rise promptly and bear a hand in +the imminent capture of one whom he regarded as something akin to a +homicidal maniac had imposed a further strain on his resources, and it +was possible that he did actually lose his senses during a couple of +seconds. + +In all likelihood, too, he changed color slightly, because the next +thing he was aware of was the note of alarm in Evelyn's voice when she +cried excitedly: + +"Mr. Theydon is really very ill. I'm sure we ought to try and revive +him." + +At that he reopened his eyes and looked at her whimsically. Nature, in +fact, had put forth a supreme effort; from that moment he recovered +rapidly. + +Winter took a calmly professional view of the younger man's collapse. + +"There's nothing to worry about, Miss Forbes," he assured the agitated +girl. "Our friend has just escaped being knocked insensible, if not +killed. He was hardly prepared for such a vicious attack, I fancy. Most +certainly that scoundrel took me by surprise, or he would not have +slipped through my fingers like an eel. Next time, either Mr. Theydon or +I may be trusted to balance matters." + +Theydon grinned and nodded. He signaled with his eyes that Winter was to +make Evelyn Forbes understand that she had just escaped being the victim +of an extraordinary outrage. Muddled as his thoughts were, he grasped +the essential fact that Scotland Yard was better posted in the secret +history of the Innesmore Mansions crime than he had given the department +credit for before the dramatic meeting with Furneaux that morning. + +And, indeed, the chief inspector lost no time in justifying that belief. + +"You must have imagined that the world had suddenly turned topsy-turvy," +he said, smiling at the mystified and distraught Evelyn, as though the +whirl of events outside the station were part and parcel of the humdrum +routine of life. "When Mr. Theydon regains his speech he will tell us +how he came to suspect that an attempt would be made to kidnap you +today. In my own case, intervention was the outcome of sheer and simple +logical deduction. You see, I represent the Criminal Investigation +Department--or Scotland Yard, as it is familiarly described--and I have +reason to believe that your father is, and has been for some time, the +object of unpleasant attentions by a political society in China, whose +members are nothing more nor less than criminal fanatics. Probably this +is the first you have heard of the matter, Miss Forbes. Your father +would wish, no doubt, to keep any such disquieting knowledge from you +and your mother. But the policy of concealment must cease now. Today's +daring attack is a warning. Other efforts may be forthcoming. If you are +to be protected efficiently the police must have your loyal cooperation. +I admit candidly that I myself, with all my experience, was taken off my +guard a few minutes ago. If Mr. Theydon had not delayed that +Chinaman--whose name he has got hold of from Mr. Forbes, I expect--I +don't think I could have reached you in time." + +"Is that the meaning of the little ivory skull which my father received +at breakfast this morning?" said Evelyn, breathlessly. + +Winter's eyes twinkled. No question could have thrown a more vivid light +into the somber depths of a crime which promised to transcend in +interest and importance any similar occurrence in Great Britain during +the previous decade. + +"Doubtless," he said. "Of course, I have not yet seen Mr. Forbes, but we +have a mine of information here," and he laid a friendly hand on +Theydon's arm. "So far as I am concerned, I have had your house +unobtrusively watched--for the protection of the inmates, I hope you +understand--and I arranged also that anything unusual in the shape of +telegrams or telephonic messages"--here he glanced amusedly at +Theydon--"should be communicated to the Yard. I heard, therefore, of +Mrs. Forbes's sudden illness almost as soon as you did, and traveled +with you to Eastbourne, intending to reach the hotel at the same time as +you, and ascertain whether or not your mother was really ill. I saw you +on the platform at Victoria and guessed your identity. But, in my +profession, we never take anything for granted, so I left that matter +until I could interview the hotel manager. And here we are. I advise you +not to say a word about Mrs. Forbes being ill. If, as I firmly believe, +you find that she is in the best of health, you can explain your sudden +visit by saying that Mr. Theydon and I have something of importance to +communicate, which will be perfectly accurate, as I mean to urge +strongly that we all return to London by the next train." + +The cab stopped. To show that "Richard was himself again" Theydon, +nearest the door, opened it, got out, and helped Evelyn to alight. + +Reassured on his account, the girl smiled, and a wave of color leaped to +her cheeks. Any one happening to watch their arrival would put them down +as ordinary visitors. Evelyn Forbes was just a charming young woman, +plainly but expensively dressed; Theydon an attentive cavalier, and +Winter a prosperous city man, probably with a taste for coursing and +pheasant shooting. + +Subtly observant, indeed, would be the theorist who gathered from their +demeanor that they had just emerged practically unscathed from a +situation rife with the elements of tragedy. + +Nevertheless, Winter kept a sharp eye on Theydon after Evelyn Forbes had +run up the steps of the hotel, and was relieved at seeing that he could +walk without assistance. + +"Keep nothing back," he said under his breath as they followed the girl +with sedater pace. "These women must be frightened into complete +obedience. Did Furneaux get hold of Forbes?" + +Theydon nodded. + +"That's right. Don't talk. I can pretty well guess what took place. But, +look here. Who's Handyside--a mere acquaintance?" + +Another nod. + +"You just contrived to pick him up, and used him as an excuse for coming +to Eastbourne? I see. That removes a troublesome pawn off the +chessboard." + +"But it doesn't," wheezed Theydon. "He ought to be here. Can't make +out--what has become of him." + +"He will turn up--an American, isn't he? I thought so. The indications +were slight but certain--features, walk, figure. You can buy clothes, +but the genuine citizen of God's own country is as distinct a type as a +Highlander--all wool and a yard wide." + +Inside the hotel they came on Evelyn Forbes talking to the manager. She +hailed them at once. + +"Mother has gone to Beachy Head," she cried. "She and her friends are +expected home about six o'clock. Shall we have some tea? There is no use +in following her. She will be starting back before we could get there." + +"Mrs. Forbes is quite well, I hope?" put in Winter, casually. + +"Yes, sir, in the best of health," said the manager, indicating, with a +flourish of both hands, that nothing else was to be expected as to the +condition of any among the numerous patrons of the Royal Devonshire +Hotel. + +Evelyn asked that tea should be served in her mother's sitting room. +When they were screened by the closed door Winter examined Theydon's +throat. Beyond a slight swelling and external soreness, the cricoid +cartilage--known to the multitude as Adam's apple--was seemingly +uninjured, while Theydon himself now made light of the blow, though a +certain hoarseness was perceptible in his voice, and he deemed it +advisable to speak in a low-pitched tone. + +Evelyn Forbes listened with ill-repressed bewilderment while he related +the day's doings. At first, she hardly grasped the significance of the +story, but Winter's occasional questions and comments, and a +parenthetical sentence or two introduced by Theydon for her benefit, +quickly revealed the astounding nature of the plot of which her father +was the chief object. + +At this crisis she displayed a self-control and reticence which were +admirable. She seemed to realize intuitively that any gaps in the +recital could be filled in later, whereas it was all-important that the +detective should be made acquainted as speedily as possible with the +developments brought about by the morning's fuller disclosures. + +As for Winter, he was keenly interested in Furneaux's behavior at the +moment of Forbes's departure from Innesmore Mansions. Glancing at his +watch, he rose when Theydon's revelations came to an end. + +"I'll just go and ring up the Yard," he said. "There may be news. When +Furneaux starts off in full cry it is a wary fox that escapes him. I +only wish you and I had traveled from Victoria in company, Mr. Theydon; +Wong Li Fu would now have been in custody. However, we'll get him. If, +as I imagine, he is making for London in that car, there is even a +chance of intercepting him in the suburbs. I'll see to it." + +Left alone with Evelyn Forbes, Theydon suddenly grew tongue-tied. This +man who could invent all manner of glib conversation for the characters +in his novels now cudgeled his brains vainly for something to say that +would dwell in her memory when they parted. And he knew why a cloud was +thus effectually befogging his wits. He had only seen Evelyn three times +in as many days, had spoken to her but twice, yet was hopelessly and +irrevocably in love with her. + +He, who had so often and so thrillingly described the grand passion of a +man's life, had now fallen a victim to it, only to feel how unutterably +ridiculous and impossible was the wild longing that had sprung up in his +heart. Here, by his side, wistfully sympathetic and friendly in manner, +sat the "one woman in the world," yet he felt awkward and constrained, +and took refuge in a vague expression of anxiety on behalf of Handyside, +a man who at least might be trusted to extricate himself safely from the +labyrinth of Eastbourne! + +The girl, of course, attributed these disjointed remarks to physical +suffering. In reality, he was contrasting her wealth and his own +comparative poverty, and bidding himself fiercely not to be a vain fool! + +"Don't you think you ought to call in a doctor?" she inquired, tenderly. + +"No, no," he hastened to assure her. "The effects of the blow are +passing rapidly. In another hour I shall hardly feel it at all. I'm +afraid, Miss Forbes," he ventured to add, "that when this piratical gang +is broken up, as certainly will be the case now that the English police +are tackling it, you will associate our brief acquaintance with the only +dark days in your existence." + +"Why do you say that?" she demanded. + +"Because I am bound to admit that if I had not dined at your house on +Monday evening, many, if not all, of the amazing events of the past +thirty-six hours could not have happened." + +"I don't agree with you--not one little bit," she protested +emphatically. "Why, the detective-man himself said that the Young +Manchus have been searching ever since the beginning of the year for +proof of Dad's connection with the revolutionaries, and he was candid +enough to tell us that if it hadn't been for you that horrid Wong Li Fu +would have got me into the car. No, Mr. Theydon, our meeting has proved +most fortunate for me. Suppose I had really been captured! Would he have +gagged me and taken me away to some lonely place, where I would be kept +a prisoner, or even killed?" + +Theydon had no desire that her mind should dwell on such a harrowing +topic. He shuddered to think of her fate if ever she fell into the hands +of the miscreants who had not scrupled to murder Mrs. Lester. She +evidently regarded the crime in No. 17 Innesmore Mansions as the sequel +to some political disturbance in far-off Shanghai. It had not occurred +to her that a hapless woman had been done to death merely as a warning +to her father of the fate in store for him and his if he did not yield +to the demand of the reactionary party in China, and deliver over to +their vengeance some hundreds of the leading men in that distressed +country. + +"I doubt whether Wong Li Fu and his associates would have dared to offer +you any real violence," he said. "At the worst, I suppose, they might +have retained you as a hostage." + +"A hostage for what?" + +"For their claim against Mr. Forbes." + +"But what has he done? He has never been in China." + +"He is a power in the financial world. If the reform party cannot borrow +money the movement will collapse. At any rate that is what the Manchus +believe, and they will strain every nerve to effect their purpose." + +"But why did they kill poor Mrs. Lester?" + +Theydon felt that he was getting into deep water. This clear-sighted +girl would soon have the various threads of the enigma in her hands, and +then she could not fail but discover the true meaning of Edith Lester's +death. + +"That phase of the problem has yet to be solved," was his noncommittal +reply. + +Winter rejoined them somewhat hurriedly. He looked puzzled and rather +irritated. + +"Furneaux has made an arrest," he said. "A Chinaman, described as Len +Shi, is lodged in the cells at Bow Street, on a charge of being +concerned in the Innesmore Mansions murder. Furneaux is out, and that is +all they know at the Yard. What I cannot understand is why no inquiry +has been made by telephone or otherwise concerning Miss Forbes's flight +to Eastbourne." + +The words had hardly left his mouth when the bell of a telephone on the +table jangled. The coincidence was so peculiar that Winter laughed. + +"Some other person shares my opinion, I fancy," he said. "May I answer, +Miss Forbes?" + +"Please do," said the girl, and the chief inspector lifted the receiver +from its hook. + +"Trunk call from London; you're through," announced the hotel operator. +After a slight pause, an agitated voice said: "Is that you, Evelyn?" +"Miss Forbes is here," said Winter. "Who is speaking?" + +"Her father," was the reply. + +"Oh, I'm Chief Inspector Winter of Scotland Yard. Your daughter is quite +safe, Mr. Forbes. Mr. Theydon and I accompanied her from London. She +will speak to you in an instant. Would you mind telling me what happened +at one o'clock, when my colleague, Mr. Furneaux, jumped on to your car +and went in pursuit of some one?" + +"First, is Mrs. Forbes there, too?" + +"She is out with a picnic party on Beachy Head. We expect her back +before six o'clock. I propose bringing her and Miss Forbes to London +tonight. They will be safer in your house than in Eastbourne, as you +will probably agree when you hear what a narrow escape your daughter had +this afternoon from being kidnaped by Wong Li Fu." + +"Great Heavens! Evelyn in danger from that scoundrel!" + +"Yes. But all is well, believe me. Owing to Mr. Theydon's promptitude +and pertinacity, Wong Li Fu's scheme was defeated. Your daughter will +make everything clear. Give me the barest summary of events after your +departure from Innesmore Mansions, and I'll get out of the way." + +"We pursued a car which led us a pretty dance nearly as far as St. +Albans. It seems that Mr. Furneaux, looking out of the window of Mr. +Theydon's flat while Theydon and I were going downstairs, saw a Chinaman +watching us from a closed car standing in the cross street at the end of +the garden. He gave chase instantly, but as soon as the man realized +that he had attracted notice he tried to escape. At least, that was Mr. +Furneaux's first impression. Later, he convinced himself that the +supposed spy was little more than a red herring drawn across the trail, +and that the man's real motive was to take me out of London, or waylay +or detain me in some fashion, since it was manifestly impossible that my +presence in the Mansions should be known to any one. I see now, of +course, what the project was. If, as I gather from you, an attempt was +to be made to capture my daughter on arriving at Eastbourne, it was +all-important for the conspirators that I should not know of her absence +from home until after the arrival of the train, so that I could not +communicate with the hotel and take measures to protect her. But that +explanation was hidden from Mr. Furneaux, and the first glimpse of it +vouchsafed to me was when I reached my office and was horrified to learn +that she had gone away without my knowledge. However, in a desperate +matter like this, I must not waste time by describing my agony and +foreboding. As I have said, by some phenomenal method of reasoning +beyond my comprehension, Mr. Furneaux did arrive at a sound conclusion. +I suppose he was alive to the ridiculous aimlessness of the race across +country. My car is powerful and speedy, but the Chinaman had a +thoroughly up-to-date conveyance, too, and drove without paying the +least heed to traffic conditions." + +"There was only one man, then?" + +"Yes. Didn't I make that clear? Perhaps not. But there can hardly be any +doubt that this fellow was alone, and acting as a sort of scout or +vedette. We had the utmost difficulty in following him along Oxford +Street, and I am sure that my chauffeur has been reported by a score of +constables on point duty for exceeding the speed limit and disregarding +signals to halt. To come to the material facts, the chase took us up the +Edgware road. We tore along at a tremendous rate after passing the Welsh +Harp. Overhaul the fellow we could not, until on the outskirts of St. +Albans, when he deliberately slowed up, as though to allow us to pass. +Mr. Furneaux flew at him like a terrier grappling a rat, but the man +made no resistance. He is undoubtedly a Chinaman, though attired in a +chauffeur's livery, and he could handle a car in first-rate style, too. +His pidgin English was difficult to understand, and Mr. Furneaux shared +my view that he did not try to render himself intelligible. We gathered +that he was obeying his master's orders in trying the car, a new one, +before purchase, but Furneaux bundled him off to the nearest police +station, borrowed handcuffs and brought him back to London, leaving the +car in a garage at St. Albans. That is a bald but accurate summary of +the facts. I dropped Mr. Furneaux and his prisoner at Bow Street and was +on the way to my city office, when I suddenly felt faint for want of +food, as I ate hardly any breakfast this morning, and only drank a cup +of coffee in Mr. Theydon's place. So I returned to the Carlton, where I +met a friend, a business associate, who remained for a chat while I had +a meal. This trivial accident prevented me from telephoning to my house, +though, naturally, I had no misgivings as to my daughter's well-being. +Even then I was detained unduly, because my friend and I went to another +office in the city, and two more hours elapsed before I reached my own +place. Then, and not until then, did I hear of Evelyn's journey and its +cause." + +"Thank you, Mr. Forbes," said Winter quietly. "We seem to have made a +forward move today. Before calling Miss Evelyn to the phone I want to +tell you that in disobeying your orders to remain at home she did my +department a good turn. Wong Li Fu and I were brought face to face. He +is not a myth." + +"My word might be regarded as sufficient proof of that fact." + +"Certainly, Mr. Forbes, if given earlier," was the inevitable retort. +"But here is your daughter. She can plead her cause far better than I." + +Evelyn took the woman's way. To defend she attacked. + +"Dad, dear," she complained, "why didn't you give me your confidence? If +I had had the least notion of the dreadful things that were going on I +should certainly have telephoned to Eastbourne before starting. But +don't you see the diabolical cleverness of the scheme? The telegram +arrived just in time to allow me to catch the 1:25 p. m. train, and +rendering it idle to think of making a trunk call if I would obey an +urgent message from my mother. Then again, when I reached Eastbourne, +why should I suspect a foreign-looking gentleman who said Dr. Sinnett +had sent his car to take me to the hotel? There isn't a Dr. Sinnett in +Eastbourne at this date, but how was I to know that? Of course, both you +and I have suffered a good deal, each in a different way, but all is +well that ends well, and I shall have such a lot to tell you when we +meet tonight.... What time? I don't know yet. I'll wire or phone when +mother returns and we settle about the train. Goodby, darling! See you +don't go anywhere alone until I come back." + +For some reason Winter's manner was not so placid as usual. He looked so +obviously perplexed and troubled that Theydon, searching for a cause, +suddenly remembered that the chief inspector was a great smoker. + +"Won't you have a cigar?" he said; "that is, unless Miss Forbes has any +objection?" + +"Me!" cried the girl. "I don't object in the least." + +But the Royal Devonshire Hotel's best Havana did not wholly banish the +frown from Winter's forehead. More than once he glanced at his watch and +consulted a time table. At last he voiced one of his anxieties. + +"What can have become of that American?" he said. "He knew what hotel +you were making for?" + +"Oh, yes," cried the others in chorus. + +They laughed. Quite a cheerful air possessed two members of the little +party, at any rate. + +"Perhaps he has forgotten the name?" went on Evelyn. + +"Americans never forget the names of hotels, or railway stations, or +steamers," said Winter. "The average Englishman can tell you what will +win the Derby, but the average American will be a good deal more +accurate concerning next Saturday's mail steamer.... So, I frankly +confess it--that man's prolonged absence supplies a riddle which I can't +answer. What do you say if we give a look along the front? He may be +shy, though I told the hall porter that any inquirer was to be shown up +at once." + +No; Mr. Handyside was not to be seen on Eastbourne's spacious marine +promenade. A couple of well-dressed men caught sight of Winter, and +decided that they had instant and urgent business elsewhere, But he only +smiled. His quarry that day was not the swell mobsman, but much more +dangerous game. + +Lightning darted from a summer sky when the picnic party returned from +Beachy Head in three cars, but without Mrs. Forbes. + +Evelyn was hardly anxious at first. The hall porter informed her who the +occupants of the cars were, and she watched the lively and chattering +groups forming on the pavement and breaking up again to enter the hotel +and dress for dinner. + +At last, realizing that her mother was not among them, she singled out a +lady whom she knew, and asked for an explanation. The lady, a Mrs. +Montagu, was very much surprised. + +"But, my dear Evelyn," she said, "didn't you yourself send for your +mother?" + +The girl blanched. Some premonition of evil gripped her very heart. + +"What do you mean?" she said, and the other woman could not help noting +the distress in her voice. + +"If you didn't send, who did?" came the immediate response. "We were +just going to have tea when a gentleman, a stranger, came and asked for +Mrs. Forbes. We saw him arrive in a car which halted at the foot of the +path--nearly a quarter of a mile away. Your mother answered, and he said +that you were in Eastbourne, and had sent him to bring you to the hotel. +He said the car belonged to a Doctor Somebody, but he himself looked +like a foreigner." + +A few others had gathered around, attracted by Evelyn Forbes's pallor +and distress; Winter, too, had drawn near, and it was he who said: + +"Did you see this stranger who brought the message?" + +"O yes, plainly," said Mrs. Montagu. + +"Had he a scar down the left side of his face?" + +"Yes." + +Then Evelyn Forbes, for the first time in her vigorous young life, +fainted. Her mother was in the power of Wong Li Fu. All the terrors +which imagination had painted in her own behalf were redoubled as to her +mother's fate. Her brain reeled. Merciful oblivion came. Theydon and +Winter were just able to catch her before she fell like a log. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE REAPPEARANCE OF HANDYSIDE + + +Consternation reigned for a while at the entrance to the Royal +Devonshire. Men craned their necks and women uttered nervous little +shrieks. But Evelyn Forbes was endowed with a vigorous frame and a +splendidly vital spirit, and she recovered her senses before she could +be carried into the vestibule. + +The fact that she had fainted, too, brought to the aid of her waking +senses the innate horror of her race and class for anything approaching +a "scene," and she was almost unnaturally collected in speech and +demeanor within a few seconds after her eyes had reopened. + +"Did I give way like that?" she said, with a valiant smile, first at +Theydon, and then at the ring of faces, each with its varying expression +of curiosity or concern. "How stupid of me! How excessively stupid! That +sort of behavior doesn't help at all--does it?... Thank you, I can walk +quite well.... I'll just go to mother's room and telephone home.... +There has been some silly mistake. By this time it will be rectified, +I'm sure.... Come, Mr. Theydon. Where is Mr. Winter?" + +"Here," said the detective. "I'll follow in a minute or so. Please don't +communicate with London till I arrive." + +His quietly insistent tone was meant rather for Theydon than for the +half-demented girl, who was stumbling anywhere but in the right +direction until Theydon caught her arm and led her to the lift. She +contrived to remain outwardly calm until she reached the seclusion of +the sitting room, when she broke into a flood of tears, while in +disjointed and hysterical words she blamed her own rashness for the fate +which had overtaken her mother. + +If only she had used better judgment when the telegram came--if only she +had hired an automobile and driven straight to Beachy Head--if only she +had done a dozen other things which no one would possibly have dreamed +of doing--she might have safeguarded her darling mother! + +Theydon, meanwhile, was nearly frantic with the indecision of ignorance. +Never had he felt so helpless, so utterly childish and unhinged in the +face of disaster. He had heard that it was good for a woman to be +allowed to cry when overwhelmed with misery. Again, he remembered +reading somewhere that the feminine temperament should not be allowed to +yield to a too-tempestuous grief, or the delicate and finely-balanced +female organism might suffer irreparable injury. Should she be given +water or a stimulant? Should one leave her alone or endeavor to soothe +her? + +Heaven only knew--he didn't--so he did exactly what any devout and +despairing lover might be expected to do--put an arm around her +shoulders, and murmured a frenzied assurance of his willingness to die +several times, and vanquish a horde of Young Manchus in the process, ere +she could be allowed to endure one needless hour of distress on her +mother's account. + +Somehow, this sort of nonsense was helpful. The girl raised her swimming +eyes to his. She placed two appealing hands on his shoulders, and said +brokenly: + +"Mr. Theydon--I am ready to trust you--next to--my own father.... Where +shall we go? What can we do? I'll come with you--anywhere--only--my dear +one must be rescued." + +He believed afterwards that he answered her by a kiss! He was not +certain. The delirium of the moment was such that he could never recall +its words or acts with that precision which a well-regulated mind should +display even under the stress of intense emotion. In any event, the +crisis was interrupted by the clamor of the telephone bell. + +Withdrawing from what was perilously near an embrace--so colorable an +imitation of the real thing that Winter, entering at that instant, could +make no distinction, and was secretly amazed at these strenuous methods +of consoling the lady--Theydon lifted the receiver, and heard as one in +a trance the telephone operator's conventional announcement: + +"Trunk call from Croydon; you're through." + +"Who is it?" demanded the chief inspector gruffly. + +Even he, veteran fighter in the unceasing battle between the law and the +malefactor, was feeling the strain of the Homeric struggle ushered in by +the death of Edith Lester. + +"I don't know yet," Theydon managed to say collectedly. "Some one from +Croydon. Bend close. You'll hear." + +A quiet, drawling voice reached them, the vibrating wire lending its +measured accents a metallic accuracy. + +"That you, Mr. Theydon?" + +"Why, it's Mr. Handyside! Yes, I'm here. Where are you speaking from? +Croydon?" + +"That's so." + +"Well, I don't understand, but I'm sure you'll pardon me. We are in a +deuce of a fix at this end, so, if you'll arrange to call tomorrow--" + +"You've lost Mrs. Forbes, I guess. Is that the lady's name? If it is, +I've kept track of her. I--" + +Theydon was so astounded that he looked at Winter in blank amazement, +the pressure of his fingers on the circuit key relaxed, and the +American's voice trailed abruptly away into silence. He put matters +right at once and heard the continuation of a new sentence, whereupon he +broke in excitedly: + +"One second, Mr. Handyside. Miss Forbes is here. I must tell her your +news!" + +He turned to Evelyn. + +"Hooray!" he almost yelled. "Your mother is all right. She is with Mr. +Handyside. Some sort of miracle has happened. Come and listen." + +Aroused from a stupor of grief as though she had received a galvanic +shock, Evelyn sprang up. Naturally, she had to place an arm on Theydon's +back to permit of her head approaching near enough to the telephone. +Thus, the three heads were almost touching each other; if an artist had +been present he would have obtained a study in facial expressions worthy +of Phil May or Guerrido. + +Handyside, of course, had heard Theydon's gleeful exclamation. He +chuckled pleasantly: + +"Your digest goes a little too far, Mr. Theydon," he said, "but compared +with the newspaper placard facts in your possession, my story is a +full-sized novel. Anyhow, I'll condense it, so here goes. I was back of +the crowd when the circus started outside the Eastbourne depot. As I +ante'd up your ticket and collected your deposit of a sovereign, I saw +what took place, and sized up the result pretty accurately. The +kidnaping proposition had failed, but the guy in the silk hat had got +clear away in a bully good car--how good I know now. It seemed to me +that, next to rescuing that charming young lady, it was important +something should be known about the thug who wanted to carry her off, +and, when my eyes lit on a workmanlike motor bicycle with a side-car rig +standing close to the curb, and well clear of the arena, said I to +myself: 'George T. Handyside, this is where you take a flier, and maybe +Illinois will score one.' The man who owned the outfit was watching the +commotion when I dug him in the ribs. 'Take me after that car,' I said, +'and I'll pay you a shilling a mile with five pounds on account if it's +only a 100 yards.' I pressed a note into his hand--and, say, you +Britishers wake up all right when you see real money! We were doing +thirty per in less than ten seconds. No car on four wheels can lose any +decent motorcycle on a switchback track, and Jackson, the owner of this +one, says it's good enough for sixty on a fair stretch of road. Anyhow, +we held the thug dead easy, but didn't press him any, as I had no call +to butt in, had I?" + +"Mr. Handyside," said Theydon. "I won't waste time now by telling you +how grateful we all are. Get on with the knitting!" + +"Sir, I've had the time of my life--a rip-snorting movie, with George T. +on the film from A to Z ... No! Go away, exchange. I'm renting this line +for the next quarter of an hour. Well, we made a bee-line for Beachy +Head--so Jackson told me--and, when the automobile pulled up, we got +under a hedge and I did a bit of scout work on my feet. I saw Silk Hat +pick out a lady from a bunch of people, who seemed to be taking the view +with sandwiches, and it was simple as falling off a log to follow the +position of affairs--Silk Hat urging lady to come with him, lady +astonished, not able to size up exact bearings of the yarn, but finally +yielding. Now, if Miss Forbes hadn't told us that her mother had written +saying she was going to Beachy Head with a picnic party this afternoon I +would have gotten off at the wrong address, because I could hardly have +failed to believe that Silk Hat was picking up a female accomplice. But, +as things stood, I suspicioned that, failing the daughter, he was +putting up a bunco tale for the mother--a situation new, I believe, in +the realm of romantic fiction. I thought it was up to me to play a +strong hand, so I threw a few facts on the screen for Jackson's benefit, +and he straightway hit the pike in pursuit. Where the country was open +we kept well in the rear, but crept closer in villages and towns. We had +to stop at Tunbridge Wells for petrol, but that didn't cut any ice, +because Jackson knew the country like a book, and we sighted the +automobile within five minutes, though the milestones were pretty +numerous during that run. After that, nothing particularly happened, +except to a hen and a dog, until we came near Croydon--that is, I knew +it was Croydon because Jackson said so, and I have considerable faith in +him. In between whiles, where there was nothing doing, he and I fixed up +an automobile tour. Well, outside Croydon, there's a new road, with a +half-built villa at the near end and a way-back farmhouse at the other +end. That villa was the one thing needed when the thug made a bee-line +for the farm. I jumped out, told Jackson to find something to do to his +machine at the corner of the next block, and hurried into the Alpine +chalet. From a top back room I watched Silk Hat carrying a lady into the +farm. Eh, what's that? Yes, he was carrying her. I guess he'd given her +a dope so as to stop any cry for help. It made me feel pretty mean to be +standing there without taking a hand in the deal, but I forced myself to +believe that another hour or two couldn't make such a heap of difference +to the lady, while it would be better to leave things to the police. I +waited just twenty minutes--I have all the times scheduled--until the +car came back. By hurrying downstairs I was able to look inside as it +passed, and Silk Hat was alone. He took the London road. I strolled +out--didn't dare to hurry, you know, in case any one might be watching +from the farm--and put in some hard thinking while walking to Jackson's +stand. There were two courses open, either to send Jackson after the +auto and try myself to get in touch with you and the police, or put +Jackson on guard near the farm. Whether I decided rightly or not I +haven't a notion, but I let the car go, and for this reason: We know +where the lady is, and so does the thug; if the police put up a hard +game they can rescue her without his knowledge and spread a web for the +fly to walk into later. But they must get a move on. This phone is +nearly a mile from the farm, and Jackson is tightening nuts outside the +villa I spoke of. Now, what's the next item on the program?" + +Winter grabbed the receiver unceremoniously. + +"I am a representative of Scotland Yard, Mr. Handyside," he said. "If +ever you want work come to me, J. L. Winter, and I'll find you some. +Miss Forbes is vexed with me because I have stopped her from thanking +you, but compliments must wait. Will you go as quickly as possible to +the chief police station at Croydon? By the time you get there I'll be +in touch with the inspector in charge, and he will do the rest. You +understand? Goodby!" + +Winter rang off. He smiled blandly at Evelyn. + +"There's no opportunity now for sentiment," he explained. "Our American +friend will appreciate quick action far more than talk." + +Then he tackled the telephone again and asked to be put through to the +Croydon police station. + +"There must be no delay," he added. "This is an official call." + +He was in touch with Croydon in a remarkably short space of time, and +soon was in communication with a police inspector. + +"What's your name?" he demanded. + +"Inspector Wilkins," came the surprised answer. + +"Were you a sergeant at the time of the Surrey Bank robbery?" + +"Yes; but what the--" + +"I am Winter of Scotland Yard. Do you recognize my voice?" + +"Well--er--" + +"Do you remember that nip of old brandy I gave you while we were +freezing in a drafty warehouse at three o'clock in the morning waiting +for the Smasher to come for his plant?" + +"Yes. You're Mr. Winter right enough, sir." + +"Good! I want you to believe what I'm going to tell you, as there is a +big job ahead. A gang of Chinese cutthroats have kidnaped a lady, wife +of the London banker, Mr. James Creighton Forbes. In a few minutes an +American, a Mr. Handyside, will be with you. He will point out the house +near Croydon to which the lady has been taken in a motor car. Collect +half a dozen plain-clothes men and two in uniform and go with Mr. +Handyside--without attracting attention, of course. Surround the house +and arrest any one, especially any Chinaman, who attempts to leave. +Release the lady, and ask Mr. Handyside to escort her to her home, 11 +Fortescue Square, Belgravia. If she is very ill, which is improbable, +she should be taken to a hospital. In that event Mr. Handyside should +telephone Mr. Forbes. Occupy the farm and arrest any one who comes +there, no matter what the pretext, until Mr. Furneaux or I arrive. I'll +be with you in two hours. Tell Mrs. Forbes that her daughter will set +out from Eastbourne by the next train leaving after 6:30. Got all that?" + +"Yes, sir! Are these Chinamen likely to show fight?" + +"Better be prepared. But, after posting your sentries, I advise you and +the uniformed constables to rush the place. By the way, it will save me +some trouble if you phone the Yard and tell them exactly what I have +told you. Ask for Furneaux. If he is not in, instruct them to leave a +written record for him." + +"I'll see to it, sir. Is that all?" + +"Yes. Goodby! Meet you in two hours." + +He whirled round on Theydon. + +"Tell the manager to supply at once the best car to be had in Eastbourne +for love or money," he said. "I want something that is sure to go and go +fast." + +The chief inspector, with full steam up, was energy personified. His +bulging eyes, his firm chin, his round fists, one clenching the +telephone instrument, the other resting on the table, were eloquent of +the man of action. + +His pride had been sore stricken by the escape of Wong Li Fu when that +master scoundrel was actually in his grasp. But those powerful hands of +his were far-reaching, and it would go hard with the jiu jitsu expert +when next they gripped his lithe frame. + +Almost before Theydon had quitted the room Winter snapped--there is no +other word for it--literally snapped a question at Evelyn. + +"What's your telephone number?" + +She told him, and again the Eastbourne exchange was bidden exert itself. + +"That you, Mr. Forbes?" said the chief inspector, after a short wait. + +"Yes." + +"I am Winter, of Scotland Yard. I want to assure you that your wife and +daughter will be under your roof within the next three hours. Mrs. +Forbes will probably be escorted by a gentleman named Handyside, an +American. You owe him all possible thanks, because it is due to his +action alone that Mrs. Forbes will soon be rescued from captivity. Yes, +she was carried off from Beachy Head this afternoon by Wong Li Fu, but, +by the rarest good fortune, this Mr. Handyside, a friend of Mr. +Theydon's, was able to follow on the trail, and steps are now being +taken to free her. Your daughter will speak to you. I intervened merely +to vouch for it that an almost incredible story is true. By the way, let +no one know that Mrs. Forbes is in London. Warn your servants not to +speak of her return. One more word--have you heard anything of +Furneaux?" + +"I have not heard from or seen him since we parted outside Bow Street +police station. But, for Heaven's sake, what is this you tell me about +my wife?" + +"Miss Forbes will give you all the particulars we possess. Be calm and +remain at home. You can best assist us by stopping within call. Mrs. +Forbes and the American should arrive first, possibly before 7:30. If +there is any hitch, which is unlikely, Mr. Handyside will telephone you. +Your daughter will tell you the hour she and Mr. Theydon should reach +Victoria. She will speak to you now. Excuse my abruptness. A lot of +things may happen before I retire for the night, and I have no time to +pick and choose my words." + +Evelyn, able at last to pour out her soul in thanksgiving, nearly broke +down when she heard her father's voice. + +"Oh, Dad," she wailed, "I've passed through a dreadful time since I +spoke to you shortly after five o'clock. I dropped as if I had been shot +when Mrs. Montagu, who was one of the picnic party, told me that a man +of foreign appearance, with a scar on the left side of his face, and who +said he was a doctor, came to Beachy Head and told poor mother that I +had sent for her." + +She went on to relate such facts as were known to her, and was in the +midst of a sensational narrative when Theydon announced that a +high-powered touring car was in readiness. + +"Won't you take us with you?" he said to Winter. "There is no train from +here till 7:30, and in a motor we should be well on the way to London by +that time." + +Winter had anticipated some such request, and a prompt refusal was on +the tip of his tongue, when he recalled that he would pass through +Tunbridge Wells, whence an earlier train might be available. A glance at +the time table showed that a train left Tunbridge Wells at 7:15. + +"Yes," he said. "I'll take you part of the way. Tell your father, Miss +Forbes, that you will arrive at London Bridge at 8:40. If you two reach +London by a different route I think you should be tolerably safe." + +"If any Chinaman shows up between here and Fortescue Square I'll shoot +him at sight," Theydon said, producing an automatic pistol. + +"I wouldn't do that," smiled Winter. "You might bore a hole in some +perfectly innocent Celestial. But you won't be troubled. Wong Li Fu +carries out his own plans, and at present he is congratulating himself +on the possession of a valuable hostage. But, come along! How about a +wrap for you, Miss Forbes? We'll create a breeze, you know." + +She ran into her mother's bedroom and came out with a fur coat and motor +veil, articles which, she had guessed correctly, her mother would not be +wearing for the short run to Beachy Head. The hotel manager lent coats +to the men, and they started, not without hearty congratulations from +several people in the porch, whose fears on Mrs. Forbes's account +Theydon had dissipated when he went out to order the car. + +Winter gave their thoughts a new direction when Theydon inquired what +means the authorities would adopt to rid the country of the pestiferous +gang which carried on its vendetta with such scant respect for the law +and order of Great Britain. + +"Once we have Mr. and Mrs. Forbes and this young lady safely housed in +Fortescue Square, and protected, not only by their own servants but by +the Metropolitan Police, we will devote ourselves to routing out the +whole crew," he announced. "My idea is that when we lay hands on the +ringleader, the rest will be easy. Furneaux's prisoner, Len Shi, may be +got to talk when a Chinese interpreter tackles him. Again, there is +every prospect of an important capture being made in the Croydon house. +Most important of all is the prolonged absence from the yard of +Furneaux. He is busy, or he would have put in an appearance there hours +ago, if only to get to know my whereabouts. That means something. +Furneaux never wastes time. Usually we hunt in couples. Today, by the +fortune of war, we are separated, and perhaps fortunately so. It is all +your fault, Mr. Theydon." + +"Mine?" was the astonished cry. + +"Yes. We had to try all sorts of tricks on you before you would speak. +Just imagine Scotland Yard being compelled to tap the telephone of a +respectable and well-known author before he would own up to such +knowledge as he possessed of the murder in No. 17!" + +So that was how Furneaux had played the necromancer, and was able to +mystify Theydon that morning. + +The chief inspector, by raising the question, was touching on dangerous +ground, as he was well aware, but he was determined now that all +barriers should be thrown down. Evelyn Forbes was no bread-and-butter +miss from whose cognizance the evil things of life must be sedulously +averted. A, woman of spirit and intelligence, who had already run the +dreadful risk of sharing Mrs. Lester's fate, should be made to +understand every phase of the difficulty with which the Criminal +Investigation Department had yet to deal. + +British law and Chinese anarchy would soon grapple in a life and death +conflict, and it was idle folly to suppose that, no matter how reticent +her friends might be, this sharp-witted girl would not find out for +herself the exact nature of the link which bound the fortunes of her own +family with those of the dead woman. + +Theydon tried to pass off the detective's retort with a careless laugh, +but Evelyn reverted to the topic when they were seated in the +London-bound train after Winter had dropped them at Tunbridge Wells +Station. + +"What did the chief inspector mean when he said you refused to help him +at first?" she inquired. "There are gaps in my history of this affair. +How did you come to know that my father was acquainted with Mrs. Lester? +Why did you seem, at one time, to be taking sides with my father against +a public inquiry by the police?" + +Then, seeing there was no help for it, Theydon began at the beginning +and told the girl the full, true and unexpurgated story of events on the +Monday night. Once or twice, when he hinted at the cause of his +otherwise inexplicable actions--which, quite obviously, lay in his +interest in the girl herself, she blushed a little and averted her eyes. +But she listened in silence, and did not speak during many seconds after +he had ceased. + +Then she simply murmured: + +"Poor, dear Dad! How worried he must have been! And how well he +concealed it from me!" + +After another pause, she added: + +"We are deeply in your debt, Mr. Theydon. When this ordeal is ended, and +those horrid men have been put in prison or driven out of the country, +our next difficulty will be to--to thank you adequately for what you +have done." + +_Surgit amari aliquid!_ Even in life's pleasantest hours something +bitter arises. Theydon was in the company of the woman he loved, yet no +word of love could rise to his lips. In the first place he dared not woo +the daughter of a millionaire; in the second were his suit even +possible, he was far too honorable minded to take immediate advantage of +her disturbed state and the services he had undoubtedly rendered, and +give the slightest hint of his passion. + +So he sighed and looked out of the window at a fast-flying vista of a +Kentish hillside, and contented himself by saying: + +"For what little I have done, or attempted to do, I am already rewarded +far beyond my wildest dreams." + +Even that was more than he meant to say. Glancing timidly at Evelyn to +see whether or not she resented his words, he was astounded to find that +she had blushed scarlet, and, in her turn, was absorbed in the +landscape. + +Then he remembered that in the frenzy of the moment following the report +of her mother's capture by Wong Li Fu, he had kissed her. Had he, or had +he not? If not, why not now? But that way lay madness. And, wretched +doubt, was she already the promised bride of another man? It was a +relief when the train stopped at Sevenoaks. + +When it moved on again, they were normal young people once more, and +discussed various features of the Young Manchus' raid on society as +though the extermination of political adversaries were a commonplace +occurrence in modern England. + +At last, after a journey which lived long in their minds, since even a +prosaic train may follow the path to Wonderland, they arrived at London +Bridge, and hummed in a taxi through streets of gaunt warehouses until +the light of Westminster flashed on a Thames veiled in the blue mystery +of a Summer gloaming. + +The cab had hardly halted outside the Fortescue Square mansion when the +door was thrown wide, and Tomlinson appeared, flanked by two stalwart +footmen. The butler's face was aglow with pleasure. + +"It's all right now you've come, Miss Evelyn," he said joyfully. "Mrs. +Forbes arrived more than an hour ago." + +But Tomlinson was in error. He did not know what tribulations loomed +already through the haze of the future, or he would have laid to heart +the time-honored advice to venturesome travelers: + +"Never hallo till you're out of the wood!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +NO SURRENDER + + +Mrs. Forbes, a slim, elegant woman, looked as if she were her daughter's +elder sister. Although driven by hay fever to the seaside regularly at +the beginning of the London season, she was far from being a _malade +imaginaire_. She did not go willingly. Each year she hoped against hope +that the annoying ailment would not make itself felt, yet no sooner was +the month of May well established than for six or seven weeks she had +either to drag her husband and daughter away from the metropolis or live +by herself in some South Coast hotel. + +She had tried Brighton, whence Mr. Forbes could travel to the city, but +soon discovered that the daily train journey was not good for his +health. After that, she insisted on adopting the self-denying ordinance +of leaving Evelyn with her father in the town house from the middle of +May till the end of June, when all three went to the Highlands. + +She, of course, had not the remotest knowledge of the terrors +threatening her household; a thunderbolt out of a Summer sky would have +astonished her less than the indignities she endured when haled away +from Eastbourne in the luxurious car which Wong Li Fu had at his +command. + +Theydon had been in the house nearly half an hour and was exchanging +experiences with Forbes and Handyside--the latter, by virtue of his +extraordinary share in the day's adventures, being admitted to the full +confidence of the others--when Evelyn brought her mother into the +library. + +"Here is some one who positively refuses to retire for the night until +she has met you, Mr. Theydon," said the girl, radiant with joy and +relief, now that the shadow of death had passed, apparently forever, +leaving her dear ones unscathed. + +Mrs. Forbes, an aristocrat to the finger tips, greeted her guest with +marked cordiality. + +"I have been living during the past few hours like one of the characters +one sees in the fearsome little plays produced on the stage of the Grand +Guignol in Paris," she said, gazing at him with frank brown eyes +singularly like her daughter's, "but I have contrived to gather one +definite impression among the whirl of things, and that is that were it +not for Mr. Frank Theydon, my daughter and I would now be in as bad a +predicament as two women could possibly face anywhere." + +"I was lucky enough to be of some little use, but Mr. Handyside is the +lion of today's contest," said Theydon. + +"I am grateful to both of you, how grateful I can never find words to +tell, but Mr. Handyside rivals you in modesty, Mr. Theydon. He assured +me that you were the _deus ex machina_, though he obtained the machine +itself, and rode sixty miles to rescue me from my dragon. By the way, +where is the motor cyclist--what is his name?" + +"Jackson, ma'am," put in Handyside. "He went back to Eastbourne--thought +nothing of it. I fixed him all right. He's coming to London next week. +I've hired him for a trip round the island." + +"In a side-car?" laughed Evelyn. + +"No; I guess we'll run to something more roomy." + +"Jim, dear," said Mrs. Forbes to her husband, "get Mr. Jackson's +address. Our thanks to him, at least, can take a tangible form. No, +Evelyn, I'm not going to bed. I mean to sit up and talk. I want to hear +everything. You men must smoke big strong cigars, please. If I breathe +tobacco smoke I shall not fancy I want to sneeze." + +"I, for one, am simply aching to hear what happened to you," said +Theydon. + +Mrs. Forbes was equally ready to retail her trials. + +"When a man who resembled a tall and well-built Japanese came to me on +the Downs," she said, "I really believed him to be what he said he +was--assistant to an Eastbourne doctor. I never dreamed he was Chinese, +not that it mattered at all where I was concerned, only one becomes +quite accustomed to meeting well-dressed Japanese men in society, but +hardly ever a Chinaman. I thought, too, I remembered his face, which is +quite possible, since my husband tells me that this Wong Li Fu was once +an attaché at the Chinese Embassy. He spoke excellent English, with a +strongly marked lisp; when he said that my daughter wished to see me at +the Royal Devonshire Hotel, and that a Dr. Sinnett had sent a car for my +convenience, I was mainly concerned in getting him to admit the real +cause of his presence, because I naturally assumed that Evelyn had met +with an accident. No sooner had the car started than he seized my +wrists, and gave them a queer twist, which seemed to render me powerless +for a few seconds. 'If you scream or resist I hurt you--so--only very +bad,' he said. I was that astonished I hardly realized what was taking +place before he had my wrists and ankles strapped, tightly, but not +painfully, and had placed a gag in my mouth. 'Now, you keep quiet,' he +said, and showed me a horrible-looking knife, which he put on the seat +between us. 'If you move at all when we pass through towns,' he went on, +'I stick this into you very deep.' Somehow, I knew that he meant to +carry out his threats to the letter. At first I was more angry than hurt +or even alarmed. Then I began to believe that I had fallen into the +clutches of a lunatic, and grew horribly afraid. I saw that we were +following the London road, and it oppressed me like a dreadful sort of +nightmare to be speeding through a familiar district, a countryside +dotted with the houses and estates of personal friends, and be unable to +stir or utter a sound. It seemed to be almost stupid to see policemen in +the streets of Tunbridge Wells, one of whom gazed into our car sharply, +because, I suppose, we were traveling rather fast, and feel that no one +could begin to guess at my predicament. You all appreciate the fact, of +course, that I knew nothing whatever of any quarrel between my husband +and a faction in China?" + +"Your husband adopted the policy of the ostrich, Helena," said Forbes, +grimly. "It may or may not be a fable as regards ostriches--I don't know +enough about them to feel certain, but it is unquestionably too often +true of mankind. I believed my head was hidden and imagined the +remainder of my body was safe in consequence. Now I learn that my +opponents have been tracking me steadily for half a year. The one fact +which stands out clearly above all others during the past forty-eight +hours is the phenomenal range and completeness of Wong Li Fu's plans." + +"I didn't mean my comment as a reproach, dear," and Mrs. Forbes gave him +a look which told plainly that these two were lovers after many years of +wedded happiness. "Thank God, we have all escaped--thus far!" + +"Oh, mother," laughed Evelyn nervously, "you are not anticipating more +horrors, are you?" + +"A few hours ago I would have scoffed at any one who said that a handful +of Chinese could tear aside our cloak of civilized security as though it +were a spider's web," was the serious reply. "But I have interrupted my +own story. I began to think that I would be taken to some awful den in +the East End, and held there till some huge sum of money was paid by way +of ransom, when the car suddenly quitted the main road and bumped over a +rough surface. I knew I was near Croydon--the last place I would have +suspected as a brigands' stronghold. Then we halted, and that wretched +man lifted me out, carried me into a back room of an old-fashioned +house, put me in a fairly comfortable chair, tied me in with ropes, and +left me. I couldn't speak. I was looking at a blank wall and +smoke-stained ceiling. I was sure then that he was after money, and +began to calculate the time which must elapse before my husband would +hear from him and arrange for my release. I wondered how much he would +ask--ten, twenty, fifty thousand pounds. How much would you have paid, +Jim?" + +Mrs. Forbes took her trials so cheerfully that they all laughed. + +"That's hardly a fair question, is it?" she continued, stealing another +glance at her husband. "At any rate, being a banker's wife, I knew how +extraordinarily difficult it would be to raise any considerable sum of +gold at such a late hour, and I resigned myself to remaining a prisoner +all night. Then I think I wept a little, but not for long, because I +felt that they meant to keep me alive, and as I look more delicate than +I really am, even a Chinaman would see that he was taking some risk by +denying me food and all liberty of movement. Then--very soon, it +seemed--I heard an outer door being forced off its hinges and English +voices, and the door of my room was broken open, and I saw a police +inspector and some constables. Hitherto I have never properly +appreciated our policemen. From this day I become their most ardent +admirer and enthusiastic helper. I could have gone down on my knees to +those big, kind-looking men in uniform. In fact I nearly did. When they +released me I could hardly stand. After that, Mr. Handyside came, and +accompanied me here, with a detective sitting next the driver, and my +husband and Evelyn have told me something of the extraordinary things +which have been going on in London while I was gadding about at +Eastbourne." + +"Was the detective a man named Furneaux?" inquired Theydon. + +Mrs. Forbes hesitated, and her husband answered for her, as he alone, +among the members of the household, had met the Jersey man. + +"No," he said. "He belonged to the Croydon force, and was sent as an +escort. Furneaux seems to have been swallowed alive since three o'clock. +Everybody is inquiring for him, and no one appears to know anything +about him." + +"I wonder whether Wong Li Fu is aware I have been liberated?" said Mrs. +Forbes. "It's rather odd, is it not, that nothing has been heard from +him or his gang if I was to be held a prisoner in order to extort +terms?" + +"I fancy he meant to add significance to his demand for a reply by +advertisement in tomorrow's Times," said Forbes. "You see, Helena, he +meant to carry off Evelyn as well as you." + +Mrs. Forbes smiled again at that. + +"What in the world should each of us have thought if we had both been +bound and gagged in that car?" she cried. + +"I know what I think," said her husband emphatically. "You are going +straight to bed now, and you'll take ten grains of bromide before lying +down. Evelyn, I appoint you nurse. Don't leave your mother till she is +sound asleep." + +Mrs. Forbes rose at once. She admitted, though reluctantly, that a +night's rest was necessary to steady her nerves. + +"Ah!" she sighed, "I shall be so glad when all this turmoil is ended, +and we are settled for the season in Sutherland." + +"Sutherland, ma'am," inquired Handyside. "Isn't that in the far north of +Scotland?" + +"Yes." + +"It would be, just as the North Foreland is in Kent." + +Theydon explained his friend's theory of geographical names in the +British Isles, and on that lightly humorous note the ladies disappeared. +When they were gone Forbes quickly gave a sinister turn to their talk. +He produced a letter from his pocket. + +"Listen to this," he said. + +"Y. M. is pleased to inform James Creighton Forbes that Mrs. Forbes is a +prisoner, and will remain, without food or drink and unable to move, in +an empty house until Y. M.'s demands are granted." + +His face was white with fury while he read, and his fingers moved +convulsively as if he could feel them twining around Wong Li Fu's +throat. The other men maintained a sympathetic silence. They understood +why that ghastly message had been withheld from the cognizance of the +lady who had just quitted them. + +"It was delivered by a messenger boy shortly before you arrived, +Theydon," said Forbes, when his passion had subsided and he could trust +his voice again. + +"Have you informed Scotland Yard?" said Theydon. + +"No. I dared not use the telephone. I could not leave my wife. She is +far more shaken than she thinks. Ever since her return she has followed +me if I even walked across the room. It was pitiful. I had to lie to her +when the butler brought this infernal note. She saw it was typed, and +believed my explanation that it was a mere record of an office +cablegram." + +"Give it to me," said Theydon. "Mr. Handyside and I must leave you now. +We'll take it to Scotland Yard. Mr. Winter ought to know of it. In all +likelihood he is arranging to remain in the Croydon house tonight, and, +if Wong Li Fu is telling the truth, which is highly probable, the local +police can watch the place adequately." + +"Yes. You're right, of course. I should have seen that an hour ago, but +my brain is on fire owing to the torture these fiends have devised." + +"Are you quite safe here? It is an absurd question, but I would like to +feel assured on that point. Shall I return, and strengthen your guard?" + +"I'm exceedingly obliged to you, but, in addition to two of my servants, +thoroughly trustworthy men, a detective sergeant and constable have come +from Scotland Yard. They are now having supper. When the household +retires for the night two will remain in this room, with the door open, +and two in the butler's room, which commands the other staircase. +Moreover a constable will patrol this side of the square, and a second +one the back of the premises, until long after daybreak." + +"Tell you what," said Handyside, when he and Theydon were in a taxi, and +had made certain they were not being followed, "tell you what, son, +you've struck a bonanza in this Chinese drama." + +"What do you mean?" said Theydon. + +"Well, I guess you're the curly-haired boy where Miss Evelyn is +concerned." + +"Like most Americans, you jump at conclusions," was the ungracious +reply. + +"And, like most Americans, I'm right nearly all the time," said +Handyside dryly. + +"Surely one can hardly discuss such a matter." + +"Why not? If a proposition sounds hard, chew on it, and may be you'll +get your teeth into it somehow." + +Theydon nearly allowed himself to become angry. Was his hopeless +admiration for Evelyn Forbes so patent that a sharp-eyed stranger could +discern it after a brief hour in their company? + +"Millionaires' daughters marry poor men only in novels and on the +stage," he said bitterly. "In real life, and in England, they take unto +themselves titles and landed estates." + +"I guess Wong Li Fu will have to round you up some more," was the +cryptic answer, and Handyside forthwith plunged airily into some wholly +different topic. + +At Scotland Yard they inquired for Furneaux, and were told he had not +reported at headquarters since the early afternoon. So Theydon was +introduced to another representative of the department, and handed over +the typed note; the detective promised that its purport should be +telephoned to Croydon without delay. + +When the two reached the Embankment again, Theydon felt unaccountably +tired, and was minded to take leave of his companion then and there. But +Handyside placed an unerring finger on the cause of his weariness. + +"Say, Mr. Theydon," he cried, "I don't know what food product +arrangements you've made all day, but I couldn't have eaten less since +breakfast if Wong Li Fu was sitting over me with a pistol. How about a +square meal? Come to my hotel, and I'll start the chef on a nice little +menoo while we're having a wash and a brush up." + +"By Jove! Now I know what is the matter with me," was the astonishing +answer. "I have lunched and dined on a cup of tea at Eastbourne." + +"Guess I'm fifteen years older than you, so I knew my trouble all the +time. Those people in Fortescue Square were so rattled that they never +thought of asking us to eat. Come right along. It's only a step." + +"I'll come with pleasure. I owe you some money, too, which I was nearly +forgetting." + +"What do you owe for?" + +"Railway tickets, and taxis, and motor-cycles, to begin with." + +"No, sir," said the American decisively. "I've had the cheapest day's +amusement I've ever dreamed of. On balance I owe you one sovereign. As +for those half-tickets from Eastbourne I wouldn't sell them for dollars +and cents. When I get back to my home, 21,097 Park Avenue, Chicago, I'll +have those bits of cardboard framed, and when some particular friend +asks the reason I'll tell him, suppressing names of course, and he'll go +away thinking that George T. Handyside is the biggest liar in the State +of Illinois, which is some pumpkin, you bet." + +"What beats me," rejoined Theydon, "is how you remember where you live. +You must have a marvelous head for figures." + +So they dined well, and wined moderately, and Theydon walked to +Innesmore Mansions, thinking of little else in the world except of the +moment when he held Evelyn Forbes in his arms, almost in an embrace, and +he had dared, nearly, if not quite, to kiss her. + +As he drew near Innesmore Mansions, however, he kept his wits about him. +One of the most remarkable features of a series of remarkable crimes was +the thorough command of the resources of civilization exhibited by the +Young Manchus. A few days earlier he would not have dared to introduce +into a story of his own an association composed exclusively of Chinamen +which adapted to its needs the motor car, the messenger boy, perhaps the +telephone and telegraph, to say nothing of the advertising columns of +the daily press. + +It was monstrous to imagine that a number of Orientals--marked men, +every one, no matter what disguises they might adopt--should dare bid +defiance to the forces of the British Constitution in order that they +might wreak vengeance on those more enlightened compatriots who wished +to see their country rescued from the effete control of a puppet +Emperor. + +But Theydon was now some days older and many degrees wiser. He knew that +the wildly improbable had become dogged fact, that Chinese fanaticism, +tigerish in its crafty and utter cold-bloodedness, was setting at naught +not only the ordinances of the law, but the brightest intellects whose +duty it was to make that law respected. + +It behooved him, therefore, to lend a sharp eye to his own safety, and +never a vehicle or pedestrian came near while he traversed the quiet +streets in the neighborhood of Innesmore Mansions that he did not give +the closest attention to cab or wayfarer, as the case might be. + +As it happened, that quarter of London was singularly deserted. The +first flight of people homeward-bound from the theaters was well over; +the later contingent, supping in restaurants, had not begun to arrive. +Save for the slow-moving figure of a policeman the long front of the +mansions themselves was devoid of life. + +Nevertheless, it was with a feeling of relief that he turned the key in +the lock of No. 18, and heard the scraping of a chair on the kitchen +floor as Bates rose to meet him. + +"Hello, Bates!" he cried wearily, "here I am again, you see! Anything +new or interesting during my absence?" + +"Mrs. Paxton--" began the valet, stopping when his master uttered a +sharp exclamation. Theydon had completely forgotten Miss Beale and his +sister. + +"Yes," he said. "Sorry I interrupted you. What of Mrs. Paxton?" + +"I saw her, sir, as you ordered, and she promised to call on Miss Beale. +She kem here about an hour ago--" + +"Who? My sister?" + +"Yes, sir. She was anxious to see you. From what I could gather, sir, +the two ladies had bin puttin' their heads together, and agreed that +this Chinese business has a nasty look, an' you'd better keep out of +it." + +"What Chinese business, Bates?" + +"Well, sir, Miss Beale will 'ave it that Mrs. Lester was killed by a +Chinaman, an' one of the police on duty in this district told me a +little while ago that he saw no less than three Chinamen prowlin' round +here last Monday between dusk and dark." + +Theydon drew a deep breath. If there was gossip going on about +"Chinamen" in connection with the murder in No. 17 the newspapers would +soon be getting hold of it. The arrest of Len Shi by Furneaux must be +reported. Possibly some newspaper correspondent in Eastbourne would hear +of the kidnaping exploit, and describe the Eastern aspect of its chief +actor, Mrs. Forbes's name would "transpire" in the paragraph, and, by +putting two and two together the lynx-eyed journalism of London would +ferret out a good deal of the truth. + +"Ladies very often talk nonsense about such things," he said sharply. +"Why should any Chinaman single out poor Mrs. Lester as a victim? I +think the inquiry may be left safely to Scotland Yard. Have you seen the +evening papers? I'll bet you sixpence nothing was said at the inquest +concerning Chinamen?" + +"No, sir. That's true. However, Mrs. Paxton wants you to ring her up." + +"Why?" + +"She wants to be sure you are safe home." + +Theydon laughed. "How can I?" he cried. "She is not on the telephone." + +"Mrs. Paxton left a number, sir. If you give them a call it will be +taken to her." + +Theydon shook his head good-humoredly but obeyed. A voice at the other +end answered: + +"Will you oblige me by telling Mrs. Paxton that I took an American +friend to Eastbourne this afternoon and returned by a late trains," he +said. + +"Who is it, please?" + +"Mr. Theydon, Mrs. Paxton's brother." + +"O, I have a message for you. Miss Beale is staying with Mrs. Paxton +tonight. There was a Chinaman in her hotel, and she didn't like it." + +Theydon controlled his feelings sufficiently to thank his informant. He +really wanted to say something crude. + +"Gad!" he muttered, when he had rung off, "these women have Chinamen on +the brain. Look here Bates," he added emphatically, "I hope you won't +lend an ear to this nonsense. You've seen no Chinamen, I supposed?" + +"No, sir." + +"If you do see one, tell me, and I'll get to know his business, pretty +quick." + +"Yes, sir." + +"Any letters?" + +"Three, sir, and a small parcel. I put them on your table. Shall I get +you something, sir?" + +"No, thanks. I've just had a huge supper. Goodnight." + +"Goodnight, sir. Any orders for the morning?" + +"Let me sleep as long as I like, unless I'm wanted." + +Theydon entered the sitting room. He opened the letters. Two were of no +moment; the third was a request from the editor of a magazine that the +"copy" of his article on the "Forbes Peace Propaganda" should be +forwarded as speedily as practicable. What a mad world it was, to be +sure! Here was an important periodical waiting impatiently for the views +of the millionaire on the best means of securing peace on earth and good +will to all men, while that same master mind was obsessed with fear of a +few Chinese bandits. Society was looking to Forbes for a promised +panacea against war and its evils; Forbes himself was wondering whether +bolts and locks and armed servants and policemen would protect him and +his from the claws of the Young Manchus! + +Theydon heard Bates locking and bolting the outer door of the flat with +a certain thankfulness. He was thinking of the sheer impossibility of +any marauder gaining access to No. 18, when he opened the small parcel +which the valet had spoken of. He speculated idly as to the nature of +its contents, because he could not remember having ordered any article +which would be contained in so tiny a package. + +He took out a piece of stout paper, folded twice, and a little white +object fell to the table and rolled over several times, finally coming +to rest with a curious suddenness. It was a small, carved, ivory skull! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +SOME NEW MOVES IN THE GAME + + +Theydon gazed dazedly at the skull for the best part of a minute. His +state of mind was that of a man, utterly incredulous, who nevertheless +thinks he sees a ghost. Then he recovered himself and laughed angrily, +harshly, because he had not succeeded better in controlling his nerves. + +He examined the paper. It bore no writing of any kind. It was precisely +similar in color and texture to the two typed slips which Forbes had +received, but the sender had evidently thought that the skull was +symbolical enough of deadly intent without troubling to add a written +threat. + +The ivory skull was an exact replica of its predecessors. The set teeth, +the scowling grin of the gaunt jawbones, the dull menace of the empty +eye sockets, were equally convincing, equally disconcerting. + +Lighting a cigarette, Theydon scrutinized the address and postmarks. In +a sense, it was ludicrous to find "Francis B. Theydon, Esq., 18 +Innesmore Mansions, W. C.," typed in plain script on the wrapper. What +an unholy alliance of modern science and medievalism! The mind almost +refused to focus itself on the tragic aspect of the affair, yet the hour +at which the package was posted, 5:30 p. m. in the West Strand, showed +conclusively that Wong Li Fu, at any rate, had not sent the death's head +by his own hand, but had entrusted it to a confederate. The notion +brought in its train the departure of Miss Beale from her hotel, +"because she had seen a Chinaman there." "Every little helps," mused +Theydon, "I must let Scotland Yard know." + +He went straight to the telephone, and was pleased to hear that Mr. +Winter had reached headquarters. The chief inspector was feeling +grateful, and said so. + +"It was very thoughtful on your part to deal so promptly with the +message received by Mr. Forbes," he said. "I meant remaining in Croydon +all night. No one came to the house, of course. Wong Li Fu's note +explained why. Callous and calculating demon, isn't he?" + +"Yes. Even more calculating than you are aware. He has included me in +the count now. When I reached home ten minutes since, after gormandizing +with Mr. Handyside, I found the totem of the tribe awaiting me." + +"The what?" + +"An ivory skull." + +"You don't say!" and there was a genuine thrill in Winter's voice. +"Anything else?" + +"There was no written legend. I have no doubt the enemy believes that +such a work of art speaks for itself. It does. I am to be exterminated, +I suppose." + +A marked pause ensued. When Winter spoke again his tone was grave. + +"This is a very serious business, Mr. Theydon," he said. "The worst part +of it is that it seems to be spreading in an ever-widening circle. If it +goes much further we'll be obliged to run in every Chinaman in London, +and sift out the decent ones from the heap until we reach the unpleasant +residuum. Are you worried about things? If so, I'll send a man to mount +guard tonight." + +"Not at all, thanks. Bates and I will take care that there isn't even a +joss stick in the flat before we go to bed. But I say, there's another +matter. Have you met Miss Beale?" + +"Yes. She came here this morning. She gave evidence at the inquest, I am +told. What of her?" + +"I asked my sister to spend the evening with her, and she was so alarmed +at finding a Chinaman as a fellow-guest in her hotel that she is +spending the night in my sister's house." + +"A plague on all Chinamen!" cried Winter wrathfully. "After this I'm +dashed if I don't drink Indian tea. However, we'll look him up. Sleep +soundly. Your earlier sins of omission are forgiven you, because you +have done us several good turns today. I'll tell your local police +station that if any pigtail or squint eye is found within half a mile of +Innesmore Mansions tonight it is to be jugged without the slightest +hesitation. Keep the skull safely. Furneaux is collecting them." + +"Have you seen him, then'" + +"No. But I've heard from him. He has gone home suffering from opium +poisoning." + +"Great Scott!" + +"O, that's only pretty Fanny's way. He means that he is sick of the reek +of Chinamen. You know his peculiar views with regard to tobacco. If he +has been prowling around among opium dens in the East End all the +evening, I'm sorry for him. But he'll turn up all right in the morning, +looking like a skinned weasel. By the way, it'll interest you to hear +that we have cleared up one minor issue. You remember that Ann Rogers, +Mrs. Lester's maid, was called away by a telegram saying that her father +was ill?" + +"Yes." + +"The old fellow, who is a bit of a sponge, admits that he was given two +pounds by 'a foreign gentleman' for sending that telegram and shamming +illness during the night. I wish I could put the hoary old rascal in +jail, but his action probably saved Ann Rogers from sharing her +mistress's fate." + +"Mr. Winter, has it struck you that the man who devised this scheme, +beginning with the murder of Mrs. Lester and ending, Heaven alone knows +when or where, is an organizing genius of a very high orders." + +"You would be surprised if you knew the real extent and scope of this +affair," said Winter. "Some day soon I'll be more outspoken. Goodnight. +If you go out in the morning leave word with Bates where you can be +found if wanted." + +Theydon turned from the telephone and found Bates standing beside him. +That stolid and worthy ex-noncommissioned officer was armed with a +red-hot poker. Henceforth his employer saw pretense was useless. + +"Beg pardon, sir," said the valet apologetically. "I couldn't help +overhearin' what you were sayin', an' if there's any blinkin' Chinee +hidden in this place I'll put a mark on him he won't forget in a hurry." + +Theydon could not help laughing, but Bates was in earnest. + +"Once I was stationed in Cork, sir," he said solemnly, "an' we had to +stop a riot. It was then I learnt the reel vally of a red-hot poker. +It's as good as a baynit any time. I've kep' this one handy since Mr. +Furneaux ran out. I do believe he saw a Chinaman." + +"He did, and, what is more, arrested him. Well, come on, Bates. There +are not many hiding places in one of these flats. I only hope we find a +Celestial. It would be the fitting finale to a busy day." + +But their search was in vain, though they succeeded in scaring Mrs. +Bates badly. It was almost inconceivable that two such men, one a +powerfully-built athlete and the other an ex-soldier, should even +imagine that any marauder could be secreted in the flat; but the +European insensibly credits the Oriental with occult powers, and they +took their task quite soberly. + +Singularly enough it led to a discovery bearing directly on the problem +of Mrs. Lester's death. Lending out of the kitchen was a narrow +scullery; here a lift, worked by a wheel on the ground level, delivered +coals by the sack and other heavy parcels. + +Theydon glanced at the sliding panel which gave access to the lift. +Obviously he seldom, if ever, visited this part of his domain. + +"Can that thing be operated only from the ground?" he inquired. + +"O, no, sir," said Bates. "I often pull it up when I want to lower the +dust bin." + +"Can you do it now?" + +Bates looked surprised at first, then thoughtful. Theydon's words had +suggested a new idea. He opened the panel, tugged vigorously at a rope, +and soon the lift itself, a sort of large cupboard, open at the side, +came in view. + +"By gum!" he muttered, gazing at its spacious depths, "I never thought +of that." + +"You see what I'm driving at, then?" + +"Why, of course, sir. A moderate-sized man could stow away inside there +and hoist himself to any floor. It 'ud be perfectly easy an' safe as +nails. A hundredweight of coal is nothing to it." + +"I think we see now at least one method whereby the man who killed Mrs. +Lester could have entered the flat without her knowledge?" + +"Not a doubt about it, sir. Nearly noiseless, too, an' if you heard it +working you'd imagine it was meant for the flat beneath, because there's +a whistle to warn us when it's comin' here." + +They surveyed the lift in silence for a little while. Then Bates caused +it to descend again, and Theydon examined the rather flimsy device which +fastened the panel. + +"I'm not what you might describe as a nervous individual," he said, at +last, "but it wouldn't be fair to your wife and yourself, Bates, if I +didn't tell you I have just received an ugly reminder that the gang +which killed Mrs. Lester has a grudge against me now. Wouldn't it be a +reasonable thing if we drove a couple of screws into that door tonight?" + +Bates stroked his chin. The long-dormant spirit of combat kindled in his +eye. + +"Better still, sir," he grinned, "let's drive a screw into any one who +comes up in the lift." + +"But how?" + +"By tying your pistol firmly to the dresser, putting it on a +hair-trigger--I know how to do that, of course--an' letting it plug a +bullet into the right place when the panel is half open." + +"Are we justified in taking the law into our own hands?" + +"Is any one justified in tryin' to get in here an' cut our throats while +we're asleep, sir?" + +Theydon weighed the pros and cons of this thesis very carefully. He +dreaded the possibility of taking a human life, even in self-defense. +Yet against the wretches who had strangled Edith Lester, and coolly +prepared to leave Mrs. Forbes to starve in an empty house until their +revengeful scheme was perfected by full knowledge of the identity of +every man in China, who had assisted in the downfall of an effete +monarchy, what code of conduct would apply unless it were that which +holds sway in the jungle? + +"Couldn't we contrive matters so that if the pistol were fired it need +not necessarily inflict a fatal wound?" he said. + +"Let's see what we can do, sir," and Bates set to work gleefully on the +arrangements. There was not the slightest difficulty in devising an +efficient means of pressing a trigger with a reduced pull by opening the +door. Any schoolboy could adjust a piece of string to act unfailingly. +By measuring distances, and careful sighting of the pistol when fixed in +position, they arrived at a line of fire which would strike a body +crouched in the lift about the region of the right shoulder. + +Then Bates locked the scullery door, put the key in his pocket, and +assured his trembling wife that she might sleep like a top, since no +bloomin' Chinaman could get at her that night. Theydon himself retired +soon afterwards. He was as tired as though he had been trudging steadily +along country roads since daybreak. + +When he awoke, it was broad daylight. Around the corners of the drawn +blinds in his bedroom he could see strips of golden sunshine. Glancing +at a clock on the mantlepiece he was amazed to find that the hour was +ten o'clock, so, not only had there not been a raid on the premises, but +Bates had taken the overnight instructions literally, and allowed him to +sleep far beyond the usual hour. + +He rose hurriedly, raced to the bathroom and shouted for "breakfast in +fifteen minutes." He was splashing in his tub when the telephone bell +rang, and Bates answered. Within a few seconds the valet was knocking at +the door. + +"A Mr. Handyside has rung up, sir," was the announcement. "I think he's +an American. He wants to know if there is anything doin'. He said you +would understand." + +"Tell him I'm alive, and will call at his hotel at 11:30." + +"Yes, sir." + +When Bates brought in the breakfast Theydon was glancing hurriedly +through the morning papers. Some of them contained an allusion to the +Eastbourne incident, but no names were mentioned. + +A reference to "developments" in connection with the "Innesmore Mansions +Murder," however, caught his eye. Appended to a brief account of the +inquest were the following paragraphs: + +"It may be taken as certain that the police are not altogether at sea as +to the motive of this atrocious crime. Strange as it may seem--the +victim being a young and attractive lady, living unostentatiously and +taking little, if any, part in the social life of London--there is some +probability that Mrs. Lester's death was the outcome of political +revenge rather than an incident in an interrupted burglary. + +"At first, every indication pointed to the act of some ghoul surprised +by the unfortunate lady in her bedroom, but we have reason to believe +that graver issues to the community-at-large will be revealed when +Scotland Yard's inquiry is completed. It must not be forgotten that her +husband died 'suddenly' some six months ago in Shanghai. Oddly enough, +the police are now keeping a close surveillance on Chinese quarters in +London, not only in the neighborhood of the docks, but in the +fashionable West. It may, or may not, be a mere coincidence that a +Chinaman was arrested yesterday at St. Albans and lodged in Bow Street. + +"There are not wanting other similar 'coincidences' in places so far +apart as a well-known South Coast seaside resort and South Croydon. At +present, the whole matter is nebulous, but striking developments may +take place at any hour, and the murder of Mrs. Lester may yet figure as +one of the most sensational crimes of recent years." + +Theydon was reading these discreet but exceedingly well-informed +sentences with much care, when he noticed that Bates had closed the +sitting-room door before beginning to arrange the contents of the tray +on the table. Such an unusual action meant something. + +"Well, what is it now?" he inquired, lifting his eyes to the +manservant's impassive face. + +"When the milkman come this morning, sir, he told me that a policeman +was found lyin' insensible on the road outside the mansions shortly +after three o'clock," was the answer, conveyed in a low note that +suggested a matter better kept from the cognizance of Mrs. Bates. + +"That's a bad job for the policeman; it is nothing very remarkable +otherwise," said Theydon. + +"But the milkman heard he was set about by three swells, young gentlemen +in evening dress, sir, who ran away when another constable appeared." + +"Very likely. There was a row, and the law got the worst of it. Anyhow, +we were not disturbed during the night." + +"No, sir. I was only thinkin' of what might have happened if the police +were not on the job." + +"Look here, Bates"--and Theydon's manner was most emphatic--"if you and +I begin seeing shadows we'll soon collect a fine show of Chinese ghosts. +I'm astonished at you, a man who has been under fire." + +"Sorry, sir. I thought you'd like to hear the lytest, that's all." + +Theydon ate a hearty breakfast, thus proving that the marvels and +portents of the previous day had not begun to undermine his +constitution. Finding he had time, after attending to his +correspondence, to walk to Handyside's hotel in the Strand, he did so. +The American was awaiting him at the end of a long, thin cigar. + +"Any noos?" said the Chicagoan, after a cheerful greeting. + +"Yes. The feud continues. You heard about those ivory skulls yesterday?" + +"Yes, sir. They reminded me of the tales of my youth." + +"Well, I got mine last night. Here it is!" + +"Gee whiz!" + +Handyside took the small object which Theydon produced from a waistcoat +pocket. He examined it with minute care. + +"I've never crossed the Pacific," he said, after apparently satisfying +himself as to the exact nature of the unpleasant token, "but one of my +hobbies is the collection of ivories. In my home--" + +"21,097 Park Avenue," interrupted Theydon. + +"Just so--four doors short of 211th Street. Well, sir, when you blow in +there you'll see a roomful of curios. I'm not exactly a connoisseur, but +I know enough to tell Japanese work from Chinese. This was made by a +Jap. And that reminds me. You said last night that Wong Li Fu put you +off your balance by a jiu jitsu trick and handed that husky detective +some, too. Very few Chinks have ever even heard of jiu jitsu. I've a +notion that a bunch of Japs is mixed up in this business." + +"Surely not?" + +"It's possible. You good people here are crazy in your treatment of the +Japanese. You think they're civilized because they dress in good shape, +and can put up a mighty spry imitation of Western ways. But they ain't. +They're the greatest menace to Europe that has yet come up on the tape. +Do you believe they want China to wake up and organize before they're +ready to take hold? No, sir. Anyhow, that skull was carved by a Japanese +artist, and a bully good one at that." + +The two were standing near the fireplace of a square and spacious foyer. +There were plenty of people in the place, some conversing with friends, +others writing or doing business at the various bureaus. It chanced that +Theydon faced the two swing doors which led to the street, and he was +returning the bit of ivory to his pocket when, somewhat to his surprise, +Furneaux entered. + +The detective saw him, too--of that he was quite certain--but ignored +him completely. After one sharp, comprehensive glance around, as though +he were seeking some one who was not visible, the little man went to a +desk, scribbled a note, handed it in at the inquiry office, walked +swiftly in the direction of an anteroom and restaurant, and disappeared +forthwith. + +Theydon was puzzled by Furneaux's behavior, but was quick to perceive +that if the latter had not wished to be left alone he would at least +have made some sign of recognition. + +A page approached Mr. Handyside. + +"Note for you, sir," he said. + +The American opened the envelope and read a few lines scribbled on a +sheet of note-paper. He passed it to Theydon. + +"The circus is now about to commence," he said, and the meaning of this +enigmatical remark was made clear when Theydon saw what was written. + +"Dear Sir," it ran, "take Mr. Theydon to your room. I'll join you there +immediately.--C. F. Furneaux." + +"If this is the little sleuth who was missing yesterday I guess we've +gotten our call," commented Handyside, with an amused grin at the +expression of bewilderment on his companion's face. + +"I was just about to tell you that Furneaux had come in and crossed the +hall." + +"Well, let's beat it to the third floor. I have the key in my pocket." + +They were walking through a long corridor when Furneaux appeared at the +other end. Beyond the three men, not another person was visible in that +part of the hotel, and in a few seconds they were behind the closed door +of Handyside's room. + +"So you're still on the map?" said the detective, surveying Theydon with +an air of professional interest. + +"Yes, but I have received notice to quit," was the retort. + +"So I hear. The executioner was quick on the heels of the warrant, too. +If it had not been for the precautions Winter took last night the +newsboys would have been bawling a second Innesmore Mansions tragedy +during the past couple of hours." + +Theydon smiled. + +"I'm not joking," snapped Furneaux. "In fact, I feel rather bad about +it. I woke up at eight o'clock, and pictured you and Bates and his wife +lying about in No. 18 in very uncomfortable and ungainly attitudes. I +was so worried and miserable that I telephoned your hall porter to learn +the worst, and was quite astonished when he said that Bates had just +been chatting with him. You don't understand, of course. I forgot to +tell you about the lift. Wong Li Fu's special delegate climbed into No. +17 by that means and three of 'em would have reached you last night in +the same way if a policeman hadn't met them in the street." + +"My man heard about the row. He guessed, too, that it had something to +do with us. The policeman was badly injured, he was told." + +"Yes--nothing broken; he was put to sleep by some confounded Japanese +wrestling trick." + +"Japanese, you say?" + +"Precisely. The Young Manchus are being backed up by a second gang which +calls itself the 'Sons of Nippon.' I don't know what London is coming +to. We've entertained Anarchists, Nihilists and Dynamitards for years. +Now we have the Yellow Peril with us. I wish I were King for a few days. +There would be a bigger clearance of reptiles out of England than St. +Patrick made in Ireland." + +"Mr. Handyside here told me only ten minutes since that he was convinced +there were Japs in league with the Chinese." + +"How did you know?" and Furneaux whirled round on the American +instantly. + +"By using the gray matter at the back of my head," was the reply. "No +Chink ever taught Wong Li Fu how to put away two chesty individuals like +Mr. Theydon and your painter, Mr. Winter. But I couldn't be sure till I +had seen the ivory skull. Then I knew." + +"So did I know yesterday morning," said Furneaux, "and a deuce of a time +the discovery gave me. Anyhow, the street fight outside Innesmore +Mansions at daybreak today settles the matter. There were two Japanese +and one Chinaman. The Japs outed the policeman. Fortunately he and +another man made a five-minute point at each end of the mansions, and, +as No. 1 failed to turn up, No. 2 went to look for him. He saw the end +of the row, and ran to help, blowing his whistle for assistance. +Unfortunately for us, two of the three confounded blackguards escaped." + +"O, you've got one, then?" cried Theydon. + +"Yes, a Jap. The constable was wise enough to give him the point of his +truncheon in the gullet, and that settled him." + +"I wonder if he is the one who would have been shot had he broken into +my flat," said Theydon musingly. + +"Shot! Man alive, you'd never have heard him!" + +"Not till he had a bullet lodged securely in his inside, it is true. +Bates and I surveyed that lift last night, Mr. Furneaux, and regarded it +as the weak part of our defenses, so we arranged that an automatic +pistol should live up to its name, and fire at any one who opened the +sliding panel." + +"Did you now?" said Furneaux admiringly. "Whose brainy idea was +that--yours or Bates's?" + +"A joint effort," he said, with a self-satisfied smile. + +"Well, I'm glad it didn't come off. British law is a fearsome and +wonderful thing. You might both have got ten years for fixing a +man-trap, to wit, a lethal engine. However, during the next few days +you're going to change your abode. Tell Bates and his wife that they +need a holiday, and ought to visit relatives in Yorkshire or North +Wales. Pack what you need for a week, at least, and make straight for +Fortescue Square." + +"Are you joking?" said Theydon, genuinely astounded. + +"Do I look it?" And, indeed, the detective did not. "Winter has just +settled that program with Mr. Forbes. You see, you're in this affair +now, neck and crop, and it's easier for us to safeguard one place than +two. You're pleased, aren't you? Doesn't a pretty girl live there?" + +"Sir," said Handyside, "he's tickled to death, and that's a fact. I'm +the only one to make a kick. I kind of reckoned on being allowed to play +a walking-on part in this drama, but I look like being cut out in the +new shuffle." + +"I can make use of you," said Furneaux promptly. "You've seen Wong Li +Fu, and would know him again?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"And you can tell a Japanese from a Chinaman at sight?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Good. You're enrolled. Next thing you'll be receiving an ivory skull, +too. These beggars are the smartest crowd I've come across in twenty +years. I think they would have beaten us if it hadn't happened that Mr. +Theydon and you, each of you strangers to the Forbes family, were +selected by fate to intervene at psychological moments. The Young +Manchus and their allies had the ground surveyed thoroughly. They even +had us of the Yard marked down. Oh, it's a plot and a half, I can assure +you, and the worst thing is that the real struggle is yet ahead. All +that has happened before is mere skirmishing compared with what's to +come." + +"Is that why you covered up your tracks, even in this hotel, before you +came to my room?" inquired Handyside. + +"It is, and let me tell you that you're a living example of a +contradiction in terms. You use your brains, Mr. Handyside, yet you +smoke a cigar calculated to atrophy the keenest intellect. You, an +American, chewing a vile Burmese Cheroot! _Cre' nom d'un pipe!_ When +this bubble has burst I must reason with you!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +WHEREIN THEYDON SUFFERS FROM FAINT HEART + + +Furneaux, with that phenomenally clear mind of his, had perceived and +expressed in one trenchant sentence the outstanding and almost unique +feature of the tragic mystery which centered around the death of Edith +Lester. Theydon's connection with either international finance or the +rebirth of China was remote as that of the man in the moon. Yet he had +been pitchforked by fate into an active and, indeed, dominating +influence over those phases of both undertakings which were peculiar to +London. + +Theydon mused on this element in an unprecedented situation as he sat in +the taxicab which bore him swiftly to Innesmore Mansions. Another quite +abnormal condition was the ignorance of London with regard to the fierce +struggle now being waged in its midst. + +On the one hand, a few Oriental fanatics--most of whom were probably +less swayed by racial enthusiasm than by good payment for services +rendered--were carrying out the orders of a master criminal with a +sublime indifference to the laws framed by the "foreign devils" whom +they despised; on the other were ranged the three members of the Forbes +family and Theydon himself, supported by the forces of the Crown, it was +true, but singularly isolated from the knowledge and sympathy of their +fellow-citizens. + +Miss Beale hardly counted. The servants in Fortescue Square shared with +Bates and his wife a sort of territorial interest in the fight. When +Fortune picked an occasional warrior for the fray she chose a man from +Chicago, a motorcyclist from Eastbourne, a policeman in Charing Cross +road. + +How portentous had been that hand raised to stem the traffic at a +congested corner on the Monday night! Into what a vortex of crime and +passion had it not pointed, all unknowing! + +If the cab in which Theydon was hurrying home from Daly's Theater had +not been delayed by the dispute between driver and policeman, he would +never have known that the millionaire visited Innesmore Mansions, and +the subsequent course of the night's history might have left him wholly +unaffected. + +Then his wayward thoughts took to brooding on the gray car which +shadowed him from Waterloo to Fortescue Square, and again from the +square to his own abode. If it held some member of the Embassy staff, +why had no more been heard of it? And what had Winter and Furneaux meant +by hinting that far wider issues were bound up with the affair than the +authorities were yet at liberty to divulge? The attack on Forbes, +sinister and malevolent in its scope and purpose, was, in a sense, open +warfare. But it was impossible to guess what part, if any, the official +representatives of China filled in the fray. Were they active allies of +Scotland Yard or did they hold what is known in the law courts as a +watching brief? He could not tell. He only knew that each successive +period of twenty-four hours broadened the area covered by the struggle, +and there, at least, he found solid backing for the little detective's +demand that the threatened people should dwell under one roof. His +pulses quickened at the notice that this new departure implied constant +association with Evelyn Forbes. Yet, what did it avail? Why should he +dream of fanning into a fiercer fury the flame of his love? As matters +stood, he had about as much chance of marrying Evelyn Forbes as of +becoming Emperor of China! + +The incongruity of the situation was illustrated with cruel accuracy by +the fact that he could ill afford the stoppage of his work demanded by +the present trend of events. He earned what might be regarded as a good +income by his pen, but his expenses were not light, and he had deemed +himself fortunate the previous year when he was able to invest a hundred +pounds! + +As a matter of fact, the interest on his "securities" paid for his +gloves and ties; another lucky year might see him provided for life with +boots and socks! He pictured himself--if he were idiot enough, when all +this turmoil was ended, to pose as a suitor for Evelyn Forbes's +hand--explaining his financial position to the millionaire, and wilting +under the scornful amusement in those earnest, deep-seeing eyes. Phew! +He grew hot at the mere notion of such folly. + +Little wonder, therefore, that the driver of the taxi should gaze +quizzically after Theydon's alert figure as it vanished in the stairway +of Innesmore Mansions. + +"Got the hump, an' pretty bad," soliloquized the man. "Gimme a bob over +the fare, an' all, so can't be stony. But Lord love a duck, you never +can tell!" + +Theydon was about to unlock the door of his flat when it opened in his +face, and his sister nearly collided with him. She screamed slightly, a +certain quality of alarm in her exclamation merging instantly into +joyful recognition. + +"So you have come home!" she cried. "My goodness! What a fright you've +given me!" + +"Why?" he said, with a reassuring and brotherly hug. + +"I've had horrid dreams. I couldn't rest all last night for thinking of +you." + +"Is George absent?" George was her husband, a consulting engineer, whose +professional duties often took him to distant parts of the country. + +"Yes." + +"Then you and Miss Beale have been living on tea and scraps. Really, +Mollie, I credited you with more sense. Tell me what you ate last night, +and I'll diagnose your dreams." + +"We dined at a first-class restaurant in the West End," said Mrs. Paxton +indignantly. "It would be much more to the point if you explained how +you have been living the past few days. I have not been so worried about +anything since George was trapped in that horrid mine." + +Mollie was on the verge of tears. Her brother resolved instantly to +minimize matters, or she would fret more than ever on his account. + +"Now, look here, old girl," he said, meeting her critical glance +steadily. "Miss Beale has been putting absurd notions into that stylish +little head of yours. By the way, is that the latest thing in hats? It +suits you admirably." + +Mrs. Paxton smiled, though her eyes were glistening suspiciously. + +"You can't humbug me, Frank, so please don't try," she protested. "Why +are you mixed up in this dreadful business? Why are you constantly +meeting detectives? Why did you rush off to Eastbourne yesterday? When +did you become acquainted with this Mr. Forbes? Have you seen his +daughter?" + +Theydon was at least sufficiently well versed in the peculiarities of +the feminine temperament to know that he would, be safe in answering the +last question first. + +"Yes," he said. "I have seen a good deal of Miss Forbes recently. Have +you ever met her?" + +"She was at the horse show last year with Lady de Winton's party. She's +an awfully pretty girl, and will be worth millions, I suppose. Some one +said that young de Winton was simply crazy about her, but he looks such +a sloppy youth that I could hardly imagine those two getting married. Of +course, there's the title, yet a title is not everything." + +Young de Winton! Theydon had not even been aware hitherto of the +existence of a marriageable scion of that noble house. + +"That particular young spark has not been in evidence during the past +few days at any rate," he commented, and his voice was not so nonchalant +as he imagined, because Mrs. Paxton looked up quickly. + +"Perhaps it was only idle gossip," she said. "Is Miss Forbes a nice girl +to talk to? She struck me as being very animated." + +"Animated"--while in the company of that undoubted oaf, de Winton! +Theydon choked back something tinged with gall as he replied quietly: + +"She could not well help being highly intelligent. Her father and mother +are charming people. I was introduced to Mr. Forbes owing to a magazine +commission to write an article about his interest in aviation. Now you +see how promptly even the most gorgeous bubble bursts when it impinges +against a solid little fact. As it happens, Mr. Forbes and I will have +so much in common during the next day or two that I am now going to stay +with him. I came here to pack a portmanteau. If you'll be a good little +girl and listen while I'm at the telephone you will hear all about it." + +The words were no sooner uttered than he wanted to recall them. It would +be no easy matter to discuss Furneaux's suggestion with any one in +Fortescue Square without letting his sister into the secret that the +visit was necessitated by considerations of his own personal safety. + +Mrs. Paxton's eyes were sparkling with a new interest. + +"I had no idea you were on terms of such intimacy with the family," she +cried. "Don't tell me, Frank, that your flights have taken you to the +elevated region in which millionaires' daughters figure as possible +brides!" + +"Now you are making me out a Mormon," and Theydon grinned fiercely. + +"You know what I mean. This Miss Forbes--by the way, what is her +Christian name?" + +"Let me see. I think I have heard it. Doris, is it, or Phyllis? No, I +remember now--Evelyn." + +"O, then, if you are so vague on that point I suppose I must reconcile +myself to owning a bachelor brother again." + +He shook his head at her. + +"Ah, you women!" he said. "Yet I used to regard you as quite a sensible +person, Mollie! Now, how in the name of goodness could I possibly +entertain any notion of marrying the only daughter of a man in Forbes's +position?" + +"It all depends," was the illogical but crushing retort. "There are +plenty of millionaires' daughters whom I would not regard as good enough +for my brother. And, let me tell you, the family is making progress. A +little bird whispered the other day that George's name will appear in +the next list of honors. He is to receive a knighthood." + +It was not new to Theydon to learn that his brother-in-law stood in high +favor with the Government, because Paxton had been appointed on two +Royal Commissions with reference to mining regulations, but he affected +a surprised incredulity as offering a way of escape from an inquisition +which he dreaded. + +"Dear me!" he smirked. + +Therein he erred. His sister gave him a puzzled glance. + +"You are not yourself today, Frank," she said dubiously. "You are +acting. For whose benefit? Not mine, surely!" + +"If your prospective ladyship will pardon me I will now go to the +telephone," he countered. + +Anything, even a mad jumble of incoherence in his talk with the Forbes +household, was better than the troubled scrutiny of those clear brown +eyes. Leaving the door open so that his sister could hear his side of +the conversation, he rang up No. 11 Fortescue Square. + +The butler answered. + +"That you, Tomlinson?" said Theydon. "Will you ask Mr. Forbes if I am to +turn up in time for afternoon tea? If it is more convenient that I +should arrive later I have lots of things to attend to, and can fill in +a few hours easily." + +"I really don't know what to say, sir," came the astounding answer. +"Mrs. Forbes has been shot--" + +"Great heavens!" + +"Yes, sir. She was merely looking out through the drawing-room window, +when some one fired at her from a passing motor car." + +"Do you mean that she is dead?" + +"No, sir--not quite so bad as that. The bullet struck her left shoulder. +A few inches lower and it would have pierced her heart. The doctors are +with her now. I--" + +Some interruption took place on the line and the butler's voice ceased. +Theydon, careless now as to what construction his sister might place on +his words, was about to storm at the exchange for cutting the +communication. He meant to say that on no consideration would he inflict +the presence of a stranger at such a terrible moment, when a coldly +metallic, almost harsh question reached him. + +"That you, Theydon?" + +"Yes," he said. Forbes was speaking. + +"I was crossing the hall, and guessed it might be you. Come as soon as +you are at liberty. You will be welcome. If we are to be besieged I want +some one who will not be afraid to shoot. These policemen are too +scrupulous. They saw some cursed Mongol leaning out through the window +of the closed car, and could have either shot him or put a bullet so +close that his aim would have been disturbed. As it was, my wife only +escaped death by the mercy of Providence. She bent slightly at the very +instant the would-be assassin fired, and the bullet simply lacerated her +shoulder. After this, I'll defend myself and my womenfolk, but I need at +least one other man whom I can trust. Will you come?" + +"I'll be with you within twenty minutes." + +He heard the clang of the receiver being replaced on its rest at the +other end of the wire. Somehow, the sound conveyed a new determination +on Forbes's part. He had his back to the wall. No matter what view the +law took of his action subsequently, he would protect his dear ones at +all hazards. + +After that, Theydon hesitated no longer. + +"Bates," he cried, "throw into a bag such clothes as I shall need for a +few days' stay in Mr. Forbes's house. When I am gone, pack your own +boxes and take a week's holiday. Go anywhere you like, out of London, +but go at once. Send me your address, care of Mr. Forbes, and I'll let +you know when I want you again." + +"If it's a matter of holdin' out against them--" + +Bates intended making a declaration of war, but his employer broke in +emphatically. + +"I want you to obey my orders fully and unquestionably," he said. Bates +promptly became the well-trained valet once more. + +"Yes, sir," he said. "Your portmanteau will be ready in ten minutes. +Half an hour later me an' Mrs. Bates will leave for my cousin's place in +Hampshire." + +Theydon returned to the sitting room. His sister's face was white with +fear, but he threw restraint to the winds. + +"Mollie," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders, "you are very +dear to me, but there is one woman in the world who, if fate proves +kind, may yet be dearer. She is in danger. If some one said that of you +to your husband, what would he do?" + +She kissed him with tremulous lips. "He would act just as you are going +to act," she said. "But, dear, can't you trust me? I cannot help, +perhaps, but I can pray for you." + +"Well, then, Sis, I won't fence with you any longer. There's a sort of +feud between Mr. Forbes and a faction in China. He helped the reformers +financially, and some supporters of the dethroned dynasty are trying to +compel him by force to give them a list of the prominent men who control +the revolution. If he yields, it means that nearly a hundred leading men +in China--men whose only thought is the welfare and progress of their +country--will be ruthlessly murdered. If he continues to refuse, his own +life and the lives of his wife and daughter are at stake. These fiends +killed Mrs. Lester within a few feet of this very room. They killed her +husband six months ago. They tried to kidnap Evelyn Forbes yesterday, +and succeeded, for a while, in carrying off her mother, their plan being +to torture one or both, even unto death. Heaven help me, I love Evelyn +Forbes, and I would count my life well spent if I died in defending her. +Should anything happen to me and she is spared, tell her that, will +you--and my spirit will thank you." + +"We must not think of death, but of life," was the brave answer. "Can I +do anything? Could George assist if he were here?" + +"No, Mollie. Perhaps I am exaggerating matters, though the history of +this week would make strange reading if published broadcast. Indeed I +shall now urge on Mr. Forbes the advisability of sending the facts to +the press. London would be stirred to its depths, and every one of its +citizens would be quick to observe and report the presence of Chinamen +or Japanese in the West End. Some innocent Orientals would suffer, but +the police might at least be enabled to capture the pestiferous gang +which has committed this latest outrage. Just think of some cold-blooded +scoundrel shooting at a sweet-mannered and gentle lady like Mrs. +Forbes!" + +"Surely the authorities can protect her." + +"That is the wild absurdity of the position. Of course, you didn't hear +what Mr. Forbes said. The armed detectives on duty in his house actually +saw the Chinaman who fired the shot which wounded her, leaning out +through the window of a closed car. But they cannot blaze away at any +passer-by merely because he is, or resembles, an Asiatic. What they dare +not do, however, he and I will endeavor cheerfully. Bates!" + +"Yes, sir," came the cry from a bedroom. + +"If you are packing two bags, put that pistol and a box of cartridges in +the smaller one." + +"Yes, sir." + +Mrs. Paxton at this crisis proved herself a woman of spirit. + +"I think you're right, Frank," she said quietly. "I refuse to believe +that any British court of justice would blame any man for defending the +lives of his wife and daughter, nor you for helping him. If the +peacefully disposed Chinese residents in London wish to avoid risk let +them keep away from No. 11. Fortescue Square. May I come with you?" + +"You, Mollie?" + +He looked at her with troubled eyes. For the moment such was the fire in +his brain he did not understand. + +She laughed gallantly. + +"I don't mean as one of the garrison," she said. "May I not make the +acquaintance of these people? Sometimes, the mere knowledge that others +are aware of one's troubles and sympathize with one is comforting. Miss +Beale is not expecting me till tea time. I told her I might lunch with +you. Indeed, I promised to call at her hotel for her letters, and that +is halfway on your road." + +"You're a brick, Mollie," said her brother. "I do believe Evelyn Forbes +will be glad to see you. The most amazing thing about this affair is +that none of the many friends Mr. and Mrs. Forbes and their daughter +must possess in London has the slightest inkling of the truth. I suppose +the servants are instructed to tell ordinary callers that the various +members of the family are out, or some of them indisposed, or something +of the sort.... But come along! I hear Bates banging my belongings into +the passage. I'm in a fever to be there and taking part in the row." + +Soon they were seated in a taxi and speeding to Smith's Hotel, Jermyn +Street. + +"Have you invited Miss Beale to reside with you while she is in London, +Sis?" said Theydon, allowing his thoughts to dwell for a moment on the +less tragic side of events. + +"Yes. What else could I do? Poor thing, she was terrified at the notion +of sleeping under the same roof as a Chinaman." + +"I don't blame her. But there's a certain element of risk for you, +Mollie--" + +"Oh, bother! Don't tell me that a few Chinamen can threaten all London." + +Yet even the valiant-hearted Mrs. Paxton yielded to the haunting terror +of the bandits when the taxi drew in behind a gray car already standing +at the curb outside Smith's Hotel, and her brother grasped her wrist in +sudden warning. + +"Sit still," he said. "Now we may get on the track of some of the gang. +That is the car which followed me on Monday night." + +His sister, of course, did not understand. She had heard nothing of the +pursuit and its curious sequel. + +"Do you mean it is one of the cars which these men use?" she whispered +breathlessly. + +"Yes. I'll explain later. But what impudence! The scoundrels have not +even changed the number plate." + +Unquestionably, the number of the gray landaulet now within a few feet +of them was XY 1314. Theydon stooped, opened a dressing case lying at +his feet, and took out the automatic pistol placed there by Bates. He +put it in the right-hand pocket of his coat. + +"Now, I'll reconnoiter," he said, and opened the door. The taxi driver +was already gazing curiously in at his fares, wondering why one or both +did not alight. + +"Be ready to start the instant I want you," said Theydon to the man, and +he strolled past the gray car, with every sense alert, every muscle +braced. If Wong Li Fu were seated inside he would cover him with the +pistol and hold him there until the police came, or shoot him dead if he +offered any resistance. + +Fortunately, therefore, all things considered, the interior of the car +was absolutely empty, save for a copy of the Times on the back seat. +Even the presence of the newspaper was significant. In that issue should +have appeared Forbes's reply to "Y. M." which Furneaux had suppressed as +unnecessary. + +There was a chauffeur at the wheel--no Chinaman, but a tightly-buttoned +and black-legginged young Englishman--in fact, the real thing in +chauffeurs. + +"Whose car is this?" demanded Theydon. + +"It belongs to the Chinese Embassy, sir," said the man, answering +civilly enough, but not unnaturally showing some surprise at the curt +question. + +"Are you waiting here for some official of the Embassy?" went on +Theydon. + +"Not exactly, sir, some friends of His Excellency." The man glanced +toward the door of the hotel. "Here they are now," he added. + +Theydon turned. Two Chinamen, sedate, pig-tailed persons, were +descending the steps. With them was Furneaux! One of the Orientals gave +Theydon a rather sharp glance, having noticed, apparently, that he was +conversing with the chauffeur, but Furneaux, after a stonily indifferent +stare, said to the second Chinaman, in plain English: + +"Do you mind dropping me at Scotland Yard?" + +"With pleasure," was the composed reply. + +The three entered, and the gray car made off, leaving Theydon to gaze +blankly after it. His sister, though badly scared at first, quickly +recovered her self-possession. She even made a joke of the incident. + +"As an anti-climax, Frank, that is the best thing of its kind you have +ever brought off," she tittered. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +FORCEFUL TACTICS + + +Though a prey to that most burthensome of cares--the uneasy +consciousness of an impalpable yet ever-threatening evil--Theydon was +not blind to the humorous element in the present situation. Mrs. Paxton, +of course, did not know who the little man accompanying the Chinamen +was. + +She had seen her brother stalk the motor car and its presumed occupants +in the most approved melodramatic fashion, and could not help noticing +his complete discomfiture. Naturally she imagined he had encountered a +pair of perfectly harmless citizens of the Middle Kingdom, and, being +one of those happy beings more readily swayed to laughter than to tears, +rallied him upon an apparent blunder. + +"Never before have I discovered a neurotic streak in you, Frank," she +said, after she had obtained a couple of letters for Miss Beale, and +they were en route again. "Come now, confess. If Evelyn Forbes--or, let +me see, is it Phyllis or Doris? No, Evelyn. If Evelyn Forbes, then, did +not happen to be a remarkably pretty girl, would you really attach such +terrific importance to the mad goings-on of a set of Chinese fanatics? I +doubt it." + +The cab was threading its way through the traffic of St. James Street +and Piccadilly on a busy afternoon in the season, and Theydon had much +to tell her before they arrived at Fortescue Square, but he sat by her +side in silence for a little while. + +"Frank," said his sister, at last, "it is not like you to seek refuge in +silence. I'm sorry if my chaff annoyed you. Don't forget that you know +everything about this mysterious business, and I know very little." + +Her sympathetic voice roused him from the stupor which had benumbed his +senses. + +"I allowed imagination to run away with me, Sis," he said gently. "It +was thoughtless on my part. Please forgive me. I suppose those two +Chinamen are unofficially connected with the Embassy. At any rate, the +man with them, the little man in a blue serge suit and straw hat, is +Furneaux of Scotland Yard, a pocket marvel among detectives, the sort of +criminal-hunter you read about in Gaboriau, but can scarcely accept as +existing in real life." + +From that instant he bent his wits to the task of acquainting Mrs. +Paxton with the history of the preceding three days. He was aware of the +irrepressible trembling which shook her slender frame when he spoke of +the ivory skull found in Edith Lester's underbodice, and the replica of +the same grewsome token sent to Forbes, so suppressed all mention of his +own experiences on returning to Innesmore Mansions overnight. + +Furneaux had asked him for the bit of ivory that morning, and, +incidentally, had produced the others from his pocket. The detective +gave no reason for his eagerness to possess these trophies, but seemed +to invest them with great importance. While keeping up a constant flow +of talk with his sister, Theydon tried to puzzle out the detective's +motive for carrying such sinister messengers of death around London. + +Try as he might, he could arrive at no plausible explanation, but he did +not make the error of attributing Furneaux's action to mere impulse. +Those men of the Yard had a solid foundation for every step they took. +Even the visit to Smith's Hotel, and subsequent departure in the gray +car, meant a definite stride onward in the fight against Wong Li Fu. Of +that he was assured. + +At 11 Fortescue Square there were no outward signs of recent disturbance +beyond the presence of a sharp-eyed policeman at each corner of the row +of houses of which Mr. Forbes's residence formed one of the center pair. +Theydon expected to see a shattered window in the drawing-room on the +first floor, where, presumably, Mrs. Forbes was standing when the shot +was fired, but each pane in three large windows was intact, and the +windows were closed. + +Then he reflected--as, indeed, proved to be the case--that on such a +fine day the window would probably be open. Two windows on the second +floor and one in the cloakroom near the front door were raised a few +inches, but drawn curtains screened from observation any watchful eye +which might be stationed behind them. As a matter of fact, armed +detectives were hidden there, and they had been given specific orders to +shoot without warning any one of Chinese appearance whose behavior was +suspicious, while three men were in readiness in the hall to rush out +into the square and make an arrest under similar circumstances. + +In that fashionable quarter, at that hour, automobiles of every type +were passing constantly. At the very next door a well-appointed carriage +and pair was in readiness to take an elderly lady for a drive in the +park. As yet, none of the other residents in the square had the remotest +notion that No. 11 was in a state of siege. The position of affairs, if +it were not so desperate, was almost amusing! + +Mrs. Paxton and Theydon were admitted without any delay, and Forbes +himself hurried downstairs to greet them. He was pale, but quite +composed. All the nervous uncertainty of the previous day had vanished. +He was armed and willing for the fray. If, as was by no means unlikely, +Wong Li Fu staked everything on a gambler's throw and led his cohort in +a daylight raid on the house, the Manchu leader would meet with a very +warm reception. + +Forbes was surprised to find that a lady had come with Theydon, but +expressed his pleasure at the visit, which, he said, was just the thing +his wife and Evelyn needed. + +"Yes," he went on cheerfully, noting the astonishment caused by his +words, "Mrs. Forbes is not seriously injured. The bullet lacerated the +top of her left shoulder, and the wound is painful but superficial. She +positively refuses to remain in bed, so our doctor humored her, provided +she promises not to pass the time looking through the drawing-room +window!" + +Mrs. Paxton, to whose senses the presence of armed detectives and +constables in uniform was even more eloquent than her brother's words, +glanced about the spacious entrance hall with wide-eyed amazement. Once +she and her brother were recognized as friends of the family, the men on +duty gave them no heed. + +Outside were the familiar sounds of London traffic; within were +preparations for conflict. The police carried revolvers openly in +leather cases strapped to their belts. On a table near the library door +were several automatic pistols ready to be snatched up in an emergency. +An alert detective, revolver in hand, was peering through the curtains +of the cloakroom; this sentry, in particular, would alarm the garrison +if, as Winter had definitely warned his assistants, an attempt were ever +made to enter the house by main force. + +"I think I must be dreaming," she said, trying bravely to lessen the +gravity of the statement by smiling at its inherent absurdity. "Am I in +London, or have I been whisked by magic to one of those outposts of +civilization where men and women of European race are often compelled to +band together for protection against savages? One reads of such things +comfortably while dawdling over breakfast, and one wonders idly why +people go to such places. But that something of the sort could happen in +London--why, it is simply fantastic!" + +"It is unpleasantly real, for all that, Mrs. Paxton," said Forbes, +leading the way up the stairs. "What else can we do? If the authorities +surrounded the house with a cordon of soldiers London would be in an +uproar. We want to avoid that, at all costs. I have been in +communication with the Home Office, and am advised that, if we decide to +put up with the inconvenience, it is better, and actually less risky, to +hold out here than seek safety by flight. I understand that Scotland +Yard is not losing an unnecessary minute, but there are obvious +difficulties in the way of decisive action. It is considered worse than +useless to effect isolated arrests, as these tend only to put the other +members of the gang on their guard. The chief inspector tells me that he +had some hope of being able to make a big haul tonight. The principal +drawback is the language bar. Chinese interpreters are few and far +between in London, and those who do exist--in the East End, for +instance--have long since lost any useful acquaintance with events in +their own country. This is a political matter, you understand, and must +be fought out on political lines. Strange as it may sound in your ears, +the cause of Chinese freedom is at issue in this very house. If Wong Li +Fu could secure a list of names now locked in a bureau in my library the +Constitutional party in China would perish forthwith for want of +leaders. But he won't get it. Thanks to your brother, Mrs. Paxton, his +deadliest attack failed yesterday. For today's accident we have +ourselves to blame. We did not even suspect that his malignity would +take the form of shooting the first person who chanced to look out of a +window." + +He had halted at the top of the broad staircase while making that +stirring declaration of war. + +"Pardon my outspokenness," he said, sinking his voice to a lower tone. +"I don't want to frighten my wife on my own account. She believes now +that the police are hunting these scoundrels in every hole and corner of +London. In a sense, that is true, but we never know the moment some +extraordinary action may be taken, so we remain constantly on the _qui +vive_." + +He heard the telephone ring beneath, and turned quickly. + +"I may be wanted," he said. "I'll join you presently. There is my wife's +boudoir," and he pointed to a door. "Take Mrs. Paxton in, Theydon. Mrs. +Forbes and Evelyn will be glad of your company." + +Theydon knocked, and heard Evelyn's voice bidding him enter. Mrs. Forbes +was lying on a couch, and her daughter had evidently been seated near +her, reading a newspaper. + +"I've brought my sister to see you," he explained. "I've been relating +such heroic things about you that she simply refused to go home without +ocular proof of your existence." + +Mrs. Forbes would have risen, but was restrained by the girl's emphatic +cry: + +"Mother, why won't you behave like an obedient invalid?" + +Thus coerced, "Mother" did behave. + +"They insist on treating me as a casualty," she cried cheerfully. "What +is your sister's name, Mr. Theydon?" + +"Mollie," he said thoughtlessly, for he had just touched Evelyn Forbes's +hand, and the mere contact gave him an electrical shock. + +The women laughed, and Mrs. Paxton blushed. + +"Mollie Paxton, at any rate," she said, realizing at once that her +brother had completely lost all self-possession at sight of his +divinity. "Now, as you are going to stay here, Frank, you shall give me +the full measure of the few minutes I can spare, so go and talk over +your adventures with Mr. Forbes while I gossip with the prisoners." + +Theydon saw that his tactful sister had struck the right note. She might +be trusted to make herself eminently agreeable. Her bright, smiling +manner had already created a good impression, and a lively chat with one +who had not passed through the vicissitudes which beset the Forbes +family would be an excellent tonic. + +"Before I efface myself, may I be allowed to congratulate Mrs. Forbes on +her escape?" he said, halting at the door. + +"Yes, you may," replied the older lady. "And, just to show that I am +convalescent, kindly tell Tomlinson that I am coming down to luncheon, +and that Mrs. Paxton will join us." + +Forbes was leaving the telephone when Theydon regained the hall and +explained that he had been dismissed from the feminine conclave +upstairs. The millionaire closed the door and motioned his companion to +a chair. + +"How long will it be before London wakes up to the knowledge of what is +going on in its midst?" he said. "Is there anything in the newspapers? I +have had no time to read. I passed a rather sleepless night, so did not +rise until a late hour. Then Helen was fired at. I need hardly tell you +that my time has been fully occupied since." + +Theydon gave a resume of the paragraph which had appeared in at least +one of the morning journals, and admitted that some inkling of the truth +was bound to gain publicity during the next few hours. + +"I cannot understand why it is the reporters are not here by the score +already," he went on. "Some passer-by must have seen or heard the +shooting. A pistol cannot be fired in a quiet square like this without +attracting general attention." + +"That is the extraordinary part of it," said Forbes, smiling grimly. +"People heard the noise, of course, but came to the conclusion that a +cylinder in the car had back-fired. That was the view taken by two +policemen on duty within a few yards of the house. A detective stationed +in the cloakroom actually saw the man raising the weapon. He, of course, +was under no delusion as to what had happened, and ran out instantly, +but the car was then traveling at a fast pace, and was out of sight +before the nearest constable could even endeavor to stop it. Anyhow, +what was the man to do? We cannot expect that he would whip out a +revolver, if he carries one, and blaze away indiscriminately at car and +occupants if the chauffeur refused to pull up. Really, Theydon, Wong Li +Fu has perplexed the authorities more than any desperado known to this +generation. He is aware that his hostage has escaped from Croydon, so he +calmly drives past my house, knowing full well that it is efficiently +guarded, and fires a pot shot at the first person seen through one of +the windows. The man whom I have spoken to over the telephone shares +that opinion. He is one of the legal advisers of the Home Office. Just +to show the baffling nature of the problem, he says that it will be +absolutely impossible, on the evidence available at present, to frame a +charge against any Chinaman other than Wong Li Fu. Yet we know that he +has at least four or five, and probably three times as many, +accomplices." + +"Have the police yet obtained any real clew as to the whereabouts of the +gang's headquarters? They must have some sort of meeting place. They +must eat and sleep somewhere." + +"That big detective, Winter, came here this morning. He seemed to be +very confident, though I think I gave him the worst shock he has +received for many a year when I informed him that within an hour after +he had left the house Mrs. Forbes had been shot at, and narrowly escaped +a fatal wound. It was he who asked me to invite you to come here. I'm +exceedingly sorry that our acquaintance, begun so happily, should +involve you in personal risk--" + +"As for that," broke in Theydon, "I would not change places with any man +in England at this moment." + +He feared instantly that he might have said too much, and added with a +laugh: + +"Don't forget, Mr. Forbes, that I write books, some of them--the most +popular ones, I am afraid--being of a sensational type. When this +tornado has died down, and Wong Li Fu is carefully hanged, and you and +your family are recuperating in Sutherlandshire, I shall resume work +with a new inspiration. Never again shall I say to myself, 'Oh, that is +too far-fetched,' or fear that I am straining my readers' credulity +beyond bounds. If a small gang of Chinamen and Japanese can hold up +London, bamboozle the best men in Scotland Yard, and keep a man of your +position a prisoner in his own house, I need have no fear of adopting +any situation my fertile brain can evolve, because four days ago I would +have scoffed at the things which have actually happened as quite +impossible and therefore unbelievable." + +"Japanese, you say? Why do you mention Japanese?" + +"The American, Mr. Handyside, tells me the skulls are of Japanese +workmanship. He argues also that the wrestling tricks of which Winter +and I, and Mrs. Forbes in lesser degree, have had some experience, are +Japanese. More than that, a Jap was arrested outside my place early this +morning." + +"Mr. Winter said something about it, but he spoke only of Chinamen." + +"I have Furneaux's authority for the statement that the prisoner is a +Jap, and belongs to a society calling itself the 'Sons of Nippon.'" + +"But confound it, I have no quarrel with Japan. If anything, I am one of +her best friends." + +"I must get Handyside to propound one of his favorite theories. He says +that a powerful and growing party among our allies in the Far East means +to keep China in a condition of anarchy until Japan is prepared, +financially and in armament, to take a commanding share in the ultimate +settlement. But, at best, the few Japanese adventurers in league with +Wong Li Fu hardly count. Once he is laid by the heels this feud will +evaporate into thin air." + +"If it doesn't, I must ask the Government to provide safe quarters for +my family in the Tower," muttered Forbes, rising and pacing the room in +the same thoughtful, care-laden way as he had paced it when Theydon +first told him of Edith Lester's end. + +"You said Wong Li Fu knew that Mrs. Forbes had been rescued from her +bonds last night," went on Theydon. "I suppose Winter told you that. Was +he only assuming the fact, or have there been developments at Croydon?" + +"A motor car drove up to the gate openly at ten o'clock this morning. A +police sergeant, jumping to the conclusion that one of his own chiefs or +a representative of Scotland Yard was paying the place a visit, +incautiously showed himself in the doorway, whereupon the car raced +away. It was an unfortunate and, perhaps, costly blunder, but the man is +hardly to be blamed. The very audacity of the gang is their best +safeguard." + +A luncheon gong clanged in the hall. Both men started, and then laughed. + +"You see," cried Forbes. "These rascals have got us on the jump. I don't +know how long my servants will stand the racket. They are most loyal, +and Tomlinson vows that not a syllable has been breathed outside by any +of our domestics. But the women's nerves are on edge. A scullery maid +dropped a decanter a little while since, and the crash drew +bloodcurdling shrieks from the kitchen. Come, let us eat, drink, and be +merry, for tomorrow we die. The quotation is not a felicitous one. +Indeed, it is distinctly ominous, but it seems to meet the conditions." + +He threw open the door, and saw the three ladies descending the stairs. + +"Helena," he cried sternly, "the doctor said you were not to stir out of +your room." + +"My dear, the doctor is a mere man, and fancies that a woman is not +fitted for warfare. He is quite mistaken. When aroused we can be +terrible." + +Mrs. Forbes, whose face was paler and eyes seemingly bigger and more +luminous than usual, was leaning on Evelyn's arm. She was dressed in a +blue tulle costume which lent a fragile air to an already slender form, +but she smiled so unaffectedly that even the policeman grinned. + +"You certainly look ferocious," said her husband, yielding instantly, as +she well knew would happen. + +"I believe you are all jealous," she vowed. "I am the only one who has +really been in the forefront of the battle. No. I forgot you, Mr. +Theydon. Didn't that horrid man knock you down?" + +"Yes," said Theydon, moistening his lips with his tongue. There was such +a peculiar rasp in his voice that it evoked a general laugh. + +Obviously the guests meant to avoid serious topics during the meal. +Evelyn Forbes chimed in with a reminiscence of her schooldays in +Brussels, and soon the talk was general, ranging from the year's Academy +to the Ladies' Gold Championship. + +Mrs. Paxton, an excellent mimic, was amusing them with imitations of the +voice and manner of a certain well-known lady golfer, when she was +interrupted by three sharp, irregular cracks which seemed to come from +the dining-room windows. Simultaneously a picture frame on the opposite +wall was split and a Worcester vase on a sideboard was smashed to atoms. + +Theydon, owing to his position at the table, was the first to notice +three small, starred holes in the plate glass of the windows. + +"Don't stand up!" he said, instantly. "Some one is shooting at the +house. Crouch on the floor, for Heaven's sake!" + +That urgent appeal was emphasized by a fourth bullet, which, taking a +lower flight, barely missed Forbes, upset a Venetian glass flower vase +on the table, and buried itself in the lower half of the sideboard. + +Forbes, heedless of the possible consequences to himself, sprang to his +wife's assistance, and, interposing his body as a shield between her and +the windows, led her to an angle of the wall where she would be safe. +The younger women, after a momentary hesitation, dropped to the floor +and crawled to the same refuge. Theydon ran out. The front door was +open. + +The police had heard the shooting, the sound of which had been deadened +to those in the dining room by the breaking glass and china. But within +a few minutes a useless pursuit was abandoned. The fusillade had come +from a car which halted close to the garden railings on the far side of +the square. Though the trees were nearly in full leaf, and dense +shrubberies seemed to shut off every house from any such method of +attack, investigation proved that it was possible to estimate accurately +the position of the dining-room windows in No. 11. + +When Theydon returned he found Forbes and the ladies gathered in the +hall. + +"Another narrow escape on both sides," he said coolly. "Two policemen +were just too late to interfere. Of course, they did not anticipate a +move in that quarter." + +"Have the--er--enemy made off in a car?" said Mrs. Forbes. + +"Yes. A constable in a taxi is trying to follow them." + +"Well, then, let us finish our luncheon. I had hardly touched my +cutlet." + +"By Jove, Helena, that doctor of ours was decidedly in error," cried her +husband. "You're right. If we're besieged we must carry ourselves +according to the code. Mrs. Paxton, I hope it won't disturb you if a +shell bursts before coffee is served!" + +Theydon glanced through a window before resuming his seat. + +"That volley has done things!" he announced. "London is stirring at +last. There's a crowd in front of the house, and a short, fat man is +explaining the procedure. Prepare now to receive the press in +battalions." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +WHEREIN UNEXPECTED ALLIES APPEAR + + +Although, as shall be seen, the final and complete defeat and extinction +of the London section of the Young Manchus were directly due to forces +set in motion by Furneaux, it was Winter's painstaking way of covering +the ground that unearthed the fraternity's meeting place, and thus +brought matters to a head speedily. For the rest, events followed their +own course, and great would have been the fame of the prophet who +predicted that course accurately. + +In later days, when more ample knowledge was available, it was a +debatable point whether or not the inmates of No. 11 Fortescue Square +were saved from an almost maniacal vengeance by the fact that a crisis +was precipitated. Winter maintained stoutly that the police must triumph +in the long run, whereas Furneaux held, with even greater tenacity, that +although the gang would undoubtedly be broken up, that much-desired end +might have been attained after, and not before, a dire tragedy occurred +in the Forbes household. + +The pros and cons of the argument were equally numerous and weighty. +They cannot be marshaled here. Each man and woman who reads this record +will probably form an emphatic opinion tending toward the one side or +the other. All that a veracious chronicler can accomplish is to set +forth a plain tale of events in their proper sequence, and leave the +ultimate verdict to individual judgment. + +Winter was a hard-headed, broad-minded official, whose long and wide +experience enabled him to estimate at their true value the far-reaching +powers of the State as opposed to the machinations of a few determined +outlaws. On the other hand, the amazing facility with which Furneaux +could enter into the twists and turns of the criminal mind entitles his +matured views to much respect. + +At any rate, this is what happened. + +Winter was sitting in his office, smoking a fat cigar, and wading +through reports brought in by subordinates concerning every opium den +and Chinese boarding house in the East End, when Furneaux entered. + +"Any luck?" inquired the chief, laying aside one document which seemed +to merit fuller inquiry; it described a club much frequented by Chinese +residents in London, men of a higher class than the sailors and firemen +brought to the port by ships trading with the Far East, and an +outstanding feature of the Young Manchus' operations was the intelligent +grasp of the ways and means of modern civilized life these filibusters +exhibited. + +"So-so," squeaked Furneaux. + +He flung himself into a big armchair, curled up in it like an animated +Buddha, and extracted one of the three ivory skulls from a waistcoat +pocket. + +"If you could only speak, you image of evil!" he muttered. "You're not +so dead that you cannot work mischief. Why the deuce, then, can't you +mouth your incantations? Then we would listen and learn." + +Winter, still sorting his papers, cocked the cigar inquisitively on one +side of his mouth. + +"Oh, I have ascertained a lot about the inner politics of China," +mumbled Furneaux, irritably, gazing fixedly at the skull after one quick +glance of his colleague. "Every little helps, of course. I have met some +Chinamen this morning who would cheerfully plunge Wong Li Fu into a +cauldron of boiling oil, and stir him round with a long stick when he +was in it. One man, quite an important personage in the jute line, has +lost a brother and a brother-in-law, the one in Canton, the other in +Pekin, and he lays both deaths at the door of the redoubtable Wong. +Another, the fellow who chanced to take up his quarters at Smith's +Hotel, is a delegate sent here specially to hunt out Wong, and destroy +him. I asked him how he meant to set about it, but his scheme is vague. +He's an opportunist of the first water. 'Me catchee and killee Wong Li +Fu one time,' was his best effort. I'm going to confront Len Shi with +these two in Bow Street. They may worm something out of him. But will +they own up if they do? Dashed if I know. The Oriental mind is on a par +with their blessed language. It has three thousand ways of expressing +one idea, and not one of 'em is our way." + +"Has Theydon gone to Fortescue Square?" + +"I suppose so. He turned up in Jermyn Street--outside Smith's Hotel, if +you please, with a lady in a taxi." + +"A lady? Miss Beale?" + +"No, his sister, judging from the family likeness. His eyes grew goggled +like yours when he saw the gray car." + +"Didn't you explain matters?" + +"Not I. Gave him the cut direct. My Chinamen are shy birds, and I +daren't flutter them by letting them think there are too many foreign +devils mixed up in the business. My London Chinaman was the brainy +person who got the Embassy busy when Mrs. Lester's death was announced. +He saw Wong Li Fu's hand in that from the first moment. Oddly enough, +though he and a man from the Embassy followed Theydon from Waterloo to +Forbes's place on Tuesday night, and again to Innesmore Mansions, he +didn't recognize him today. Or perhaps he did. I don't know. Talk about +the impassive Red Indian! A thoroughbred Chink would give a Pawnee chief +one glass eye and a coat of paint, and then beat him hollow at the +haughty indifference game." + +"My!" said Winter admiringly, "you've got your tongue loose today. Well, +here's an item which should prove useful. Whitechapel thinks we may find +a Young Manchu or two among that collection," and he threw an official +memorandum across the table. + +Furneaux repocketed the skull, and was gazing moodily at the report, +when a uniformed constable announced that a boy messenger wished to see +a "detective" with regard to the typed letter delivered at Mr. Forbes's +house on Wednesday evening. + +"Show him up," said the chief, and a smart-looking boy, wearing the +familiar uniform of his corps, was brought in. He glanced around +inquiringly. + +"Oh, you're the gentleman who came to our Piccadilly office," he said to +Winter. + +"Yes." + +"Well, sir, I haven't very much to tell you, but it was I who took the +letter to Fortescue Square. I saw the sender, a foreign-looking +gentleman, he was, with funny eyes, and I think I spotted him again this +afternoon. He was coming out of a house in Charlotte Street." + +"Are you sure?" demanded Winter, quickly. + +"He was awful like the man who engaged me, sir, and dressed the same +way." + +"Did you notice the number of the house?" + +"Yes, sir. No. 412." + +"Quite certain about that?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Good boy. If your information is of any service I'll take care you are +not forgotten." + +The boy saluted and went out. + +"We must look up No. 412," said Winter, quietly; but there was a ring of +genuine satisfaction in his voice, because the clew promised well, and +it was a complete justification of the straightforward method he adopted +in every inquiry, whereas Furneaux invariably preferred an abstruse +theory to a definite piece of evidence. + +The Jersey man's face had wrinkled as a preliminary to some sarcastic +comment on what he termed the "handcuff" way of reasoning, when the +telephone bell rang. Winter answered, and at once his self-possessed air +fled. Indeed, it was a very angry man who listened, because a +subordinate was telephoning from Fortescue Square a full account of the +shooting outrage. + +The Chief gave a few curt instructions as to securing the adequate +cooperation of the local police, who should take measures to render any +repetition of such daring tactics absolutely impossible. + +"No one was injured, you say?" he added. + +"No, sir." + +"Were the ladies very much frightened?" + +"They've gone back to finish luncheon, sir." + +"Good. Evidently they're all of the right breed. You can tell them I +said so, if you like. Assure Mr. Forbes that every care will be taken to +protect his house in future. See that strong patrols occupy every point +from which a gun can be aimed at any window, even the attics, in No. 11. +Phone me again when you have discussed matters with the district +superintendent." + +The receiver clanged back into its hook. Winter had not foreseen this +latest move. "Sheer impudence," he termed it. + +"More bullets?" inquired Furneaux laconically. + +"Yes. A long-range attack from across the square. Four shots lodged in +dining room." + +"No one hurt, and no one arrested?" + +"Not a soul." + +"James," said the little man solemnly, "Wong Li Fu is making us a +laughing-stock. Are you aware that the newspapers will get on our track +now? Can't you see the headlines?--'Another Sidney Street.' 'Chinese +Pirates Busy in London.' 'Scotland Yard Outwitted.' By this time +tomorrow the Commissioner will be suggesting that you and I ought to +think about retiring on pensions." + +Winter jumped up, overturning a chair in his haste. + +"Come!" he said. "If that Chinaman in Bow Street won't speak, I'll +torture him. What of the other fellow who was caught near Innesmore +Mansions?" + +"He's a Jap. He knows nothing. He was hired for the job--to put any +interfering bobby to sleep." + +The chief inspector angrily bundled some papers into a drawer, and threw +away his cigar, which he had allowed to go out. Furneaux produced an +ivory skull again, and scowled at it, whereupon his superior, snorting +with annoyance, strode to the window, and affected an interest he was +far from feeling in the panorama of the Thames. + +And thus they passed a harmonious quarter of an hour, which came to an +end with the appearance of an attendant to announce the arrival of "two +Chinese gentlemen to see Mr. Furneaux." + +They went down in the elevator without exchanging a word. At the +entrance stood the gray car, in which the Chinamen were already seated. +Furneaux introduced the chief inspector, and they were whisked to Bow +Street. There in a cell they found Len Shi, a somewhat sullen-looking +man whose European chauffeur's livery seemed curiously raffish and +unsuitable when contrasted with the more picturesque if sober-hued +garments worn by his fellow-countrymen. + +At first he maintained the sulky know-nothing role which he had adopted +successfully with the official interpreter. Furneaux, watching the faces +of prisoner and questioners, guessed that small progress was being made, +so, waiting until Len Shi was evidently quite satisfied with himself, he +suddenly thrust an ivory skull before the man's eyes. The result was +unexpected but puzzling. The man was badly scared, beyond doubt, but he +now became obstinately silent. + +Winter, than whom no living actor could play up better to Furneaux's +tactics in a touch-and-go encounter of this sort, assumed a highly +tragic air. + +"Handcuff that man, and bring him out!" he said to the constable in +charge of the cells. + +Len Shi blanched. He estimated the legal methods of Great Britain by +those which obtained in his own land, and probably thought he was being +led forth to immediate execution. + +The whole five crowded into the car, and the driver, the same English +chauffeur to whom Theydon had spoken, was told to make for 412 Charlotte +Street, and pass the house slowly, but not pull up. Len Shi, though +quaking with alarm, bore himself with a certain dignified stoicism until +he found out where the car was apparently stopping. Then he said +something in a panic-stricken voice and the jute merchant, who spoke +English fluently, turned to Furneaux. + +"Tell the chauffeur to return," he said. "Len Shi will now confess." + +Once started, Len Shi talked volubly. The others merely put in a +question now and then, and the detectives curbed their impatience as +best they might until Len Shi was safely lodged in Bow Street again. + +Then Winter led his Chinese helpers into an inner office and closed the +door. + +"Well?" he said, addressing the jute merchant. The other Chinaman had +very little English and could not maintain a conversation. + +But, to the chief inspector's surprise and wrath, the English-speaking +Chinaman had only a request to make. + +"Give me and my friend those three ivory skulls," he said. + +"Why?" he said. + +"Without them we can accomplish nothing." + +"Be good enough to explain yourself. Above all, tell me what Len Shi has +been jabbering about. He had plenty to say." + +"He told us of the fate of our friends in China. Those things do not +concern you. What you want is to have Wong Li Fu and the others--there +are nearly twenty in all--delivered into your hands. Very well. Give us +those ivory skulls, and bring your men to that house in Charlotte +Street, at one o'clock this night, and you will take them without a blow +being struck." + +"That is our business, not yours," said Winter, gruffly decisive. "I +cannot expose you two gentlemen to any personal risk in this affair. +Kindly--" + +"You do not understand," broke in the jute merchant, addressing the +burly representative of the Criminal Investigation Department as if he +were a fractious child who must be informed as to the why and wherefore +of a disagreeable duty. "What will you do? Surround the house with +policemen, break in the doors, and fight? You may, or may not succeed. +Some, plenty, of your men will certainly be killed. That is not good. We +do not wish it. Give me those skulls. I and my friend will go there. You +come at one o'clock, tap so on the door, and we will admit you. Then you +take Wong Li Fu and all the others. There will be no fight." + +The Chinaman's manner was singularly impressive as he tapped three times +on a high desk to emphasize, as it were, his instructions. The sound, +too, was curious. He did not use his knuckles, but bunched the fingers +of his right hand together, and rapped on the wood with the long nails +which are a mark of distinction in his race. + +"We make things easy and certain for you," he added, more by way of +painstaking argument than because any further explanation was really +necessary. "You do not wish to fail, no? You want to be sure that Wong +Li Fu's evil deeds shall be stopped? Good. We do that--I and my friend. +We can pass the door-keepers. Can you? No. At one o'clock we open the +door and the Young Manchus will be wholly in your power, to do with them +what you will. I promise that, and my word is always taken in the city." + +Winter turned troubled eyes on Furneaux. + +"What do you say?" he muttered irresolutely. + +"I think the plan is a good one, and should be adopted," was the instant +reply. + +Nevertheless, Winter was perplexed. He hemmed and hawed a good deal. +Seldom did he hesitate in this fashion. As a rule, he was quick to +decide and quicker to act. + +"I might entertain your scheme if I were told more about it," he said +dubiously, gazing with troubled eyes at the Chinaman's blandly +inscrutable face. "Please believe me when I say that I trust your good +faith, but I am not sure that even you understand fully the nature of +the adventure you have in mind. Wong Li Fu has already committed one +murder in London. He has attempted others, and is absolutely careless of +consequences. How can I have any guarantee that you and this other +gentleman may not be his next victims? He is a person who displays a +somewhat forced humor. We might enter the Charlotte Street house at one +o'clock and find your corpses there, with labels and ivory skulls neatly +attached." + +"That will not be so," was the grave answer. + +"If I agree, what time do you propose going there?" + +"About midnight." + +"And do you expect the police to leave the whole neighborhood severely +alone for another hour?" + +"Not unless you wish it. If you so desire you can occupy both ends of +the street, and arrest every Chinaman coming away from No. 412, but let +those pass who go towards it." + +"Will others go there--friends of yours, I mean?" + +"Oh, yes. We will overpower the Young Manchus by taking them unaware. We +will act quietly, but there will be no mistake. It is you who will err +if you do not accept our help." + +Then Winter yielded, though not with a good grace. The implied +suggestion that the London police could not handle a set of Mongolian +ruffians was utterly distasteful, yet he admitted, though unwillingly, +that he did not want to sacrifice some of his best men in rushing the +place. + +"All right," he said. "Hand over the skulls, Furneaux! It is quite +agreed," he went on, addressing the Chinaman again, "that I have full +liberty of action in so far as preliminary arrangements are concerned? I +see your point that Wong Li Fu must not be forewarned, and shall take +care that my men are hidden. I have your positive assurance, too, that +you are not exposing your own life in any way?" + +"To the best of my belief I shall be as safe in Charlotte Street as I am +here," said the jute merchant, smiling for the first time during the +interview. + +"One! Two! Three!" said Furneaux, counting the skulls into the +Chinaman's outstretched hand. + +For some reason, the action, no less than the words, jarred on Winter. + +"I do wish you wouldn't be so d---- d theatrical!" he growled. + +Furneaux said nothing. He accompanied the chief inspector when the +latter escorted the two Chinamen to their car, and whistled softly +between his teeth while Winter and he were walking to Scotland Yard. The +big man glowered at him once or twice, but passed no comment. When they +reached the Embankment, Winter took Furneaux to his room, but left him +instantly. He was absent a long time. When he came in again he was +cheerfully placid. + +Walking toward their favorite restaurant in Soho, they met a newsboy +running with an edition of an evening newspaper damp from the press. The +boy was shouting, "'Orrible crime in the West End; Chinese outrage!" +Furneaux bought a paper. It contained a lively account of the attack on +Mr. Forbes's house and described the mansion as an armed fortress. +Scores of police were parading the neighborhood and examining every +passing motor car lest it held Chinese bandits. The arrest of Len Shi at +St. Albans, and of a Japanese outside Innesmore Mansions, was recalled, +and an Eastbourne correspondent had sent a fairly accurate version of +the kidnaping of Mrs. Forbes. + +"The pack is in full cry now, James," grinned Furneaux. "Tomorrow--" + +"O, bother tomorrow! Let's eat, and talk about something else." + +"What? Both? Well, now, if that isn't a bit of luck," cried a pleasant +voice close behind them, and Mr. George T. Handyside held out his two +hands. + +"I was feeling kind of lonesome in the hotel, and just strolled out to +look at the shops," he rattled on. "Say, can you boys eat a line? Is +there any place in London where they know what a planked steak is?" + +"Planked steak!" snorted Furneaux. "When you've tasted a porterhouse +steak grilled by a master hand you'll never mention any other variety +again. Come right along, Mr. Handyside. Tell us fairy tales about God's +own country. We're in the right mood to believe anything!" + +"But what's this story of another shooting up in Fortescue Square? Is it +true?" + +Then Furneaux dug him in the ribs. + +"This isn't the Wild and Woolly West," he said. "This is London, sir, +poor, old, played-out London, whose beefy citizens do nothing but eat, +talk cricket or golf, and sleep. If you credit the newspapers, you'll +never get us in the right perspective." + +Another newspaper boy raced past, bawling loudly. + +"All a flam, is it?" said the American quizzically; + +"No," said Winter, "it's the truth, and less than the truth. Let's hunt +that steak, and we'll season the dish for you." + +Winter never erred when he chose a man as a friend. He liked Handyside, +and was half inclined to drop a hint in his ear as to the night's +program, for the American had seen Wong Li Fu more than once, and might +be useful for identification purposes. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE SETTLEMENT + + +Now, Len Shi had communicated one vital fact to his compatriots which +they had carefully concealed from the detectives. The opening campaign +against Forbes had practically ended that day. Thenceforth, for a week, +the Young Manchus meant to separate, revert to Chinese costume, live in +Chinese boardinghouses in the East End, and thus utterly mislead and +bamboozle the police, who, in their hunt for the miscreants, would be +searching for Chinamen in European dress and living in European style. + +Winter was in two minds whether or not to inform the inmates of No. 11 +as to the contemplated raid on the Charlotte Street rendezvous. +Ultimately, he decided to say nothing definite that evening. It was +better that the threatened people and their guards should not relax +their vigilance. "The best-laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft +a-gley," and if, perchance, the jute merchant's plan, whatever it might +be, miscarried, and some of the desperadoes escaped, they would be +stirred to instant reprisals. + +But there was no semblance of doubt or hesitation about the measures +taken by the police. That night, from eleven o'clock onward, not even a +prowling cat entered Charlotte Street without being seen by sharp eyes. +Nearly opposite No. 412 was a large warehouse, with a back entrance a +long way in the rear, and approached from another street. + +At midnight three Chinamen appeared, turned into Charlotte Street from +the south and shuffled on noiseless feet straight to No. 414. They +knocked, and after some delay were admitted. A minute later three others +came from the north, knocked on the door of No. 410 and disappeared, the +delay, seemingly caused by a parley with some one within, being longer +in this instance. + +Afterward squads of Chinamen, exactly 25, all told, came from north and +south in practically equal numbers and entered those two houses, but +never a man entered, or passed, or came out of No. 412. These more +numerous arrivals met with no hesitation on the part of the two +doorkeepers. They entered without let or hindrance. + +After that there was what is known in theatrical circles as a "stage +wait." Charlotte Street, save for its loafers and an occasional belated +resident of some dwelling other than those under observation, lapsed +into its normal and utterly dismal gloom. + +From 12:30 onwards, Winter, stationed on the south side, looked at his +watch many times. A little man, mingling with the disreputable rascals +on the north side, was similarly fidgety. + +A tall, slim man, wearing a dark overcoat, who lurked in a doorway near +Winter's post, blew the tip of the cigar he was smoking into a red glow +so that he might look at his watch. Another tall man, rather more +powerfully built, awaited developments with apparent unconcern. Mr. +Handyside, in fact, was in the august company of the Commissioner of +Police, and the latter, though eminently agreeable, nevertheless +observed an Olympian attitude. Thus might Jove watch a gathering in the +Pompic Way! + +At 12:45 there was a stir. Out of 410 and 414 came 25 Chinamen. They +gathered on the pavement, and did not attempt to walk away, though a +sudden and concentrated advance was made by the two sets of loafers, +while the doors of the warehouse opposite belched forth a startling +array of constables in uniform. + +Winter and Furneaux respectively headed the contingents from north and +south. An inspector was in charge of the central body, and even a +Chinaman who had not been a day in London must have realized that the +intent of these swift-moving detachments was to cut off his escape if he +meant flight. But not a Chinaman budged, save one, who seemed to +recognize the chief inspector, because he stepped forward and said in +suave tones: + +"These men are my friends. The others are inside. They are quite safe. +Kindly wait till one o'clock." + +"I must understand what you mean, Mr. Li Chang," said Winter sternly; +for some reason, he distrusted the smooth-spoken jute merchant. "Why +have you visited these two houses, and not 412? And what do we gain by +waiting here any longer? We must have been seen, and our purpose +guessed." + +"No," came the somewhat surprising answer. "No one in No. 412 is aware +of your presence. We have taken care of that. As for the other houses, +they provide the simplest means of access to the center one. Doorways +have been made in the cellar walls and special staircases built. +Consequently, if you broke open the door of 412 you would find the way +barred by two other locked doors, while the occupants, if aroused, could +escape from either or both of the next houses. We Chinese have a long +acquaintance with the needs of a secret society. You may take it from me +that the obvious way into or out of an opium den, for instance, is never +the way used by the habitues." + +By this time the commissioner, Handyside, Furneaux and the inspector had +come up, and the five formed a little group in the center of a +semicircle of detectives and police. There was absolutely no sign of +life in any of the houses; save for the raiders and the stolid +Orientals, the street itself was deserted. Many eyes, no doubt, were +peering through darkened windows, but the denizens of Charlotte Street +as a rule attend strictly to their own personal affairs when the police +are in evidence. + + * * * * * + +"What do you advise, sir," said Winter, addressing the commissioner. +"Mr. Li Chang wants us to make no move until one o'clock. It is only a +matter of six or seven minutes." + +"And what then? Are we to enter these other houses, and not No. 412?" + +"Yes," said the Chinaman. + +"Have you left the doors open?" + +"No. They must be forced. But there are only small locks. The bolts are +drawn." + +"The places are apparently in complete darkness. My men must use their +lamps, and may be attacked." + +"No," said Li Chang simply. "There will be no fighting. Those Manchu +dogs are helpless. We have seen to that." + +"But how? Do you mean that they are stupefied?" + +"Bound," said the Chinaman. "Tied hand and foot." + +"Again then, may I ask, why wait?" + +"It will be in order," was the calm reply. "I entered into an +arrangement with you. I want to abide by it." + +Winter breathed heavily. The ways of the Oriental were not his ways, but +a bargain was a bargain, so what more could be said? + +Suddenly, about two minutes to one o'clock, a curious crackling noise +was heard, a column of sparks burst high above the steep roof of No. +412, and the upper windows of the opposite houses reflected a red glare. + +"Good heavens! the place is on fire!" cried Winter. + +Simultaneously came a shout from both ends of the street. Men were +running from the detachment guarding the rear of the premises to say +that a fierce fire was raging on the first floor back of No. 412. + +"Smash in those three doors!" cried Winter to his helpers. "Drag out +every Chinaman you meet! Handcuff them in threes and fours! Arrest these +fellows standing outside, but keep the two lots separate!" + +"Why are we, your friends, to be arrested?" demanded Li Chang's +dignified voice. + +"I'll soon tell you why, you slim demon!" shouted the chief inspector, +roused to anger by the consciousness that he had been duped. "What +fiendish trick have you played on those wretches penned up inside there? +But I'll soon know." + +He turned to the local officer. + +"Better march this crowd of Chinamen straight to your station," he said. +"I'll follow soon, and lay a charge." + +He felt a claw-like hand on his arm, and wild with vexation though he +was, forced himself to listen. + +"We are ready to go where you wish," said Li Chang calmly. "But spare +your own men. They must not enter No. 412. They will be blown to pieces. +Stop them! I shall not warn you twice!" + +Somehow, Winter was impelled to obey. The center door was already +yielding, but he rushed forward and told the party which meant to enter +at that point to abandon it, and reinforce their comrades. A number of +detectives and police were already inside the dark hallways of Nos. 410 +and 414 when the very walls trembled under the shock of a violent +explosion in No. 412, which was quickly followed by three others. + +A tongue of flame darted instantly to a height of many feet above the +topmost storey, showing that the series of explosions had not only +destroyed the whole rear section of the house, and thus given the fire +fresh fuel and plenty of space but there could be no reasonable doubt +that the bombs, if bombs they were, had themselves been filled with some +highly inflammable substance. Thenceforth, the police could do nothing +beyond keeping at a distance the crowds which soon gathered, and thus +clear a space for the operations of the fire brigade. + +No. 412 was thoroughly gutted. Not a shred of the building remained +except the crumbling walls at front and back. Its neighbors were in +little better case, and the firemen devoted their efforts mainly toward +keeping the disaster within bounds. + +One thing was certain. No human being had escaped from out of that +doomed habitation. The fire, too, had gained hold with a phenomenal +rapidity which argued the use of petrol, or some kindred agent of +irresistible potency when ignited. + +Winter and Furneaux, accompanied by the commissioner and Mr. Handyside, +walked to the local police station. The American was the only one who +spoke. + +"Queer ducks, the Chinese!" he said, seemingly musing aloud rather than +inviting comment. "They like to settle their own differences. I guess +we'd feel pretty much like that if we lived in China." + +No one took up the point thus raised. Winter bent a searching, almost +sorrowful glance at Furneaux, but the little man's eyes were fixed on +the ground, as though he were deep in thought. + +In the charge room of the police station the twenty-five Chinamen +awaited them. Twenty-five pairs of oblique eyes gleamed at the four when +they entered, but not a word was spoken. + +Winter, of course, singled out Li Chang for a parley. + +"Now," he said, "tell me just what happened after you and these others +went into the two houses in Charlotte Street." + +The Chinaman faced him imperturbably. His manner was as unemotional and +his words as slow and methodical as if he were selling jute in his East +End warehouse. + +"We asked to be admitted, and after giving the password and showing the +sign there was no difficulty," he said. "We were in parties of three. As +you probably saw, I headed one, which entered No. 410. My friend, Won +Lung Foo, led the other. The ivory skulls made matters simple. We +explained to the door-keepers that we had just arrived from China, and +brought messages of great urgency. Once inside, we gagged and bound the +door-keepers. Then we entered No. 412, where we knew that Wong Li Fu +would be smoking opium with the remaining fourteen." + +"Were there seventeen in the gang, all told?" broke in Furneaux. + +"Seventeen Manchus. The rest are--paid men--of no account." + +"Queer," muttered Furneaux, almost to himself. "The story begins and +ends with the number 17!" + +Again did Winter strive to pierce his colleague with a look from those +bulging eyes, but the little man was far too occupied with a singular +numerical coincidence to pay any heed to him. + +"Well, go on!" he said impatiently, glaring at the Chinaman. + +"We went to the big room at the back," continued Li Chang quietly, +uttering each word separately, and evidently weighing it in his mind to +test its accuracy before use, "and found Wong Li Fu. Him we bound +quickly, and very securely. The others we tied in twos and threes. Of +course, we brought the two doorkeepers to the same room, so that you +should experience no difficulty, but take them all together." + +Here Mr. Won Lung Foo broke in. Evidently he could follow English better +than speak it. + +"Yes," he said. "We wantee you catchee Chineemans all togeller--muchee +wantee!" + +Then he smiled blandly, and his tongue rolled over his lips as though +some fruit or sweetmeat had left a pleasant taste there. + +"Then, if your surprise was so successful, what caused the fire?" said +Winter, affecting a magnificent disregard of the plain facts. + +Li Chang, for once, permitted his immobile features to show some +semblance of anxious uncertainty. + +"That," he said, "is a mystery which can, perhaps, never be solved. But +it saves your Government much trouble." + +In those few words he expressed quite clearly the line he adhered to +throughout a long cross-examination. Neither Winter nor the commissioner +could shake him. The fire was an accident--the outcome of an +extraordinary chance. He knew nothing whatsoever of its origin. + +After a protracted debate in private between the two heads of the +Criminal Investigation Department, the names and addresses of the +prisoners were recorded and they were set at liberty. + +Before Li Chang went away Furneaux demanded the return of the three +ivory skulls, which were promptly handed over. + +"One word in your ear," murmured the detective, _sotto voce_. "Did Wong +Li Fu recognize you?" + +"Oh, yes," said the Chinaman. + +"And you spoke to him?" + +"Oh, yes." + +The eyes of the two clashed. For once, Furneaux peered deep into the +mind of an Oriental, and what he saw there kept him quiet, but he knew, +just as surely as if he had been present, exactly what Li Chang said to +Wong Li Fu. He delivered a message from two graves in far-off China. + + * * * * * + +And that is all--or nearly all. + +The "Charlotte Street Fire" caused only a slight sensation. It became +known that No. 412 was a resort of Chinese opium fiends, and the loss of +the den and its frequenters was not treated as a National calamity. The +shooting at No. 11 Fortescue Square was regarded much more seriously, +and the newspapers were full of it all next day. + +Thenceforth, however, interest flagged. Mr. Forbes and his family and +servants left London for Scotland, and the Amateur Golf Championship +came along, so the escapades of a few Chinese fanatics in London were +quickly forgotten. + +They were forgotten, that is, by most people; but one man, Frank +Theydon, went back to his flat in Innesmore Mansions to plunge into work +and strive vainly to obliterate those pages of his memory charged with +bitter-sweet day-dreams. + +Strive as he would, and did, to bury the past under the duties and cares +of the present, the radiant vision of Evelyn Forbes remained +ineffaceable and entrancing. + +But he was built of tough fiber, and resolutely refused an invitation to +visit the Sutherlandshire glen in which Forbes and his daughter were +sedulously nursing to health and strength the dear wife and mother whose +nervous system had suffered far more than she permitted to become known +under the stress and strain of the kidnaping experience. + +Even when Evelyn herself wrote, seconding her father's most friendly +note, Theydon pleaded the exigencies of his profession and filled a +letter with an amusing account of Bates's chagrin because he had failed +to "bag a Chinaman on his own account," having actually purchased a +pistol and fixed it in position before he and his wife quitted the flat. + +Three months passed. On August 9, a broiling morning, Theydon was +dejectedly reading of preparations for the "Twelfth," when a telegram +reached him. It read: + +"Handyside has arrived here in his car. Come for the gathering of the +clan. We take no refusal. Forbes." + +Theydon traveled north that night. He reached the glen in time for +dinner next evening and passed a few delightfully miserable days in +Evelyn's company. + +At last, feeling that he was losing grip and might act foolishly, he +announced to Forbes, one night when a glorious moon was shining, and he +knew that Evelyn was awaiting him in the garden, that he must leave for +London next day. + +"Why?" inquired his host. "Has something unforeseen happened? I thought +you meant remaining here till the end of the month at the earliest." + +"I'm sorry," said Theydon, chewing a cigar viciously as a means toward +maintaining his self-control. "I'm sorry, but I must go." + +There was a slight pause. Forbes looked at his young friend with those +earnest, deep-seeing eyes of his. + +"Is it a personal matter?" he went on. + +"Yes." + +Again there was a pause. Theydon was well aware that he risked a grave +misunderstanding, but that could not be avoided. It might be even better +so. And then his blood ran cold, because Forbes was saying: + +"Are you leaving us because of anything Evelyn has said or done?" + +"No, no!" came the frenzied answer. "Heaven help me, why do you ask +that?" + +"Heaven helps those who help themselves," said the older man. "That is a +trite saying, but it meets the case. I think I diagnose your trouble, my +boy. You are in love with Evelyn, and dare not tell her so, because I +happen to be a rich man. Really I didn't think you had so poor an +opinion of me as to believe that money or rank would count against my +daughter's happiness." + +He said other things--kindly, wise, appreciative--but Frank Theydon +never knew what they were. He managed to stammer out some words of +gratitude and then went to find Evelyn. + +She had crossed a sloping lawn and was standing by the side of a little +stream that gargled and bubbled in joyous career to the nearby loch. She +had thrown a white shawl over her head and shoulders, and looked +adorably sylphlike as she turned on hearing his footsteps; the moonlight +shone on her face and was reflected in her eyes. + +"Oh, you're here at last!" she cried gaily. "The next time I ask any +cavalier to escort me he will come more quickly, I imagine." + +He stood in front of her, and stretched out both hands. + +"Evelyn," he said, "here is one cavalier, at any rate, who offers +himself as an escort for life." + +The merriment died out of her eyes, and the quip on her tongue failed +her. Greatly daring, her lover took her in his arms. Through the open +windows of the drawing room floated the tender refrain of a ballad. Mrs. +Forbes was singing, and sweet words blended with sweet music in the +still air. + +Then their lips met, and the dark glen became an earthly Paradise. + +THE END + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Number Seventeen, by Louis Tracy + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NUMBER SEVENTEEN *** + +***** This file should be named 4996-8.txt or 4996-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/9/9/4996/ + +Produced by Jim Weiler, xooqi.com + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Number Seventeen + +Author: Louis Tracy + +Posting Date: June 9, 2011 [EBook #4996] +Release Date: January, 2004 +[This file was first posted on April 7, 2002] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NUMBER SEVENTEEN *** + + + + +Produced by Jim Weiler, xooqi.com + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>Number Seventeen</h1> + +<p class="cb">BY</p> + +<p class="cb">Louis Tracy</p> + +<p class="cb">1915</p> + +<table border="2" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="3" summary=""> +<tr><td><b> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">Chapter I, </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">II, </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">III, </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV, </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">V, </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI, </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII, </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII, </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX, </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">X, </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI, </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII, </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII, </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV, </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV, </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">XVI, </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">XVII</a></b> +</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I<br /><br /> +THE OUTCOME OF ARTISTIC CURIOSITY</h3> + +<p>"Taxi, sir? Yes, sir. No. 4 will be yours."</p> + +<p>A red-faced, loud-breathing commissionaire, engaged in the lucrative +task of pocketing sixpences as quickly as he could summon cabs, vanished +in a swirl of macintoshes and umbrellas.</p> + +<p>People who had arrived at the theater in fine weather were emerging into +a drizzle of rain. "All London," as the phrase goes, was flocking to see +the latest musical comedy at Daly's, but all London, regarded thus +collectively, is far from owning motor cars, or even affording taxicabs, +so the majority of the play-goers were hurrying on foot towards tube +railways and omnibus routes.</p> + +<p>Still, a popular light opera could hardly fail to draw many patrons from +the upper ranks of society, and, in the crush at the main exit, Francis +Berrold Theydon, hesitating whether to walk or wait the hazard of a cab, +deemed himself fortunate when a panting commissionaire promised to +secure a taxi "in half a minute."</p> + +<p>Automobiles of every known variety were snorting up to the curb and +bustling off again as promptly as their users could enter and bestow +themselves in dim interiors. Being a considerate person—wishful also to +light a cigarette—Theydon moved out of the way. In so doing, he was +cannoned against by an impetuous footman, whose cry, "Your car, sir," +led him to follow the man's alert eyes.</p> + +<p>He saw a tall, elderly gentleman, with clean-shaven, shrewd, and highly +intelligent features, of the type which finance, or the law, or a +combination of both, seems to evolve only in big cities, escorting a +young lady from the vestibule. Then Theydon remembered that he had +noticed this self-same girl's remarkable beauty as she was silhouetted +in white against the dark background of a first-tier box. He had even +speculated idly as to her identity, and had come to the conclusion, on +catching her face in profile, that she must be the daughter of the man +seated by her side but half-hidden behind a heavy curtain.</p> + +<p>The likeness was momentarily lost now while the two neared him, yet +discovered anew when they halted for a second at his elbow. Oddly +enough, the man was carrying an umbrella, which he proceeded to open, +and his daughter's astonished question put their relationship beyond +doubt.</p> + +<p>"Dad," she said, with a charming smile in which there was just a hint of +a pout, "aren't you coming home with me?"</p> + +<p>"No. I must look in at the Constitutional Club. It's only a step. I'll +take no harm. This sleet looks worse than it is when every drop shines +in the glare of so many lamps. Now, in with you, Evelyn! Tell Downs to +come back, and don't forget which club. Anyhow, I'll tell him myself."</p> + +<p>"Shall I wait up for you?"</p> + +<p>"Well—er—I shan't be late. I'll be free by the time Downs returns."</p> + +<p>"No. 4 taxi!" came a voice, and Theydon saw his commissionaire perched +on the step of a cab swinging in deftly behind the waiting car. The +girl, gazing at her father, happened to look for an instant at Theydon, +who, fearful lest his candidly admiring glance might have been a trifle +too sustained, pretended a hurried interest in an unlighted cigarette. +That was all. The three crossed the pavement almost simultaneously.</p> + +<p>The next moment the unknown goddess was gone, though Theydon snatched a +final glimpse of her, faintly visible, yet no less radiantly lovely, as +she leaned forward from the depths of the limousine, and waved a +white-gloved hand to her father through a window jeweled with raindrops.</p> + +<p>There was nothing in the incident to provoke a second thought. +Assuredly, Frank Theydon—as his friends called him—was not the only +man in the vestibule of Daly's Theater who had found the girl well worth +looking at, and it was the mere accident of propinquity which enabled +him to overhear the quite commonplace remarks of father and daughter.</p> + +<p>A score of similar occurrences had probably taken place in the like +circumstances that night in London, and the maddest dreamer of fantastic +dreams would not have heard the fluttering wings of the spirit of +romance in connection with any one of them. It was by no means +marvelous, therefore, but rather in obedience to the accepted law of +things as they are when contrasted with things as they might be, if +Theydon both failed to attach any importance to that chance meeting and +proceeded forthwith to think of something else.</p> + +<p>He did not forget it, of course. His artist's eyes had been far too +interested in a certain rare quality of delicate femininity in the +girl's face and figure, and his ear too quick to appreciate the music of +her cultured voice, that he should not be able to recall such pleasant +memories later. Indeed, during those fleeting moments on the threshold +of the theater, he had garnered quite a number of minor impressions, not +only of the girl, but of her father.</p> + +<p>In some respects they were singularly alike. Thus, each had the same +proud, self-reliant carriage, the same large, brilliant eyes, serene +brow and firm mouth, the same repose of manner, the same clear, incisive +enunciation. Neither could move in any company, however eclectic, +without evoking comment.</p> + +<p>They held in common that air of refinement and good breeding which is, +or should be, the best-marked attribute of an aristocracy. It was +impossible to imagine either in rags, but, given such a transformation, +each would be notable because of the amazing difference that would exist +between garb and mien.</p> + +<p>It must not be imagined that Theydon indulged in this close analysis of +the physical characteristics of two complete strangers while his cab was +wheeling into the scurry of traffic in Cranbourn Street. Rather did he +essay a third time to light the cigarette which he still held between +his lips. And yet a third time was his intent balked.</p> + +<p>A policeman stopped the east-bound stream of vehicles somewhat suddenly +at the corner of Charing Cross road; owing to the mud, the taxi skidded +a few feet beyond the line; a lamp was torn off by a heavy wagon coming +south; and a fierce argument between taxi driver and policeman resulted +in "numbers" being demanded for future vengeance. Then Theydon took a +hand in the dispute, poured oil on the troubled waters by tipping the +policeman half a crown and the driver half a sovereign—these sums being +his private estimate of damages to dignity and lamp—and the journey was +resumed, with a net loss, to the person who had absolutely nothing to do +with the affair, of twelve and sixpence in money and nearly ten minutes +in time.</p> + +<p>Theydon was not rich, as shall be seen in due course, but he was +generous and impulsive. He hated the notion of any one suffering for +having done him a service, and the taxi man might reasonably be deemed a +real benefactor on that sloppy night.</p> + +<p>So far as he was concerned, the delay of ten minutes was of no +consequence. It only meant a slightly deferred snuggling down into an +easy chair in his flat with a book and a pipe. That is how he would have +expressed himself if questioned on the point. In reality it influenced +and controlled his future in the most vital way, because, once the cab +had crossed Oxford Street and turned into the quiet thoroughfare on +which the first block of Innesmore Mansions abutted, he passed into a +new phase of existence.</p> + +<p>The cigarette, lighted at last after the altercation, had filled the cab +with smoke to such an extent that Theydon lowered a window. At that +moment the driver was slowing down to take the corner of the even more +secluded road which contained Innesmore Mansions and the gardens +appertaining thereto, and nothing else. Necessarily, Theydon was looking +out, and he was very greatly surprised at seeing the unknown gentleman +of the theater walking rapidly round the same corner.</p> + +<p>He could not be mistaken. The stranger tilted back his umbrella and +raised his eyes to ascertain the name of the street, as though he was +not quite sure of his whereabouts, and the glare of a lamp fell directly +on his clean-cut, almost classical face.</p> + +<p>Being thus occupied, he did not glance at the passing cab, or +recognition might possibly have been mutual—possibly, though not +probably, because, during that brief pause on the steps of the theater, +he stood beside Theydon; hence, he was half-turned toward his daughter +while they were discussing the night's immediate program.</p> + +<p>In itself the fact that he had gone in the direction of Innesmore +Mansions rather than toward the Constitutional Club was in nowise +remarkable. Nevertheless, he had deceived his daughter—deceived her +intentionally, and the knowledge came as a shock to his unsuspected +critic in Theydon.</p> + +<p>He did not look the sort of man who would stoop to petty evasion of the +truth. It was as though a statue of Praxiteles, miraculously gifted with +life, should express its emotions, not in Attic Greek, but in the +up-to-date slang of the Strand.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm dashed!" said Theydon, or words to that effect, and his cab +sped on to the third doorway. Innesmore Mansions arranged its roomy +flats in blocks of six, and he occupied No. 18.</p> + +<p>He held a florin in readiness; the rain, now falling heavily, did not +encourage any loitering on the pavement. For all that, he saw out of the +tail of his eye that the other man was approaching, though he had paused +to examine the numbers blazoned on a lamp over the first doorway.</p> + +<p>"Good night, sir, and thank you!" said the taxi driver.</p> + +<p>The cab made off as Theydon ran up a short flight of steps. Innesmore +Mansions did not boast elevators. The flats were comfortable, but not +absurdly expensive, and their inmates climbed stairs cheerfully; at +most, they had only to mount to a second storey. Each block owned a +uniformed porter, who, on a night like this, even in May, needed rousing +from his lair by a bell if in demand.</p> + +<p>Theydon took the stairs two at a stride, opened the door of No. 18, +which, with No. 17, occupied the top landing. He was valeted and cooked +for by an ex-sergeant of the Army Service Corps and his wife, an +admirable couple named Bates, and the male of the species appeared +before Theydon had removed coat and opera hat in the tiny hall.</p> + +<p>"Bring my tray in fifteen minutes, Bates, and that will be all for +tonight," said Theydon.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Bates. "Remarkable change in the weather, sir."</p> + +<p>"Rotten. Who would have expected this downpour after such a fine day?"</p> + +<p>Bates took the coat and hat, and Theydon entered his sitting room, a +spacious, square apartment which faced the gardens. He had purposely +prevented Bates from coming immediately with his nightly fare, which +consisted of a glass of milk and a plate of bread and butter.</p> + +<p>Truth to tell, the artistic temperament contains a spice of curiosity, +which is, in some sense, an exercise of the perceptive faculties. +Theydon wanted to raise a window and look out, an unusual action, and +one which, therefore, would induce Bates to wonder as to its cause.</p> + +<p>For once in his life a man who bothered his head very little about other +people's business was puzzled, and meant to ascertain whether or not the +unknown was really calling on some resident in Innesmore Mansions. It +was a harmless bit of espionage. Theydon scarcely knew the names of the +other dwellers in his own block, and his acquaintance did not even go +that far with any of the remaining tenants of 48 flats, all told.</p> + +<p>Still, to a writer, the vagaries of the tall stranger were decidedly +interesting, so he did open a window, and did thrust his head out, and +was just in time to see the owner of the limousine which would call at +the Constitutional Club in a quarter of an hour mount the steps leading +to Nos. 13-18. Somehow, the discovery gave Theydon a veritable thrill.</p> + +<p>Could that pretty girl's father, by any chance, be coming to visit him? +A wildly improbable development had been whittled down to a five-to-one +chance. He closed the window and waited, yes, actually waited, for the +bell to ring!</p> + +<p>The sitting room door was open, and it faced the hall door. Footsteps +sounded sharply on the slate steps of the stairway; when Theydon heard +some one climbing to the topmost landing he was almost convinced that, +as usual, the unexpected was about to happen. It did happen, but took +its own peculiar path. The unknown rang the bell of No. 17, and, after a +slight delay, was admitted.</p> + +<p>Theydon smiled at the anticlimax. A trivial mystery had developed along +strictly orthodox lines. A rather good-looking and distinctly +well-dressed lady, a Mrs. Lester, occupied No. 17. She lived alone, too, +he believed. At any rate, he had never seen any other person, except an +elderly servant, enter or leave the opposite flat, and he had +encountered the tenant herself so seldom that he was not quite certain +of recognizing her apart from the environment of the staircase which +provided their occasional meeting place.</p> + +<p>Then he sighed. Romance evidently denied her magic presence to one who +wooed her assiduously by his pen. He was yet to learn that the alluring +sprite had not only favored him with her attentions during the past +twenty minutes, but meant to stick to him like his own shadow for many a +day. And he frowned, too.</p> + +<p>He did not approve of that pretty girl's father visiting the attractive +Mrs. Lester in conditions which savored of something underhanded and +clandestine. The man had deliberately misled his daughter. He left her +with a lie on his lips; yet never were appearances more deceptive, for +the stranger had the outward aspect of one whose word was his bond.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dash it all, what business is it of mine, anyhow?" growled Theydon, +and he laughed sourly as he sat down to write a letter which Bates could +take to the post, thus himself practicing a slight deceit intended +solely to account for the deferred bringing of the tray.</p> + +<p>It was apparently an unimportant missive which could well have been +postponed till the morning, being merely an announcement to a firm of +publishers that he would pay a business call later in the week. In less +than five minutes it, and another, making an appointment for Wednesday, +this being the night of Monday, were written, sealed, directed and +stamped.</p> + +<p>He rang. Bates came, with laden hands, thinking the tray was in demand.</p> + +<p>"Kindly post those for me," said Theydon, glancing at the letters. +"Better take an umbrella. It's raining cats and dogs."</p> + +<p>The man had found the door open, and left it so when he entered. Before +he could answer, the door of No. 17 was opened and closed, with the +jingle inseparable from the presence of many small panes of glass in +leaden casing, and footsteps sounded on the stairs. For some +reason—probably because of the unusual fact that any one should be +leaving Mrs. Lester's flat at so late an hour, both men listened.</p> + +<p>Then Bates recollected himself.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," he said.</p> + +<p>Oddly enough, the man's marked pause suggested a question to his +employer.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Lester's visitor didn't stop long," was the comment. "He came up +almost on my heels."</p> + +<p>"I thought it must ha' bin a gentleman," said Bates.</p> + +<p>"Why a 'gentleman'?" laughed Theydon.</p> + +<p>"I mean, sir, that the step didn't sound like a lady's."</p> + +<p>"Ah, I see."</p> + +<p>Vaguely aware that he had committed himself to a definite knowledge as +to the sex of Mrs. Lester's visitor, Theydon added:</p> + +<p>"I didn't actually see any one on the stairs, but I heard an arrival, +and jumped to the same conclusion as you, Bates."</p> + +<p>Tacitly, master and man shared the same opinion—it was satisfactory to +know that Mrs. Lester's male visitors who called at the unconventional +hour of 11:30 p. m. were shown out so speedily. Innesmore Mansions were +intensely respectable.</p> + +<p>No lady could live there alone whose credentials had not satisfied a +sharp-eyed secretary. Further, Theydon was aware of a momentary +disloyalty of thought toward the distinguished-looking father of that +remarkably handsome girl, and it pleased him to find that he had erred.</p> + +<p>Bates went out, closing the door behind him: he donned an overcoat, +secured an umbrella and presently descended to the street. Yielding +again to impulse, Theydon reopened the window and peered down. The +stranger was walking away rapidly. A policeman, glistening in cape and +overalls, stood at the corner, near a pillar box.</p> + +<p>The tall man, who topped the burly constable by some inches, halted for +a moment to post a letter. Whether by accident or design he held his +umbrella so that the other could not see his face. Then he disappeared. +Bates came into view. He dropped Theydon's letters into the box, but he +and the policeman exchanged a few words, which, his employer guessed, +must surely have dealt with the vagaries of the weather.</p> + +<p>For an author of repute Theydon's surmises had been wide of the mark +several times that night. The policeman had seen the unknown coming out +from the doorway of Nos. 13-18, and had noted his stature and +appearance.</p> + +<p>"Who's the toff who just left your lot?" he said, when Bates arrived.</p> + +<p>"Dunno," said Bates. "Some one callin' on Mrs. Lester, I fancy. Why?"</p> + +<p>"O, nothing. On'y, if I was togged up regardless on a night like this +I'd blue a cab fare."</p> + +<p>"I didn't see him meself," commented Bates. "My boss 'eard him come, an' +both of us 'eard him go. He didn't stay more'n five minnits."</p> + +<p>"Wish I was in his shoes. I've got to stick round here till six in the +morning," grinned the policeman.</p> + +<p>"Well, cheer-o, mate."</p> + +<p>"Cheer-o."</p> + +<p>Bates looked in on his master before retiring for the night.</p> + +<p>"What time shall I call you, sir?" he said.</p> + +<p>Theydon was in the pipe and book stage, having exchanged his dress coat +for a smoking jacket. He was reading a treatise on aeronautics, and, +like every novice, had already formulated a flying scheme which would +supersede all known inventions.</p> + +<p>"Not later than 8," he said. "I must be out by 9. And, by the way, I may +as well tell you now. After lunch tomorrow I am going to Brooklands. I +return to Waterloo at 6:40. As I have to dine in the West End at 7:30, +and my train may be a few minutes behind time, I want you to meet me +with a suitcase at the hairdresser's place on the main platform. I'll +dress there and go straight to my friend's house. It would be cutting +things rather fine if I attempted to come here."</p> + +<p>"I'll have everything ready, sir."</p> + +<p>Bates was eminently reliable in such matters. He could be depended on to +the last stud.</p> + +<p>The storm which had raged overnight must have cleared the skies for the +following day, because Theydon never enjoyed an outing more than his +trip to the famous motor track. His business there, however, lay with +aviation. A popular magazine had commissioned him to write an article +summing up the progress and practical aims of the airmen and he was +devoting afternoon and evening to the quest of information. A couple of +experts and a photographer had given him plenty of raw material in the +open, but he looked forward with special zest to an undisturbed chat +that night with Mr. James Creighton Forbes, millionaire and +philanthropist, whose peculiar yet forcible theories as to the peaceful +conquest of the air were for the hour engaging the attention of the +world's press.</p> + +<p>He had never met Mr. Forbes. When on the point of writing for an +appointment he had luckily remembered that the great man was a lifelong +friend of the professor of physics at his (Theydon's) university, and a +delightfully cordial introductory note was forthcoming in the course of +a couple of posts. This brought the invitation to dinner. "On Tuesday +evening I am dining <i>en famille</i>," wrote Mr. Forbes, "so, if you are +free, join us at 7:30, and we can talk uninterruptedly afterward."</p> + +<p>The train was not late. Bates, erect and soldierly, was standing at the +rendezvous. With him were two men whom Theydon had never before seen. +One, a bulky, stalwart, florid-faced man of forty, had something of the +military aspect; the other supplied his direct antithesis, being small, +wizened and sallow.</p> + +<p>The big man had a round, bullet head, prominent bright blue eyes, and +the cheek bones, chin and physical development of a heavyweight +pugilist. His companion, whose dark and recessed eyes were noticeably +bright, too, could not be more than half his weight, and Theydon would +not have been surprised if told that this diminutive person was a +dancing master. Naturally he classed both as acquaintances of his valet, +encountered by chance on the platform at Waterloo.</p> + +<p>He was slightly astonished, therefore, when the two faced him, together +with Bates. A dramatic explanation of their presence was soon supplied.</p> + +<p>"These gentlemen, sir, are Chief Inspector Winter and Detective +Inspector Furneaux of Scotland Yard," said the ex-sergeant, in the awed +tone which some people cannot help using when speaking of members of the +Criminal Investigation Department.</p> + +<p>Though daylight had not yet failed it was rather dark in that corner of +the station, and Theydon saw now what he had not perceived earlier, that +the usually sedate Bates was pale and harassed looking.</p> + +<p>"Why, what's up?" he inquired, gazing blankly from one to the other of +the ominous pair.</p> + +<p>"Haven't you seen the evening papers, Mr. Theydon?" said Winter, the +giant of the two.</p> + +<p>"No, I've been at Brooklands since two o'clock. But what is it?"</p> + +<p>"You don't know, then, that a murder was committed in the Innesmore +Mansions last night or early this morning?"</p> + +<p>"Good Lord, no! Who was killed?"</p> + +<p>"A Mrs. Lester, the lady—"</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Lester, who lives in No. 17?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"What a horrible thing! Why, only the day before yesterday I met her on +the stairs."</p> + +<p>It was a banal statement, and Theydon knew it, but he blurted out the +first crazy words that would serve to cloak the monstrous thought which +leaped into his brain. And a picture danced before his mind's eye, a +picture, not of the fair and gracious woman who had been done to death, +but of a sweet-voiced girl in a white satin dress who was saying to a +fine-looking man standing by her side: "Dad, aren't you coming home with +me?"</p> + +<p>His blurred senses were conscious of the strange medley produced by the +familiar noises of a railway station blending with the quietly +authoritative voice of the chief inspector.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Furneaux and I have the inquiry in hand, Mr. Theydon," the +detective was saying. "We called at your flat, and Bates told us of the +sounds you both heard about 11:30 last night. I'm afraid we have rather +upset you by coming here, but Bates was unable to say what time you +would return home, so I thought you would not mind if we accompanied him +in order to find out the hour at which it would be convenient for you to +meet us at your flat—this evening, of course."</p> + +<p>"You have certainly given me the shock of my life," Theydon gasped. +"That poor woman dead, murdered! It's too awful! How was she killed?"</p> + +<p>"She was strangled."</p> + +<p>"O, this is dreadful! Shall I wire an apology to the man I'm dining +with?"</p> + +<p>"No need for that, Mr. Theydon," said Winter, sympathetically. "I'm +sorry now we blurted out our unpleasant news. But you had to be told, +and it was essential that we should get your story some time tonight. +Can you be home by eleven?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes. I'll be there without fail."</p> + +<p>"Thank you. We have a good many inquiries to make in the meantime. +Goodby, for the present."</p> + +<p>The two made off. Winter had done all the talking, but Theydon was far +too disturbed to pay heed to the trivial fact that Furneaux, after one +swift glance, seemed to regard him as a negligible quantity. It was +borne in on him that the detective evidently believed he had something +of importance to say, and meant to render it almost impossible that he +should escape questioning while his memory was still active with +reference to events of the previous night.</p> + +<p>And he had so little, yet so much, to tell. On his testimony alone it +would be a comparatively easy matter to establish beyond doubt the +identity of Mrs. Lester's last known visitor. And what would be the +outcome? He dared hardly trust his own too lively imagination. Whether +or not his testimony gave a clew to the police, the one irrevocable +issue was that somewhere in London there was a girl named Evelyn who +would regard a certain young man, Francis Berrold Theydon to wit, as a +loathsome and despicable Paul Pry.</p> + +<p>Bates, somewhat relieved by the departure of the emissaries of Scotland +Yard, recalled his master's scattered wits to the affairs of the moment.</p> + +<p>"It's getting on for seven, sir," he said. "I've engaged a dressing +room."</p> + +<p>"Tell you what, Bates," said Theydon abstractedly, "it is my fixed +belief that you and I could do with a brandy and soda apiece."</p> + +<p>"That would be a good idea, sir."</p> + +<p>The good idea was duly acted on. While Theydon was dressing Bates told +him what little he knew of the tragedy, which was discovered by Mrs. +Lester's maid when she brought a cup of tea to her mistress' bedroom at +ten o'clock that morning.</p> + +<p>Bates himself was the first person appealed to by the distracted woman, +and he had the good sense to leave the body and its surroundings +untouched until a doctor and the police had been summoned by telephone. +Thenceforth the day had passed in a whirl of excitement, active in +respect to police inquiries and passive in its resistance to newspaper +interviewers. He saw no valid reason why his employer's plans should be +disturbed, so made no effort to communicate with him at Brooklands.</p> + +<p>"Them 'tecs were very pressin', sir," said Bates, rather indignantly, +"very pressin', especially the little one. He almost wanted to know what +we had for breakfast."</p> + +<p>At that Theydon laughed dolefully, and, as it happened, Bates's grim +humor prevented him from ascertaining the exact nature of Furneaux's +pertinacity. Moreover, the time was passing. At 7:15 Theydon called a +taxi and was carried swiftly to Mr. Forbes's house in Belgravia, while +Bates disposed himself and the dressing case on top of a northbound +omnibus.</p> + +<p>The mere change of clothing, aided by the stimulant, had cleared +Theydon's faculties. Though he would gladly have foregone the dinner, he +realized that it was not a bad thing that he should be forced, as it +were, to wrench his thoughts from the nightmare of a crime with which +such a man as "Evelyn's" father might be associated, even innocently.</p> + +<p>At any rate, he was given some hours to marshal his forces for the +discussion with the representatives of Scotland Yard. He knew well that +he must then face the dilemma boldly. Two courses were open. He could +either share Bates's scanty knowledge, no more and no less, or avow his +ampler observations. And why should he adopt the first of these +alternatives? Was he not bringing himself practically within the law?</p> + +<p>Why should any man be shielded, no matter what his social position or +how beautiful his daughter, who might possibly have caused the death of +the pleasant-mannered and ladylike woman fated now to remain for ever a +tragic ghost in the memory of one who had dwelt under the same roof with +her for five months?</p> + +<p>It was a thorny problem, yet it permitted of only one solution. Duty +must be done though the heavens fell.</p> + +<p>This conviction grew on Theydon as his cab scurried across the Thames +and along Birdcage Walk. A pretty conceit could not be allowed to sweep +aside the first principles of citizenship. Indeed, so reassuring was +this reasoned judgment that he felt a sense of relief as he paid off the +cab and rang the bell of the Forbes mansion.</p> + +<p>He gave his name to a footman, who disposed of his overcoat and hat, and +led him to an upstairs drawing room. Even the most fleeting glances at +hall and staircase revealed evidences of a highly trained artistic taste +gratified by great wealth. The furniture, the china, the pictures, were +each and all rare and well chosen.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Theydon," announced the man, throwing wide the door.</p> + +<p>A lady, bent over some prints spread on a distant table, turned at the +words, and hastened to greet the guest.</p> + +<p>"My father is expecting you, Mr. Theydon," she said. "He was detained +rather late in the city, but will be here now at any moment."</p> + +<p>Theydon was no neurotic boy, whose surcharged nerves were liable to +crack in a crisis demanding some unusual measure of self-control. Yet +the room and its contents—and, not least, the graceful girl advancing +with outstretched hand—swam before his eyes.</p> + +<p>Because this was "Evelyn," and it was certain as the succession of night +to day that Mrs. Lester's mysterious visitor must have been "Evelyn's" +father, James Creighton Forbes.</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II<br /><br /> +THE COMPACT</h3> + +<p>So petrified was Theydon by coming face to face with the last person +breathing whom he expected to meet in that room, that he stumbled over a +small chair which lay directly between him and his hostess. At any other +time the gaucherie would have annoyed him exceedingly; in the existing +circumstances, no more fortunate incident could have happened, since it +brought Evelyn Forbes herself unwittingly to the rescue.</p> + +<p>"I have spoken twenty times about chairs being left in that absurd +position," she cried, as their hands met, "but you know how +wooden-headed servants are. They will not learn to discriminate. People +often sit in that very place of an afternoon, because any one seated +just there sees the Canaletto on the opposite wall in the best light. +When the lamps are on, the reason for the chair simply ceases to exist, +and it becomes a trap for the unwary. You are by no means the first who +has been caught in it."</p> + +<p>Theydon realized, with a species of irritation, that the girl was +discoursing volubly about the offending chair merely in order to +extricate an apparently shy and tongue-tied young man from a morass of +his own creation.</p> + +<p>That an author of some note should not only behave like a country +bumpkin, but actually seem to need encouragement so that he should "feel +at home" in a London drawing room, was a fact so ridiculous that it +spurred his bemused wits into something approaching their normal +activity.</p> + +<p>"I have not the excuse of the Canaletto," he said, compelling a pleasant +smile, "but may I plead an even more distracting vision? I came here +expecting to meet an elderly gentleman of the class which flippant +Americans describe as 'high-brow,' and I am suddenly brought face to +face with a Romney 'portrait of a lady' in real life. Is it likely that +such an insignificant object as a chair, and a small one at that, would +succeed in catching my eye?"</p> + +<p>Evelyn Forbes laughed, with a joyous mingling of surprise and relief. +Most certainly, Mr. Theydon's manner of speech differed vastly from the +disconcerting expression of positive bewilderment, if not actual fright, +which marred his entrance.</p> + +<p>"Do I really resemble a Romney? Which one?" she cried.</p> + +<p>"An admitted masterpiece."</p> + +<p>"Ah, but people who pay compliments deserve to be put on the rack. I +insist on a definition."</p> + +<p>"Lady Hamilton as Joan of Arc."</p> + +<p>He drew the bow at random, and was gratified to see that his hearer was +puzzled.</p> + +<p>"I don't know that particular picture," she said, "but I cannot imagine +any model less adapted to the subject."</p> + +<p>"Romney immortalized the best qualities of both," he answered promptly. +"Please, may I look at the Canaletto which indirectly waylaid me?"</p> + +<p>She turned to cross the room, but stopped and faced him again with a +suddenness that argued an impulsive temperament.</p> + +<p>"Now, I remember," she said. "Dad told me you had written novels and +some essays. Have you ever really seen Romney's portrait of Lady +Hamilton as Joan of Arc?"</p> + +<p>Those fine eyes of hers pierced him with a glance of such candid inquiry +that he cast pretence to the winds.</p> + +<p>"No," he said.</p> + +<p>"Then you just invented the comparison as an excuse for colliding with +the chair?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. At the same time I throw myself on the mercy of the court."</p> + +<p>"It was rather clever of you."</p> + +<p>He laughed, and their eyes met, at very close range.</p> + +<p>"May I share the joke?" said a voice, and Theydon knew, before he +turned, that the man he had last seen disappearing around the corner of +Innesmore Mansions in a heavy rainstorm was in the room.</p> + +<p>"Why did you tell me that Mr. Theydon was a serious scientific person?" +cried the girl. "He is anything but that. He can talk nonsense quite +admirably."</p> + +<p>"So can a great many serious scientific persons, Evelyn. Glad to see +you, Mr. Theydon. Professor Scarth's letter paved the way for something +more than a formal meeting, so I thought you wouldn't mind giving us an +evening. My wife is not in town. She is a martyr to hay fever, and has +to fly from London to the sea early in May to escape. If caught here in +June nothing can save her. Tonight, as it happens, you're our only +guest, but my daughter is going to a musicale at Lady de Winton's after +dinner, so you and I will be free to soar into the empyrean through a +blaze of tobacco smoke."</p> + +<p>Standing there, in that delightful drawing room, made welcome by a man +like Forbes, and admitted to a degree of charming intimacy by a girl +like Forbes's daughter, Theydon tried to believe that his meeting with +those ill-omened detectives at Waterloo Station was, in some sort, a +figment of the imagination.</p> + +<p>But he was instantly and effectually brought back to a dour sense of +reality by Evelyn Forbes's next words. She, by chance, looked at Theydon +just as she had looked at him the previous night.</p> + +<p>"Were you at Daly's Theater last night?" she inquired suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said. Then, finding there was no help for it, he went on:——</p> + +<p>"You and I have hit on the same discovery, Miss Forbes. We three stood +together at the exit. I was waiting for a taxi, and saw you get into +your car. Now you know just why I fell over the chair."</p> + +<p>Forbes glanced up quickly.</p> + +<p>"Don't tell me Tomlinson forgot to move that infernal chair again!" he +cried. "Really, I must get rid either of our butler or the Canaletto, +yet I prize both."</p> + +<p>"Don't blame Tomlinson, Dad," laughed the girl. "If Mr. Theydon hadn't +made an unconventional entry we would have talked about the weather, or +something equally stupid."</p> + +<p>At that moment Tomlinson himself, imperturbable and portly, announced +that dinner was served. The three descended the stairs, chatting lightly +about the musical comedy witnessed overnight. It was no new revelation +to Theydon that truth should prove stranger than fiction, but the trite +phrase was fast assuming a fresh and sinister personal significance. He +believed, and not without good reason, that no man living had ever +undergone an experience comparable with his present adventure.</p> + +<p>When he left that house he was going straight to two officers of the law +whose bounden duty it would become to call upon Mr. Forbes for a full +and true explanation of his visit to Mrs. Lester—provided, that is, he +(Theydon) told them what he knew. Talk about a death's-head grinning at +a feast! At that bright dinner-table he was a prey to keener emotion +than ever shook a Borgia entertaining one whom he meant to poison.</p> + +<p>In sheer self-defense he talked with an animation he seldom displayed. +Evelyn was evidently much taken by him, and, fired by her manifest +interest, he indulged in fantastic paradox and wild flights of fancy. +Seemingly his exuberance stimulated Forbes, himself a well-informed and +epigrammatic talker.</p> + +<p>An hour sped all too soon. The girl rose with a sigh.</p> + +<p>"It's too bad that I should have to go," she said. "I shall be bored +stiff at Lady de Winton's. But I can't get out of it except by telling a +positive fib over the telephone. Dad, next time you ask Mr. Theydon to +dinner, please let me know in good time, and neither of you will be rid +of me so easily."</p> + +<p>She shook hands with Theydon. While she was giving her father a parting +kiss the guest moved to the door and held it open. As she passed out she +smiled and her eyes said plainly:</p> + +<p>"I like you. Come again soon."</p> + +<p>Then she was gone and the pleasant room lost some of its glow and color.</p> + +<p>"Don't sit down again, Theydon," said Forbes, rising. "We'll have coffee +brought to my den. What is your favorite liqueur—or shall we tell +Tomlinson to send along that decanter of port? It's a first-rate wine. +Another glass won't hurt you, or me, for that matter."</p> + +<p>Theydon had hardly dared to touch the champagne supplied during the +meal. Abstemious at all times, because he found that wine or spirits +interfered with his capacity for work, he felt that a clear head and +steady nerves were called for that night more than any other night in +his life. Following the lead given by his host, therefore, he elected +for the port.</p> + +<p>"You are right, too," said Forbes. "You remember Dr. Johnson's dictum: +'Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a +hero must drink brandy'? Tonight, not aspiring to the heroic, we'll +stick to port."</p> + +<p>"It is a curious fact that on my return from Brooklands today I took a +glass of brandy," confessed Theydon. "I seldom, if ever, drink any +intoxicant before dining, but I needed a stimulant of a sort, and some +unknown tissue in me cried aloud for brandy."</p> + +<p>He hoped vaguely that the comment would lead to something more explicit, +and thus bring him, without undue emphasis, so to speak, to the one +topic on which he was now resolved to obtain a decisive statement from +the man chiefly concerned before he faced the representatives of +Scotland Yard.</p> + +<p>But Forbes, motioning to an easy chair in a well-appointed library, and +flinging himself into another, gave heed only to the one +word—Brooklands.</p> + +<p>"Did you fly?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No. I was soaking in theory, not practice."</p> + +<p>"Ah, theory. It would, indeed, seem to be true that folded away in some +convolution of our brain are the faculties of the fish and the bird. +Those latent powers are expanding daily. The submarine has already gone +far beyond the practical achievement of aerial craft. But why, in the +name of humanity, should every such development of man's almost +immeasurable resources be dedicated to warlike purposes? I am sick at +heart when I hear the first question put in these days to each inventor: +'Can you enable us to kill more of our fellowmen than we can kill with +existing appliances?' Is it a new engine, a new amalgam of metals, a new +explosive, a new field of electrical energy, one hears the same +vulture's cry—'How many, how far, how safely can we slay?' I regard +this lust for destruction as contemptible. It is a strange and +ignominious feature of modern life. Forgive me, Mr. Theydon, if I speak +strongly on this matter. The men who spread the bounds of science today +are, nominally, at any rate, Christians. They tell of peace and goodwill +to all, yet prepare unceasingly for some awful Armageddon.[*] We teach +Christ's gospel in pulpit and schoolhouse, strive to express it in our +laws, obey it in our lives and social relations, yet we are armed to the +teeth and ever arming, adding strength to the plates of our warships and +distance to the range of our guns, constantly riveting and welding and +forging monsters which shall shatter men and cities and States."</p> + +<p class="c">[*] This story was written before the outbreak of war in 1914.]</p> + +<p>It was not the younger man now who talked brilliantly and forcibly. +Theydon, frankly abandoning the effort to twist the conversation to that +enigma which, the more he saw and heard of Forbes the more incredible it +became, listened enthralled to one who spoke with the conviction and +earnestness of a prophet.</p> + +<p>"Don't imagine that I am framing an indictment against Christianity," +went on Forbes passionately. "The Sermon on the Mount inspires all that +is great and noble in our everyday existence, all that is eternally +beautiful in our dreams of the future. But why this din of war, this +smoke of arsenals, this marching and drilling of the world's youth? +Nature's law appears to have two simple clauses. It enforces a principle +in the struggle for existence, a test in the survival of the fittest. +Great heavens, are not these enough, without having our ears deafened by +powder and drumming? That is why I am devoting a good deal of time and +no small amount of money to an international crusade against the warlike +idea, and I see no reason why a beginning should not be made with the +airship and the airplane. We are too late with the submarine, but, +before the golden hour passes, let us stop the navigation of the air +from forming part of the equipment of murder. Surely it can be done. +England and the United States, Italy, France and the rest of Europe—the +founts of civilization—can write the edict, with all the blazonry of +their glorious histories to illuminate the page—There shall be no war +in the air!'"</p> + +<p>Theydon was carried away in spite of himself.</p> + +<p>"You believe that the airship might develop along the unemotional lines +of the parcel post?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>Forbes laughed.</p> + +<p>"Exactly," he said. "I like your simile. No one suggests that we Britons +should endeavor to destroy our hated rivals by sending bombs through the +mails. Why, then, in the name of common sense, should the first—I might +almost say the only use of which the airship is commonly supposed +capable—be that of destruction? Don't you see the instant result of a +war-limiting ordinance of the kind I advocate? Suppose the peoples and +the rulers declared in their wisdom that soldiers and war material +should be contraband of the air—and suppose that airships do become +vehicles of practical utility—what a farce would soon be all the grim +fortresses, the guns, the giant steel structures now designed as +floating hells! Humanity has yet time to declare that the flying machine +shall be as harmless and serviceable as the penny post. I believe it can +be done. Come now, Mr. Theydon, I think you've caught on to my +scheme—will you help?"</p> + +<p>Help! Here was a man expounding a new evangel, which might, indeed, be +visionary and impracticable, but was none the less essentially noble and +Christian in spirit, yet Theydon was debating whether or not he should +give testimony which would bring to that very room a couple of +detectives whose first questions would make clear to Forbes that he was +suspected of blood-guiltiness!</p> + +<p>The notion was so utterly repellent that Theydon sighed deeply; his host +not unnaturally looked surprised.</p> + +<p>"Of course, such a revolutionary idea strikes you as outside the pale of +common sense," he began, but the younger man stayed him with a gesture. +Here was an opportunity that must not be allowed to pass. No matter what +the cost—if he never saw Evelyn Forbes or her father again—he must +dispel the waking nightmare which held him in such an abnormal condition +of uncertainty and foreboding.</p> + +<p>"Now that your daughter is gone I may venture to speak plainly," he +said. "I told you that, I felt the need of a brandy and soda at +Waterloo. As a matter of fact, I did not leave the Brooklands track +until six o'clock, and, as Innesmore Mansions, where I live, lie north, +and I was due here at 7:30, I had my man meet me at the station with a +suitcase, meaning to change my clothes in the dressing room there, and +come straight here. Guess my astonishment when I found Bates—Bates is +the name of my factotum—in the company of two strangers, whom he +introduced as representing the Criminal Investigation Department."</p> + +<p>He paused. He had brought in his own address skilfully enough, and kept +his voice sufficiently under control that no tremor betrayed a knowledge +of Forbes's vital interest in any mention of that one block of flats +among the multitude.</p> + +<p>Now, for the first time, Innesmore Mansions figured as his abode, the +correspondence which led to the dinner having centered in his club. But +not a flicker of eyelid nor twitch of mobile lips showed the slightest +concern on Forbes's part. Rather did he display at once a well-bred +astonishment on hearing Theydon's concluding words.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean detectives from Scotland Yard?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Forbes smiled, and commenced filling a pipe.</p> + +<p>"Evidently they did not want you as a principal," he said.</p> + +<p>His tone was genial, but slightly guarded. Theydon realized that this +man of great wealth and high social position had reminded himself that +his guest, though armed with the best of credentials, was quite unknown +to him otherwise, and that, perhaps, he had acted unwisely in inviting a +stranger to his house without making some preliminary inquiry. This +reversal of their roles was a conceit so ludicrous that Theydon smiled +too.</p> + +<p>At any rate, he meant now to pursue an unpleasing task, and have done +with it.</p> + +<p>"No," he said slowly. "It seems that I am the worst sort of witness in a +murder case. I may have heard, I may even have seen, the person +suspected of committing the crime, or, if that is going too far, the +person whom the police have good reason to regard as the last who saw +the poor victim alive and in ordinary conditions. But my testimony, such +as it is, is so slight and inconclusive that, of itself, no one could +hang a cat on it."</p> + +<p>"Good gracious! That sounds interesting, though you have my sympathy. It +must be rather distressing to be mixed up in such an affair, even +indirectly."</p> + +<p>Forbes struck precisely the right note of friendly inquiry. He wished to +hear more, and was at the same time relieved to find that Professor +Scarth had not introduced a notorious malefactor in the guise of a young +writer seeking material for an article on airships!</p> + +<p>Theydon could have laughed aloud at this comedy of errors, but the fact +that at any moment it might develop into a tragedy exercises a wholesome +restraint.</p> + +<p>"I happen to live at No. 18 Innesmore Mansions," he said. "Opposite—on +the same floor, I mean—lives, or did live, a Mrs. Lester. I do not—"</p> + +<p>"Are you telling me that a Mrs. Lester of No. 17 Innesmore Mansions is +dead—has been murdered?"</p> + +<p>Forbes's voice rang out vibrant, incisive. His ordinarily pale face had +blanched, and his deep-set eyes blazed with the fire of some fierce +emotion, but, beyond the slight elevation of tone and the change of +expression, he revealed to Theydon's quietly watchful scrutiny no sign +of the terror or distress which an evildoer might be expected to show on +learning that the law's vengeance was already shadowing him, even in so +remote a way as was indicated by the presence under his roof of a +witness regarded by the police as an important one.</p> + +<p>"Yes!" stammered Theydon, quite taken aback by his companion's +vehemence. "Do you—know the lady? If so—I am sorry—I spoke so +unguardedly—"</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, man, don't apologize for that! I am not a child or +weakling, that I should flinch in horror from one of life's dramatic +surprises! But, are you sure of what you are saying? Mrs. Lester +murdered! When?"</p> + +<p>"About midnight last night, the doctor believes. That is what Bates told +me. I was so shaken on hearing his news, which was confirmed by the two +detectives, that I really gave little heed to details.... She was +strangled—a peculiarly atrocious thing where an attractive and ladylike +woman is concerned. I have never spoken to her, but have met her at odd +times on the stairs. I was immeasurably shocked, I assure you. In fact, +I was on the point of telegraphing an excuse to you for this evening, +but the Chief Inspector—Winter, I think his name is—said it would +suffice for his purpose if I met him at my flat about eleven o'clock, as +he was engaged on other inquiries which would occupy the intervening +hours."</p> + +<p>"But if the news of this dastardly crime only reached you tonight at +Waterloo Station, and you have no personal acquaintance with Mrs. +Lester, what evidence can you give that will assist the police?"</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Lester received a visitor last night, an incident so unusual that +I, who heard him arrive, and Bates, who was in my sitting room when we +both heard him depart, commented on the strangeness of it. That, I +suppose, is the reason why I am in request by Scotland Yard."</p> + +<p>"You say 'him.' How did you know it was a man? Did you see him?"</p> + +<p>"Er—that was impossible. We were in my flat, behind its closed door. +Bates and I deduced his sex from the sound of his footsteps."</p> + +<p>Again Theydon nearly stammered. Events had certainly turned in the most +amazing way. Instead of carrying himself almost in the manner of a +judge, he was figuring rather as an unwilling witness in the hands of a +skilled and merciless cross-examining counsel.</p> + +<p>"Did the police officers supply any theory of motive for the crime? Was +this poor woman killed for the sake of her few trinkets?"</p> + +<p>By this time Theydon was stung into a species of revolt. It was he, not +Forbes, who should be snapping out searching questions.</p> + +<p>"I regret to say that my nerves were not sufficiently under control at +Waterloo that I should listen carefully to each word," he said, almost +stiffly. "Bates had picked up such information as was available; but he, +though an ex-sergeant in the Army, was so upset as to be hardly +coherent. When I meet the detectives in the course of another hour I +shall probably gather something definite and reliable in the way of +details."</p> + +<p>Forbes laid the pipe which he had filled but not lighted on the table. +He poured out a glass of port and drank it.</p> + +<p>"Try that," he said, pushing the decanter toward Theydon. "They cannot +trouble you greatly. You have so little to tell."</p> + +<p>"No, thanks. Nothing more for me tonight until the Scotland Yard men +have cleared out."</p> + +<p>Forbes rose as he spoke and strode the length of the room and back with +the air of a man debating some weighty and difficult point.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Theydon," he said, at last, halting in front of the younger man and +gazing down at him with a direct intensity that was highly embarrassing +to one who had good cause to connect him with the actual crime. "I want +you to do me a favor—a great favor. It was in my mind at first to ask +you to permit me to go with you to Innesmore Mansions, and to be present +during the interview with the detectives. But a man in my position must +be circumspect. It would, perhaps, be unwise to appear too openly +interested. I don't mind telling you in confidence that I have known +Mrs. Lester many years. The shock of her death, severe as it must have +been to you, is slight as compared with my own sorrow and dismay. More +than that I dare not say until better informed. I remember now hearing +the newsboys shouting their ghoulish news, and I saw contents bills +making large type display of 'Murder of a lady,' but little did I +imagine that the victim was one whom—one whose loss I shall deplore.... +Are you on the telephone?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Theydon, thoroughly mystified anew by the announcement that +Forbes had even contemplated, or so much as hinted at, the astounding +imprudence of visiting Innesmore Mansions that night.</p> + +<p>"Ring me up when the detectives have gone. I shall esteem your +assistance during this crisis as a real service."</p> + +<p>For the life of him, Theydon could not frame the protest which ought to +have been made without delay and without hesitation.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said. "I'll do that. You can trust me absolutely."</p> + +<p>Thus was he committed to secrecy. That promise sealed his lips.</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III<br /><br /> +IN THE TOILS</h3> + +<p>Theydon, though blessed, or cursed, with an active imagination—which +must surely be the prime equipment of a novelist—was shrewd and +level-headed in dealing with everyday affairs.</p> + +<p>It was no small achievement that the son of a country rector, aided only +by a stout heart, a university education and an excellent physique—good +recommendations, each and all, but forming the stock-in-trade of many a +man on whose subsequent career "failure" is writ large—should have +forced himself to the front rank of the most overcrowded among the +professions before attaining his twenty-sixth year.</p> + +<p>It may be taken for granted, therefore, that he was not lacking in the +qualities of close observation and critical analysis. He would, for +instance, be readier than the majority of his fellows to note the small +beginnings of events destined to become important.</p> + +<p>Often, of course, his deductions would prove erroneous, but the mere +fact that he habitually exercised his wits in such a way rendered it +equally certain that his judgment would be accurate sometimes. One such +occasion presented itself a few seconds after he had left the Forbes +mansion.</p> + +<p>A taxi, summoned by a footman, was in waiting, and Theydon was crossing +the pavement when he noticed a gray landaulet car at rest beneath the +trees at some distance. Mr. Forbes's house stood in a square, and the +gray car had been drawn up on the quiet side of the roadway, being +stationed there, apparently, to await its owner's behest. Gray cars are +common enough in London, but they are usually of the touring class.</p> + +<p>Not often does one see a gray-painted landaulet; hence, the odd though +hardly remarkable fact occurred to Theydon that a precisely similar gray +automobile had occupied the center of the station yard at Waterloo when +he took a taxi from the rank.</p> + +<p>Admittedly he was in a nervous and excited state. It could hardly be +otherwise after the strain of that astounding conversation with Forbes, +and there was no prospect of the tension being relaxed until the close +of the interview with the detectives, which he now regarded as the worse +ordeal of the two.</p> + +<p>But this subconscious neurasthenia in no wise affected the reflex action +of his ordinary faculties. When, on leaving the square, and while his +cab was rattling along an aristocratic thoroughfare leading to +Knightsbridge, he peered through a tiny observation window in the back +of the vehicle, and ascertained that the gray car was stealing along +quietly about a hundred yards in the rear, he began to believe that its +presence both at Waterloo and outside Mr. Forbes's residence could not +be wholly accidental. When he had watched its persistent treading on his +heels along Piccadilly its intent became almost unmistakable.</p> + +<p>The route to Innesmore Mansions traversed some of London's main +arteries, but, despite the rush of traffic due to the first flight of +homeward-bound playgoers, the gray car kept steadily on his track. +Amused at first, he became angry because of a notion which grew out of +the wonderment of finding himself the object of this persistent +espionage.</p> + +<p>To make sure, and at the same time discover the sort of person who was +spying on him, he adopted a ruse. Leaning out, when about to cross +Oxford Street into Tottenham Court Road, he said to his driver: "Turn +sharp to the right in Store Street, and pull up. I'll tell you when to +go on again."</p> + +<p>The man obeyed. Theydon posted himself at the outer window, and in a +space of time so short that the excellence of the gray car's accelerator +was amply demonstrated, the pursuer swung into sight. A stolid-faced +chauffeur at the wheel did not appear discomfited at coming on his +quarry thus unexpectedly. He whirled past, seemingly quite oblivious of +Theydon's fixed stare. Though the weather was mild he wore an overcoat +with upturned collar, so that between its protecting flaps and a +low-peaked cap his face was well hidden. Still, Theydon received an +impression of a curiously wooden physiognomy.</p> + +<p>The man might have been an automaton for all the heed he gave to the +taxi or its inquisitive occupant. But his aspect was almost forgotten in +the far stranger discovery that the car was empty. Both windows were +open, and the bright lights of a corner shop flashed into the interior, +yet not a soul was visible. Moreover, the car sped on unhesitatingly, +stopping some two hundred yards ahead.</p> + +<p>So far as Theydon could tell, no one alighted. He jotted down the +number—XY 1314—on his shirt cuff.</p> + +<p>"Did you happen to see that car waiting near the house I came from?" he +said to the taxi man, who, of course, provided an interested audience of +one.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," was the ready answer. "It's not a London car. I've never +seen them letters afore."</p> + +<p>"In other words, it may be a faked number."</p> + +<p>"Likely enough, sir, but rather risky. The police are quick at spotting +that sort of thing."</p> + +<p>"Can you take a hand in the game? I want to know where that car goes +to."</p> + +<p>The man grinned.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't like to humbug you, sir. That there machine can lose me +quicker'n a Derby winner could pass a keb horse. Didn't you hear the hum +of the engine as it went by?"</p> + +<p>"Thanks. Now go ahead to Innesmore Mansions."</p> + +<p>He was paying the driver when the gray car stole quietly past the end of +the street, and that was the last he saw of it.</p> + +<p>"There it goes again, sir," said the man. "Tell you wot, gimme your name +an' address. I'll make a few inquiries, an' keep me eyes open as well. +Then, if I hear anythink, I'll let you know."</p> + +<p>Theydon scribbled the number of his flat on a card.</p> + +<p>"There you are," he said. "Even if I happen to be out, I'll leave +instructions that you are to be paid half a crown for your trouble if +you call. By the way, what is your name?"</p> + +<p>"Evans, sir."</p> + +<p>There was really little doubt in Theydon's mind as to the reason why he +had been followed. He was fuming about it when Bates met him in the hall +of No. 18 with the whisper:</p> + +<p>"Them two are waiting here now, sir."</p> + +<p>Theydon glanced at his watch. The hour was ten minutes past eleven.</p> + +<p>"Sorry I'm late, gentlemen," he said, on entering the sitting room and +finding the detectives seated at his table, seemingly comparing notes, +because the Chief Inspector was talking, while Furneaux, the diminutive, +was glancing at a notebook.</p> + +<p>"We have no reason to complain of being kept waiting a few minutes in +such comfortable quarters," said Winter pleasantly.</p> + +<p>"O, I fancy I was detained by some zealous assistant of yours," said +Theydon, determined to carry the war into the enemy's territory.</p> + +<p>At that Furneaux looked up quickly.</p> + +<p>"Will you kindly tell me just what you mean, Mr. Theydon?" said Winter.</p> + +<p>"Why? Is it news to you that a gray limousine car stalked me from +Waterloo to—to my friend's house, waited there three hours or more, and +has carefully escorted me home? I dislike that sort of thing. Moreover, +it strikes me as stupid. I didn't kill Mrs. Lester. It will save you and +me a good deal of time and worry if you accept that plain statement as a +fact."</p> + +<p>"Won't you sit down?" said Winter quietly. "And—may I smoke? I didn't +like to ask Bates for permission to light up in your absence."</p> + +<p>Theydon was not to be outdone in coolness. He opened a corner cupboard +and produced various boxes.</p> + +<p>"The cigars are genuine Havanas," he said. "A birthday present from a +maiden aunt, who is wise enough to judge the quality of tobacco by the +price. Here, too, are Virginian, Turkish and Egyptian cigarettes."</p> + +<p>Winter inspected the cigars gravely.</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" he cried, his big eyes bulging in joyous surprise. "Last +year's crop from the Don Juan y Guerrero plantation. Treasure that aunt +of yours, Mr. Theydon. None but herself can be her equal."</p> + +<p>Theydon saw that the little man did not follow his chief's example.</p> + +<p>"Don't you smoke?" he said.</p> + +<p>"No, but if you'll not be horrified, I would like to smell one of those +Turks."</p> + +<p>"Smell it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. That is the only way to enjoy the aroma and avoid nicotine +poisoning. My worthy chief dulls a sound intellect by the cigar habit. +What is worse, he excites a nervous system which is normally somewhat +bovine. You, also, I take it, are a confirmed smoker, so both of you are +at cross-purposes already."</p> + +<p>Furneaux's voice was pitched in the curious piping note usually +associated with comic relief in a melodrama, but his wizened face was +solemn as a red Indian's. It was Theydon who smiled. His preconceived +ideas as to the appearance and demeanor of the London detective were +shattered. Really, there was no need to take these two seriously.</p> + +<p>Winter, while lighting the cigar, grinned amiably at his colleague. +Furneaux passed a cigarette to and fro under his nostrils and sniffed. +Theydon reached for a pipe and tobacco jar and drew up a chair.</p> + +<p>"Well," he said, "it is not my business to criticise your methods. I +have very little to tell you. I suppose Bates—"</p> + +<p>"The really important thing is this car which followed you tonight," +broke in Winter. "The details are fresh in your memory. What type of car +was it? Did you see the driver and occupants? What's its number?"</p> + +<p>Theydon had not expected these questions. He looked his astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Ha!" cackled Furneaux. "What did I tell you?"</p> + +<p>"O, shut up!" growled Winter. "I am asking just what you yourself are +itching to know."</p> + +<p>"May I take it that the car has not been dogging me by your +instructions?" said Theydon. He was inclined to be skeptical, yet the +Chief Inspector seemed to have spoken quite candidly.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Winter, meeting the other's glance squarely. "We have no +reason on earth to doubt the truth of anything you have said, or may +say, with regard to this inquiry. The car is not ours. This is the first +we have heard of it. We accepted your word, Mr. Theydon, that you were +dining with a friend. Perhaps you will tell us now what his name is and +where he lives."</p> + +<p>Theydon hesitated the fraction of a second. That, he knew instantly, was +a blunder, so he proceeded to rectify it.</p> + +<p>"I was dining with Mr. James Creighton Forbes, of No. 11, Fortescue +Square," he said. "Probably you are acquainted with his name, so you +will realize that if my evidence proves of the slightest value I would +not like any reference to be made to the fact that I was his guest +tonight."</p> + +<p>"I don't see how that can possibly enter into the matter, except in its +bearing on this mysterious car."</p> + +<p>Though Winter was taking the lead, Theydon was aware that Furneaux, who +had given him scant attention hitherto, was now looking at him fixedly. +He imagined that the queer little man was all agog to learn something +about the automobile which had thrust itself so abruptly into the +affair.</p> + +<p>"Exactly," he agreed. "I visited Mr. Forbes tonight for the first time. +We are mutually interested in aviation. That is why I went to Brooklands +today, and the invitation to dinner was the outcome of a letter of +introduction given me by Professor Scarth."</p> + +<p>Then, thinking he had said enough on that point, he described the gray +car and its stolid-faced chauffeur to the best of his ability. He told +of the brief chat with the taxi driver and its result.</p> + +<p>"Good!" nodded Winter. "I'm glad you did that. It may help. I am +doubtful of any information turning up, but you never can tell. The +number plate, at any rate, is certainly misleading. Now, about last +night? Try and be as accurate as possible with regard to time. Can you +give us the exact hour when you returned home?"</p> + +<p>"I happened to note by the clock on the mantelpiece that I came in at +11:35."</p> + +<p>Winter compared the clock's time with his watch.</p> + +<p>"You had been to a theater?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Yes—Daly's."</p> + +<p>"It was raining heavily. Did you take a cab?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Were you delayed? The piece ended at 11:05."</p> + +<p>"My cab met with a slight accident."</p> + +<p>"What sort of accident?"</p> + +<p>Theydon explained.</p> + +<p>"In all likelihood you can discover the driver," he smiled, "and he will +establish my alibi."</p> + +<p>His tone seemed to annoy Furneaux, who broke in:</p> + +<p>"Don't you write novels?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Sensational?"</p> + +<p>"Occasionally."</p> + +<p>"Then you ought to be tickled to death, as the Americans say, at being +mixed up in a first-rate murder. This is no ordinary crime. Several +people will be older and wiser before the culprit is found and hanged."</p> + +<p>"What Mr. Furneaux has in mind," purred Winter cheerfully, "is the +curious habit of some witnesses when questioned by the police. They arm +themselves against attack, as it were. You see, Mr. Theydon, we suspect +nobody. We try to ascertain facts, and hope to deduce a theory from +them. Over and over again we are mistaken. We are no more astute than +other men. Our sole advantage is a wide experience of criminal methods. +The detective of romance—if you'll forgive the allusion—simply doesn't +exist in real life."</p> + +<p>"I accept the rebuke," said Theydon. "I suppose the gray car was still +rankling in my mind. From this moment I start afresh. At any rate, the +man who brought me from the theater might check my recollection of the +time."</p> + +<p>Winter nodded. He was evidently pleased that Theydon was inclined to +share his view of the difficulties Scotland Yard encountered in its +fight against malefactors.</p> + +<p>"Did you see or meet any one in particular while your car approached +these mansions, or when you ascended the stairs?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Theydon.</p> + +<p>He perceived intuitively that if the detectives found the driver of the +taxi which brought him from the theater it was possible the man might +have noticed Forbes, who had certainly been scrutinized a few minutes +later by a policeman, so he hastened to add:</p> + +<p>"You said 'any one in particular.' I did see a tall, well-dressed +gentleman at the corner of the street, but there is nothing remarkable +in that."</p> + +<p>"Which way was he heading?"</p> + +<p>"In this direction."</p> + +<p>"Then it is conceivable that he might be the man who called on Mrs. +Lester?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Aren't you pretty sure he was the man?"</p> + +<p>Theydon permitted himself to look astonished.</p> + +<p>"I?" he said. "How can I be sure? If you mean that, judging from the +interval of time between my seeing him at the corner and the sound of +footsteps on the stairs, followed by the opening of the door at No. 17, +it could be he, I accept that."</p> + +<p>Winter nodded again. Apparently he was content with Theydon's +correction.</p> + +<p>"As the weather was bad, you probably hurried in when your cab stopped?" +he said.</p> + +<p>"That is equivalent to saying you credit me with sense enough to get in +out of the wet," smiled Theydon.</p> + +<p>"Just so. And you wore an overcoat, which you removed on entering your +hall?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," and Theydon's tone showed a certain bewilderment at these +trivialities.</p> + +<p>"Then if you paid no special heed to the movements of the tall gentleman +you have mentioned, why did you open one of these windows and look out +soon after Bates went to the post?"</p> + +<p>Theydon flushed like a schoolboy caught by a master under circumstances +which youth generally describes as "a clean cop."</p> + +<p>"How on earth do you know I looked out?" he almost gasped.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you willingly. The discovery was Mr. Furneaux's, not mine. +When we came here this morning, and ascertained that you had been out at +a late hour last night, we asked your man if he could enlighten us as to +your movements. He did so. To the best of his belief you dined at a +club, and occupied a stall at Daly's Theater subsequently. He was sure, +too, you had not walked home through the rain, so it was easy to draw +the conclusion that you returned in a covered vehicle. Mr. Furneaux +requested Bates to produce the clothes you had worn, which, owing to the +uproar created by the news of the murder, had not been brushed and put +away. As a consequence the silk collar and part of the back of your +dress-coat bore the marks of raindrops. How had they got there? The only +logical deduction was that you had thrust your head and shoulders +through a window, and the time of the action is established almost +beyond doubt, because you had changed the coat when Bates came from the +pillar-box. It was either directly after you came in, or while Bates was +absent. Of course you may have looked out twice. Did you? Whether once +or twice, why did you do it?"</p> + +<p>Theydon's feelings changed rapidly while Winter was delivering this very +convincing analysis of a few simple facts. He had passed at a bound from +the detected schoolboy stage to that of a man forcing his way through a +thicket who finds himself on the very lip of a precipice.</p> + +<p>He remembered hazily that Bates had said something at Waterloo with +regard to the manner in which the detectives, especially Furneaux, had +questioned him. But it was too late to apply the warning thus conveyed. +If he faltered now he was forever discredited. These men would read his +perplexed face as if it were a printed page. In his distress he was +prepared to hear Winter or that little satyr, Furneaux, say mockingly:</p> + +<p>"Why are you trying to screen James Creighton Forbes? What is he to you? +What matter his fame or social rank? We are here to see that justice is +done. Out with the truth, let who may suffer."</p> + +<p>But neither of the pair said anything of the sort. Furneaux only +interjected a sarcastic comment.</p> + +<p>"You will observe, Mr. Theydon, that even in a minor instance of +deductive reasoning, such as this, the man who smells rather than the +man who smokes tobacco solves the problem promptly."</p> + +<p>Theydon threw out his hands in token of surrender. He thought he saw a +means of escape, and took it unhesitatingly.</p> + +<p>"I'm vanquished," he said. "You force me to admit that I do know a +little, a very little, more than I have confessed hitherto about the man +who visited Mrs. Lester's flat last night. I have said nothing about the +matter thus far because I didn't want to be convicted of a piece of idle +curiosity worthy of a gossip-loving housemaid. I noticed the man I have +described staring at the name tablet of the street as my cab turned the +corner. I did not know him. I had never seen him before last night, but +he was of such distinguished appearance and his face was of so rare a +type that I was interested and wished to ascertain, if possible, on whom +he meant calling if, as it seemed, he was searching for an address in +these flats. Therefore, I did look out, and saw him enter the doorway +beneath. In due course I heard him arrive at Mrs. Lester's door—that +is, I assume it was he. Five minutes later Bates and I heard him depart. +To make sure, I looked out a second time. If you ask me why I behaved in +that way I cannot tell you. I have occupied this flat during the past +five months, and I have never previously, within my recollection, lifted +a window and gazed out to watch anybody's comings and goings. The thing +is inexplicable. All I can say is that it just happened."</p> + +<p>"Would you recognize him if you saw him again?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Theydon gave the assurance readily. It was beyond credence that either +detective should put the one question to which he was now firmly +resolved to give a misleading answer, and in this belief he was +justified, since not even Furneaux's uncanny intelligence could suggest +the fantastic notion that the man who walked through the rain the +previous night and the man with whom Theydon had dined that evening were +one and the same person.</p> + +<p>"I don't blame you for adopting a policy of partial concealment," said +the Chief Inspector, spryly. "You are not the first, and you certainly +will not be the last witness from whom the police have to drag the +facts. Now that we have reached more intimate terms, can you help by +describing this stranger?"</p> + +<p>Theydon complied at once. He drew just such a general sketch of Forbes +as a skilled observer of men might be expected to formulate after one +direct glance close at hand, supplemented by a view into a lamp-lit +street from a second-storey window on a rainy night.</p> + +<p>"So far, so good," said Winter. "You have contrived to fill in several +details lacking in the description supplied by a policeman who chanced +to be standing at the corner when Mrs. Lester's visitor posted a letter. +Did you notice that?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Indeed, I believed that, whether intentionally or not, he held an +open umbrella at an angle which prevented the constable from seeing his +face."</p> + +<p>"In fact, it's marvellous what you really do know when your memory is +jogged," snapped Furneaux.</p> + +<p>Theydon did not resent the sarcasm. He smiled candidly into the little +detective's eyes.</p> + +<p>"I suppose I deserve that," he said meekly.</p> + +<p>"Why did you hide your knowledge of Mrs. Lester's visitor from your man +Bates?"</p> + +<p>"I was rather ashamed of the subterfuge adopted in order to get him out +of the room while I opened the window the first time."</p> + +<p>"That was understandable last night, but I fail to follow your reasoning +for a policy of silence when we told you at Waterloo that Mrs. Lester +had been killed."</p> + +<p>"I was utterly taken aback by your news. I wanted time to think. I never +meant to hide any material fact at this interview."</p> + +<p>"You have contrived to delay and hamper our inquiry for twelve +hours—twenty-four in reality. I can't make you out, Mr. Theydon. You +would never have said a word about your very accurate acquaintance with +this mysterious stranger's appearance had not last night's rainstorm +left its legible record on your clothes. Do you now vouch for it that +the man was completely unknown to you?"</p> + +<p>"You are pleased to be severe, Mr. Furneaux, but, having placed myself +in a false position, I must accept your strictures. I assure you, on my +honor, that the man I saw was an absolute stranger."</p> + +<p>Happily, Theydon was under no compulsion to choose his words. He met the +detective's searching gaze unflinchingly. Fate, after terrifying him, +had been kind. If Furneaux had expressed himself differently—if, for +instance, he had said: "Had you ever before seen the man?" or "Have you +now any reason for believing that you know his name?"—he would have +forced Theydon's hand in a way he was far from suspecting.</p> + +<p>"It may surprise you to hear," piped the shrill, cracked voice, "that +there are dozens of policemen walking about London who would arrest you +on suspicion had you treated them as you have treated us."</p> + +<p>"Then I can only say that I am fortunate in my inquisitors," smiled +Theydon.</p> + +<p>Winter held up a massive fist in deprecation of these acerbities.</p> + +<p>"You have nothing more to tell us?" he queried.</p> + +<p>"Nothing!"</p> + +<p>"Then we need not trouble you further tonight. Of course, if luck favors +us and we find the gentleman with the classical features—the most +unlikely person to commit a murder I have ever heard of—we shall want +you to identify him."</p> + +<p>"I am at your service at any time. But before you go won't you enlighten +me somewhat? What did really happen? I have not even seen a newspaper +account of the crime."</p> + +<p>"Would you care to examine No. 17?"</p> + +<p>It was Furneaux who put the question, and Theydon was genuinely +astonished.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean—" he began, but Furneaux laughed, almost savagely.</p> + +<p>"I mean Mrs. Lester's flat," he said. "The poor woman's body is at the +mortuary. If you come with us we can reconstruct the crime. It occurred +about this very hour if the doctor's calculations are well founded."</p> + +<p>Theydon rose.</p> + +<p>"I shall be most—interested," he said. "By the way, Mr. Furneaux, yours +is a French name. Are you a Frenchman, may I ask?"</p> + +<p>"A Jersey man. You think I am adopting some of the methods of the French +<i>juge d'instruction</i>, eh?"</p> + +<p>"No. I cannot bring myself to believe that you regard me as a murderer."</p> + +<p>The three passed out into the hall. Mr. and Mrs. Bates immediately +showed scared faces at the kitchen door.</p> + +<p>"It's all right, Bates," said Theydon airily. "I'm not a prisoner. I'll +be with you again in a few minutes."</p> + +<p>But Bates was profoundly disturbed.</p> + +<p>"Wot beats me," he said to his wife when they were alone, "is why that +little ferret wanted to see the guv'nor's clothes. I looked 'em over +carefully afterwards, an' there wasn't a speck on 'em except some spots +of rain on the coat collar. It's a queer business, no matter how you +look at it. Mr. Theydon's manner was strange when he kem in last night. +He seemed to be list'nin' for something. I don't know wot to make of it, +Eliza. I reely don't."</p> + +<p>In effect, since no man is a hero to his valet, what would Tomlinson, +butler at No. 11 Fortescue Square, have thought of his master if told +that Mrs. Lester's last known visitor was James Creighton Forbes?</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV<br /><br /> +A TELEPHONIC TALK AND ITS CONSEQUENCES</h3> + +<p>Theydon's journalistic experiences had been, for the most part, those of +the "special correspondent," or descriptive writer. He had never entered +one of those fetid slums of a great city in which, too often, murder is +done, never sickened with the physical nausea of death in its most +revolting aspect, when some unhappy wretch's foul body serves only to +further pollute air already vile.</p> + +<p>It was passing strange, therefore, that Winter had no sooner opened the +door of No. 17 than the novice of the party became aware of a heavy, +pungent scent which he associated with some affrighting and unclean +thing. At first he swept aside the phantasy. Strong as he was, his +nervous system had been subjected to severe strain that evening. He knew +well that the mind can create its own specters, that the five senses can +be subjugated by forces which science has not as yet either measured or +defined.</p> + +<p>Moreover, he was standing in a hall furnished with a taste and quiet +elegance that must surely indicate similar features in each room of a +suite which, in other respects, bore an almost exact resemblance of his +own apartments. In sheer protest against the riot of an overwrought +imagination he brushed a hand across his eyes.</p> + +<p>The chief inspector noted the action.</p> + +<p>"You will find nothing grewsome here, I assure you," he said, quietly. +"Beyond a few signs of hurried rummaging of drawers and boxes there is +absolutely no indication of a crime having been committed."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Theydon came prepared to see ghosts," squeaked Furneaux. "Evidently +he is not acquainted with the peculiar smell of a joss stick."</p> + +<p>Theydon turned troubled eyes on the wizened little man who seemed to +have the power of reading his secret thought.</p> + +<p>"A joss stick," he repeated. "Isn't that some sort of incense used by +Chinese in their temples?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Furneaux.</p> + +<p>"Lots of ladies burn them in their boudoirs nowadays," explained Winter +offhandedly.</p> + +<p>"The Chinese burn them to propitiate evil spirits," murmured Furneaux. +"The Taou gods are mostly deities of a very unpleasant frame of mind. +The mere scowl of one of them from a painted fan suggests novel and +painful forms of torture. I've seen Shang Ti grinning at me from a +porcelain vase, otherwise exquisite, and felt my hair rising."</p> + +<p>"I do wish you wouldn't talk nonsense, Charles," said Winter, frowning +heavily.</p> + +<p>"Am I talking nonsense, Mr. Theydon?" demanded Furneaux. "Didn't your +flesh creep when that queer perfume assailed your nostrils, which are +not yet altogether atrophied by the reek of thousands of rank cigars?"</p> + +<p>"Stop it!" commanded Winter, throwing open a door.</p> + +<p>"And they christened him Leander—Leander, who swam the Hellespont for +love of a woman!" muttered Furneaux.</p> + +<p>Theydon began to believe that both detectives were cranks of the first +order. Furneaux, whose extraordinary insight he actually feared, was +obviously an excellent example of the alliance between insanity and +genius. In a word, he failed, and not unreasonably, to understand that +when the Jersey man was mouthing a strange jargon of knowledge and +incoherence, and Winter was inclined to be snappy with his subordinate, +and each was more than rude to the other, they were then giving tongue +like hounds hot on the trail.</p> + +<p>Winter's Christian names were James Leander, the latter being conferred +for no more classical reason than his father's association with a famous +boating club, but the fact supplied Furneaux with material for many a +quip. These things Theydon learnt later. At present he was giving all +his attention to Winter, who led the way into a dainty furnished +bedroom. The electric lights were governed by two switches. A pair of +lamps occupied the usual place in front of a dressing table; a third was +suspended from a canopy over the bed, and was controlled also by an +alternate switch behind the bolster. Winter turned on all three lights, +so the room was brilliantly illuminated.</p> + +<p>Any place less likely to become the scene of a brutal crime could hardly +be imagined. It looked exactly what it was, the bedchamber of a refined +and well-bred woman, whose trained sense of color and design was shown +by the harmony of carpet, rugs, wall paper and furniture.</p> + +<p>Winter pointed to a slight depression on the side of the bed. A white +linen coverlet was rumpled as though some one had sat there.</p> + +<p>"That is where Ann Rogers, the maid, found her mistress at ten o'clock +this morning," he said. "As you see, the bed had not been slept in. +Indeed, Mrs. Lester was fully dressed. My belief is that she was pounced +on the instant she entered the room—probably to retire for the +night—strangled before she could utter a sound, and flung here when +dead."</p> + +<p>Again Theydon was aware of the subtle, penetrating, and not wholly +unpleasing scent which Furneaux had attributed to the burning of a joss +stick, but his mind was focused on the detective's words, which +suggested a queer discrepancy between certain vague possibilities +already flitting through his brain and the terrible drama as it +presented itself to a skilled criminologist.</p> + +<p>"But," he said, almost protestingly, "from what I have seen of Mrs. +Lester she was a strong and active woman. It is inconceivable that the +man who came here last night could have murdered her while I was writing +two brief notes. I am positive he did not remain five minutes, and Bates +or I, or both of us, must have heard some trampling of feet, some +indications of a struggle. Moreover, you think she was about to retire. +Doesn't that opinion conflict with the known facts?"</p> + +<p>"What known facts?"</p> + +<p>"Well—or—those I have mentioned. The brief visit, the open nature of +the arrival and departure, the posting of a letter, which, by the way, +may have been written in his presence."</p> + +<p>"It was."</p> + +<p>Theydon positively jumped. He would not be surprised now if Forbes's +name came out.</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Lester wrote to an aunt in Oxfordshire, a lady who lives in the +village of Iffley, near the first lock on the Thames below Oxford. As it +happened, this aunt, a Miss Beale, was lunching with a friend in Oxford +today, and some one showed her an early edition of a London evening +newspaper containing an account of the murder. Instead of yielding to +hysteria, and passing from one fainting fit into another, Miss Beale had +the rare good sense to go straight to the police station. One of our men +has interviewed her this evening, and she is coming here tomorrow, but +in the meantime the Oxford police telephoned the gist of the letter, +which is headed 'Monday, 11:30 p. m.' The hour is not quite accurate, +but near enough, since the context shows that a 'friend' had just called +and given certain information which had determined the writer to leave +London 'to-morrow'—meaning today—'or Wednesday at latest.' So you see, +Mr. Theydon, if the unknown is an honest man, he will soon hear of the +hue and cry raised by the murder, and declare himself to the police. +Indeed, for all I know, he may have reported himself to the Yard +already. In that event you will probably meet him again quite soon."</p> + +<p>An electric bell jarred at the end of the main passage. It smote on +their ears with the loud emphasis of a pistol shot. Even the detectives +were startled, and Winter said, in a tone of distinct annoyance:</p> + +<p>"Go and see who the deuce that is, Furneaux."</p> + +<p>Furneaux returned promptly with Bates, pallid and apologetic.</p> + +<p>"Beg pardon, sir," said the intruder, addressing Theydon, but allowing +his eyes to roam furtively about the room as though he expected to see +something ghoul-like and sinister, "Mr. Forbes has rung up—"</p> + +<p>Theydon's voice literally quavered. For the first time in his life he +knew why a woman shrieks in the stress of sudden excitement.</p> + +<p>"Tell Mr. Forbes I am still engaged with the gentlemen from Scotland +Yard," he gasped. "I'll give him a call the moment I'm free. He will +understand. Anyhow, I can't explain further now."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," and Bates disappeared.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Forbes? The gentleman you were dining with?" inquired Winter.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Theydon. He knew he ought to add something by way of +explanation, but his heart was thumping madly, and he dared not trust +his voice.</p> + +<p>"You told him, I suppose, that Scotland Yard was worrying you, and he +wants to know the result?"</p> + +<p>Then Theydon saw an avenue of escape, and took it eagerly.</p> + +<p>"I spoke of the murder, of course," he said, "but Mr. Forbes was hardly +interested. He had seen the newspaper placards, and that was all he knew +of it. The truth is, he is wholly wrapped up in a scheme for reforming +mankind by excluding airships and aeroplanes from warlike operations, +and found me a somewhat preoccupied listener. He wants my help, such as +it is, and I have no doubt the present call is a preliminary to another +meeting tomorrow."</p> + +<p>"Why not go to him? We'll wait. We can do nothing more tonight after +leaving here."</p> + +<p>"Speaking candidly, I am not in a mood to discuss such visionary +projects. I shall be glad if Mr. Forbes has gone to bed when I do ring +him up."</p> + +<p>Winter shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, Mr. Theydon, but I am older than you, and may 'venture on +advice,'" he said. "A writer who has his way to make in the world cannot +afford to slight a man of Mr. Forbes's standing. Go to him at once. It +will please him. Don't hurry."</p> + +<p>Theydon realized that a continued refusal would certainly set Furneaux's +wits at work, and he dreaded the outcome. He went without another word. +When the outer door had closed behind him Winter turned to Furneaux.</p> + +<p>"Well?" he said.</p> + +<p>For answer Furneaux waved a hand and tiptoed into the hall. Waiting +until he heard the door of No. 18 slam he opened the latch of No. 17 so +cautiously that no sound was forthcoming. Soon he had an ear to +Theydon's letter box and was following attentively a one-sided +conversation.</p> + +<p>Now, Theydon had thought hard during the few strides from one flat to +the other. His telephone was fixed close to the party wall dividing the +two sets of apartments and he was not certain that, in the absolute +quietude prevailing in Innesmore Mansions at that late hour, a voice +could not be overheard. True, he did not count on Furneaux playing the +eavesdropper at the slit of the letter box, but he resolved to take no +risks and say nothing that any one could make capital of.</p> + +<p>So, when he had asked the exchange to reconnect him with the caller who +had just rung up, and he was put through, this is what Furneaux heard:</p> + +<p>"That you, Mr. Forbes. Sorry I sent my man just now with a message that +must leave sounded rather curt, but the Scotland Yard people kindly +excused me, so I can give you a minute or two.... No, I'm sorry, but I +cannot come to luncheon tomorrow, nor go to Brooklands again this week. +You see, this dreadful murder which I spoke of will necessitate my +presence at an inquest, and the police seem to attach much significance +to the visit to Mrs. Lester last night of a man whom I saw in the +street, and whom Bates and I heard entering and leaving the poor lady's +flat.... Bates? O, he is my general factotum. He and his wife keep house +for me.... Yes, I'll gladly let you know the earliest date when I'll be +free. Then you and I can go into the flying proposition thoroughly.... +No. The detectives have apparently not got any clew to the murderer, nor +even discovered any motive for the crime. They have taken me into No. +17. In fact, I was there when your call was made.... The murderer +ransacked the place thoroughly, but did not touch money or jewelry, I +understand. The only peculiar thing, if I may so describe it, about the +place, is the scent of a burnt joss stick. It clings to the passage and +the bedroom in which the body was found.... Ah, by the way, Mrs. Lester +wrote a letter, which her visitor posted, and the addressee, her aunt, +is in communication with the police. The text tends to clear the man of +suspicion.... Yes, if, by chance, I find myself at liberty tomorrow, +I'll 'phone you at your city office. I'll find the number in the +directory, of course?... O, thanks—I'll jot it down—00400 Bank.... +Goodnight! Too bad that this wretched affair should interfere with our +crusade, which, the more I think of it, the stronger it appeals. <i>Au +revoir</i>, then."</p> + +<p>In reality, Forbes had not said one word about his peace propaganda, but +he had evidently been quick to realize that Theydon was purposely giving +their talk a twist in that direction. A muttered "I +understand—perfectly," showed this, and he did not strive to conceal +the alarm which possessed him when Theydon spoke of the joss stick. He +murmured distinctly, "Great Heavens! Then I was not mistaken," and again +voiced his distress on hearing of the letter.</p> + +<p>But he made matters easy by pressing Theydon to come and see him on the +morrow, either at his office in Old Broad Street or at his residence. On +the whole, Theydon did not care who heard what he had said, but it was a +relief to find that he had to ring for readmission to No. 17.</p> + +<p>Furneaux opened the door.</p> + +<p>"You soon got rid of your friend, then?" said the detective, while they +were on the way to rejoin Winter.</p> + +<p>"Yes. It was just what I imagined—a pressing invitation to plunge +forthwith into Mr. Forbes's project for the regeneration of mankind. I +had to tell him frankly that you gentlemen had first claim on me. I +suppose I shall be wanted at the inquest?"</p> + +<p>"Not tomorrow. The coroner will hear the medical evidence, and that of +Ann Rogers, if she is in a condition to appear, and there will be an +adjournment for a week."</p> + +<p>"Ah, that reminds me. Didn't Mrs. Lester's servant admit the visitor +last night?"</p> + +<p>Theydon put the question advisedly. He was calmer now, and had made up +his mind as to the course he should pursue. Although he had assured +Winter that he would recognize the stranger if confronted with him, and, +if Forbes was brought into the inquiry, the admission might prove +awkward, he meant to say that he had, indeed, noticed a remarkable +resemblance in the millionaire to the man he had seen looking up at the +name tablet on the corner, but felt that the likeness was only one of +those singular coincidences which abound in a cosmopolitan city.</p> + +<p>The smartest cross-examiner at the bar could not shake him if he took +that stand. The sheer improbability of Forbes being the mysterious +visitor would justify his attitude, and the notion was so consoling that +he faced the two detectives with new confidence and a self-possession +that was exceedingly pleasant when compared, with his earlier +embarrassment.</p> + +<p>"No," said Winter. "By a most remarkable chance, Ann Rogers was given +leave to spend the night with her father, who lives in Camden Town. He +is an old man and was taken ill last evening. He believes he asked some +one to telegraph to his daughter, asking her to come to him. She +certainly received a telegram and as certainly did visit him. Of course, +that phase of the affair will be cleared up thoroughly, but the main +facts are indisputable. Ann Rogers has her own latchkey. As Mrs. Lester +usually sat up late, being a lover of books, and seldom stirred before +ten o'clock, the maid waited until that hour before bringing her +mistress's cup of tea. That stain on the carpet near the door shows +where the tray fell from her hands."</p> + +<p>Sometimes an artist obtains the strongest effect by one deft sweep of +the brush. Winter, though he would have blushed if described as an +artist in words, had achieved a similar result by his concluding +sentence. Theydon pictured the scene. He saw the limp form thrown across +the bed, the distorted face, the hands and arms posed grotesquely.</p> + +<p>He heard the shrill scream of the terrified servant, an elderly woman +whom Bates described as "a quiet body," and could imagine the clatter of +the laden tray as it dropped from nerveless fingers. A sort of fury rose +within him. Mrs. Lester had been done to death in a horrible and +insensate way, and no matter who suffered, be he millionaire or pauper, +the wretch who committed the crime should be made to pay the penalty of +the law.</p> + +<p>In that moment he forgot Evelyn Forbes, and thought only of the fair and +gracious woman whose agonized spirit had taken flight under the +compulsion of the tiger grip of some human brute now moving among his +fellow-creatures unknown and unsuspected. It was inconceivable that +Forbes should be guilty, but why should he not avow his acquaintance +with the victim, and thus aid the police in their quest?</p> + +<p>He glowered savagely at the telltale stain, and vowed to rid his +conscience of an incubus. He would wait till the morrow and force Forbes +to come out into the open. Otherwise—</p> + +<p>"You wish you had the murderer here now?"</p> + +<p>Furneaux spoke softly, and with no trace of his wonted irony, but +Theydon was aware that once more the little detective had peered into +his very soul.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, and there was a new gravity in his tone. "I do wish +that. I have never before been brought in contact with a crime of this +magnitude. It conveys a sort of personal responsibility. To think that I +was in my room, reading about aviation, while a woman's life was being +choked out of her within a few feet of where I was seated! O, it is +monstrous! Let me tell you two, here and now, that if I can do anything +to bring Mrs. Lester's slayer to justice, you can count on me, no matter +what the cost."</p> + +<p>"I'm sure you mean what you say, Mr. Theydon," said Winter soothingly. +"Well, I suppose we can do no more tonight. I have little else to tell +you—"</p> + +<p>"The skull—the ivory skull!" put in Furneaux.</p> + +<p>For an instant an expression of annoyance flitted across the chief +inspector's good-humored face. Theydon did not see it, because +Furneaux's odd-sounding words caused him to look with astonishment at +the man who uttered them.</p> + +<p>"An ivory skull!" he cried. "What has an ivory skull to do with the +murder of Mrs. Lester?"</p> + +<p>"We cannot even begin to guess at its meaning yet," said Winter, who, +after one fierce glance at his colleague, had recovered his poise. "That +is why I did not mention it. I hate the introduction of bizarre features +into an inquiry of this sort. But, now that the thing has been spoken +of, I may as well state that when the medical examination was being made +at the mortuary a tiny skull, not bigger than a pea, and made of ivory, +was found inside Mrs. Lester's underbodice. The curious fact is that it +was loose. Had it been attached to a cord, or secured in some way, one +might regard it as a charm or amulet, because some women, even in the +London of today, are not beyond the reach of superstition in such +matters. But, as I say, it was not safeguarded at all, so we may +reasonably assume that it was not carried habitually. Of course, +Furneaux readily evolved a far-fetched theory that it is a sign, or +symbol, and was thrust out of sight among the clothing on the dead +woman's breast by the man who killed her. But that is idle guesswork. We +of the Yard seldom pay heed to theatrical notions of that kind. Here is +the article. I don't mind letting you see it, but kindly remember that +its existence must not be made known. I must have your promise not to +mention it to a living creature."</p> + +<p>Furneaux chuckled derisively.</p> + +<p>"That is precisely the sort of thing anybody would say who attached no +importance to the exhibit," he piped.</p> + +<p>Winter so nearly lost his temper that he repressed the retort on his +lips. He contented himself, however, with producing a small white object +from his waistcoat pocket, and handed it to Theydon. It was a bit of +ivory, hollow, and very light, and fashioned as a skull.</p> + +<p>Yet, it was by no means an ordinary creation. The artist who fashioned +it had gratified a morbid taste by imparting to the eyeless sockets and +close-set rows of teeth a malign and threatening grin. Wickedness, not +death, was suggested, but the craftsmanship was faultless. A collector +would have paid a large sum for it, while the average citizen would +refuse to have it in his house.</p> + +<p>"What an extraordinary thing," said Theydon, turning the curio round and +round in his fingers.</p> + +<p>"It's wonderfully well carved," agreed Winter.</p> + +<p>"From that point of view it's a masterpiece, but what I meant was the +astounding fact that it should have been discovered on the dead woman's +body. Was it placed over her heart?"</p> + +<p>"Why do you ask that?" came the sharp demand.</p> + +<p>"Because—if it is a token of some vendetta—if the murderer wished to +signify that he had glutted his vengeance—"</p> + +<p>"O, you're as bad as Furneaux," cried Winter impatiently. "Give it to +me. I must be off. The hour is long past midnight and I have a busy day +before me tomorrow."</p> + +<p>Back in the seclusion of his own rooms, Theydon debated the question +whether or not he should endeavor to communicate with Forbes again that +night. Somehow it seemed to him that Forbes would be most concerned at +hearing of the gray car. And what of the ivory skull?</p> + +<p>Suppose he knew of that! But a certain revulsion of feeling had come +over Theydon since the sheer brutality of the murder had been revealed. +He failed to see now why he should be so solicitous for Forbes's +welfare. No matter what private purpose the man might serve by +concealing his visit to Mrs. Lester, it ought to give way before the +paramount importance of tracking a pitiless and callous criminal.</p> + +<p>So Theydon hardened his heart and went to bed, and, being sound in mind +and constitution, slept like a just man wearied. Nevertheless, the last +thing he saw before the curtain fell on his tired brain was an ivory +skull dancing in the darkness.</p> + +<p>Greatly as the many problems attached to Mrs. Lester's death bewildered +him, he would have been even more perplexed if he had overheard the +conversation between Winter and Furneaux when they entered a taxi and +gave Scotland Yard as their destination.</p> + +<p>"Look here, Charles," began Winter firmly; but the other stayed him with +a clutch of thin, nervous fingers on an arm strong enough to fell an ox.</p> + +<p>"Listen first, James—lecture me afterward," pleaded Furneaux. "I can't +help yielding to impulse. And why should I strive to help it, anyhow? +How often has impulse led me to the goal when by every known rule of +evidence I was completely beaten? That is my plea. That is why I brought +that young fellow into No. 17, and watched the story of the tragedy +reshaping itself in his imagination. That is why, too, I spoke of the +ivory skull. Think what it means to one with the writer's temperament. +The skull will never leave his mind's eye. It will focus and control his +thoughts and actions. And I feel it in my bones that only by keeping in +touch with Mr. Francis Theydon shall we solve the Innesmore Mansions +mystery. I can't explain why I think this, no more than the receiver of +a wireless message can account for the waves of energy it picks up from +the void and transmutes into the ordered sequences of the Morse code. +All I know is that when I am near him I am, as the children say, 'warm,' +and when away from him, 'cold.' While he was examining the skull I was +positively 'hot,' and was half inclined to treat him as a thought +transference medium and order him sternly to speak.... No. Be calm! I +even bid you be honest. When have you, ever before, admitted an outsider +to your councils? And, if you make an exception of Theydon, why are you +doing it?"</p> + +<p>Winter bit the end off a cigar with a vicious jerk of his round head. He +struck a match and created such a volume of smoke that Furneaux coughed +affectedly.</p> + +<p>"The real clew," he said at last, "rests with the gray car. What did you +make of that?"</p> + +<p>"That, my bulky friend, will figure in my memory as a reproach for many +a year. When, if ever, I am tempted to preen myself on some peculiarly +close piece of ratiocinative reasoning, I shall say: 'Little man, pigmy, +remember the gray car.'"</p> + +<p>"You think that some one had the impudence to follow us, watch us in +Waterloo, and take up Theydon's trail when we had revealed it?"</p> + +<p>"A-ha. It touched you, too, did it?"</p> + +<p>"But why?"</p> + +<p>"The some one in question wants to know that."</p> + +<p>"You mean they are anxious to find out what we are doing?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly."</p> + +<p>Winter laughed cheerfully.</p> + +<p>"Before long I shall begin to enjoy this hunt, Charles. I like to find +originality in a felon. It varies the routine. At any rate, it is +something new that you and I should be shadowed by the very people we +are in pursuit of—O, I was nearly forgetting. Anything fresh in that +telephone talk?"</p> + +<p>"It seemed all right."</p> + +<p>"Seemed?"</p> + +<p>"Well, it was too straightforward. Theydon puzzles me. I admit it +frankly. He also worries me. But let me handle him in my own way. Have +no fear that he will use our material for newspaper purposes. With +regard to the Innesmore Mansions affair, Theydon will lie close as a +fish. Why? No use asking you, of course. You despise intuition. When you +die some one should begin your epitaph: 'From information received.' But +I'll stick to Theydon. See if I don't, even if I have to go up with him +in one of Forbes's airships."</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V<br /><br /> +A LEAP IN THE DARK</h3> + +<p>With the morning Theydon brought a mature and impartial judgment to bear +on his perplexities. The average man, if asked to form an opinion on any +difficult point, will probably arrive at a saner decision during the +first pipe after breakfast than at any other given hour of the day. +Excellent physiological reasons account for this truism. The sound mind +in a sound body is then working under the most favorable conditions.</p> + +<p>It is free from the strain of affairs. The cold, clear morning light +divests problems of the undue importance, or, it may be, the glamour of +novelty, which they possessed overnight. At any rate, Frank Theydon, +clenching a pipe between his teeth, and gazing thoughtfully through an +open window at the trees in Innesmore Gardens, reviewed yesterday's +happenings calmly and critically, and arrived at the settled conviction +that his proper course was to visit Scotland Yard and make known to the +authorities the one vital fact he had withheld from their ken thus far.</p> + +<p>It was not for him to assess the significance of Mr. Forbes's desire to +remain in the background. If the millionaire's excuse, or explanation, +of his failure to communicate at once with the Criminal Investigation +Department was a sufficiently valid one, Scotland Yard would be +satisfied and might agree to keep his name out of the inquiry.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, he, Theydon, might be balking the course of justice +by holding his tongue. There was yet a third possibility, one fraught +with personal discredit. Mr. Forbes himself might realize that a policy +of candor offered the only dignified course.</p> + +<p>Suppose he was minded to tell the detectives that he was the man who +visited Mrs. Lester shortly before midnight, what would Winter and +Furneaux think of the young gentleman who had actually dined with Forbes +before they took him into their confidence—who heard with such +righteous indignation how Mrs. Lester met her death—yet brazenly +concealed the fact that he had just left the house of one whom they were +so anxious to meet and question?</p> + +<p>Of course, the radiant vision of Evelyn Forbes intruded on this +well-considered and unemotional analysis; but Theydon resolutely shook +his head.</p> + +<p>"No, by Jove!" he communed. "You mustn't make an ass of yourself, my +boy, because a pretty girl was gracious for an hour or so. Be honest +with yourself, old chap! If there were no Evelyn, or if Evelyn were +harelipped and squinted, you wouldn't hesitate a second—now, would +you?"</p> + +<p>Yet he had given a promise. How reconcile an immediate call on Scotland +Yard with the guarantee of secrecy demanded by Forbes? Well, he must put +himself right with Forbes without delay—tell him straightforwardly that +the bond could not hold. Theydon was no lawyer, but he was assured that +an agreement founded on positive wrong was not tenable, legally or +morally.</p> + +<p>He would be adamant with Forbes, and decline to countenance any plea in +support of continued silence. If Forbes's demand was reasonable, +Scotland Yard would grant it. If justice compelled Forbes to come out +into the open, no private citizen should attempt to defeat the ends of +justice.</p> + +<p>"So that settles it," announced Theydon firmly if not cheerfully. "I'll +ring up Forbes, and get the thing over and done with. I'll never see his +daughter again, I suppose, but that can't be helped. 'Tis better to have +seen and lost than never to have seen at all."</p> + +<p>He turned from the window, walked to the fireplace, tapped his pipe +firmly on the grate, and was about to go into the hall and call up the +telephone exchange, when the door-bell rang. He was aware of a muffled +conversation between Bates and a visitor. Then the valet appeared, +obviously ill at ease.</p> + +<p>"If you please, sir," he announced, "a lady, a Miss Beale, of Oxford, +who says she is Mrs. Lester's aunt, wishes to see you."</p> + +<p>Theydon was immensely surprised, as well he might be. But there was only +one thing to be done.</p> + +<p>"Show her in," he said.</p> + +<p>Miss Beale entered. She was slight of figure, middle-aged and +gray-haired. The wanness of her thin features was accentuated by an +attire of deep mourning, but the pallor in her cheeks fled for an +instant when she set eyes on Theydon.</p> + +<p>"Pray forgive the intrusion," she faltered. "I—I expected to meet an +older man."</p> + +<p>It was a curious utterance, and Theydon tried to relieve her evident +nervousness by being mildly humorous.</p> + +<p>"I hope to correct my juvenile appearance in course of time," he said, +smiling. "Meanwhile, won't you be seated? You are not quite unknown to +me, Miss Beale. That is—I heard of you last night from the Scotland +Yard people."</p> + +<p>She sat down at once, but seemed to be at a loss for words. Her lips +trembled, and Theydon thought she was going to cry.</p> + +<p>"Have you traveled from Oxford this morning?" he said, simulating a +courteous nonchalance he was far from feeling. "If so, you must have +started from home at an ungodly hour. Let me have some breakfast +prepared for you."</p> + +<p>"No—no," she stammered.</p> + +<p>"Well, a cup of tea, then? Come, now, no woman ever refuses a cup of +tea."</p> + +<p>"You are very kind."</p> + +<p>He rang the bell.</p> + +<p>"I would not have ventured to call on you if I had not seen your name in +the newspaper," she went on.</p> + +<p>Miss Beale certainly had the knack of saying unexpected things. It was +nothing new that Theydon should find his own name in print, but on this +occasion he could not choose but associate the distinction with the +crime in No. 17; that he should be mentioned in connection with it was +neither anticipated nor pleasing. At the same time he realized the +astounding fact that he had not even glanced at a newspaper during +twenty-four hours.</p> + +<p>"What in the world have the newspapers to say about me?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"It—it said—that Mr. Francis Berrold Theydon, the well-known author, +lived in No. 18, the flat exactly opposite that which my unhappy niece +occupied. I—I have read some of your books, Mr. Theydon, and I pictured +you quite a serious-looking person of my own age."</p> + +<p>He laughed. Bates entered, and was almost shocked at finding his master +in such lively mood.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this lady has traveled from Oxford this morning; a cup of tea and +some nice toast, please, Bates," said Theydon. Then when the two were +alone together again, he brushed aside the question of his age as +irrelevant.</p> + +<p>"I assure you that since this time yesterday I have lost some of the +careless buoyancy of youth," he said. "I had not the honor of Mrs. +Lester's acquaintance, but I knew her well by sight, and I received the +shock of my life last evening when I heard of her terrible end. It is an +extraordinary thing, seeing that we were such close neighbors, but I +believe you got the news long before I did, because I left home early +and heard nothing of what had happened till my man met me at Waterloo in +the evening."</p> + +<p>"You have seen the—the detectives in the meantime?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Then you will be able to tell me something definite. I have promised to +call at Scotland Yard at eleven o'clock, and the only scraps of +intelligence I have gathered are those in the papers. I would have come +to London last night, but was afraid to travel, lest I should faint in +the train. Moreover, some one in London promised to send a detective to +see me. He came, but could give no information. Indeed, he wanted to +learn certain things from me. So, after a weary night, I caught the +first train, and it occurred to me, as you lived so near, that you might +be kind enough to—to—"</p> + +<p>The long speech was too much for her, and her lips quivered pitifully a +second time.</p> + +<p>"I fully understand," said Theydon sympathetically. "Now, I'm positive +you have eaten hardly anything today. Won't you let me order an egg?"</p> + +<p>"No, please. I'll be glad of the tea, but I cannot make a meal—yet. Is +it true that my niece was absolutely alone in her flat on Monday night?"</p> + +<p>Seeing that Miss Beale was consumed with anxiety to hear an intelligible +version of the tragedy, Theydon at once recited all, or nearly all, that +was known to him. The only points he suppressed were those with +reference to the gray car and the ivory skull. The lady listened +attentively and with more self-control than he gave her credit for.</p> + +<p>Bates came in with a laden tray, on which a boiled egg appeared. Mrs. +Bates had used her discretion, and decided that any one who had set out +from Oxford so early in the day must be in need of more solid +refreshment than tea and toast. Thus cozened, as it were, into eating, +Miss Beale tackled the egg, and Theydon was glad to note that she made a +fairly good meal, being probably unaware of her hunger until the means +of sating it presented itself.</p> + +<p>But she missed no word of his story, and when he made an end, put some +shrewd questions.</p> + +<p>"I take it," she said, "that the strange gentleman who visited my niece +on Monday night posted the very letter which I received by the second +delivery yesterday?"</p> + +<p>"That is what the police believe," replied Theydon.</p> + +<p>"Then it would seem that she resolved to come to me at Iffley as the +result of something he told her?"</p> + +<p>"Why do you think that?"</p> + +<p>"Because I heard from her only last Saturday, and she not only said +nothing about coming to Oxfordshire, but asked me to arrange to spend a +fortnight in London before we both went to Cornwall for the Summer."</p> + +<p>"Ah! That is rather important, I should imagine," said Theydon +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"It is odd, too, that you and the detectives should have noticed the +smell of a joss stick in the flat," went on Miss Beale. "Edith—my +niece, you know—could not bear the smell of joss sticks. They reminded +her of Shanghai, where she lost her husband."</p> + +<p>Theydon looked more startled than such a seemingly simple statement +warranted. He had realized already that the ivory skull was the work of +an Oriental artist, and the mention of Shanghai brought that sinister +symbol very vividly to his mind's eye.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Lester had lived in China, then?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Yes. She was out there nearly six years. Her husband died suddenly last +October—he was poisoned, she firmly believed—and, of course, she came +home at once."</p> + +<p>"What was Mr. Lester's business, or profession?"</p> + +<p>"He was a barrister. I do not mean that he practised in the Consular +courts. He was making his way in England, but was offered some sort of +appointment in Shanghai. The post was so lucrative that he relinquished +a growing connection at the bar. I have never really understood what he +did. I fancy he had to report on commercial matters to some firm of +bankers in London, but he supplied very little positive information +before Edith and he sailed. Indeed, I took it that his mission was +highly confidential, and about that time there was a lot in the +newspapers about rival negotiators for a big Chinese loan, so I formed +the opinion that he was sent out in connection with something of the +sort. Neither he nor Edith meant to remain long in the Far East. At +first their letters always spoke of an early return. Then, when the +years dragged on, and I asked for definite news of their homecoming, +Edith said that Arthur could not get away until the country's political +affairs were in a more settled state. Finally came a cablegram from +Edith: 'Arthur dead; sailing immediately,' and my niece was with me +within a few weeks. The supposed cause of her husband's death was some +virulent type of fever, but, as I said, Edith was convinced that he had +been poisoned."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"That I never understood. She never willingly talked about Shanghai, or +her life there. Indeed, she was always most anxious that no one should +know she had ever lived in China. Yet she had plenty of friends out +there. I gathered that Arthur had left her well provided for +financially, and they were a most devoted couple. Edith was the only +relative I possessed. It is very dreadful, Mr. Theydon, that she should +be taken from me in such a way."</p> + +<p>Her hearer was almost thankful that she yielded to the inevitable rush +of emotion. It gave him time to collect his wits, which had lost their +poise when that wicked-looking little skull was, so to speak, thrust +forcibly into his recollection.</p> + +<p>"In a word," he said, at last, "you are Mrs. Lester's next-of-kin and +probably her heiress?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I suppose so, though I was not thinking of that," came the tearful +answer.</p> + +<p>"Yet the relationship entails certain responsibilities," said Theydon +firmly. "You should be legally represented at the inquest. Are your +affairs in the hands of any firm of solicitors?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—at Oxford. I contrived to call at their office yesterday and they +recommended me to consult these people," and Miss Beale produced a card +from a handbag. Theydon read the name and address of a well-known West +End firm.</p> + +<p>"Good," he said. "I recommend you to go there at once. By the way, was +any one looking after Mrs. Lester's interests? Surely she had dealings +with a bank or an agency?"</p> + +<p>"Y—yes. I do happen to know the source from which her income came. +She—made a secret of it—in a measure."</p> + +<p>"Pray don't tell me anything of that sort. Your legal adviser might not +approve."</p> + +<p>"But what does it matter now? Poor Edith is dead. Her affairs cannot +help being dragged into the light of day. She had some railway shares +and bonds, some of which were left to her by her father, and others +which came under a marriage settlement, but the greater part of her +revenue was derived from a monthly payment made by the bank of which Mr. +James Creighton Forbes is the head."</p> + +<p>Miss Beale naturally misinterpreted the blank stare with which Theydon +received this remarkable statement.</p> + +<p>"I don't see why any one should wish to conceal a simple matter of +business like that," she said nervously. "May I explain that I have an +impression, not founded on anything quite tangible, that Mr. Forbes was +largely interested in the syndicate which sent Arthur Lester to China, +so it is very likely that the payment of an annuity, or pension, to +Arthur's widow would be left in his care. I do not know. I am only +guessing. But that matter, and others, can hardly fail to be cleared up +by the police inquiry."</p> + +<p>Theydon recovered his self-control as rapidly as he had lost it. He +glanced at the clock—10:15. Within half an hour, or less, Miss Beale +would be on her way to Scotland Yard. He must act promptly and +decisively, or he would find himself in a distinctly unfavorable +position in his relations with the Criminal Investigation Department.</p> + +<p>"I happen to be acquainted with Mr. Forbes," he said, striving +desperately to appear cool and methodical when his brain was seething. +"Would you mind if I just rang him up on the telephone? A few words now +might enlighten us materially."</p> + +<p>"O, you are most helpful," said the lady, blushing again with timid +gratitude. "I am so glad I summoned up courage to call on you. I was +terrified at the idea of going to the Police Headquarters, but I shall +not mind it at all now."</p> + +<p>Soon Theydon was asking for "00400, Bank." He had left the door of his +sitting room open purposely. No matter what the outcome, he no longer +dared keep the compact of silence into which he had entered with Forbes. +But the millionaire was not at his office. In response to a very +determined request for a word with some one in authority, "on a matter +of real urgency," the clerk who had answered the call brought "Mr. +Forbes's secretary," a Mr. Macdonald, to the telephone.</p> + +<p>"It is important, vitally important, that I should speak with Mr. Forbes +within the next few minutes," said Theydon, after giving his name and +address. "Do you expect him to arrive soon? Or shall I try and reach him +at Fortescue Square?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Forbes will not be here till midday," came a voice with a +pronounced Scottish intonation. "I'm doubtful, too, if ye'll catch him +at home. Can I give him a message?"</p> + +<p>"Do you know where he is?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I cannot say."</p> + +<p>"But do you know?"</p> + +<p>"I'll be glad to give him a message."</p> + +<p>"It will be too late, then. Please understand, Mr. Macdonald, that I am +making this call at Mr. Forbes's express wish. It is, as I have said, +vitally important that I should get in touch with him without delay."</p> + +<p>Scottish caution was not to be overcome by an appeal of that sort.</p> + +<p>"I cannot go beyond what I have said," was the reply. "If you like to +ask at his house—"</p> + +<p>"O, ring off!" cried Theydon, who pictured the secretary as a lanky +hollow-cheeked Scot, a model of discretion and trustworthiness, no +doubt, but utterly unequal to a crisis demanding some measure of +self-confident initiative. In reality, Mr. Macdonald was short and +stout, and quite a jovial little man.</p> + +<p>After an exasperating delay, he got into communication with the Forbes +mansion in Fortescue Square.</p> + +<p>"I'm Mr. Frank Theydon," he said, striving to speak unconcernedly. "Is +Mr. Forbes in?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Is that you, Tomlinson?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Can you tell me where I can find Mr. Forbes at once?"</p> + +<p>"Isn't he at his office, sir?"</p> + +<p>"No. He will not be there till 12 o'clock."</p> + +<p>A pause of indecision on Tomlinson's part. Then, a possible solution of +the difficulty.</p> + +<p>"Would you care to have a word with Miss Evelyn, sir?"</p> + +<p>"O, yes, yes."</p> + +<p>Theydon blurted out this emphatic acceptance of the butler's suggestion +without a thought as to its possible consequences. He was racking his +brain in a frenzy of uncertainty as to how he should frame his words +when he heard quite clearly a woman's footsteps on the parquet flooring, +and caught Evelyn Forbes's voice saying to Tomlinson: "How fortunate! +Mr. Theydon is the very person I wished to speak to, but I simply dared +not ring him up."</p> + +<p>The slight incident only provided Theydon with a new source of +wonderment. Why should Evelyn Forbes want speech with him at that early +hour? Perhaps she would explain. He could only hope so, and trust to +luck in the choice of his own phrases.</p> + +<p>"That you, Mr. Theydon?" came the girl's voice, sweet in its cadence yet +ominously eager. "How nice of you to anticipate my unspoken thought! I +have been horribly anxious ever since I read of that awful affair at +Innesmore Mansions. That poor lady's flat is next door to yours, is it +not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but—"</p> + +<p>"O, you cannot choke off a woman's curiosity quite so easily. You see, I +happen to know that Mrs. Lester's sad death affects my father in some +way, and I realize now that you two were just on pins and needles to get +rid of me last night so that you might talk freely."</p> + +<p>"Miss Forbes, I assure you—"</p> + +<p>"Wait till I've finished, and you will not be under the necessity of +telling me any polite fibs. You men are all alike. You think the giddy +feminine brain is not fitted to cope with mysteries, and that is where +you are utterly mistaken. A woman's intuition often peers deeper than a +man's logic. I—"</p> + +<p>"Do forgive me," broke in Theydon despairingly, "but I am really most +anxious to know how and where I can get a word with your father. I would +not be so rude as to interrupt you if I hadn't the best of excuses. Tell +me where to find him now, and I promise to give you a call immediately +afterward."</p> + +<p>"He's at the Home Office."</p> + +<p>"At the Home Office!"</p> + +<p>Some hint of utter bewilderment in Theydon's tone must have reached the +girl's alert ear.</p> + +<p>"Ah! <i>Touché!</i>" she cried. "Now will you be good and tell me why Dad +should receive a little ivory skull by this morning's post?"</p> + +<p>Theydon knew that he paled. His very scalp tingled with an apprehension +of some shadowy yet none the less affrighting evil. But he schooled +himself to say, with a semblance of calm interest:</p> + +<p>"What exactly do you mean, Miss Forbes?"</p> + +<p>She laughed lightly. Theydon was so flurried that he did not realize the +possibility of Evelyn Forbes being as quick to mask her real feelings as +he himself was.</p> + +<p>"Dad and I make a point of breakfasting together at nine o'clock every +morning," she said. "We were talking about you, and he told me of the +dreadful thing that happened to Mrs. Lester. I was reading the account +of the tragedy in a newspaper, when I happened to glance at him. He was +going through his letters, and I was just a trifle curious to know what +was in a flat box which came by registered post. He opened it carelessly +and something fell out and rolled across the table. I picked it up and +saw that it was a small piece of ivory, carved with extraordinary skill +to represent a skull. Indeed, it was so clever as to be decidedly +repulsive. I was going to say something when I saw that the letter which +was in the same box had alarmed him so greatly that, for a second or +two, I thought he would faint. But he can be very strong and stern at +times, and he recovered himself instantly, was quite vexed with me +because I had examined the ivory skull, and forbade my going out until +he had returned from the Home Office. Tomlinson and the other men have +orders not to admit any one to the house, no matter on what pretext, and +I'm sure the letter and its nasty little token are bound up in some way +with Mrs. Lester's death. Won't you let me into the secret? I shan't +scream or do anything foolish, but I do think I am entitled to know what +you know if it affects my father."</p> + +<p>A sudden change in the girl's voice warned Theydon of a restraint of +which he had been unconscious hitherto. He tried to temporize, to +whittle away her fears. That was a duty he owed to Forbes, who was +clearly resolved not to take his daughter into his confidence—for the +present, at any rate.</p> + +<p>"I really fail to see why you should assume some connection between the +crime which was committed here on Monday night and the arrival of a +somewhat singular package at your house this morning," he said +reassuringly.</p> + +<p>"Like every other woman, I jump at conclusions," she answered. "Why +should this crime, in particular, have worried my father? Unfortunately, +the newspapers are full of such horrid things, yet he hardly ever pays +them any attention. No, Mr. Theydon, I am not mistaken. He either knew +Mrs. Lester, and was shocked at her death, or saw in it some personal +menace. Then comes the letter, with its obvious threat, and I am ordered +to remain at home, under a strong guard, while he hurries off to +Whitehall. You have met my father, Mr. Theydon. Do you regard him as the +sort of man who would rush off in a panic to consult the Home Secretary +without very grave and weighty reasons?"</p> + +<p>"But you can hardly be certain that a wretched crime in this +comparatively insignificant quarter of London supplies the actual motive +of Mr. Forbes's action," urged Theydon.</p> + +<p>The girl stamped an impatient foot. He heard it distinctly.</p> + +<p>"Of course I am certain," she cried. "Why won't you be candid? You know +I am right—I can tell it from your voice, and your guarded way of +talking—"</p> + +<p>An inspiration came to Theydon's relief in that instant.</p> + +<p>"Pardon the interruption," he said, "but I must point out that both of +us are acting unwisely in discussing such matters over the telephone. +Really, neither must say another word, except this—when I have found +your father I'll ask his permission to come and see you. Perhaps we +three can arrange to meet somewhere for luncheon. That is absolutely the +farthest limit to which I dare go at this moment."</p> + +<p>"O, very well!"</p> + +<p>The receiver was hung up in a temper, and the prompt ring-off jarred +disagreeably in Theydon's ear. If he was puzzled before, he was +thoroughly at sea now. But he took a bold course, and cared not a jot +whether or not it was a prudent one.</p> + +<p>The mere sound of Evelyn Forbes's voice had steeled his heart and +conscience against the dictates of common sense. Let the detectives +think what they might, the girl's father must be allowed to carry +through his plans without let or hindrance.</p> + +<p>"Miss Beale," said Theydon, gazing fixedly into the sorrow-laden eyes of +the quiet little lady whom he found seated where he had left her, "I'm +going to tell you something very important, very serious, something so +far-reaching and momentous that neither you nor I can measure its +effect. You heard the conversation on the telephone?"</p> + +<p>"I heard what you were saying, but could not understand much of it," +said his visitor in a scared way.</p> + +<p>"I have been trying to communicate with Mr. Forbes, but his daughter +tells me that the murder of your niece seems to have affected him in a +manner which is incomprehensible to her, and even more so to me, though +I am acquainted with facts which her father and I have purposely kept +from her knowledge. Mr. Forbes has gone hurriedly to the Home Office. I +suppose you know what that means? He is about to give the Home Secretary +certain information, and it is not for you or me to interfere with his +discretion. Now, if you tell the Scotland Yard people what you have told +me, namely, that Mr. Forbes was the intermediary through whom Mrs. +Lester received the greater part of her income, he will be brought +prominently into the inquiry. You see that, don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I suppose that something of the sort must happen."</p> + +<p>"Well, I want you to suppress that vital fact until we know more about +this affair. It will not be for long. Each of us must tell our story +without reservation at some future date—whether this afternoon, or +tomorrow, or a week hence, I cannot say now. But I do ask you to keep +your knowledge to yourself until I have had an opportunity of consulting +Mr. Forbes. I undertake to tell you the exact position of matters +without delay, and I accept all responsibility for my present advice."</p> + +<p>"I know little of the world, Mr. Theydon," said Miss Beale, rising, and +beginning to draw on her gloves, "but I shall be very greatly surprised +if you are advising me to act otherwise than honorably. I shall +certainly not utter a word about Mr. Forbes at Scotland Yard. When all +is said and done, my statement to you was largely guesswork. You must +remember that I have never seen Mr. Forbes, nor hardly ever heard his +name except in connection with public matters in the Press. O, yes. I +make that promise readily. I trust you implicitly!"</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI<br /><br /> +CLOSE QUARTERS</h3> + +<p>Theydon escorted Miss Beale downstairs. As they passed the closed door +of No. 17, the lady shivered.</p> + +<p>"To think that within the next few days I would have been staying there +with Edith, and planning evenings at the theater before going to +Newquay!" she murmured; there was a pitiful catch in her voice that told +better than words how the remainder of her existence would be darkened +by the tragedy.</p> + +<p>At best she was a shrinking, timid little woman, for whom life probably +held but narrow interests. Such as they were, their placid content was +forever shattered. The death of her niece had closed the one chief +avenue leading to the outer world. She would retire to the quiet +back-water of Iffley, to become more faded, more insignificant, more +lonely each year.</p> + +<p>Theydon commiserated with her deeply and did not hesitate to utter his +thoughts while putting her into a cab.</p> + +<p>"Have you no friends in London?" he inquired. "I don't like the notion +of sending you off alone into this wilderness. London is the worst place +in the world for any one in distress. The heedless multitude seems to be +callous and unsympathetic. It isn't, in reality. It simply doesn't know, +and doesn't bother."</p> + +<p>"I used to claim some acquaintances here, but I have lost track of them +for years," she said. "In any event, I shall have more than enough to +occupy my mind today. The inquest opens at three o'clock, and I must +face the ordeal of identifying Edith's body. The detective told me that +this should be done by a relation, while the only other person who could +act—Ann Rogers—has been nearly out of her mind since yesterday +morning."</p> + +<p>"Where are you staying?"</p> + +<p>She mentioned a small hotel in the West End.</p> + +<p>"I used to go there with my people when I was a girl," she added, sadly.</p> + +<p>"Then I'll get my sister to call. You'll like her. She's a jolly good +sort, and a chat with another woman will be far more beneficial than the +society of detectives and lawyers and such-like strange fowl. Keep your +spirits up, Miss Beale. Nothing that you can say or do now will restore +the life so cruelly taken, but you and I, each in our own way, can +strive to bring the murderer to justice. I am convinced that a distinct +step in that direction will be taken this very day. You can count on +seeing or hearing from me as soon as possible after I have discussed +matters with Mr. Forbes. Meanwhile, don't forget to have a lawyer +representing you at the inquest."</p> + +<p>They parted as though they were friends of long standing. Theydon was +genuinely sorry for this gray-haired woman's plight, and she evidently +regarded him as a kind-hearted and eminently trustworthy young man. He +stood and watched the cab as it bore her off swiftly into the maelstrom +of London. He could not help thinking that seldom had he met one less +fitted for the notoriety thrust upon all connected with a much-talked-of +crime.</p> + +<p>When the press interviewers, the photographers, the hundred and one +officials with whom she must be brought in contact, were done with her, +poor Miss Beale would retire to her Oxfordshire nook in a state of +mental bewilderment that would baffle description. In one of his books +Theydon had endeavored to depict just such a middle-aged spinster +confronted with a situation not wholly unlike that which now faced Miss +Beale.</p> + +<p>He smiled grimly when he realized how far fiction had wandered from +fact. The woman of his imagination had acted with a strength of +character, a decisiveness, that outwitted and confounded certain +scheming personages in the story. How different was the reality! Miss +Beale, rushing across London in a taxi, reminded him of nothing more +masterful than a cage-bird turned loose in a tempest.</p> + +<p>He was about to reenter the mansions, meaning to telephone to both the +Fortescue Square house and the Old Broad Street offices, and ask for +instant news of Mr. Forbes in either locality. He was so preoccupied +that he failed to notice an approaching taxicab, though the driver was +signaling, and even tooted a motor horn loudly in the endeavor to +attract his attention.</p> + +<p>He did, however, catch his own name, and halted.</p> + +<p>"Beg pardon, sir, but you are Mr. Theydon, aren't you?" said the man.</p> + +<p>Then Theydon recognized Evans, the taxi-driver, who had brought him from +Fortescue Square.</p> + +<p>"Hullo!" he cried. "Any news of the gray car?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, I think so," was the somewhat surprising answer. "When I +dropped you last night I got a fare to Euston. Then I took a gentleman +to the Langham, an', as I felt like a snack, I pulled into the nearest +cab rank. I was having some corfee an' a sandwich when I 'appened to +speak about the gray car to one of the chaps. 'That's odd,' he said. +'Quarter of an hour ago I had a theater job to Langham Plice, an' a gray +landaulette stopped in front of the Chinese Embassy. It kem along from +the east side, too.' He didn't notice the number, sir, so there may be +nothink in it, after all, but I thought you might like to hear wot my +pal said."</p> + +<p>"Was the car empty? Did it call for some one at the Embassy?"</p> + +<p>"That's the queer part of it, sir. I axed pertic'ler. This gray car +brought a gentleman, a small, youngish man, 'oo skipped up the Embassy +steps like a lamplighter, and went in afore you could s'y 'knife.' +Somebody might ha' bin watchin' for him through the keyhole, the door +was opened that quick. Then the car went off. My friend wouldn't ha' +given a second thought to it if the gentleman hadn't vanished like a +jack-in-the-box. That's w'y he remembered the color of the car."</p> + +<p>Theydon tried to look as though Evans's statement merely puzzled him, +whereas his mind was already busy with the extraordinary coincidences +which the haphazard events of a few hours had produced. Was the Far East +bound up in some mysterious way with Mrs. Lester's death? Did the crime +possess a political significance? If so, an explanation by Forbes was +more than ever demanded.</p> + +<p>"Your informant was not mistaken about the Chinese Embassy, I suppose?" +he said.</p> + +<p>"No, sir. He's always in that district. His garage is at the back of +Great Portland Street. He knows most of them there Chinks by sight."</p> + +<p>"Then that gray car can hardly have been our gray car," commented +Theydon, deeming it wise to prevent the sharp-witted taxi-driver from +jumping at conclusions.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid not, sir. Still, I just took the liberty—"</p> + +<p>"I'm very much obliged to you, of course. I said half-a-crown, didn't I? +Here you are. Keep an eye open for XY 1314 and let me know if you hear +or see anything of it."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir." Then Evans lifted his eyes to the block of buildings. +"A nasty business this murder which was done 'ere the other night, sir," +he went on. "One 'ud hardly b'lieve it possible for such things to tike +plice in London nowadays."</p> + +<p>Much as he was disinclined for gossip of the sort at the moment, Theydon +saw that he must endeavor to dissociate the gray car and the crime from +their dangerous juxtaposition in the man's mind, so he spoke about Mrs. +Lester's attractive appearance, harped on the apparent aimlessness of +the deed, hinted darkly at clews in the possession of the police, and +finally got rid of the well-meaning chauffeur. Back he went to his +telephone, and having ascertained that Mr. Forbes was fully expected to +put in an appearance at the city office before noon, settled down to +read the newspapers.</p> + +<p>They contained sensational but fairly accurate accounts of the tragedy. +One enterprising journal had published an interview with Bates, whom the +reporter described as "a typical British man-servant," which was +amusing, since Bates had "retired noncommissioned officer" written all +over his square frame and soldierly features.</p> + +<p>The same journalist spoke of Theydon himself, and had even ferreted out +the fact that Mrs. Lester was the widow of an English barrister who had +died at Shanghai. On reaction, Theydon saw that there was nothing +unusual in this statement. The connection between the metropolitan press +and the bar is old and intimate, and scores of junior barristers must +remember Arthur Lester's beginnings.</p> + +<p>Resolved to possess his soul in patience till twelve o'clock, the hour +being yet barely 11:30 a. m., Theydon tackled a page of reviews, since +there is always consolation for a writer in learning at second hand what +sheer drivel others can produce.</p> + +<p>He was growling at the discovery that some hapless essayist had +appropriated a title which he himself had marked down for his next book, +when the door-bell rang. He did not give much heed, because so many +tradesmen called during the course of each morning, so he was surprised +and startled when Bates announced:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Forbes to see you, sir."</p> + +<p>Had a powerful spring concealed in the seat of his chair been released +suddenly, Theydon could not have bounced to his feet with greater speed. +Forbes came in. He was pale, but self-contained and clear-eyed.</p> + +<p>"Forgive an unceremonious visit," he said. "I'm glad to find you at +home. I meant to arrive here sooner, but I was detained on business of +some importance."</p> + +<p>By this time Bates had closed the door; Theydon explained his presence +in the flat by saying that within a few minutes he would have been +telephoning again to Old Broad Street.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Did you speak to Macdonald?" said Forbes, dropping into a chair +with a curious lassitude of manner which did not escape Theydon.</p> + +<p>"Yes. I have been most anxious to have a word with you—"</p> + +<p>Forbes broke in with a short laugh.</p> + +<p>"You would get nothing out of Macdonald," he said. "He knows that my +visits to the Chinese Embassy are few and far between and generally have +to do with—but what is it now? Why should you be so perturbed when I +mention the Chinese Embassy?"</p> + +<p>Theydon was literally astounded, and did not strive to hide his +agitation. But he was by no means tongue-tied. Now, most emphatically, +was he determined to have done with pretense. Whether by accident or +design, Forbes had placed himself with his back to the window.</p> + +<p>The younger man deliberately crossed the room, pulled up the blind, thus +admitting the flood of light which comes only from the upper third of a +window, and sat down in such a position that Forbes was compelled to +turn in order to face him.</p> + +<p>"Before you utter another word, Mr. Forbes," he said gravely, "let me +tell you that in my efforts to trace your whereabouts I also called up +Fortescue Square. Miss Forbes came to the telephone. She said you had +gone to the Home Office. By some feminine necromancy, too, she divined +the link which binds you with the death of Mrs. Lester. She was +distressed on your account, and I was hard put to it to extricate myself +from the risk of saying something which I might regret. I—"</p> + +<p>"What do you imply by that remark?" interrupted Forbes, piercing the +other with a look that was strangely reminiscent of his daughter's +candid scrutiny.</p> + +<p>"I imply the serious fact that I know who visited Mrs. Lester before she +met her death. I not only heard her visitor's arrival and departure, but +saw him at the corner of these mansions while on my way home from Daly's +Theater, and again when he posted a letter in the pillar box on the same +corner. If such unwonted interest on my part in the movements of one who +was then a complete stranger surprises you, let me remind you that only +a few minutes earlier I had stood by his side at the door of the theater +and heard him telling his daughter that he intended to walk to the +Constitutional Club."</p> + +<p>Forbes smiled, but uttered no word. His expression was inscrutable. His +pallor reminded Theydon of the tint of ivory, of that waxen-white Dutch +grisaille beloved of fifteenth century illuminators of manuscripts. His +silence was disturbing, almost irritating, his manner singularly calm.</p> + +<p>These negative indications conveyed absolutely nothing to Theydon, who +for the second time in their brief acquaintance found himself in the +ridiculous position of one explaining a fault rather than, as he +imagined, arraigning a man under suspicion.</p> + +<p>"So we had better dispense with ambiguities, Mr. Forbes," he went on, +speaking with a precision that sounded oddly in his own ears. "It was +you who called on Mrs. Lester on Monday night, you who posted the letter +she wrote to Miss Beale at Iffley, Oxfordshire, you for whom the police +are now searching. I have contrived thus far to keep your secret, but +the situation is passing out of my control. I would help you if I +could—"</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>The monosyllable, sharp and insistent, was disconcerting as the +unexpected crack of a whip, but Theydon answered valiantly:</p> + +<p>"Because of the monstrous absurdities with which Fate has plagued me +during the past two days, I appeal now for outspokenness, so I set an +example. Had it not been for your daughter's remarkably attractive +appearance I should not, in all likelihood, have given a second glance +at my neighbors on the steps of the theater. But I cannot forget that I +did see both her and you—indeed, Miss Forbes herself recalled the +incident—and the close questioning of the Scotland Yard men who were +here last night showed me the folly of imagining that I could deny all +knowledge of you. I recognize now that some impish contriving of +circumstances forced this knowledge upon me. The sudden downpour of +rain, and the fact that I was delayed by a slight accident to my cab, +conspired with the apparently simple chance which led me to overhear the +conversation between Miss Forbes and yourself. I tried hard to baffle +the detectives—"</p> + +<p>"Again I ask 'Why?'"</p> + +<p>Theydon was rapidly being wound up to a pitch of excited resentment.</p> + +<p>"Why?" he cried. "Was I not your guest? How could I come from a house +where I had been admitted to a delightful intimacy and tell the +representatives of the law that my host was the man they were looking +for?"</p> + +<p>During some seconds Forbes bent his eyes on the floor, seemingly in deep +thought.</p> + +<p>"Theydon," he said at last, looking up in his direct way, "I am your +senior by a good many years—am old enough, as the saying goes, to be +your father. I may venture, therefore, to give you a piece of sound +advice. Pack a kit-bag, catch the afternoon boat train for Boulogne, and +go for a walking tour in Normandy and Brittany. When I was your age and +a junior in a bank I had to take my holidays in May; each year I tramped +that corner of France. I recommend it as a playground. It will appeal to +your literary instincts, and it has the immeasurable advantage just now +of being practically as remote from London as the Sahara."</p> + +<p>It must not be forgotten that Theydon was a romancer, an idealist. The +"lounge suit" of the modern tailor hampers the play of such qualities no +more than the beaten armor of the age of chivalry.</p> + +<p>"If my departure for France will relieve Miss Forbes of anxiety on your +behalf, I'll go," he vowed.</p> + +<p>Forbes regarded him with a new interest.</p> + +<p>"I believe you mean that," he said.</p> + +<p>"I do."</p> + +<p>"But I cannot send you out of the country on a false pretense. It was +your safety and well-being, not my daughter's, that I was thinking of."</p> + +<p>"What have I to fear?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know. I am like a man wandering by night in a jungle alive +with fearsome beasts and reptiles."</p> + +<p>"Yet you had some reason for suggesting my prompt departure."</p> + +<p>"Yes. It is an absurd thing to say, but I believe I am putting you in +danger of your life by coming here this morning."</p> + +<p>"Can't you speak plainly, Mr. Forbes? What good purpose do you serve by +holding forth these vague terrors? If, as Miss Forbes told me, you have +visited the Home Office, I take it you made yourself clear to the +authorities—assuming, that is, you went there in connection with the +amazing conditions which seem to be bound up with this crime."</p> + +<p>"There is a certain class of knowledge which is in itself dangerous to +those who possess it, no matter whether or not it affects them in any +particular. I recommend you, in good faith, to leave London today."</p> + +<p>"If my own safety is the only consideration I refuse as readily as I +agreed before."</p> + +<p>Theydon's tone grew somewhat impatient. He really fancied that Forbes +was trifling with him. Indeed, a queer doubt of the man's complete +sanity now peeped up in him. Forbes was regarded as a crank by a large +section of the public on account of his peace propaganda; if that +opinion were justified why should he not be eccentric in other respects?</p> + +<p>It was fantastic, almost stupid, to look upon him as responsible for +Mrs. Lester's murder, but there was always a possibility that he might +be utilizing the chance which led him to her apartments shortly before +the crime was committed to cover himself and his movements with a veil +of spurious mystery. In a word, though Theydon had likened his visitor's +face to a mask of ivory he had momentarily forgotten the ominous token +found on Mrs. Lester's body and duplicated in Forbes's own house by the +morning's post.</p> + +<p>Forbes spread wide his hands with the air of one who heard, but was +allowing his thoughts to wander. When next he spoke it was only to +increase the crazy inconsequence of their talk.</p> + +<p>"Later—perhaps today—perhaps it may never be necessary—I may explain +myself to your heart's content," he said slowly. "At present I am here +to ask a favor. In the first place, is Mrs. Lester's flat in charge of +the police?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose so," said Theydon.</p> + +<p>"Is there a detective or constable on duty there now?"</p> + +<p>"I am not sure. I imagine there is not. When the Scotland Yard men and I +came out after midnight they locked the door and took away the key. +The—er—body is at the mortuary, awaiting the opening of the inquest at +three o'clock."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I hoped that would be so. Can you ascertain for certain?"</p> + +<p>"But why?"</p> + +<p>"Because I wish to go in there. And that brings me to the favor I seek. +The secretary of these flats, even the hall porter, should have a master +key. Borrow it on some pretext. They will give it to you."</p> + +<p>"Really, Mr. Forbes—" gasped Theydon, voicing his surprise as a +preliminary to a decided refusal. He was interrupted by the insistent +clang of the telephone—that curt herald which brooks no delay in +answering its demand for an audience.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me one moment," he said. "I'll just see who that is."</p> + +<p>The inquirer was Evelyn Forbes.</p> + +<p>"I've waited patiently—" she began, but he stopped her instantly by +saying that her father was with him.</p> + +<p>"Please ask him to come to the phone," she said.</p> + +<p>Forbes rose at once. He merely assured the girl that he was engaged in +important business and would be home soon after the luncheon hour. +Meanwhile, she was not to go out, and his orders must be obeyed to the +letter.</p> + +<p>"Now, Theydon," he said, coming back to the sitting room, "what about +that key?"</p> + +<p>The most extraordinary feature of an extraordinary case was the way in +which the mere sound of Evelyn Forbes's voice stilled any qualms of +conscience in Theydon's breast. He knew he was acting foolishly in +conducting a blind inquiry on his own account, an inquiry which might +well arouse the anger and active resentment of the police, but he +offered a sop to his better judgment by consulting Bates.</p> + +<p>Then came a veritable surprise.</p> + +<p>"The fact is, sir," admitted Bates nervously, "we have Ann Rogers's key +in the kitchen. When she went away on Monday she left it here, bein' +afraid of losin' it. Of course, she took it on Tuesday mornin', and +after goin' from one fit of hysterics into another she gev it to us +again."</p> + +<p>Theydon's face was eloquent of the serious view of this avowal.</p> + +<p>"Did you tell the police?" he said.</p> + +<p>"No, sir. My missus an' me clean forgot all about it."</p> + +<p>"So, while Mrs. Lester was being killed, the key of her flat was +actually in your possession?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose it might be put that way, sir."</p> + +<p>By this time Theydon was becoming exasperated at the veritable +conspiracy which fate had engineered for the express purpose, +apparently, of entangling him in an abominable crime.</p> + +<p>"Why on earth didn't you mention such an important fact to the +detectives?" he almost shouted, "Don't you see they are bound to +think—"</p> + +<p>"O, a plague on the detectives and on what they think!" broke in Forbes +imperiously. "It doesn't matter a straw what they think, and very little +what they do. This affair goes a long way beyond the four-mile radius, +Theydon. The vital point is that your man has the key. Where is it? Let +us go in there at once!"</p> + +<p>"You offered me some advice, Mr. Forbes," said Theydon firmly. "Let me +now return it in kind. If you wish to examine Mrs. Lester's flat why not +seek the permission of Scotland Yard?"</p> + +<p>"My good fellow, I have spent a valuable hour this morning in persuading +the Home Secretary that the less Scotland Yard interferes in my behalf +the more effectually shall I be protected. I don't want any detective +within a mile of my house or office. But, as I have told you already, +explanations must wait—You, Bates, look a man who can hold his tongue. +Do so, and with Mr. Theydon's permission I'll make it worth your while +when this storm has blown over—Now, give me that key."</p> + +<p>Theydon was silenced, if not convinced. He realized, of course, that he +must make a full confession to the Criminal Investigation Department +before the sun went down, but argued that he might as well see the +present adventure through.</p> + +<p>Soon he and Forbes were standing at the door of No. 17. Forbes curbed +his impatience sufficiently to permit of any one who happened to be in +the interior answering the summons of the electric bell. Of course, no +one came. The police had no reason to remain in charge of the place, and +Ann Rogers would have become a raving lunatic if left alone there for +one half-hour.</p> + +<p>The aromatic odor of the burnt joss stick still clung to the suite of +apartments, and Forbes noticed it at once.</p> + +<p>"Where was the body found?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Theydon led the way to the bedroom. He related Winter's theory of the +crime, and pointed out its seeming aimlessness. So far as the police +could ascertain from the half-crazy servant, none of Mrs. Lester's +jewels was missing. Even her gold purse, containing a fair sum of money, +was found on the dressing-table.</p> + +<p>He did not know that the detectives had taken away a few scraps of torn +paper thrown carelessly into the grate and had carefully gathered up a +tiny snake-like curl of white ash from the tiled hearth, which, on +analysis, would probably prove to be the remains of the joss stick.</p> + +<p>Forbes gazed at the impression on the side of the bed as though the body +of the woman whom he had last seen in full possession of her grace and +beauty were still lying there. The vision seemed to affect him +profoundly. He did not speak for fully a minute, and, when speech came, +his voice was low and strained.</p> + +<p>"Tell me everything you know," he said. "The Scotland Yard men took an +unusual step in admitting you to their conclave. They must have had some +motive. Tell me what they said, their very words, if you can recall +them."</p> + +<p>Theydon was uncomfortably aware of a strange compulsion to obey. His +commonplace, everyday senses cried out in revolt, and warned him that he +was tampering dangerously with matters which should be left to the cold +scrutiny of the law, but some subconscious instinct overpowered these +prudent monitors, and he gave an almost exact account of his talk with +Winter and Furneaux.</p> + +<p>Then followed questions, eager, searching, almost uncanny in their +prescience.</p> + +<p>"The little one—who strikes me as having more brains than I credit the +ordinary London policeman with—spoke of the evil deities of China. How +did such an extraordinary topic crop up?"</p> + +<p>"In connection with the joss stick."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes. But I don't see the inference."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Winter alluded to the habit some ladies have of burning such +incense in their houses, whereupon Furneaux remarked that the Chinese +use them to propitiate harmful spirits."</p> + +<p>"Was that all?"</p> + +<p>Theydon felt insensibly that his companion was hinting at something more +definite, but he was bound in honor to respect the confidence reposed in +him.</p> + +<p>"I don't quite understand," he temporized.</p> + +<p>"Was nothing said as to the finding of some object, such as a small +article obviously Chinese in origin, which might turn an inquirer's +thought into that channel?"</p> + +<p>"The conversation I am relating took place the moment after we had +entered the flat. We were standing in the hall. It was wholly the +outcome of the strange smell which was immediately perceptible."</p> + +<p>Forbes passed a hand over his eyes.</p> + +<p>"I wonder," he breathed.</p> + +<p>Then, turning quickly on Theydon, he repeats the question.</p> + +<p>"Are you quite sure they did not mention the discovery in this room of +any object which could be regarded, even remotely, as a sign or symbol +left by the murderer to show that his crime was an act of vengeance, or +retaliation?"</p> + +<p>Theydon hesitated. Unquestionably he was in a position of no ordinary +difficulty. But his doubts were solved by an interruption that brought +his heart into his mouth, because a thin, high-pitched voice came +through the half-open door:</p> + +<p>"Are you thinking of a small ivory skull, Mr. Forbes?"</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII<br /><br /> +WHEREIN MR. FORBES EXPLAINS HIMSELF</h3> + +<p>Even the boldest may flinch when confronted with that which is +apparently a manifestation of the supernatural. Theydon and Forbes were +standing in a chamber of death. To the best of their belief they were +alone in an otherwise empty flat, and those ominous words coming from +some one unknown and unseen blanched their faces with terror.</p> + +<p>But Theydon was a healthy and athletic young Englishman, and Forbes was +of the rare order which combines a frame of exceptional physique with a +mind accustomed to think imperially; two such men might be trusted to +display real grit if surrounded by a horde of veritable spooks.</p> + +<p>The door was thrown wide as they turned at the sound of the words, and +Theydon recognized in a strange little figure—wearing a blue serge +suit, a straw hat and brown boots—Furneaux, the man whom he had looked +on as somewhat of a crank and visionary during their talk of the +previous night.</p> + +<p>"You?" he gasped, and the note of recognition was sharpened by a sudden +sense of dismay, almost of alarm, because of the overwhelming knowledge +that now all his scheming had collapsed, while the representatives of +Scotland Yard would regard him as nothing more than a poor sort of +trickster.</p> + +<p>But Forbes was not in the habit of yielding to any man, no matter what +his status, or howsoever awe-inspiring might be the department of state +which he represented.</p> + +<p>"Who the devil are you, at any rate?" he cried angrily. "And what right +have you to spy on gentlemen in this manner, listening to their +conversation, and breaking in with a cheap stage effect obviously +intended to startle?"</p> + +<p>Furneaux remained motionless, his feet set well apart and his hands +thrust into his trousers pockets. The trim, natty figure, the spruce and +Summer-like attire, the small, wizened face with its cynically humorous +and wide-awake aspect—above all, a certain jauntiness of air and +cocksure expression—certainly did not suggest a comedian fresh from the +boards.</p> + +<p>"You tell," he said, nodding to Theydon.</p> + +<p>"This is Mr. Furneaux of Scotland Yard," said the latter nervously. He +imagined he could detect in Furneaux's glance a mixture of amusement and +contempt, amusement at the notion that any amateur should harbor the +belief that the two best men in the "Yard" could be egregiously +hoodwinked, and contempt of one who so far forgot himself as even to +dare attempt such a thing in relation to a police inquiry into a murder.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, and care less, who Mr. Furneaux of Scotland Yard may be," +went on Forbes hotly. "I resent his intrusion, and wish to be relieved +of his presence."</p> + +<p>"Why?" said Furneaux.</p> + +<p>"I have given my reasons to the Home Secretary. That mere statement must +suffice for you."</p> + +<p>"Really, I must ask you to be more explicit."</p> + +<p>"I visited the Home Office this morning, and placed such evidence in the +hands of the Home Secretary that Scotland Yard will be requested to +suspend all further investigation into the death of Mrs. Lester."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that the Home Secretary has sanctioned the breaking off of +this inquiry."</p> + +<p>"In the conditions—"</p> + +<p>"Because, if that is what your words imply, Mr. Forbes, I may tell you +at once that I don't believe you. It is more than any Home Secretary +dare do, and if you harbor any lingering doubts on the point, go to Mr. +Theydon's telephone, ring up the Home Office, and tell the gentleman at +the other end of the wire exactly what I have said. Of course you really +don't mean anything of the sort. By virtue of some special and inside +knowledge of certain facts communicated to the Home Secretary, you may +have persuaded him to promise that, provided the ends of justice are not +defeated thereby, every precaution will be taken to keep the main lines +of the inquiry secret until the whole position can be laid before the +law officers of the Crown. The Home Secretary may have gone that far, +Mr. Forbes, but not one inch farther, and you know it."</p> + +<p>The two antagonists, so singularly disproportionate in size, were yet so +perfectly matched in the vastly more important qualities of brain and +nerve that the contest lost all sense of inequality. Theydon felt +himself of no account in this duel. He was like an urchin watching +open-mouthed a combat of gladiators.</p> + +<p>Forbes, not without a perceptible effort, choked down his wrath and +recovered his poise.</p> + +<p>"You have gaged the state of affairs accurately enough," he said, +speaking more calmly. "May I, then, recommend you to consult your direct +superiors before carrying your investigations any furthur, Mr.—"</p> + +<p>"Furneaux—Charles Francois Furneaux."</p> + +<p>"Just so, Mr. Charles Francois Furneaux."</p> + +<p>"I give you my full name, because one of the peculiar features of this +case is the inability of some persons mixed up in it to recall names, or +even the mere salient facts," and the detective's glance dwelt for an +instant on Theydon, who, again, in his own estimation, shrank into the +boots of a fourth-form boy detected by a master in an overt breach of +college rules.</p> + +<p>But the little man was speaking impressively, and, Theydon compelled his +wandering wits to pay attention.</p> + +<p>"It will clear the air, perhaps," went on Furneaux, "if I point out that +if any one here is playing the spy—carrying on some underhanded game, +that is—it is not I. These apartments are in charge of the police. The +manager of the whole block of flats and the porter of this particular +section have been warned that no one can be allowed to enter No. 17, on +any pretext, until our inquiry is closed. Now, Mr. Forbes, kindly +explain how you contrived to get possession of a key."</p> + +<p>An experienced man of the world like Forbes could hardly fail to see +that he was in a false position, and that any persistent attempt to +browbeat the detective would not only meet with utter failure but might +possibly compromise him gravely.</p> + +<p>"That was a simple matter," he said. "Mrs. Lester's servant left her key +in Mr. Theydon's establishment. Bates surprised both his master and me +by producing it when I expressed a wish to examine the place."</p> + +<p>"But why adopt such a clandestine method?"</p> + +<p>Forbes's face, usually so classic in outline, assumed a certain +rigidity, and his firm chin grew markedly aggressive.</p> + +<p>"I don't answer questions put in that way," he said.</p> + +<p>Furneaux laughed sardonically.</p> + +<p>"You meet with greater respect in Capel Court, I have no doubt," he +snapped. "There you stand on a pedestal, with one hand flourishing a +check-book and the other resting gracefully on the neck of a golden +calf. Here, you are simply an ordinary citizen behaving in a suspicious +manner. If the uniformed policeman on the neighboring beat knew what I +know of your recent movements he would arrest you without ceremony, and +charge you with being concerned in the murder of Mrs. Lester. Between +you and Mr. Theydon, the work of my department has been hindered and +burked most scandalously. Don't glare at me like that! I don't care +tuppence for your millions and your social position. What I do care +about is the horrible risk you and each member of your family are +incurring. You know why, and while you are still alive I mean to force +you to speak. Tell me now why Mrs. Lester was killed. Tell me, too, why +the same hand which thrust a little ivory skull into the dead woman's +underbodice caused a similar token to be delivered to you by this +morning's post. Ah, that touches you, does it? Now, my worthy financier +and philanthropist, step down from your pedestal and behave like a being +of flesh and blood!"</p> + +<p>Forbes positively wilted under that extraordinary attack. His white face +grew wan, and his eyes dilated with surprise and terror. The detective's +words seemed to have the effect of a paralytic shock. Thenceforth he was +under dog in the fight.</p> + +<p>"How do you know," he gasped, "that I received an ivory skull this +morning? Have you been to my house? Did my daughter tell you?"</p> + +<p>Furneaux chuckled.</p> + +<p>"You're ready to listen, eh? Well, I don't mind telling you that I have +not stirred out of this flat since seven o'clock this morning, and I +question if your letters were delivered in Fortescue Square at that +hour."</p> + +<p>"I give in," said Forbes curtly. "Need we remain here? The smell of that +cursed joss stick oppresses me."</p> + +<p>Then Theydon found his tongue.</p> + +<p>"If Mr. Furneaux cares to abandon his vigil, my flat is entirely at your +disposal," he said.</p> + +<p>"My vigil, as you accurately describe it, has ended for the time being," +said Furneaux, apparently mollified by the millionaire's surrender. "I +was sure that if I remained here long enough I would clear away some of +the fog attached to a case which promises to be one of the most +remarkable I have ever investigated. Come, gentlemen, let us be amiable +to one another. I'm sorry if I lost my temper just now, but I regard +myself as being the only detective in existence who uses other sections +of his brain than those governed by statutes made and provided, and it +riles me when men of superior intelligence like yourselves treat me as +though my mission in life was to direct the traffic and keep a sharp eye +on mischievous juveniles.... Mr. Theydon, can that soldier-servant of +yours make coffee?"</p> + +<p>"His wife can," said Theydon.</p> + +<p>"Will you be good enough, then, to set her to work? Thus far, since the +sun rose, I have stayed the pangs of hunger with an apple and a glass of +water."</p> + +<p>By this time, Theydon had thoroughly revised his first estimate of the +diminutive detective. Indeed, he was beginning to look on him as a quite +noteworthy person, a man whose mental equipment it was most unwise to +assess at any lower valuation than the somewhat exalted one which +Furneaux himself had set forth with such refreshing candor.</p> + +<p>As for Forbes, the millionaire seemed to have sunk into a species of +stupor since Furneaux spoke of the ivory skull. He uttered no word until +the three were seated in Theydon's room, and his expression was so +woebegone that it stirred even the mercurial Jerseyite to pity.</p> + +<p>"I imagine that a cup of coffee will do you also a world of good," he +said. Then, whirling round on Theydon, he stuck a question into him as +if each word was a stiletto.</p> + +<p>"Where do you get your coffee?"</p> + +<p>"At the grocer's," was the surprised answer.</p> + +<p>"Is that all you know about it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Singular thing, isn't it?" mused the detective aloud, "how idiotic men +and women can be in their attitude to the supreme things of life. What +is of greater importance than the food we eat and the liquors we drink? +Through them the body reconstitutes itself hourly and daily. Providence +gives us a perfect engine, yet we clog and choke its shafts and +cylinders by supplying it haphazard with any sort of fuel and lubricant, +no matter how unsuited either may be to its purpose. Take coffee, for +instance. The physiological action of coffee depends on the presence of +the alkaloid caffeine, which varies from 0.6 percent in the Arabian +berry to 2 percent in that of Sierra Leone. Again, the aromatic oil, +caffeine, which is developed by roasting, increases in quantity the +longer the seeds are kept. Unfortunately, coffee beans lose weight +during storage, so you have a clear commercial reason why grocers should +not sell the best coffee, unless under compulsion of an enlightened +public opinion. Now you, Mr. Forbes, would never dream of putting your +money into a investment without full and careful inquiry into the +history and scope of the proposed undertaking, while our young friend +here would snort furiously at a split infinitive or a false rhyme, yet, +when I submit the vital problem of the sort of coffee you imbibe—the +very essence and nutriment of your brains and bodies—you hear the kind +of answer I receive."</p> + +<p>All this, of course, was excellent fooling, intended to dispel the +brooding horror which had suddenly descended upon Forbes since it was +borne in on him that the demoniac wrath wreaked on Mrs. Lester was now +directed with equal ferocity against his family and himself.</p> + +<p>To an extent, Furneaux's scheme succeeded. A gleam of interest shot from +the millionaire's eyes. They lost their introspective look. He even +smiled wistfully.</p> + +<p>"You are a man after my own heart, Mr. Furneaux," he said. "I had no +idea that the Criminal Investigation Department employed philosophers of +your caliber. I suppose that you and I are about to swallow coffee +containing indeterminate percentages of the chief constituents you +named."</p> + +<p>"One does not look at gift coffee in the cup," grinned the little man, +obviously well pleased with himself. "But, if ever you two gentlemen +favor my obscure dwelling with a visit, and partake of a meal, you will +have a strict analysis with every bite and sup. There is a grocer in +Battersea who used to tremble at sight of me. Now he has learned wisdom, +and has quadrupled his trade by publishing learned disquisitions on the +nature and quality of each principal article he sells. You ought to read +his treatise on butter. He is an authority on the dietetic value of jam. +The nutritive properties of his cheese are ruining the local butchers."</p> + +<p>Furneaux's efforts were rewarded when the really excellent beverage +provided by Mrs. Bates was disposed of. Forbes seemingly atoned for his +earlier secretiveness by placing every fact in his possession fully and +fairly before his auditors.</p> + +<p>"Nearly seven years ago," he said, "I made a very large sum of money by +amalgamating certain shipping interests at a favorable moment. Thus, as +it happened, I had at command practically unlimited resources when I was +asked to finance the cause of reform in China. The wretched lot of the +Chinese Nation had always appealed to my sympathies. Some hundreds of +millions of the most industrious and peace-loving people in the world +have been exploited for centuries by a predatory caste. Given a chance +to expand, freed from the shackles of the Manchus, the Chinese, in my +opinion, contain the elements which go to form a great race. But the +Manchus held them in bondage, body and soul, and, so powerful is +self-interest, there has never been an Emperor or statesman who strove +to elevate the masses who was not mercilessly assassinated as soon as he +allowed his intent to become known. The only path to freedom lay through +revolution, and I had reason to believe that the ruling faction could be +overthrown by a well-organized and properly financed movement without +the appalling bloodshed which often accompanies such dynastic changes. +At any rate, I entered the conspiracy, heart and soul. But I met with +two difficulties at the outset. I could not exercise efficient financial +control in London, and I could neither go and live in the Far East nor +transact my business through ordinary banking channels. So I had to find +a substitute, and my choice fell on a rising young barrister named +Arthur Lester, whom I had known since he was a boy who had married the +daughter of an old friend. He had a taste for adventure, and was alive +to the magnificent career which lay before one who helped materially in +the rebirth of China. In a word, he went to Shanghai as my agent, and +the outcome of his work there is the present Chinese constitution. Of +course, as holds good in all human affairs, events did not follow the +precise track mapped out for them. But, on the whole, he and I were +satisfied. China is awake at last. The giant has stirred, and, if his +first uncertain steps have deviated from the open road of reform, he +will never again sink into the torpor of the past centuries. Manchu +arrogance and domination, at any rate, are shadows of the past, but +unhappily, the conquerors who have been so effectually thrust aside have +now embarked on a secret campaign of vengeance and reaction. A society +which calls itself the 'Young Manchus' is inspired by one principle, and +one only, and that is 'death to the reformers.' I don't suppose you +gentlemen follow closely the trend of affairs in China, but you must +have read of the assassinations of prominent men reported occasionally +in the newspapers."</p> + +<p>Furneaux clicked his tongue so loudly that Forbes stopped speaking and +looked at him, thinking, apparently, that the little detective meant to +say something. He did, but it was Theydon whom he addressed.</p> + +<p>"I'd give a week's pay if Winter was here now, and I could see those big +eyes of his bulging out of his head," he cackled.</p> + +<p>Theydon nodded. He understood perfectly. Then he caught Forbes's +inquiring glance, and explained matters.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Furneaux hinted last night at some such development as that which +your present statement conveys, and his colleague, Mr. Winter, pretended +to scout it," he said.</p> + +<p>"Pretended!" shrieked Furneaux, instantly in a rage.</p> + +<p>"That was how it struck me," said Theydon coolly.</p> + +<p>"Didn't I drag the Chinese aspect of the crime out of him with pincers?" +came the indignant demand.</p> + +<p>"Unquestionably. I only remark that your large-sized friend had it +tucked away all the time at the back of his head."</p> + +<p>Furneaux pounded the table so viciously that the cups rattled.</p> + +<p>"Of course, he has a nose to smell joss sticks, and eyes to see an ivory +skull, but didn't he say I was talking nonsense when I spoke about Shang +Ti scowling from a porcelain vase?" he shrilled.</p> + +<p>"Yes. For all that, I don't think he missed the least hint of your +meaning."</p> + +<p>Furneaux gazed at Theydon fixedly.</p> + +<p>"Sorry," he said, with an acid tone that was almost malicious. "I +imagined you were so busy throwing dust in our eyes that you wouldn't +have noticed such fine shades of perception on Winter's part."</p> + +<p>But Theydon was now able to measure this strange little man with some +degree of accuracy; he only smiled.</p> + +<p>"As a thrower of dust I was a most abject failure," he said.</p> + +<p>Furneaux smiled and turned to the millionaire.</p> + +<p>"Pardon the interruption," he said. "Like every artist, I am pained when +my best efforts are scoffed at by heedless mediocrity. You, at least, +will understand what a big thing it was to deduce even the vaguest +outline of the truth from the facts at my command."</p> + +<p>"I certainly do," agreed Forbes. "Until this morning I was convinced +that Mrs. Lester's death removed the one person in England who knew of +my connection with the revolution in China. To revert to the Young +Manchus—they have secured far more victims than the world at large is +aware of. I am sure that they poisoned Arthur Lester, and his wife held +the same view. They aim at nothing less than the extinction of the +democratic cause by the murder of every prominent man connected with it. +But they never yet have been able to obtain a full and authentic list of +the reform leaders. They suspected poor Lester of complicity in the +movement, and killed him. It was through Mrs. Lester that I first became +aware of their existence as an active organization, and I hoped that +when she had returned to England, and was living quietly in London, she +would be lost sight of—ignored, in fact. Nevertheless, both she and I +thought it prudent that our acquaintance should cease until the turmoil +in China had subsided. For that reason I never visited her, nor did I +permit the growth of friendship between her and my wife and daughter—a +friendship which, in happier conditions, would have been natural and +inevitable. But we were woefully mistaken. An Oriental vendetta neither +slackens nor dies. By some means wholly unknown to me, the Young Manchus +must have discovered, or guessed, that in leaving Lester's widow out of +their reckoning they had lost a promising clew. Be that as it may, they +followed her to London, and, by a singular fatality, I was the first to +know of it. Last Monday, while driving home from the city, my car was +held up in Piccadilly for a few seconds. Looking idly out at the passing +crowd, I saw a Chinaman in European clothes. He was waiting to cross the +road, so I was able to scrutinize him carefully, and, owing to a scar on +the left side of his face, recognized him. His name is Wong Li Fu, a +Manchu of the Manchus, a mandarin of almost imperial lineage. Some years +ago he was a young attaché at the Chinese Embassy here. Suddenly, while +on the way to my house, I recollected that certain members of the +Revolutionary Committee had spoken of this very man as being one of the +ablest and most unscrupulous adherents of the Manchu faction in Pekin. +Somehow, his presence in London was disconcerting and menacing. Who more +likely than he, I argued, to be a leading spirit among the Young +Manchus? In any event, London was not big enough to hold both Mrs. +Lester and him, and I decided to visit her that very night, tell her I +had seen Wong Li Fu, and advise her to go away into the country, leaving +no record of her whereabouts. I happened to be taking my daughter to +Daly's Theater, and contrived to slip away on some pretext after the +performance. I found Mrs. Lester alone in her flat, and she fell in with +my views at once, because she, too, had heard of this very man, and the +mere sound of his name terrified her. I was half inclined to urge that +she should go to an hotel for the night, but the lateness of the hour +and the seeming fact that if danger threatened she was safe at least +till the morrow, prevented me."</p> + +<p>Furneaux, sitting on the edge of a chair, his head bent forward, his +piercing black eyes intent as those of a hawk, a hand resting on each +knee, his attitude curiously suggestive of a readiness to spring forward +at any instant, now leaned over and tapped the millionaire decisively on +the shoulder.</p> + +<p>"You couldn't have saved her, Mr. Forbes," he said gravely. "She was +marked down as the first warning. Didn't the letter you received this +morning tell you something of the sort?"</p> + +<p>Agitation gave place to utter astonishment in Forbes's face.</p> + +<p>"In Heaven's name, how do you know anything of any letter?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"I will tell you later. But am I not right?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, you are."</p> + +<p>"Where is it? May I see it?"</p> + +<p>Forbes took a creased and soiled document from a small, flat cardboard +box which he carried in the breast pocket of his coat. But first he +withdrew from the box a little object, and placed it on the table. It +was an ivory skull, and the very presence of such a sinister token +brought some hint of the charnel-house into the cozy and sunlit room.</p> + +<p>Furneaux, a creature oddly constituted either of all nerves or of no +nerves, disregarded the skull. He had eyes only for the few words typed +on a single sheet of note-paper. They ran:</p> + +<p>"James Creighton Forbes: If you are willing to come to terms, announce +the fact by advertisement in Thursday's Times. Address your reply to Y. +M., and sign it 'J. C. F.' Yield, and you will hear further. Refuse, and +no other warning will be given."</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br /><br /> +THE FIRST COUNTER-STROKE</h3> + +<p>Furneaux apparently made up his mind with reference to the contents of a +somewhat enigmatic message after one quick, unerring perusal.</p> + +<p>"The man who wrote that took a great many things for granted," he said. +"He assumed, firstly, that you knew of Mrs. Lester's death and +understood its significance; secondly, that you are aware of the nature +of the 'terms' he will offer; thirdly, that you may hesitate between +compliance and threatened death. 'Y. M.,' of course, can be read as +'Young Manchus.' Even there, the writer exhibits artistic reticence.... +Frankly, Mr. Forbes, I wish you had come straight to Scotland Yard on +Monday evening instead of wasting those precious hours at Daly's +Theater."</p> + +<p>Forbes was moved to energetic protest.</p> + +<p>"How was I to deduce the true nature of these hell hounds' mission from +a casual glance vouchsafed of one who may or may not be their leader?" +he cried.</p> + +<p>"Yet you treated your discovery as serious enough to warrant a prompt +visit to the woman with whom association was dangerous?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I wanted to act secretly."</p> + +<p>"Just so. You were afraid the police would bungle the job. Between you +and Mr. Theydon, you have exhibited remarkable skill in heading us off +the scent. Fortunately, we were able to dispense with your assistance, +having other matters to occupy our brains. You two were ripe nuts +waiting to be cracked and have the contents extracted at leisure. There +were a few freshly broken shells lying about which invited immediate +attention. For instance, some four months ago, a well-known and +reputable firm of private inquiry agents was instructed from Canton to +secure all possible information about Mrs. Lester and you—yes, you, Mr. +Forbes—your household, friends, methods of living, servants, +tradesmen,—every sort of fact, indeed, which might be useful to a +thoroughgoing and well-organized society of cutthroats like the Young +Manchus. The inquiry agents did their work well, and were handsomely +paid for it. I haven't the least doubt that Wong Li Fu knows what brand +of cigars you favor, and what you eat for breakfast. His informants sent +us a copy of their notes an hour after the murder was announced in the +newspapers. Mr. Lester is 'removed' in Shanghai. His widow comes home. +The inquiry agents receive instructions. They forward their report to +Canton, and Wong Li Fu turns up in London. The program is a tribute to +the excellence and regularity of the mail service between England and +the Far East."</p> + +<p>While the detective was speaking, Forbes's face, already haggard, had +grown desperate.</p> + +<p>"I care little for my own life," he said, "but I shall stop short of no +measures to protect my wife and daughter."</p> + +<p>"I certainly recommend that an armed guard should be on duty day and +night in any house where you may happen to be living at the moment," +replied Furneaux airily. "I really think that if your safety alone were +at stake I would do you a good turn by arresting you on suspicion."</p> + +<p>"On suspicion of what crime?"</p> + +<p>"Of killing Mrs. Lester, to be sure."</p> + +<p>"I regard you as a clever man, Mr. Furneaux, so may I remind you that +this is neither the time nor the place for a display of gross humor?"</p> + +<p>Theydon expected that Furneaux would flare into anger at this +well-deserved rebuke; but, much to his surprise, the detective treated +the matter argumentatively.</p> + +<p>"Personally, I have looked on you from the outset as an innocent man," +he said placidly. "But, just to show how circumstantial evidence may be +twisted into plausible error, let me point out that nearly all the known +facts conspire against you. Have you considered how dexterously a +prosecuting counsel would treat your admission that Mrs. Lester was the +one person in England who knew of your connection with the revolutionary +party in China? And how would you set about convincing a stolid British +jury that you were acting in the interests of law and order in +concealing your visit to No. 17 on the night of the murder? These +fine-drawn speculations, however, are a sheer waste of breath. Suppose +we concoct an advertisement for the Times?"</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that I am to parley with these ruffians?"</p> + +<p>"Of course you are."</p> + +<p>"But the Home Secretary agreed with me that no action should be taken +until the Chinese Legation had considered the matter."</p> + +<p>"And, pray, what can the Legation do?"</p> + +<p>"They have their own sources of information. When all is said and done, +Orientals are best fitted to deal with Orientals."</p> + +<p>Furneaux laughed sarcastically.</p> + +<p>"If I remember rightly, the way in which the Chinese Embassy dealt with +one of your pet reformers some years ago did not win general approval. +No, Mr. Forbes, we must try and circumvent the wily Chinese by other +methods than torture and imprisonment. Of what avail will it be if this +fellow, Wong Li Fu, is laid by the heels? Isn't it more than certain +that he has plenty of determined helpers? Do you imagine that he killed +Mrs. Lester? Not a bit of it. He will be able to produce the clearest +proof that he was miles away from Innesmore Mansions on Monday night. +Now, let's see how we can get him to show his hand a little more openly. +How would this be? 'Y. M.—Terms can be arranged. J. C. F.' The terms +are, of course, that the whole gang be hanged or sent to penal servitude +and deported."</p> + +<p>"One moment," struck in Theydon. "I have something to say before you +decide on any definite action. I need hardly inflict on you, Mr. +Furneaux, an explanation of my silence hitherto. I don't even apologize +for it. Faced by a similar dilemma tomorrow I should probably take the +same line. But, to adopt your own simile, now that Mr. Forbes has come +out of his shell, and admits his presence here on Monday night, my +self-imposed restrictions cease. In the first place, then, Miss Beale +came here this morning—"</p> + +<p>"Excellent! I wondered who the lady was," put in Furneaux.</p> + +<p>"And, secondly, the gray car which pursued me on Monday seems to have +been partly identified later. A car resembling it in every detail +deposited some one at the Chinese Legation in Portland Place, at an hour +which corresponds closely with its presence here."</p> + +<p>"Ah, that is important! I like that! I wasn't far wrong when I sensed +you as an absolute carrier of clew-germs in this affair," cried +Furneaux.</p> + +<p>"The Chinese Embassy!" gasped Forbes. "What car? And why should any car +pursue you? Do you mean that you were followed on leaving my house?"</p> + +<p>It was lamentable to watch the inroad which each successive shock was +making on Forbes's physical resources, but Theydon affected to ignore +the new fright in his eyes, and told him what had happened. Although he +could see that Furneaux was in a fever of impatience to learn the later +news, he thought that Forbes should know the facts in view of the +remarkable statement that he had visited the Chinese Embassy that +morning.</p> + +<p>In one respect, the recital was a test of the millionaire's professed +readiness to deal candidly with the police. Theydon was half inclined to +believe that the other was still wishful to conceal that part of the +day's doings. But he was mistaken. When he had finished his own story, +and given the taxi-man's version of the gray car's appearance in +Portland Place, Forbes threw out his hands in a gesture of despair.</p> + +<p>"If the Embassy people are playing me false I do not know whom to +trust," he said brokenly; "I have just come from there, and they assure +me that if Wong Li Fu and his gang are in London they are absolutely +ignorant of the fact."</p> + +<p>"Pooh!" cried Furneaux, snapping a thumb and forefinger. "Don't worry +about that! Put yourself in the position of the Chinese Ambassador. He +can't even guess who may be the ruler of China from one day to another. +Yesterday it was an old woman, today a dictator, tomorrow the mob; who +can foretell what shape the lava erupted from a volcano will take? Bet +you a new hat, Mr. Forbes, that the minute the embassy heard of Mrs. +Lester's murder they put two and two together and kept a sharp eye on +these mansions and on your house. That gray car is nothing more nor less +than a red herring accidentally drawn across the trail. Some cute +Chinaman said 'Hallo! that murdered woman is the wife of Forbes's agent +in Shanghai. Now, let's see what Forbes is doing, and who visits him, +and perhaps we'll learn something.' Want a bet?"</p> + +<p>Forbes could not help but recover some of his shattered nerve in view of +the detective's airy optimism. Still, he was shaken and dubious.</p> + +<p>"Don't forget that the Chinese Ambassador has no knowledge whatsoever of +my share in the revolution," he said.</p> + +<p>"And don't forget that for ways which are dark and tricks which are vain +the heathen Chinee is peculiar," retorted Furneaux. "How can you be sure +that there is not in the Embassy at this moment a full statement of your +payments into the reformers' funds, as well as the list of conspirators +which our friend Wong Li Fu is in search of?"</p> + +<p>"I think that such a thing is almost impossible."</p> + +<p>"Is there anything really impossible? We used to believe that once a man +was dead he could not be brought to life again. A Frenchman has just +demonstrated that by a judicious application of galvanism to the heart +and salt water to the veins any average corpse can be revived."</p> + +<p>Evidently Furneaux was enjoying himself. He sat there, absorbing new +impressions and irradiating scraps of irrelevant knowledge in a way that +would have been full of significance to Winter had he been present. +Furneaux was never so mercurial, never so ready to jump from one subject +to another, as when his subtle brain was working at high pressure.</p> + +<p>He actually reveled in a crime which lay on the borderland of the exotic +and the grotesque. Like the French philosopher in Poe's "Tales of +Mystery and Imagination," the savant who read his newspaper in a dingy +Paris room, and solved by sheer force of intellect extraordinary +criminal problems which baffled the shrewdest official minds, he felt in +relation to this particular tragedy that he required only to be brought +in touch with certain contingent forces bound up with it—Forbes, for +instance, and, in a minor degree, Theydon—and in due course he would be +able to go forth and find the master wrongdoer.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the millionaire seemed to cast off the cloak of despair which +clogged his energies and impaired his brilliant intellect. He rose to +his feet and involuntarily squared his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Surely we are wasting valuable hours which should be given to action," +he cried. "I am going to the city and shall arrange for a prolonged +absence from my office. Then I'll hurry home, perfect my defenses, and +defy these murderous curs. My wife must come to London. In a crisis like +this I must have my loved ones under my own personal supervision. I can +still shoot straight and quick, and woe betide any man, white or yellow, +who enters my house unbidden. As for this infernal symbol—!"</p> + +<p>He raised a clenched fist, and would have pounded into fragments the +thin fabric of the ivory skull still lying where he had placed it on the +table had not Furneaux snatched it into safety.</p> + +<p>"No, no!" protested the detective. "I want that for purposes of +comparison. Kindly give me that typed note, too, Mr. Forbes. It may bear +finger-marks. You never can tell. The cardboard box in which it was +posted also. Thank you. Now, a few more questions before you go. How +much money did you provide for the revolutionaries?"</p> + +<p>"Two millions sterling."</p> + +<p>"As a gift or a loan?"</p> + +<p>"If they failed, I lost every farthing, of course. If they succeeded, I +was to recoup myself by financing the new government."</p> + +<p>"But I gather that they have neither failed nor succeeded. China has a +constitution, but the Presidential election was conducted on lines +suspiciously akin to those recently adopted in Mexico."</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless negotiations are now on foot for a big loan."</p> + +<p>"If you died, what would become of the two millions?"</p> + +<p>"They would be lost irretrievably."</p> + +<p>Furneaux sat back in his chair.</p> + +<p>"That gives one furiously to think," he said. "The gray car comes back +into the picture."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. But I'll tell you what—the man who first spoke of a +Chinese puzzle as a metaphor for something downright bewildering knew +what he was talking about."</p> + +<p>Forbes put a hand to his forehead in an unconscious gesture of +hopelessness.</p> + +<p>"My brain is reeling," he muttered. "To think that in the London of +today we should live in abject terror of a band of Mongolian ruffians! +Why do you remain here, man? You vaunt the prowess of your +department—why are you not scouring every haunt of Chinamen in the East +End? Spread your net widely enough, and you will surely get hold of some +minor scoundrel who will talk for fear or money. Bribe him to the point +where he cannot refuse to speak. Wong Li Fu is the only man I fear. Put +him where he can accomplish no mischief, and the rest of his crew will +be powerless!"</p> + +<p>"When you come to count up the achievements of my friend Winter and +myself—in the face of stupid but none the less disheartening +obstacles—we have not done so badly in two days," said Furneaux +complacently.</p> + +<p>"Can I drive you anywhere? My car is waiting."</p> + +<p>"No, thanks. The truth is, Mr. Forbes, I look on you as a disturbing +influence. A man who can talk as calmly as you about dropping two +millions on a crazy project to introduce Western methods into China is +not fitted for the phlegmatic and judicial atmosphere of Scotland Yard. +If I want any money I'll come to you. If not, and all goes well at No. +11 Fortescue Square, the next time I'll trouble you will be when you are +asked to identify Wong Li Fu, dead or alive."</p> + +<p>Forbes seemed hardly to be aware of Furneaux's words. He went out. +Theydon accompanied him, and, as they descended the stairs together, the +older man said brokenly:</p> + +<p>"It is my wife and daughter for whom I fear. I can hardly control my +senses when I think of these yellow fiends contemplating vengeance on me +through them. Theydon—do you believe in that detective? He is either a +vain fool or a genius. By the way, I forgot to ask him how he found out +that I had received the warning delivered by this morning's post."</p> + +<p>"I'll try and worm an explanation out of him. If he tells me I'll +telephone you later. He is an extraordinary creature, but abnormally +clever at his work, I am sure. For my own part, I feel disposed to trust +him implicitly. I wish you had met his colleague, Chief Inspector +Winter. He is the sort of man whose mere presence inspires confidence."</p> + +<p>Forbes halted on the step of the automobile and glanced at his watch.</p> + +<p>"I shall be home in an hour," he said. "After that I shall not stir out +all day. Telephone me if you have any news. Why not dine with us +tonight?"</p> + +<p>Theydon's eyes sparkled. He was longing to meet Evelyn Forbes once more, +but a wretched doubt diminished the glow of gratification which the +prospect brought. Should he, or should he not, tell the girl's father of +the rather indiscreet admissions she had made during their brief talk +that morning?</p> + +<p>That minor worry, however, was banished suddenly and forever. Furneaux, +taking the three steps which led from entrance hall to pavement with a +flying leap, cannoned right into Forbes, whom he grasped with both +hands, quite as much by way of emphasis as to check the impetus of his +diminutive body.</p> + +<p>"In with you!" he piped. "Tell your chauffeur to obey my orders, no +matter what they are!"</p> + +<p>Action, determination, were as the breath of the millionaire's nostrils. +He aroused himself instantly.</p> + +<p>"You hear, Downs!" he said to the chauffeur.</p> + +<p>Downs was one of those strange beings who have been evolved by the age +of petrol, an automaton compounded, seemingly, of steel springs and +leather. He had long ago lost the art of speech, having cultivated +delicacy of hearing and quickness of sight at the expense of all other +human faculties. The old-time coachman possessed a certain fluent +jargon, which enabled him to chide or encourage his horses and exchange +suitable comments with the drivers of brewers' drays and market carts, +but the modern chauffeur is all an ear for the rhythm of machinery, all +an eye for the nice calculation of the hazards of the road fifty yards +ahead.</p> + +<p>At any rate, Downs mumbled something which resembled "Yes, sir," Forbes +sprang in and slammed the door, Furneaux raced round the front of the +car and perched himself beside Downs, and the heavy automobile was +almost into its normal stride before it had traveled twice its own +length.</p> + +<p>Theydon was left gaping on the pavement. He saw that the car turned +west, and caught a glimpse of Furneaux's outstretched hand with +forefinger pointing like the barrel of a pistol.</p> + +<p>"Fool!" he cried, in bitter self-apostrophe. "Why didn't I jump in after +Forbes? Now I am out of the hunt! I wonder what the deuce Furneaux saw +or heard?"</p> + +<p>That concluding thought sent him back to the flat, two steps at a time.</p> + +<p>"Bates!" he shouted. "Has Mr. Furneaux used the telephone, or did any +one ring up?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir," said Bates, coming hurriedly at that urgent call. "Fust thing +I knew was he was tearin' out, an' runnin' downstairs like mad."</p> + +<p>"O, double-distilled idiot that I am!" growled Theydon again. "Why +didn't I go with them!"</p> + +<p>As though the gods heard his plaint and meant to crush him with their +answer, the telephone bell sounded at his elbow. Mechanically, he lifted +the receiver off its hook, and immediately became aware of Tomlinson's +voice, with some element of flurry and distress in its unctuous accents.</p> + +<p>"That you, Mr. Theydon?" said the butler.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Have you had any news of Mr. Forbes, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. He has just left me."</p> + +<p>"Ah, if only I had known, and had given you a call before ringing up the +city!"</p> + +<p>"What is it? Can I do anything?"</p> + +<p>"It's Miss Evelyn, sir."</p> + +<p>"Yes, what of her?"</p> + +<p>"She's gone, sir."</p> + +<p>Theydon's heart apparently stopped for a second, and then raced madly +into tumultuous action again.</p> + +<p>"Gone! Good Lord, man, what do you mean?" he almost groaned.</p> + +<p>"A telegram came from Mrs. Forbes, at Eastbourne, saying she was ill and +wanted Miss Evelyn. I tried all I knew to persuade Miss Evelyn to wait +until she had spoken to her father, but she wouldn't listen—she just +threw on a hat and a wrap, and took a taxi to Victoria."</p> + +<p>Some membrane or film of tissue which might have served hitherto to shut +off from Frank Theydon's cheery temperament any real knowledge of the +pitfalls which may beset the path of the unwary seemed in that instant +to shrivel as though it had been devoured by flame.</p> + +<p>He knew, how or why he could never tell, that the girl had been drawn +into the plot which had already claimed so many victims and sought so +many more. All doubt vanished. He spoke and acted with the swift +certainty of a man tackling an emergency for which he had prepared +during a long period of training and expectation.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Forbes may arrive at any moment, Tomlinson," he said. "Tell his +office people to let you know if he goes first to the city. When you +hear from or see him, say that I have either accompanied or followed +Miss Evelyn to Eastbourne. If I do not catch the same train I shall take +prompt measures in other respects. Got that?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>It was easy to distinguish the relief in Tomlinson's utterance, relief +mingled, doubtless, with astonishment that a comparative stranger should +display such an authoritative and prompt interest in the family affairs.</p> + +<p>"That is all. Write down my message, lest you omit any part of it."</p> + +<p>Theydon rang off.</p> + +<p>"Come!" he said to Bates, who had not retired to his den, but was +listening, discreet yet rabbit-eared, to these queer proceedings. +Followed by the man-servant, he darted into the sitting room and did +several things at once.</p> + +<p>He unlocked a drawer and took from it a considerable sum of money which +he kept there for emergency journeys, also pocketing an automatic +pistol. Pouncing on an A B C time table, he looked up the trains for +Eastbourne. A fast train left Victoria at 1:25 p. m. The hour was now +1:05.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile he was talking.</p> + +<p>"Bates," he said, "I promised Miss Beale, the lady who came here this +morning, that my sister, Mrs. Paxton, would visit her this evening, say +about six. Miss Beale is staying at Smith's Hotel, Jermyn Street. Go to +Mrs. Paxton, and see her, waiting at her house if she happens to be out. +Tell everything you know about Mrs. Lester's death, and ask her to take +care of Miss Beale this evening. She will understand. I'll wire her at +Smith's Hotel before the dinner hour, if possible. If anybody calls +here, I leave it to your discretion and your wife's whether or not they +should be informed of my movements. Mr. Forbes or the police, of course, +must be told everything. Miss Forbes is probably in the 1:25 p. m. train +for Eastbourne, and I am going with her. Do you understand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"I'll wire or 'phone you later."</p> + +<p>Grabbing a straw hat and a bundle of telegraph forms, Theydon vanished, +not even waiting to slam the outer door. Bates, who had seen service, +knew that men in time of stress and danger acted just like the detective +and his own employer.</p> + +<p>"By Jingo!" he muttered, beginning to assemble the empty coffee-cups on +a tray. "Things is wakin' up here, an' no mistake!"</p> + +<p>Theydon was fortunate in finding a taxicab depositing a fare at a +neighboring block. Just before he reached the vehicle a gentleman +hurried out of the building and forestalled him. Theydon dashed up, and +caught the other man by the arm.</p> + +<p>"My need is urgent," he said. "Let, me have this cab."</p> + +<p>The stranger smiled good-humoredly. He was an American and had not the +least objection to being hustled by a Britisher; indeed he rather +appreciated this exhibition of haste as a novel experience.</p> + +<p>"I'm on a hair-trigger myself," he said, pleasantly. "I want to make +Victoria pretty quick. Can I give you a lift?"</p> + +<p>"In with you!" cried Theydon. "Now, cabby, half a sovereign if you get +us to Victoria, Brighton line, in 15 minutes. I'll pay all fines."</p> + +<p>Then they were off, and the Trans-Atlantic cousins were banged against +one another as the cab whirled round in a sharp semicircle.</p> + +<p>"Say!" cried the American, "this reminds one of home. I've been here a +week, an' had a kind of notion that London air was half fog, half dope. +But you're awake all right. Bet you a five spot you're after a girl!"</p> + +<p>"I pay," said Theydon, his eyes glistening. "And such a girl! Her +portrait on the paper wrap of a 50-cent novel would sell it in +millions!"</p> + +<p>"Gee whiz! Is it like that? Go right ahead, Augustus! Never mind me. +Take this old bus all the way to Paris. I'll find the fares and hold +your hat. But kindly shift that gun into your opposite pocket. You've +dug it into my thigh quite often enough. If you want to get first drop +on the other fellow, shove it up your sleeve!"</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX<br /><br /> +SHARP WORK</h3> + +<p>The American's easy-going badinage provided the best sort of tonic. +Theydon laughed as he transferred the pistol from one pocket to the +other.</p> + +<p>"My motto is 'Defense, not Defiance,'" he said. "I hope sincerely that I +shall not be called on to shoot, or even threaten any one. Using +firearms, although for self-protection, is a very serious matter in this +country. May I ask your name? Mine's Theydon. I live in those mansions +we have just quitted."</p> + +<p>"And I'm George T. Handyside, 21,097 Park Avenue, Chicago," was the +answer.</p> + +<p>"Is that your telephone number?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir. It's my home address."</p> + +<p>"Well, Mr. Handyside, if ever I come to Chicago, I'll travel along Park +Avenue and give you a call. How many days' journey are you from the +center of the city?"</p> + +<p>"Say, Mr. Theydon, I'm real glad to make your acquaintance. I haven't +been joshed in that way since I left the steamer. This little island of +yours is all right as a beauty spot, but I do wish your people wouldn't +carry such a grouch agin' life generally. Great Scott! It'll do 'em a +heap of good to try a real chesty laugh occasionally."</p> + +<p>"Tell me where I can drop across you in London later in the week, and +I'll see if we can't find a smile somewhere."</p> + +<p>The American scribbled the name of a Strand hotel on a card, which +Theydon disposed in his pocketbook, at the same time producing one of +his own cards.</p> + +<p>"You'll hear from me," he said. "Now, Mr. Handyside, pardon me for the +next few minutes. I have to write telegrams."</p> + +<p>The first was to Forbes, addressed in duplicate to Old Broad Street and +Fortescue Square. It ran:</p> + +<p>"If this message is not qualified by another within a few minutes I am +in the 1:25 train for Eastbourne."</p> + +<p>Then to Winter:</p> + +<p>"Young lady summoned to Eastbourne by telegram stating that her mother +is ill. Suspect the message as bogus and emanating from Y. M. See +Furneaux. He will explain. Am hoping to travel by same train. If +disappointed will wire again immediately.—Theydon."</p> + +<p>He read each slip carefully, to make sure that the phraseology was +clear. The speed at which the cab was traveling rendered his handwriting +somewhat illegible, but he thought he saw a means of circumventing that +difficulty.</p> + +<p>"Which place are you going?" he inquired of his unexpected companion.</p> + +<p>"To a place called Sutton."</p> + +<p>"What time does your train leave?"</p> + +<p>"Guess it's about 1:30."</p> + +<p>"You have five more minutes at your disposal than I have. Will you hand +in these three messages at the telegraph office? I'll read them to you, +in case the counter clerk is doubtful about any of my words."</p> + +<p>"Sure thing, Mr. Theydon. You've interested me. I don't care a row of +beans if I drop out Sutton altogether."</p> + +<p>"I'm greatly obliged, but that is not necessary. You'll have loads of +time. We're in the Park already, and our driver has a clear run to +Victoria. Now, listen!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Handyside did listen, and pricked his ears at the mention of +Scotland Yard.</p> + +<p>"Gosh!" he exclaimed, "this is better'n a life-line movie! For the love +of Millie, let me in by the early door! Now, how's this for a +proposition? You send those telegrams, and I'll fix the cab an' buy the +transportation to Eastbourne for the pair of us. I'm not heeled, but I +may be useful, an' I'll jab any fellow in the solar plexus at call."</p> + +<p>Theydon gazed at this self-avowed knight-errant in surprise. Handyside +was a man of forty, whose dark hair was flecked with gray. He was +quietly dressed, a wide-brimmed high-crowned hat of finely-plaited white +straw providing the solo note of markedly American origin in his attire. +The expression of his well-moulded features was shrewd but pleasing, and +the poise of a spare but sinewy frame gave evidence of active habit and +some considerable degree of physical strength.</p> + +<p>"Pon my honor," said the Englishman. "I'm half inclined to take you at +your word, except in the matter of expenses, which, of course, I must +bear. You see, if my services are called for, and prove effective, I may +need help."</p> + +<p>"Go right ahead," said the other calmly. "Tell me as much or as little +as you like. Where's this place, Eastbourne? On the south coast, I +guess."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"I thought it would be. A man on the steamer asked me to come and see +him at Westgate, which is about as far east as you can go in England +without wetting your feet. I'm getting the hang of things here by +degrees. Southport, of course, is away up north, and Northamptonshire in +the midlands."</p> + +<p>Theydon grinned, but the taxi was passing Buckingham Palace, and the +hour was 1:17 p. m.</p> + +<p>"I cannot give you any sort of an explanation now, Mr. Handyside," he +said. "Later in the week, perhaps, I may have a big story for your +private ear. All I can say at the moment is this—I have reason to +believe that a young lady, a daughter of Mr. James Creighton Forbes, a +well-known man in the city of London, is being decoyed to Eastbourne in +the belief that her mother is ill. Now, I may be wholly mistaken. Her +mother may be ill. If that is so, I am making this trip under a +delusion. At any rate, my notion is to try and fall in with Miss Forbes +accidentally, as it were, and watch over her until I am quite sure that +she is with her mother. You follow me?"</p> + +<p>"Seems to me," said the American imperturbably, "it's the most natural +thing in the world that Mr. Theydon should want to show his friend, Mr. +Handyside of Chicago, England's most bracing and attractive seaside +resort, if that's the right way to describe Eastbourne."</p> + +<p>"Both the plan and the description are admirable."</p> + +<p>"The plan sounds all right. As for the description I have been looking +up a selection of posters, and those seven words apply to every +half-mile strip of beach in the island. When it comes to a real +show-down, your poster artists have got our real estate men skinned a +mile. How much did you promise the taxi-man?"</p> + +<p>"Half a sovereign."</p> + +<p>"Two-fifty. Gee! That's the nearest thing to New York I've struck yet. +And the railway tickets—first-class, of course?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>The cab stopped. Theydon sprang out and raced to the telegraph office, +where, as he anticipated, there was a slight delay. Handyside awaited +him at the correct barrier, and together they walked down a long +platform, Theydon peering into every carriage, though convinced that +Evelyn Forbes would not travel other than first class. Thus, not being a +detective, but only a very anxious and perplexed young man, he had eyes +only for such ladies as were already seated in the train, and failed to +note the immediate interest his appearance aroused in a man who occupied +a window seat, and who was watching unobtrusively every one who passed. +Oddly enough, after the first wondering glance, this observer was more +closely taken up with Handyside. It was as though he said to himself:</p> + +<p>"Theydon I know, but who in the world is his companion, and why are they +traveling by an Eastbourne express—today of all days?"</p> + +<p>The train was well filled; there were only a few seconds to spare when +Theydon came across Evelyn Forbes in a compartment which held two other +passengers—a lady and a gentleman.</p> + +<p>Recognition was mutual, and Theydon flattered himself that he betrayed +just the right amount of pleasurable astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Miss Forbes!" he cried, raising his hat. "Well, of all the unexpected +meetings! Don't say you are going to Eastbourne!"</p> + +<p>"But I am," she said, and, though she smiled, her eyes were heavy with +unshed tears. She was deeply attached to her mother, and the thought +that the loved one was too ill even to communicate with her by telephone +was distressing beyond measure.</p> + +<p>"Just imagine that!" went on Theydon, determined to rush his fences and +travel with her unless openly forbidden. "I'm taking an American friend +there for the afternoon. May we come in your carriage? Is there room for +two?"</p> + +<p>Now, although Evelyn Forbes had been attracted to Theydon during their +vivacious conversation overnight, she would vastly have preferred the +comparative solitude of a journey with strangers.</p> + +<p>Still, she could hardly refuse such a request, and common sense told her +that a pleasant chat with a man who could talk as well as Theydon +offered a better means of whiling away two and a half hours than +brooding over the nature and extent of her mother's unknown illness.</p> + +<p>"There's plenty of room," she said.</p> + +<p>Without further ado, Theydon entered and Handyside followed. The +compartment held six seats, while a door led to a side corridor running +the length of the coach. The two remaining occupants were worthy Britons +who neither invited nor received any special attention.</p> + +<p>Mr. Handyside was introduced, and promptly said the right thing.</p> + +<p>"I guess I knew what I was doing when I forced Mr. Theydon to take me +out of London today," he said, with a smile which left the girl in no +doubt as to the nature of the implied compliment.</p> + +<p>"But it is hardly an hour since I spoke to my father at Mr. Theydon's +flat," she said. "Were you there, too, Mr. Handyside?"</p> + +<p>"No, in the next block. That was the nearest I got to Mr. Theydon before +we met and took a cab for Victoria."</p> + +<p>Theydon was pleased with his ally. No diplomat, trained during long +years to conceal material facts, could have headed the girl off more +deftly, while every word was literally true.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" she said, glancing meaningly at Theydon, "we are all the sport of +fortune, then. How strange! Of course, Mr. Theydon, you don't know why I +am here. I have had a telegram from my mother, or one sent in her name. +She has been taken ill suddenly."</p> + +<p>"That is bad news," was the sympathetic answer. "If the message has not +come direct from Mrs. Forbes may it not be rather exaggerated in tone? +Some people can never write telegrams. The knowledge that each word +costs a halfpenny weighs on them like a nightmare."</p> + +<p>As he hoped and anticipated, she produced the message itself from her +handbag.</p> + +<p>"This is what it says," she said, and read: "'Mrs. Forbes ill and unable +communicate by telephone. Come at once. Manager Royal Devonshire +Hotel.'" Then she added, with a suspicious break in her voice: "That +sounds serious enough, in all conscience."</p> + +<p>"Is it addressed to you personally?" said Theydon, racking his wits for +some means of lessening the girl's foreboding without tickling the ears +of the other people in the compartment by suggesting that she might have +been brought from her home by some cruel ruse of her father's enemies.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"But isn't that somewhat singular in itself? One would imagine that such +a significant message would have been sent to your father."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Well, men are better fitted to withstand these shocks, for one thing. +It was heartless, or, to say the least, thoughtless, to give you such +news with the brutal frankness of a telegram."</p> + +<p>"I cannot understand it at all. Mother wrote this morning telling me +that she was going to Beachy Head this afternoon with a picnic party."</p> + +<p>"I am convinced," said Theydon gravely, "that some one has blundered. It +may be the act of some stupid foreigner. I shall not be content now, +Miss Forbes, until I have gone with you to the Royal Devonshire, and +learnt what the extent of the trouble really is. Then, if Mrs. Forbes +needs your presence, perhaps you will allow me to telephone to your +father, as he will be greatly disturbed when he returns home and learns +the cause of your journey."</p> + +<p>"But I can't think of allowing you two to break up your afternoon on my +account. I'm sure, when we reach Eastbourne, I shall see an array of +golf clubs among your luggage."</p> + +<p>"No," smiled Theydon. "My friend here refuses to play until he has seen +something of the country. He knows that the golfer's vision is bounded +by the nearest bunker."</p> + +<p>Handyside took the cue.</p> + +<p>"That's the exact position, Miss Forbes," he said. "I was warned by the +horrible experience of a friend of mine. He left Newark, N. J., on a +sightseeing tour of Europe, but unfortunately took his clubs with him. +Now, if you ask him what he thought of Westminster Abbey or the Wye +Valley he tells you he hadn't time to look 'em up, but that the fifth +hole at Sandwich is a corker, while the thirteenth at St. Andrews has +been known to restore the faculty of speech to a dumb man. You see, some +poor mute had either to express his feelings or bust."</p> + +<p>Evidently Miss Evelyn Forbes would not be allowed to mope during the run +to Eastbourne.</p> + +<p>As between Theydon and herself, the situation was curiously mixed. On +the one hand, Theydon had now a remarkably close insight into the peril +which threatened Forbes and each member of his family; the girl, on the +other, knew well that her father was bound up in some way with the +tragedy at No. 17 Innesmore Mansions.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, an open discussion was out of the question, and the two +accepted cheerfully the limitations imposed by circumstances, so that +the strangers in the compartment little suspected what grave issues lay +behind an apparently casual meeting between a pretty girl and two men +that summer's afternoon in the Eastbourne express.</p> + +<p>The American played his part admirably. When not passing some +caustically humorous comment on British ways and manners he was being +even more critical of his fellow-countrymen.</p> + +<p>As he himself put it, he guessed New York society was mighty like London +society with the head cut off, and proved his contention with many wise +saws and modern instances.</p> + +<p>Thus the journey south passed pleasantly enough. When they alighted the +girl reverted to the topic uppermost in her mind.</p> + +<p>"You gentlemen will have to look after your luggage," she said. "I'm +sure you will forgive me if I hurry to the hotel. If you come there, Mr. +Theydon, I'll take care that I see you at once. It is exceedingly kind +of you to bother with my affairs."</p> + +<p>But Theydon had a scheme ready, having foreseen this very difficulty.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Handyside will attend to everything," he said glibly. "Please let +me come with you. I shan't have a moment's peace until assured that Mrs. +Forbes is suffering from little more than a slight indisposition."</p> + +<p>Evelyn looked puzzled, but was willing to agree to anything so long as +she reached her mother quickly. Handyside, too, made matters easy by +lifting his hat and walking off in the direction of the luggage van.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said, "I really don't care what happens if only I lose no +time."</p> + +<p>Suiting the action to the word, she hurried toward the exit, and was +murmuring something that sounded like an apology for her seeming +brusqueness as they passed the ticket collector. Here a momentary +difficulty arose. Theydon had forgotten to ask Handyside for his ticket. +The girl, of course, had her own ticket, but her companion was not +allowed to pass the barrier. He began an explanation to which a busy +official paid no heed. In desperation, he produced a sovereign, and his +card.</p> + +<p>"Here," he said, "you can hold this as a guarantee that my ticket will +be given up. This lady has been called to the bedside of her mother, who +is said to be dangerously ill, and I simply must be allowed to take her +to the Royal Devonshire Hotel."</p> + +<p>Luckily, the railwayman had the wit to see that this earnest-eyed +passenger was speaking the truth.</p> + +<p>"That's all right, sir," he said. "We have to be very particular about +tickets, you know."</p> + +<p>Evelyn Forbes was a few yards in advance, and impatiently awaiting her +escort, when a gentleman approached and spoke to her.</p> + +<p>"Miss Forbes, I believe," he said, raising his hat.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered breathlessly, because the man's garb suggested, +before he uttered another syllable, that he was a doctor. He had a +curiously foreign aspect, and spoke with a pronounced lisp.</p> + +<p>"I am assistant to Dr. Sinnett," he said, "and he has sent me to take +you to the hotel. This is his car. Will you come, quick?"</p> + +<p>He pointed to a smart limousine drawn up near the exit, and, in his +eagerness to be polite, almost pushed the girl toward the open door. +Insensibly, she resisted, and turned to explain matters to Theydon, who +had just placated the Cerberus at the gate, and was running alter her.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Theydon—" she began.</p> + +<p>"There ith no time to wathe, I athure you," said Dr. Sinnett's assistant +imperatively. At that instant Theydon came up. His temper was ruffled, +and he did not scrutinize the doctor's appearance as closely as might be +looked for in one who was actually on his guard against foul play.</p> + +<p>"What is it now?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"This gentleman has been sent by Dr. Sinnett to take me to the hotel," +said Evelyn. "Now, Mr. Theydon, perhaps it will be better that you wait +for Mr. Handyside and come on at your leisure."</p> + +<p>"I'm a stiff-necked person," said Theydon, trying to smile +unconcernedly. "I've made up my mind to see you safely to your +destination, and I refuse to leave you on any account. I am sure the +doctor will let me sit beside the chauffeur."</p> + +<p>Then, for the first time, he glanced at the newcomer, and was almost +stupefied to discover that the man, despite his faultless professional +attire, was a Chinaman. Moreover, this Chinaman bore a livid scar down +the left side of his face, and his eyes were set horizontally, a sure +sign of Manchu descent, because all Southern Chinese have the oblique +Mongolian eye. Though prepared for treachery of some kind, the very +simplicity of this scheme almost disconcerted him, and he blurted out +the first words that rose to his lips.</p> + +<p>"Is your name Wong Li Fu?"</p> + +<p>Half unconsciously, a hand dropped to the pocket containing the +revolver. For answer, he was struck a violent blow in the throat and +sent sprawling. The attack was so sudden that he was nearly unprepared +for it—nearly, not quite, because a flicker of baffled spite in the +dark eyes gave him the ghost of a warning.</p> + +<p>It was fortunate that he saved himself by a slight backward flinching, +since he learnt subsequently that his assailant was a master of jiu +jitsu, and that vicious blow was intended to paralyze the nerves which +cluster around the cricoid cartilage. Had he received the punch in its +full force he would at least have been disabled for the remainder of the +day, while there was some chance of the injury proving fatal.</p> + +<p>The Chinaman instantly seized the terrified girl in an irresistible +grip, and was about to thrust her into the automobile when a big, burly +man flung himself into the fray and collared the desperado by neck and +arm.</p> + +<p>"Stop that!" he said authoritatively. "Let go that young lady or I'll +shake the life out of you!"</p> + +<p>By this time Theydon was on his feet again, and rushing to the +assistance of Chief Inspector Winter, who seemed to have miraculously +dropped from the skies at the right moment. The Chinaman, seeing that he +was in imminent danger of capture, released Evelyn, wrenched himself +free by another jiu jitsu trick, swung the girl into Winter's arms, thus +impeding him, and leaped into the car, which made off with a rapidity +that showed how thoroughly the chauffeur was in league with his +principal.</p> + +<p>Naturally, the people coming out from the station, reinforced by the mob +of semi-loafers always in evidence in such localities, gathered in +scores around Evelyn Forbes and her two protectors. Such an +extraordinary scuffle was bound to attract a crowd; few had seen the +commencement of the fray, because nothing could be more usual and +commonplace in a fashionable place like Eastbourne than the sight of a +frock-coated and top-hatted gentleman handing a well-dressed lady into a +motor car.</p> + +<p>The first general intimation of something bizarre and sensational was +provided by Theydon's fall. After that, events traveled rapidly, and the +majority of the onlookers imagined that it was Winter who had knocked +Theydon off his balance, while the rush made by the latter to intercept +Wong Li Fu was actually stopped by a well-intentioned railway porter.</p> + +<p>Worst of all, Theydon was quite unable to speak. He indulged in valiant +pantomime, and Winter fully understood that the Chinaman's escape should +be prevented at all hazards. But the chief inspector accepted the +inevitable.</p> + +<p>The limousine was equipped with a powerful engine, and the only vehicles +available for pursuit were some ancient horse-drawn cabs. He noted the +number on the identification plate, and that was the limit of his +resources for the moment.</p> + +<p>Moreover, Evelyn Forbes, finding herself clutched tightly by a tall, +stout man whom she had never seen before, was rather more indignant than +hurt.</p> + +<p>Disengaging herself from the detective's hands, she looked to Theydon +for an explanation.</p> + +<p>"Has everybody suddenly gone mad?" she said vehemently. "What is the +meaning of this? Did you know who that man was? And why did he try to +force me into the car?"</p> + +<p>Theydon, slowly regaining his breath, stammered brokenly that he would +make things clear in a minute or so. Then he gasped to Winter:</p> + +<p>"That is Wong Li Fu—the man wanted—at No. 17!"</p> + +<p>"We'll get him all right," was the grimly curt answer. "Meanwhile, are +you and Miss Forbes going to the hotel?"</p> + +<p>Hardly less surprising than Winter's appearance on the scene was his +seeming knowledge of the purpose of their journey.</p> + +<p>"We must get out of this," he went on, gazing around wrathfully at the +ring of curious faces. "Here, you!" he cried, singling out a policeman +who was forcing a passage through the crowd, "clear away this mob and +get us a cab!"</p> + +<p>The policeman seemed inclined to resent the masterful directions, but a +word whispered in his ear when he reached Winter acted like magic, and +he soon had the gapers scattered.</p> + +<p>A cab was called, and Evelyn Forbes was already inside when Theydon +remembered the American. He looked around, but could see nothing of him.</p> + +<p>"Where is—Mr. Handyside?" he said, still finding a good deal of +difficulty in articulating his words.</p> + +<p>"Is that the man who came with you from London?" inquired Winter.</p> + +<p>"Yes. He's—an American."</p> + +<p>"Well, he may have been scared, and made a bee-line for the States. He +is not anywhere in sight."</p> + +<p>"O, please, Mr. Theydon, do let us go to the hotel," pleaded Evelyn. She +was pale, and yielding to reaction after the excitement of the fracas.</p> + +<p>Unwillingly, since he was certain now that there was absolutely no +ground for the girl's alarm on her mother's account—at any rate, so far +as illness was concerned—Theydon entered the cab, and Winter followed.</p> + +<p>"The first thing to do," said the chief inspector, when they were en +route, "is to assure this young lady, whom I take to be Miss Forbes, +that she has probably been brought to Eastbourne by a lying telegram, +and that her mother is quite well in health. Secondly, why should Wong +Li Fu be described as the man wanted in the Innesmore Mansions inquiry; +and, thirdly, how does Mr. Handyside come into the picture?"</p> + +<p>"I can't—talk—just yet," wheezed Theydon hoarsely. "In a few +minutes—I'll—tell you everything."</p> + +<p>Evelyn had not realized earlier that her self-appointed champion had +been seriously hurt. She was deeply concerned, and wanted to take him +straight to the nearest doctor.</p> + +<p>But he smiled and essayed to calm her fears by whispering that he would +soon be fully recovered. It was pleasant to know that he had succeeded +in rescuing her from some indefinable though none the less deadly peril, +yet the insistent question in his subconscious mind was not connected +with Evelyn's escape, or the flight of her assailant, or the mysterious +presence of the chief inspector, but with the vanishing of Mr. +Handyside.</p> + +<p>What had become of him? It was the maddest of fantasies to imagine that +he could be bound up in some way with the Young Manchus. Yet why did he +fail to turn up at the station?</p> + +<p>Theydon could not even guess at a plausible explanation. He leaned back +in the cab and closed his eyes. Really, there were times in life when it +would be a relief to faint!</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X<br /><br /> +CAPTURES ON BOTH SIDES</h3> + +<p>Though Theydon was in first-rate athletic trim, that blow on the throat +had nearly stunned him. The effort to rise promptly and bear a hand in +the imminent capture of one whom he regarded as something akin to a +homicidal maniac had imposed a further strain on his resources, and it +was possible that he did actually lose his senses during a couple of +seconds.</p> + +<p>In all likelihood, too, he changed color slightly, because the next +thing he was aware of was the note of alarm in Evelyn's voice when she +cried excitedly:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Theydon is really very ill. I'm sure we ought to try and revive +him."</p> + +<p>At that he reopened his eyes and looked at her whimsically. Nature, in +fact, had put forth a supreme effort; from that moment he recovered +rapidly.</p> + +<p>Winter took a calmly professional view of the younger man's collapse.</p> + +<p>"There's nothing to worry about, Miss Forbes," he assured the agitated +girl. "Our friend has just escaped being knocked insensible, if not +killed. He was hardly prepared for such a vicious attack, I fancy. Most +certainly that scoundrel took me by surprise, or he would not have +slipped through my fingers like an eel. Next time, either Mr. Theydon or +I may be trusted to balance matters."</p> + +<p>Theydon grinned and nodded. He signaled with his eyes that Winter was to +make Evelyn Forbes understand that she had just escaped being the victim +of an extraordinary outrage. Muddled as his thoughts were, he grasped +the essential fact that Scotland Yard was better posted in the secret +history of the Innesmore Mansions crime than he had given the department +credit for before the dramatic meeting with Furneaux that morning.</p> + +<p>And, indeed, the chief inspector lost no time in justifying that belief.</p> + +<p>"You must have imagined that the world had suddenly turned topsy-turvy," +he said, smiling at the mystified and distraught Evelyn, as though the +whirl of events outside the station were part and parcel of the humdrum +routine of life. "When Mr. Theydon regains his speech he will tell us +how he came to suspect that an attempt would be made to kidnap you +today. In my own case, intervention was the outcome of sheer and simple +logical deduction. You see, I represent the Criminal Investigation +Department—or Scotland Yard, as it is familiarly described—and I have +reason to believe that your father is, and has been for some time, the +object of unpleasant attentions by a political society in China, whose +members are nothing more nor less than criminal fanatics. Probably this +is the first you have heard of the matter, Miss Forbes. Your father +would wish, no doubt, to keep any such disquieting knowledge from you +and your mother. But the policy of concealment must cease now. Today's +daring attack is a warning. Other efforts may be forthcoming. If you are +to be protected efficiently the police must have your loyal cooperation. +I admit candidly that I myself, with all my experience, was taken off my +guard a few minutes ago. If Mr. Theydon had not delayed that +Chinaman—whose name he has got hold of from Mr. Forbes, I expect—I +don't think I could have reached you in time."</p> + +<p>"Is that the meaning of the little ivory skull which my father received +at breakfast this morning?" said Evelyn, breathlessly.</p> + +<p>Winter's eyes twinkled. No question could have thrown a more vivid light +into the somber depths of a crime which promised to transcend in +interest and importance any similar occurrence in Great Britain during +the previous decade.</p> + +<p>"Doubtless," he said. "Of course, I have not yet seen Mr. Forbes, but we +have a mine of information here," and he laid a friendly hand on +Theydon's arm. "So far as I am concerned, I have had your house +unobtrusively watched—for the protection of the inmates, I hope you +understand—and I arranged also that anything unusual in the shape of +telegrams or telephonic messages"—here he glanced amusedly at +Theydon—"should be communicated to the Yard. I heard, therefore, of +Mrs. Forbes's sudden illness almost as soon as you did, and traveled +with you to Eastbourne, intending to reach the hotel at the same time as +you, and ascertain whether or not your mother was really ill. I saw you +on the platform at Victoria and guessed your identity. But, in my +profession, we never take anything for granted, so I left that matter +until I could interview the hotel manager. And here we are. I advise you +not to say a word about Mrs. Forbes being ill. If, as I firmly believe, +you find that she is in the best of health, you can explain your sudden +visit by saying that Mr. Theydon and I have something of importance to +communicate, which will be perfectly accurate, as I mean to urge +strongly that we all return to London by the next train."</p> + +<p>The cab stopped. To show that "Richard was himself again" Theydon, +nearest the door, opened it, got out, and helped Evelyn to alight.</p> + +<p>Reassured on his account, the girl smiled, and a wave of color leaped to +her cheeks. Any one happening to watch their arrival would put them down +as ordinary visitors. Evelyn Forbes was just a charming young woman, +plainly but expensively dressed; Theydon an attentive cavalier, and +Winter a prosperous city man, probably with a taste for coursing and +pheasant shooting.</p> + +<p>Subtly observant, indeed, would be the theorist who gathered from their +demeanor that they had just emerged practically unscathed from a +situation rife with the elements of tragedy.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, Winter kept a sharp eye on Theydon after Evelyn Forbes had +run up the steps of the hotel, and was relieved at seeing that he could +walk without assistance.</p> + +<p>"Keep nothing back," he said under his breath as they followed the girl +with sedater pace. "These women must be frightened into complete +obedience. Did Furneaux get hold of Forbes?"</p> + +<p>Theydon nodded.</p> + +<p>"That's right. Don't talk. I can pretty well guess what took place. But, +look here. Who's Handyside—a mere acquaintance?"</p> + +<p>Another nod.</p> + +<p>"You just contrived to pick him up, and used him as an excuse for coming +to Eastbourne? I see. That removes a troublesome pawn off the +chessboard."</p> + +<p>"But it doesn't," wheezed Theydon. "He ought to be here. Can't make +out—what has become of him."</p> + +<p>"He will turn up—an American, isn't he? I thought so. The indications +were slight but certain—features, walk, figure. You can buy clothes, +but the genuine citizen of God's own country is as distinct a type as a +Highlander—all wool and a yard wide."</p> + +<p>Inside the hotel they came on Evelyn Forbes talking to the manager. She +hailed them at once.</p> + +<p>"Mother has gone to Beachy Head," she cried. "She and her friends are +expected home about six o'clock. Shall we have some tea? There is no use +in following her. She will be starting back before we could get there."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Forbes is quite well, I hope?" put in Winter, casually.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, in the best of health," said the manager, indicating, with a +flourish of both hands, that nothing else was to be expected as to the +condition of any among the numerous patrons of the Royal Devonshire +Hotel.</p> + +<p>Evelyn asked that tea should be served in her mother's sitting room. +When they were screened by the closed door Winter examined Theydon's +throat. Beyond a slight swelling and external soreness, the cricoid +cartilage—known to the multitude as Adam's apple—was seemingly +uninjured, while Theydon himself now made light of the blow, though a +certain hoarseness was perceptible in his voice, and he deemed it +advisable to speak in a low-pitched tone.</p> + +<p>Evelyn Forbes listened with ill-repressed bewilderment while he related +the day's doings. At first, she hardly grasped the significance of the +story, but Winter's occasional questions and comments, and a +parenthetical sentence or two introduced by Theydon for her benefit, +quickly revealed the astounding nature of the plot of which her father +was the chief object.</p> + +<p>At this crisis she displayed a self-control and reticence which were +admirable. She seemed to realize intuitively that any gaps in the +recital could be filled in later, whereas it was all-important that the +detective should be made acquainted as speedily as possible with the +developments brought about by the morning's fuller disclosures.</p> + +<p>As for Winter, he was keenly interested in Furneaux's behavior at the +moment of Forbes's departure from Innesmore Mansions. Glancing at his +watch, he rose when Theydon's revelations came to an end.</p> + +<p>"I'll just go and ring up the Yard," he said. "There may be news. When +Furneaux starts off in full cry it is a wary fox that escapes him. I +only wish you and I had traveled from Victoria in company, Mr. Theydon; +Wong Li Fu would now have been in custody. However, we'll get him. If, +as I imagine, he is making for London in that car, there is even a +chance of intercepting him in the suburbs. I'll see to it."</p> + +<p>Left alone with Evelyn Forbes, Theydon suddenly grew tongue-tied. This +man who could invent all manner of glib conversation for the characters +in his novels now cudgeled his brains vainly for something to say that +would dwell in her memory when they parted. And he knew why a cloud was +thus effectually befogging his wits. He had only seen Evelyn three times +in as many days, had spoken to her but twice, yet was hopelessly and +irrevocably in love with her.</p> + +<p>He, who had so often and so thrillingly described the grand passion of a +man's life, had now fallen a victim to it, only to feel how unutterably +ridiculous and impossible was the wild longing that had sprung up in his +heart. Here, by his side, wistfully sympathetic and friendly in manner, +sat the "one woman in the world," yet he felt awkward and constrained, +and took refuge in a vague expression of anxiety on behalf of Handyside, +a man who at least might be trusted to extricate himself safely from the +labyrinth of Eastbourne!</p> + +<p>The girl, of course, attributed these disjointed remarks to physical +suffering. In reality, he was contrasting her wealth and his own +comparative poverty, and bidding himself fiercely not to be a vain fool!</p> + +<p>"Don't you think you ought to call in a doctor?" she inquired, tenderly.</p> + +<p>"No, no," he hastened to assure her. "The effects of the blow are +passing rapidly. In another hour I shall hardly feel it at all. I'm +afraid, Miss Forbes," he ventured to add, "that when this piratical gang +is broken up, as certainly will be the case now that the English police +are tackling it, you will associate our brief acquaintance with the only +dark days in your existence."</p> + +<p>"Why do you say that?" she demanded.</p> + +<p>"Because I am bound to admit that if I had not dined at your house on +Monday evening, many, if not all, of the amazing events of the past +thirty-six hours could not have happened."</p> + +<p>"I don't agree with you—not one little bit," she protested +emphatically. "Why, the detective-man himself said that the Young +Manchus have been searching ever since the beginning of the year for +proof of Dad's connection with the revolutionaries, and he was candid +enough to tell us that if it hadn't been for you that horrid Wong Li Fu +would have got me into the car. No, Mr. Theydon, our meeting has proved +most fortunate for me. Suppose I had really been captured! Would he have +gagged me and taken me away to some lonely place, where I would be kept +a prisoner, or even killed?"</p> + +<p>Theydon had no desire that her mind should dwell on such a harrowing +topic. He shuddered to think of her fate if ever she fell into the hands +of the miscreants who had not scrupled to murder Mrs. Lester. She +evidently regarded the crime in No. 17 Innesmore Mansions as the sequel +to some political disturbance in far-off Shanghai. It had not occurred +to her that a hapless woman had been done to death merely as a warning +to her father of the fate in store for him and his if he did not yield +to the demand of the reactionary party in China, and deliver over to +their vengeance some hundreds of the leading men in that distressed +country.</p> + +<p>"I doubt whether Wong Li Fu and his associates would have dared to offer +you any real violence," he said. "At the worst, I suppose, they might +have retained you as a hostage."</p> + +<p>"A hostage for what?"</p> + +<p>"For their claim against Mr. Forbes."</p> + +<p>"But what has he done? He has never been in China."</p> + +<p>"He is a power in the financial world. If the reform party cannot borrow +money the movement will collapse. At any rate that is what the Manchus +believe, and they will strain every nerve to effect their purpose."</p> + +<p>"But why did they kill poor Mrs. Lester?"</p> + +<p>Theydon felt that he was getting into deep water. This clear-sighted +girl would soon have the various threads of the enigma in her hands, and +then she could not fail but discover the true meaning of Edith Lester's +death.</p> + +<p>"That phase of the problem has yet to be solved," was his noncommittal +reply.</p> + +<p>Winter rejoined them somewhat hurriedly. He looked puzzled and rather +irritated.</p> + +<p>"Furneaux has made an arrest," he said. "A Chinaman, described as Len +Shi, is lodged in the cells at Bow Street, on a charge of being +concerned in the Innesmore Mansions murder. Furneaux is out, and that is +all they know at the Yard. What I cannot understand is why no inquiry +has been made by telephone or otherwise concerning Miss Forbes's flight +to Eastbourne."</p> + +<p>The words had hardly left his mouth when the bell of a telephone on the +table jangled. The coincidence was so peculiar that Winter laughed.</p> + +<p>"Some other person shares my opinion, I fancy," he said. "May I answer, +Miss Forbes?"</p> + +<p>"Please do," said the girl, and the chief inspector lifted the receiver +from its hook.</p> + +<p>"Trunk call from London; you're through," announced the hotel operator. +After a slight pause, an agitated voice said: "Is that you, Evelyn?" +"Miss Forbes is here," said Winter. "Who is speaking?"</p> + +<p>"Her father," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm Chief Inspector Winter of Scotland Yard. Your daughter is quite +safe, Mr. Forbes. Mr. Theydon and I accompanied her from London. She +will speak to you in an instant. Would you mind telling me what happened +at one o'clock, when my colleague, Mr. Furneaux, jumped on to your car +and went in pursuit of some one?"</p> + +<p>"First, is Mrs. Forbes there, too?"</p> + +<p>"She is out with a picnic party on Beachy Head. We expect her back +before six o'clock. I propose bringing her and Miss Forbes to London +tonight. They will be safer in your house than in Eastbourne, as you +will probably agree when you hear what a narrow escape your daughter had +this afternoon from being kidnaped by Wong Li Fu."</p> + +<p>"Great Heavens! Evelyn in danger from that scoundrel!"</p> + +<p>"Yes. But all is well, believe me. Owing to Mr. Theydon's promptitude +and pertinacity, Wong Li Fu's scheme was defeated. Your daughter will +make everything clear. Give me the barest summary of events after your +departure from Innesmore Mansions, and I'll get out of the way."</p> + +<p>"We pursued a car which led us a pretty dance nearly as far as St. +Albans. It seems that Mr. Furneaux, looking out of the window of Mr. +Theydon's flat while Theydon and I were going downstairs, saw a Chinaman +watching us from a closed car standing in the cross street at the end of +the garden. He gave chase instantly, but as soon as the man realized +that he had attracted notice he tried to escape. At least, that was Mr. +Furneaux's first impression. Later, he convinced himself that the +supposed spy was little more than a red herring drawn across the trail, +and that the man's real motive was to take me out of London, or waylay +or detain me in some fashion, since it was manifestly impossible that my +presence in the Mansions should be known to any one. I see now, of +course, what the project was. If, as I gather from you, an attempt was +to be made to capture my daughter on arriving at Eastbourne, it was +all-important for the conspirators that I should not know of her absence +from home until after the arrival of the train, so that I could not +communicate with the hotel and take measures to protect her. But that +explanation was hidden from Mr. Furneaux, and the first glimpse of it +vouchsafed to me was when I reached my office and was horrified to learn +that she had gone away without my knowledge. However, in a desperate +matter like this, I must not waste time by describing my agony and +foreboding. As I have said, by some phenomenal method of reasoning +beyond my comprehension, Mr. Furneaux did arrive at a sound conclusion. +I suppose he was alive to the ridiculous aimlessness of the race across +country. My car is powerful and speedy, but the Chinaman had a +thoroughly up-to-date conveyance, too, and drove without paying the +least heed to traffic conditions."</p> + +<p>"There was only one man, then?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Didn't I make that clear? Perhaps not. But there can hardly be any +doubt that this fellow was alone, and acting as a sort of scout or +vedette. We had the utmost difficulty in following him along Oxford +Street, and I am sure that my chauffeur has been reported by a score of +constables on point duty for exceeding the speed limit and disregarding +signals to halt. To come to the material facts, the chase took us up the +Edgware road. We tore along at a tremendous rate after passing the Welsh +Harp. Overhaul the fellow we could not, until on the outskirts of St. +Albans, when he deliberately slowed up, as though to allow us to pass. +Mr. Furneaux flew at him like a terrier grappling a rat, but the man +made no resistance. He is undoubtedly a Chinaman, though attired in a +chauffeur's livery, and he could handle a car in first-rate style, too. +His pidgin English was difficult to understand, and Mr. Furneaux shared +my view that he did not try to render himself intelligible. We gathered +that he was obeying his master's orders in trying the car, a new one, +before purchase, but Furneaux bundled him off to the nearest police +station, borrowed handcuffs and brought him back to London, leaving the +car in a garage at St. Albans. That is a bald but accurate summary of +the facts. I dropped Mr. Furneaux and his prisoner at Bow Street and was +on the way to my city office, when I suddenly felt faint for want of +food, as I ate hardly any breakfast this morning, and only drank a cup +of coffee in Mr. Theydon's place. So I returned to the Carlton, where I +met a friend, a business associate, who remained for a chat while I had +a meal. This trivial accident prevented me from telephoning to my house, +though, naturally, I had no misgivings as to my daughter's well-being. +Even then I was detained unduly, because my friend and I went to another +office in the city, and two more hours elapsed before I reached my own +place. Then, and not until then, did I hear of Evelyn's journey and its +cause."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Mr. Forbes," said Winter quietly. "We seem to have made a +forward move today. Before calling Miss Evelyn to the phone I want to +tell you that in disobeying your orders to remain at home she did my +department a good turn. Wong Li Fu and I were brought face to face. He +is not a myth."</p> + +<p>"My word might be regarded as sufficient proof of that fact."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, Mr. Forbes, if given earlier," was the inevitable retort. +"But here is your daughter. She can plead her cause far better than I."</p> + +<p>Evelyn took the woman's way. To defend she attacked.</p> + +<p>"Dad, dear," she complained, "why didn't you give me your confidence? If +I had had the least notion of the dreadful things that were going on I +should certainly have telephoned to Eastbourne before starting. But +don't you see the diabolical cleverness of the scheme? The telegram +arrived just in time to allow me to catch the 1:25 p. m. train, and +rendering it idle to think of making a trunk call if I would obey an +urgent message from my mother. Then again, when I reached Eastbourne, +why should I suspect a foreign-looking gentleman who said Dr. Sinnett +had sent his car to take me to the hotel? There isn't a Dr. Sinnett in +Eastbourne at this date, but how was I to know that? Of course, both you +and I have suffered a good deal, each in a different way, but all is +well that ends well, and I shall have such a lot to tell you when we +meet tonight.... What time? I don't know yet. I'll wire or phone when +mother returns and we settle about the train. Goodby, darling! See you +don't go anywhere alone until I come back."</p> + +<p>For some reason Winter's manner was not so placid as usual. He looked so +obviously perplexed and troubled that Theydon, searching for a cause, +suddenly remembered that the chief inspector was a great smoker.</p> + +<p>"Won't you have a cigar?" he said; "that is, unless Miss Forbes has any +objection?"</p> + +<p>"Me!" cried the girl. "I don't object in the least."</p> + +<p>But the Royal Devonshire Hotel's best Havana did not wholly banish the +frown from Winter's forehead. More than once he glanced at his watch and +consulted a time table. At last he voiced one of his anxieties.</p> + +<p>"What can have become of that American?" he said. "He knew what hotel +you were making for?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," cried the others in chorus.</p> + +<p>They laughed. Quite a cheerful air possessed two members of the little +party, at any rate.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he has forgotten the name?" went on Evelyn.</p> + +<p>"Americans never forget the names of hotels, or railway stations, or +steamers," said Winter. "The average Englishman can tell you what will +win the Derby, but the average American will be a good deal more +accurate concerning next Saturday's mail steamer.... So, I frankly +confess it—that man's prolonged absence supplies a riddle which I can't +answer. What do you say if we give a look along the front? He may be +shy, though I told the hall porter that any inquirer was to be shown up +at once."</p> + +<p>No; Mr. Handyside was not to be seen on Eastbourne's spacious marine +promenade. A couple of well-dressed men caught sight of Winter, and +decided that they had instant and urgent business elsewhere, But he only +smiled. His quarry that day was not the swell mobsman, but much more +dangerous game.</p> + +<p>Lightning darted from a summer sky when the picnic party returned from +Beachy Head in three cars, but without Mrs. Forbes.</p> + +<p>Evelyn was hardly anxious at first. The hall porter informed her who the +occupants of the cars were, and she watched the lively and chattering +groups forming on the pavement and breaking up again to enter the hotel +and dress for dinner.</p> + +<p>At last, realizing that her mother was not among them, she singled out a +lady whom she knew, and asked for an explanation. The lady, a Mrs. +Montagu, was very much surprised.</p> + +<p>"But, my dear Evelyn," she said, "didn't you yourself send for your +mother?"</p> + +<p>The girl blanched. Some premonition of evil gripped her very heart.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" she said, and the other woman could not help noting +the distress in her voice.</p> + +<p>"If you didn't send, who did?" came the immediate response. "We were +just going to have tea when a gentleman, a stranger, came and asked for +Mrs. Forbes. We saw him arrive in a car which halted at the foot of the +path—nearly a quarter of a mile away. Your mother answered, and he said +that you were in Eastbourne, and had sent him to bring you to the hotel. +He said the car belonged to a Doctor Somebody, but he himself looked +like a foreigner."</p> + +<p>A few others had gathered around, attracted by Evelyn Forbes's pallor +and distress; Winter, too, had drawn near, and it was he who said:</p> + +<p>"Did you see this stranger who brought the message?"</p> + +<p>"O yes, plainly," said Mrs. Montagu.</p> + +<p>"Had he a scar down the left side of his face?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Then Evelyn Forbes, for the first time in her vigorous young life, +fainted. Her mother was in the power of Wong Li Fu. All the terrors +which imagination had painted in her own behalf were redoubled as to her +mother's fate. Her brain reeled. Merciful oblivion came. Theydon and +Winter were just able to catch her before she fell like a log.</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI<br /><br /> +THE REAPPEARANCE OF HANDYSIDE</h3> + +<p>Consternation reigned for a while at the entrance to the Royal +Devonshire. Men craned their necks and women uttered nervous little +shrieks. But Evelyn Forbes was endowed with a vigorous frame and a +splendidly vital spirit, and she recovered her senses before she could +be carried into the vestibule.</p> + +<p>The fact that she had fainted, too, brought to the aid of her waking +senses the innate horror of her race and class for anything approaching +a "scene," and she was almost unnaturally collected in speech and +demeanor within a few seconds after her eyes had reopened.</p> + +<p>"Did I give way like that?" she said, with a valiant smile, first at +Theydon, and then at the ring of faces, each with its varying expression +of curiosity or concern. "How stupid of me! How excessively stupid! That +sort of behavior doesn't help at all—does it?... Thank you, I can walk +quite well.... I'll just go to mother's room and telephone home.... +There has been some silly mistake. By this time it will be rectified, +I'm sure.... Come, Mr. Theydon. Where is Mr. Winter?"</p> + +<p>"Here," said the detective. "I'll follow in a minute or so. Please don't +communicate with London till I arrive."</p> + +<p>His quietly insistent tone was meant rather for Theydon than for the +half-demented girl, who was stumbling anywhere but in the right +direction until Theydon caught her arm and led her to the lift. She +contrived to remain outwardly calm until she reached the seclusion of +the sitting room, when she broke into a flood of tears, while in +disjointed and hysterical words she blamed her own rashness for the fate +which had overtaken her mother.</p> + +<p>If only she had used better judgment when the telegram came—if only she +had hired an automobile and driven straight to Beachy Head—if only she +had done a dozen other things which no one would possibly have dreamed +of doing—she might have safeguarded her darling mother!</p> + +<p>Theydon, meanwhile, was nearly frantic with the indecision of ignorance. +Never had he felt so helpless, so utterly childish and unhinged in the +face of disaster. He had heard that it was good for a woman to be +allowed to cry when overwhelmed with misery. Again, he remembered +reading somewhere that the feminine temperament should not be allowed to +yield to a too-tempestuous grief, or the delicate and finely-balanced +female organism might suffer irreparable injury. Should she be given +water or a stimulant? Should one leave her alone or endeavor to soothe +her?</p> + +<p>Heaven only knew—he didn't—so he did exactly what any devout and +despairing lover might be expected to do—put an arm around her +shoulders, and murmured a frenzied assurance of his willingness to die +several times, and vanquish a horde of Young Manchus in the process, ere +she could be allowed to endure one needless hour of distress on her +mother's account.</p> + +<p>Somehow, this sort of nonsense was helpful. The girl raised her swimming +eyes to his. She placed two appealing hands on his shoulders, and said +brokenly:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Theydon—I am ready to trust you—next to—my own father.... Where +shall we go? What can we do? I'll come with you—anywhere—only—my dear +one must be rescued."</p> + +<p>He believed afterwards that he answered her by a kiss! He was not +certain. The delirium of the moment was such that he could never recall +its words or acts with that precision which a well-regulated mind should +display even under the stress of intense emotion. In any event, the +crisis was interrupted by the clamor of the telephone bell.</p> + +<p>Withdrawing from what was perilously near an embrace—so colorable an +imitation of the real thing that Winter, entering at that instant, could +make no distinction, and was secretly amazed at these strenuous methods +of consoling the lady—Theydon lifted the receiver, and heard as one in +a trance the telephone operator's conventional announcement:</p> + +<p>"Trunk call from Croydon; you're through."</p> + +<p>"Who is it?" demanded the chief inspector gruffly.</p> + +<p>Even he, veteran fighter in the unceasing battle between the law and the +malefactor, was feeling the strain of the Homeric struggle ushered in by +the death of Edith Lester.</p> + +<p>"I don't know yet," Theydon managed to say collectedly. "Some one from +Croydon. Bend close. You'll hear."</p> + +<p>A quiet, drawling voice reached them, the vibrating wire lending its +measured accents a metallic accuracy.</p> + +<p>"That you, Mr. Theydon?"</p> + +<p>"Why, it's Mr. Handyside! Yes, I'm here. Where are you speaking from? +Croydon?"</p> + +<p>"That's so."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't understand, but I'm sure you'll pardon me. We are in a +deuce of a fix at this end, so, if you'll arrange to call tomorrow—"</p> + +<p>"You've lost Mrs. Forbes, I guess. Is that the lady's name? If it is, +I've kept track of her. I—"</p> + +<p>Theydon was so astounded that he looked at Winter in blank amazement, +the pressure of his fingers on the circuit key relaxed, and the +American's voice trailed abruptly away into silence. He put matters +right at once and heard the continuation of a new sentence, whereupon he +broke in excitedly:</p> + +<p>"One second, Mr. Handyside. Miss Forbes is here. I must tell her your +news!"</p> + +<p>He turned to Evelyn.</p> + +<p>"Hooray!" he almost yelled. "Your mother is all right. She is with Mr. +Handyside. Some sort of miracle has happened. Come and listen."</p> + +<p>Aroused from a stupor of grief as though she had received a galvanic +shock, Evelyn sprang up. Naturally, she had to place an arm on Theydon's +back to permit of her head approaching near enough to the telephone. +Thus, the three heads were almost touching each other; if an artist had +been present he would have obtained a study in facial expressions worthy +of Phil May or Guerrido.</p> + +<p>Handyside, of course, had heard Theydon's gleeful exclamation. He +chuckled pleasantly:</p> + +<p>"Your digest goes a little too far, Mr. Theydon," he said, "but compared +with the newspaper placard facts in your possession, my story is a +full-sized novel. Anyhow, I'll condense it, so here goes. I was back of +the crowd when the circus started outside the Eastbourne depot. As I +ante'd up your ticket and collected your deposit of a sovereign, I saw +what took place, and sized up the result pretty accurately. The +kidnaping proposition had failed, but the guy in the silk hat had got +clear away in a bully good car—how good I know now. It seemed to me +that, next to rescuing that charming young lady, it was important +something should be known about the thug who wanted to carry her off, +and, when my eyes lit on a workmanlike motor bicycle with a side-car rig +standing close to the curb, and well clear of the arena, said I to +myself: 'George T. Handyside, this is where you take a flier, and maybe +Illinois will score one.' The man who owned the outfit was watching the +commotion when I dug him in the ribs. 'Take me after that car,' I said, +'and I'll pay you a shilling a mile with five pounds on account if it's +only a 100 yards.' I pressed a note into his hand—and, say, you +Britishers wake up all right when you see real money! We were doing +thirty per in less than ten seconds. No car on four wheels can lose any +decent motorcycle on a switchback track, and Jackson, the owner of this +one, says it's good enough for sixty on a fair stretch of road. Anyhow, +we held the thug dead easy, but didn't press him any, as I had no call +to butt in, had I?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Handyside," said Theydon. "I won't waste time now by telling you +how grateful we all are. Get on with the knitting!"</p> + +<p>"Sir, I've had the time of my life—a rip-snorting movie, with George T. +on the film from A to Z ... No! Go away, exchange. I'm renting this line +for the next quarter of an hour. Well, we made a bee-line for Beachy +Head—so Jackson told me—and, when the automobile pulled up, we got +under a hedge and I did a bit of scout work on my feet. I saw Silk Hat +pick out a lady from a bunch of people, who seemed to be taking the view +with sandwiches, and it was simple as falling off a log to follow the +position of affairs—Silk Hat urging lady to come with him, lady +astonished, not able to size up exact bearings of the yarn, but finally +yielding. Now, if Miss Forbes hadn't told us that her mother had written +saying she was going to Beachy Head with a picnic party this afternoon I +would have gotten off at the wrong address, because I could hardly have +failed to believe that Silk Hat was picking up a female accomplice. But, +as things stood, I suspicioned that, failing the daughter, he was +putting up a bunco tale for the mother—a situation new, I believe, in +the realm of romantic fiction. I thought it was up to me to play a +strong hand, so I threw a few facts on the screen for Jackson's benefit, +and he straightway hit the pike in pursuit. Where the country was open +we kept well in the rear, but crept closer in villages and towns. We had +to stop at Tunbridge Wells for petrol, but that didn't cut any ice, +because Jackson knew the country like a book, and we sighted the +automobile within five minutes, though the milestones were pretty +numerous during that run. After that, nothing particularly happened, +except to a hen and a dog, until we came near Croydon—that is, I knew +it was Croydon because Jackson said so, and I have considerable faith in +him. In between whiles, where there was nothing doing, he and I fixed up +an automobile tour. Well, outside Croydon, there's a new road, with a +half-built villa at the near end and a way-back farmhouse at the other +end. That villa was the one thing needed when the thug made a bee-line +for the farm. I jumped out, told Jackson to find something to do to his +machine at the corner of the next block, and hurried into the Alpine +chalet. From a top back room I watched Silk Hat carrying a lady into the +farm. Eh, what's that? Yes, he was carrying her. I guess he'd given her +a dope so as to stop any cry for help. It made me feel pretty mean to be +standing there without taking a hand in the deal, but I forced myself to +believe that another hour or two couldn't make such a heap of difference +to the lady, while it would be better to leave things to the police. I +waited just twenty minutes—I have all the times scheduled—until the +car came back. By hurrying downstairs I was able to look inside as it +passed, and Silk Hat was alone. He took the London road. I strolled +out—didn't dare to hurry, you know, in case any one might be watching +from the farm—and put in some hard thinking while walking to Jackson's +stand. There were two courses open, either to send Jackson after the +auto and try myself to get in touch with you and the police, or put +Jackson on guard near the farm. Whether I decided rightly or not I +haven't a notion, but I let the car go, and for this reason: We know +where the lady is, and so does the thug; if the police put up a hard +game they can rescue her without his knowledge and spread a web for the +fly to walk into later. But they must get a move on. This phone is +nearly a mile from the farm, and Jackson is tightening nuts outside the +villa I spoke of. Now, what's the next item on the program?"</p> + +<p>Winter grabbed the receiver unceremoniously.</p> + +<p>"I am a representative of Scotland Yard, Mr. Handyside," he said. "If +ever you want work come to me, J. L. Winter, and I'll find you some. +Miss Forbes is vexed with me because I have stopped her from thanking +you, but compliments must wait. Will you go as quickly as possible to +the chief police station at Croydon? By the time you get there I'll be +in touch with the inspector in charge, and he will do the rest. You +understand? Goodby!"</p> + +<p>Winter rang off. He smiled blandly at Evelyn.</p> + +<p>"There's no opportunity now for sentiment," he explained. "Our American +friend will appreciate quick action far more than talk."</p> + +<p>Then he tackled the telephone again and asked to be put through to the +Croydon police station.</p> + +<p>"There must be no delay," he added. "This is an official call."</p> + +<p>He was in touch with Croydon in a remarkably short space of time, and +soon was in communication with a police inspector.</p> + +<p>"What's your name?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"Inspector Wilkins," came the surprised answer.</p> + +<p>"Were you a sergeant at the time of the Surrey Bank robbery?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but what the—"</p> + +<p>"I am Winter of Scotland Yard. Do you recognize my voice?"</p> + +<p>"Well—er—"</p> + +<p>"Do you remember that nip of old brandy I gave you while we were +freezing in a drafty warehouse at three o'clock in the morning waiting +for the Smasher to come for his plant?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. You're Mr. Winter right enough, sir."</p> + +<p>"Good! I want you to believe what I'm going to tell you, as there is a +big job ahead. A gang of Chinese cutthroats have kidnaped a lady, wife +of the London banker, Mr. James Creighton Forbes. In a few minutes an +American, a Mr. Handyside, will be with you. He will point out the house +near Croydon to which the lady has been taken in a motor car. Collect +half a dozen plain-clothes men and two in uniform and go with Mr. +Handyside—without attracting attention, of course. Surround the house +and arrest any one, especially any Chinaman, who attempts to leave. +Release the lady, and ask Mr. Handyside to escort her to her home, 11 +Fortescue Square, Belgravia. If she is very ill, which is improbable, +she should be taken to a hospital. In that event Mr. Handyside should +telephone Mr. Forbes. Occupy the farm and arrest any one who comes +there, no matter what the pretext, until Mr. Furneaux or I arrive. I'll +be with you in two hours. Tell Mrs. Forbes that her daughter will set +out from Eastbourne by the next train leaving after 6:30. Got all that?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir! Are these Chinamen likely to show fight?"</p> + +<p>"Better be prepared. But, after posting your sentries, I advise you and +the uniformed constables to rush the place. By the way, it will save me +some trouble if you phone the Yard and tell them exactly what I have +told you. Ask for Furneaux. If he is not in, instruct them to leave a +written record for him."</p> + +<p>"I'll see to it, sir. Is that all?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Goodby! Meet you in two hours."</p> + +<p>He whirled round on Theydon.</p> + +<p>"Tell the manager to supply at once the best car to be had in Eastbourne +for love or money," he said. "I want something that is sure to go and go +fast."</p> + +<p>The chief inspector, with full steam up, was energy personified. His +bulging eyes, his firm chin, his round fists, one clenching the +telephone instrument, the other resting on the table, were eloquent of +the man of action.</p> + +<p>His pride had been sore stricken by the escape of Wong Li Fu when that +master scoundrel was actually in his grasp. But those powerful hands of +his were far-reaching, and it would go hard with the jiu jitsu expert +when next they gripped his lithe frame.</p> + +<p>Almost before Theydon had quitted the room Winter snapped—there is no +other word for it—literally snapped a question at Evelyn.</p> + +<p>"What's your telephone number?"</p> + +<p>She told him, and again the Eastbourne exchange was bidden exert itself.</p> + +<p>"That you, Mr. Forbes?" said the chief inspector, after a short wait.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"I am Winter, of Scotland Yard. I want to assure you that your wife and +daughter will be under your roof within the next three hours. Mrs. +Forbes will probably be escorted by a gentleman named Handyside, an +American. You owe him all possible thanks, because it is due to his +action alone that Mrs. Forbes will soon be rescued from captivity. Yes, +she was carried off from Beachy Head this afternoon by Wong Li Fu, but, +by the rarest good fortune, this Mr. Handyside, a friend of Mr. +Theydon's, was able to follow on the trail, and steps are now being +taken to free her. Your daughter will speak to you. I intervened merely +to vouch for it that an almost incredible story is true. By the way, let +no one know that Mrs. Forbes is in London. Warn your servants not to +speak of her return. One more word—have you heard anything of +Furneaux?"</p> + +<p>"I have not heard from or seen him since we parted outside Bow Street +police station. But, for Heaven's sake, what is this you tell me about +my wife?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Forbes will give you all the particulars we possess. Be calm and +remain at home. You can best assist us by stopping within call. Mrs. +Forbes and the American should arrive first, possibly before 7:30. If +there is any hitch, which is unlikely, Mr. Handyside will telephone you. +Your daughter will tell you the hour she and Mr. Theydon should reach +Victoria. She will speak to you now. Excuse my abruptness. A lot of +things may happen before I retire for the night, and I have no time to +pick and choose my words."</p> + +<p>Evelyn, able at last to pour out her soul in thanksgiving, nearly broke +down when she heard her father's voice.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Dad," she wailed, "I've passed through a dreadful time since I +spoke to you shortly after five o'clock. I dropped as if I had been shot +when Mrs. Montagu, who was one of the picnic party, told me that a man +of foreign appearance, with a scar on the left side of his face, and who +said he was a doctor, came to Beachy Head and told poor mother that I +had sent for her."</p> + +<p>She went on to relate such facts as were known to her, and was in the +midst of a sensational narrative when Theydon announced that a +high-powered touring car was in readiness.</p> + +<p>"Won't you take us with you?" he said to Winter. "There is no train from +here till 7:30, and in a motor we should be well on the way to London by +that time."</p> + +<p>Winter had anticipated some such request, and a prompt refusal was on +the tip of his tongue, when he recalled that he would pass through +Tunbridge Wells, whence an earlier train might be available. A glance at +the time table showed that a train left Tunbridge Wells at 7:15.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said. "I'll take you part of the way. Tell your father, Miss +Forbes, that you will arrive at London Bridge at 8:40. If you two reach +London by a different route I think you should be tolerably safe."</p> + +<p>"If any Chinaman shows up between here and Fortescue Square I'll shoot +him at sight," Theydon said, producing an automatic pistol.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't do that," smiled Winter. "You might bore a hole in some +perfectly innocent Celestial. But you won't be troubled. Wong Li Fu +carries out his own plans, and at present he is congratulating himself +on the possession of a valuable hostage. But, come along! How about a +wrap for you, Miss Forbes? We'll create a breeze, you know."</p> + +<p>She ran into her mother's bedroom and came out with a fur coat and motor +veil, articles which, she had guessed correctly, her mother would not be +wearing for the short run to Beachy Head. The hotel manager lent coats +to the men, and they started, not without hearty congratulations from +several people in the porch, whose fears on Mrs. Forbes's account +Theydon had dissipated when he went out to order the car.</p> + +<p>Winter gave their thoughts a new direction when Theydon inquired what +means the authorities would adopt to rid the country of the pestiferous +gang which carried on its vendetta with such scant respect for the law +and order of Great Britain.</p> + +<p>"Once we have Mr. and Mrs. Forbes and this young lady safely housed in +Fortescue Square, and protected, not only by their own servants but by +the Metropolitan Police, we will devote ourselves to routing out the +whole crew," he announced. "My idea is that when we lay hands on the +ringleader, the rest will be easy. Furneaux's prisoner, Len Shi, may be +got to talk when a Chinese interpreter tackles him. Again, there is +every prospect of an important capture being made in the Croydon house. +Most important of all is the prolonged absence from the yard of +Furneaux. He is busy, or he would have put in an appearance there hours +ago, if only to get to know my whereabouts. That means something. +Furneaux never wastes time. Usually we hunt in couples. Today, by the +fortune of war, we are separated, and perhaps fortunately so. It is all +your fault, Mr. Theydon."</p> + +<p>"Mine?" was the astonished cry.</p> + +<p>"Yes. We had to try all sorts of tricks on you before you would speak. +Just imagine Scotland Yard being compelled to tap the telephone of a +respectable and well-known author before he would own up to such +knowledge as he possessed of the murder in No. 17!"</p> + +<p>So that was how Furneaux had played the necromancer, and was able to +mystify Theydon that morning.</p> + +<p>The chief inspector, by raising the question, was touching on dangerous +ground, as he was well aware, but he was determined now that all +barriers should be thrown down. Evelyn Forbes was no bread-and-butter +miss from whose cognizance the evil things of life must be sedulously +averted. A, woman of spirit and intelligence, who had already run the +dreadful risk of sharing Mrs. Lester's fate, should be made to +understand every phase of the difficulty with which the Criminal +Investigation Department had yet to deal.</p> + +<p>British law and Chinese anarchy would soon grapple in a life and death +conflict, and it was idle folly to suppose that, no matter how reticent +her friends might be, this sharp-witted girl would not find out for +herself the exact nature of the link which bound the fortunes of her own +family with those of the dead woman.</p> + +<p>Theydon tried to pass off the detective's retort with a careless laugh, +but Evelyn reverted to the topic when they were seated in the +London-bound train after Winter had dropped them at Tunbridge Wells +Station.</p> + +<p>"What did the chief inspector mean when he said you refused to help him +at first?" she inquired. "There are gaps in my history of this affair. +How did you come to know that my father was acquainted with Mrs. Lester? +Why did you seem, at one time, to be taking sides with my father against +a public inquiry by the police?"</p> + +<p>Then, seeing there was no help for it, Theydon began at the beginning +and told the girl the full, true and unexpurgated story of events on the +Monday night. Once or twice, when he hinted at the cause of his +otherwise inexplicable actions—which, quite obviously, lay in his +interest in the girl herself, she blushed a little and averted her eyes. +But she listened in silence, and did not speak during many seconds after +he had ceased.</p> + +<p>Then she simply murmured:</p> + +<p>"Poor, dear Dad! How worried he must have been! And how well he +concealed it from me!"</p> + +<p>After another pause, she added:</p> + +<p>"We are deeply in your debt, Mr. Theydon. When this ordeal is ended, and +those horrid men have been put in prison or driven out of the country, +our next difficulty will be to—to thank you adequately for what you +have done."</p> + +<p><i>Surgit amari aliquid!</i> Even in life's pleasantest hours something +bitter arises. Theydon was in the company of the woman he loved, yet no +word of love could rise to his lips. In the first place he dared not woo +the daughter of a millionaire; in the second were his suit even +possible, he was far too honorable minded to take immediate advantage of +her disturbed state and the services he had undoubtedly rendered, and +give the slightest hint of his passion.</p> + +<p>So he sighed and looked out of the window at a fast-flying vista of a +Kentish hillside, and contented himself by saying:</p> + +<p>"For what little I have done, or attempted to do, I am already rewarded +far beyond my wildest dreams."</p> + +<p>Even that was more than he meant to say. Glancing timidly at Evelyn to +see whether or not she resented his words, he was astounded to find that +she had blushed scarlet, and, in her turn, was absorbed in the +landscape.</p> + +<p>Then he remembered that in the frenzy of the moment following the report +of her mother's capture by Wong Li Fu, he had kissed her. Had he, or had +he not? If not, why not now? But that way lay madness. And, wretched +doubt, was she already the promised bride of another man? It was a +relief when the train stopped at Sevenoaks.</p> + +<p>When it moved on again, they were normal young people once more, and +discussed various features of the Young Manchus' raid on society as +though the extermination of political adversaries were a commonplace +occurrence in modern England.</p> + +<p>At last, after a journey which lived long in their minds, since even a +prosaic train may follow the path to Wonderland, they arrived at London +Bridge, and hummed in a taxi through streets of gaunt warehouses until +the light of Westminster flashed on a Thames veiled in the blue mystery +of a Summer gloaming.</p> + +<p>The cab had hardly halted outside the Fortescue Square mansion when the +door was thrown wide, and Tomlinson appeared, flanked by two stalwart +footmen. The butler's face was aglow with pleasure.</p> + +<p>"It's all right now you've come, Miss Evelyn," he said joyfully. "Mrs. +Forbes arrived more than an hour ago."</p> + +<p>But Tomlinson was in error. He did not know what tribulations loomed +already through the haze of the future, or he would have laid to heart +the time-honored advice to venturesome travelers:</p> + +<p>"Never hallo till you're out of the wood!"</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII<br /><br /> +NO SURRENDER</h3> + +<p>Mrs. Forbes, a slim, elegant woman, looked as if she were her daughter's +elder sister. Although driven by hay fever to the seaside regularly at +the beginning of the London season, she was far from being a <i>malade +imaginaire</i>. She did not go willingly. Each year she hoped against hope +that the annoying ailment would not make itself felt, yet no sooner was +the month of May well established than for six or seven weeks she had +either to drag her husband and daughter away from the metropolis or live +by herself in some South Coast hotel.</p> + +<p>She had tried Brighton, whence Mr. Forbes could travel to the city, but +soon discovered that the daily train journey was not good for his +health. After that, she insisted on adopting the self-denying ordinance +of leaving Evelyn with her father in the town house from the middle of +May till the end of June, when all three went to the Highlands.</p> + +<p>She, of course, had not the remotest knowledge of the terrors +threatening her household; a thunderbolt out of a Summer sky would have +astonished her less than the indignities she endured when haled away +from Eastbourne in the luxurious car which Wong Li Fu had at his +command.</p> + +<p>Theydon had been in the house nearly half an hour and was exchanging +experiences with Forbes and Handyside—the latter, by virtue of his +extraordinary share in the day's adventures, being admitted to the full +confidence of the others—when Evelyn brought her mother into the +library.</p> + +<p>"Here is some one who positively refuses to retire for the night until +she has met you, Mr. Theydon," said the girl, radiant with joy and +relief, now that the shadow of death had passed, apparently forever, +leaving her dear ones unscathed.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Forbes, an aristocrat to the finger tips, greeted her guest with +marked cordiality.</p> + +<p>"I have been living during the past few hours like one of the characters +one sees in the fearsome little plays produced on the stage of the Grand +Guignol in Paris," she said, gazing at him with frank brown eyes +singularly like her daughter's, "but I have contrived to gather one +definite impression among the whirl of things, and that is that were it +not for Mr. Frank Theydon, my daughter and I would now be in as bad a +predicament as two women could possibly face anywhere."</p> + +<p>"I was lucky enough to be of some little use, but Mr. Handyside is the +lion of today's contest," said Theydon.</p> + +<p>"I am grateful to both of you, how grateful I can never find words to +tell, but Mr. Handyside rivals you in modesty, Mr. Theydon. He assured +me that you were the <i>deus ex machina</i>, though he obtained the machine +itself, and rode sixty miles to rescue me from my dragon. By the way, +where is the motor cyclist—what is his name?"</p> + +<p>"Jackson, ma'am," put in Handyside. "He went back to Eastbourne—thought +nothing of it. I fixed him all right. He's coming to London next week. +I've hired him for a trip round the island."</p> + +<p>"In a side-car?" laughed Evelyn.</p> + +<p>"No; I guess we'll run to something more roomy."</p> + +<p>"Jim, dear," said Mrs. Forbes to her husband, "get Mr. Jackson's +address. Our thanks to him, at least, can take a tangible form. No, +Evelyn, I'm not going to bed. I mean to sit up and talk. I want to hear +everything. You men must smoke big strong cigars, please. If I breathe +tobacco smoke I shall not fancy I want to sneeze."</p> + +<p>"I, for one, am simply aching to hear what happened to you," said +Theydon.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Forbes was equally ready to retail her trials.</p> + +<p>"When a man who resembled a tall and well-built Japanese came to me on +the Downs," she said, "I really believed him to be what he said he +was—assistant to an Eastbourne doctor. I never dreamed he was Chinese, +not that it mattered at all where I was concerned, only one becomes +quite accustomed to meeting well-dressed Japanese men in society, but +hardly ever a Chinaman. I thought, too, I remembered his face, which is +quite possible, since my husband tells me that this Wong Li Fu was once +an attaché at the Chinese Embassy. He spoke excellent English, with a +strongly marked lisp; when he said that my daughter wished to see me at +the Royal Devonshire Hotel, and that a Dr. Sinnett had sent a car for my +convenience, I was mainly concerned in getting him to admit the real +cause of his presence, because I naturally assumed that Evelyn had met +with an accident. No sooner had the car started than he seized my +wrists, and gave them a queer twist, which seemed to render me powerless +for a few seconds. 'If you scream or resist I hurt you—so—only very +bad,' he said. I was that astonished I hardly realized what was taking +place before he had my wrists and ankles strapped, tightly, but not +painfully, and had placed a gag in my mouth. 'Now, you keep quiet,' he +said, and showed me a horrible-looking knife, which he put on the seat +between us. 'If you move at all when we pass through towns,' he went on, +'I stick this into you very deep.' Somehow, I knew that he meant to +carry out his threats to the letter. At first I was more angry than hurt +or even alarmed. Then I began to believe that I had fallen into the +clutches of a lunatic, and grew horribly afraid. I saw that we were +following the London road, and it oppressed me like a dreadful sort of +nightmare to be speeding through a familiar district, a countryside +dotted with the houses and estates of personal friends, and be unable to +stir or utter a sound. It seemed to be almost stupid to see policemen in +the streets of Tunbridge Wells, one of whom gazed into our car sharply, +because, I suppose, we were traveling rather fast, and feel that no one +could begin to guess at my predicament. You all appreciate the fact, of +course, that I knew nothing whatever of any quarrel between my husband +and a faction in China?"</p> + +<p>"Your husband adopted the policy of the ostrich, Helena," said Forbes, +grimly. "It may or may not be a fable as regards ostriches—I don't know +enough about them to feel certain, but it is unquestionably too often +true of mankind. I believed my head was hidden and imagined the +remainder of my body was safe in consequence. Now I learn that my +opponents have been tracking me steadily for half a year. The one fact +which stands out clearly above all others during the past forty-eight +hours is the phenomenal range and completeness of Wong Li Fu's plans."</p> + +<p>"I didn't mean my comment as a reproach, dear," and Mrs. Forbes gave him +a look which told plainly that these two were lovers after many years of +wedded happiness. "Thank God, we have all escaped—thus far!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, mother," laughed Evelyn nervously, "you are not anticipating more +horrors, are you?"</p> + +<p>"A few hours ago I would have scoffed at any one who said that a handful +of Chinese could tear aside our cloak of civilized security as though it +were a spider's web," was the serious reply. "But I have interrupted my +own story. I began to think that I would be taken to some awful den in +the East End, and held there till some huge sum of money was paid by way +of ransom, when the car suddenly quitted the main road and bumped over a +rough surface. I knew I was near Croydon—the last place I would have +suspected as a brigands' stronghold. Then we halted, and that wretched +man lifted me out, carried me into a back room of an old-fashioned +house, put me in a fairly comfortable chair, tied me in with ropes, and +left me. I couldn't speak. I was looking at a blank wall and +smoke-stained ceiling. I was sure then that he was after money, and +began to calculate the time which must elapse before my husband would +hear from him and arrange for my release. I wondered how much he would +ask—ten, twenty, fifty thousand pounds. How much would you have paid, +Jim?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Forbes took her trials so cheerfully that they all laughed.</p> + +<p>"That's hardly a fair question, is it?" she continued, stealing another +glance at her husband. "At any rate, being a banker's wife, I knew how +extraordinarily difficult it would be to raise any considerable sum of +gold at such a late hour, and I resigned myself to remaining a prisoner +all night. Then I think I wept a little, but not for long, because I +felt that they meant to keep me alive, and as I look more delicate than +I really am, even a Chinaman would see that he was taking some risk by +denying me food and all liberty of movement. Then—very soon, it +seemed—I heard an outer door being forced off its hinges and English +voices, and the door of my room was broken open, and I saw a police +inspector and some constables. Hitherto I have never properly +appreciated our policemen. From this day I become their most ardent +admirer and enthusiastic helper. I could have gone down on my knees to +those big, kind-looking men in uniform. In fact I nearly did. When they +released me I could hardly stand. After that, Mr. Handyside came, and +accompanied me here, with a detective sitting next the driver, and my +husband and Evelyn have told me something of the extraordinary things +which have been going on in London while I was gadding about at +Eastbourne."</p> + +<p>"Was the detective a man named Furneaux?" inquired Theydon.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Forbes hesitated, and her husband answered for her, as he alone, +among the members of the household, had met the Jersey man.</p> + +<p>"No," he said. "He belonged to the Croydon force, and was sent as an +escort. Furneaux seems to have been swallowed alive since three o'clock. +Everybody is inquiring for him, and no one appears to know anything +about him."</p> + +<p>"I wonder whether Wong Li Fu is aware I have been liberated?" said Mrs. +Forbes. "It's rather odd, is it not, that nothing has been heard from +him or his gang if I was to be held a prisoner in order to extort +terms?"</p> + +<p>"I fancy he meant to add significance to his demand for a reply by +advertisement in tomorrow's Times," said Forbes. "You see, Helena, he +meant to carry off Evelyn as well as you."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Forbes smiled again at that.</p> + +<p>"What in the world should each of us have thought if we had both been +bound and gagged in that car?" she cried.</p> + +<p>"I know what I think," said her husband emphatically. "You are going +straight to bed now, and you'll take ten grains of bromide before lying +down. Evelyn, I appoint you nurse. Don't leave your mother till she is +sound asleep."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Forbes rose at once. She admitted, though reluctantly, that a +night's rest was necessary to steady her nerves.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" she sighed, "I shall be so glad when all this turmoil is ended, +and we are settled for the season in Sutherland."</p> + +<p>"Sutherland, ma'am," inquired Handyside. "Isn't that in the far north of +Scotland?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"It would be, just as the North Foreland is in Kent."</p> + +<p>Theydon explained his friend's theory of geographical names in the +British Isles, and on that lightly humorous note the ladies disappeared. +When they were gone Forbes quickly gave a sinister turn to their talk. +He produced a letter from his pocket.</p> + +<p>"Listen to this," he said.</p> + +<p>"Y. M. is pleased to inform James Creighton Forbes that Mrs. Forbes is a +prisoner, and will remain, without food or drink and unable to move, in +an empty house until Y. M.'s demands are granted."</p> + +<p>His face was white with fury while he read, and his fingers moved +convulsively as if he could feel them twining around Wong Li Fu's +throat. The other men maintained a sympathetic silence. They understood +why that ghastly message had been withheld from the cognizance of the +lady who had just quitted them.</p> + +<p>"It was delivered by a messenger boy shortly before you arrived, +Theydon," said Forbes, when his passion had subsided and he could trust +his voice again.</p> + +<p>"Have you informed Scotland Yard?" said Theydon.</p> + +<p>"No. I dared not use the telephone. I could not leave my wife. She is +far more shaken than she thinks. Ever since her return she has followed +me if I even walked across the room. It was pitiful. I had to lie to her +when the butler brought this infernal note. She saw it was typed, and +believed my explanation that it was a mere record of an office +cablegram."</p> + +<p>"Give it to me," said Theydon. "Mr. Handyside and I must leave you now. +We'll take it to Scotland Yard. Mr. Winter ought to know of it. In all +likelihood he is arranging to remain in the Croydon house tonight, and, +if Wong Li Fu is telling the truth, which is highly probable, the local +police can watch the place adequately."</p> + +<p>"Yes. You're right, of course. I should have seen that an hour ago, but +my brain is on fire owing to the torture these fiends have devised."</p> + +<p>"Are you quite safe here? It is an absurd question, but I would like to +feel assured on that point. Shall I return, and strengthen your guard?"</p> + +<p>"I'm exceedingly obliged to you, but, in addition to two of my servants, +thoroughly trustworthy men, a detective sergeant and constable have come +from Scotland Yard. They are now having supper. When the household +retires for the night two will remain in this room, with the door open, +and two in the butler's room, which commands the other staircase. +Moreover a constable will patrol this side of the square, and a second +one the back of the premises, until long after daybreak."</p> + +<p>"Tell you what," said Handyside, when he and Theydon were in a taxi, and +had made certain they were not being followed, "tell you what, son, +you've struck a bonanza in this Chinese drama."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" said Theydon.</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess you're the curly-haired boy where Miss Evelyn is +concerned."</p> + +<p>"Like most Americans, you jump at conclusions," was the ungracious +reply.</p> + +<p>"And, like most Americans, I'm right nearly all the time," said +Handyside dryly.</p> + +<p>"Surely one can hardly discuss such a matter."</p> + +<p>"Why not? If a proposition sounds hard, chew on it, and may be you'll +get your teeth into it somehow."</p> + +<p>Theydon nearly allowed himself to become angry. Was his hopeless +admiration for Evelyn Forbes so patent that a sharp-eyed stranger could +discern it after a brief hour in their company?</p> + +<p>"Millionaires' daughters marry poor men only in novels and on the +stage," he said bitterly. "In real life, and in England, they take unto +themselves titles and landed estates."</p> + +<p>"I guess Wong Li Fu will have to round you up some more," was the +cryptic answer, and Handyside forthwith plunged airily into some wholly +different topic.</p> + +<p>At Scotland Yard they inquired for Furneaux, and were told he had not +reported at headquarters since the early afternoon. So Theydon was +introduced to another representative of the department, and handed over +the typed note; the detective promised that its purport should be +telephoned to Croydon without delay.</p> + +<p>When the two reached the Embankment again, Theydon felt unaccountably +tired, and was minded to take leave of his companion then and there. But +Handyside placed an unerring finger on the cause of his weariness.</p> + +<p>"Say, Mr. Theydon," he cried, "I don't know what food product +arrangements you've made all day, but I couldn't have eaten less since +breakfast if Wong Li Fu was sitting over me with a pistol. How about a +square meal? Come to my hotel, and I'll start the chef on a nice little +menoo while we're having a wash and a brush up."</p> + +<p>"By Jove! Now I know what is the matter with me," was the astonishing +answer. "I have lunched and dined on a cup of tea at Eastbourne."</p> + +<p>"Guess I'm fifteen years older than you, so I knew my trouble all the +time. Those people in Fortescue Square were so rattled that they never +thought of asking us to eat. Come right along. It's only a step."</p> + +<p>"I'll come with pleasure. I owe you some money, too, which I was nearly +forgetting."</p> + +<p>"What do you owe for?"</p> + +<p>"Railway tickets, and taxis, and motor-cycles, to begin with."</p> + +<p>"No, sir," said the American decisively. "I've had the cheapest day's +amusement I've ever dreamed of. On balance I owe you one sovereign. As +for those half-tickets from Eastbourne I wouldn't sell them for dollars +and cents. When I get back to my home, 21,097 Park Avenue, Chicago, I'll +have those bits of cardboard framed, and when some particular friend +asks the reason I'll tell him, suppressing names of course, and he'll go +away thinking that George T. Handyside is the biggest liar in the State +of Illinois, which is some pumpkin, you bet."</p> + +<p>"What beats me," rejoined Theydon, "is how you remember where you live. +You must have a marvelous head for figures."</p> + +<p>So they dined well, and wined moderately, and Theydon walked to +Innesmore Mansions, thinking of little else in the world except of the +moment when he held Evelyn Forbes in his arms, almost in an embrace, and +he had dared, nearly, if not quite, to kiss her.</p> + +<p>As he drew near Innesmore Mansions, however, he kept his wits about him. +One of the most remarkable features of a series of remarkable crimes was +the thorough command of the resources of civilization exhibited by the +Young Manchus. A few days earlier he would not have dared to introduce +into a story of his own an association composed exclusively of Chinamen +which adapted to its needs the motor car, the messenger boy, perhaps the +telephone and telegraph, to say nothing of the advertising columns of +the daily press.</p> + +<p>It was monstrous to imagine that a number of Orientals—marked men, +every one, no matter what disguises they might adopt—should dare bid +defiance to the forces of the British Constitution in order that they +might wreak vengeance on those more enlightened compatriots who wished +to see their country rescued from the effete control of a puppet +Emperor.</p> + +<p>But Theydon was now some days older and many degrees wiser. He knew that +the wildly improbable had become dogged fact, that Chinese fanaticism, +tigerish in its crafty and utter cold-bloodedness, was setting at naught +not only the ordinances of the law, but the brightest intellects whose +duty it was to make that law respected.</p> + +<p>It behooved him, therefore, to lend a sharp eye to his own safety, and +never a vehicle or pedestrian came near while he traversed the quiet +streets in the neighborhood of Innesmore Mansions that he did not give +the closest attention to cab or wayfarer, as the case might be.</p> + +<p>As it happened, that quarter of London was singularly deserted. The +first flight of people homeward-bound from the theaters was well over; +the later contingent, supping in restaurants, had not begun to arrive. +Save for the slow-moving figure of a policeman the long front of the +mansions themselves was devoid of life.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, it was with a feeling of relief that he turned the key in +the lock of No. 18, and heard the scraping of a chair on the kitchen +floor as Bates rose to meet him.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Bates!" he cried wearily, "here I am again, you see! Anything +new or interesting during my absence?"</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Paxton—" began the valet, stopping when his master uttered a +sharp exclamation. Theydon had completely forgotten Miss Beale and his +sister.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said. "Sorry I interrupted you. What of Mrs. Paxton?"</p> + +<p>"I saw her, sir, as you ordered, and she promised to call on Miss Beale. +She kem here about an hour ago—"</p> + +<p>"Who? My sister?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. She was anxious to see you. From what I could gather, sir, +the two ladies had bin puttin' their heads together, and agreed that +this Chinese business has a nasty look, an' you'd better keep out of +it."</p> + +<p>"What Chinese business, Bates?"</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, Miss Beale will 'ave it that Mrs. Lester was killed by a +Chinaman, an' one of the police on duty in this district told me a +little while ago that he saw no less than three Chinamen prowlin' round +here last Monday between dusk and dark."</p> + +<p>Theydon drew a deep breath. If there was gossip going on about +"Chinamen" in connection with the murder in No. 17 the newspapers would +soon be getting hold of it. The arrest of Len Shi by Furneaux must be +reported. Possibly some newspaper correspondent in Eastbourne would hear +of the kidnaping exploit, and describe the Eastern aspect of its chief +actor, Mrs. Forbes's name would "transpire" in the paragraph, and, by +putting two and two together the lynx-eyed journalism of London would +ferret out a good deal of the truth.</p> + +<p>"Ladies very often talk nonsense about such things," he said sharply. +"Why should any Chinaman single out poor Mrs. Lester as a victim? I +think the inquiry may be left safely to Scotland Yard. Have you seen the +evening papers? I'll bet you sixpence nothing was said at the inquest +concerning Chinamen?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir. That's true. However, Mrs. Paxton wants you to ring her up."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"She wants to be sure you are safe home."</p> + +<p>Theydon laughed. "How can I?" he cried. "She is not on the telephone."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Paxton left a number, sir. If you give them a call it will be +taken to her."</p> + +<p>Theydon shook his head good-humoredly but obeyed. A voice at the other +end answered:</p> + +<p>"Will you oblige me by telling Mrs. Paxton that I took an American +friend to Eastbourne this afternoon and returned by a late trains," he +said.</p> + +<p>"Who is it, please?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Theydon, Mrs. Paxton's brother."</p> + +<p>"O, I have a message for you. Miss Beale is staying with Mrs. Paxton +tonight. There was a Chinaman in her hotel, and she didn't like it."</p> + +<p>Theydon controlled his feelings sufficiently to thank his informant. He +really wanted to say something crude.</p> + +<p>"Gad!" he muttered, when he had rung off, "these women have Chinamen on +the brain. Look here Bates," he added emphatically, "I hope you won't +lend an ear to this nonsense. You've seen no Chinamen, I supposed?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"If you do see one, tell me, and I'll get to know his business, pretty +quick."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Any letters?"</p> + +<p>"Three, sir, and a small parcel. I put them on your table. Shall I get +you something, sir?"</p> + +<p>"No, thanks. I've just had a huge supper. Goodnight."</p> + +<p>"Goodnight, sir. Any orders for the morning?"</p> + +<p>"Let me sleep as long as I like, unless I'm wanted."</p> + +<p>Theydon entered the sitting room. He opened the letters. Two were of no +moment; the third was a request from the editor of a magazine that the +"copy" of his article on the "Forbes Peace Propaganda" should be +forwarded as speedily as practicable. What a mad world it was, to be +sure! Here was an important periodical waiting impatiently for the views +of the millionaire on the best means of securing peace on earth and good +will to all men, while that same master mind was obsessed with fear of a +few Chinese bandits. Society was looking to Forbes for a promised +panacea against war and its evils; Forbes himself was wondering whether +bolts and locks and armed servants and policemen would protect him and +his from the claws of the Young Manchus!</p> + +<p>Theydon heard Bates locking and bolting the outer door of the flat with +a certain thankfulness. He was thinking of the sheer impossibility of +any marauder gaining access to No. 18, when he opened the small parcel +which the valet had spoken of. He speculated idly as to the nature of +its contents, because he could not remember having ordered any article +which would be contained in so tiny a package.</p> + +<p>He took out a piece of stout paper, folded twice, and a little white +object fell to the table and rolled over several times, finally coming +to rest with a curious suddenness. It was a small, carved, ivory skull!</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br /><br /> +SOME NEW MOVES IN THE GAME</h3> + +<p>Theydon gazed dazedly at the skull for the best part of a minute. His +state of mind was that of a man, utterly incredulous, who nevertheless +thinks he sees a ghost. Then he recovered himself and laughed angrily, +harshly, because he had not succeeded better in controlling his nerves.</p> + +<p>He examined the paper. It bore no writing of any kind. It was precisely +similar in color and texture to the two typed slips which Forbes had +received, but the sender had evidently thought that the skull was +symbolical enough of deadly intent without troubling to add a written +threat.</p> + +<p>The ivory skull was an exact replica of its predecessors. The set teeth, +the scowling grin of the gaunt jawbones, the dull menace of the empty +eye sockets, were equally convincing, equally disconcerting.</p> + +<p>Lighting a cigarette, Theydon scrutinized the address and postmarks. In +a sense, it was ludicrous to find "Francis B. Theydon, Esq., 18 +Innesmore Mansions, W. C.," typed in plain script on the wrapper. What +an unholy alliance of modern science and medievalism! The mind almost +refused to focus itself on the tragic aspect of the affair, yet the hour +at which the package was posted, 5:30 p. m. in the West Strand, showed +conclusively that Wong Li Fu, at any rate, had not sent the death's head +by his own hand, but had entrusted it to a confederate. The notion +brought in its train the departure of Miss Beale from her hotel, +"because she had seen a Chinaman there." "Every little helps," mused +Theydon, "I must let Scotland Yard know."</p> + +<p>He went straight to the telephone, and was pleased to hear that Mr. +Winter had reached headquarters. The chief inspector was feeling +grateful, and said so.</p> + +<p>"It was very thoughtful on your part to deal so promptly with the +message received by Mr. Forbes," he said. "I meant remaining in Croydon +all night. No one came to the house, of course. Wong Li Fu's note +explained why. Callous and calculating demon, isn't he?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Even more calculating than you are aware. He has included me in +the count now. When I reached home ten minutes since, after gormandizing +with Mr. Handyside, I found the totem of the tribe awaiting me."</p> + +<p>"The what?"</p> + +<p>"An ivory skull."</p> + +<p>"You don't say!" and there was a genuine thrill in Winter's voice. +"Anything else?"</p> + +<p>"There was no written legend. I have no doubt the enemy believes that +such a work of art speaks for itself. It does. I am to be exterminated, +I suppose."</p> + +<p>A marked pause ensued. When Winter spoke again his tone was grave.</p> + +<p>"This is a very serious business, Mr. Theydon," he said. "The worst part +of it is that it seems to be spreading in an ever-widening circle. If it +goes much further we'll be obliged to run in every Chinaman in London, +and sift out the decent ones from the heap until we reach the unpleasant +residuum. Are you worried about things? If so, I'll send a man to mount +guard tonight."</p> + +<p>"Not at all, thanks. Bates and I will take care that there isn't even a +joss stick in the flat before we go to bed. But I say, there's another +matter. Have you met Miss Beale?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. She came here this morning. She gave evidence at the inquest, I am +told. What of her?"</p> + +<p>"I asked my sister to spend the evening with her, and she was so alarmed +at finding a Chinaman as a fellow-guest in her hotel that she is +spending the night in my sister's house."</p> + +<p>"A plague on all Chinamen!" cried Winter wrathfully. "After this I'm +dashed if I don't drink Indian tea. However, we'll look him up. Sleep +soundly. Your earlier sins of omission are forgiven you, because you +have done us several good turns today. I'll tell your local police +station that if any pigtail or squint eye is found within half a mile of +Innesmore Mansions tonight it is to be jugged without the slightest +hesitation. Keep the skull safely. Furneaux is collecting them."</p> + +<p>"Have you seen him, then'"</p> + +<p>"No. But I've heard from him. He has gone home suffering from opium +poisoning."</p> + +<p>"Great Scott!"</p> + +<p>"O, that's only pretty Fanny's way. He means that he is sick of the reek +of Chinamen. You know his peculiar views with regard to tobacco. If he +has been prowling around among opium dens in the East End all the +evening, I'm sorry for him. But he'll turn up all right in the morning, +looking like a skinned weasel. By the way, it'll interest you to hear +that we have cleared up one minor issue. You remember that Ann Rogers, +Mrs. Lester's maid, was called away by a telegram saying that her father +was ill?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"The old fellow, who is a bit of a sponge, admits that he was given two +pounds by 'a foreign gentleman' for sending that telegram and shamming +illness during the night. I wish I could put the hoary old rascal in +jail, but his action probably saved Ann Rogers from sharing her +mistress's fate."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Winter, has it struck you that the man who devised this scheme, +beginning with the murder of Mrs. Lester and ending, Heaven alone knows +when or where, is an organizing genius of a very high orders."</p> + +<p>"You would be surprised if you knew the real extent and scope of this +affair," said Winter. "Some day soon I'll be more outspoken. Goodnight. +If you go out in the morning leave word with Bates where you can be +found if wanted."</p> + +<p>Theydon turned from the telephone and found Bates standing beside him. +That stolid and worthy ex-noncommissioned officer was armed with a +red-hot poker. Henceforth his employer saw pretense was useless.</p> + +<p>"Beg pardon, sir," said the valet apologetically. "I couldn't help +overhearin' what you were sayin', an' if there's any blinkin' Chinee +hidden in this place I'll put a mark on him he won't forget in a hurry."</p> + +<p>Theydon could not help laughing, but Bates was in earnest.</p> + +<p>"Once I was stationed in Cork, sir," he said solemnly, "an' we had to +stop a riot. It was then I learnt the reel vally of a red-hot poker. +It's as good as a baynit any time. I've kep' this one handy since Mr. +Furneaux ran out. I do believe he saw a Chinaman."</p> + +<p>"He did, and, what is more, arrested him. Well, come on, Bates. There +are not many hiding places in one of these flats. I only hope we find a +Celestial. It would be the fitting finale to a busy day."</p> + +<p>But their search was in vain, though they succeeded in scaring Mrs. +Bates badly. It was almost inconceivable that two such men, one a +powerfully-built athlete and the other an ex-soldier, should even +imagine that any marauder could be secreted in the flat; but the +European insensibly credits the Oriental with occult powers, and they +took their task quite soberly.</p> + +<p>Singularly enough it led to a discovery bearing directly on the problem +of Mrs. Lester's death. Lending out of the kitchen was a narrow +scullery; here a lift, worked by a wheel on the ground level, delivered +coals by the sack and other heavy parcels.</p> + +<p>Theydon glanced at the sliding panel which gave access to the lift. +Obviously he seldom, if ever, visited this part of his domain.</p> + +<p>"Can that thing be operated only from the ground?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"O, no, sir," said Bates. "I often pull it up when I want to lower the +dust bin."</p> + +<p>"Can you do it now?"</p> + +<p>Bates looked surprised at first, then thoughtful. Theydon's words had +suggested a new idea. He opened the panel, tugged vigorously at a rope, +and soon the lift itself, a sort of large cupboard, open at the side, +came in view.</p> + +<p>"By gum!" he muttered, gazing at its spacious depths, "I never thought +of that."</p> + +<p>"You see what I'm driving at, then?"</p> + +<p>"Why, of course, sir. A moderate-sized man could stow away inside there +and hoist himself to any floor. It 'ud be perfectly easy an' safe as +nails. A hundredweight of coal is nothing to it."</p> + +<p>"I think we see now at least one method whereby the man who killed Mrs. +Lester could have entered the flat without her knowledge?"</p> + +<p>"Not a doubt about it, sir. Nearly noiseless, too, an' if you heard it +working you'd imagine it was meant for the flat beneath, because there's +a whistle to warn us when it's comin' here."</p> + +<p>They surveyed the lift in silence for a little while. Then Bates caused +it to descend again, and Theydon examined the rather flimsy device which +fastened the panel.</p> + +<p>"I'm not what you might describe as a nervous individual," he said, at +last, "but it wouldn't be fair to your wife and yourself, Bates, if I +didn't tell you I have just received an ugly reminder that the gang +which killed Mrs. Lester has a grudge against me now. Wouldn't it be a +reasonable thing if we drove a couple of screws into that door tonight?"</p> + +<p>Bates stroked his chin. The long-dormant spirit of combat kindled in his +eye.</p> + +<p>"Better still, sir," he grinned, "let's drive a screw into any one who +comes up in the lift."</p> + +<p>"But how?"</p> + +<p>"By tying your pistol firmly to the dresser, putting it on a +hair-trigger—I know how to do that, of course—an' letting it plug a +bullet into the right place when the panel is half open."</p> + +<p>"Are we justified in taking the law into our own hands?"</p> + +<p>"Is any one justified in tryin' to get in here an' cut our throats while +we're asleep, sir?"</p> + +<p>Theydon weighed the pros and cons of this thesis very carefully. He +dreaded the possibility of taking a human life, even in self-defense. +Yet against the wretches who had strangled Edith Lester, and coolly +prepared to leave Mrs. Forbes to starve in an empty house until their +revengeful scheme was perfected by full knowledge of the identity of +every man in China, who had assisted in the downfall of an effete +monarchy, what code of conduct would apply unless it were that which +holds sway in the jungle?</p> + +<p>"Couldn't we contrive matters so that if the pistol were fired it need +not necessarily inflict a fatal wound?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Let's see what we can do, sir," and Bates set to work gleefully on the +arrangements. There was not the slightest difficulty in devising an +efficient means of pressing a trigger with a reduced pull by opening the +door. Any schoolboy could adjust a piece of string to act unfailingly. +By measuring distances, and careful sighting of the pistol when fixed in +position, they arrived at a line of fire which would strike a body +crouched in the lift about the region of the right shoulder.</p> + +<p>Then Bates locked the scullery door, put the key in his pocket, and +assured his trembling wife that she might sleep like a top, since no +bloomin' Chinaman could get at her that night. Theydon himself retired +soon afterwards. He was as tired as though he had been trudging steadily +along country roads since daybreak.</p> + +<p>When he awoke, it was broad daylight. Around the corners of the drawn +blinds in his bedroom he could see strips of golden sunshine. Glancing +at a clock on the mantlepiece he was amazed to find that the hour was +ten o'clock, so, not only had there not been a raid on the premises, but +Bates had taken the overnight instructions literally, and allowed him to +sleep far beyond the usual hour.</p> + +<p>He rose hurriedly, raced to the bathroom and shouted for "breakfast in +fifteen minutes." He was splashing in his tub when the telephone bell +rang, and Bates answered. Within a few seconds the valet was knocking at +the door.</p> + +<p>"A Mr. Handyside has rung up, sir," was the announcement. "I think he's +an American. He wants to know if there is anything doin'. He said you +would understand."</p> + +<p>"Tell him I'm alive, and will call at his hotel at 11:30."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>When Bates brought in the breakfast Theydon was glancing hurriedly +through the morning papers. Some of them contained an allusion to the +Eastbourne incident, but no names were mentioned.</p> + +<p>A reference to "developments" in connection with the "Innesmore Mansions +Murder," however, caught his eye. Appended to a brief account of the +inquest were the following paragraphs:</p> + +<p>"It may be taken as certain that the police are not altogether at sea as +to the motive of this atrocious crime. Strange as it may seem—the +victim being a young and attractive lady, living unostentatiously and +taking little, if any, part in the social life of London—there is some +probability that Mrs. Lester's death was the outcome of political +revenge rather than an incident in an interrupted burglary.</p> + +<p>"At first, every indication pointed to the act of some ghoul surprised +by the unfortunate lady in her bedroom, but we have reason to believe +that graver issues to the community-at-large will be revealed when +Scotland Yard's inquiry is completed. It must not be forgotten that her +husband died 'suddenly' some six months ago in Shanghai. Oddly enough, +the police are now keeping a close surveillance on Chinese quarters in +London, not only in the neighborhood of the docks, but in the +fashionable West. It may, or may not, be a mere coincidence that a +Chinaman was arrested yesterday at St. Albans and lodged in Bow Street.</p> + +<p>"There are not wanting other similar 'coincidences' in places so far +apart as a well-known South Coast seaside resort and South Croydon. At +present, the whole matter is nebulous, but striking developments may +take place at any hour, and the murder of Mrs. Lester may yet figure as +one of the most sensational crimes of recent years."</p> + +<p>Theydon was reading these discreet but exceedingly well-informed +sentences with much care, when he noticed that Bates had closed the +sitting-room door before beginning to arrange the contents of the tray +on the table. Such an unusual action meant something.</p> + +<p>"Well, what is it now?" he inquired, lifting his eyes to the +manservant's impassive face.</p> + +<p>"When the milkman come this morning, sir, he told me that a policeman +was found lyin' insensible on the road outside the mansions shortly +after three o'clock," was the answer, conveyed in a low note that +suggested a matter better kept from the cognizance of Mrs. Bates.</p> + +<p>"That's a bad job for the policeman; it is nothing very remarkable +otherwise," said Theydon.</p> + +<p>"But the milkman heard he was set about by three swells, young gentlemen +in evening dress, sir, who ran away when another constable appeared."</p> + +<p>"Very likely. There was a row, and the law got the worst of it. Anyhow, +we were not disturbed during the night."</p> + +<p>"No, sir. I was only thinkin' of what might have happened if the police +were not on the job."</p> + +<p>"Look here, Bates"—and Theydon's manner was most emphatic—"if you and +I begin seeing shadows we'll soon collect a fine show of Chinese ghosts. +I'm astonished at you, a man who has been under fire."</p> + +<p>"Sorry, sir. I thought you'd like to hear the lytest, that's all."</p> + +<p>Theydon ate a hearty breakfast, thus proving that the marvels and +portents of the previous day had not begun to undermine his +constitution. Finding he had time, after attending to his +correspondence, to walk to Handyside's hotel in the Strand, he did so. +The American was awaiting him at the end of a long, thin cigar.</p> + +<p>"Any noos?" said the Chicagoan, after a cheerful greeting.</p> + +<p>"Yes. The feud continues. You heard about those ivory skulls yesterday?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. They reminded me of the tales of my youth."</p> + +<p>"Well, I got mine last night. Here it is!"</p> + +<p>"Gee whiz!"</p> + +<p>Handyside took the small object which Theydon produced from a waistcoat +pocket. He examined it with minute care.</p> + +<p>"I've never crossed the Pacific," he said, after apparently satisfying +himself as to the exact nature of the unpleasant token, "but one of my +hobbies is the collection of ivories. In my home—"</p> + +<p>"21,097 Park Avenue," interrupted Theydon.</p> + +<p>"Just so—four doors short of 211th Street. Well, sir, when you blow in +there you'll see a roomful of curios. I'm not exactly a connoisseur, but +I know enough to tell Japanese work from Chinese. This was made by a +Jap. And that reminds me. You said last night that Wong Li Fu put you +off your balance by a jiu jitsu trick and handed that husky detective +some, too. Very few Chinks have ever even heard of jiu jitsu. I've a +notion that a bunch of Japs is mixed up in this business."</p> + +<p>"Surely not?"</p> + +<p>"It's possible. You good people here are crazy in your treatment of the +Japanese. You think they're civilized because they dress in good shape, +and can put up a mighty spry imitation of Western ways. But they ain't. +They're the greatest menace to Europe that has yet come up on the tape. +Do you believe they want China to wake up and organize before they're +ready to take hold? No, sir. Anyhow, that skull was carved by a Japanese +artist, and a bully good one at that."</p> + +<p>The two were standing near the fireplace of a square and spacious foyer. +There were plenty of people in the place, some conversing with friends, +others writing or doing business at the various bureaus. It chanced that +Theydon faced the two swing doors which led to the street, and he was +returning the bit of ivory to his pocket when, somewhat to his surprise, +Furneaux entered.</p> + +<p>The detective saw him, too—of that he was quite certain—but ignored +him completely. After one sharp, comprehensive glance around, as though +he were seeking some one who was not visible, the little man went to a +desk, scribbled a note, handed it in at the inquiry office, walked +swiftly in the direction of an anteroom and restaurant, and disappeared +forthwith.</p> + +<p>Theydon was puzzled by Furneaux's behavior, but was quick to perceive +that if the latter had not wished to be left alone he would at least +have made some sign of recognition.</p> + +<p>A page approached Mr. Handyside.</p> + +<p>"Note for you, sir," he said.</p> + +<p>The American opened the envelope and read a few lines scribbled on a +sheet of note-paper. He passed it to Theydon.</p> + +<p>"The circus is now about to commence," he said, and the meaning of this +enigmatical remark was made clear when Theydon saw what was written.</p> + +<p>"Dear Sir," it ran, "take Mr. Theydon to your room. I'll join you there +immediately.—C. F. Furneaux."</p> + +<p>"If this is the little sleuth who was missing yesterday I guess we've +gotten our call," commented Handyside, with an amused grin at the +expression of bewilderment on his companion's face.</p> + +<p>"I was just about to tell you that Furneaux had come in and crossed the +hall."</p> + +<p>"Well, let's beat it to the third floor. I have the key in my pocket."</p> + +<p>They were walking through a long corridor when Furneaux appeared at the +other end. Beyond the three men, not another person was visible in that +part of the hotel, and in a few seconds they were behind the closed door +of Handyside's room.</p> + +<p>"So you're still on the map?" said the detective, surveying Theydon with +an air of professional interest.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but I have received notice to quit," was the retort.</p> + +<p>"So I hear. The executioner was quick on the heels of the warrant, too. +If it had not been for the precautions Winter took last night the +newsboys would have been bawling a second Innesmore Mansions tragedy +during the past couple of hours."</p> + +<p>Theydon smiled.</p> + +<p>"I'm not joking," snapped Furneaux. "In fact, I feel rather bad about +it. I woke up at eight o'clock, and pictured you and Bates and his wife +lying about in No. 18 in very uncomfortable and ungainly attitudes. I +was so worried and miserable that I telephoned your hall porter to learn +the worst, and was quite astonished when he said that Bates had just +been chatting with him. You don't understand, of course. I forgot to +tell you about the lift. Wong Li Fu's special delegate climbed into No. +17 by that means and three of 'em would have reached you last night in +the same way if a policeman hadn't met them in the street."</p> + +<p>"My man heard about the row. He guessed, too, that it had something to +do with us. The policeman was badly injured, he was told."</p> + +<p>"Yes—nothing broken; he was put to sleep by some confounded Japanese +wrestling trick."</p> + +<p>"Japanese, you say?"</p> + +<p>"Precisely. The Young Manchus are being backed up by a second gang which +calls itself the 'Sons of Nippon.' I don't know what London is coming +to. We've entertained Anarchists, Nihilists and Dynamitards for years. +Now we have the Yellow Peril with us. I wish I were King for a few days. +There would be a bigger clearance of reptiles out of England than St. +Patrick made in Ireland."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Handyside here told me only ten minutes since that he was convinced +there were Japs in league with the Chinese."</p> + +<p>"How did you know?" and Furneaux whirled round on the American +instantly.</p> + +<p>"By using the gray matter at the back of my head," was the reply. "No +Chink ever taught Wong Li Fu how to put away two chesty individuals like +Mr. Theydon and your painter, Mr. Winter. But I couldn't be sure till I +had seen the ivory skull. Then I knew."</p> + +<p>"So did I know yesterday morning," said Furneaux, "and a deuce of a time +the discovery gave me. Anyhow, the street fight outside Innesmore +Mansions at daybreak today settles the matter. There were two Japanese +and one Chinaman. The Japs outed the policeman. Fortunately he and +another man made a five-minute point at each end of the mansions, and, +as No. 1 failed to turn up, No. 2 went to look for him. He saw the end +of the row, and ran to help, blowing his whistle for assistance. +Unfortunately for us, two of the three confounded blackguards escaped."</p> + +<p>"O, you've got one, then?" cried Theydon.</p> + +<p>"Yes, a Jap. The constable was wise enough to give him the point of his +truncheon in the gullet, and that settled him."</p> + +<p>"I wonder if he is the one who would have been shot had he broken into +my flat," said Theydon musingly.</p> + +<p>"Shot! Man alive, you'd never have heard him!"</p> + +<p>"Not till he had a bullet lodged securely in his inside, it is true. +Bates and I surveyed that lift last night, Mr. Furneaux, and regarded it +as the weak part of our defenses, so we arranged that an automatic +pistol should live up to its name, and fire at any one who opened the +sliding panel."</p> + +<p>"Did you now?" said Furneaux admiringly. "Whose brainy idea was +that—yours or Bates's?"</p> + +<p>"A joint effort," he said, with a self-satisfied smile.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad it didn't come off. British law is a fearsome and +wonderful thing. You might both have got ten years for fixing a +man-trap, to wit, a lethal engine. However, during the next few days +you're going to change your abode. Tell Bates and his wife that they +need a holiday, and ought to visit relatives in Yorkshire or North +Wales. Pack what you need for a week, at least, and make straight for +Fortescue Square."</p> + +<p>"Are you joking?" said Theydon, genuinely astounded.</p> + +<p>"Do I look it?" And, indeed, the detective did not. "Winter has just +settled that program with Mr. Forbes. You see, you're in this affair +now, neck and crop, and it's easier for us to safeguard one place than +two. You're pleased, aren't you? Doesn't a pretty girl live there?"</p> + +<p>"Sir," said Handyside, "he's tickled to death, and that's a fact. I'm +the only one to make a kick. I kind of reckoned on being allowed to play +a walking-on part in this drama, but I look like being cut out in the +new shuffle."</p> + +<p>"I can make use of you," said Furneaux promptly. "You've seen Wong Li +Fu, and would know him again?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"And you can tell a Japanese from a Chinaman at sight?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Good. You're enrolled. Next thing you'll be receiving an ivory skull, +too. These beggars are the smartest crowd I've come across in twenty +years. I think they would have beaten us if it hadn't happened that Mr. +Theydon and you, each of you strangers to the Forbes family, were +selected by fate to intervene at psychological moments. The Young +Manchus and their allies had the ground surveyed thoroughly. They even +had us of the Yard marked down. Oh, it's a plot and a half, I can assure +you, and the worst thing is that the real struggle is yet ahead. All +that has happened before is mere skirmishing compared with what's to +come."</p> + +<p>"Is that why you covered up your tracks, even in this hotel, before you +came to my room?" inquired Handyside.</p> + +<p>"It is, and let me tell you that you're a living example of a +contradiction in terms. You use your brains, Mr. Handyside, yet you +smoke a cigar calculated to atrophy the keenest intellect. You, an +American, chewing a vile Burmese Cheroot! <i>Cre' nom d'un pipe!</i> When +this bubble has burst I must reason with you!"</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br /><br /> +WHEREIN THEYDON SUFFERS FROM FAINT HEART</h3> + +<p>Furneaux, with that phenomenally clear mind of his, had perceived and +expressed in one trenchant sentence the outstanding and almost unique +feature of the tragic mystery which centered around the death of Edith +Lester. Theydon's connection with either international finance or the +rebirth of China was remote as that of the man in the moon. Yet he had +been pitchforked by fate into an active and, indeed, dominating +influence over those phases of both undertakings which were peculiar to +London.</p> + +<p>Theydon mused on this element in an unprecedented situation as he sat in +the taxicab which bore him swiftly to Innesmore Mansions. Another quite +abnormal condition was the ignorance of London with regard to the fierce +struggle now being waged in its midst.</p> + +<p>On the one hand, a few Oriental fanatics—most of whom were probably +less swayed by racial enthusiasm than by good payment for services +rendered—were carrying out the orders of a master criminal with a +sublime indifference to the laws framed by the "foreign devils" whom +they despised; on the other were ranged the three members of the Forbes +family and Theydon himself, supported by the forces of the Crown, it was +true, but singularly isolated from the knowledge and sympathy of their +fellow-citizens.</p> + +<p>Miss Beale hardly counted. The servants in Fortescue Square shared with +Bates and his wife a sort of territorial interest in the fight. When +Fortune picked an occasional warrior for the fray she chose a man from +Chicago, a motorcyclist from Eastbourne, a policeman in Charing Cross +road.</p> + +<p>How portentous had been that hand raised to stem the traffic at a +congested corner on the Monday night! Into what a vortex of crime and +passion had it not pointed, all unknowing!</p> + +<p>If the cab in which Theydon was hurrying home from Daly's Theater had +not been delayed by the dispute between driver and policeman, he would +never have known that the millionaire visited Innesmore Mansions, and +the subsequent course of the night's history might have left him wholly +unaffected.</p> + +<p>Then his wayward thoughts took to brooding on the gray car which +shadowed him from Waterloo to Fortescue Square, and again from the +square to his own abode. If it held some member of the Embassy staff, +why had no more been heard of it? And what had Winter and Furneaux meant +by hinting that far wider issues were bound up with the affair than the +authorities were yet at liberty to divulge? The attack on Forbes, +sinister and malevolent in its scope and purpose, was, in a sense, open +warfare. But it was impossible to guess what part, if any, the official +representatives of China filled in the fray. Were they active allies of +Scotland Yard or did they hold what is known in the law courts as a +watching brief? He could not tell. He only knew that each successive +period of twenty-four hours broadened the area covered by the struggle, +and there, at least, he found solid backing for the little detective's +demand that the threatened people should dwell under one roof. His +pulses quickened at the notice that this new departure implied constant +association with Evelyn Forbes. Yet, what did it avail? Why should he +dream of fanning into a fiercer fury the flame of his love? As matters +stood, he had about as much chance of marrying Evelyn Forbes as of +becoming Emperor of China!</p> + +<p>The incongruity of the situation was illustrated with cruel accuracy by +the fact that he could ill afford the stoppage of his work demanded by +the present trend of events. He earned what might be regarded as a good +income by his pen, but his expenses were not light, and he had deemed +himself fortunate the previous year when he was able to invest a hundred +pounds!</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, the interest on his "securities" paid for his +gloves and ties; another lucky year might see him provided for life with +boots and socks! He pictured himself—if he were idiot enough, when all +this turmoil was ended, to pose as a suitor for Evelyn Forbes's +hand—explaining his financial position to the millionaire, and wilting +under the scornful amusement in those earnest, deep-seeing eyes. Phew! +He grew hot at the mere notion of such folly.</p> + +<p>Little wonder, therefore, that the driver of the taxi should gaze +quizzically after Theydon's alert figure as it vanished in the stairway +of Innesmore Mansions.</p> + +<p>"Got the hump, an' pretty bad," soliloquized the man. "Gimme a bob over +the fare, an' all, so can't be stony. But Lord love a duck, you never +can tell!"</p> + +<p>Theydon was about to unlock the door of his flat when it opened in his +face, and his sister nearly collided with him. She screamed slightly, a +certain quality of alarm in her exclamation merging instantly into +joyful recognition.</p> + +<p>"So you have come home!" she cried. "My goodness! What a fright you've +given me!"</p> + +<p>"Why?" he said, with a reassuring and brotherly hug.</p> + +<p>"I've had horrid dreams. I couldn't rest all last night for thinking of +you."</p> + +<p>"Is George absent?" George was her husband, a consulting engineer, whose +professional duties often took him to distant parts of the country.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Then you and Miss Beale have been living on tea and scraps. Really, +Mollie, I credited you with more sense. Tell me what you ate last night, +and I'll diagnose your dreams."</p> + +<p>"We dined at a first-class restaurant in the West End," said Mrs. Paxton +indignantly. "It would be much more to the point if you explained how +you have been living the past few days. I have not been so worried about +anything since George was trapped in that horrid mine."</p> + +<p>Mollie was on the verge of tears. Her brother resolved instantly to +minimize matters, or she would fret more than ever on his account.</p> + +<p>"Now, look here, old girl," he said, meeting her critical glance +steadily. "Miss Beale has been putting absurd notions into that stylish +little head of yours. By the way, is that the latest thing in hats? It +suits you admirably."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Paxton smiled, though her eyes were glistening suspiciously.</p> + +<p>"You can't humbug me, Frank, so please don't try," she protested. "Why +are you mixed up in this dreadful business? Why are you constantly +meeting detectives? Why did you rush off to Eastbourne yesterday? When +did you become acquainted with this Mr. Forbes? Have you seen his +daughter?"</p> + +<p>Theydon was at least sufficiently well versed in the peculiarities of +the feminine temperament to know that he would, be safe in answering the +last question first.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said. "I have seen a good deal of Miss Forbes recently. Have +you ever met her?"</p> + +<p>"She was at the horse show last year with Lady de Winton's party. She's +an awfully pretty girl, and will be worth millions, I suppose. Some one +said that young de Winton was simply crazy about her, but he looks such +a sloppy youth that I could hardly imagine those two getting married. Of +course, there's the title, yet a title is not everything."</p> + +<p>Young de Winton! Theydon had not even been aware hitherto of the +existence of a marriageable scion of that noble house.</p> + +<p>"That particular young spark has not been in evidence during the past +few days at any rate," he commented, and his voice was not so nonchalant +as he imagined, because Mrs. Paxton looked up quickly.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it was only idle gossip," she said. "Is Miss Forbes a nice girl +to talk to? She struck me as being very animated."</p> + +<p>"Animated"—while in the company of that undoubted oaf, de Winton! +Theydon choked back something tinged with gall as he replied quietly:</p> + +<p>"She could not well help being highly intelligent. Her father and mother +are charming people. I was introduced to Mr. Forbes owing to a magazine +commission to write an article about his interest in aviation. Now you +see how promptly even the most gorgeous bubble bursts when it impinges +against a solid little fact. As it happens, Mr. Forbes and I will have +so much in common during the next day or two that I am now going to stay +with him. I came here to pack a portmanteau. If you'll be a good little +girl and listen while I'm at the telephone you will hear all about it."</p> + +<p>The words were no sooner uttered than he wanted to recall them. It would +be no easy matter to discuss Furneaux's suggestion with any one in +Fortescue Square without letting his sister into the secret that the +visit was necessitated by considerations of his own personal safety.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Paxton's eyes were sparkling with a new interest.</p> + +<p>"I had no idea you were on terms of such intimacy with the family," she +cried. "Don't tell me, Frank, that your flights have taken you to the +elevated region in which millionaires' daughters figure as possible +brides!"</p> + +<p>"Now you are making me out a Mormon," and Theydon grinned fiercely.</p> + +<p>"You know what I mean. This Miss Forbes—by the way, what is her +Christian name?"</p> + +<p>"Let me see. I think I have heard it. Doris, is it, or Phyllis? No, I +remember now—Evelyn."</p> + +<p>"O, then, if you are so vague on that point I suppose I must reconcile +myself to owning a bachelor brother again."</p> + +<p>He shook his head at her.</p> + +<p>"Ah, you women!" he said. "Yet I used to regard you as quite a sensible +person, Mollie! Now, how in the name of goodness could I possibly +entertain any notion of marrying the only daughter of a man in Forbes's +position?"</p> + +<p>"It all depends," was the illogical but crushing retort. "There are +plenty of millionaires' daughters whom I would not regard as good enough +for my brother. And, let me tell you, the family is making progress. A +little bird whispered the other day that George's name will appear in +the next list of honors. He is to receive a knighthood."</p> + +<p>It was not new to Theydon to learn that his brother-in-law stood in high +favor with the Government, because Paxton had been appointed on two +Royal Commissions with reference to mining regulations, but he affected +a surprised incredulity as offering a way of escape from an inquisition +which he dreaded.</p> + +<p>"Dear me!" he smirked.</p> + +<p>Therein he erred. His sister gave him a puzzled glance.</p> + +<p>"You are not yourself today, Frank," she said dubiously. "You are +acting. For whose benefit? Not mine, surely!"</p> + +<p>"If your prospective ladyship will pardon me I will now go to the +telephone," he countered.</p> + +<p>Anything, even a mad jumble of incoherence in his talk with the Forbes +household, was better than the troubled scrutiny of those clear brown +eyes. Leaving the door open so that his sister could hear his side of +the conversation, he rang up No. 11 Fortescue Square.</p> + +<p>The butler answered.</p> + +<p>"That you, Tomlinson?" said Theydon. "Will you ask Mr. Forbes if I am to +turn up in time for afternoon tea? If it is more convenient that I +should arrive later I have lots of things to attend to, and can fill in +a few hours easily."</p> + +<p>"I really don't know what to say, sir," came the astounding answer. +"Mrs. Forbes has been shot—"</p> + +<p>"Great heavens!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. She was merely looking out through the drawing-room window, +when some one fired at her from a passing motor car."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that she is dead?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir—not quite so bad as that. The bullet struck her left shoulder. +A few inches lower and it would have pierced her heart. The doctors are +with her now. I—"</p> + +<p>Some interruption took place on the line and the butler's voice ceased. +Theydon, careless now as to what construction his sister might place on +his words, was about to storm at the exchange for cutting the +communication. He meant to say that on no consideration would he inflict +the presence of a stranger at such a terrible moment, when a coldly +metallic, almost harsh question reached him.</p> + +<p>"That you, Theydon?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said. Forbes was speaking.</p> + +<p>"I was crossing the hall, and guessed it might be you. Come as soon as +you are at liberty. You will be welcome. If we are to be besieged I want +some one who will not be afraid to shoot. These policemen are too +scrupulous. They saw some cursed Mongol leaning out through the window +of the closed car, and could have either shot him or put a bullet so +close that his aim would have been disturbed. As it was, my wife only +escaped death by the mercy of Providence. She bent slightly at the very +instant the would-be assassin fired, and the bullet simply lacerated her +shoulder. After this, I'll defend myself and my womenfolk, but I need at +least one other man whom I can trust. Will you come?"</p> + +<p>"I'll be with you within twenty minutes."</p> + +<p>He heard the clang of the receiver being replaced on its rest at the +other end of the wire. Somehow, the sound conveyed a new determination +on Forbes's part. He had his back to the wall. No matter what view the +law took of his action subsequently, he would protect his dear ones at +all hazards.</p> + +<p>After that, Theydon hesitated no longer.</p> + +<p>"Bates," he cried, "throw into a bag such clothes as I shall need for a +few days' stay in Mr. Forbes's house. When I am gone, pack your own +boxes and take a week's holiday. Go anywhere you like, out of London, +but go at once. Send me your address, care of Mr. Forbes, and I'll let +you know when I want you again."</p> + +<p>"If it's a matter of holdin' out against them—"</p> + +<p>Bates intended making a declaration of war, but his employer broke in +emphatically.</p> + +<p>"I want you to obey my orders fully and unquestionably," he said. Bates +promptly became the well-trained valet once more.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," he said. "Your portmanteau will be ready in ten minutes. +Half an hour later me an' Mrs. Bates will leave for my cousin's place in +Hampshire."</p> + +<p>Theydon returned to the sitting room. His sister's face was white with +fear, but he threw restraint to the winds.</p> + +<p>"Mollie," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders, "you are very +dear to me, but there is one woman in the world who, if fate proves +kind, may yet be dearer. She is in danger. If some one said that of you +to your husband, what would he do?"</p> + +<p>She kissed him with tremulous lips. "He would act just as you are going +to act," she said. "But, dear, can't you trust me? I cannot help, +perhaps, but I can pray for you."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, Sis, I won't fence with you any longer. There's a sort of +feud between Mr. Forbes and a faction in China. He helped the reformers +financially, and some supporters of the dethroned dynasty are trying to +compel him by force to give them a list of the prominent men who control +the revolution. If he yields, it means that nearly a hundred leading men +in China—men whose only thought is the welfare and progress of their +country—will be ruthlessly murdered. If he continues to refuse, his own +life and the lives of his wife and daughter are at stake. These fiends +killed Mrs. Lester within a few feet of this very room. They killed her +husband six months ago. They tried to kidnap Evelyn Forbes yesterday, +and succeeded, for a while, in carrying off her mother, their plan being +to torture one or both, even unto death. Heaven help me, I love Evelyn +Forbes, and I would count my life well spent if I died in defending her. +Should anything happen to me and she is spared, tell her that, will +you—and my spirit will thank you."</p> + +<p>"We must not think of death, but of life," was the brave answer. "Can I +do anything? Could George assist if he were here?"</p> + +<p>"No, Mollie. Perhaps I am exaggerating matters, though the history of +this week would make strange reading if published broadcast. Indeed I +shall now urge on Mr. Forbes the advisability of sending the facts to +the press. London would be stirred to its depths, and every one of its +citizens would be quick to observe and report the presence of Chinamen +or Japanese in the West End. Some innocent Orientals would suffer, but +the police might at least be enabled to capture the pestiferous gang +which has committed this latest outrage. Just think of some cold-blooded +scoundrel shooting at a sweet-mannered and gentle lady like Mrs. +Forbes!"</p> + +<p>"Surely the authorities can protect her."</p> + +<p>"That is the wild absurdity of the position. Of course, you didn't hear +what Mr. Forbes said. The armed detectives on duty in his house actually +saw the Chinaman who fired the shot which wounded her, leaning out +through the window of a closed car. But they cannot blaze away at any +passer-by merely because he is, or resembles, an Asiatic. What they dare +not do, however, he and I will endeavor cheerfully. Bates!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," came the cry from a bedroom.</p> + +<p>"If you are packing two bags, put that pistol and a box of cartridges in +the smaller one."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Paxton at this crisis proved herself a woman of spirit.</p> + +<p>"I think you're right, Frank," she said quietly. "I refuse to believe +that any British court of justice would blame any man for defending the +lives of his wife and daughter, nor you for helping him. If the +peacefully disposed Chinese residents in London wish to avoid risk let +them keep away from No. 11. Fortescue Square. May I come with you?"</p> + +<p>"You, Mollie?"</p> + +<p>He looked at her with troubled eyes. For the moment such was the fire in +his brain he did not understand.</p> + +<p>She laughed gallantly.</p> + +<p>"I don't mean as one of the garrison," she said. "May I not make the +acquaintance of these people? Sometimes, the mere knowledge that others +are aware of one's troubles and sympathize with one is comforting. Miss +Beale is not expecting me till tea time. I told her I might lunch with +you. Indeed, I promised to call at her hotel for her letters, and that +is halfway on your road."</p> + +<p>"You're a brick, Mollie," said her brother. "I do believe Evelyn Forbes +will be glad to see you. The most amazing thing about this affair is +that none of the many friends Mr. and Mrs. Forbes and their daughter +must possess in London has the slightest inkling of the truth. I suppose +the servants are instructed to tell ordinary callers that the various +members of the family are out, or some of them indisposed, or something +of the sort.... But come along! I hear Bates banging my belongings into +the passage. I'm in a fever to be there and taking part in the row."</p> + +<p>Soon they were seated in a taxi and speeding to Smith's Hotel, Jermyn +Street.</p> + +<p>"Have you invited Miss Beale to reside with you while she is in London, +Sis?" said Theydon, allowing his thoughts to dwell for a moment on the +less tragic side of events.</p> + +<p>"Yes. What else could I do? Poor thing, she was terrified at the notion +of sleeping under the same roof as a Chinaman."</p> + +<p>"I don't blame her. But there's a certain element of risk for you, +Mollie—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, bother! Don't tell me that a few Chinamen can threaten all London."</p> + +<p>Yet even the valiant-hearted Mrs. Paxton yielded to the haunting terror +of the bandits when the taxi drew in behind a gray car already standing +at the curb outside Smith's Hotel, and her brother grasped her wrist in +sudden warning.</p> + +<p>"Sit still," he said. "Now we may get on the track of some of the gang. +That is the car which followed me on Monday night."</p> + +<p>His sister, of course, did not understand. She had heard nothing of the +pursuit and its curious sequel.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean it is one of the cars which these men use?" she whispered +breathlessly.</p> + +<p>"Yes. I'll explain later. But what impudence! The scoundrels have not +even changed the number plate."</p> + +<p>Unquestionably, the number of the gray landaulet now within a few feet +of them was XY 1314. Theydon stooped, opened a dressing case lying at +his feet, and took out the automatic pistol placed there by Bates. He +put it in the right-hand pocket of his coat.</p> + +<p>"Now, I'll reconnoiter," he said, and opened the door. The taxi driver +was already gazing curiously in at his fares, wondering why one or both +did not alight.</p> + +<p>"Be ready to start the instant I want you," said Theydon to the man, and +he strolled past the gray car, with every sense alert, every muscle +braced. If Wong Li Fu were seated inside he would cover him with the +pistol and hold him there until the police came, or shoot him dead if he +offered any resistance.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, therefore, all things considered, the interior of the car +was absolutely empty, save for a copy of the Times on the back seat. +Even the presence of the newspaper was significant. In that issue should +have appeared Forbes's reply to "Y. M." which Furneaux had suppressed as +unnecessary.</p> + +<p>There was a chauffeur at the wheel—no Chinaman, but a tightly-buttoned +and black-legginged young Englishman—in fact, the real thing in +chauffeurs.</p> + +<p>"Whose car is this?" demanded Theydon.</p> + +<p>"It belongs to the Chinese Embassy, sir," said the man, answering +civilly enough, but not unnaturally showing some surprise at the curt +question.</p> + +<p>"Are you waiting here for some official of the Embassy?" went on +Theydon.</p> + +<p>"Not exactly, sir, some friends of His Excellency." The man glanced +toward the door of the hotel. "Here they are now," he added.</p> + +<p>Theydon turned. Two Chinamen, sedate, pig-tailed persons, were +descending the steps. With them was Furneaux! One of the Orientals gave +Theydon a rather sharp glance, having noticed, apparently, that he was +conversing with the chauffeur, but Furneaux, after a stonily indifferent +stare, said to the second Chinaman, in plain English:</p> + +<p>"Do you mind dropping me at Scotland Yard?"</p> + +<p>"With pleasure," was the composed reply.</p> + +<p>The three entered, and the gray car made off, leaving Theydon to gaze +blankly after it. His sister, though badly scared at first, quickly +recovered her self-possession. She even made a joke of the incident.</p> + +<p>"As an anti-climax, Frank, that is the best thing of its kind you have +ever brought off," she tittered.</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV<br /><br /> +FORCEFUL TACTICS</h3> + +<p>Though a prey to that most burthensome of cares—the uneasy +consciousness of an impalpable yet ever-threatening evil—Theydon was +not blind to the humorous element in the present situation. Mrs. Paxton, +of course, did not know who the little man accompanying the Chinamen +was.</p> + +<p>She had seen her brother stalk the motor car and its presumed occupants +in the most approved melodramatic fashion, and could not help noticing +his complete discomfiture. Naturally she imagined he had encountered a +pair of perfectly harmless citizens of the Middle Kingdom, and, being +one of those happy beings more readily swayed to laughter than to tears, +rallied him upon an apparent blunder.</p> + +<p>"Never before have I discovered a neurotic streak in you, Frank," she +said, after she had obtained a couple of letters for Miss Beale, and +they were en route again. "Come now, confess. If Evelyn Forbes—or, let +me see, is it Phyllis or Doris? No, Evelyn. If Evelyn Forbes, then, did +not happen to be a remarkably pretty girl, would you really attach such +terrific importance to the mad goings-on of a set of Chinese fanatics? I +doubt it."</p> + +<p>The cab was threading its way through the traffic of St. James Street +and Piccadilly on a busy afternoon in the season, and Theydon had much +to tell her before they arrived at Fortescue Square, but he sat by her +side in silence for a little while.</p> + +<p>"Frank," said his sister, at last, "it is not like you to seek refuge in +silence. I'm sorry if my chaff annoyed you. Don't forget that you know +everything about this mysterious business, and I know very little."</p> + +<p>Her sympathetic voice roused him from the stupor which had benumbed his +senses.</p> + +<p>"I allowed imagination to run away with me, Sis," he said gently. "It +was thoughtless on my part. Please forgive me. I suppose those two +Chinamen are unofficially connected with the Embassy. At any rate, the +man with them, the little man in a blue serge suit and straw hat, is +Furneaux of Scotland Yard, a pocket marvel among detectives, the sort of +criminal-hunter you read about in Gaboriau, but can scarcely accept as +existing in real life."</p> + +<p>From that instant he bent his wits to the task of acquainting Mrs. +Paxton with the history of the preceding three days. He was aware of the +irrepressible trembling which shook her slender frame when he spoke of +the ivory skull found in Edith Lester's underbodice, and the replica of +the same grewsome token sent to Forbes, so suppressed all mention of his +own experiences on returning to Innesmore Mansions overnight.</p> + +<p>Furneaux had asked him for the bit of ivory that morning, and, +incidentally, had produced the others from his pocket. The detective +gave no reason for his eagerness to possess these trophies, but seemed +to invest them with great importance. While keeping up a constant flow +of talk with his sister, Theydon tried to puzzle out the detective's +motive for carrying such sinister messengers of death around London.</p> + +<p>Try as he might, he could arrive at no plausible explanation, but he did +not make the error of attributing Furneaux's action to mere impulse. +Those men of the Yard had a solid foundation for every step they took. +Even the visit to Smith's Hotel, and subsequent departure in the gray +car, meant a definite stride onward in the fight against Wong Li Fu. Of +that he was assured.</p> + +<p>At 11 Fortescue Square there were no outward signs of recent disturbance +beyond the presence of a sharp-eyed policeman at each corner of the row +of houses of which Mr. Forbes's residence formed one of the center pair. +Theydon expected to see a shattered window in the drawing-room on the +first floor, where, presumably, Mrs. Forbes was standing when the shot +was fired, but each pane in three large windows was intact, and the +windows were closed.</p> + +<p>Then he reflected—as, indeed, proved to be the case—that on such a +fine day the window would probably be open. Two windows on the second +floor and one in the cloakroom near the front door were raised a few +inches, but drawn curtains screened from observation any watchful eye +which might be stationed behind them. As a matter of fact, armed +detectives were hidden there, and they had been given specific orders to +shoot without warning any one of Chinese appearance whose behavior was +suspicious, while three men were in readiness in the hall to rush out +into the square and make an arrest under similar circumstances.</p> + +<p>In that fashionable quarter, at that hour, automobiles of every type +were passing constantly. At the very next door a well-appointed carriage +and pair was in readiness to take an elderly lady for a drive in the +park. As yet, none of the other residents in the square had the remotest +notion that No. 11 was in a state of siege. The position of affairs, if +it were not so desperate, was almost amusing!</p> + +<p>Mrs. Paxton and Theydon were admitted without any delay, and Forbes +himself hurried downstairs to greet them. He was pale, but quite +composed. All the nervous uncertainty of the previous day had vanished. +He was armed and willing for the fray. If, as was by no means unlikely, +Wong Li Fu staked everything on a gambler's throw and led his cohort in +a daylight raid on the house, the Manchu leader would meet with a very +warm reception.</p> + +<p>Forbes was surprised to find that a lady had come with Theydon, but +expressed his pleasure at the visit, which, he said, was just the thing +his wife and Evelyn needed.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he went on cheerfully, noting the astonishment caused by his +words, "Mrs. Forbes is not seriously injured. The bullet lacerated the +top of her left shoulder, and the wound is painful but superficial. She +positively refuses to remain in bed, so our doctor humored her, provided +she promises not to pass the time looking through the drawing-room +window!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Paxton, to whose senses the presence of armed detectives and +constables in uniform was even more eloquent than her brother's words, +glanced about the spacious entrance hall with wide-eyed amazement. Once +she and her brother were recognized as friends of the family, the men on +duty gave them no heed.</p> + +<p>Outside were the familiar sounds of London traffic; within were +preparations for conflict. The police carried revolvers openly in +leather cases strapped to their belts. On a table near the library door +were several automatic pistols ready to be snatched up in an emergency. +An alert detective, revolver in hand, was peering through the curtains +of the cloakroom; this sentry, in particular, would alarm the garrison +if, as Winter had definitely warned his assistants, an attempt were ever +made to enter the house by main force.</p> + +<p>"I think I must be dreaming," she said, trying bravely to lessen the +gravity of the statement by smiling at its inherent absurdity. "Am I in +London, or have I been whisked by magic to one of those outposts of +civilization where men and women of European race are often compelled to +band together for protection against savages? One reads of such things +comfortably while dawdling over breakfast, and one wonders idly why +people go to such places. But that something of the sort could happen in +London—why, it is simply fantastic!"</p> + +<p>"It is unpleasantly real, for all that, Mrs. Paxton," said Forbes, +leading the way up the stairs. "What else can we do? If the authorities +surrounded the house with a cordon of soldiers London would be in an +uproar. We want to avoid that, at all costs. I have been in +communication with the Home Office, and am advised that, if we decide to +put up with the inconvenience, it is better, and actually less risky, to +hold out here than seek safety by flight. I understand that Scotland +Yard is not losing an unnecessary minute, but there are obvious +difficulties in the way of decisive action. It is considered worse than +useless to effect isolated arrests, as these tend only to put the other +members of the gang on their guard. The chief inspector tells me that he +had some hope of being able to make a big haul tonight. The principal +drawback is the language bar. Chinese interpreters are few and far +between in London, and those who do exist—in the East End, for +instance—have long since lost any useful acquaintance with events in +their own country. This is a political matter, you understand, and must +be fought out on political lines. Strange as it may sound in your ears, +the cause of Chinese freedom is at issue in this very house. If Wong Li +Fu could secure a list of names now locked in a bureau in my library the +Constitutional party in China would perish forthwith for want of +leaders. But he won't get it. Thanks to your brother, Mrs. Paxton, his +deadliest attack failed yesterday. For today's accident we have +ourselves to blame. We did not even suspect that his malignity would +take the form of shooting the first person who chanced to look out of a +window."</p> + +<p>He had halted at the top of the broad staircase while making that +stirring declaration of war.</p> + +<p>"Pardon my outspokenness," he said, sinking his voice to a lower tone. +"I don't want to frighten my wife on my own account. She believes now +that the police are hunting these scoundrels in every hole and corner of +London. In a sense, that is true, but we never know the moment some +extraordinary action may be taken, so we remain constantly on the <i>qui +vive</i>."</p> + +<p>He heard the telephone ring beneath, and turned quickly.</p> + +<p>"I may be wanted," he said. "I'll join you presently. There is my wife's +boudoir," and he pointed to a door. "Take Mrs. Paxton in, Theydon. Mrs. +Forbes and Evelyn will be glad of your company."</p> + +<p>Theydon knocked, and heard Evelyn's voice bidding him enter. Mrs. Forbes +was lying on a couch, and her daughter had evidently been seated near +her, reading a newspaper.</p> + +<p>"I've brought my sister to see you," he explained. "I've been relating +such heroic things about you that she simply refused to go home without +ocular proof of your existence."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Forbes would have risen, but was restrained by the girl's emphatic +cry:</p> + +<p>"Mother, why won't you behave like an obedient invalid?"</p> + +<p>Thus coerced, "Mother" did behave.</p> + +<p>"They insist on treating me as a casualty," she cried cheerfully. "What +is your sister's name, Mr. Theydon?"</p> + +<p>"Mollie," he said thoughtlessly, for he had just touched Evelyn Forbes's +hand, and the mere contact gave him an electrical shock.</p> + +<p>The women laughed, and Mrs. Paxton blushed.</p> + +<p>"Mollie Paxton, at any rate," she said, realizing at once that her +brother had completely lost all self-possession at sight of his +divinity. "Now, as you are going to stay here, Frank, you shall give me +the full measure of the few minutes I can spare, so go and talk over +your adventures with Mr. Forbes while I gossip with the prisoners."</p> + +<p>Theydon saw that his tactful sister had struck the right note. She might +be trusted to make herself eminently agreeable. Her bright, smiling +manner had already created a good impression, and a lively chat with one +who had not passed through the vicissitudes which beset the Forbes +family would be an excellent tonic.</p> + +<p>"Before I efface myself, may I be allowed to congratulate Mrs. Forbes on +her escape?" he said, halting at the door.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you may," replied the older lady. "And, just to show that I am +convalescent, kindly tell Tomlinson that I am coming down to luncheon, +and that Mrs. Paxton will join us."</p> + +<p>Forbes was leaving the telephone when Theydon regained the hall and +explained that he had been dismissed from the feminine conclave +upstairs. The millionaire closed the door and motioned his companion to +a chair.</p> + +<p>"How long will it be before London wakes up to the knowledge of what is +going on in its midst?" he said. "Is there anything in the newspapers? I +have had no time to read. I passed a rather sleepless night, so did not +rise until a late hour. Then Helen was fired at. I need hardly tell you +that my time has been fully occupied since."</p> + +<p>Theydon gave a resume of the paragraph which had appeared in at least +one of the morning journals, and admitted that some inkling of the truth +was bound to gain publicity during the next few hours.</p> + +<p>"I cannot understand why it is the reporters are not here by the score +already," he went on. "Some passer-by must have seen or heard the +shooting. A pistol cannot be fired in a quiet square like this without +attracting general attention."</p> + +<p>"That is the extraordinary part of it," said Forbes, smiling grimly. +"People heard the noise, of course, but came to the conclusion that a +cylinder in the car had back-fired. That was the view taken by two +policemen on duty within a few yards of the house. A detective stationed +in the cloakroom actually saw the man raising the weapon. He, of course, +was under no delusion as to what had happened, and ran out instantly, +but the car was then traveling at a fast pace, and was out of sight +before the nearest constable could even endeavor to stop it. Anyhow, +what was the man to do? We cannot expect that he would whip out a +revolver, if he carries one, and blaze away indiscriminately at car and +occupants if the chauffeur refused to pull up. Really, Theydon, Wong Li +Fu has perplexed the authorities more than any desperado known to this +generation. He is aware that his hostage has escaped from Croydon, so he +calmly drives past my house, knowing full well that it is efficiently +guarded, and fires a pot shot at the first person seen through one of +the windows. The man whom I have spoken to over the telephone shares +that opinion. He is one of the legal advisers of the Home Office. Just +to show the baffling nature of the problem, he says that it will be +absolutely impossible, on the evidence available at present, to frame a +charge against any Chinaman other than Wong Li Fu. Yet we know that he +has at least four or five, and probably three times as many, +accomplices."</p> + +<p>"Have the police yet obtained any real clew as to the whereabouts of the +gang's headquarters? They must have some sort of meeting place. They +must eat and sleep somewhere."</p> + +<p>"That big detective, Winter, came here this morning. He seemed to be +very confident, though I think I gave him the worst shock he has +received for many a year when I informed him that within an hour after +he had left the house Mrs. Forbes had been shot at, and narrowly escaped +a fatal wound. It was he who asked me to invite you to come here. I'm +exceedingly sorry that our acquaintance, begun so happily, should +involve you in personal risk—"</p> + +<p>"As for that," broke in Theydon, "I would not change places with any man +in England at this moment."</p> + +<p>He feared instantly that he might have said too much, and added with a +laugh:</p> + +<p>"Don't forget, Mr. Forbes, that I write books, some of them—the most +popular ones, I am afraid—being of a sensational type. When this +tornado has died down, and Wong Li Fu is carefully hanged, and you and +your family are recuperating in Sutherlandshire, I shall resume work +with a new inspiration. Never again shall I say to myself, 'Oh, that is +too far-fetched,' or fear that I am straining my readers' credulity +beyond bounds. If a small gang of Chinamen and Japanese can hold up +London, bamboozle the best men in Scotland Yard, and keep a man of your +position a prisoner in his own house, I need have no fear of adopting +any situation my fertile brain can evolve, because four days ago I would +have scoffed at the things which have actually happened as quite +impossible and therefore unbelievable."</p> + +<p>"Japanese, you say? Why do you mention Japanese?"</p> + +<p>"The American, Mr. Handyside, tells me the skulls are of Japanese +workmanship. He argues also that the wrestling tricks of which Winter +and I, and Mrs. Forbes in lesser degree, have had some experience, are +Japanese. More than that, a Jap was arrested outside my place early this +morning."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Winter said something about it, but he spoke only of Chinamen."</p> + +<p>"I have Furneaux's authority for the statement that the prisoner is a +Jap, and belongs to a society calling itself the 'Sons of Nippon.'"</p> + +<p>"But confound it, I have no quarrel with Japan. If anything, I am one of +her best friends."</p> + +<p>"I must get Handyside to propound one of his favorite theories. He says +that a powerful and growing party among our allies in the Far East means +to keep China in a condition of anarchy until Japan is prepared, +financially and in armament, to take a commanding share in the ultimate +settlement. But, at best, the few Japanese adventurers in league with +Wong Li Fu hardly count. Once he is laid by the heels this feud will +evaporate into thin air."</p> + +<p>"If it doesn't, I must ask the Government to provide safe quarters for +my family in the Tower," muttered Forbes, rising and pacing the room in +the same thoughtful, care-laden way as he had paced it when Theydon +first told him of Edith Lester's end.</p> + +<p>"You said Wong Li Fu knew that Mrs. Forbes had been rescued from her +bonds last night," went on Theydon. "I suppose Winter told you that. Was +he only assuming the fact, or have there been developments at Croydon?"</p> + +<p>"A motor car drove up to the gate openly at ten o'clock this morning. A +police sergeant, jumping to the conclusion that one of his own chiefs or +a representative of Scotland Yard was paying the place a visit, +incautiously showed himself in the doorway, whereupon the car raced +away. It was an unfortunate and, perhaps, costly blunder, but the man is +hardly to be blamed. The very audacity of the gang is their best +safeguard."</p> + +<p>A luncheon gong clanged in the hall. Both men started, and then laughed.</p> + +<p>"You see," cried Forbes. "These rascals have got us on the jump. I don't +know how long my servants will stand the racket. They are most loyal, +and Tomlinson vows that not a syllable has been breathed outside by any +of our domestics. But the women's nerves are on edge. A scullery maid +dropped a decanter a little while since, and the crash drew +bloodcurdling shrieks from the kitchen. Come, let us eat, drink, and be +merry, for tomorrow we die. The quotation is not a felicitous one. +Indeed, it is distinctly ominous, but it seems to meet the conditions."</p> + +<p>He threw open the door, and saw the three ladies descending the stairs.</p> + +<p>"Helena," he cried sternly, "the doctor said you were not to stir out of +your room."</p> + +<p>"My dear, the doctor is a mere man, and fancies that a woman is not +fitted for warfare. He is quite mistaken. When aroused we can be +terrible."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Forbes, whose face was paler and eyes seemingly bigger and more +luminous than usual, was leaning on Evelyn's arm. She was dressed in a +blue tulle costume which lent a fragile air to an already slender form, +but she smiled so unaffectedly that even the policeman grinned.</p> + +<p>"You certainly look ferocious," said her husband, yielding instantly, as +she well knew would happen.</p> + +<p>"I believe you are all jealous," she vowed. "I am the only one who has +really been in the forefront of the battle. No. I forgot you, Mr. +Theydon. Didn't that horrid man knock you down?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Theydon, moistening his lips with his tongue. There was such +a peculiar rasp in his voice that it evoked a general laugh.</p> + +<p>Obviously the guests meant to avoid serious topics during the meal. +Evelyn Forbes chimed in with a reminiscence of her schooldays in +Brussels, and soon the talk was general, ranging from the year's Academy +to the Ladies' Gold Championship.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Paxton, an excellent mimic, was amusing them with imitations of the +voice and manner of a certain well-known lady golfer, when she was +interrupted by three sharp, irregular cracks which seemed to come from +the dining-room windows. Simultaneously a picture frame on the opposite +wall was split and a Worcester vase on a sideboard was smashed to atoms.</p> + +<p>Theydon, owing to his position at the table, was the first to notice +three small, starred holes in the plate glass of the windows.</p> + +<p>"Don't stand up!" he said, instantly. "Some one is shooting at the +house. Crouch on the floor, for Heaven's sake!"</p> + +<p>That urgent appeal was emphasized by a fourth bullet, which, taking a +lower flight, barely missed Forbes, upset a Venetian glass flower vase +on the table, and buried itself in the lower half of the sideboard.</p> + +<p>Forbes, heedless of the possible consequences to himself, sprang to his +wife's assistance, and, interposing his body as a shield between her and +the windows, led her to an angle of the wall where she would be safe. +The younger women, after a momentary hesitation, dropped to the floor +and crawled to the same refuge. Theydon ran out. The front door was +open.</p> + +<p>The police had heard the shooting, the sound of which had been deadened +to those in the dining room by the breaking glass and china. But within +a few minutes a useless pursuit was abandoned. The fusillade had come +from a car which halted close to the garden railings on the far side of +the square. Though the trees were nearly in full leaf, and dense +shrubberies seemed to shut off every house from any such method of +attack, investigation proved that it was possible to estimate accurately +the position of the dining-room windows in No. 11.</p> + +<p>When Theydon returned he found Forbes and the ladies gathered in the +hall.</p> + +<p>"Another narrow escape on both sides," he said coolly. "Two policemen +were just too late to interfere. Of course, they did not anticipate a +move in that quarter."</p> + +<p>"Have the—er—enemy made off in a car?" said Mrs. Forbes.</p> + +<p>"Yes. A constable in a taxi is trying to follow them."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, let us finish our luncheon. I had hardly touched my +cutlet."</p> + +<p>"By Jove, Helena, that doctor of ours was decidedly in error," cried her +husband. "You're right. If we're besieged we must carry ourselves +according to the code. Mrs. Paxton, I hope it won't disturb you if a +shell bursts before coffee is served!"</p> + +<p>Theydon glanced through a window before resuming his seat.</p> + +<p>"That volley has done things!" he announced. "London is stirring at +last. There's a crowd in front of the house, and a short, fat man is +explaining the procedure. Prepare now to receive the press in +battalions."</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br /><br /> +WHEREIN UNEXPECTED ALLIES APPEAR</h3> + +<p>Although, as shall be seen, the final and complete defeat and extinction +of the London section of the Young Manchus were directly due to forces +set in motion by Furneaux, it was Winter's painstaking way of covering +the ground that unearthed the fraternity's meeting place, and thus +brought matters to a head speedily. For the rest, events followed their +own course, and great would have been the fame of the prophet who +predicted that course accurately.</p> + +<p>In later days, when more ample knowledge was available, it was a +debatable point whether or not the inmates of No. 11 Fortescue Square +were saved from an almost maniacal vengeance by the fact that a crisis +was precipitated. Winter maintained stoutly that the police must triumph +in the long run, whereas Furneaux held, with even greater tenacity, that +although the gang would undoubtedly be broken up, that much-desired end +might have been attained after, and not before, a dire tragedy occurred +in the Forbes household.</p> + +<p>The pros and cons of the argument were equally numerous and weighty. +They cannot be marshaled here. Each man and woman who reads this record +will probably form an emphatic opinion tending toward the one side or +the other. All that a veracious chronicler can accomplish is to set +forth a plain tale of events in their proper sequence, and leave the +ultimate verdict to individual judgment.</p> + +<p>Winter was a hard-headed, broad-minded official, whose long and wide +experience enabled him to estimate at their true value the far-reaching +powers of the State as opposed to the machinations of a few determined +outlaws. On the other hand, the amazing facility with which Furneaux +could enter into the twists and turns of the criminal mind entitles his +matured views to much respect.</p> + +<p>At any rate, this is what happened.</p> + +<p>Winter was sitting in his office, smoking a fat cigar, and wading +through reports brought in by subordinates concerning every opium den +and Chinese boarding house in the East End, when Furneaux entered.</p> + +<p>"Any luck?" inquired the chief, laying aside one document which seemed +to merit fuller inquiry; it described a club much frequented by Chinese +residents in London, men of a higher class than the sailors and firemen +brought to the port by ships trading with the Far East, and an +outstanding feature of the Young Manchus' operations was the intelligent +grasp of the ways and means of modern civilized life these filibusters +exhibited.</p> + +<p>"So-so," squeaked Furneaux.</p> + +<p>He flung himself into a big armchair, curled up in it like an animated +Buddha, and extracted one of the three ivory skulls from a waistcoat +pocket.</p> + +<p>"If you could only speak, you image of evil!" he muttered. "You're not +so dead that you cannot work mischief. Why the deuce, then, can't you +mouth your incantations? Then we would listen and learn."</p> + +<p>Winter, still sorting his papers, cocked the cigar inquisitively on one +side of his mouth.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I have ascertained a lot about the inner politics of China," +mumbled Furneaux, irritably, gazing fixedly at the skull after one quick +glance of his colleague. "Every little helps, of course. I have met some +Chinamen this morning who would cheerfully plunge Wong Li Fu into a +cauldron of boiling oil, and stir him round with a long stick when he +was in it. One man, quite an important personage in the jute line, has +lost a brother and a brother-in-law, the one in Canton, the other in +Pekin, and he lays both deaths at the door of the redoubtable Wong. +Another, the fellow who chanced to take up his quarters at Smith's +Hotel, is a delegate sent here specially to hunt out Wong, and destroy +him. I asked him how he meant to set about it, but his scheme is vague. +He's an opportunist of the first water. 'Me catchee and killee Wong Li +Fu one time,' was his best effort. I'm going to confront Len Shi with +these two in Bow Street. They may worm something out of him. But will +they own up if they do? Dashed if I know. The Oriental mind is on a par +with their blessed language. It has three thousand ways of expressing +one idea, and not one of 'em is our way."</p> + +<p>"Has Theydon gone to Fortescue Square?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose so. He turned up in Jermyn Street—outside Smith's Hotel, if +you please, with a lady in a taxi."</p> + +<p>"A lady? Miss Beale?"</p> + +<p>"No, his sister, judging from the family likeness. His eyes grew goggled +like yours when he saw the gray car."</p> + +<p>"Didn't you explain matters?"</p> + +<p>"Not I. Gave him the cut direct. My Chinamen are shy birds, and I +daren't flutter them by letting them think there are too many foreign +devils mixed up in the business. My London Chinaman was the brainy +person who got the Embassy busy when Mrs. Lester's death was announced. +He saw Wong Li Fu's hand in that from the first moment. Oddly enough, +though he and a man from the Embassy followed Theydon from Waterloo to +Forbes's place on Tuesday night, and again to Innesmore Mansions, he +didn't recognize him today. Or perhaps he did. I don't know. Talk about +the impassive Red Indian! A thoroughbred Chink would give a Pawnee chief +one glass eye and a coat of paint, and then beat him hollow at the +haughty indifference game."</p> + +<p>"My!" said Winter admiringly, "you've got your tongue loose today. Well, +here's an item which should prove useful. Whitechapel thinks we may find +a Young Manchu or two among that collection," and he threw an official +memorandum across the table.</p> + +<p>Furneaux repocketed the skull, and was gazing moodily at the report, +when a uniformed constable announced that a boy messenger wished to see +a "detective" with regard to the typed letter delivered at Mr. Forbes's +house on Wednesday evening.</p> + +<p>"Show him up," said the chief, and a smart-looking boy, wearing the +familiar uniform of his corps, was brought in. He glanced around +inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you're the gentleman who came to our Piccadilly office," he said to +Winter.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, I haven't very much to tell you, but it was I who took the +letter to Fortescue Square. I saw the sender, a foreign-looking +gentleman, he was, with funny eyes, and I think I spotted him again this +afternoon. He was coming out of a house in Charlotte Street."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure?" demanded Winter, quickly.</p> + +<p>"He was awful like the man who engaged me, sir, and dressed the same +way."</p> + +<p>"Did you notice the number of the house?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. No. 412."</p> + +<p>"Quite certain about that?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Good boy. If your information is of any service I'll take care you are +not forgotten."</p> + +<p>The boy saluted and went out.</p> + +<p>"We must look up No. 412," said Winter, quietly; but there was a ring of +genuine satisfaction in his voice, because the clew promised well, and +it was a complete justification of the straightforward method he adopted +in every inquiry, whereas Furneaux invariably preferred an abstruse +theory to a definite piece of evidence.</p> + +<p>The Jersey man's face had wrinkled as a preliminary to some sarcastic +comment on what he termed the "handcuff" way of reasoning, when the +telephone bell rang. Winter answered, and at once his self-possessed air +fled. Indeed, it was a very angry man who listened, because a +subordinate was telephoning from Fortescue Square a full account of the +shooting outrage.</p> + +<p>The Chief gave a few curt instructions as to securing the adequate +cooperation of the local police, who should take measures to render any +repetition of such daring tactics absolutely impossible.</p> + +<p>"No one was injured, you say?" he added.</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Were the ladies very much frightened?"</p> + +<p>"They've gone back to finish luncheon, sir."</p> + +<p>"Good. Evidently they're all of the right breed. You can tell them I +said so, if you like. Assure Mr. Forbes that every care will be taken to +protect his house in future. See that strong patrols occupy every point +from which a gun can be aimed at any window, even the attics, in No. 11. +Phone me again when you have discussed matters with the district +superintendent."</p> + +<p>The receiver clanged back into its hook. Winter had not foreseen this +latest move. "Sheer impudence," he termed it.</p> + +<p>"More bullets?" inquired Furneaux laconically.</p> + +<p>"Yes. A long-range attack from across the square. Four shots lodged in +dining room."</p> + +<p>"No one hurt, and no one arrested?"</p> + +<p>"Not a soul."</p> + +<p>"James," said the little man solemnly, "Wong Li Fu is making us a +laughing-stock. Are you aware that the newspapers will get on our track +now? Can't you see the headlines?—'Another Sidney Street.' 'Chinese +Pirates Busy in London.' 'Scotland Yard Outwitted.' By this time +tomorrow the Commissioner will be suggesting that you and I ought to +think about retiring on pensions."</p> + +<p>Winter jumped up, overturning a chair in his haste.</p> + +<p>"Come!" he said. "If that Chinaman in Bow Street won't speak, I'll +torture him. What of the other fellow who was caught near Innesmore +Mansions?"</p> + +<p>"He's a Jap. He knows nothing. He was hired for the job—to put any +interfering bobby to sleep."</p> + +<p>The chief inspector angrily bundled some papers into a drawer, and threw +away his cigar, which he had allowed to go out. Furneaux produced an +ivory skull again, and scowled at it, whereupon his superior, snorting +with annoyance, strode to the window, and affected an interest he was +far from feeling in the panorama of the Thames.</p> + +<p>And thus they passed a harmonious quarter of an hour, which came to an +end with the appearance of an attendant to announce the arrival of "two +Chinese gentlemen to see Mr. Furneaux."</p> + +<p>They went down in the elevator without exchanging a word. At the +entrance stood the gray car, in which the Chinamen were already seated. +Furneaux introduced the chief inspector, and they were whisked to Bow +Street. There in a cell they found Len Shi, a somewhat sullen-looking +man whose European chauffeur's livery seemed curiously raffish and +unsuitable when contrasted with the more picturesque if sober-hued +garments worn by his fellow-countrymen.</p> + +<p>At first he maintained the sulky know-nothing role which he had adopted +successfully with the official interpreter. Furneaux, watching the faces +of prisoner and questioners, guessed that small progress was being made, +so, waiting until Len Shi was evidently quite satisfied with himself, he +suddenly thrust an ivory skull before the man's eyes. The result was +unexpected but puzzling. The man was badly scared, beyond doubt, but he +now became obstinately silent.</p> + +<p>Winter, than whom no living actor could play up better to Furneaux's +tactics in a touch-and-go encounter of this sort, assumed a highly +tragic air.</p> + +<p>"Handcuff that man, and bring him out!" he said to the constable in +charge of the cells.</p> + +<p>Len Shi blanched. He estimated the legal methods of Great Britain by +those which obtained in his own land, and probably thought he was being +led forth to immediate execution.</p> + +<p>The whole five crowded into the car, and the driver, the same English +chauffeur to whom Theydon had spoken, was told to make for 412 Charlotte +Street, and pass the house slowly, but not pull up. Len Shi, though +quaking with alarm, bore himself with a certain dignified stoicism until +he found out where the car was apparently stopping. Then he said +something in a panic-stricken voice and the jute merchant, who spoke +English fluently, turned to Furneaux.</p> + +<p>"Tell the chauffeur to return," he said. "Len Shi will now confess."</p> + +<p>Once started, Len Shi talked volubly. The others merely put in a +question now and then, and the detectives curbed their impatience as +best they might until Len Shi was safely lodged in Bow Street again.</p> + +<p>Then Winter led his Chinese helpers into an inner office and closed the +door.</p> + +<p>"Well?" he said, addressing the jute merchant. The other Chinaman had +very little English and could not maintain a conversation.</p> + +<p>But, to the chief inspector's surprise and wrath, the English-speaking +Chinaman had only a request to make.</p> + +<p>"Give me and my friend those three ivory skulls," he said.</p> + +<p>"Why?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Without them we can accomplish nothing."</p> + +<p>"Be good enough to explain yourself. Above all, tell me what Len Shi has +been jabbering about. He had plenty to say."</p> + +<p>"He told us of the fate of our friends in China. Those things do not +concern you. What you want is to have Wong Li Fu and the others—there +are nearly twenty in all—delivered into your hands. Very well. Give us +those ivory skulls, and bring your men to that house in Charlotte +Street, at one o'clock this night, and you will take them without a blow +being struck."</p> + +<p>"That is our business, not yours," said Winter, gruffly decisive. "I +cannot expose you two gentlemen to any personal risk in this affair. +Kindly—"</p> + +<p>"You do not understand," broke in the jute merchant, addressing the +burly representative of the Criminal Investigation Department as if he +were a fractious child who must be informed as to the why and wherefore +of a disagreeable duty. "What will you do? Surround the house with +policemen, break in the doors, and fight? You may, or may not succeed. +Some, plenty, of your men will certainly be killed. That is not good. We +do not wish it. Give me those skulls. I and my friend will go there. You +come at one o'clock, tap so on the door, and we will admit you. Then you +take Wong Li Fu and all the others. There will be no fight."</p> + +<p>The Chinaman's manner was singularly impressive as he tapped three times +on a high desk to emphasize, as it were, his instructions. The sound, +too, was curious. He did not use his knuckles, but bunched the fingers +of his right hand together, and rapped on the wood with the long nails +which are a mark of distinction in his race.</p> + +<p>"We make things easy and certain for you," he added, more by way of +painstaking argument than because any further explanation was really +necessary. "You do not wish to fail, no? You want to be sure that Wong +Li Fu's evil deeds shall be stopped? Good. We do that—I and my friend. +We can pass the door-keepers. Can you? No. At one o'clock we open the +door and the Young Manchus will be wholly in your power, to do with them +what you will. I promise that, and my word is always taken in the city."</p> + +<p>Winter turned troubled eyes on Furneaux.</p> + +<p>"What do you say?" he muttered irresolutely.</p> + +<p>"I think the plan is a good one, and should be adopted," was the instant +reply.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, Winter was perplexed. He hemmed and hawed a good deal. +Seldom did he hesitate in this fashion. As a rule, he was quick to +decide and quicker to act.</p> + +<p>"I might entertain your scheme if I were told more about it," he said +dubiously, gazing with troubled eyes at the Chinaman's blandly +inscrutable face. "Please believe me when I say that I trust your good +faith, but I am not sure that even you understand fully the nature of +the adventure you have in mind. Wong Li Fu has already committed one +murder in London. He has attempted others, and is absolutely careless of +consequences. How can I have any guarantee that you and this other +gentleman may not be his next victims? He is a person who displays a +somewhat forced humor. We might enter the Charlotte Street house at one +o'clock and find your corpses there, with labels and ivory skulls neatly +attached."</p> + +<p>"That will not be so," was the grave answer.</p> + +<p>"If I agree, what time do you propose going there?"</p> + +<p>"About midnight."</p> + +<p>"And do you expect the police to leave the whole neighborhood severely +alone for another hour?"</p> + +<p>"Not unless you wish it. If you so desire you can occupy both ends of +the street, and arrest every Chinaman coming away from No. 412, but let +those pass who go towards it."</p> + +<p>"Will others go there—friends of yours, I mean?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes. We will overpower the Young Manchus by taking them unaware. We +will act quietly, but there will be no mistake. It is you who will err +if you do not accept our help."</p> + +<p>Then Winter yielded, though not with a good grace. The implied +suggestion that the London police could not handle a set of Mongolian +ruffians was utterly distasteful, yet he admitted, though unwillingly, +that he did not want to sacrifice some of his best men in rushing the +place.</p> + +<p>"All right," he said. "Hand over the skulls, Furneaux! It is quite +agreed," he went on, addressing the Chinaman again, "that I have full +liberty of action in so far as preliminary arrangements are concerned? I +see your point that Wong Li Fu must not be forewarned, and shall take +care that my men are hidden. I have your positive assurance, too, that +you are not exposing your own life in any way?"</p> + +<p>"To the best of my belief I shall be as safe in Charlotte Street as I am +here," said the jute merchant, smiling for the first time during the +interview.</p> + +<p>"One! Two! Three!" said Furneaux, counting the skulls into the +Chinaman's outstretched hand.</p> + +<p>For some reason, the action, no less than the words, jarred on Winter.</p> + +<p>"I do wish you wouldn't be so d—— d theatrical!" he growled.</p> + +<p>Furneaux said nothing. He accompanied the chief inspector when the +latter escorted the two Chinamen to their car, and whistled softly +between his teeth while Winter and he were walking to Scotland Yard. The +big man glowered at him once or twice, but passed no comment. When they +reached the Embankment, Winter took Furneaux to his room, but left him +instantly. He was absent a long time. When he came in again he was +cheerfully placid.</p> + +<p>Walking toward their favorite restaurant in Soho, they met a newsboy +running with an edition of an evening newspaper damp from the press. The +boy was shouting, "'Orrible crime in the West End; Chinese outrage!" +Furneaux bought a paper. It contained a lively account of the attack on +Mr. Forbes's house and described the mansion as an armed fortress. +Scores of police were parading the neighborhood and examining every +passing motor car lest it held Chinese bandits. The arrest of Len Shi at +St. Albans, and of a Japanese outside Innesmore Mansions, was recalled, +and an Eastbourne correspondent had sent a fairly accurate version of +the kidnaping of Mrs. Forbes.</p> + +<p>"The pack is in full cry now, James," grinned Furneaux. "Tomorrow—"</p> + +<p>"O, bother tomorrow! Let's eat, and talk about something else."</p> + +<p>"What? Both? Well, now, if that isn't a bit of luck," cried a pleasant +voice close behind them, and Mr. George T. Handyside held out his two +hands.</p> + +<p>"I was feeling kind of lonesome in the hotel, and just strolled out to +look at the shops," he rattled on. "Say, can you boys eat a line? Is +there any place in London where they know what a planked steak is?"</p> + +<p>"Planked steak!" snorted Furneaux. "When you've tasted a porterhouse +steak grilled by a master hand you'll never mention any other variety +again. Come right along, Mr. Handyside. Tell us fairy tales about God's +own country. We're in the right mood to believe anything!"</p> + +<p>"But what's this story of another shooting up in Fortescue Square? Is it +true?"</p> + +<p>Then Furneaux dug him in the ribs.</p> + +<p>"This isn't the Wild and Woolly West," he said. "This is London, sir, +poor, old, played-out London, whose beefy citizens do nothing but eat, +talk cricket or golf, and sleep. If you credit the newspapers, you'll +never get us in the right perspective."</p> + +<p>Another newspaper boy raced past, bawling loudly.</p> + +<p>"All a flam, is it?" said the American quizzically;</p> + +<p>"No," said Winter, "it's the truth, and less than the truth. Let's hunt +that steak, and we'll season the dish for you."</p> + +<p>Winter never erred when he chose a man as a friend. He liked Handyside, +and was half inclined to drop a hint in his ear as to the night's +program, for the American had seen Wong Li Fu more than once, and might +be useful for identification purposes.</p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br /><br /> +THE SETTLEMENT</h3> + +<p>Now, Len Shi had communicated one vital fact to his compatriots which +they had carefully concealed from the detectives. The opening campaign +against Forbes had practically ended that day. Thenceforth, for a week, +the Young Manchus meant to separate, revert to Chinese costume, live in +Chinese boardinghouses in the East End, and thus utterly mislead and +bamboozle the police, who, in their hunt for the miscreants, would be +searching for Chinamen in European dress and living in European style.</p> + +<p>Winter was in two minds whether or not to inform the inmates of No. 11 +as to the contemplated raid on the Charlotte Street rendezvous. +Ultimately, he decided to say nothing definite that evening. It was +better that the threatened people and their guards should not relax +their vigilance. "The best-laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft +a-gley," and if, perchance, the jute merchant's plan, whatever it might +be, miscarried, and some of the desperadoes escaped, they would be +stirred to instant reprisals.</p> + +<p>But there was no semblance of doubt or hesitation about the measures +taken by the police. That night, from eleven o'clock onward, not even a +prowling cat entered Charlotte Street without being seen by sharp eyes. +Nearly opposite No. 412 was a large warehouse, with a back entrance a +long way in the rear, and approached from another street.</p> + +<p>At midnight three Chinamen appeared, turned into Charlotte Street from +the south and shuffled on noiseless feet straight to No. 414. They +knocked, and after some delay were admitted. A minute later three others +came from the north, knocked on the door of No. 410 and disappeared, the +delay, seemingly caused by a parley with some one within, being longer +in this instance.</p> + +<p>Afterward squads of Chinamen, exactly 25, all told, came from north and +south in practically equal numbers and entered those two houses, but +never a man entered, or passed, or came out of No. 412. These more +numerous arrivals met with no hesitation on the part of the two +doorkeepers. They entered without let or hindrance.</p> + +<p>After that there was what is known in theatrical circles as a "stage +wait." Charlotte Street, save for its loafers and an occasional belated +resident of some dwelling other than those under observation, lapsed +into its normal and utterly dismal gloom.</p> + +<p>From 12:30 onwards, Winter, stationed on the south side, looked at his +watch many times. A little man, mingling with the disreputable rascals +on the north side, was similarly fidgety.</p> + +<p>A tall, slim man, wearing a dark overcoat, who lurked in a doorway near +Winter's post, blew the tip of the cigar he was smoking into a red glow +so that he might look at his watch. Another tall man, rather more +powerfully built, awaited developments with apparent unconcern. Mr. +Handyside, in fact, was in the august company of the Commissioner of +Police, and the latter, though eminently agreeable, nevertheless +observed an Olympian attitude. Thus might Jove watch a gathering in the +Pompic Way!</p> + +<p>At 12:45 there was a stir. Out of 410 and 414 came 25 Chinamen. They +gathered on the pavement, and did not attempt to walk away, though a +sudden and concentrated advance was made by the two sets of loafers, +while the doors of the warehouse opposite belched forth a startling +array of constables in uniform.</p> + +<p>Winter and Furneaux respectively headed the contingents from north and +south. An inspector was in charge of the central body, and even a +Chinaman who had not been a day in London must have realized that the +intent of these swift-moving detachments was to cut off his escape if he +meant flight. But not a Chinaman budged, save one, who seemed to +recognize the chief inspector, because he stepped forward and said in +suave tones:</p> + +<p>"These men are my friends. The others are inside. They are quite safe. +Kindly wait till one o'clock."</p> + +<p>"I must understand what you mean, Mr. Li Chang," said Winter sternly; +for some reason, he distrusted the smooth-spoken jute merchant. "Why +have you visited these two houses, and not 412? And what do we gain by +waiting here any longer? We must have been seen, and our purpose +guessed."</p> + +<p>"No," came the somewhat surprising answer. "No one in No. 412 is aware +of your presence. We have taken care of that. As for the other houses, +they provide the simplest means of access to the center one. Doorways +have been made in the cellar walls and special staircases built. +Consequently, if you broke open the door of 412 you would find the way +barred by two other locked doors, while the occupants, if aroused, could +escape from either or both of the next houses. We Chinese have a long +acquaintance with the needs of a secret society. You may take it from me +that the obvious way into or out of an opium den, for instance, is never +the way used by the habitues."</p> + +<p>By this time the commissioner, Handyside, Furneaux and the inspector had +come up, and the five formed a little group in the center of a +semicircle of detectives and police. There was absolutely no sign of +life in any of the houses; save for the raiders and the stolid +Orientals, the street itself was deserted. Many eyes, no doubt, were +peering through darkened windows, but the denizens of Charlotte Street +as a rule attend strictly to their own personal affairs when the police +are in evidence.</p> + +<p> +<br /> +</p> + +<p>"What do you advise, sir," said Winter, addressing the commissioner. +"Mr. Li Chang wants us to make no move until one o'clock. It is only a +matter of six or seven minutes."</p> + +<p>"And what then? Are we to enter these other houses, and not No. 412?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Chinaman.</p> + +<p>"Have you left the doors open?"</p> + +<p>"No. They must be forced. But there are only small locks. The bolts are +drawn."</p> + +<p>"The places are apparently in complete darkness. My men must use their +lamps, and may be attacked."</p> + +<p>"No," said Li Chang simply. "There will be no fighting. Those Manchu +dogs are helpless. We have seen to that."</p> + +<p>"But how? Do you mean that they are stupefied?"</p> + +<p>"Bound," said the Chinaman. "Tied hand and foot."</p> + +<p>"Again then, may I ask, why wait?"</p> + +<p>"It will be in order," was the calm reply. "I entered into an +arrangement with you. I want to abide by it."</p> + +<p>Winter breathed heavily. The ways of the Oriental were not his ways, but +a bargain was a bargain, so what more could be said?</p> + +<p>Suddenly, about two minutes to one o'clock, a curious crackling noise +was heard, a column of sparks burst high above the steep roof of No. +412, and the upper windows of the opposite houses reflected a red glare.</p> + +<p>"Good heavens! the place is on fire!" cried Winter.</p> + +<p>Simultaneously came a shout from both ends of the street. Men were +running from the detachment guarding the rear of the premises to say +that a fierce fire was raging on the first floor back of No. 412.</p> + +<p>"Smash in those three doors!" cried Winter to his helpers. "Drag out +every Chinaman you meet! Handcuff them in threes and fours! Arrest these +fellows standing outside, but keep the two lots separate!"</p> + +<p>"Why are we, your friends, to be arrested?" demanded Li Chang's +dignified voice.</p> + +<p>"I'll soon tell you why, you slim demon!" shouted the chief inspector, +roused to anger by the consciousness that he had been duped. "What +fiendish trick have you played on those wretches penned up inside there? +But I'll soon know."</p> + +<p>He turned to the local officer.</p> + +<p>"Better march this crowd of Chinamen straight to your station," he said. +"I'll follow soon, and lay a charge."</p> + +<p>He felt a claw-like hand on his arm, and wild with vexation though he +was, forced himself to listen.</p> + +<p>"We are ready to go where you wish," said Li Chang calmly. "But spare +your own men. They must not enter No. 412. They will be blown to pieces. +Stop them! I shall not warn you twice!"</p> + +<p>Somehow, Winter was impelled to obey. The center door was already +yielding, but he rushed forward and told the party which meant to enter +at that point to abandon it, and reinforce their comrades. A number of +detectives and police were already inside the dark hallways of Nos. 410 +and 414 when the very walls trembled under the shock of a violent +explosion in No. 412, which was quickly followed by three others.</p> + +<p>A tongue of flame darted instantly to a height of many feet above the +topmost storey, showing that the series of explosions had not only +destroyed the whole rear section of the house, and thus given the fire +fresh fuel and plenty of space but there could be no reasonable doubt +that the bombs, if bombs they were, had themselves been filled with some +highly inflammable substance. Thenceforth, the police could do nothing +beyond keeping at a distance the crowds which soon gathered, and thus +clear a space for the operations of the fire brigade.</p> + +<p>No. 412 was thoroughly gutted. Not a shred of the building remained +except the crumbling walls at front and back. Its neighbors were in +little better case, and the firemen devoted their efforts mainly toward +keeping the disaster within bounds.</p> + +<p>One thing was certain. No human being had escaped from out of that +doomed habitation. The fire, too, had gained hold with a phenomenal +rapidity which argued the use of petrol, or some kindred agent of +irresistible potency when ignited.</p> + +<p>Winter and Furneaux, accompanied by the commissioner and Mr. Handyside, +walked to the local police station. The American was the only one who +spoke.</p> + +<p>"Queer ducks, the Chinese!" he said, seemingly musing aloud rather than +inviting comment. "They like to settle their own differences. I guess +we'd feel pretty much like that if we lived in China."</p> + +<p>No one took up the point thus raised. Winter bent a searching, almost +sorrowful glance at Furneaux, but the little man's eyes were fixed on +the ground, as though he were deep in thought.</p> + +<p>In the charge room of the police station the twenty-five Chinamen +awaited them. Twenty-five pairs of oblique eyes gleamed at the four when +they entered, but not a word was spoken.</p> + +<p>Winter, of course, singled out Li Chang for a parley.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, "tell me just what happened after you and these others +went into the two houses in Charlotte Street."</p> + +<p>The Chinaman faced him imperturbably. His manner was as unemotional and +his words as slow and methodical as if he were selling jute in his East +End warehouse.</p> + +<p>"We asked to be admitted, and after giving the password and showing the +sign there was no difficulty," he said. "We were in parties of three. As +you probably saw, I headed one, which entered No. 410. My friend, Won +Lung Foo, led the other. The ivory skulls made matters simple. We +explained to the door-keepers that we had just arrived from China, and +brought messages of great urgency. Once inside, we gagged and bound the +door-keepers. Then we entered No. 412, where we knew that Wong Li Fu +would be smoking opium with the remaining fourteen."</p> + +<p>"Were there seventeen in the gang, all told?" broke in Furneaux.</p> + +<p>"Seventeen Manchus. The rest are—paid men—of no account."</p> + +<p>"Queer," muttered Furneaux, almost to himself. "The story begins and +ends with the number 17!"</p> + +<p>Again did Winter strive to pierce his colleague with a look from those +bulging eyes, but the little man was far too occupied with a singular +numerical coincidence to pay any heed to him.</p> + +<p>"Well, go on!" he said impatiently, glaring at the Chinaman.</p> + +<p>"We went to the big room at the back," continued Li Chang quietly, +uttering each word separately, and evidently weighing it in his mind to +test its accuracy before use, "and found Wong Li Fu. Him we bound +quickly, and very securely. The others we tied in twos and threes. Of +course, we brought the two doorkeepers to the same room, so that you +should experience no difficulty, but take them all together."</p> + +<p>Here Mr. Won Lung Foo broke in. Evidently he could follow English better +than speak it.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said. "We wantee you catchee Chineemans all togeller—muchee +wantee!"</p> + +<p>Then he smiled blandly, and his tongue rolled over his lips as though +some fruit or sweetmeat had left a pleasant taste there.</p> + +<p>"Then, if your surprise was so successful, what caused the fire?" said +Winter, affecting a magnificent disregard of the plain facts.</p> + +<p>Li Chang, for once, permitted his immobile features to show some +semblance of anxious uncertainty.</p> + +<p>"That," he said, "is a mystery which can, perhaps, never be solved. But +it saves your Government much trouble."</p> + +<p>In those few words he expressed quite clearly the line he adhered to +throughout a long cross-examination. Neither Winter nor the commissioner +could shake him. The fire was an accident—the outcome of an +extraordinary chance. He knew nothing whatsoever of its origin.</p> + +<p>After a protracted debate in private between the two heads of the +Criminal Investigation Department, the names and addresses of the +prisoners were recorded and they were set at liberty.</p> + +<p>Before Li Chang went away Furneaux demanded the return of the three +ivory skulls, which were promptly handed over.</p> + +<p>"One word in your ear," murmured the detective, <i>sotto voce</i>. "Did Wong +Li Fu recognize you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," said the Chinaman.</p> + +<p>"And you spoke to him?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes."</p> + +<p>The eyes of the two clashed. For once, Furneaux peered deep into the +mind of an Oriental, and what he saw there kept him quiet, but he knew, +just as surely as if he had been present, exactly what Li Chang said to +Wong Li Fu. He delivered a message from two graves in far-off China.</p> + +<p> +<br /> +</p> + +<p>And that is all—or nearly all.</p> + +<p>The "Charlotte Street Fire" caused only a slight sensation. It became +known that No. 412 was a resort of Chinese opium fiends, and the loss of +the den and its frequenters was not treated as a National calamity. The +shooting at No. 11 Fortescue Square was regarded much more seriously, +and the newspapers were full of it all next day.</p> + +<p>Thenceforth, however, interest flagged. Mr. Forbes and his family and +servants left London for Scotland, and the Amateur Golf Championship +came along, so the escapades of a few Chinese fanatics in London were +quickly forgotten.</p> + +<p>They were forgotten, that is, by most people; but one man, Frank +Theydon, went back to his flat in Innesmore Mansions to plunge into work +and strive vainly to obliterate those pages of his memory charged with +bitter-sweet day-dreams.</p> + +<p>Strive as he would, and did, to bury the past under the duties and cares +of the present, the radiant vision of Evelyn Forbes remained +ineffaceable and entrancing.</p> + +<p>But he was built of tough fiber, and resolutely refused an invitation to +visit the Sutherlandshire glen in which Forbes and his daughter were +sedulously nursing to health and strength the dear wife and mother whose +nervous system had suffered far more than she permitted to become known +under the stress and strain of the kidnaping experience.</p> + +<p>Even when Evelyn herself wrote, seconding her father's most friendly +note, Theydon pleaded the exigencies of his profession and filled a +letter with an amusing account of Bates's chagrin because he had failed +to "bag a Chinaman on his own account," having actually purchased a +pistol and fixed it in position before he and his wife quitted the flat.</p> + +<p>Three months passed. On August 9, a broiling morning, Theydon was +dejectedly reading of preparations for the "Twelfth," when a telegram +reached him. It read:</p> + +<p>"Handyside has arrived here in his car. Come for the gathering of the +clan. We take no refusal. Forbes."</p> + +<p>Theydon traveled north that night. He reached the glen in time for +dinner next evening and passed a few delightfully miserable days in +Evelyn's company.</p> + +<p>At last, feeling that he was losing grip and might act foolishly, he +announced to Forbes, one night when a glorious moon was shining, and he +knew that Evelyn was awaiting him in the garden, that he must leave for +London next day.</p> + +<p>"Why?" inquired his host. "Has something unforeseen happened? I thought +you meant remaining here till the end of the month at the earliest."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry," said Theydon, chewing a cigar viciously as a means toward +maintaining his self-control. "I'm sorry, but I must go."</p> + +<p>There was a slight pause. Forbes looked at his young friend with those +earnest, deep-seeing eyes of his.</p> + +<p>"Is it a personal matter?" he went on.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Again there was a pause. Theydon was well aware that he risked a grave +misunderstanding, but that could not be avoided. It might be even better +so. And then his blood ran cold, because Forbes was saying:</p> + +<p>"Are you leaving us because of anything Evelyn has said or done?"</p> + +<p>"No, no!" came the frenzied answer. "Heaven help me, why do you ask +that?"</p> + +<p>"Heaven helps those who help themselves," said the older man. "That is a +trite saying, but it meets the case. I think I diagnose your trouble, my +boy. You are in love with Evelyn, and dare not tell her so, because I +happen to be a rich man. Really I didn't think you had so poor an +opinion of me as to believe that money or rank would count against my +daughter's happiness."</p> + +<p>He said other things—kindly, wise, appreciative—but Frank Theydon +never knew what they were. He managed to stammer out some words of +gratitude and then went to find Evelyn.</p> + +<p>She had crossed a sloping lawn and was standing by the side of a little +stream that gargled and bubbled in joyous career to the nearby loch. She +had thrown a white shawl over her head and shoulders, and looked +adorably sylphlike as she turned on hearing his footsteps; the moonlight +shone on her face and was reflected in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you're here at last!" she cried gaily. "The next time I ask any +cavalier to escort me he will come more quickly, I imagine."</p> + +<p>He stood in front of her, and stretched out both hands.</p> + +<p>"Evelyn," he said, "here is one cavalier, at any rate, who offers +himself as an escort for life."</p> + +<p>The merriment died out of her eyes, and the quip on her tongue failed +her. Greatly daring, her lover took her in his arms. Through the open +windows of the drawing room floated the tender refrain of a ballad. Mrs. +Forbes was singing, and sweet words blended with sweet music in the +still air.</p> + +<p>Then their lips met, and the dark glen became an earthly Paradise.</p> + +<p class="c">THE END</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Number Seventeen, by Louis Tracy + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NUMBER SEVENTEEN *** + +***** This file should be named 4996-h.htm or 4996-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/9/9/4996/ + +Produced by Jim Weiler, xooqi.com + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Number Seventeen + +Author: Louis Tracy + +Posting Date: June 9, 2011 [EBook #4996] +Release Date: January, 2004 +[This file was first posted on April 7, 2002] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NUMBER SEVENTEEN *** + + + + +Produced by Jim Weiler, xooqi.com + + + + + + + +Number Seventeen + +BY + +Louis Tracy + +1915 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE OUTCOME OF ARTISTIC CURIOSITY + + +"Taxi, sir? Yes, sir. No. 4 will be yours." + +A red-faced, loud-breathing commissionaire, engaged in the lucrative +task of pocketing sixpences as quickly as he could summon cabs, vanished +in a swirl of macintoshes and umbrellas. + +People who had arrived at the theater in fine weather were emerging into +a drizzle of rain. "All London," as the phrase goes, was flocking to see +the latest musical comedy at Daly's, but all London, regarded thus +collectively, is far from owning motor cars, or even affording taxicabs, +so the majority of the play-goers were hurrying on foot towards tube +railways and omnibus routes. + +Still, a popular light opera could hardly fail to draw many patrons from +the upper ranks of society, and, in the crush at the main exit, Francis +Berrold Theydon, hesitating whether to walk or wait the hazard of a cab, +deemed himself fortunate when a panting commissionaire promised to +secure a taxi "in half a minute." + +Automobiles of every known variety were snorting up to the curb and +bustling off again as promptly as their users could enter and bestow +themselves in dim interiors. Being a considerate person--wishful also to +light a cigarette--Theydon moved out of the way. In so doing, he was +cannoned against by an impetuous footman, whose cry, "Your car, sir," +led him to follow the man's alert eyes. + +He saw a tall, elderly gentleman, with clean-shaven, shrewd, and highly +intelligent features, of the type which finance, or the law, or a +combination of both, seems to evolve only in big cities, escorting a +young lady from the vestibule. Then Theydon remembered that he had +noticed this self-same girl's remarkable beauty as she was silhouetted +in white against the dark background of a first-tier box. He had even +speculated idly as to her identity, and had come to the conclusion, on +catching her face in profile, that she must be the daughter of the man +seated by her side but half-hidden behind a heavy curtain. + +The likeness was momentarily lost now while the two neared him, yet +discovered anew when they halted for a second at his elbow. Oddly +enough, the man was carrying an umbrella, which he proceeded to open, +and his daughter's astonished question put their relationship beyond +doubt. + +"Dad," she said, with a charming smile in which there was just a hint of +a pout, "aren't you coming home with me?" + +"No. I must look in at the Constitutional Club. It's only a step. I'll +take no harm. This sleet looks worse than it is when every drop shines +in the glare of so many lamps. Now, in with you, Evelyn! Tell Downs to +come back, and don't forget which club. Anyhow, I'll tell him myself." + +"Shall I wait up for you?" + +"Well--er--I shan't be late. I'll be free by the time Downs returns." + +"No. 4 taxi!" came a voice, and Theydon saw his commissionaire perched +on the step of a cab swinging in deftly behind the waiting car. The +girl, gazing at her father, happened to look for an instant at Theydon, +who, fearful lest his candidly admiring glance might have been a trifle +too sustained, pretended a hurried interest in an unlighted cigarette. +That was all. The three crossed the pavement almost simultaneously. + +The next moment the unknown goddess was gone, though Theydon snatched a +final glimpse of her, faintly visible, yet no less radiantly lovely, as +she leaned forward from the depths of the limousine, and waved a +white-gloved hand to her father through a window jeweled with raindrops. + +There was nothing in the incident to provoke a second thought. +Assuredly, Frank Theydon--as his friends called him--was not the only +man in the vestibule of Daly's Theater who had found the girl well worth +looking at, and it was the mere accident of propinquity which enabled +him to overhear the quite commonplace remarks of father and daughter. + +A score of similar occurrences had probably taken place in the like +circumstances that night in London, and the maddest dreamer of fantastic +dreams would not have heard the fluttering wings of the spirit of +romance in connection with any one of them. It was by no means +marvelous, therefore, but rather in obedience to the accepted law of +things as they are when contrasted with things as they might be, if +Theydon both failed to attach any importance to that chance meeting and +proceeded forthwith to think of something else. + +He did not forget it, of course. His artist's eyes had been far too +interested in a certain rare quality of delicate femininity in the +girl's face and figure, and his ear too quick to appreciate the music of +her cultured voice, that he should not be able to recall such pleasant +memories later. Indeed, during those fleeting moments on the threshold +of the theater, he had garnered quite a number of minor impressions, not +only of the girl, but of her father. + +In some respects they were singularly alike. Thus, each had the same +proud, self-reliant carriage, the same large, brilliant eyes, serene +brow and firm mouth, the same repose of manner, the same clear, incisive +enunciation. Neither could move in any company, however eclectic, +without evoking comment. + +They held in common that air of refinement and good breeding which is, +or should be, the best-marked attribute of an aristocracy. It was +impossible to imagine either in rags, but, given such a transformation, +each would be notable because of the amazing difference that would exist +between garb and mien. + +It must not be imagined that Theydon indulged in this close analysis of +the physical characteristics of two complete strangers while his cab was +wheeling into the scurry of traffic in Cranbourn Street. Rather did he +essay a third time to light the cigarette which he still held between +his lips. And yet a third time was his intent balked. + +A policeman stopped the east-bound stream of vehicles somewhat suddenly +at the corner of Charing Cross road; owing to the mud, the taxi skidded +a few feet beyond the line; a lamp was torn off by a heavy wagon coming +south; and a fierce argument between taxi driver and policeman resulted +in "numbers" being demanded for future vengeance. Then Theydon took a +hand in the dispute, poured oil on the troubled waters by tipping the +policeman half a crown and the driver half a sovereign--these sums being +his private estimate of damages to dignity and lamp--and the journey was +resumed, with a net loss, to the person who had absolutely nothing to do +with the affair, of twelve and sixpence in money and nearly ten minutes +in time. + +Theydon was not rich, as shall be seen in due course, but he was +generous and impulsive. He hated the notion of any one suffering for +having done him a service, and the taxi man might reasonably be deemed a +real benefactor on that sloppy night. + +So far as he was concerned, the delay of ten minutes was of no +consequence. It only meant a slightly deferred snuggling down into an +easy chair in his flat with a book and a pipe. That is how he would have +expressed himself if questioned on the point. In reality it influenced +and controlled his future in the most vital way, because, once the cab +had crossed Oxford Street and turned into the quiet thoroughfare on +which the first block of Innesmore Mansions abutted, he passed into a +new phase of existence. + +The cigarette, lighted at last after the altercation, had filled the cab +with smoke to such an extent that Theydon lowered a window. At that +moment the driver was slowing down to take the corner of the even more +secluded road which contained Innesmore Mansions and the gardens +appertaining thereto, and nothing else. Necessarily, Theydon was looking +out, and he was very greatly surprised at seeing the unknown gentleman +of the theater walking rapidly round the same corner. + +He could not be mistaken. The stranger tilted back his umbrella and +raised his eyes to ascertain the name of the street, as though he was +not quite sure of his whereabouts, and the glare of a lamp fell directly +on his clean-cut, almost classical face. + +Being thus occupied, he did not glance at the passing cab, or +recognition might possibly have been mutual--possibly, though not +probably, because, during that brief pause on the steps of the theater, +he stood beside Theydon; hence, he was half-turned toward his daughter +while they were discussing the night's immediate program. + +In itself the fact that he had gone in the direction of Innesmore +Mansions rather than toward the Constitutional Club was in nowise +remarkable. Nevertheless, he had deceived his daughter--deceived her +intentionally, and the knowledge came as a shock to his unsuspected +critic in Theydon. + +He did not look the sort of man who would stoop to petty evasion of the +truth. It was as though a statue of Praxiteles, miraculously gifted with +life, should express its emotions, not in Attic Greek, but in the +up-to-date slang of the Strand. + +"Well, I'm dashed!" said Theydon, or words to that effect, and his cab +sped on to the third doorway. Innesmore Mansions arranged its roomy +flats in blocks of six, and he occupied No. 18. + +He held a florin in readiness; the rain, now falling heavily, did not +encourage any loitering on the pavement. For all that, he saw out of the +tail of his eye that the other man was approaching, though he had paused +to examine the numbers blazoned on a lamp over the first doorway. + +"Good night, sir, and thank you!" said the taxi driver. + +The cab made off as Theydon ran up a short flight of steps. Innesmore +Mansions did not boast elevators. The flats were comfortable, but not +absurdly expensive, and their inmates climbed stairs cheerfully; at +most, they had only to mount to a second storey. Each block owned a +uniformed porter, who, on a night like this, even in May, needed rousing +from his lair by a bell if in demand. + +Theydon took the stairs two at a stride, opened the door of No. 18, +which, with No. 17, occupied the top landing. He was valeted and cooked +for by an ex-sergeant of the Army Service Corps and his wife, an +admirable couple named Bates, and the male of the species appeared +before Theydon had removed coat and opera hat in the tiny hall. + +"Bring my tray in fifteen minutes, Bates, and that will be all for +tonight," said Theydon. + +"Yes, sir," said Bates. "Remarkable change in the weather, sir." + +"Rotten. Who would have expected this downpour after such a fine day?" + +Bates took the coat and hat, and Theydon entered his sitting room, a +spacious, square apartment which faced the gardens. He had purposely +prevented Bates from coming immediately with his nightly fare, which +consisted of a glass of milk and a plate of bread and butter. + +Truth to tell, the artistic temperament contains a spice of curiosity, +which is, in some sense, an exercise of the perceptive faculties. +Theydon wanted to raise a window and look out, an unusual action, and +one which, therefore, would induce Bates to wonder as to its cause. + +For once in his life a man who bothered his head very little about other +people's business was puzzled, and meant to ascertain whether or not the +unknown was really calling on some resident in Innesmore Mansions. It +was a harmless bit of espionage. Theydon scarcely knew the names of the +other dwellers in his own block, and his acquaintance did not even go +that far with any of the remaining tenants of 48 flats, all told. + +Still, to a writer, the vagaries of the tall stranger were decidedly +interesting, so he did open a window, and did thrust his head out, and +was just in time to see the owner of the limousine which would call at +the Constitutional Club in a quarter of an hour mount the steps leading +to Nos. 13-18. Somehow, the discovery gave Theydon a veritable thrill. + +Could that pretty girl's father, by any chance, be coming to visit him? +A wildly improbable development had been whittled down to a five-to-one +chance. He closed the window and waited, yes, actually waited, for the +bell to ring! + +The sitting room door was open, and it faced the hall door. Footsteps +sounded sharply on the slate steps of the stairway; when Theydon heard +some one climbing to the topmost landing he was almost convinced that, +as usual, the unexpected was about to happen. It did happen, but took +its own peculiar path. The unknown rang the bell of No. 17, and, after a +slight delay, was admitted. + +Theydon smiled at the anticlimax. A trivial mystery had developed along +strictly orthodox lines. A rather good-looking and distinctly +well-dressed lady, a Mrs. Lester, occupied No. 17. She lived alone, too, +he believed. At any rate, he had never seen any other person, except an +elderly servant, enter or leave the opposite flat, and he had +encountered the tenant herself so seldom that he was not quite certain +of recognizing her apart from the environment of the staircase which +provided their occasional meeting place. + +Then he sighed. Romance evidently denied her magic presence to one who +wooed her assiduously by his pen. He was yet to learn that the alluring +sprite had not only favored him with her attentions during the past +twenty minutes, but meant to stick to him like his own shadow for many a +day. And he frowned, too. + +He did not approve of that pretty girl's father visiting the attractive +Mrs. Lester in conditions which savored of something underhanded and +clandestine. The man had deliberately misled his daughter. He left her +with a lie on his lips; yet never were appearances more deceptive, for +the stranger had the outward aspect of one whose word was his bond. + +"Oh, dash it all, what business is it of mine, anyhow?" growled Theydon, +and he laughed sourly as he sat down to write a letter which Bates could +take to the post, thus himself practicing a slight deceit intended +solely to account for the deferred bringing of the tray. + +It was apparently an unimportant missive which could well have been +postponed till the morning, being merely an announcement to a firm of +publishers that he would pay a business call later in the week. In less +than five minutes it, and another, making an appointment for Wednesday, +this being the night of Monday, were written, sealed, directed and +stamped. + +He rang. Bates came, with laden hands, thinking the tray was in demand. + +"Kindly post those for me," said Theydon, glancing at the letters. +"Better take an umbrella. It's raining cats and dogs." + +The man had found the door open, and left it so when he entered. Before +he could answer, the door of No. 17 was opened and closed, with the +jingle inseparable from the presence of many small panes of glass in +leaden casing, and footsteps sounded on the stairs. For some +reason--probably because of the unusual fact that any one should be +leaving Mrs. Lester's flat at so late an hour, both men listened. + +Then Bates recollected himself. + +"Yes, sir," he said. + +Oddly enough, the man's marked pause suggested a question to his +employer. + +"Mrs. Lester's visitor didn't stop long," was the comment. "He came up +almost on my heels." + +"I thought it must ha' bin a gentleman," said Bates. + +"Why a 'gentleman'?" laughed Theydon. + +"I mean, sir, that the step didn't sound like a lady's." + +"Ah, I see." + +Vaguely aware that he had committed himself to a definite knowledge as +to the sex of Mrs. Lester's visitor, Theydon added: + +"I didn't actually see any one on the stairs, but I heard an arrival, +and jumped to the same conclusion as you, Bates." + +Tacitly, master and man shared the same opinion--it was satisfactory to +know that Mrs. Lester's male visitors who called at the unconventional +hour of 11:30 p. m. were shown out so speedily. Innesmore Mansions were +intensely respectable. + +No lady could live there alone whose credentials had not satisfied a +sharp-eyed secretary. Further, Theydon was aware of a momentary +disloyalty of thought toward the distinguished-looking father of that +remarkably handsome girl, and it pleased him to find that he had erred. + +Bates went out, closing the door behind him: he donned an overcoat, +secured an umbrella and presently descended to the street. Yielding +again to impulse, Theydon reopened the window and peered down. The +stranger was walking away rapidly. A policeman, glistening in cape and +overalls, stood at the corner, near a pillar box. + +The tall man, who topped the burly constable by some inches, halted for +a moment to post a letter. Whether by accident or design he held his +umbrella so that the other could not see his face. Then he disappeared. +Bates came into view. He dropped Theydon's letters into the box, but he +and the policeman exchanged a few words, which, his employer guessed, +must surely have dealt with the vagaries of the weather. + +For an author of repute Theydon's surmises had been wide of the mark +several times that night. The policeman had seen the unknown coming out +from the doorway of Nos. 13-18, and had noted his stature and +appearance. + +"Who's the toff who just left your lot?" he said, when Bates arrived. + +"Dunno," said Bates. "Some one callin' on Mrs. Lester, I fancy. Why?" + +"O, nothing. On'y, if I was togged up regardless on a night like this +I'd blue a cab fare." + +"I didn't see him meself," commented Bates. "My boss 'eard him come, an' +both of us 'eard him go. He didn't stay more'n five minnits." + +"Wish I was in his shoes. I've got to stick round here till six in the +morning," grinned the policeman. + +"Well, cheer-o, mate." + +"Cheer-o." + +Bates looked in on his master before retiring for the night. + +"What time shall I call you, sir?" he said. + +Theydon was in the pipe and book stage, having exchanged his dress coat +for a smoking jacket. He was reading a treatise on aeronautics, and, +like every novice, had already formulated a flying scheme which would +supersede all known inventions. + +"Not later than 8," he said. "I must be out by 9. And, by the way, I may +as well tell you now. After lunch tomorrow I am going to Brooklands. I +return to Waterloo at 6:40. As I have to dine in the West End at 7:30, +and my train may be a few minutes behind time, I want you to meet me +with a suitcase at the hairdresser's place on the main platform. I'll +dress there and go straight to my friend's house. It would be cutting +things rather fine if I attempted to come here." + +"I'll have everything ready, sir." + +Bates was eminently reliable in such matters. He could be depended on to +the last stud. + +The storm which had raged overnight must have cleared the skies for the +following day, because Theydon never enjoyed an outing more than his +trip to the famous motor track. His business there, however, lay with +aviation. A popular magazine had commissioned him to write an article +summing up the progress and practical aims of the airmen and he was +devoting afternoon and evening to the quest of information. A couple of +experts and a photographer had given him plenty of raw material in the +open, but he looked forward with special zest to an undisturbed chat +that night with Mr. James Creighton Forbes, millionaire and +philanthropist, whose peculiar yet forcible theories as to the peaceful +conquest of the air were for the hour engaging the attention of the +world's press. + +He had never met Mr. Forbes. When on the point of writing for an +appointment he had luckily remembered that the great man was a lifelong +friend of the professor of physics at his (Theydon's) university, and a +delightfully cordial introductory note was forthcoming in the course of +a couple of posts. This brought the invitation to dinner. "On Tuesday +evening I am dining _en famille_," wrote Mr. Forbes, "so, if you are +free, join us at 7:30, and we can talk uninterruptedly afterward." + +The train was not late. Bates, erect and soldierly, was standing at the +rendezvous. With him were two men whom Theydon had never before seen. +One, a bulky, stalwart, florid-faced man of forty, had something of the +military aspect; the other supplied his direct antithesis, being small, +wizened and sallow. + +The big man had a round, bullet head, prominent bright blue eyes, and +the cheek bones, chin and physical development of a heavyweight +pugilist. His companion, whose dark and recessed eyes were noticeably +bright, too, could not be more than half his weight, and Theydon would +not have been surprised if told that this diminutive person was a +dancing master. Naturally he classed both as acquaintances of his valet, +encountered by chance on the platform at Waterloo. + +He was slightly astonished, therefore, when the two faced him, together +with Bates. A dramatic explanation of their presence was soon supplied. + +"These gentlemen, sir, are Chief Inspector Winter and Detective +Inspector Furneaux of Scotland Yard," said the ex-sergeant, in the awed +tone which some people cannot help using when speaking of members of the +Criminal Investigation Department. + +Though daylight had not yet failed it was rather dark in that corner of +the station, and Theydon saw now what he had not perceived earlier, that +the usually sedate Bates was pale and harassed looking. + +"Why, what's up?" he inquired, gazing blankly from one to the other of +the ominous pair. + +"Haven't you seen the evening papers, Mr. Theydon?" said Winter, the +giant of the two. + +"No, I've been at Brooklands since two o'clock. But what is it?" + +"You don't know, then, that a murder was committed in the Innesmore +Mansions last night or early this morning?" + +"Good Lord, no! Who was killed?" + +"A Mrs. Lester, the lady--" + +"Mrs. Lester, who lives in No. 17?" + +"Yes." + +"What a horrible thing! Why, only the day before yesterday I met her on +the stairs." + +It was a banal statement, and Theydon knew it, but he blurted out the +first crazy words that would serve to cloak the monstrous thought which +leaped into his brain. And a picture danced before his mind's eye, a +picture, not of the fair and gracious woman who had been done to death, +but of a sweet-voiced girl in a white satin dress who was saying to a +fine-looking man standing by her side: "Dad, aren't you coming home with +me?" + +His blurred senses were conscious of the strange medley produced by the +familiar noises of a railway station blending with the quietly +authoritative voice of the chief inspector. + +"Mr. Furneaux and I have the inquiry in hand, Mr. Theydon," the +detective was saying. "We called at your flat, and Bates told us of the +sounds you both heard about 11:30 last night. I'm afraid we have rather +upset you by coming here, but Bates was unable to say what time you +would return home, so I thought you would not mind if we accompanied him +in order to find out the hour at which it would be convenient for you to +meet us at your flat--this evening, of course." + +"You have certainly given me the shock of my life," Theydon gasped. +"That poor woman dead, murdered! It's too awful! How was she killed?" + +"She was strangled." + +"O, this is dreadful! Shall I wire an apology to the man I'm dining +with?" + +"No need for that, Mr. Theydon," said Winter, sympathetically. "I'm +sorry now we blurted out our unpleasant news. But you had to be told, +and it was essential that we should get your story some time tonight. +Can you be home by eleven?" + +"Yes, yes. I'll be there without fail." + +"Thank you. We have a good many inquiries to make in the meantime. +Goodby, for the present." + +The two made off. Winter had done all the talking, but Theydon was far +too disturbed to pay heed to the trivial fact that Furneaux, after one +swift glance, seemed to regard him as a negligible quantity. It was +borne in on him that the detective evidently believed he had something +of importance to say, and meant to render it almost impossible that he +should escape questioning while his memory was still active with +reference to events of the previous night. + +And he had so little, yet so much, to tell. On his testimony alone it +would be a comparatively easy matter to establish beyond doubt the +identity of Mrs. Lester's last known visitor. And what would be the +outcome? He dared hardly trust his own too lively imagination. Whether +or not his testimony gave a clew to the police, the one irrevocable +issue was that somewhere in London there was a girl named Evelyn who +would regard a certain young man, Francis Berrold Theydon to wit, as a +loathsome and despicable Paul Pry. + +Bates, somewhat relieved by the departure of the emissaries of Scotland +Yard, recalled his master's scattered wits to the affairs of the moment. + +"It's getting on for seven, sir," he said. "I've engaged a dressing +room." + +"Tell you what, Bates," said Theydon abstractedly, "it is my fixed +belief that you and I could do with a brandy and soda apiece." + +"That would be a good idea, sir." + +The good idea was duly acted on. While Theydon was dressing Bates told +him what little he knew of the tragedy, which was discovered by Mrs. +Lester's maid when she brought a cup of tea to her mistress' bedroom at +ten o'clock that morning. + +Bates himself was the first person appealed to by the distracted woman, +and he had the good sense to leave the body and its surroundings +untouched until a doctor and the police had been summoned by telephone. +Thenceforth the day had passed in a whirl of excitement, active in +respect to police inquiries and passive in its resistance to newspaper +interviewers. He saw no valid reason why his employer's plans should be +disturbed, so made no effort to communicate with him at Brooklands. + +"Them 'tecs were very pressin', sir," said Bates, rather indignantly, +"very pressin', especially the little one. He almost wanted to know what +we had for breakfast." + +At that Theydon laughed dolefully, and, as it happened, Bates's grim +humor prevented him from ascertaining the exact nature of Furneaux's +pertinacity. Moreover, the time was passing. At 7:15 Theydon called a +taxi and was carried swiftly to Mr. Forbes's house in Belgravia, while +Bates disposed himself and the dressing case on top of a northbound +omnibus. + +The mere change of clothing, aided by the stimulant, had cleared +Theydon's faculties. Though he would gladly have foregone the dinner, he +realized that it was not a bad thing that he should be forced, as it +were, to wrench his thoughts from the nightmare of a crime with which +such a man as "Evelyn's" father might be associated, even innocently. + +At any rate, he was given some hours to marshal his forces for the +discussion with the representatives of Scotland Yard. He knew well that +he must then face the dilemma boldly. Two courses were open. He could +either share Bates's scanty knowledge, no more and no less, or avow his +ampler observations. And why should he adopt the first of these +alternatives? Was he not bringing himself practically within the law? + +Why should any man be shielded, no matter what his social position or +how beautiful his daughter, who might possibly have caused the death of +the pleasant-mannered and ladylike woman fated now to remain for ever a +tragic ghost in the memory of one who had dwelt under the same roof with +her for five months? + +It was a thorny problem, yet it permitted of only one solution. Duty +must be done though the heavens fell. + +This conviction grew on Theydon as his cab scurried across the Thames +and along Birdcage Walk. A pretty conceit could not be allowed to sweep +aside the first principles of citizenship. Indeed, so reassuring was +this reasoned judgment that he felt a sense of relief as he paid off the +cab and rang the bell of the Forbes mansion. + +He gave his name to a footman, who disposed of his overcoat and hat, and +led him to an upstairs drawing room. Even the most fleeting glances at +hall and staircase revealed evidences of a highly trained artistic taste +gratified by great wealth. The furniture, the china, the pictures, were +each and all rare and well chosen. + +"Mr. Theydon," announced the man, throwing wide the door. + +A lady, bent over some prints spread on a distant table, turned at the +words, and hastened to greet the guest. + +"My father is expecting you, Mr. Theydon," she said. "He was detained +rather late in the city, but will be here now at any moment." + +Theydon was no neurotic boy, whose surcharged nerves were liable to +crack in a crisis demanding some unusual measure of self-control. Yet +the room and its contents--and, not least, the graceful girl advancing +with outstretched hand--swam before his eyes. + +Because this was "Evelyn," and it was certain as the succession of night +to day that Mrs. Lester's mysterious visitor must have been "Evelyn's" +father, James Creighton Forbes. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE COMPACT + + +So petrified was Theydon by coming face to face with the last person +breathing whom he expected to meet in that room, that he stumbled over a +small chair which lay directly between him and his hostess. At any other +time the gaucherie would have annoyed him exceedingly; in the existing +circumstances, no more fortunate incident could have happened, since it +brought Evelyn Forbes herself unwittingly to the rescue. + +"I have spoken twenty times about chairs being left in that absurd +position," she cried, as their hands met, "but you know how +wooden-headed servants are. They will not learn to discriminate. People +often sit in that very place of an afternoon, because any one seated +just there sees the Canaletto on the opposite wall in the best light. +When the lamps are on, the reason for the chair simply ceases to exist, +and it becomes a trap for the unwary. You are by no means the first who +has been caught in it." + +Theydon realized, with a species of irritation, that the girl was +discoursing volubly about the offending chair merely in order to +extricate an apparently shy and tongue-tied young man from a morass of +his own creation. + +That an author of some note should not only behave like a country +bumpkin, but actually seem to need encouragement so that he should "feel +at home" in a London drawing room, was a fact so ridiculous that it +spurred his bemused wits into something approaching their normal +activity. + +"I have not the excuse of the Canaletto," he said, compelling a pleasant +smile, "but may I plead an even more distracting vision? I came here +expecting to meet an elderly gentleman of the class which flippant +Americans describe as 'high-brow,' and I am suddenly brought face to +face with a Romney 'portrait of a lady' in real life. Is it likely that +such an insignificant object as a chair, and a small one at that, would +succeed in catching my eye?" + +Evelyn Forbes laughed, with a joyous mingling of surprise and relief. +Most certainly, Mr. Theydon's manner of speech differed vastly from the +disconcerting expression of positive bewilderment, if not actual fright, +which marred his entrance. + +"Do I really resemble a Romney? Which one?" she cried. + +"An admitted masterpiece." + +"Ah, but people who pay compliments deserve to be put on the rack. I +insist on a definition." + +"Lady Hamilton as Joan of Arc." + +He drew the bow at random, and was gratified to see that his hearer was +puzzled. + +"I don't know that particular picture," she said, "but I cannot imagine +any model less adapted to the subject." + +"Romney immortalized the best qualities of both," he answered promptly. +"Please, may I look at the Canaletto which indirectly waylaid me?" + +She turned to cross the room, but stopped and faced him again with a +suddenness that argued an impulsive temperament. + +"Now, I remember," she said. "Dad told me you had written novels and +some essays. Have you ever really seen Romney's portrait of Lady +Hamilton as Joan of Arc?" + +Those fine eyes of hers pierced him with a glance of such candid inquiry +that he cast pretence to the winds. + +"No," he said. + +"Then you just invented the comparison as an excuse for colliding with +the chair?" + +"Yes. At the same time I throw myself on the mercy of the court." + +"It was rather clever of you." + +He laughed, and their eyes met, at very close range. + +"May I share the joke?" said a voice, and Theydon knew, before he +turned, that the man he had last seen disappearing around the corner of +Innesmore Mansions in a heavy rainstorm was in the room. + +"Why did you tell me that Mr. Theydon was a serious scientific person?" +cried the girl. "He is anything but that. He can talk nonsense quite +admirably." + +"So can a great many serious scientific persons, Evelyn. Glad to see +you, Mr. Theydon. Professor Scarth's letter paved the way for something +more than a formal meeting, so I thought you wouldn't mind giving us an +evening. My wife is not in town. She is a martyr to hay fever, and has +to fly from London to the sea early in May to escape. If caught here in +June nothing can save her. Tonight, as it happens, you're our only +guest, but my daughter is going to a musicale at Lady de Winton's after +dinner, so you and I will be free to soar into the empyrean through a +blaze of tobacco smoke." + +Standing there, in that delightful drawing room, made welcome by a man +like Forbes, and admitted to a degree of charming intimacy by a girl +like Forbes's daughter, Theydon tried to believe that his meeting with +those ill-omened detectives at Waterloo Station was, in some sort, a +figment of the imagination. + +But he was instantly and effectually brought back to a dour sense of +reality by Evelyn Forbes's next words. She, by chance, looked at Theydon +just as she had looked at him the previous night. + +"Were you at Daly's Theater last night?" she inquired suddenly. + +"Yes," he said. Then, finding there was no help for it, he went on:---- + +"You and I have hit on the same discovery, Miss Forbes. We three stood +together at the exit. I was waiting for a taxi, and saw you get into +your car. Now you know just why I fell over the chair." + +Forbes glanced up quickly. + +"Don't tell me Tomlinson forgot to move that infernal chair again!" he +cried. "Really, I must get rid either of our butler or the Canaletto, +yet I prize both." + +"Don't blame Tomlinson, Dad," laughed the girl. "If Mr. Theydon hadn't +made an unconventional entry we would have talked about the weather, or +something equally stupid." + +At that moment Tomlinson himself, imperturbable and portly, announced +that dinner was served. The three descended the stairs, chatting lightly +about the musical comedy witnessed overnight. It was no new revelation +to Theydon that truth should prove stranger than fiction, but the trite +phrase was fast assuming a fresh and sinister personal significance. He +believed, and not without good reason, that no man living had ever +undergone an experience comparable with his present adventure. + +When he left that house he was going straight to two officers of the law +whose bounden duty it would become to call upon Mr. Forbes for a full +and true explanation of his visit to Mrs. Lester--provided, that is, he +(Theydon) told them what he knew. Talk about a death's-head grinning at +a feast! At that bright dinner-table he was a prey to keener emotion +than ever shook a Borgia entertaining one whom he meant to poison. + +In sheer self-defense he talked with an animation he seldom displayed. +Evelyn was evidently much taken by him, and, fired by her manifest +interest, he indulged in fantastic paradox and wild flights of fancy. +Seemingly his exuberance stimulated Forbes, himself a well-informed and +epigrammatic talker. + +An hour sped all too soon. The girl rose with a sigh. + +"It's too bad that I should have to go," she said. "I shall be bored +stiff at Lady de Winton's. But I can't get out of it except by telling a +positive fib over the telephone. Dad, next time you ask Mr. Theydon to +dinner, please let me know in good time, and neither of you will be rid +of me so easily." + +She shook hands with Theydon. While she was giving her father a parting +kiss the guest moved to the door and held it open. As she passed out she +smiled and her eyes said plainly: + +"I like you. Come again soon." + +Then she was gone and the pleasant room lost some of its glow and color. + +"Don't sit down again, Theydon," said Forbes, rising. "We'll have coffee +brought to my den. What is your favorite liqueur--or shall we tell +Tomlinson to send along that decanter of port? It's a first-rate wine. +Another glass won't hurt you, or me, for that matter." + +Theydon had hardly dared to touch the champagne supplied during the +meal. Abstemious at all times, because he found that wine or spirits +interfered with his capacity for work, he felt that a clear head and +steady nerves were called for that night more than any other night in +his life. Following the lead given by his host, therefore, he elected +for the port. + +"You are right, too," said Forbes. "You remember Dr. Johnson's dictum: +'Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a +hero must drink brandy'? Tonight, not aspiring to the heroic, we'll +stick to port." + +"It is a curious fact that on my return from Brooklands today I took a +glass of brandy," confessed Theydon. "I seldom, if ever, drink any +intoxicant before dining, but I needed a stimulant of a sort, and some +unknown tissue in me cried aloud for brandy." + +He hoped vaguely that the comment would lead to something more explicit, +and thus bring him, without undue emphasis, so to speak, to the one +topic on which he was now resolved to obtain a decisive statement from +the man chiefly concerned before he faced the representatives of +Scotland Yard. + +But Forbes, motioning to an easy chair in a well-appointed library, and +flinging himself into another, gave heed only to the one +word--Brooklands. + +"Did you fly?" he asked. + +"No. I was soaking in theory, not practice." + +"Ah, theory. It would, indeed, seem to be true that folded away in some +convolution of our brain are the faculties of the fish and the bird. +Those latent powers are expanding daily. The submarine has already gone +far beyond the practical achievement of aerial craft. But why, in the +name of humanity, should every such development of man's almost +immeasurable resources be dedicated to warlike purposes? I am sick at +heart when I hear the first question put in these days to each inventor: +'Can you enable us to kill more of our fellowmen than we can kill with +existing appliances?' Is it a new engine, a new amalgam of metals, a new +explosive, a new field of electrical energy, one hears the same +vulture's cry--'How many, how far, how safely can we slay?' I regard +this lust for destruction as contemptible. It is a strange and +ignominious feature of modern life. Forgive me, Mr. Theydon, if I speak +strongly on this matter. The men who spread the bounds of science today +are, nominally, at any rate, Christians. They tell of peace and goodwill +to all, yet prepare unceasingly for some awful Armageddon.[*] We teach +Christ's gospel in pulpit and schoolhouse, strive to express it in our +laws, obey it in our lives and social relations, yet we are armed to the +teeth and ever arming, adding strength to the plates of our warships and +distance to the range of our guns, constantly riveting and welding and +forging monsters which shall shatter men and cities and States." + +[*] This story was written before the outbreak of war in 1914.] + +It was not the younger man now who talked brilliantly and forcibly. +Theydon, frankly abandoning the effort to twist the conversation to that +enigma which, the more he saw and heard of Forbes the more incredible it +became, listened enthralled to one who spoke with the conviction and +earnestness of a prophet. + +"Don't imagine that I am framing an indictment against Christianity," +went on Forbes passionately. "The Sermon on the Mount inspires all that +is great and noble in our everyday existence, all that is eternally +beautiful in our dreams of the future. But why this din of war, this +smoke of arsenals, this marching and drilling of the world's youth? +Nature's law appears to have two simple clauses. It enforces a principle +in the struggle for existence, a test in the survival of the fittest. +Great heavens, are not these enough, without having our ears deafened by +powder and drumming? That is why I am devoting a good deal of time and +no small amount of money to an international crusade against the warlike +idea, and I see no reason why a beginning should not be made with the +airship and the airplane. We are too late with the submarine, but, +before the golden hour passes, let us stop the navigation of the air +from forming part of the equipment of murder. Surely it can be done. +England and the United States, Italy, France and the rest of Europe--the +founts of civilization--can write the edict, with all the blazonry of +their glorious histories to illuminate the page--There shall be no war +in the air!'" + +Theydon was carried away in spite of himself. + +"You believe that the airship might develop along the unemotional lines +of the parcel post?" he inquired. + +Forbes laughed. + +"Exactly," he said. "I like your simile. No one suggests that we Britons +should endeavor to destroy our hated rivals by sending bombs through the +mails. Why, then, in the name of common sense, should the first--I might +almost say the only use of which the airship is commonly supposed +capable--be that of destruction? Don't you see the instant result of a +war-limiting ordinance of the kind I advocate? Suppose the peoples and +the rulers declared in their wisdom that soldiers and war material +should be contraband of the air--and suppose that airships do become +vehicles of practical utility--what a farce would soon be all the grim +fortresses, the guns, the giant steel structures now designed as +floating hells! Humanity has yet time to declare that the flying machine +shall be as harmless and serviceable as the penny post. I believe it can +be done. Come now, Mr. Theydon, I think you've caught on to my +scheme--will you help?" + +Help! Here was a man expounding a new evangel, which might, indeed, be +visionary and impracticable, but was none the less essentially noble and +Christian in spirit, yet Theydon was debating whether or not he should +give testimony which would bring to that very room a couple of +detectives whose first questions would make clear to Forbes that he was +suspected of blood-guiltiness! + +The notion was so utterly repellent that Theydon sighed deeply; his host +not unnaturally looked surprised. + +"Of course, such a revolutionary idea strikes you as outside the pale of +common sense," he began, but the younger man stayed him with a gesture. +Here was an opportunity that must not be allowed to pass. No matter what +the cost--if he never saw Evelyn Forbes or her father again--he must +dispel the waking nightmare which held him in such an abnormal condition +of uncertainty and foreboding. + +"Now that your daughter is gone I may venture to speak plainly," he +said. "I told you that, I felt the need of a brandy and soda at +Waterloo. As a matter of fact, I did not leave the Brooklands track +until six o'clock, and, as Innesmore Mansions, where I live, lie north, +and I was due here at 7:30, I had my man meet me at the station with a +suitcase, meaning to change my clothes in the dressing room there, and +come straight here. Guess my astonishment when I found Bates--Bates is +the name of my factotum--in the company of two strangers, whom he +introduced as representing the Criminal Investigation Department." + +He paused. He had brought in his own address skilfully enough, and kept +his voice sufficiently under control that no tremor betrayed a knowledge +of Forbes's vital interest in any mention of that one block of flats +among the multitude. + +Now, for the first time, Innesmore Mansions figured as his abode, the +correspondence which led to the dinner having centered in his club. But +not a flicker of eyelid nor twitch of mobile lips showed the slightest +concern on Forbes's part. Rather did he display at once a well-bred +astonishment on hearing Theydon's concluding words. + +"Do you mean detectives from Scotland Yard?" he cried. + +"Yes." + +Forbes smiled, and commenced filling a pipe. + +"Evidently they did not want you as a principal," he said. + +His tone was genial, but slightly guarded. Theydon realized that this +man of great wealth and high social position had reminded himself that +his guest, though armed with the best of credentials, was quite unknown +to him otherwise, and that, perhaps, he had acted unwisely in inviting a +stranger to his house without making some preliminary inquiry. This +reversal of their roles was a conceit so ludicrous that Theydon smiled +too. + +At any rate, he meant now to pursue an unpleasing task, and have done +with it. + +"No," he said slowly. "It seems that I am the worst sort of witness in a +murder case. I may have heard, I may even have seen, the person +suspected of committing the crime, or, if that is going too far, the +person whom the police have good reason to regard as the last who saw +the poor victim alive and in ordinary conditions. But my testimony, such +as it is, is so slight and inconclusive that, of itself, no one could +hang a cat on it." + +"Good gracious! That sounds interesting, though you have my sympathy. It +must be rather distressing to be mixed up in such an affair, even +indirectly." + +Forbes struck precisely the right note of friendly inquiry. He wished to +hear more, and was at the same time relieved to find that Professor +Scarth had not introduced a notorious malefactor in the guise of a young +writer seeking material for an article on airships! + +Theydon could have laughed aloud at this comedy of errors, but the fact +that at any moment it might develop into a tragedy exercises a wholesome +restraint. + +"I happen to live at No. 18 Innesmore Mansions," he said. "Opposite--on +the same floor, I mean--lives, or did live, a Mrs. Lester. I do not--" + +"Are you telling me that a Mrs. Lester of No. 17 Innesmore Mansions is +dead--has been murdered?" + +Forbes's voice rang out vibrant, incisive. His ordinarily pale face had +blanched, and his deep-set eyes blazed with the fire of some fierce +emotion, but, beyond the slight elevation of tone and the change of +expression, he revealed to Theydon's quietly watchful scrutiny no sign +of the terror or distress which an evildoer might be expected to show on +learning that the law's vengeance was already shadowing him, even in so +remote a way as was indicated by the presence under his roof of a +witness regarded by the police as an important one. + +"Yes!" stammered Theydon, quite taken aback by his companion's +vehemence. "Do you--know the lady? If so--I am sorry--I spoke so +unguardedly--" + +"Good heavens, man, don't apologize for that! I am not a child or +weakling, that I should flinch in horror from one of life's dramatic +surprises! But, are you sure of what you are saying? Mrs. Lester +murdered! When?" + +"About midnight last night, the doctor believes. That is what Bates told +me. I was so shaken on hearing his news, which was confirmed by the two +detectives, that I really gave little heed to details.... She was +strangled--a peculiarly atrocious thing where an attractive and ladylike +woman is concerned. I have never spoken to her, but have met her at odd +times on the stairs. I was immeasurably shocked, I assure you. In fact, +I was on the point of telegraphing an excuse to you for this evening, +but the Chief Inspector--Winter, I think his name is--said it would +suffice for his purpose if I met him at my flat about eleven o'clock, as +he was engaged on other inquiries which would occupy the intervening +hours." + +"But if the news of this dastardly crime only reached you tonight at +Waterloo Station, and you have no personal acquaintance with Mrs. +Lester, what evidence can you give that will assist the police?" + +"Mrs. Lester received a visitor last night, an incident so unusual that +I, who heard him arrive, and Bates, who was in my sitting room when we +both heard him depart, commented on the strangeness of it. That, I +suppose, is the reason why I am in request by Scotland Yard." + +"You say 'him.' How did you know it was a man? Did you see him?" + +"Er--that was impossible. We were in my flat, behind its closed door. +Bates and I deduced his sex from the sound of his footsteps." + +Again Theydon nearly stammered. Events had certainly turned in the most +amazing way. Instead of carrying himself almost in the manner of a +judge, he was figuring rather as an unwilling witness in the hands of a +skilled and merciless cross-examining counsel. + +"Did the police officers supply any theory of motive for the crime? Was +this poor woman killed for the sake of her few trinkets?" + +By this time Theydon was stung into a species of revolt. It was he, not +Forbes, who should be snapping out searching questions. + +"I regret to say that my nerves were not sufficiently under control at +Waterloo that I should listen carefully to each word," he said, almost +stiffly. "Bates had picked up such information as was available; but he, +though an ex-sergeant in the Army, was so upset as to be hardly +coherent. When I meet the detectives in the course of another hour I +shall probably gather something definite and reliable in the way of +details." + +Forbes laid the pipe which he had filled but not lighted on the table. +He poured out a glass of port and drank it. + +"Try that," he said, pushing the decanter toward Theydon. "They cannot +trouble you greatly. You have so little to tell." + +"No, thanks. Nothing more for me tonight until the Scotland Yard men +have cleared out." + +Forbes rose as he spoke and strode the length of the room and back with +the air of a man debating some weighty and difficult point. + +"Mr. Theydon," he said, at last, halting in front of the younger man and +gazing down at him with a direct intensity that was highly embarrassing +to one who had good cause to connect him with the actual crime. "I want +you to do me a favor--a great favor. It was in my mind at first to ask +you to permit me to go with you to Innesmore Mansions, and to be present +during the interview with the detectives. But a man in my position must +be circumspect. It would, perhaps, be unwise to appear too openly +interested. I don't mind telling you in confidence that I have known +Mrs. Lester many years. The shock of her death, severe as it must have +been to you, is slight as compared with my own sorrow and dismay. More +than that I dare not say until better informed. I remember now hearing +the newsboys shouting their ghoulish news, and I saw contents bills +making large type display of 'Murder of a lady,' but little did I +imagine that the victim was one whom--one whose loss I shall deplore.... +Are you on the telephone?" + +"Yes," said Theydon, thoroughly mystified anew by the announcement that +Forbes had even contemplated, or so much as hinted at, the astounding +imprudence of visiting Innesmore Mansions that night. + +"Ring me up when the detectives have gone. I shall esteem your +assistance during this crisis as a real service." + +For the life of him, Theydon could not frame the protest which ought to +have been made without delay and without hesitation. + +"Yes," he said. "I'll do that. You can trust me absolutely." + +Thus was he committed to secrecy. That promise sealed his lips. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +IN THE TOILS + + +Theydon, though blessed, or cursed, with an active imagination--which +must surely be the prime equipment of a novelist--was shrewd and +level-headed in dealing with everyday affairs. + +It was no small achievement that the son of a country rector, aided only +by a stout heart, a university education and an excellent physique--good +recommendations, each and all, but forming the stock-in-trade of many a +man on whose subsequent career "failure" is writ large--should have +forced himself to the front rank of the most overcrowded among the +professions before attaining his twenty-sixth year. + +It may be taken for granted, therefore, that he was not lacking in the +qualities of close observation and critical analysis. He would, for +instance, be readier than the majority of his fellows to note the small +beginnings of events destined to become important. + +Often, of course, his deductions would prove erroneous, but the mere +fact that he habitually exercised his wits in such a way rendered it +equally certain that his judgment would be accurate sometimes. One such +occasion presented itself a few seconds after he had left the Forbes +mansion. + +A taxi, summoned by a footman, was in waiting, and Theydon was crossing +the pavement when he noticed a gray landaulet car at rest beneath the +trees at some distance. Mr. Forbes's house stood in a square, and the +gray car had been drawn up on the quiet side of the roadway, being +stationed there, apparently, to await its owner's behest. Gray cars are +common enough in London, but they are usually of the touring class. + +Not often does one see a gray-painted landaulet; hence, the odd though +hardly remarkable fact occurred to Theydon that a precisely similar gray +automobile had occupied the center of the station yard at Waterloo when +he took a taxi from the rank. + +Admittedly he was in a nervous and excited state. It could hardly be +otherwise after the strain of that astounding conversation with Forbes, +and there was no prospect of the tension being relaxed until the close +of the interview with the detectives, which he now regarded as the worse +ordeal of the two. + +But this subconscious neurasthenia in no wise affected the reflex action +of his ordinary faculties. When, on leaving the square, and while his +cab was rattling along an aristocratic thoroughfare leading to +Knightsbridge, he peered through a tiny observation window in the back +of the vehicle, and ascertained that the gray car was stealing along +quietly about a hundred yards in the rear, he began to believe that its +presence both at Waterloo and outside Mr. Forbes's residence could not +be wholly accidental. When he had watched its persistent treading on his +heels along Piccadilly its intent became almost unmistakable. + +The route to Innesmore Mansions traversed some of London's main +arteries, but, despite the rush of traffic due to the first flight of +homeward-bound playgoers, the gray car kept steadily on his track. +Amused at first, he became angry because of a notion which grew out of +the wonderment of finding himself the object of this persistent +espionage. + +To make sure, and at the same time discover the sort of person who was +spying on him, he adopted a ruse. Leaning out, when about to cross +Oxford Street into Tottenham Court Road, he said to his driver: "Turn +sharp to the right in Store Street, and pull up. I'll tell you when to +go on again." + +The man obeyed. Theydon posted himself at the outer window, and in a +space of time so short that the excellence of the gray car's accelerator +was amply demonstrated, the pursuer swung into sight. A stolid-faced +chauffeur at the wheel did not appear discomfited at coming on his +quarry thus unexpectedly. He whirled past, seemingly quite oblivious of +Theydon's fixed stare. Though the weather was mild he wore an overcoat +with upturned collar, so that between its protecting flaps and a +low-peaked cap his face was well hidden. Still, Theydon received an +impression of a curiously wooden physiognomy. + +The man might have been an automaton for all the heed he gave to the +taxi or its inquisitive occupant. But his aspect was almost forgotten in +the far stranger discovery that the car was empty. Both windows were +open, and the bright lights of a corner shop flashed into the interior, +yet not a soul was visible. Moreover, the car sped on unhesitatingly, +stopping some two hundred yards ahead. + +So far as Theydon could tell, no one alighted. He jotted down the +number--XY 1314--on his shirt cuff. + +"Did you happen to see that car waiting near the house I came from?" he +said to the taxi man, who, of course, provided an interested audience of +one. + +"Yes, sir," was the ready answer. "It's not a London car. I've never +seen them letters afore." + +"In other words, it may be a faked number." + +"Likely enough, sir, but rather risky. The police are quick at spotting +that sort of thing." + +"Can you take a hand in the game? I want to know where that car goes +to." + +The man grinned. + +"I wouldn't like to humbug you, sir. That there machine can lose me +quicker'n a Derby winner could pass a keb horse. Didn't you hear the hum +of the engine as it went by?" + +"Thanks. Now go ahead to Innesmore Mansions." + +He was paying the driver when the gray car stole quietly past the end of +the street, and that was the last he saw of it. + +"There it goes again, sir," said the man. "Tell you wot, gimme your name +an' address. I'll make a few inquiries, an' keep me eyes open as well. +Then, if I hear anythink, I'll let you know." + +Theydon scribbled the number of his flat on a card. + +"There you are," he said. "Even if I happen to be out, I'll leave +instructions that you are to be paid half a crown for your trouble if +you call. By the way, what is your name?" + +"Evans, sir." + +There was really little doubt in Theydon's mind as to the reason why he +had been followed. He was fuming about it when Bates met him in the hall +of No. 18 with the whisper: + +"Them two are waiting here now, sir." + +Theydon glanced at his watch. The hour was ten minutes past eleven. + +"Sorry I'm late, gentlemen," he said, on entering the sitting room and +finding the detectives seated at his table, seemingly comparing notes, +because the Chief Inspector was talking, while Furneaux, the diminutive, +was glancing at a notebook. + +"We have no reason to complain of being kept waiting a few minutes in +such comfortable quarters," said Winter pleasantly. + +"O, I fancy I was detained by some zealous assistant of yours," said +Theydon, determined to carry the war into the enemy's territory. + +At that Furneaux looked up quickly. + +"Will you kindly tell me just what you mean, Mr. Theydon?" said Winter. + +"Why? Is it news to you that a gray limousine car stalked me from +Waterloo to--to my friend's house, waited there three hours or more, and +has carefully escorted me home? I dislike that sort of thing. Moreover, +it strikes me as stupid. I didn't kill Mrs. Lester. It will save you and +me a good deal of time and worry if you accept that plain statement as a +fact." + +"Won't you sit down?" said Winter quietly. "And--may I smoke? I didn't +like to ask Bates for permission to light up in your absence." + +Theydon was not to be outdone in coolness. He opened a corner cupboard +and produced various boxes. + +"The cigars are genuine Havanas," he said. "A birthday present from a +maiden aunt, who is wise enough to judge the quality of tobacco by the +price. Here, too, are Virginian, Turkish and Egyptian cigarettes." + +Winter inspected the cigars gravely. + +"By Jove!" he cried, his big eyes bulging in joyous surprise. "Last +year's crop from the Don Juan y Guerrero plantation. Treasure that aunt +of yours, Mr. Theydon. None but herself can be her equal." + +Theydon saw that the little man did not follow his chief's example. + +"Don't you smoke?" he said. + +"No, but if you'll not be horrified, I would like to smell one of those +Turks." + +"Smell it?" + +"Yes. That is the only way to enjoy the aroma and avoid nicotine +poisoning. My worthy chief dulls a sound intellect by the cigar habit. +What is worse, he excites a nervous system which is normally somewhat +bovine. You, also, I take it, are a confirmed smoker, so both of you are +at cross-purposes already." + +Furneaux's voice was pitched in the curious piping note usually +associated with comic relief in a melodrama, but his wizened face was +solemn as a red Indian's. It was Theydon who smiled. His preconceived +ideas as to the appearance and demeanor of the London detective were +shattered. Really, there was no need to take these two seriously. + +Winter, while lighting the cigar, grinned amiably at his colleague. +Furneaux passed a cigarette to and fro under his nostrils and sniffed. +Theydon reached for a pipe and tobacco jar and drew up a chair. + +"Well," he said, "it is not my business to criticise your methods. I +have very little to tell you. I suppose Bates--" + +"The really important thing is this car which followed you tonight," +broke in Winter. "The details are fresh in your memory. What type of car +was it? Did you see the driver and occupants? What's its number?" + +Theydon had not expected these questions. He looked his astonishment. + +"Ha!" cackled Furneaux. "What did I tell you?" + +"O, shut up!" growled Winter. "I am asking just what you yourself are +itching to know." + +"May I take it that the car has not been dogging me by your +instructions?" said Theydon. He was inclined to be skeptical, yet the +Chief Inspector seemed to have spoken quite candidly. + +"Yes," said Winter, meeting the other's glance squarely. "We have no +reason on earth to doubt the truth of anything you have said, or may +say, with regard to this inquiry. The car is not ours. This is the first +we have heard of it. We accepted your word, Mr. Theydon, that you were +dining with a friend. Perhaps you will tell us now what his name is and +where he lives." + +Theydon hesitated the fraction of a second. That, he knew instantly, was +a blunder, so he proceeded to rectify it. + +"I was dining with Mr. James Creighton Forbes, of No. 11, Fortescue +Square," he said. "Probably you are acquainted with his name, so you +will realize that if my evidence proves of the slightest value I would +not like any reference to be made to the fact that I was his guest +tonight." + +"I don't see how that can possibly enter into the matter, except in its +bearing on this mysterious car." + +Though Winter was taking the lead, Theydon was aware that Furneaux, who +had given him scant attention hitherto, was now looking at him fixedly. +He imagined that the queer little man was all agog to learn something +about the automobile which had thrust itself so abruptly into the +affair. + +"Exactly," he agreed. "I visited Mr. Forbes tonight for the first time. +We are mutually interested in aviation. That is why I went to Brooklands +today, and the invitation to dinner was the outcome of a letter of +introduction given me by Professor Scarth." + +Then, thinking he had said enough on that point, he described the gray +car and its stolid-faced chauffeur to the best of his ability. He told +of the brief chat with the taxi driver and its result. + +"Good!" nodded Winter. "I'm glad you did that. It may help. I am +doubtful of any information turning up, but you never can tell. The +number plate, at any rate, is certainly misleading. Now, about last +night? Try and be as accurate as possible with regard to time. Can you +give us the exact hour when you returned home?" + +"I happened to note by the clock on the mantelpiece that I came in at +11:35." + +Winter compared the clock's time with his watch. + +"You had been to a theater?" he said. + +"Yes--Daly's." + +"It was raining heavily. Did you take a cab?" + +"Yes." + +"Were you delayed? The piece ended at 11:05." + +"My cab met with a slight accident." + +"What sort of accident?" + +Theydon explained. + +"In all likelihood you can discover the driver," he smiled, "and he will +establish my alibi." + +His tone seemed to annoy Furneaux, who broke in: + +"Don't you write novels?" + +"Yes." + +"Sensational?" + +"Occasionally." + +"Then you ought to be tickled to death, as the Americans say, at being +mixed up in a first-rate murder. This is no ordinary crime. Several +people will be older and wiser before the culprit is found and hanged." + +"What Mr. Furneaux has in mind," purred Winter cheerfully, "is the +curious habit of some witnesses when questioned by the police. They arm +themselves against attack, as it were. You see, Mr. Theydon, we suspect +nobody. We try to ascertain facts, and hope to deduce a theory from +them. Over and over again we are mistaken. We are no more astute than +other men. Our sole advantage is a wide experience of criminal methods. +The detective of romance--if you'll forgive the allusion--simply doesn't +exist in real life." + +"I accept the rebuke," said Theydon. "I suppose the gray car was still +rankling in my mind. From this moment I start afresh. At any rate, the +man who brought me from the theater might check my recollection of the +time." + +Winter nodded. He was evidently pleased that Theydon was inclined to +share his view of the difficulties Scotland Yard encountered in its +fight against malefactors. + +"Did you see or meet any one in particular while your car approached +these mansions, or when you ascended the stairs?" + +"No," said Theydon. + +He perceived intuitively that if the detectives found the driver of the +taxi which brought him from the theater it was possible the man might +have noticed Forbes, who had certainly been scrutinized a few minutes +later by a policeman, so he hastened to add: + +"You said 'any one in particular.' I did see a tall, well-dressed +gentleman at the corner of the street, but there is nothing remarkable +in that." + +"Which way was he heading?" + +"In this direction." + +"Then it is conceivable that he might be the man who called on Mrs. +Lester?" + +"Yes." + +"Aren't you pretty sure he was the man?" + +Theydon permitted himself to look astonished. + +"I?" he said. "How can I be sure? If you mean that, judging from the +interval of time between my seeing him at the corner and the sound of +footsteps on the stairs, followed by the opening of the door at No. 17, +it could be he, I accept that." + +Winter nodded again. Apparently he was content with Theydon's +correction. + +"As the weather was bad, you probably hurried in when your cab stopped?" +he said. + +"That is equivalent to saying you credit me with sense enough to get in +out of the wet," smiled Theydon. + +"Just so. And you wore an overcoat, which you removed on entering your +hall?" + +"Yes," and Theydon's tone showed a certain bewilderment at these +trivialities. + +"Then if you paid no special heed to the movements of the tall gentleman +you have mentioned, why did you open one of these windows and look out +soon after Bates went to the post?" + +Theydon flushed like a schoolboy caught by a master under circumstances +which youth generally describes as "a clean cop." + +"How on earth do you know I looked out?" he almost gasped. + +"I'll tell you willingly. The discovery was Mr. Furneaux's, not mine. +When we came here this morning, and ascertained that you had been out at +a late hour last night, we asked your man if he could enlighten us as to +your movements. He did so. To the best of his belief you dined at a +club, and occupied a stall at Daly's Theater subsequently. He was sure, +too, you had not walked home through the rain, so it was easy to draw +the conclusion that you returned in a covered vehicle. Mr. Furneaux +requested Bates to produce the clothes you had worn, which, owing to the +uproar created by the news of the murder, had not been brushed and put +away. As a consequence the silk collar and part of the back of your +dress-coat bore the marks of raindrops. How had they got there? The only +logical deduction was that you had thrust your head and shoulders +through a window, and the time of the action is established almost +beyond doubt, because you had changed the coat when Bates came from the +pillar-box. It was either directly after you came in, or while Bates was +absent. Of course you may have looked out twice. Did you? Whether once +or twice, why did you do it?" + +Theydon's feelings changed rapidly while Winter was delivering this very +convincing analysis of a few simple facts. He had passed at a bound from +the detected schoolboy stage to that of a man forcing his way through a +thicket who finds himself on the very lip of a precipice. + +He remembered hazily that Bates had said something at Waterloo with +regard to the manner in which the detectives, especially Furneaux, had +questioned him. But it was too late to apply the warning thus conveyed. +If he faltered now he was forever discredited. These men would read his +perplexed face as if it were a printed page. In his distress he was +prepared to hear Winter or that little satyr, Furneaux, say mockingly: + +"Why are you trying to screen James Creighton Forbes? What is he to you? +What matter his fame or social rank? We are here to see that justice is +done. Out with the truth, let who may suffer." + +But neither of the pair said anything of the sort. Furneaux only +interjected a sarcastic comment. + +"You will observe, Mr. Theydon, that even in a minor instance of +deductive reasoning, such as this, the man who smells rather than the +man who smokes tobacco solves the problem promptly." + +Theydon threw out his hands in token of surrender. He thought he saw a +means of escape, and took it unhesitatingly. + +"I'm vanquished," he said. "You force me to admit that I do know a +little, a very little, more than I have confessed hitherto about the man +who visited Mrs. Lester's flat last night. I have said nothing about the +matter thus far because I didn't want to be convicted of a piece of idle +curiosity worthy of a gossip-loving housemaid. I noticed the man I have +described staring at the name tablet of the street as my cab turned the +corner. I did not know him. I had never seen him before last night, but +he was of such distinguished appearance and his face was of so rare a +type that I was interested and wished to ascertain, if possible, on whom +he meant calling if, as it seemed, he was searching for an address in +these flats. Therefore, I did look out, and saw him enter the doorway +beneath. In due course I heard him arrive at Mrs. Lester's door--that +is, I assume it was he. Five minutes later Bates and I heard him depart. +To make sure, I looked out a second time. If you ask me why I behaved in +that way I cannot tell you. I have occupied this flat during the past +five months, and I have never previously, within my recollection, lifted +a window and gazed out to watch anybody's comings and goings. The thing +is inexplicable. All I can say is that it just happened." + +"Would you recognize him if you saw him again?" + +"Yes." + +Theydon gave the assurance readily. It was beyond credence that either +detective should put the one question to which he was now firmly +resolved to give a misleading answer, and in this belief he was +justified, since not even Furneaux's uncanny intelligence could suggest +the fantastic notion that the man who walked through the rain the +previous night and the man with whom Theydon had dined that evening were +one and the same person. + +"I don't blame you for adopting a policy of partial concealment," said +the Chief Inspector, spryly. "You are not the first, and you certainly +will not be the last witness from whom the police have to drag the +facts. Now that we have reached more intimate terms, can you help by +describing this stranger?" + +Theydon complied at once. He drew just such a general sketch of Forbes +as a skilled observer of men might be expected to formulate after one +direct glance close at hand, supplemented by a view into a lamp-lit +street from a second-storey window on a rainy night. + +"So far, so good," said Winter. "You have contrived to fill in several +details lacking in the description supplied by a policeman who chanced +to be standing at the corner when Mrs. Lester's visitor posted a letter. +Did you notice that?" + +"Yes. Indeed, I believed that, whether intentionally or not, he held an +open umbrella at an angle which prevented the constable from seeing his +face." + +"In fact, it's marvellous what you really do know when your memory is +jogged," snapped Furneaux. + +Theydon did not resent the sarcasm. He smiled candidly into the little +detective's eyes. + +"I suppose I deserve that," he said meekly. + +"Why did you hide your knowledge of Mrs. Lester's visitor from your man +Bates?" + +"I was rather ashamed of the subterfuge adopted in order to get him out +of the room while I opened the window the first time." + +"That was understandable last night, but I fail to follow your reasoning +for a policy of silence when we told you at Waterloo that Mrs. Lester +had been killed." + +"I was utterly taken aback by your news. I wanted time to think. I never +meant to hide any material fact at this interview." + +"You have contrived to delay and hamper our inquiry for twelve +hours--twenty-four in reality. I can't make you out, Mr. Theydon. You +would never have said a word about your very accurate acquaintance with +this mysterious stranger's appearance had not last night's rainstorm +left its legible record on your clothes. Do you now vouch for it that +the man was completely unknown to you?" + +"You are pleased to be severe, Mr. Furneaux, but, having placed myself +in a false position, I must accept your strictures. I assure you, on my +honor, that the man I saw was an absolute stranger." + +Happily, Theydon was under no compulsion to choose his words. He met the +detective's searching gaze unflinchingly. Fate, after terrifying him, +had been kind. If Furneaux had expressed himself differently--if, for +instance, he had said: "Had you ever before seen the man?" or "Have you +now any reason for believing that you know his name?"--he would have +forced Theydon's hand in a way he was far from suspecting. + +"It may surprise you to hear," piped the shrill, cracked voice, "that +there are dozens of policemen walking about London who would arrest you +on suspicion had you treated them as you have treated us." + +"Then I can only say that I am fortunate in my inquisitors," smiled +Theydon. + +Winter held up a massive fist in deprecation of these acerbities. + +"You have nothing more to tell us?" he queried. + +"Nothing!" + +"Then we need not trouble you further tonight. Of course, if luck favors +us and we find the gentleman with the classical features--the most +unlikely person to commit a murder I have ever heard of--we shall want +you to identify him." + +"I am at your service at any time. But before you go won't you enlighten +me somewhat? What did really happen? I have not even seen a newspaper +account of the crime." + +"Would you care to examine No. 17?" + +It was Furneaux who put the question, and Theydon was genuinely +astonished. + +"Do you mean--" he began, but Furneaux laughed, almost savagely. + +"I mean Mrs. Lester's flat," he said. "The poor woman's body is at the +mortuary. If you come with us we can reconstruct the crime. It occurred +about this very hour if the doctor's calculations are well founded." + +Theydon rose. + +"I shall be most--interested," he said. "By the way, Mr. Furneaux, yours +is a French name. Are you a Frenchman, may I ask?" + +"A Jersey man. You think I am adopting some of the methods of the French +_juge d'instruction_, eh?" + +"No. I cannot bring myself to believe that you regard me as a murderer." + +The three passed out into the hall. Mr. and Mrs. Bates immediately +showed scared faces at the kitchen door. + +"It's all right, Bates," said Theydon airily. "I'm not a prisoner. I'll +be with you again in a few minutes." + +But Bates was profoundly disturbed. + +"Wot beats me," he said to his wife when they were alone, "is why that +little ferret wanted to see the guv'nor's clothes. I looked 'em over +carefully afterwards, an' there wasn't a speck on 'em except some spots +of rain on the coat collar. It's a queer business, no matter how you +look at it. Mr. Theydon's manner was strange when he kem in last night. +He seemed to be list'nin' for something. I don't know wot to make of it, +Eliza. I reely don't." + +In effect, since no man is a hero to his valet, what would Tomlinson, +butler at No. 11 Fortescue Square, have thought of his master if told +that Mrs. Lester's last known visitor was James Creighton Forbes? + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A TELEPHONIC TALK AND ITS CONSEQUENCES + + +Theydon's journalistic experiences had been, for the most part, those of +the "special correspondent," or descriptive writer. He had never entered +one of those fetid slums of a great city in which, too often, murder is +done, never sickened with the physical nausea of death in its most +revolting aspect, when some unhappy wretch's foul body serves only to +further pollute air already vile. + +It was passing strange, therefore, that Winter had no sooner opened the +door of No. 17 than the novice of the party became aware of a heavy, +pungent scent which he associated with some affrighting and unclean +thing. At first he swept aside the phantasy. Strong as he was, his +nervous system had been subjected to severe strain that evening. He knew +well that the mind can create its own specters, that the five senses can +be subjugated by forces which science has not as yet either measured or +defined. + +Moreover, he was standing in a hall furnished with a taste and quiet +elegance that must surely indicate similar features in each room of a +suite which, in other respects, bore an almost exact resemblance of his +own apartments. In sheer protest against the riot of an overwrought +imagination he brushed a hand across his eyes. + +The chief inspector noted the action. + +"You will find nothing grewsome here, I assure you," he said, quietly. +"Beyond a few signs of hurried rummaging of drawers and boxes there is +absolutely no indication of a crime having been committed." + +"Mr. Theydon came prepared to see ghosts," squeaked Furneaux. "Evidently +he is not acquainted with the peculiar smell of a joss stick." + +Theydon turned troubled eyes on the wizened little man who seemed to +have the power of reading his secret thought. + +"A joss stick," he repeated. "Isn't that some sort of incense used by +Chinese in their temples?" + +"Yes," said Furneaux. + +"Lots of ladies burn them in their boudoirs nowadays," explained Winter +offhandedly. + +"The Chinese burn them to propitiate evil spirits," murmured Furneaux. +"The Taou gods are mostly deities of a very unpleasant frame of mind. +The mere scowl of one of them from a painted fan suggests novel and +painful forms of torture. I've seen Shang Ti grinning at me from a +porcelain vase, otherwise exquisite, and felt my hair rising." + +"I do wish you wouldn't talk nonsense, Charles," said Winter, frowning +heavily. + +"Am I talking nonsense, Mr. Theydon?" demanded Furneaux. "Didn't your +flesh creep when that queer perfume assailed your nostrils, which are +not yet altogether atrophied by the reek of thousands of rank cigars?" + +"Stop it!" commanded Winter, throwing open a door. + +"And they christened him Leander--Leander, who swam the Hellespont for +love of a woman!" muttered Furneaux. + +Theydon began to believe that both detectives were cranks of the first +order. Furneaux, whose extraordinary insight he actually feared, was +obviously an excellent example of the alliance between insanity and +genius. In a word, he failed, and not unreasonably, to understand that +when the Jersey man was mouthing a strange jargon of knowledge and +incoherence, and Winter was inclined to be snappy with his subordinate, +and each was more than rude to the other, they were then giving tongue +like hounds hot on the trail. + +Winter's Christian names were James Leander, the latter being conferred +for no more classical reason than his father's association with a famous +boating club, but the fact supplied Furneaux with material for many a +quip. These things Theydon learnt later. At present he was giving all +his attention to Winter, who led the way into a dainty furnished +bedroom. The electric lights were governed by two switches. A pair of +lamps occupied the usual place in front of a dressing table; a third was +suspended from a canopy over the bed, and was controlled also by an +alternate switch behind the bolster. Winter turned on all three lights, +so the room was brilliantly illuminated. + +Any place less likely to become the scene of a brutal crime could hardly +be imagined. It looked exactly what it was, the bedchamber of a refined +and well-bred woman, whose trained sense of color and design was shown +by the harmony of carpet, rugs, wall paper and furniture. + +Winter pointed to a slight depression on the side of the bed. A white +linen coverlet was rumpled as though some one had sat there. + +"That is where Ann Rogers, the maid, found her mistress at ten o'clock +this morning," he said. "As you see, the bed had not been slept in. +Indeed, Mrs. Lester was fully dressed. My belief is that she was pounced +on the instant she entered the room--probably to retire for the +night--strangled before she could utter a sound, and flung here when +dead." + +Again Theydon was aware of the subtle, penetrating, and not wholly +unpleasing scent which Furneaux had attributed to the burning of a joss +stick, but his mind was focused on the detective's words, which +suggested a queer discrepancy between certain vague possibilities +already flitting through his brain and the terrible drama as it +presented itself to a skilled criminologist. + +"But," he said, almost protestingly, "from what I have seen of Mrs. +Lester she was a strong and active woman. It is inconceivable that the +man who came here last night could have murdered her while I was writing +two brief notes. I am positive he did not remain five minutes, and Bates +or I, or both of us, must have heard some trampling of feet, some +indications of a struggle. Moreover, you think she was about to retire. +Doesn't that opinion conflict with the known facts?" + +"What known facts?" + +"Well--or--those I have mentioned. The brief visit, the open nature of +the arrival and departure, the posting of a letter, which, by the way, +may have been written in his presence." + +"It was." + +Theydon positively jumped. He would not be surprised now if Forbes's +name came out. + +"How do you know that?" he asked. + +"Mrs. Lester wrote to an aunt in Oxfordshire, a lady who lives in the +village of Iffley, near the first lock on the Thames below Oxford. As it +happened, this aunt, a Miss Beale, was lunching with a friend in Oxford +today, and some one showed her an early edition of a London evening +newspaper containing an account of the murder. Instead of yielding to +hysteria, and passing from one fainting fit into another, Miss Beale had +the rare good sense to go straight to the police station. One of our men +has interviewed her this evening, and she is coming here tomorrow, but +in the meantime the Oxford police telephoned the gist of the letter, +which is headed 'Monday, 11:30 p. m.' The hour is not quite accurate, +but near enough, since the context shows that a 'friend' had just called +and given certain information which had determined the writer to leave +London 'to-morrow'--meaning today--'or Wednesday at latest.' So you see, +Mr. Theydon, if the unknown is an honest man, he will soon hear of the +hue and cry raised by the murder, and declare himself to the police. +Indeed, for all I know, he may have reported himself to the Yard +already. In that event you will probably meet him again quite soon." + +An electric bell jarred at the end of the main passage. It smote on +their ears with the loud emphasis of a pistol shot. Even the detectives +were startled, and Winter said, in a tone of distinct annoyance: + +"Go and see who the deuce that is, Furneaux." + +Furneaux returned promptly with Bates, pallid and apologetic. + +"Beg pardon, sir," said the intruder, addressing Theydon, but allowing +his eyes to roam furtively about the room as though he expected to see +something ghoul-like and sinister, "Mr. Forbes has rung up--" + +Theydon's voice literally quavered. For the first time in his life he +knew why a woman shrieks in the stress of sudden excitement. + +"Tell Mr. Forbes I am still engaged with the gentlemen from Scotland +Yard," he gasped. "I'll give him a call the moment I'm free. He will +understand. Anyhow, I can't explain further now." + +"Yes, sir," and Bates disappeared. + +"Mr. Forbes? The gentleman you were dining with?" inquired Winter. + +"Yes," said Theydon. He knew he ought to add something by way of +explanation, but his heart was thumping madly, and he dared not trust +his voice. + +"You told him, I suppose, that Scotland Yard was worrying you, and he +wants to know the result?" + +Then Theydon saw an avenue of escape, and took it eagerly. + +"I spoke of the murder, of course," he said, "but Mr. Forbes was hardly +interested. He had seen the newspaper placards, and that was all he knew +of it. The truth is, he is wholly wrapped up in a scheme for reforming +mankind by excluding airships and aeroplanes from warlike operations, +and found me a somewhat preoccupied listener. He wants my help, such as +it is, and I have no doubt the present call is a preliminary to another +meeting tomorrow." + +"Why not go to him? We'll wait. We can do nothing more tonight after +leaving here." + +"Speaking candidly, I am not in a mood to discuss such visionary +projects. I shall be glad if Mr. Forbes has gone to bed when I do ring +him up." + +Winter shook his head. + +"Excuse me, Mr. Theydon, but I am older than you, and may 'venture on +advice,'" he said. "A writer who has his way to make in the world cannot +afford to slight a man of Mr. Forbes's standing. Go to him at once. It +will please him. Don't hurry." + +Theydon realized that a continued refusal would certainly set Furneaux's +wits at work, and he dreaded the outcome. He went without another word. +When the outer door had closed behind him Winter turned to Furneaux. + +"Well?" he said. + +For answer Furneaux waved a hand and tiptoed into the hall. Waiting +until he heard the door of No. 18 slam he opened the latch of No. 17 so +cautiously that no sound was forthcoming. Soon he had an ear to +Theydon's letter box and was following attentively a one-sided +conversation. + +Now, Theydon had thought hard during the few strides from one flat to +the other. His telephone was fixed close to the party wall dividing the +two sets of apartments and he was not certain that, in the absolute +quietude prevailing in Innesmore Mansions at that late hour, a voice +could not be overheard. True, he did not count on Furneaux playing the +eavesdropper at the slit of the letter box, but he resolved to take no +risks and say nothing that any one could make capital of. + +So, when he had asked the exchange to reconnect him with the caller who +had just rung up, and he was put through, this is what Furneaux heard: + +"That you, Mr. Forbes. Sorry I sent my man just now with a message that +must leave sounded rather curt, but the Scotland Yard people kindly +excused me, so I can give you a minute or two.... No, I'm sorry, but I +cannot come to luncheon tomorrow, nor go to Brooklands again this week. +You see, this dreadful murder which I spoke of will necessitate my +presence at an inquest, and the police seem to attach much significance +to the visit to Mrs. Lester last night of a man whom I saw in the +street, and whom Bates and I heard entering and leaving the poor lady's +flat.... Bates? O, he is my general factotum. He and his wife keep house +for me.... Yes, I'll gladly let you know the earliest date when I'll be +free. Then you and I can go into the flying proposition thoroughly.... +No. The detectives have apparently not got any clew to the murderer, nor +even discovered any motive for the crime. They have taken me into No. +17. In fact, I was there when your call was made.... The murderer +ransacked the place thoroughly, but did not touch money or jewelry, I +understand. The only peculiar thing, if I may so describe it, about the +place, is the scent of a burnt joss stick. It clings to the passage and +the bedroom in which the body was found.... Ah, by the way, Mrs. Lester +wrote a letter, which her visitor posted, and the addressee, her aunt, +is in communication with the police. The text tends to clear the man of +suspicion.... Yes, if, by chance, I find myself at liberty tomorrow, +I'll 'phone you at your city office. I'll find the number in the +directory, of course?... O, thanks--I'll jot it down--00400 Bank.... +Goodnight! Too bad that this wretched affair should interfere with our +crusade, which, the more I think of it, the stronger it appeals. _Au +revoir_, then." + +In reality, Forbes had not said one word about his peace propaganda, but +he had evidently been quick to realize that Theydon was purposely giving +their talk a twist in that direction. A muttered "I +understand--perfectly," showed this, and he did not strive to conceal +the alarm which possessed him when Theydon spoke of the joss stick. He +murmured distinctly, "Great Heavens! Then I was not mistaken," and again +voiced his distress on hearing of the letter. + +But he made matters easy by pressing Theydon to come and see him on the +morrow, either at his office in Old Broad Street or at his residence. On +the whole, Theydon did not care who heard what he had said, but it was a +relief to find that he had to ring for readmission to No. 17. + +Furneaux opened the door. + +"You soon got rid of your friend, then?" said the detective, while they +were on the way to rejoin Winter. + +"Yes. It was just what I imagined--a pressing invitation to plunge +forthwith into Mr. Forbes's project for the regeneration of mankind. I +had to tell him frankly that you gentlemen had first claim on me. I +suppose I shall be wanted at the inquest?" + +"Not tomorrow. The coroner will hear the medical evidence, and that of +Ann Rogers, if she is in a condition to appear, and there will be an +adjournment for a week." + +"Ah, that reminds me. Didn't Mrs. Lester's servant admit the visitor +last night?" + +Theydon put the question advisedly. He was calmer now, and had made up +his mind as to the course he should pursue. Although he had assured +Winter that he would recognize the stranger if confronted with him, and, +if Forbes was brought into the inquiry, the admission might prove +awkward, he meant to say that he had, indeed, noticed a remarkable +resemblance in the millionaire to the man he had seen looking up at the +name tablet on the corner, but felt that the likeness was only one of +those singular coincidences which abound in a cosmopolitan city. + +The smartest cross-examiner at the bar could not shake him if he took +that stand. The sheer improbability of Forbes being the mysterious +visitor would justify his attitude, and the notion was so consoling that +he faced the two detectives with new confidence and a self-possession +that was exceedingly pleasant when compared, with his earlier +embarrassment. + +"No," said Winter. "By a most remarkable chance, Ann Rogers was given +leave to spend the night with her father, who lives in Camden Town. He +is an old man and was taken ill last evening. He believes he asked some +one to telegraph to his daughter, asking her to come to him. She +certainly received a telegram and as certainly did visit him. Of course, +that phase of the affair will be cleared up thoroughly, but the main +facts are indisputable. Ann Rogers has her own latchkey. As Mrs. Lester +usually sat up late, being a lover of books, and seldom stirred before +ten o'clock, the maid waited until that hour before bringing her +mistress's cup of tea. That stain on the carpet near the door shows +where the tray fell from her hands." + +Sometimes an artist obtains the strongest effect by one deft sweep of +the brush. Winter, though he would have blushed if described as an +artist in words, had achieved a similar result by his concluding +sentence. Theydon pictured the scene. He saw the limp form thrown across +the bed, the distorted face, the hands and arms posed grotesquely. + +He heard the shrill scream of the terrified servant, an elderly woman +whom Bates described as "a quiet body," and could imagine the clatter of +the laden tray as it dropped from nerveless fingers. A sort of fury rose +within him. Mrs. Lester had been done to death in a horrible and +insensate way, and no matter who suffered, be he millionaire or pauper, +the wretch who committed the crime should be made to pay the penalty of +the law. + +In that moment he forgot Evelyn Forbes, and thought only of the fair and +gracious woman whose agonized spirit had taken flight under the +compulsion of the tiger grip of some human brute now moving among his +fellow-creatures unknown and unsuspected. It was inconceivable that +Forbes should be guilty, but why should he not avow his acquaintance +with the victim, and thus aid the police in their quest? + +He glowered savagely at the telltale stain, and vowed to rid his +conscience of an incubus. He would wait till the morrow and force Forbes +to come out into the open. Otherwise-- + +"You wish you had the murderer here now?" + +Furneaux spoke softly, and with no trace of his wonted irony, but +Theydon was aware that once more the little detective had peered into +his very soul. + +"Yes," he said, and there was a new gravity in his tone. "I do wish +that. I have never before been brought in contact with a crime of this +magnitude. It conveys a sort of personal responsibility. To think that I +was in my room, reading about aviation, while a woman's life was being +choked out of her within a few feet of where I was seated! O, it is +monstrous! Let me tell you two, here and now, that if I can do anything +to bring Mrs. Lester's slayer to justice, you can count on me, no matter +what the cost." + +"I'm sure you mean what you say, Mr. Theydon," said Winter soothingly. +"Well, I suppose we can do no more tonight. I have little else to tell +you--" + +"The skull--the ivory skull!" put in Furneaux. + +For an instant an expression of annoyance flitted across the chief +inspector's good-humored face. Theydon did not see it, because +Furneaux's odd-sounding words caused him to look with astonishment at +the man who uttered them. + +"An ivory skull!" he cried. "What has an ivory skull to do with the +murder of Mrs. Lester?" + +"We cannot even begin to guess at its meaning yet," said Winter, who, +after one fierce glance at his colleague, had recovered his poise. "That +is why I did not mention it. I hate the introduction of bizarre features +into an inquiry of this sort. But, now that the thing has been spoken +of, I may as well state that when the medical examination was being made +at the mortuary a tiny skull, not bigger than a pea, and made of ivory, +was found inside Mrs. Lester's underbodice. The curious fact is that it +was loose. Had it been attached to a cord, or secured in some way, one +might regard it as a charm or amulet, because some women, even in the +London of today, are not beyond the reach of superstition in such +matters. But, as I say, it was not safeguarded at all, so we may +reasonably assume that it was not carried habitually. Of course, +Furneaux readily evolved a far-fetched theory that it is a sign, or +symbol, and was thrust out of sight among the clothing on the dead +woman's breast by the man who killed her. But that is idle guesswork. We +of the Yard seldom pay heed to theatrical notions of that kind. Here is +the article. I don't mind letting you see it, but kindly remember that +its existence must not be made known. I must have your promise not to +mention it to a living creature." + +Furneaux chuckled derisively. + +"That is precisely the sort of thing anybody would say who attached no +importance to the exhibit," he piped. + +Winter so nearly lost his temper that he repressed the retort on his +lips. He contented himself, however, with producing a small white object +from his waistcoat pocket, and handed it to Theydon. It was a bit of +ivory, hollow, and very light, and fashioned as a skull. + +Yet, it was by no means an ordinary creation. The artist who fashioned +it had gratified a morbid taste by imparting to the eyeless sockets and +close-set rows of teeth a malign and threatening grin. Wickedness, not +death, was suggested, but the craftsmanship was faultless. A collector +would have paid a large sum for it, while the average citizen would +refuse to have it in his house. + +"What an extraordinary thing," said Theydon, turning the curio round and +round in his fingers. + +"It's wonderfully well carved," agreed Winter. + +"From that point of view it's a masterpiece, but what I meant was the +astounding fact that it should have been discovered on the dead woman's +body. Was it placed over her heart?" + +"Why do you ask that?" came the sharp demand. + +"Because--if it is a token of some vendetta--if the murderer wished to +signify that he had glutted his vengeance--" + +"O, you're as bad as Furneaux," cried Winter impatiently. "Give it to +me. I must be off. The hour is long past midnight and I have a busy day +before me tomorrow." + +Back in the seclusion of his own rooms, Theydon debated the question +whether or not he should endeavor to communicate with Forbes again that +night. Somehow it seemed to him that Forbes would be most concerned at +hearing of the gray car. And what of the ivory skull? + +Suppose he knew of that! But a certain revulsion of feeling had come +over Theydon since the sheer brutality of the murder had been revealed. +He failed to see now why he should be so solicitous for Forbes's +welfare. No matter what private purpose the man might serve by +concealing his visit to Mrs. Lester, it ought to give way before the +paramount importance of tracking a pitiless and callous criminal. + +So Theydon hardened his heart and went to bed, and, being sound in mind +and constitution, slept like a just man wearied. Nevertheless, the last +thing he saw before the curtain fell on his tired brain was an ivory +skull dancing in the darkness. + +Greatly as the many problems attached to Mrs. Lester's death bewildered +him, he would have been even more perplexed if he had overheard the +conversation between Winter and Furneaux when they entered a taxi and +gave Scotland Yard as their destination. + +"Look here, Charles," began Winter firmly; but the other stayed him with +a clutch of thin, nervous fingers on an arm strong enough to fell an ox. + +"Listen first, James--lecture me afterward," pleaded Furneaux. "I can't +help yielding to impulse. And why should I strive to help it, anyhow? +How often has impulse led me to the goal when by every known rule of +evidence I was completely beaten? That is my plea. That is why I brought +that young fellow into No. 17, and watched the story of the tragedy +reshaping itself in his imagination. That is why, too, I spoke of the +ivory skull. Think what it means to one with the writer's temperament. +The skull will never leave his mind's eye. It will focus and control his +thoughts and actions. And I feel it in my bones that only by keeping in +touch with Mr. Francis Theydon shall we solve the Innesmore Mansions +mystery. I can't explain why I think this, no more than the receiver of +a wireless message can account for the waves of energy it picks up from +the void and transmutes into the ordered sequences of the Morse code. +All I know is that when I am near him I am, as the children say, 'warm,' +and when away from him, 'cold.' While he was examining the skull I was +positively 'hot,' and was half inclined to treat him as a thought +transference medium and order him sternly to speak.... No. Be calm! I +even bid you be honest. When have you, ever before, admitted an outsider +to your councils? And, if you make an exception of Theydon, why are you +doing it?" + +Winter bit the end off a cigar with a vicious jerk of his round head. He +struck a match and created such a volume of smoke that Furneaux coughed +affectedly. + +"The real clew," he said at last, "rests with the gray car. What did you +make of that?" + +"That, my bulky friend, will figure in my memory as a reproach for many +a year. When, if ever, I am tempted to preen myself on some peculiarly +close piece of ratiocinative reasoning, I shall say: 'Little man, pigmy, +remember the gray car.'" + +"You think that some one had the impudence to follow us, watch us in +Waterloo, and take up Theydon's trail when we had revealed it?" + +"A-ha. It touched you, too, did it?" + +"But why?" + +"The some one in question wants to know that." + +"You mean they are anxious to find out what we are doing?" + +"Exactly." + +Winter laughed cheerfully. + +"Before long I shall begin to enjoy this hunt, Charles. I like to find +originality in a felon. It varies the routine. At any rate, it is +something new that you and I should be shadowed by the very people we +are in pursuit of--O, I was nearly forgetting. Anything fresh in that +telephone talk?" + +"It seemed all right." + +"Seemed?" + +"Well, it was too straightforward. Theydon puzzles me. I admit it +frankly. He also worries me. But let me handle him in my own way. Have +no fear that he will use our material for newspaper purposes. With +regard to the Innesmore Mansions affair, Theydon will lie close as a +fish. Why? No use asking you, of course. You despise intuition. When you +die some one should begin your epitaph: 'From information received.' But +I'll stick to Theydon. See if I don't, even if I have to go up with him +in one of Forbes's airships." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A LEAP IN THE DARK + + +With the morning Theydon brought a mature and impartial judgment to bear +on his perplexities. The average man, if asked to form an opinion on any +difficult point, will probably arrive at a saner decision during the +first pipe after breakfast than at any other given hour of the day. +Excellent physiological reasons account for this truism. The sound mind +in a sound body is then working under the most favorable conditions. + +It is free from the strain of affairs. The cold, clear morning light +divests problems of the undue importance, or, it may be, the glamour of +novelty, which they possessed overnight. At any rate, Frank Theydon, +clenching a pipe between his teeth, and gazing thoughtfully through an +open window at the trees in Innesmore Gardens, reviewed yesterday's +happenings calmly and critically, and arrived at the settled conviction +that his proper course was to visit Scotland Yard and make known to the +authorities the one vital fact he had withheld from their ken thus far. + +It was not for him to assess the significance of Mr. Forbes's desire to +remain in the background. If the millionaire's excuse, or explanation, +of his failure to communicate at once with the Criminal Investigation +Department was a sufficiently valid one, Scotland Yard would be +satisfied and might agree to keep his name out of the inquiry. + +On the other hand, he, Theydon, might be balking the course of justice +by holding his tongue. There was yet a third possibility, one fraught +with personal discredit. Mr. Forbes himself might realize that a policy +of candor offered the only dignified course. + +Suppose he was minded to tell the detectives that he was the man who +visited Mrs. Lester shortly before midnight, what would Winter and +Furneaux think of the young gentleman who had actually dined with Forbes +before they took him into their confidence--who heard with such +righteous indignation how Mrs. Lester met her death--yet brazenly +concealed the fact that he had just left the house of one whom they were +so anxious to meet and question? + +Of course, the radiant vision of Evelyn Forbes intruded on this +well-considered and unemotional analysis; but Theydon resolutely shook +his head. + +"No, by Jove!" he communed. "You mustn't make an ass of yourself, my +boy, because a pretty girl was gracious for an hour or so. Be honest +with yourself, old chap! If there were no Evelyn, or if Evelyn were +harelipped and squinted, you wouldn't hesitate a second--now, would +you?" + +Yet he had given a promise. How reconcile an immediate call on Scotland +Yard with the guarantee of secrecy demanded by Forbes? Well, he must put +himself right with Forbes without delay--tell him straightforwardly that +the bond could not hold. Theydon was no lawyer, but he was assured that +an agreement founded on positive wrong was not tenable, legally or +morally. + +He would be adamant with Forbes, and decline to countenance any plea in +support of continued silence. If Forbes's demand was reasonable, +Scotland Yard would grant it. If justice compelled Forbes to come out +into the open, no private citizen should attempt to defeat the ends of +justice. + +"So that settles it," announced Theydon firmly if not cheerfully. "I'll +ring up Forbes, and get the thing over and done with. I'll never see his +daughter again, I suppose, but that can't be helped. 'Tis better to have +seen and lost than never to have seen at all." + +He turned from the window, walked to the fireplace, tapped his pipe +firmly on the grate, and was about to go into the hall and call up the +telephone exchange, when the door-bell rang. He was aware of a muffled +conversation between Bates and a visitor. Then the valet appeared, +obviously ill at ease. + +"If you please, sir," he announced, "a lady, a Miss Beale, of Oxford, +who says she is Mrs. Lester's aunt, wishes to see you." + +Theydon was immensely surprised, as well he might be. But there was only +one thing to be done. + +"Show her in," he said. + +Miss Beale entered. She was slight of figure, middle-aged and +gray-haired. The wanness of her thin features was accentuated by an +attire of deep mourning, but the pallor in her cheeks fled for an +instant when she set eyes on Theydon. + +"Pray forgive the intrusion," she faltered. "I--I expected to meet an +older man." + +It was a curious utterance, and Theydon tried to relieve her evident +nervousness by being mildly humorous. + +"I hope to correct my juvenile appearance in course of time," he said, +smiling. "Meanwhile, won't you be seated? You are not quite unknown to +me, Miss Beale. That is--I heard of you last night from the Scotland +Yard people." + +She sat down at once, but seemed to be at a loss for words. Her lips +trembled, and Theydon thought she was going to cry. + +"Have you traveled from Oxford this morning?" he said, simulating a +courteous nonchalance he was far from feeling. "If so, you must have +started from home at an ungodly hour. Let me have some breakfast +prepared for you." + +"No--no," she stammered. + +"Well, a cup of tea, then? Come, now, no woman ever refuses a cup of +tea." + +"You are very kind." + +He rang the bell. + +"I would not have ventured to call on you if I had not seen your name in +the newspaper," she went on. + +Miss Beale certainly had the knack of saying unexpected things. It was +nothing new that Theydon should find his own name in print, but on this +occasion he could not choose but associate the distinction with the +crime in No. 17; that he should be mentioned in connection with it was +neither anticipated nor pleasing. At the same time he realized the +astounding fact that he had not even glanced at a newspaper during +twenty-four hours. + +"What in the world have the newspapers to say about me?" he cried. + +"It--it said--that Mr. Francis Berrold Theydon, the well-known author, +lived in No. 18, the flat exactly opposite that which my unhappy niece +occupied. I--I have read some of your books, Mr. Theydon, and I pictured +you quite a serious-looking person of my own age." + +He laughed. Bates entered, and was almost shocked at finding his master +in such lively mood. + +"Oh, this lady has traveled from Oxford this morning; a cup of tea and +some nice toast, please, Bates," said Theydon. Then when the two were +alone together again, he brushed aside the question of his age as +irrelevant. + +"I assure you that since this time yesterday I have lost some of the +careless buoyancy of youth," he said. "I had not the honor of Mrs. +Lester's acquaintance, but I knew her well by sight, and I received the +shock of my life last evening when I heard of her terrible end. It is an +extraordinary thing, seeing that we were such close neighbors, but I +believe you got the news long before I did, because I left home early +and heard nothing of what had happened till my man met me at Waterloo in +the evening." + +"You have seen the--the detectives in the meantime?" + +"Yes." + +"Then you will be able to tell me something definite. I have promised to +call at Scotland Yard at eleven o'clock, and the only scraps of +intelligence I have gathered are those in the papers. I would have come +to London last night, but was afraid to travel, lest I should faint in +the train. Moreover, some one in London promised to send a detective to +see me. He came, but could give no information. Indeed, he wanted to +learn certain things from me. So, after a weary night, I caught the +first train, and it occurred to me, as you lived so near, that you might +be kind enough to--to--" + +The long speech was too much for her, and her lips quivered pitifully a +second time. + +"I fully understand," said Theydon sympathetically. "Now, I'm positive +you have eaten hardly anything today. Won't you let me order an egg?" + +"No, please. I'll be glad of the tea, but I cannot make a meal--yet. Is +it true that my niece was absolutely alone in her flat on Monday night?" + +Seeing that Miss Beale was consumed with anxiety to hear an intelligible +version of the tragedy, Theydon at once recited all, or nearly all, that +was known to him. The only points he suppressed were those with +reference to the gray car and the ivory skull. The lady listened +attentively and with more self-control than he gave her credit for. + +Bates came in with a laden tray, on which a boiled egg appeared. Mrs. +Bates had used her discretion, and decided that any one who had set out +from Oxford so early in the day must be in need of more solid +refreshment than tea and toast. Thus cozened, as it were, into eating, +Miss Beale tackled the egg, and Theydon was glad to note that she made a +fairly good meal, being probably unaware of her hunger until the means +of sating it presented itself. + +But she missed no word of his story, and when he made an end, put some +shrewd questions. + +"I take it," she said, "that the strange gentleman who visited my niece +on Monday night posted the very letter which I received by the second +delivery yesterday?" + +"That is what the police believe," replied Theydon. + +"Then it would seem that she resolved to come to me at Iffley as the +result of something he told her?" + +"Why do you think that?" + +"Because I heard from her only last Saturday, and she not only said +nothing about coming to Oxfordshire, but asked me to arrange to spend a +fortnight in London before we both went to Cornwall for the Summer." + +"Ah! That is rather important, I should imagine," said Theydon +thoughtfully. + +"It is odd, too, that you and the detectives should have noticed the +smell of a joss stick in the flat," went on Miss Beale. "Edith--my +niece, you know--could not bear the smell of joss sticks. They reminded +her of Shanghai, where she lost her husband." + +Theydon looked more startled than such a seemingly simple statement +warranted. He had realized already that the ivory skull was the work of +an Oriental artist, and the mention of Shanghai brought that sinister +symbol very vividly to his mind's eye. + +"Mrs. Lester had lived in China, then?" he said. + +"Yes. She was out there nearly six years. Her husband died suddenly last +October--he was poisoned, she firmly believed--and, of course, she came +home at once." + +"What was Mr. Lester's business, or profession?" + +"He was a barrister. I do not mean that he practised in the Consular +courts. He was making his way in England, but was offered some sort of +appointment in Shanghai. The post was so lucrative that he relinquished +a growing connection at the bar. I have never really understood what he +did. I fancy he had to report on commercial matters to some firm of +bankers in London, but he supplied very little positive information +before Edith and he sailed. Indeed, I took it that his mission was +highly confidential, and about that time there was a lot in the +newspapers about rival negotiators for a big Chinese loan, so I formed +the opinion that he was sent out in connection with something of the +sort. Neither he nor Edith meant to remain long in the Far East. At +first their letters always spoke of an early return. Then, when the +years dragged on, and I asked for definite news of their homecoming, +Edith said that Arthur could not get away until the country's political +affairs were in a more settled state. Finally came a cablegram from +Edith: 'Arthur dead; sailing immediately,' and my niece was with me +within a few weeks. The supposed cause of her husband's death was some +virulent type of fever, but, as I said, Edith was convinced that he had +been poisoned." + +"Why?" + +"That I never understood. She never willingly talked about Shanghai, or +her life there. Indeed, she was always most anxious that no one should +know she had ever lived in China. Yet she had plenty of friends out +there. I gathered that Arthur had left her well provided for +financially, and they were a most devoted couple. Edith was the only +relative I possessed. It is very dreadful, Mr. Theydon, that she should +be taken from me in such a way." + +Her hearer was almost thankful that she yielded to the inevitable rush +of emotion. It gave him time to collect his wits, which had lost their +poise when that wicked-looking little skull was, so to speak, thrust +forcibly into his recollection. + +"In a word," he said, at last, "you are Mrs. Lester's next-of-kin and +probably her heiress?" + +"Yes, I suppose so, though I was not thinking of that," came the tearful +answer. + +"Yet the relationship entails certain responsibilities," said Theydon +firmly. "You should be legally represented at the inquest. Are your +affairs in the hands of any firm of solicitors?" + +"Yes--at Oxford. I contrived to call at their office yesterday and they +recommended me to consult these people," and Miss Beale produced a card +from a handbag. Theydon read the name and address of a well-known West +End firm. + +"Good," he said. "I recommend you to go there at once. By the way, was +any one looking after Mrs. Lester's interests? Surely she had dealings +with a bank or an agency?" + +"Y--yes. I do happen to know the source from which her income came. +She--made a secret of it--in a measure." + +"Pray don't tell me anything of that sort. Your legal adviser might not +approve." + +"But what does it matter now? Poor Edith is dead. Her affairs cannot +help being dragged into the light of day. She had some railway shares +and bonds, some of which were left to her by her father, and others +which came under a marriage settlement, but the greater part of her +revenue was derived from a monthly payment made by the bank of which Mr. +James Creighton Forbes is the head." + +Miss Beale naturally misinterpreted the blank stare with which Theydon +received this remarkable statement. + +"I don't see why any one should wish to conceal a simple matter of +business like that," she said nervously. "May I explain that I have an +impression, not founded on anything quite tangible, that Mr. Forbes was +largely interested in the syndicate which sent Arthur Lester to China, +so it is very likely that the payment of an annuity, or pension, to +Arthur's widow would be left in his care. I do not know. I am only +guessing. But that matter, and others, can hardly fail to be cleared up +by the police inquiry." + +Theydon recovered his self-control as rapidly as he had lost it. He +glanced at the clock--10:15. Within half an hour, or less, Miss Beale +would be on her way to Scotland Yard. He must act promptly and +decisively, or he would find himself in a distinctly unfavorable +position in his relations with the Criminal Investigation Department. + +"I happen to be acquainted with Mr. Forbes," he said, striving +desperately to appear cool and methodical when his brain was seething. +"Would you mind if I just rang him up on the telephone? A few words now +might enlighten us materially." + +"O, you are most helpful," said the lady, blushing again with timid +gratitude. "I am so glad I summoned up courage to call on you. I was +terrified at the idea of going to the Police Headquarters, but I shall +not mind it at all now." + +Soon Theydon was asking for "00400, Bank." He had left the door of his +sitting room open purposely. No matter what the outcome, he no longer +dared keep the compact of silence into which he had entered with Forbes. +But the millionaire was not at his office. In response to a very +determined request for a word with some one in authority, "on a matter +of real urgency," the clerk who had answered the call brought "Mr. +Forbes's secretary," a Mr. Macdonald, to the telephone. + +"It is important, vitally important, that I should speak with Mr. Forbes +within the next few minutes," said Theydon, after giving his name and +address. "Do you expect him to arrive soon? Or shall I try and reach him +at Fortescue Square?" + +"Mr. Forbes will not be here till midday," came a voice with a +pronounced Scottish intonation. "I'm doubtful, too, if ye'll catch him +at home. Can I give him a message?" + +"Do you know where he is?" + +"Well, I cannot say." + +"But do you know?" + +"I'll be glad to give him a message." + +"It will be too late, then. Please understand, Mr. Macdonald, that I am +making this call at Mr. Forbes's express wish. It is, as I have said, +vitally important that I should get in touch with him without delay." + +Scottish caution was not to be overcome by an appeal of that sort. + +"I cannot go beyond what I have said," was the reply. "If you like to +ask at his house--" + +"O, ring off!" cried Theydon, who pictured the secretary as a lanky +hollow-cheeked Scot, a model of discretion and trustworthiness, no +doubt, but utterly unequal to a crisis demanding some measure of +self-confident initiative. In reality, Mr. Macdonald was short and +stout, and quite a jovial little man. + +After an exasperating delay, he got into communication with the Forbes +mansion in Fortescue Square. + +"I'm Mr. Frank Theydon," he said, striving to speak unconcernedly. "Is +Mr. Forbes in?" + +"No, sir." + +"Is that you, Tomlinson?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Can you tell me where I can find Mr. Forbes at once?" + +"Isn't he at his office, sir?" + +"No. He will not be there till 12 o'clock." + +A pause of indecision on Tomlinson's part. Then, a possible solution of +the difficulty. + +"Would you care to have a word with Miss Evelyn, sir?" + +"O, yes, yes." + +Theydon blurted out this emphatic acceptance of the butler's suggestion +without a thought as to its possible consequences. He was racking his +brain in a frenzy of uncertainty as to how he should frame his words +when he heard quite clearly a woman's footsteps on the parquet flooring, +and caught Evelyn Forbes's voice saying to Tomlinson: "How fortunate! +Mr. Theydon is the very person I wished to speak to, but I simply dared +not ring him up." + +The slight incident only provided Theydon with a new source of +wonderment. Why should Evelyn Forbes want speech with him at that early +hour? Perhaps she would explain. He could only hope so, and trust to +luck in the choice of his own phrases. + +"That you, Mr. Theydon?" came the girl's voice, sweet in its cadence yet +ominously eager. "How nice of you to anticipate my unspoken thought! I +have been horribly anxious ever since I read of that awful affair at +Innesmore Mansions. That poor lady's flat is next door to yours, is it +not?" + +"Yes, but--" + +"O, you cannot choke off a woman's curiosity quite so easily. You see, I +happen to know that Mrs. Lester's sad death affects my father in some +way, and I realize now that you two were just on pins and needles to get +rid of me last night so that you might talk freely." + +"Miss Forbes, I assure you--" + +"Wait till I've finished, and you will not be under the necessity of +telling me any polite fibs. You men are all alike. You think the giddy +feminine brain is not fitted to cope with mysteries, and that is where +you are utterly mistaken. A woman's intuition often peers deeper than a +man's logic. I--" + +"Do forgive me," broke in Theydon despairingly, "but I am really most +anxious to know how and where I can get a word with your father. I would +not be so rude as to interrupt you if I hadn't the best of excuses. Tell +me where to find him now, and I promise to give you a call immediately +afterward." + +"He's at the Home Office." + +"At the Home Office!" + +Some hint of utter bewilderment in Theydon's tone must have reached the +girl's alert ear. + +"Ah! _Touche!_" she cried. "Now will you be good and tell me why Dad +should receive a little ivory skull by this morning's post?" + +Theydon knew that he paled. His very scalp tingled with an apprehension +of some shadowy yet none the less affrighting evil. But he schooled +himself to say, with a semblance of calm interest: + +"What exactly do you mean, Miss Forbes?" + +She laughed lightly. Theydon was so flurried that he did not realize the +possibility of Evelyn Forbes being as quick to mask her real feelings as +he himself was. + +"Dad and I make a point of breakfasting together at nine o'clock every +morning," she said. "We were talking about you, and he told me of the +dreadful thing that happened to Mrs. Lester. I was reading the account +of the tragedy in a newspaper, when I happened to glance at him. He was +going through his letters, and I was just a trifle curious to know what +was in a flat box which came by registered post. He opened it carelessly +and something fell out and rolled across the table. I picked it up and +saw that it was a small piece of ivory, carved with extraordinary skill +to represent a skull. Indeed, it was so clever as to be decidedly +repulsive. I was going to say something when I saw that the letter which +was in the same box had alarmed him so greatly that, for a second or +two, I thought he would faint. But he can be very strong and stern at +times, and he recovered himself instantly, was quite vexed with me +because I had examined the ivory skull, and forbade my going out until +he had returned from the Home Office. Tomlinson and the other men have +orders not to admit any one to the house, no matter on what pretext, and +I'm sure the letter and its nasty little token are bound up in some way +with Mrs. Lester's death. Won't you let me into the secret? I shan't +scream or do anything foolish, but I do think I am entitled to know what +you know if it affects my father." + +A sudden change in the girl's voice warned Theydon of a restraint of +which he had been unconscious hitherto. He tried to temporize, to +whittle away her fears. That was a duty he owed to Forbes, who was +clearly resolved not to take his daughter into his confidence--for the +present, at any rate. + +"I really fail to see why you should assume some connection between the +crime which was committed here on Monday night and the arrival of a +somewhat singular package at your house this morning," he said +reassuringly. + +"Like every other woman, I jump at conclusions," she answered. "Why +should this crime, in particular, have worried my father? Unfortunately, +the newspapers are full of such horrid things, yet he hardly ever pays +them any attention. No, Mr. Theydon, I am not mistaken. He either knew +Mrs. Lester, and was shocked at her death, or saw in it some personal +menace. Then comes the letter, with its obvious threat, and I am ordered +to remain at home, under a strong guard, while he hurries off to +Whitehall. You have met my father, Mr. Theydon. Do you regard him as the +sort of man who would rush off in a panic to consult the Home Secretary +without very grave and weighty reasons?" + +"But you can hardly be certain that a wretched crime in this +comparatively insignificant quarter of London supplies the actual motive +of Mr. Forbes's action," urged Theydon. + +The girl stamped an impatient foot. He heard it distinctly. + +"Of course I am certain," she cried. "Why won't you be candid? You know +I am right--I can tell it from your voice, and your guarded way of +talking--" + +An inspiration came to Theydon's relief in that instant. + +"Pardon the interruption," he said, "but I must point out that both of +us are acting unwisely in discussing such matters over the telephone. +Really, neither must say another word, except this--when I have found +your father I'll ask his permission to come and see you. Perhaps we +three can arrange to meet somewhere for luncheon. That is absolutely the +farthest limit to which I dare go at this moment." + +"O, very well!" + +The receiver was hung up in a temper, and the prompt ring-off jarred +disagreeably in Theydon's ear. If he was puzzled before, he was +thoroughly at sea now. But he took a bold course, and cared not a jot +whether or not it was a prudent one. + +The mere sound of Evelyn Forbes's voice had steeled his heart and +conscience against the dictates of common sense. Let the detectives +think what they might, the girl's father must be allowed to carry +through his plans without let or hindrance. + +"Miss Beale," said Theydon, gazing fixedly into the sorrow-laden eyes of +the quiet little lady whom he found seated where he had left her, "I'm +going to tell you something very important, very serious, something so +far-reaching and momentous that neither you nor I can measure its +effect. You heard the conversation on the telephone?" + +"I heard what you were saying, but could not understand much of it," +said his visitor in a scared way. + +"I have been trying to communicate with Mr. Forbes, but his daughter +tells me that the murder of your niece seems to have affected him in a +manner which is incomprehensible to her, and even more so to me, though +I am acquainted with facts which her father and I have purposely kept +from her knowledge. Mr. Forbes has gone hurriedly to the Home Office. I +suppose you know what that means? He is about to give the Home Secretary +certain information, and it is not for you or me to interfere with his +discretion. Now, if you tell the Scotland Yard people what you have told +me, namely, that Mr. Forbes was the intermediary through whom Mrs. +Lester received the greater part of her income, he will be brought +prominently into the inquiry. You see that, don't you?" + +"Yes. I suppose that something of the sort must happen." + +"Well, I want you to suppress that vital fact until we know more about +this affair. It will not be for long. Each of us must tell our story +without reservation at some future date--whether this afternoon, or +tomorrow, or a week hence, I cannot say now. But I do ask you to keep +your knowledge to yourself until I have had an opportunity of consulting +Mr. Forbes. I undertake to tell you the exact position of matters +without delay, and I accept all responsibility for my present advice." + +"I know little of the world, Mr. Theydon," said Miss Beale, rising, and +beginning to draw on her gloves, "but I shall be very greatly surprised +if you are advising me to act otherwise than honorably. I shall +certainly not utter a word about Mr. Forbes at Scotland Yard. When all +is said and done, my statement to you was largely guesswork. You must +remember that I have never seen Mr. Forbes, nor hardly ever heard his +name except in connection with public matters in the Press. O, yes. I +make that promise readily. I trust you implicitly!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +CLOSE QUARTERS + + +Theydon escorted Miss Beale downstairs. As they passed the closed door +of No. 17, the lady shivered. + +"To think that within the next few days I would have been staying there +with Edith, and planning evenings at the theater before going to +Newquay!" she murmured; there was a pitiful catch in her voice that told +better than words how the remainder of her existence would be darkened +by the tragedy. + +At best she was a shrinking, timid little woman, for whom life probably +held but narrow interests. Such as they were, their placid content was +forever shattered. The death of her niece had closed the one chief +avenue leading to the outer world. She would retire to the quiet +back-water of Iffley, to become more faded, more insignificant, more +lonely each year. + +Theydon commiserated with her deeply and did not hesitate to utter his +thoughts while putting her into a cab. + +"Have you no friends in London?" he inquired. "I don't like the notion +of sending you off alone into this wilderness. London is the worst place +in the world for any one in distress. The heedless multitude seems to be +callous and unsympathetic. It isn't, in reality. It simply doesn't know, +and doesn't bother." + +"I used to claim some acquaintances here, but I have lost track of them +for years," she said. "In any event, I shall have more than enough to +occupy my mind today. The inquest opens at three o'clock, and I must +face the ordeal of identifying Edith's body. The detective told me that +this should be done by a relation, while the only other person who could +act--Ann Rogers--has been nearly out of her mind since yesterday +morning." + +"Where are you staying?" + +She mentioned a small hotel in the West End. + +"I used to go there with my people when I was a girl," she added, sadly. + +"Then I'll get my sister to call. You'll like her. She's a jolly good +sort, and a chat with another woman will be far more beneficial than the +society of detectives and lawyers and such-like strange fowl. Keep your +spirits up, Miss Beale. Nothing that you can say or do now will restore +the life so cruelly taken, but you and I, each in our own way, can +strive to bring the murderer to justice. I am convinced that a distinct +step in that direction will be taken this very day. You can count on +seeing or hearing from me as soon as possible after I have discussed +matters with Mr. Forbes. Meanwhile, don't forget to have a lawyer +representing you at the inquest." + +They parted as though they were friends of long standing. Theydon was +genuinely sorry for this gray-haired woman's plight, and she evidently +regarded him as a kind-hearted and eminently trustworthy young man. He +stood and watched the cab as it bore her off swiftly into the maelstrom +of London. He could not help thinking that seldom had he met one less +fitted for the notoriety thrust upon all connected with a much-talked-of +crime. + +When the press interviewers, the photographers, the hundred and one +officials with whom she must be brought in contact, were done with her, +poor Miss Beale would retire to her Oxfordshire nook in a state of +mental bewilderment that would baffle description. In one of his books +Theydon had endeavored to depict just such a middle-aged spinster +confronted with a situation not wholly unlike that which now faced Miss +Beale. + +He smiled grimly when he realized how far fiction had wandered from +fact. The woman of his imagination had acted with a strength of +character, a decisiveness, that outwitted and confounded certain +scheming personages in the story. How different was the reality! Miss +Beale, rushing across London in a taxi, reminded him of nothing more +masterful than a cage-bird turned loose in a tempest. + +He was about to reenter the mansions, meaning to telephone to both the +Fortescue Square house and the Old Broad Street offices, and ask for +instant news of Mr. Forbes in either locality. He was so preoccupied +that he failed to notice an approaching taxicab, though the driver was +signaling, and even tooted a motor horn loudly in the endeavor to +attract his attention. + +He did, however, catch his own name, and halted. + +"Beg pardon, sir, but you are Mr. Theydon, aren't you?" said the man. + +Then Theydon recognized Evans, the taxi-driver, who had brought him from +Fortescue Square. + +"Hullo!" he cried. "Any news of the gray car?" + +"Yes, sir, I think so," was the somewhat surprising answer. "When I +dropped you last night I got a fare to Euston. Then I took a gentleman +to the Langham, an', as I felt like a snack, I pulled into the nearest +cab rank. I was having some corfee an' a sandwich when I 'appened to +speak about the gray car to one of the chaps. 'That's odd,' he said. +'Quarter of an hour ago I had a theater job to Langham Plice, an' a gray +landaulette stopped in front of the Chinese Embassy. It kem along from +the east side, too.' He didn't notice the number, sir, so there may be +nothink in it, after all, but I thought you might like to hear wot my +pal said." + +"Was the car empty? Did it call for some one at the Embassy?" + +"That's the queer part of it, sir. I axed pertic'ler. This gray car +brought a gentleman, a small, youngish man, 'oo skipped up the Embassy +steps like a lamplighter, and went in afore you could s'y 'knife.' +Somebody might ha' bin watchin' for him through the keyhole, the door +was opened that quick. Then the car went off. My friend wouldn't ha' +given a second thought to it if the gentleman hadn't vanished like a +jack-in-the-box. That's w'y he remembered the color of the car." + +Theydon tried to look as though Evans's statement merely puzzled him, +whereas his mind was already busy with the extraordinary coincidences +which the haphazard events of a few hours had produced. Was the Far East +bound up in some mysterious way with Mrs. Lester's death? Did the crime +possess a political significance? If so, an explanation by Forbes was +more than ever demanded. + +"Your informant was not mistaken about the Chinese Embassy, I suppose?" +he said. + +"No, sir. He's always in that district. His garage is at the back of +Great Portland Street. He knows most of them there Chinks by sight." + +"Then that gray car can hardly have been our gray car," commented +Theydon, deeming it wise to prevent the sharp-witted taxi-driver from +jumping at conclusions. + +"I'm afraid not, sir. Still, I just took the liberty--" + +"I'm very much obliged to you, of course. I said half-a-crown, didn't I? +Here you are. Keep an eye open for XY 1314 and let me know if you hear +or see anything of it." + +"Thank you, sir." Then Evans lifted his eyes to the block of buildings. +"A nasty business this murder which was done 'ere the other night, sir," +he went on. "One 'ud hardly b'lieve it possible for such things to tike +plice in London nowadays." + +Much as he was disinclined for gossip of the sort at the moment, Theydon +saw that he must endeavor to dissociate the gray car and the crime from +their dangerous juxtaposition in the man's mind, so he spoke about Mrs. +Lester's attractive appearance, harped on the apparent aimlessness of +the deed, hinted darkly at clews in the possession of the police, and +finally got rid of the well-meaning chauffeur. Back he went to his +telephone, and having ascertained that Mr. Forbes was fully expected to +put in an appearance at the city office before noon, settled down to +read the newspapers. + +They contained sensational but fairly accurate accounts of the tragedy. +One enterprising journal had published an interview with Bates, whom the +reporter described as "a typical British man-servant," which was +amusing, since Bates had "retired noncommissioned officer" written all +over his square frame and soldierly features. + +The same journalist spoke of Theydon himself, and had even ferreted out +the fact that Mrs. Lester was the widow of an English barrister who had +died at Shanghai. On reaction, Theydon saw that there was nothing +unusual in this statement. The connection between the metropolitan press +and the bar is old and intimate, and scores of junior barristers must +remember Arthur Lester's beginnings. + +Resolved to possess his soul in patience till twelve o'clock, the hour +being yet barely 11:30 a. m., Theydon tackled a page of reviews, since +there is always consolation for a writer in learning at second hand what +sheer drivel others can produce. + +He was growling at the discovery that some hapless essayist had +appropriated a title which he himself had marked down for his next book, +when the door-bell rang. He did not give much heed, because so many +tradesmen called during the course of each morning, so he was surprised +and startled when Bates announced: + +"Mr. Forbes to see you, sir." + +Had a powerful spring concealed in the seat of his chair been released +suddenly, Theydon could not have bounced to his feet with greater speed. +Forbes came in. He was pale, but self-contained and clear-eyed. + +"Forgive an unceremonious visit," he said. "I'm glad to find you at +home. I meant to arrive here sooner, but I was detained on business of +some importance." + +By this time Bates had closed the door; Theydon explained his presence +in the flat by saying that within a few minutes he would have been +telephoning again to Old Broad Street. + +"Ah! Did you speak to Macdonald?" said Forbes, dropping into a chair +with a curious lassitude of manner which did not escape Theydon. + +"Yes. I have been most anxious to have a word with you--" + +Forbes broke in with a short laugh. + +"You would get nothing out of Macdonald," he said. "He knows that my +visits to the Chinese Embassy are few and far between and generally have +to do with--but what is it now? Why should you be so perturbed when I +mention the Chinese Embassy?" + +Theydon was literally astounded, and did not strive to hide his +agitation. But he was by no means tongue-tied. Now, most emphatically, +was he determined to have done with pretense. Whether by accident or +design, Forbes had placed himself with his back to the window. + +The younger man deliberately crossed the room, pulled up the blind, thus +admitting the flood of light which comes only from the upper third of a +window, and sat down in such a position that Forbes was compelled to +turn in order to face him. + +"Before you utter another word, Mr. Forbes," he said gravely, "let me +tell you that in my efforts to trace your whereabouts I also called up +Fortescue Square. Miss Forbes came to the telephone. She said you had +gone to the Home Office. By some feminine necromancy, too, she divined +the link which binds you with the death of Mrs. Lester. She was +distressed on your account, and I was hard put to it to extricate myself +from the risk of saying something which I might regret. I--" + +"What do you imply by that remark?" interrupted Forbes, piercing the +other with a look that was strangely reminiscent of his daughter's +candid scrutiny. + +"I imply the serious fact that I know who visited Mrs. Lester before she +met her death. I not only heard her visitor's arrival and departure, but +saw him at the corner of these mansions while on my way home from Daly's +Theater, and again when he posted a letter in the pillar box on the same +corner. If such unwonted interest on my part in the movements of one who +was then a complete stranger surprises you, let me remind you that only +a few minutes earlier I had stood by his side at the door of the theater +and heard him telling his daughter that he intended to walk to the +Constitutional Club." + +Forbes smiled, but uttered no word. His expression was inscrutable. His +pallor reminded Theydon of the tint of ivory, of that waxen-white Dutch +grisaille beloved of fifteenth century illuminators of manuscripts. His +silence was disturbing, almost irritating, his manner singularly calm. + +These negative indications conveyed absolutely nothing to Theydon, who +for the second time in their brief acquaintance found himself in the +ridiculous position of one explaining a fault rather than, as he +imagined, arraigning a man under suspicion. + +"So we had better dispense with ambiguities, Mr. Forbes," he went on, +speaking with a precision that sounded oddly in his own ears. "It was +you who called on Mrs. Lester on Monday night, you who posted the letter +she wrote to Miss Beale at Iffley, Oxfordshire, you for whom the police +are now searching. I have contrived thus far to keep your secret, but +the situation is passing out of my control. I would help you if I +could--" + +"Why?" + +The monosyllable, sharp and insistent, was disconcerting as the +unexpected crack of a whip, but Theydon answered valiantly: + +"Because of the monstrous absurdities with which Fate has plagued me +during the past two days, I appeal now for outspokenness, so I set an +example. Had it not been for your daughter's remarkably attractive +appearance I should not, in all likelihood, have given a second glance +at my neighbors on the steps of the theater. But I cannot forget that I +did see both her and you--indeed, Miss Forbes herself recalled the +incident--and the close questioning of the Scotland Yard men who were +here last night showed me the folly of imagining that I could deny all +knowledge of you. I recognize now that some impish contriving of +circumstances forced this knowledge upon me. The sudden downpour of +rain, and the fact that I was delayed by a slight accident to my cab, +conspired with the apparently simple chance which led me to overhear the +conversation between Miss Forbes and yourself. I tried hard to baffle +the detectives--" + +"Again I ask 'Why?'" + +Theydon was rapidly being wound up to a pitch of excited resentment. + +"Why?" he cried. "Was I not your guest? How could I come from a house +where I had been admitted to a delightful intimacy and tell the +representatives of the law that my host was the man they were looking +for?" + +During some seconds Forbes bent his eyes on the floor, seemingly in deep +thought. + +"Theydon," he said at last, looking up in his direct way, "I am your +senior by a good many years--am old enough, as the saying goes, to be +your father. I may venture, therefore, to give you a piece of sound +advice. Pack a kit-bag, catch the afternoon boat train for Boulogne, and +go for a walking tour in Normandy and Brittany. When I was your age and +a junior in a bank I had to take my holidays in May; each year I tramped +that corner of France. I recommend it as a playground. It will appeal to +your literary instincts, and it has the immeasurable advantage just now +of being practically as remote from London as the Sahara." + +It must not be forgotten that Theydon was a romancer, an idealist. The +"lounge suit" of the modern tailor hampers the play of such qualities no +more than the beaten armor of the age of chivalry. + +"If my departure for France will relieve Miss Forbes of anxiety on your +behalf, I'll go," he vowed. + +Forbes regarded him with a new interest. + +"I believe you mean that," he said. + +"I do." + +"But I cannot send you out of the country on a false pretense. It was +your safety and well-being, not my daughter's, that I was thinking of." + +"What have I to fear?" + +"I do not know. I am like a man wandering by night in a jungle alive +with fearsome beasts and reptiles." + +"Yet you had some reason for suggesting my prompt departure." + +"Yes. It is an absurd thing to say, but I believe I am putting you in +danger of your life by coming here this morning." + +"Can't you speak plainly, Mr. Forbes? What good purpose do you serve by +holding forth these vague terrors? If, as Miss Forbes told me, you have +visited the Home Office, I take it you made yourself clear to the +authorities--assuming, that is, you went there in connection with the +amazing conditions which seem to be bound up with this crime." + +"There is a certain class of knowledge which is in itself dangerous to +those who possess it, no matter whether or not it affects them in any +particular. I recommend you, in good faith, to leave London today." + +"If my own safety is the only consideration I refuse as readily as I +agreed before." + +Theydon's tone grew somewhat impatient. He really fancied that Forbes +was trifling with him. Indeed, a queer doubt of the man's complete +sanity now peeped up in him. Forbes was regarded as a crank by a large +section of the public on account of his peace propaganda; if that +opinion were justified why should he not be eccentric in other respects? + +It was fantastic, almost stupid, to look upon him as responsible for +Mrs. Lester's murder, but there was always a possibility that he might +be utilizing the chance which led him to her apartments shortly before +the crime was committed to cover himself and his movements with a veil +of spurious mystery. In a word, though Theydon had likened his visitor's +face to a mask of ivory he had momentarily forgotten the ominous token +found on Mrs. Lester's body and duplicated in Forbes's own house by the +morning's post. + +Forbes spread wide his hands with the air of one who heard, but was +allowing his thoughts to wander. When next he spoke it was only to +increase the crazy inconsequence of their talk. + +"Later--perhaps today--perhaps it may never be necessary--I may explain +myself to your heart's content," he said slowly. "At present I am here +to ask a favor. In the first place, is Mrs. Lester's flat in charge of +the police?" + +"I suppose so," said Theydon. + +"Is there a detective or constable on duty there now?" + +"I am not sure. I imagine there is not. When the Scotland Yard men and I +came out after midnight they locked the door and took away the key. +The--er--body is at the mortuary, awaiting the opening of the inquest at +three o'clock." + +"Ah! I hoped that would be so. Can you ascertain for certain?" + +"But why?" + +"Because I wish to go in there. And that brings me to the favor I seek. +The secretary of these flats, even the hall porter, should have a master +key. Borrow it on some pretext. They will give it to you." + +"Really, Mr. Forbes--" gasped Theydon, voicing his surprise as a +preliminary to a decided refusal. He was interrupted by the insistent +clang of the telephone--that curt herald which brooks no delay in +answering its demand for an audience. + +"Pardon me one moment," he said. "I'll just see who that is." + +The inquirer was Evelyn Forbes. + +"I've waited patiently--" she began, but he stopped her instantly by +saying that her father was with him. + +"Please ask him to come to the phone," she said. + +Forbes rose at once. He merely assured the girl that he was engaged in +important business and would be home soon after the luncheon hour. +Meanwhile, she was not to go out, and his orders must be obeyed to the +letter. + +"Now, Theydon," he said, coming back to the sitting room, "what about +that key?" + +The most extraordinary feature of an extraordinary case was the way in +which the mere sound of Evelyn Forbes's voice stilled any qualms of +conscience in Theydon's breast. He knew he was acting foolishly in +conducting a blind inquiry on his own account, an inquiry which might +well arouse the anger and active resentment of the police, but he +offered a sop to his better judgment by consulting Bates. + +Then came a veritable surprise. + +"The fact is, sir," admitted Bates nervously, "we have Ann Rogers's key +in the kitchen. When she went away on Monday she left it here, bein' +afraid of losin' it. Of course, she took it on Tuesday mornin', and +after goin' from one fit of hysterics into another she gev it to us +again." + +Theydon's face was eloquent of the serious view of this avowal. + +"Did you tell the police?" he said. + +"No, sir. My missus an' me clean forgot all about it." + +"So, while Mrs. Lester was being killed, the key of her flat was +actually in your possession?" + +"I suppose it might be put that way, sir." + +By this time Theydon was becoming exasperated at the veritable +conspiracy which fate had engineered for the express purpose, +apparently, of entangling him in an abominable crime. + +"Why on earth didn't you mention such an important fact to the +detectives?" he almost shouted, "Don't you see they are bound to +think--" + +"O, a plague on the detectives and on what they think!" broke in Forbes +imperiously. "It doesn't matter a straw what they think, and very little +what they do. This affair goes a long way beyond the four-mile radius, +Theydon. The vital point is that your man has the key. Where is it? Let +us go in there at once!" + +"You offered me some advice, Mr. Forbes," said Theydon firmly. "Let me +now return it in kind. If you wish to examine Mrs. Lester's flat why not +seek the permission of Scotland Yard?" + +"My good fellow, I have spent a valuable hour this morning in persuading +the Home Secretary that the less Scotland Yard interferes in my behalf +the more effectually shall I be protected. I don't want any detective +within a mile of my house or office. But, as I have told you already, +explanations must wait--You, Bates, look a man who can hold his tongue. +Do so, and with Mr. Theydon's permission I'll make it worth your while +when this storm has blown over--Now, give me that key." + +Theydon was silenced, if not convinced. He realized, of course, that he +must make a full confession to the Criminal Investigation Department +before the sun went down, but argued that he might as well see the +present adventure through. + +Soon he and Forbes were standing at the door of No. 17. Forbes curbed +his impatience sufficiently to permit of any one who happened to be in +the interior answering the summons of the electric bell. Of course, no +one came. The police had no reason to remain in charge of the place, and +Ann Rogers would have become a raving lunatic if left alone there for +one half-hour. + +The aromatic odor of the burnt joss stick still clung to the suite of +apartments, and Forbes noticed it at once. + +"Where was the body found?" he asked. + +Theydon led the way to the bedroom. He related Winter's theory of the +crime, and pointed out its seeming aimlessness. So far as the police +could ascertain from the half-crazy servant, none of Mrs. Lester's +jewels was missing. Even her gold purse, containing a fair sum of money, +was found on the dressing-table. + +He did not know that the detectives had taken away a few scraps of torn +paper thrown carelessly into the grate and had carefully gathered up a +tiny snake-like curl of white ash from the tiled hearth, which, on +analysis, would probably prove to be the remains of the joss stick. + +Forbes gazed at the impression on the side of the bed as though the body +of the woman whom he had last seen in full possession of her grace and +beauty were still lying there. The vision seemed to affect him +profoundly. He did not speak for fully a minute, and, when speech came, +his voice was low and strained. + +"Tell me everything you know," he said. "The Scotland Yard men took an +unusual step in admitting you to their conclave. They must have had some +motive. Tell me what they said, their very words, if you can recall +them." + +Theydon was uncomfortably aware of a strange compulsion to obey. His +commonplace, everyday senses cried out in revolt, and warned him that he +was tampering dangerously with matters which should be left to the cold +scrutiny of the law, but some subconscious instinct overpowered these +prudent monitors, and he gave an almost exact account of his talk with +Winter and Furneaux. + +Then followed questions, eager, searching, almost uncanny in their +prescience. + +"The little one--who strikes me as having more brains than I credit the +ordinary London policeman with--spoke of the evil deities of China. How +did such an extraordinary topic crop up?" + +"In connection with the joss stick." + +"Yes, yes. But I don't see the inference." + +"Mr. Winter alluded to the habit some ladies have of burning such +incense in their houses, whereupon Furneaux remarked that the Chinese +use them to propitiate harmful spirits." + +"Was that all?" + +Theydon felt insensibly that his companion was hinting at something more +definite, but he was bound in honor to respect the confidence reposed in +him. + +"I don't quite understand," he temporized. + +"Was nothing said as to the finding of some object, such as a small +article obviously Chinese in origin, which might turn an inquirer's +thought into that channel?" + +"The conversation I am relating took place the moment after we had +entered the flat. We were standing in the hall. It was wholly the +outcome of the strange smell which was immediately perceptible." + +Forbes passed a hand over his eyes. + +"I wonder," he breathed. + +Then, turning quickly on Theydon, he repeats the question. + +"Are you quite sure they did not mention the discovery in this room of +any object which could be regarded, even remotely, as a sign or symbol +left by the murderer to show that his crime was an act of vengeance, or +retaliation?" + +Theydon hesitated. Unquestionably he was in a position of no ordinary +difficulty. But his doubts were solved by an interruption that brought +his heart into his mouth, because a thin, high-pitched voice came +through the half-open door: + +"Are you thinking of a small ivory skull, Mr. Forbes?" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +WHEREIN MR. FORBES EXPLAINS HIMSELF + + +Even the boldest may flinch when confronted with that which is +apparently a manifestation of the supernatural. Theydon and Forbes were +standing in a chamber of death. To the best of their belief they were +alone in an otherwise empty flat, and those ominous words coming from +some one unknown and unseen blanched their faces with terror. + +But Theydon was a healthy and athletic young Englishman, and Forbes was +of the rare order which combines a frame of exceptional physique with a +mind accustomed to think imperially; two such men might be trusted to +display real grit if surrounded by a horde of veritable spooks. + +The door was thrown wide as they turned at the sound of the words, and +Theydon recognized in a strange little figure--wearing a blue serge +suit, a straw hat and brown boots--Furneaux, the man whom he had looked +on as somewhat of a crank and visionary during their talk of the +previous night. + +"You?" he gasped, and the note of recognition was sharpened by a sudden +sense of dismay, almost of alarm, because of the overwhelming knowledge +that now all his scheming had collapsed, while the representatives of +Scotland Yard would regard him as nothing more than a poor sort of +trickster. + +But Forbes was not in the habit of yielding to any man, no matter what +his status, or howsoever awe-inspiring might be the department of state +which he represented. + +"Who the devil are you, at any rate?" he cried angrily. "And what right +have you to spy on gentlemen in this manner, listening to their +conversation, and breaking in with a cheap stage effect obviously +intended to startle?" + +Furneaux remained motionless, his feet set well apart and his hands +thrust into his trousers pockets. The trim, natty figure, the spruce and +Summer-like attire, the small, wizened face with its cynically humorous +and wide-awake aspect--above all, a certain jauntiness of air and +cocksure expression--certainly did not suggest a comedian fresh from the +boards. + +"You tell," he said, nodding to Theydon. + +"This is Mr. Furneaux of Scotland Yard," said the latter nervously. He +imagined he could detect in Furneaux's glance a mixture of amusement and +contempt, amusement at the notion that any amateur should harbor the +belief that the two best men in the "Yard" could be egregiously +hoodwinked, and contempt of one who so far forgot himself as even to +dare attempt such a thing in relation to a police inquiry into a murder. + +"I don't know, and care less, who Mr. Furneaux of Scotland Yard may be," +went on Forbes hotly. "I resent his intrusion, and wish to be relieved +of his presence." + +"Why?" said Furneaux. + +"I have given my reasons to the Home Secretary. That mere statement must +suffice for you." + +"Really, I must ask you to be more explicit." + +"I visited the Home Office this morning, and placed such evidence in the +hands of the Home Secretary that Scotland Yard will be requested to +suspend all further investigation into the death of Mrs. Lester." + +"Do you mean that the Home Secretary has sanctioned the breaking off of +this inquiry." + +"In the conditions--" + +"Because, if that is what your words imply, Mr. Forbes, I may tell you +at once that I don't believe you. It is more than any Home Secretary +dare do, and if you harbor any lingering doubts on the point, go to Mr. +Theydon's telephone, ring up the Home Office, and tell the gentleman at +the other end of the wire exactly what I have said. Of course you really +don't mean anything of the sort. By virtue of some special and inside +knowledge of certain facts communicated to the Home Secretary, you may +have persuaded him to promise that, provided the ends of justice are not +defeated thereby, every precaution will be taken to keep the main lines +of the inquiry secret until the whole position can be laid before the +law officers of the Crown. The Home Secretary may have gone that far, +Mr. Forbes, but not one inch farther, and you know it." + +The two antagonists, so singularly disproportionate in size, were yet so +perfectly matched in the vastly more important qualities of brain and +nerve that the contest lost all sense of inequality. Theydon felt +himself of no account in this duel. He was like an urchin watching +open-mouthed a combat of gladiators. + +Forbes, not without a perceptible effort, choked down his wrath and +recovered his poise. + +"You have gaged the state of affairs accurately enough," he said, +speaking more calmly. "May I, then, recommend you to consult your direct +superiors before carrying your investigations any furthur, Mr.--" + +"Furneaux--Charles Francois Furneaux." + +"Just so, Mr. Charles Francois Furneaux." + +"I give you my full name, because one of the peculiar features of this +case is the inability of some persons mixed up in it to recall names, or +even the mere salient facts," and the detective's glance dwelt for an +instant on Theydon, who, again, in his own estimation, shrank into the +boots of a fourth-form boy detected by a master in an overt breach of +college rules. + +But the little man was speaking impressively, and, Theydon compelled his +wandering wits to pay attention. + +"It will clear the air, perhaps," went on Furneaux, "if I point out that +if any one here is playing the spy--carrying on some underhanded game, +that is--it is not I. These apartments are in charge of the police. The +manager of the whole block of flats and the porter of this particular +section have been warned that no one can be allowed to enter No. 17, on +any pretext, until our inquiry is closed. Now, Mr. Forbes, kindly +explain how you contrived to get possession of a key." + +An experienced man of the world like Forbes could hardly fail to see +that he was in a false position, and that any persistent attempt to +browbeat the detective would not only meet with utter failure but might +possibly compromise him gravely. + +"That was a simple matter," he said. "Mrs. Lester's servant left her key +in Mr. Theydon's establishment. Bates surprised both his master and me +by producing it when I expressed a wish to examine the place." + +"But why adopt such a clandestine method?" + +Forbes's face, usually so classic in outline, assumed a certain +rigidity, and his firm chin grew markedly aggressive. + +"I don't answer questions put in that way," he said. + +Furneaux laughed sardonically. + +"You meet with greater respect in Capel Court, I have no doubt," he +snapped. "There you stand on a pedestal, with one hand flourishing a +check-book and the other resting gracefully on the neck of a golden +calf. Here, you are simply an ordinary citizen behaving in a suspicious +manner. If the uniformed policeman on the neighboring beat knew what I +know of your recent movements he would arrest you without ceremony, and +charge you with being concerned in the murder of Mrs. Lester. Between +you and Mr. Theydon, the work of my department has been hindered and +burked most scandalously. Don't glare at me like that! I don't care +tuppence for your millions and your social position. What I do care +about is the horrible risk you and each member of your family are +incurring. You know why, and while you are still alive I mean to force +you to speak. Tell me now why Mrs. Lester was killed. Tell me, too, why +the same hand which thrust a little ivory skull into the dead woman's +underbodice caused a similar token to be delivered to you by this +morning's post. Ah, that touches you, does it? Now, my worthy financier +and philanthropist, step down from your pedestal and behave like a being +of flesh and blood!" + +Forbes positively wilted under that extraordinary attack. His white face +grew wan, and his eyes dilated with surprise and terror. The detective's +words seemed to have the effect of a paralytic shock. Thenceforth he was +under dog in the fight. + +"How do you know," he gasped, "that I received an ivory skull this +morning? Have you been to my house? Did my daughter tell you?" + +Furneaux chuckled. + +"You're ready to listen, eh? Well, I don't mind telling you that I have +not stirred out of this flat since seven o'clock this morning, and I +question if your letters were delivered in Fortescue Square at that +hour." + +"I give in," said Forbes curtly. "Need we remain here? The smell of that +cursed joss stick oppresses me." + +Then Theydon found his tongue. + +"If Mr. Furneaux cares to abandon his vigil, my flat is entirely at your +disposal," he said. + +"My vigil, as you accurately describe it, has ended for the time being," +said Furneaux, apparently mollified by the millionaire's surrender. "I +was sure that if I remained here long enough I would clear away some of +the fog attached to a case which promises to be one of the most +remarkable I have ever investigated. Come, gentlemen, let us be amiable +to one another. I'm sorry if I lost my temper just now, but I regard +myself as being the only detective in existence who uses other sections +of his brain than those governed by statutes made and provided, and it +riles me when men of superior intelligence like yourselves treat me as +though my mission in life was to direct the traffic and keep a sharp eye +on mischievous juveniles.... Mr. Theydon, can that soldier-servant of +yours make coffee?" + +"His wife can," said Theydon. + +"Will you be good enough, then, to set her to work? Thus far, since the +sun rose, I have stayed the pangs of hunger with an apple and a glass of +water." + +By this time, Theydon had thoroughly revised his first estimate of the +diminutive detective. Indeed, he was beginning to look on him as a quite +noteworthy person, a man whose mental equipment it was most unwise to +assess at any lower valuation than the somewhat exalted one which +Furneaux himself had set forth with such refreshing candor. + +As for Forbes, the millionaire seemed to have sunk into a species of +stupor since Furneaux spoke of the ivory skull. He uttered no word until +the three were seated in Theydon's room, and his expression was so +woebegone that it stirred even the mercurial Jerseyite to pity. + +"I imagine that a cup of coffee will do you also a world of good," he +said. Then, whirling round on Theydon, he stuck a question into him as +if each word was a stiletto. + +"Where do you get your coffee?" + +"At the grocer's," was the surprised answer. + +"Is that all you know about it?" + +"Yes." + +"Singular thing, isn't it?" mused the detective aloud, "how idiotic men +and women can be in their attitude to the supreme things of life. What +is of greater importance than the food we eat and the liquors we drink? +Through them the body reconstitutes itself hourly and daily. Providence +gives us a perfect engine, yet we clog and choke its shafts and +cylinders by supplying it haphazard with any sort of fuel and lubricant, +no matter how unsuited either may be to its purpose. Take coffee, for +instance. The physiological action of coffee depends on the presence of +the alkaloid caffeine, which varies from 0.6 percent in the Arabian +berry to 2 percent in that of Sierra Leone. Again, the aromatic oil, +caffeine, which is developed by roasting, increases in quantity the +longer the seeds are kept. Unfortunately, coffee beans lose weight +during storage, so you have a clear commercial reason why grocers should +not sell the best coffee, unless under compulsion of an enlightened +public opinion. Now you, Mr. Forbes, would never dream of putting your +money into a investment without full and careful inquiry into the +history and scope of the proposed undertaking, while our young friend +here would snort furiously at a split infinitive or a false rhyme, yet, +when I submit the vital problem of the sort of coffee you imbibe--the +very essence and nutriment of your brains and bodies--you hear the kind +of answer I receive." + +All this, of course, was excellent fooling, intended to dispel the +brooding horror which had suddenly descended upon Forbes since it was +borne in on him that the demoniac wrath wreaked on Mrs. Lester was now +directed with equal ferocity against his family and himself. + +To an extent, Furneaux's scheme succeeded. A gleam of interest shot from +the millionaire's eyes. They lost their introspective look. He even +smiled wistfully. + +"You are a man after my own heart, Mr. Furneaux," he said. "I had no +idea that the Criminal Investigation Department employed philosophers of +your caliber. I suppose that you and I are about to swallow coffee +containing indeterminate percentages of the chief constituents you +named." + +"One does not look at gift coffee in the cup," grinned the little man, +obviously well pleased with himself. "But, if ever you two gentlemen +favor my obscure dwelling with a visit, and partake of a meal, you will +have a strict analysis with every bite and sup. There is a grocer in +Battersea who used to tremble at sight of me. Now he has learned wisdom, +and has quadrupled his trade by publishing learned disquisitions on the +nature and quality of each principal article he sells. You ought to read +his treatise on butter. He is an authority on the dietetic value of jam. +The nutritive properties of his cheese are ruining the local butchers." + +Furneaux's efforts were rewarded when the really excellent beverage +provided by Mrs. Bates was disposed of. Forbes seemingly atoned for his +earlier secretiveness by placing every fact in his possession fully and +fairly before his auditors. + +"Nearly seven years ago," he said, "I made a very large sum of money by +amalgamating certain shipping interests at a favorable moment. Thus, as +it happened, I had at command practically unlimited resources when I was +asked to finance the cause of reform in China. The wretched lot of the +Chinese Nation had always appealed to my sympathies. Some hundreds of +millions of the most industrious and peace-loving people in the world +have been exploited for centuries by a predatory caste. Given a chance +to expand, freed from the shackles of the Manchus, the Chinese, in my +opinion, contain the elements which go to form a great race. But the +Manchus held them in bondage, body and soul, and, so powerful is +self-interest, there has never been an Emperor or statesman who strove +to elevate the masses who was not mercilessly assassinated as soon as he +allowed his intent to become known. The only path to freedom lay through +revolution, and I had reason to believe that the ruling faction could be +overthrown by a well-organized and properly financed movement without +the appalling bloodshed which often accompanies such dynastic changes. +At any rate, I entered the conspiracy, heart and soul. But I met with +two difficulties at the outset. I could not exercise efficient financial +control in London, and I could neither go and live in the Far East nor +transact my business through ordinary banking channels. So I had to find +a substitute, and my choice fell on a rising young barrister named +Arthur Lester, whom I had known since he was a boy who had married the +daughter of an old friend. He had a taste for adventure, and was alive +to the magnificent career which lay before one who helped materially in +the rebirth of China. In a word, he went to Shanghai as my agent, and +the outcome of his work there is the present Chinese constitution. Of +course, as holds good in all human affairs, events did not follow the +precise track mapped out for them. But, on the whole, he and I were +satisfied. China is awake at last. The giant has stirred, and, if his +first uncertain steps have deviated from the open road of reform, he +will never again sink into the torpor of the past centuries. Manchu +arrogance and domination, at any rate, are shadows of the past, but +unhappily, the conquerors who have been so effectually thrust aside have +now embarked on a secret campaign of vengeance and reaction. A society +which calls itself the 'Young Manchus' is inspired by one principle, and +one only, and that is 'death to the reformers.' I don't suppose you +gentlemen follow closely the trend of affairs in China, but you must +have read of the assassinations of prominent men reported occasionally +in the newspapers." + +Furneaux clicked his tongue so loudly that Forbes stopped speaking and +looked at him, thinking, apparently, that the little detective meant to +say something. He did, but it was Theydon whom he addressed. + +"I'd give a week's pay if Winter was here now, and I could see those big +eyes of his bulging out of his head," he cackled. + +Theydon nodded. He understood perfectly. Then he caught Forbes's +inquiring glance, and explained matters. + +"Mr. Furneaux hinted last night at some such development as that which +your present statement conveys, and his colleague, Mr. Winter, pretended +to scout it," he said. + +"Pretended!" shrieked Furneaux, instantly in a rage. + +"That was how it struck me," said Theydon coolly. + +"Didn't I drag the Chinese aspect of the crime out of him with pincers?" +came the indignant demand. + +"Unquestionably. I only remark that your large-sized friend had it +tucked away all the time at the back of his head." + +Furneaux pounded the table so viciously that the cups rattled. + +"Of course, he has a nose to smell joss sticks, and eyes to see an ivory +skull, but didn't he say I was talking nonsense when I spoke about Shang +Ti scowling from a porcelain vase?" he shrilled. + +"Yes. For all that, I don't think he missed the least hint of your +meaning." + +Furneaux gazed at Theydon fixedly. + +"Sorry," he said, with an acid tone that was almost malicious. "I +imagined you were so busy throwing dust in our eyes that you wouldn't +have noticed such fine shades of perception on Winter's part." + +But Theydon was now able to measure this strange little man with some +degree of accuracy; he only smiled. + +"As a thrower of dust I was a most abject failure," he said. + +Furneaux smiled and turned to the millionaire. + +"Pardon the interruption," he said. "Like every artist, I am pained when +my best efforts are scoffed at by heedless mediocrity. You, at least, +will understand what a big thing it was to deduce even the vaguest +outline of the truth from the facts at my command." + +"I certainly do," agreed Forbes. "Until this morning I was convinced +that Mrs. Lester's death removed the one person in England who knew of +my connection with the revolution in China. To revert to the Young +Manchus--they have secured far more victims than the world at large is +aware of. I am sure that they poisoned Arthur Lester, and his wife held +the same view. They aim at nothing less than the extinction of the +democratic cause by the murder of every prominent man connected with it. +But they never yet have been able to obtain a full and authentic list of +the reform leaders. They suspected poor Lester of complicity in the +movement, and killed him. It was through Mrs. Lester that I first became +aware of their existence as an active organization, and I hoped that +when she had returned to England, and was living quietly in London, she +would be lost sight of--ignored, in fact. Nevertheless, both she and I +thought it prudent that our acquaintance should cease until the turmoil +in China had subsided. For that reason I never visited her, nor did I +permit the growth of friendship between her and my wife and daughter--a +friendship which, in happier conditions, would have been natural and +inevitable. But we were woefully mistaken. An Oriental vendetta neither +slackens nor dies. By some means wholly unknown to me, the Young Manchus +must have discovered, or guessed, that in leaving Lester's widow out of +their reckoning they had lost a promising clew. Be that as it may, they +followed her to London, and, by a singular fatality, I was the first to +know of it. Last Monday, while driving home from the city, my car was +held up in Piccadilly for a few seconds. Looking idly out at the passing +crowd, I saw a Chinaman in European clothes. He was waiting to cross the +road, so I was able to scrutinize him carefully, and, owing to a scar on +the left side of his face, recognized him. His name is Wong Li Fu, a +Manchu of the Manchus, a mandarin of almost imperial lineage. Some years +ago he was a young attache at the Chinese Embassy here. Suddenly, while +on the way to my house, I recollected that certain members of the +Revolutionary Committee had spoken of this very man as being one of the +ablest and most unscrupulous adherents of the Manchu faction in Pekin. +Somehow, his presence in London was disconcerting and menacing. Who more +likely than he, I argued, to be a leading spirit among the Young +Manchus? In any event, London was not big enough to hold both Mrs. +Lester and him, and I decided to visit her that very night, tell her I +had seen Wong Li Fu, and advise her to go away into the country, leaving +no record of her whereabouts. I happened to be taking my daughter to +Daly's Theater, and contrived to slip away on some pretext after the +performance. I found Mrs. Lester alone in her flat, and she fell in with +my views at once, because she, too, had heard of this very man, and the +mere sound of his name terrified her. I was half inclined to urge that +she should go to an hotel for the night, but the lateness of the hour +and the seeming fact that if danger threatened she was safe at least +till the morrow, prevented me." + +Furneaux, sitting on the edge of a chair, his head bent forward, his +piercing black eyes intent as those of a hawk, a hand resting on each +knee, his attitude curiously suggestive of a readiness to spring forward +at any instant, now leaned over and tapped the millionaire decisively on +the shoulder. + +"You couldn't have saved her, Mr. Forbes," he said gravely. "She was +marked down as the first warning. Didn't the letter you received this +morning tell you something of the sort?" + +Agitation gave place to utter astonishment in Forbes's face. + +"In Heaven's name, how do you know anything of any letter?" he cried. + +"I will tell you later. But am I not right?" + +"Yes, you are." + +"Where is it? May I see it?" + +Forbes took a creased and soiled document from a small, flat cardboard +box which he carried in the breast pocket of his coat. But first he +withdrew from the box a little object, and placed it on the table. It +was an ivory skull, and the very presence of such a sinister token +brought some hint of the charnel-house into the cozy and sunlit room. + +Furneaux, a creature oddly constituted either of all nerves or of no +nerves, disregarded the skull. He had eyes only for the few words typed +on a single sheet of note-paper. They ran: + +"James Creighton Forbes: If you are willing to come to terms, announce +the fact by advertisement in Thursday's Times. Address your reply to Y. +M., and sign it 'J. C. F.' Yield, and you will hear further. Refuse, and +no other warning will be given." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE FIRST COUNTER-STROKE + + +Furneaux apparently made up his mind with reference to the contents of a +somewhat enigmatic message after one quick, unerring perusal. + +"The man who wrote that took a great many things for granted," he said. +"He assumed, firstly, that you knew of Mrs. Lester's death and +understood its significance; secondly, that you are aware of the nature +of the 'terms' he will offer; thirdly, that you may hesitate between +compliance and threatened death. 'Y. M.,' of course, can be read as +'Young Manchus.' Even there, the writer exhibits artistic reticence.... +Frankly, Mr. Forbes, I wish you had come straight to Scotland Yard on +Monday evening instead of wasting those precious hours at Daly's +Theater." + +Forbes was moved to energetic protest. + +"How was I to deduce the true nature of these hell hounds' mission from +a casual glance vouchsafed of one who may or may not be their leader?" +he cried. + +"Yet you treated your discovery as serious enough to warrant a prompt +visit to the woman with whom association was dangerous?" + +"Yes; I wanted to act secretly." + +"Just so. You were afraid the police would bungle the job. Between you +and Mr. Theydon, you have exhibited remarkable skill in heading us off +the scent. Fortunately, we were able to dispense with your assistance, +having other matters to occupy our brains. You two were ripe nuts +waiting to be cracked and have the contents extracted at leisure. There +were a few freshly broken shells lying about which invited immediate +attention. For instance, some four months ago, a well-known and +reputable firm of private inquiry agents was instructed from Canton to +secure all possible information about Mrs. Lester and you--yes, you, Mr. +Forbes--your household, friends, methods of living, servants, +tradesmen,--every sort of fact, indeed, which might be useful to a +thoroughgoing and well-organized society of cutthroats like the Young +Manchus. The inquiry agents did their work well, and were handsomely +paid for it. I haven't the least doubt that Wong Li Fu knows what brand +of cigars you favor, and what you eat for breakfast. His informants sent +us a copy of their notes an hour after the murder was announced in the +newspapers. Mr. Lester is 'removed' in Shanghai. His widow comes home. +The inquiry agents receive instructions. They forward their report to +Canton, and Wong Li Fu turns up in London. The program is a tribute to +the excellence and regularity of the mail service between England and +the Far East." + +While the detective was speaking, Forbes's face, already haggard, had +grown desperate. + +"I care little for my own life," he said, "but I shall stop short of no +measures to protect my wife and daughter." + +"I certainly recommend that an armed guard should be on duty day and +night in any house where you may happen to be living at the moment," +replied Furneaux airily. "I really think that if your safety alone were +at stake I would do you a good turn by arresting you on suspicion." + +"On suspicion of what crime?" + +"Of killing Mrs. Lester, to be sure." + +"I regard you as a clever man, Mr. Furneaux, so may I remind you that +this is neither the time nor the place for a display of gross humor?" + +Theydon expected that Furneaux would flare into anger at this +well-deserved rebuke; but, much to his surprise, the detective treated +the matter argumentatively. + +"Personally, I have looked on you from the outset as an innocent man," +he said placidly. "But, just to show how circumstantial evidence may be +twisted into plausible error, let me point out that nearly all the known +facts conspire against you. Have you considered how dexterously a +prosecuting counsel would treat your admission that Mrs. Lester was the +one person in England who knew of your connection with the revolutionary +party in China? And how would you set about convincing a stolid British +jury that you were acting in the interests of law and order in +concealing your visit to No. 17 on the night of the murder? These +fine-drawn speculations, however, are a sheer waste of breath. Suppose +we concoct an advertisement for the Times?" + +"Do you mean that I am to parley with these ruffians?" + +"Of course you are." + +"But the Home Secretary agreed with me that no action should be taken +until the Chinese Legation had considered the matter." + +"And, pray, what can the Legation do?" + +"They have their own sources of information. When all is said and done, +Orientals are best fitted to deal with Orientals." + +Furneaux laughed sarcastically. + +"If I remember rightly, the way in which the Chinese Embassy dealt with +one of your pet reformers some years ago did not win general approval. +No, Mr. Forbes, we must try and circumvent the wily Chinese by other +methods than torture and imprisonment. Of what avail will it be if this +fellow, Wong Li Fu, is laid by the heels? Isn't it more than certain +that he has plenty of determined helpers? Do you imagine that he killed +Mrs. Lester? Not a bit of it. He will be able to produce the clearest +proof that he was miles away from Innesmore Mansions on Monday night. +Now, let's see how we can get him to show his hand a little more openly. +How would this be? 'Y. M.--Terms can be arranged. J. C. F.' The terms +are, of course, that the whole gang be hanged or sent to penal servitude +and deported." + +"One moment," struck in Theydon. "I have something to say before you +decide on any definite action. I need hardly inflict on you, Mr. +Furneaux, an explanation of my silence hitherto. I don't even apologize +for it. Faced by a similar dilemma tomorrow I should probably take the +same line. But, to adopt your own simile, now that Mr. Forbes has come +out of his shell, and admits his presence here on Monday night, my +self-imposed restrictions cease. In the first place, then, Miss Beale +came here this morning--" + +"Excellent! I wondered who the lady was," put in Furneaux. + +"And, secondly, the gray car which pursued me on Monday seems to have +been partly identified later. A car resembling it in every detail +deposited some one at the Chinese Legation in Portland Place, at an hour +which corresponds closely with its presence here." + +"Ah, that is important! I like that! I wasn't far wrong when I sensed +you as an absolute carrier of clew-germs in this affair," cried +Furneaux. + +"The Chinese Embassy!" gasped Forbes. "What car? And why should any car +pursue you? Do you mean that you were followed on leaving my house?" + +It was lamentable to watch the inroad which each successive shock was +making on Forbes's physical resources, but Theydon affected to ignore +the new fright in his eyes, and told him what had happened. Although he +could see that Furneaux was in a fever of impatience to learn the later +news, he thought that Forbes should know the facts in view of the +remarkable statement that he had visited the Chinese Embassy that +morning. + +In one respect, the recital was a test of the millionaire's professed +readiness to deal candidly with the police. Theydon was half inclined to +believe that the other was still wishful to conceal that part of the +day's doings. But he was mistaken. When he had finished his own story, +and given the taxi-man's version of the gray car's appearance in +Portland Place, Forbes threw out his hands in a gesture of despair. + +"If the Embassy people are playing me false I do not know whom to +trust," he said brokenly; "I have just come from there, and they assure +me that if Wong Li Fu and his gang are in London they are absolutely +ignorant of the fact." + +"Pooh!" cried Furneaux, snapping a thumb and forefinger. "Don't worry +about that! Put yourself in the position of the Chinese Ambassador. He +can't even guess who may be the ruler of China from one day to another. +Yesterday it was an old woman, today a dictator, tomorrow the mob; who +can foretell what shape the lava erupted from a volcano will take? Bet +you a new hat, Mr. Forbes, that the minute the embassy heard of Mrs. +Lester's murder they put two and two together and kept a sharp eye on +these mansions and on your house. That gray car is nothing more nor less +than a red herring accidentally drawn across the trail. Some cute +Chinaman said 'Hallo! that murdered woman is the wife of Forbes's agent +in Shanghai. Now, let's see what Forbes is doing, and who visits him, +and perhaps we'll learn something.' Want a bet?" + +Forbes could not help but recover some of his shattered nerve in view of +the detective's airy optimism. Still, he was shaken and dubious. + +"Don't forget that the Chinese Ambassador has no knowledge whatsoever of +my share in the revolution," he said. + +"And don't forget that for ways which are dark and tricks which are vain +the heathen Chinee is peculiar," retorted Furneaux. "How can you be sure +that there is not in the Embassy at this moment a full statement of your +payments into the reformers' funds, as well as the list of conspirators +which our friend Wong Li Fu is in search of?" + +"I think that such a thing is almost impossible." + +"Is there anything really impossible? We used to believe that once a man +was dead he could not be brought to life again. A Frenchman has just +demonstrated that by a judicious application of galvanism to the heart +and salt water to the veins any average corpse can be revived." + +Evidently Furneaux was enjoying himself. He sat there, absorbing new +impressions and irradiating scraps of irrelevant knowledge in a way that +would have been full of significance to Winter had he been present. +Furneaux was never so mercurial, never so ready to jump from one subject +to another, as when his subtle brain was working at high pressure. + +He actually reveled in a crime which lay on the borderland of the exotic +and the grotesque. Like the French philosopher in Poe's "Tales of +Mystery and Imagination," the savant who read his newspaper in a dingy +Paris room, and solved by sheer force of intellect extraordinary +criminal problems which baffled the shrewdest official minds, he felt in +relation to this particular tragedy that he required only to be brought +in touch with certain contingent forces bound up with it--Forbes, for +instance, and, in a minor degree, Theydon--and in due course he would be +able to go forth and find the master wrongdoer. + +Suddenly the millionaire seemed to cast off the cloak of despair which +clogged his energies and impaired his brilliant intellect. He rose to +his feet and involuntarily squared his shoulders. + +"Surely we are wasting valuable hours which should be given to action," +he cried. "I am going to the city and shall arrange for a prolonged +absence from my office. Then I'll hurry home, perfect my defenses, and +defy these murderous curs. My wife must come to London. In a crisis like +this I must have my loved ones under my own personal supervision. I can +still shoot straight and quick, and woe betide any man, white or yellow, +who enters my house unbidden. As for this infernal symbol--!" + +He raised a clenched fist, and would have pounded into fragments the +thin fabric of the ivory skull still lying where he had placed it on the +table had not Furneaux snatched it into safety. + +"No, no!" protested the detective. "I want that for purposes of +comparison. Kindly give me that typed note, too, Mr. Forbes. It may bear +finger-marks. You never can tell. The cardboard box in which it was +posted also. Thank you. Now, a few more questions before you go. How +much money did you provide for the revolutionaries?" + +"Two millions sterling." + +"As a gift or a loan?" + +"If they failed, I lost every farthing, of course. If they succeeded, I +was to recoup myself by financing the new government." + +"But I gather that they have neither failed nor succeeded. China has a +constitution, but the Presidential election was conducted on lines +suspiciously akin to those recently adopted in Mexico." + +"Nevertheless negotiations are now on foot for a big loan." + +"If you died, what would become of the two millions?" + +"They would be lost irretrievably." + +Furneaux sat back in his chair. + +"That gives one furiously to think," he said. "The gray car comes back +into the picture." + +"What do you mean?" + +"I don't know. But I'll tell you what--the man who first spoke of a +Chinese puzzle as a metaphor for something downright bewildering knew +what he was talking about." + +Forbes put a hand to his forehead in an unconscious gesture of +hopelessness. + +"My brain is reeling," he muttered. "To think that in the London of +today we should live in abject terror of a band of Mongolian ruffians! +Why do you remain here, man? You vaunt the prowess of your +department--why are you not scouring every haunt of Chinamen in the East +End? Spread your net widely enough, and you will surely get hold of some +minor scoundrel who will talk for fear or money. Bribe him to the point +where he cannot refuse to speak. Wong Li Fu is the only man I fear. Put +him where he can accomplish no mischief, and the rest of his crew will +be powerless!" + +"When you come to count up the achievements of my friend Winter and +myself--in the face of stupid but none the less disheartening +obstacles--we have not done so badly in two days," said Furneaux +complacently. + +"Can I drive you anywhere? My car is waiting." + +"No, thanks. The truth is, Mr. Forbes, I look on you as a disturbing +influence. A man who can talk as calmly as you about dropping two +millions on a crazy project to introduce Western methods into China is +not fitted for the phlegmatic and judicial atmosphere of Scotland Yard. +If I want any money I'll come to you. If not, and all goes well at No. +11 Fortescue Square, the next time I'll trouble you will be when you are +asked to identify Wong Li Fu, dead or alive." + +Forbes seemed hardly to be aware of Furneaux's words. He went out. +Theydon accompanied him, and, as they descended the stairs together, the +older man said brokenly: + +"It is my wife and daughter for whom I fear. I can hardly control my +senses when I think of these yellow fiends contemplating vengeance on me +through them. Theydon--do you believe in that detective? He is either a +vain fool or a genius. By the way, I forgot to ask him how he found out +that I had received the warning delivered by this morning's post." + +"I'll try and worm an explanation out of him. If he tells me I'll +telephone you later. He is an extraordinary creature, but abnormally +clever at his work, I am sure. For my own part, I feel disposed to trust +him implicitly. I wish you had met his colleague, Chief Inspector +Winter. He is the sort of man whose mere presence inspires confidence." + +Forbes halted on the step of the automobile and glanced at his watch. + +"I shall be home in an hour," he said. "After that I shall not stir out +all day. Telephone me if you have any news. Why not dine with us +tonight?" + +Theydon's eyes sparkled. He was longing to meet Evelyn Forbes once more, +but a wretched doubt diminished the glow of gratification which the +prospect brought. Should he, or should he not, tell the girl's father of +the rather indiscreet admissions she had made during their brief talk +that morning? + +That minor worry, however, was banished suddenly and forever. Furneaux, +taking the three steps which led from entrance hall to pavement with a +flying leap, cannoned right into Forbes, whom he grasped with both +hands, quite as much by way of emphasis as to check the impetus of his +diminutive body. + +"In with you!" he piped. "Tell your chauffeur to obey my orders, no +matter what they are!" + +Action, determination, were as the breath of the millionaire's nostrils. +He aroused himself instantly. + +"You hear, Downs!" he said to the chauffeur. + +Downs was one of those strange beings who have been evolved by the age +of petrol, an automaton compounded, seemingly, of steel springs and +leather. He had long ago lost the art of speech, having cultivated +delicacy of hearing and quickness of sight at the expense of all other +human faculties. The old-time coachman possessed a certain fluent +jargon, which enabled him to chide or encourage his horses and exchange +suitable comments with the drivers of brewers' drays and market carts, +but the modern chauffeur is all an ear for the rhythm of machinery, all +an eye for the nice calculation of the hazards of the road fifty yards +ahead. + +At any rate, Downs mumbled something which resembled "Yes, sir," Forbes +sprang in and slammed the door, Furneaux raced round the front of the +car and perched himself beside Downs, and the heavy automobile was +almost into its normal stride before it had traveled twice its own +length. + +Theydon was left gaping on the pavement. He saw that the car turned +west, and caught a glimpse of Furneaux's outstretched hand with +forefinger pointing like the barrel of a pistol. + +"Fool!" he cried, in bitter self-apostrophe. "Why didn't I jump in after +Forbes? Now I am out of the hunt! I wonder what the deuce Furneaux saw +or heard?" + +That concluding thought sent him back to the flat, two steps at a time. + +"Bates!" he shouted. "Has Mr. Furneaux used the telephone, or did any +one ring up?" + +"No, sir," said Bates, coming hurriedly at that urgent call. "Fust thing +I knew was he was tearin' out, an' runnin' downstairs like mad." + +"O, double-distilled idiot that I am!" growled Theydon again. "Why +didn't I go with them!" + +As though the gods heard his plaint and meant to crush him with their +answer, the telephone bell sounded at his elbow. Mechanically, he lifted +the receiver off its hook, and immediately became aware of Tomlinson's +voice, with some element of flurry and distress in its unctuous accents. + +"That you, Mr. Theydon?" said the butler. + +"Yes." + +"Have you had any news of Mr. Forbes, sir?" + +"Yes. He has just left me." + +"Ah, if only I had known, and had given you a call before ringing up the +city!" + +"What is it? Can I do anything?" + +"It's Miss Evelyn, sir." + +"Yes, what of her?" + +"She's gone, sir." + +Theydon's heart apparently stopped for a second, and then raced madly +into tumultuous action again. + +"Gone! Good Lord, man, what do you mean?" he almost groaned. + +"A telegram came from Mrs. Forbes, at Eastbourne, saying she was ill and +wanted Miss Evelyn. I tried all I knew to persuade Miss Evelyn to wait +until she had spoken to her father, but she wouldn't listen--she just +threw on a hat and a wrap, and took a taxi to Victoria." + +Some membrane or film of tissue which might have served hitherto to shut +off from Frank Theydon's cheery temperament any real knowledge of the +pitfalls which may beset the path of the unwary seemed in that instant +to shrivel as though it had been devoured by flame. + +He knew, how or why he could never tell, that the girl had been drawn +into the plot which had already claimed so many victims and sought so +many more. All doubt vanished. He spoke and acted with the swift +certainty of a man tackling an emergency for which he had prepared +during a long period of training and expectation. + +"Mr. Forbes may arrive at any moment, Tomlinson," he said. "Tell his +office people to let you know if he goes first to the city. When you +hear from or see him, say that I have either accompanied or followed +Miss Evelyn to Eastbourne. If I do not catch the same train I shall take +prompt measures in other respects. Got that?" + +"Yes, sir." + +It was easy to distinguish the relief in Tomlinson's utterance, relief +mingled, doubtless, with astonishment that a comparative stranger should +display such an authoritative and prompt interest in the family affairs. + +"That is all. Write down my message, lest you omit any part of it." + +Theydon rang off. + +"Come!" he said to Bates, who had not retired to his den, but was +listening, discreet yet rabbit-eared, to these queer proceedings. +Followed by the man-servant, he darted into the sitting room and did +several things at once. + +He unlocked a drawer and took from it a considerable sum of money which +he kept there for emergency journeys, also pocketing an automatic +pistol. Pouncing on an A B C time table, he looked up the trains for +Eastbourne. A fast train left Victoria at 1:25 p. m. The hour was now +1:05. + +Meanwhile he was talking. + +"Bates," he said, "I promised Miss Beale, the lady who came here this +morning, that my sister, Mrs. Paxton, would visit her this evening, say +about six. Miss Beale is staying at Smith's Hotel, Jermyn Street. Go to +Mrs. Paxton, and see her, waiting at her house if she happens to be out. +Tell everything you know about Mrs. Lester's death, and ask her to take +care of Miss Beale this evening. She will understand. I'll wire her at +Smith's Hotel before the dinner hour, if possible. If anybody calls +here, I leave it to your discretion and your wife's whether or not they +should be informed of my movements. Mr. Forbes or the police, of course, +must be told everything. Miss Forbes is probably in the 1:25 p. m. train +for Eastbourne, and I am going with her. Do you understand?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I'll wire or 'phone you later." + +Grabbing a straw hat and a bundle of telegraph forms, Theydon vanished, +not even waiting to slam the outer door. Bates, who had seen service, +knew that men in time of stress and danger acted just like the detective +and his own employer. + +"By Jingo!" he muttered, beginning to assemble the empty coffee-cups on +a tray. "Things is wakin' up here, an' no mistake!" + +Theydon was fortunate in finding a taxicab depositing a fare at a +neighboring block. Just before he reached the vehicle a gentleman +hurried out of the building and forestalled him. Theydon dashed up, and +caught the other man by the arm. + +"My need is urgent," he said. "Let, me have this cab." + +The stranger smiled good-humoredly. He was an American and had not the +least objection to being hustled by a Britisher; indeed he rather +appreciated this exhibition of haste as a novel experience. + +"I'm on a hair-trigger myself," he said, pleasantly. "I want to make +Victoria pretty quick. Can I give you a lift?" + +"In with you!" cried Theydon. "Now, cabby, half a sovereign if you get +us to Victoria, Brighton line, in 15 minutes. I'll pay all fines." + +Then they were off, and the Trans-Atlantic cousins were banged against +one another as the cab whirled round in a sharp semicircle. + +"Say!" cried the American, "this reminds one of home. I've been here a +week, an' had a kind of notion that London air was half fog, half dope. +But you're awake all right. Bet you a five spot you're after a girl!" + +"I pay," said Theydon, his eyes glistening. "And such a girl! Her +portrait on the paper wrap of a 50-cent novel would sell it in +millions!" + +"Gee whiz! Is it like that? Go right ahead, Augustus! Never mind me. +Take this old bus all the way to Paris. I'll find the fares and hold +your hat. But kindly shift that gun into your opposite pocket. You've +dug it into my thigh quite often enough. If you want to get first drop +on the other fellow, shove it up your sleeve!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +SHARP WORK + + +The American's easy-going badinage provided the best sort of tonic. +Theydon laughed as he transferred the pistol from one pocket to the +other. + +"My motto is 'Defense, not Defiance,'" he said. "I hope sincerely that I +shall not be called on to shoot, or even threaten any one. Using +firearms, although for self-protection, is a very serious matter in this +country. May I ask your name? Mine's Theydon. I live in those mansions +we have just quitted." + +"And I'm George T. Handyside, 21,097 Park Avenue, Chicago," was the +answer. + +"Is that your telephone number?" + +"No, sir. It's my home address." + +"Well, Mr. Handyside, if ever I come to Chicago, I'll travel along Park +Avenue and give you a call. How many days' journey are you from the +center of the city?" + +"Say, Mr. Theydon, I'm real glad to make your acquaintance. I haven't +been joshed in that way since I left the steamer. This little island of +yours is all right as a beauty spot, but I do wish your people wouldn't +carry such a grouch agin' life generally. Great Scott! It'll do 'em a +heap of good to try a real chesty laugh occasionally." + +"Tell me where I can drop across you in London later in the week, and +I'll see if we can't find a smile somewhere." + +The American scribbled the name of a Strand hotel on a card, which +Theydon disposed in his pocketbook, at the same time producing one of +his own cards. + +"You'll hear from me," he said. "Now, Mr. Handyside, pardon me for the +next few minutes. I have to write telegrams." + +The first was to Forbes, addressed in duplicate to Old Broad Street and +Fortescue Square. It ran: + +"If this message is not qualified by another within a few minutes I am +in the 1:25 train for Eastbourne." + +Then to Winter: + +"Young lady summoned to Eastbourne by telegram stating that her mother +is ill. Suspect the message as bogus and emanating from Y. M. See +Furneaux. He will explain. Am hoping to travel by same train. If +disappointed will wire again immediately.--Theydon." + +He read each slip carefully, to make sure that the phraseology was +clear. The speed at which the cab was traveling rendered his handwriting +somewhat illegible, but he thought he saw a means of circumventing that +difficulty. + +"Which place are you going?" he inquired of his unexpected companion. + +"To a place called Sutton." + +"What time does your train leave?" + +"Guess it's about 1:30." + +"You have five more minutes at your disposal than I have. Will you hand +in these three messages at the telegraph office? I'll read them to you, +in case the counter clerk is doubtful about any of my words." + +"Sure thing, Mr. Theydon. You've interested me. I don't care a row of +beans if I drop out Sutton altogether." + +"I'm greatly obliged, but that is not necessary. You'll have loads of +time. We're in the Park already, and our driver has a clear run to +Victoria. Now, listen!" + +Mr. Handyside did listen, and pricked his ears at the mention of +Scotland Yard. + +"Gosh!" he exclaimed, "this is better'n a life-line movie! For the love +of Millie, let me in by the early door! Now, how's this for a +proposition? You send those telegrams, and I'll fix the cab an' buy the +transportation to Eastbourne for the pair of us. I'm not heeled, but I +may be useful, an' I'll jab any fellow in the solar plexus at call." + +Theydon gazed at this self-avowed knight-errant in surprise. Handyside +was a man of forty, whose dark hair was flecked with gray. He was +quietly dressed, a wide-brimmed high-crowned hat of finely-plaited white +straw providing the solo note of markedly American origin in his attire. +The expression of his well-moulded features was shrewd but pleasing, and +the poise of a spare but sinewy frame gave evidence of active habit and +some considerable degree of physical strength. + +"Pon my honor," said the Englishman. "I'm half inclined to take you at +your word, except in the matter of expenses, which, of course, I must +bear. You see, if my services are called for, and prove effective, I may +need help." + +"Go right ahead," said the other calmly. "Tell me as much or as little +as you like. Where's this place, Eastbourne? On the south coast, I +guess." + +"Yes." + +"I thought it would be. A man on the steamer asked me to come and see +him at Westgate, which is about as far east as you can go in England +without wetting your feet. I'm getting the hang of things here by +degrees. Southport, of course, is away up north, and Northamptonshire in +the midlands." + +Theydon grinned, but the taxi was passing Buckingham Palace, and the +hour was 1:17 p. m. + +"I cannot give you any sort of an explanation now, Mr. Handyside," he +said. "Later in the week, perhaps, I may have a big story for your +private ear. All I can say at the moment is this--I have reason to +believe that a young lady, a daughter of Mr. James Creighton Forbes, a +well-known man in the city of London, is being decoyed to Eastbourne in +the belief that her mother is ill. Now, I may be wholly mistaken. Her +mother may be ill. If that is so, I am making this trip under a +delusion. At any rate, my notion is to try and fall in with Miss Forbes +accidentally, as it were, and watch over her until I am quite sure that +she is with her mother. You follow me?" + +"Seems to me," said the American imperturbably, "it's the most natural +thing in the world that Mr. Theydon should want to show his friend, Mr. +Handyside of Chicago, England's most bracing and attractive seaside +resort, if that's the right way to describe Eastbourne." + +"Both the plan and the description are admirable." + +"The plan sounds all right. As for the description I have been looking +up a selection of posters, and those seven words apply to every +half-mile strip of beach in the island. When it comes to a real +show-down, your poster artists have got our real estate men skinned a +mile. How much did you promise the taxi-man?" + +"Half a sovereign." + +"Two-fifty. Gee! That's the nearest thing to New York I've struck yet. +And the railway tickets--first-class, of course?" + +"Yes." + +The cab stopped. Theydon sprang out and raced to the telegraph office, +where, as he anticipated, there was a slight delay. Handyside awaited +him at the correct barrier, and together they walked down a long +platform, Theydon peering into every carriage, though convinced that +Evelyn Forbes would not travel other than first class. Thus, not being a +detective, but only a very anxious and perplexed young man, he had eyes +only for such ladies as were already seated in the train, and failed to +note the immediate interest his appearance aroused in a man who occupied +a window seat, and who was watching unobtrusively every one who passed. +Oddly enough, after the first wondering glance, this observer was more +closely taken up with Handyside. It was as though he said to himself: + +"Theydon I know, but who in the world is his companion, and why are they +traveling by an Eastbourne express--today of all days?" + +The train was well filled; there were only a few seconds to spare when +Theydon came across Evelyn Forbes in a compartment which held two other +passengers--a lady and a gentleman. + +Recognition was mutual, and Theydon flattered himself that he betrayed +just the right amount of pleasurable astonishment. + +"Miss Forbes!" he cried, raising his hat. "Well, of all the unexpected +meetings! Don't say you are going to Eastbourne!" + +"But I am," she said, and, though she smiled, her eyes were heavy with +unshed tears. She was deeply attached to her mother, and the thought +that the loved one was too ill even to communicate with her by telephone +was distressing beyond measure. + +"Just imagine that!" went on Theydon, determined to rush his fences and +travel with her unless openly forbidden. "I'm taking an American friend +there for the afternoon. May we come in your carriage? Is there room for +two?" + +Now, although Evelyn Forbes had been attracted to Theydon during their +vivacious conversation overnight, she would vastly have preferred the +comparative solitude of a journey with strangers. + +Still, she could hardly refuse such a request, and common sense told her +that a pleasant chat with a man who could talk as well as Theydon +offered a better means of whiling away two and a half hours than +brooding over the nature and extent of her mother's unknown illness. + +"There's plenty of room," she said. + +Without further ado, Theydon entered and Handyside followed. The +compartment held six seats, while a door led to a side corridor running +the length of the coach. The two remaining occupants were worthy Britons +who neither invited nor received any special attention. + +Mr. Handyside was introduced, and promptly said the right thing. + +"I guess I knew what I was doing when I forced Mr. Theydon to take me +out of London today," he said, with a smile which left the girl in no +doubt as to the nature of the implied compliment. + +"But it is hardly an hour since I spoke to my father at Mr. Theydon's +flat," she said. "Were you there, too, Mr. Handyside?" + +"No, in the next block. That was the nearest I got to Mr. Theydon before +we met and took a cab for Victoria." + +Theydon was pleased with his ally. No diplomat, trained during long +years to conceal material facts, could have headed the girl off more +deftly, while every word was literally true. + +"Ah!" she said, glancing meaningly at Theydon, "we are all the sport of +fortune, then. How strange! Of course, Mr. Theydon, you don't know why I +am here. I have had a telegram from my mother, or one sent in her name. +She has been taken ill suddenly." + +"That is bad news," was the sympathetic answer. "If the message has not +come direct from Mrs. Forbes may it not be rather exaggerated in tone? +Some people can never write telegrams. The knowledge that each word +costs a halfpenny weighs on them like a nightmare." + +As he hoped and anticipated, she produced the message itself from her +handbag. + +"This is what it says," she said, and read: "'Mrs. Forbes ill and unable +communicate by telephone. Come at once. Manager Royal Devonshire +Hotel.'" Then she added, with a suspicious break in her voice: "That +sounds serious enough, in all conscience." + +"Is it addressed to you personally?" said Theydon, racking his wits for +some means of lessening the girl's foreboding without tickling the ears +of the other people in the compartment by suggesting that she might have +been brought from her home by some cruel ruse of her father's enemies. + +"Yes." + +"But isn't that somewhat singular in itself? One would imagine that such +a significant message would have been sent to your father." + +"Why?" + +"Well, men are better fitted to withstand these shocks, for one thing. +It was heartless, or, to say the least, thoughtless, to give you such +news with the brutal frankness of a telegram." + +"I cannot understand it at all. Mother wrote this morning telling me +that she was going to Beachy Head this afternoon with a picnic party." + +"I am convinced," said Theydon gravely, "that some one has blundered. It +may be the act of some stupid foreigner. I shall not be content now, +Miss Forbes, until I have gone with you to the Royal Devonshire, and +learnt what the extent of the trouble really is. Then, if Mrs. Forbes +needs your presence, perhaps you will allow me to telephone to your +father, as he will be greatly disturbed when he returns home and learns +the cause of your journey." + +"But I can't think of allowing you two to break up your afternoon on my +account. I'm sure, when we reach Eastbourne, I shall see an array of +golf clubs among your luggage." + +"No," smiled Theydon. "My friend here refuses to play until he has seen +something of the country. He knows that the golfer's vision is bounded +by the nearest bunker." + +Handyside took the cue. + +"That's the exact position, Miss Forbes," he said. "I was warned by the +horrible experience of a friend of mine. He left Newark, N. J., on a +sightseeing tour of Europe, but unfortunately took his clubs with him. +Now, if you ask him what he thought of Westminster Abbey or the Wye +Valley he tells you he hadn't time to look 'em up, but that the fifth +hole at Sandwich is a corker, while the thirteenth at St. Andrews has +been known to restore the faculty of speech to a dumb man. You see, some +poor mute had either to express his feelings or bust." + +Evidently Miss Evelyn Forbes would not be allowed to mope during the run +to Eastbourne. + +As between Theydon and herself, the situation was curiously mixed. On +the one hand, Theydon had now a remarkably close insight into the peril +which threatened Forbes and each member of his family; the girl, on the +other, knew well that her father was bound up in some way with the +tragedy at No. 17 Innesmore Mansions. + +Nevertheless, an open discussion was out of the question, and the two +accepted cheerfully the limitations imposed by circumstances, so that +the strangers in the compartment little suspected what grave issues lay +behind an apparently casual meeting between a pretty girl and two men +that summer's afternoon in the Eastbourne express. + +The American played his part admirably. When not passing some +caustically humorous comment on British ways and manners he was being +even more critical of his fellow-countrymen. + +As he himself put it, he guessed New York society was mighty like London +society with the head cut off, and proved his contention with many wise +saws and modern instances. + +Thus the journey south passed pleasantly enough. When they alighted the +girl reverted to the topic uppermost in her mind. + +"You gentlemen will have to look after your luggage," she said. "I'm +sure you will forgive me if I hurry to the hotel. If you come there, Mr. +Theydon, I'll take care that I see you at once. It is exceedingly kind +of you to bother with my affairs." + +But Theydon had a scheme ready, having foreseen this very difficulty. + +"Mr. Handyside will attend to everything," he said glibly. "Please let +me come with you. I shan't have a moment's peace until assured that Mrs. +Forbes is suffering from little more than a slight indisposition." + +Evelyn looked puzzled, but was willing to agree to anything so long as +she reached her mother quickly. Handyside, too, made matters easy by +lifting his hat and walking off in the direction of the luggage van. + +"Well," she said, "I really don't care what happens if only I lose no +time." + +Suiting the action to the word, she hurried toward the exit, and was +murmuring something that sounded like an apology for her seeming +brusqueness as they passed the ticket collector. Here a momentary +difficulty arose. Theydon had forgotten to ask Handyside for his ticket. +The girl, of course, had her own ticket, but her companion was not +allowed to pass the barrier. He began an explanation to which a busy +official paid no heed. In desperation, he produced a sovereign, and his +card. + +"Here," he said, "you can hold this as a guarantee that my ticket will +be given up. This lady has been called to the bedside of her mother, who +is said to be dangerously ill, and I simply must be allowed to take her +to the Royal Devonshire Hotel." + +Luckily, the railwayman had the wit to see that this earnest-eyed +passenger was speaking the truth. + +"That's all right, sir," he said. "We have to be very particular about +tickets, you know." + +Evelyn Forbes was a few yards in advance, and impatiently awaiting her +escort, when a gentleman approached and spoke to her. + +"Miss Forbes, I believe," he said, raising his hat. + +"Yes," she answered breathlessly, because the man's garb suggested, +before he uttered another syllable, that he was a doctor. He had a +curiously foreign aspect, and spoke with a pronounced lisp. + +"I am assistant to Dr. Sinnett," he said, "and he has sent me to take +you to the hotel. This is his car. Will you come, quick?" + +He pointed to a smart limousine drawn up near the exit, and, in his +eagerness to be polite, almost pushed the girl toward the open door. +Insensibly, she resisted, and turned to explain matters to Theydon, who +had just placated the Cerberus at the gate, and was running alter her. + +"Mr. Theydon--" she began. + +"There ith no time to wathe, I athure you," said Dr. Sinnett's assistant +imperatively. At that instant Theydon came up. His temper was ruffled, +and he did not scrutinize the doctor's appearance as closely as might be +looked for in one who was actually on his guard against foul play. + +"What is it now?" he asked. + +"This gentleman has been sent by Dr. Sinnett to take me to the hotel," +said Evelyn. "Now, Mr. Theydon, perhaps it will be better that you wait +for Mr. Handyside and come on at your leisure." + +"I'm a stiff-necked person," said Theydon, trying to smile +unconcernedly. "I've made up my mind to see you safely to your +destination, and I refuse to leave you on any account. I am sure the +doctor will let me sit beside the chauffeur." + +Then, for the first time, he glanced at the newcomer, and was almost +stupefied to discover that the man, despite his faultless professional +attire, was a Chinaman. Moreover, this Chinaman bore a livid scar down +the left side of his face, and his eyes were set horizontally, a sure +sign of Manchu descent, because all Southern Chinese have the oblique +Mongolian eye. Though prepared for treachery of some kind, the very +simplicity of this scheme almost disconcerted him, and he blurted out +the first words that rose to his lips. + +"Is your name Wong Li Fu?" + +Half unconsciously, a hand dropped to the pocket containing the +revolver. For answer, he was struck a violent blow in the throat and +sent sprawling. The attack was so sudden that he was nearly unprepared +for it--nearly, not quite, because a flicker of baffled spite in the +dark eyes gave him the ghost of a warning. + +It was fortunate that he saved himself by a slight backward flinching, +since he learnt subsequently that his assailant was a master of jiu +jitsu, and that vicious blow was intended to paralyze the nerves which +cluster around the cricoid cartilage. Had he received the punch in its +full force he would at least have been disabled for the remainder of the +day, while there was some chance of the injury proving fatal. + +The Chinaman instantly seized the terrified girl in an irresistible +grip, and was about to thrust her into the automobile when a big, burly +man flung himself into the fray and collared the desperado by neck and +arm. + +"Stop that!" he said authoritatively. "Let go that young lady or I'll +shake the life out of you!" + +By this time Theydon was on his feet again, and rushing to the +assistance of Chief Inspector Winter, who seemed to have miraculously +dropped from the skies at the right moment. The Chinaman, seeing that he +was in imminent danger of capture, released Evelyn, wrenched himself +free by another jiu jitsu trick, swung the girl into Winter's arms, thus +impeding him, and leaped into the car, which made off with a rapidity +that showed how thoroughly the chauffeur was in league with his +principal. + +Naturally, the people coming out from the station, reinforced by the mob +of semi-loafers always in evidence in such localities, gathered in +scores around Evelyn Forbes and her two protectors. Such an +extraordinary scuffle was bound to attract a crowd; few had seen the +commencement of the fray, because nothing could be more usual and +commonplace in a fashionable place like Eastbourne than the sight of a +frock-coated and top-hatted gentleman handing a well-dressed lady into a +motor car. + +The first general intimation of something bizarre and sensational was +provided by Theydon's fall. After that, events traveled rapidly, and the +majority of the onlookers imagined that it was Winter who had knocked +Theydon off his balance, while the rush made by the latter to intercept +Wong Li Fu was actually stopped by a well-intentioned railway porter. + +Worst of all, Theydon was quite unable to speak. He indulged in valiant +pantomime, and Winter fully understood that the Chinaman's escape should +be prevented at all hazards. But the chief inspector accepted the +inevitable. + +The limousine was equipped with a powerful engine, and the only vehicles +available for pursuit were some ancient horse-drawn cabs. He noted the +number on the identification plate, and that was the limit of his +resources for the moment. + +Moreover, Evelyn Forbes, finding herself clutched tightly by a tall, +stout man whom she had never seen before, was rather more indignant than +hurt. + +Disengaging herself from the detective's hands, she looked to Theydon +for an explanation. + +"Has everybody suddenly gone mad?" she said vehemently. "What is the +meaning of this? Did you know who that man was? And why did he try to +force me into the car?" + +Theydon, slowly regaining his breath, stammered brokenly that he would +make things clear in a minute or so. Then he gasped to Winter: + +"That is Wong Li Fu--the man wanted--at No. 17!" + +"We'll get him all right," was the grimly curt answer. "Meanwhile, are +you and Miss Forbes going to the hotel?" + +Hardly less surprising than Winter's appearance on the scene was his +seeming knowledge of the purpose of their journey. + +"We must get out of this," he went on, gazing around wrathfully at the +ring of curious faces. "Here, you!" he cried, singling out a policeman +who was forcing a passage through the crowd, "clear away this mob and +get us a cab!" + +The policeman seemed inclined to resent the masterful directions, but a +word whispered in his ear when he reached Winter acted like magic, and +he soon had the gapers scattered. + +A cab was called, and Evelyn Forbes was already inside when Theydon +remembered the American. He looked around, but could see nothing of him. + +"Where is--Mr. Handyside?" he said, still finding a good deal of +difficulty in articulating his words. + +"Is that the man who came with you from London?" inquired Winter. + +"Yes. He's--an American." + +"Well, he may have been scared, and made a bee-line for the States. He +is not anywhere in sight." + +"O, please, Mr. Theydon, do let us go to the hotel," pleaded Evelyn. She +was pale, and yielding to reaction after the excitement of the fracas. + +Unwillingly, since he was certain now that there was absolutely no +ground for the girl's alarm on her mother's account--at any rate, so far +as illness was concerned--Theydon entered the cab, and Winter followed. + +"The first thing to do," said the chief inspector, when they were en +route, "is to assure this young lady, whom I take to be Miss Forbes, +that she has probably been brought to Eastbourne by a lying telegram, +and that her mother is quite well in health. Secondly, why should Wong +Li Fu be described as the man wanted in the Innesmore Mansions inquiry; +and, thirdly, how does Mr. Handyside come into the picture?" + +"I can't--talk--just yet," wheezed Theydon hoarsely. "In a few +minutes--I'll--tell you everything." + +Evelyn had not realized earlier that her self-appointed champion had +been seriously hurt. She was deeply concerned, and wanted to take him +straight to the nearest doctor. + +But he smiled and essayed to calm her fears by whispering that he would +soon be fully recovered. It was pleasant to know that he had succeeded +in rescuing her from some indefinable though none the less deadly peril, +yet the insistent question in his subconscious mind was not connected +with Evelyn's escape, or the flight of her assailant, or the mysterious +presence of the chief inspector, but with the vanishing of Mr. +Handyside. + +What had become of him? It was the maddest of fantasies to imagine that +he could be bound up in some way with the Young Manchus. Yet why did he +fail to turn up at the station? + +Theydon could not even guess at a plausible explanation. He leaned back +in the cab and closed his eyes. Really, there were times in life when it +would be a relief to faint! + + + + +CHAPTER X + +CAPTURES ON BOTH SIDES + + +Though Theydon was in first-rate athletic trim, that blow on the throat +had nearly stunned him. The effort to rise promptly and bear a hand in +the imminent capture of one whom he regarded as something akin to a +homicidal maniac had imposed a further strain on his resources, and it +was possible that he did actually lose his senses during a couple of +seconds. + +In all likelihood, too, he changed color slightly, because the next +thing he was aware of was the note of alarm in Evelyn's voice when she +cried excitedly: + +"Mr. Theydon is really very ill. I'm sure we ought to try and revive +him." + +At that he reopened his eyes and looked at her whimsically. Nature, in +fact, had put forth a supreme effort; from that moment he recovered +rapidly. + +Winter took a calmly professional view of the younger man's collapse. + +"There's nothing to worry about, Miss Forbes," he assured the agitated +girl. "Our friend has just escaped being knocked insensible, if not +killed. He was hardly prepared for such a vicious attack, I fancy. Most +certainly that scoundrel took me by surprise, or he would not have +slipped through my fingers like an eel. Next time, either Mr. Theydon or +I may be trusted to balance matters." + +Theydon grinned and nodded. He signaled with his eyes that Winter was to +make Evelyn Forbes understand that she had just escaped being the victim +of an extraordinary outrage. Muddled as his thoughts were, he grasped +the essential fact that Scotland Yard was better posted in the secret +history of the Innesmore Mansions crime than he had given the department +credit for before the dramatic meeting with Furneaux that morning. + +And, indeed, the chief inspector lost no time in justifying that belief. + +"You must have imagined that the world had suddenly turned topsy-turvy," +he said, smiling at the mystified and distraught Evelyn, as though the +whirl of events outside the station were part and parcel of the humdrum +routine of life. "When Mr. Theydon regains his speech he will tell us +how he came to suspect that an attempt would be made to kidnap you +today. In my own case, intervention was the outcome of sheer and simple +logical deduction. You see, I represent the Criminal Investigation +Department--or Scotland Yard, as it is familiarly described--and I have +reason to believe that your father is, and has been for some time, the +object of unpleasant attentions by a political society in China, whose +members are nothing more nor less than criminal fanatics. Probably this +is the first you have heard of the matter, Miss Forbes. Your father +would wish, no doubt, to keep any such disquieting knowledge from you +and your mother. But the policy of concealment must cease now. Today's +daring attack is a warning. Other efforts may be forthcoming. If you are +to be protected efficiently the police must have your loyal cooperation. +I admit candidly that I myself, with all my experience, was taken off my +guard a few minutes ago. If Mr. Theydon had not delayed that +Chinaman--whose name he has got hold of from Mr. Forbes, I expect--I +don't think I could have reached you in time." + +"Is that the meaning of the little ivory skull which my father received +at breakfast this morning?" said Evelyn, breathlessly. + +Winter's eyes twinkled. No question could have thrown a more vivid light +into the somber depths of a crime which promised to transcend in +interest and importance any similar occurrence in Great Britain during +the previous decade. + +"Doubtless," he said. "Of course, I have not yet seen Mr. Forbes, but we +have a mine of information here," and he laid a friendly hand on +Theydon's arm. "So far as I am concerned, I have had your house +unobtrusively watched--for the protection of the inmates, I hope you +understand--and I arranged also that anything unusual in the shape of +telegrams or telephonic messages"--here he glanced amusedly at +Theydon--"should be communicated to the Yard. I heard, therefore, of +Mrs. Forbes's sudden illness almost as soon as you did, and traveled +with you to Eastbourne, intending to reach the hotel at the same time as +you, and ascertain whether or not your mother was really ill. I saw you +on the platform at Victoria and guessed your identity. But, in my +profession, we never take anything for granted, so I left that matter +until I could interview the hotel manager. And here we are. I advise you +not to say a word about Mrs. Forbes being ill. If, as I firmly believe, +you find that she is in the best of health, you can explain your sudden +visit by saying that Mr. Theydon and I have something of importance to +communicate, which will be perfectly accurate, as I mean to urge +strongly that we all return to London by the next train." + +The cab stopped. To show that "Richard was himself again" Theydon, +nearest the door, opened it, got out, and helped Evelyn to alight. + +Reassured on his account, the girl smiled, and a wave of color leaped to +her cheeks. Any one happening to watch their arrival would put them down +as ordinary visitors. Evelyn Forbes was just a charming young woman, +plainly but expensively dressed; Theydon an attentive cavalier, and +Winter a prosperous city man, probably with a taste for coursing and +pheasant shooting. + +Subtly observant, indeed, would be the theorist who gathered from their +demeanor that they had just emerged practically unscathed from a +situation rife with the elements of tragedy. + +Nevertheless, Winter kept a sharp eye on Theydon after Evelyn Forbes had +run up the steps of the hotel, and was relieved at seeing that he could +walk without assistance. + +"Keep nothing back," he said under his breath as they followed the girl +with sedater pace. "These women must be frightened into complete +obedience. Did Furneaux get hold of Forbes?" + +Theydon nodded. + +"That's right. Don't talk. I can pretty well guess what took place. But, +look here. Who's Handyside--a mere acquaintance?" + +Another nod. + +"You just contrived to pick him up, and used him as an excuse for coming +to Eastbourne? I see. That removes a troublesome pawn off the +chessboard." + +"But it doesn't," wheezed Theydon. "He ought to be here. Can't make +out--what has become of him." + +"He will turn up--an American, isn't he? I thought so. The indications +were slight but certain--features, walk, figure. You can buy clothes, +but the genuine citizen of God's own country is as distinct a type as a +Highlander--all wool and a yard wide." + +Inside the hotel they came on Evelyn Forbes talking to the manager. She +hailed them at once. + +"Mother has gone to Beachy Head," she cried. "She and her friends are +expected home about six o'clock. Shall we have some tea? There is no use +in following her. She will be starting back before we could get there." + +"Mrs. Forbes is quite well, I hope?" put in Winter, casually. + +"Yes, sir, in the best of health," said the manager, indicating, with a +flourish of both hands, that nothing else was to be expected as to the +condition of any among the numerous patrons of the Royal Devonshire +Hotel. + +Evelyn asked that tea should be served in her mother's sitting room. +When they were screened by the closed door Winter examined Theydon's +throat. Beyond a slight swelling and external soreness, the cricoid +cartilage--known to the multitude as Adam's apple--was seemingly +uninjured, while Theydon himself now made light of the blow, though a +certain hoarseness was perceptible in his voice, and he deemed it +advisable to speak in a low-pitched tone. + +Evelyn Forbes listened with ill-repressed bewilderment while he related +the day's doings. At first, she hardly grasped the significance of the +story, but Winter's occasional questions and comments, and a +parenthetical sentence or two introduced by Theydon for her benefit, +quickly revealed the astounding nature of the plot of which her father +was the chief object. + +At this crisis she displayed a self-control and reticence which were +admirable. She seemed to realize intuitively that any gaps in the +recital could be filled in later, whereas it was all-important that the +detective should be made acquainted as speedily as possible with the +developments brought about by the morning's fuller disclosures. + +As for Winter, he was keenly interested in Furneaux's behavior at the +moment of Forbes's departure from Innesmore Mansions. Glancing at his +watch, he rose when Theydon's revelations came to an end. + +"I'll just go and ring up the Yard," he said. "There may be news. When +Furneaux starts off in full cry it is a wary fox that escapes him. I +only wish you and I had traveled from Victoria in company, Mr. Theydon; +Wong Li Fu would now have been in custody. However, we'll get him. If, +as I imagine, he is making for London in that car, there is even a +chance of intercepting him in the suburbs. I'll see to it." + +Left alone with Evelyn Forbes, Theydon suddenly grew tongue-tied. This +man who could invent all manner of glib conversation for the characters +in his novels now cudgeled his brains vainly for something to say that +would dwell in her memory when they parted. And he knew why a cloud was +thus effectually befogging his wits. He had only seen Evelyn three times +in as many days, had spoken to her but twice, yet was hopelessly and +irrevocably in love with her. + +He, who had so often and so thrillingly described the grand passion of a +man's life, had now fallen a victim to it, only to feel how unutterably +ridiculous and impossible was the wild longing that had sprung up in his +heart. Here, by his side, wistfully sympathetic and friendly in manner, +sat the "one woman in the world," yet he felt awkward and constrained, +and took refuge in a vague expression of anxiety on behalf of Handyside, +a man who at least might be trusted to extricate himself safely from the +labyrinth of Eastbourne! + +The girl, of course, attributed these disjointed remarks to physical +suffering. In reality, he was contrasting her wealth and his own +comparative poverty, and bidding himself fiercely not to be a vain fool! + +"Don't you think you ought to call in a doctor?" she inquired, tenderly. + +"No, no," he hastened to assure her. "The effects of the blow are +passing rapidly. In another hour I shall hardly feel it at all. I'm +afraid, Miss Forbes," he ventured to add, "that when this piratical gang +is broken up, as certainly will be the case now that the English police +are tackling it, you will associate our brief acquaintance with the only +dark days in your existence." + +"Why do you say that?" she demanded. + +"Because I am bound to admit that if I had not dined at your house on +Monday evening, many, if not all, of the amazing events of the past +thirty-six hours could not have happened." + +"I don't agree with you--not one little bit," she protested +emphatically. "Why, the detective-man himself said that the Young +Manchus have been searching ever since the beginning of the year for +proof of Dad's connection with the revolutionaries, and he was candid +enough to tell us that if it hadn't been for you that horrid Wong Li Fu +would have got me into the car. No, Mr. Theydon, our meeting has proved +most fortunate for me. Suppose I had really been captured! Would he have +gagged me and taken me away to some lonely place, where I would be kept +a prisoner, or even killed?" + +Theydon had no desire that her mind should dwell on such a harrowing +topic. He shuddered to think of her fate if ever she fell into the hands +of the miscreants who had not scrupled to murder Mrs. Lester. She +evidently regarded the crime in No. 17 Innesmore Mansions as the sequel +to some political disturbance in far-off Shanghai. It had not occurred +to her that a hapless woman had been done to death merely as a warning +to her father of the fate in store for him and his if he did not yield +to the demand of the reactionary party in China, and deliver over to +their vengeance some hundreds of the leading men in that distressed +country. + +"I doubt whether Wong Li Fu and his associates would have dared to offer +you any real violence," he said. "At the worst, I suppose, they might +have retained you as a hostage." + +"A hostage for what?" + +"For their claim against Mr. Forbes." + +"But what has he done? He has never been in China." + +"He is a power in the financial world. If the reform party cannot borrow +money the movement will collapse. At any rate that is what the Manchus +believe, and they will strain every nerve to effect their purpose." + +"But why did they kill poor Mrs. Lester?" + +Theydon felt that he was getting into deep water. This clear-sighted +girl would soon have the various threads of the enigma in her hands, and +then she could not fail but discover the true meaning of Edith Lester's +death. + +"That phase of the problem has yet to be solved," was his noncommittal +reply. + +Winter rejoined them somewhat hurriedly. He looked puzzled and rather +irritated. + +"Furneaux has made an arrest," he said. "A Chinaman, described as Len +Shi, is lodged in the cells at Bow Street, on a charge of being +concerned in the Innesmore Mansions murder. Furneaux is out, and that is +all they know at the Yard. What I cannot understand is why no inquiry +has been made by telephone or otherwise concerning Miss Forbes's flight +to Eastbourne." + +The words had hardly left his mouth when the bell of a telephone on the +table jangled. The coincidence was so peculiar that Winter laughed. + +"Some other person shares my opinion, I fancy," he said. "May I answer, +Miss Forbes?" + +"Please do," said the girl, and the chief inspector lifted the receiver +from its hook. + +"Trunk call from London; you're through," announced the hotel operator. +After a slight pause, an agitated voice said: "Is that you, Evelyn?" +"Miss Forbes is here," said Winter. "Who is speaking?" + +"Her father," was the reply. + +"Oh, I'm Chief Inspector Winter of Scotland Yard. Your daughter is quite +safe, Mr. Forbes. Mr. Theydon and I accompanied her from London. She +will speak to you in an instant. Would you mind telling me what happened +at one o'clock, when my colleague, Mr. Furneaux, jumped on to your car +and went in pursuit of some one?" + +"First, is Mrs. Forbes there, too?" + +"She is out with a picnic party on Beachy Head. We expect her back +before six o'clock. I propose bringing her and Miss Forbes to London +tonight. They will be safer in your house than in Eastbourne, as you +will probably agree when you hear what a narrow escape your daughter had +this afternoon from being kidnaped by Wong Li Fu." + +"Great Heavens! Evelyn in danger from that scoundrel!" + +"Yes. But all is well, believe me. Owing to Mr. Theydon's promptitude +and pertinacity, Wong Li Fu's scheme was defeated. Your daughter will +make everything clear. Give me the barest summary of events after your +departure from Innesmore Mansions, and I'll get out of the way." + +"We pursued a car which led us a pretty dance nearly as far as St. +Albans. It seems that Mr. Furneaux, looking out of the window of Mr. +Theydon's flat while Theydon and I were going downstairs, saw a Chinaman +watching us from a closed car standing in the cross street at the end of +the garden. He gave chase instantly, but as soon as the man realized +that he had attracted notice he tried to escape. At least, that was Mr. +Furneaux's first impression. Later, he convinced himself that the +supposed spy was little more than a red herring drawn across the trail, +and that the man's real motive was to take me out of London, or waylay +or detain me in some fashion, since it was manifestly impossible that my +presence in the Mansions should be known to any one. I see now, of +course, what the project was. If, as I gather from you, an attempt was +to be made to capture my daughter on arriving at Eastbourne, it was +all-important for the conspirators that I should not know of her absence +from home until after the arrival of the train, so that I could not +communicate with the hotel and take measures to protect her. But that +explanation was hidden from Mr. Furneaux, and the first glimpse of it +vouchsafed to me was when I reached my office and was horrified to learn +that she had gone away without my knowledge. However, in a desperate +matter like this, I must not waste time by describing my agony and +foreboding. As I have said, by some phenomenal method of reasoning +beyond my comprehension, Mr. Furneaux did arrive at a sound conclusion. +I suppose he was alive to the ridiculous aimlessness of the race across +country. My car is powerful and speedy, but the Chinaman had a +thoroughly up-to-date conveyance, too, and drove without paying the +least heed to traffic conditions." + +"There was only one man, then?" + +"Yes. Didn't I make that clear? Perhaps not. But there can hardly be any +doubt that this fellow was alone, and acting as a sort of scout or +vedette. We had the utmost difficulty in following him along Oxford +Street, and I am sure that my chauffeur has been reported by a score of +constables on point duty for exceeding the speed limit and disregarding +signals to halt. To come to the material facts, the chase took us up the +Edgware road. We tore along at a tremendous rate after passing the Welsh +Harp. Overhaul the fellow we could not, until on the outskirts of St. +Albans, when he deliberately slowed up, as though to allow us to pass. +Mr. Furneaux flew at him like a terrier grappling a rat, but the man +made no resistance. He is undoubtedly a Chinaman, though attired in a +chauffeur's livery, and he could handle a car in first-rate style, too. +His pidgin English was difficult to understand, and Mr. Furneaux shared +my view that he did not try to render himself intelligible. We gathered +that he was obeying his master's orders in trying the car, a new one, +before purchase, but Furneaux bundled him off to the nearest police +station, borrowed handcuffs and brought him back to London, leaving the +car in a garage at St. Albans. That is a bald but accurate summary of +the facts. I dropped Mr. Furneaux and his prisoner at Bow Street and was +on the way to my city office, when I suddenly felt faint for want of +food, as I ate hardly any breakfast this morning, and only drank a cup +of coffee in Mr. Theydon's place. So I returned to the Carlton, where I +met a friend, a business associate, who remained for a chat while I had +a meal. This trivial accident prevented me from telephoning to my house, +though, naturally, I had no misgivings as to my daughter's well-being. +Even then I was detained unduly, because my friend and I went to another +office in the city, and two more hours elapsed before I reached my own +place. Then, and not until then, did I hear of Evelyn's journey and its +cause." + +"Thank you, Mr. Forbes," said Winter quietly. "We seem to have made a +forward move today. Before calling Miss Evelyn to the phone I want to +tell you that in disobeying your orders to remain at home she did my +department a good turn. Wong Li Fu and I were brought face to face. He +is not a myth." + +"My word might be regarded as sufficient proof of that fact." + +"Certainly, Mr. Forbes, if given earlier," was the inevitable retort. +"But here is your daughter. She can plead her cause far better than I." + +Evelyn took the woman's way. To defend she attacked. + +"Dad, dear," she complained, "why didn't you give me your confidence? If +I had had the least notion of the dreadful things that were going on I +should certainly have telephoned to Eastbourne before starting. But +don't you see the diabolical cleverness of the scheme? The telegram +arrived just in time to allow me to catch the 1:25 p. m. train, and +rendering it idle to think of making a trunk call if I would obey an +urgent message from my mother. Then again, when I reached Eastbourne, +why should I suspect a foreign-looking gentleman who said Dr. Sinnett +had sent his car to take me to the hotel? There isn't a Dr. Sinnett in +Eastbourne at this date, but how was I to know that? Of course, both you +and I have suffered a good deal, each in a different way, but all is +well that ends well, and I shall have such a lot to tell you when we +meet tonight.... What time? I don't know yet. I'll wire or phone when +mother returns and we settle about the train. Goodby, darling! See you +don't go anywhere alone until I come back." + +For some reason Winter's manner was not so placid as usual. He looked so +obviously perplexed and troubled that Theydon, searching for a cause, +suddenly remembered that the chief inspector was a great smoker. + +"Won't you have a cigar?" he said; "that is, unless Miss Forbes has any +objection?" + +"Me!" cried the girl. "I don't object in the least." + +But the Royal Devonshire Hotel's best Havana did not wholly banish the +frown from Winter's forehead. More than once he glanced at his watch and +consulted a time table. At last he voiced one of his anxieties. + +"What can have become of that American?" he said. "He knew what hotel +you were making for?" + +"Oh, yes," cried the others in chorus. + +They laughed. Quite a cheerful air possessed two members of the little +party, at any rate. + +"Perhaps he has forgotten the name?" went on Evelyn. + +"Americans never forget the names of hotels, or railway stations, or +steamers," said Winter. "The average Englishman can tell you what will +win the Derby, but the average American will be a good deal more +accurate concerning next Saturday's mail steamer.... So, I frankly +confess it--that man's prolonged absence supplies a riddle which I can't +answer. What do you say if we give a look along the front? He may be +shy, though I told the hall porter that any inquirer was to be shown up +at once." + +No; Mr. Handyside was not to be seen on Eastbourne's spacious marine +promenade. A couple of well-dressed men caught sight of Winter, and +decided that they had instant and urgent business elsewhere, But he only +smiled. His quarry that day was not the swell mobsman, but much more +dangerous game. + +Lightning darted from a summer sky when the picnic party returned from +Beachy Head in three cars, but without Mrs. Forbes. + +Evelyn was hardly anxious at first. The hall porter informed her who the +occupants of the cars were, and she watched the lively and chattering +groups forming on the pavement and breaking up again to enter the hotel +and dress for dinner. + +At last, realizing that her mother was not among them, she singled out a +lady whom she knew, and asked for an explanation. The lady, a Mrs. +Montagu, was very much surprised. + +"But, my dear Evelyn," she said, "didn't you yourself send for your +mother?" + +The girl blanched. Some premonition of evil gripped her very heart. + +"What do you mean?" she said, and the other woman could not help noting +the distress in her voice. + +"If you didn't send, who did?" came the immediate response. "We were +just going to have tea when a gentleman, a stranger, came and asked for +Mrs. Forbes. We saw him arrive in a car which halted at the foot of the +path--nearly a quarter of a mile away. Your mother answered, and he said +that you were in Eastbourne, and had sent him to bring you to the hotel. +He said the car belonged to a Doctor Somebody, but he himself looked +like a foreigner." + +A few others had gathered around, attracted by Evelyn Forbes's pallor +and distress; Winter, too, had drawn near, and it was he who said: + +"Did you see this stranger who brought the message?" + +"O yes, plainly," said Mrs. Montagu. + +"Had he a scar down the left side of his face?" + +"Yes." + +Then Evelyn Forbes, for the first time in her vigorous young life, +fainted. Her mother was in the power of Wong Li Fu. All the terrors +which imagination had painted in her own behalf were redoubled as to her +mother's fate. Her brain reeled. Merciful oblivion came. Theydon and +Winter were just able to catch her before she fell like a log. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE REAPPEARANCE OF HANDYSIDE + + +Consternation reigned for a while at the entrance to the Royal +Devonshire. Men craned their necks and women uttered nervous little +shrieks. But Evelyn Forbes was endowed with a vigorous frame and a +splendidly vital spirit, and she recovered her senses before she could +be carried into the vestibule. + +The fact that she had fainted, too, brought to the aid of her waking +senses the innate horror of her race and class for anything approaching +a "scene," and she was almost unnaturally collected in speech and +demeanor within a few seconds after her eyes had reopened. + +"Did I give way like that?" she said, with a valiant smile, first at +Theydon, and then at the ring of faces, each with its varying expression +of curiosity or concern. "How stupid of me! How excessively stupid! That +sort of behavior doesn't help at all--does it?... Thank you, I can walk +quite well.... I'll just go to mother's room and telephone home.... +There has been some silly mistake. By this time it will be rectified, +I'm sure.... Come, Mr. Theydon. Where is Mr. Winter?" + +"Here," said the detective. "I'll follow in a minute or so. Please don't +communicate with London till I arrive." + +His quietly insistent tone was meant rather for Theydon than for the +half-demented girl, who was stumbling anywhere but in the right +direction until Theydon caught her arm and led her to the lift. She +contrived to remain outwardly calm until she reached the seclusion of +the sitting room, when she broke into a flood of tears, while in +disjointed and hysterical words she blamed her own rashness for the fate +which had overtaken her mother. + +If only she had used better judgment when the telegram came--if only she +had hired an automobile and driven straight to Beachy Head--if only she +had done a dozen other things which no one would possibly have dreamed +of doing--she might have safeguarded her darling mother! + +Theydon, meanwhile, was nearly frantic with the indecision of ignorance. +Never had he felt so helpless, so utterly childish and unhinged in the +face of disaster. He had heard that it was good for a woman to be +allowed to cry when overwhelmed with misery. Again, he remembered +reading somewhere that the feminine temperament should not be allowed to +yield to a too-tempestuous grief, or the delicate and finely-balanced +female organism might suffer irreparable injury. Should she be given +water or a stimulant? Should one leave her alone or endeavor to soothe +her? + +Heaven only knew--he didn't--so he did exactly what any devout and +despairing lover might be expected to do--put an arm around her +shoulders, and murmured a frenzied assurance of his willingness to die +several times, and vanquish a horde of Young Manchus in the process, ere +she could be allowed to endure one needless hour of distress on her +mother's account. + +Somehow, this sort of nonsense was helpful. The girl raised her swimming +eyes to his. She placed two appealing hands on his shoulders, and said +brokenly: + +"Mr. Theydon--I am ready to trust you--next to--my own father.... Where +shall we go? What can we do? I'll come with you--anywhere--only--my dear +one must be rescued." + +He believed afterwards that he answered her by a kiss! He was not +certain. The delirium of the moment was such that he could never recall +its words or acts with that precision which a well-regulated mind should +display even under the stress of intense emotion. In any event, the +crisis was interrupted by the clamor of the telephone bell. + +Withdrawing from what was perilously near an embrace--so colorable an +imitation of the real thing that Winter, entering at that instant, could +make no distinction, and was secretly amazed at these strenuous methods +of consoling the lady--Theydon lifted the receiver, and heard as one in +a trance the telephone operator's conventional announcement: + +"Trunk call from Croydon; you're through." + +"Who is it?" demanded the chief inspector gruffly. + +Even he, veteran fighter in the unceasing battle between the law and the +malefactor, was feeling the strain of the Homeric struggle ushered in by +the death of Edith Lester. + +"I don't know yet," Theydon managed to say collectedly. "Some one from +Croydon. Bend close. You'll hear." + +A quiet, drawling voice reached them, the vibrating wire lending its +measured accents a metallic accuracy. + +"That you, Mr. Theydon?" + +"Why, it's Mr. Handyside! Yes, I'm here. Where are you speaking from? +Croydon?" + +"That's so." + +"Well, I don't understand, but I'm sure you'll pardon me. We are in a +deuce of a fix at this end, so, if you'll arrange to call tomorrow--" + +"You've lost Mrs. Forbes, I guess. Is that the lady's name? If it is, +I've kept track of her. I--" + +Theydon was so astounded that he looked at Winter in blank amazement, +the pressure of his fingers on the circuit key relaxed, and the +American's voice trailed abruptly away into silence. He put matters +right at once and heard the continuation of a new sentence, whereupon he +broke in excitedly: + +"One second, Mr. Handyside. Miss Forbes is here. I must tell her your +news!" + +He turned to Evelyn. + +"Hooray!" he almost yelled. "Your mother is all right. She is with Mr. +Handyside. Some sort of miracle has happened. Come and listen." + +Aroused from a stupor of grief as though she had received a galvanic +shock, Evelyn sprang up. Naturally, she had to place an arm on Theydon's +back to permit of her head approaching near enough to the telephone. +Thus, the three heads were almost touching each other; if an artist had +been present he would have obtained a study in facial expressions worthy +of Phil May or Guerrido. + +Handyside, of course, had heard Theydon's gleeful exclamation. He +chuckled pleasantly: + +"Your digest goes a little too far, Mr. Theydon," he said, "but compared +with the newspaper placard facts in your possession, my story is a +full-sized novel. Anyhow, I'll condense it, so here goes. I was back of +the crowd when the circus started outside the Eastbourne depot. As I +ante'd up your ticket and collected your deposit of a sovereign, I saw +what took place, and sized up the result pretty accurately. The +kidnaping proposition had failed, but the guy in the silk hat had got +clear away in a bully good car--how good I know now. It seemed to me +that, next to rescuing that charming young lady, it was important +something should be known about the thug who wanted to carry her off, +and, when my eyes lit on a workmanlike motor bicycle with a side-car rig +standing close to the curb, and well clear of the arena, said I to +myself: 'George T. Handyside, this is where you take a flier, and maybe +Illinois will score one.' The man who owned the outfit was watching the +commotion when I dug him in the ribs. 'Take me after that car,' I said, +'and I'll pay you a shilling a mile with five pounds on account if it's +only a 100 yards.' I pressed a note into his hand--and, say, you +Britishers wake up all right when you see real money! We were doing +thirty per in less than ten seconds. No car on four wheels can lose any +decent motorcycle on a switchback track, and Jackson, the owner of this +one, says it's good enough for sixty on a fair stretch of road. Anyhow, +we held the thug dead easy, but didn't press him any, as I had no call +to butt in, had I?" + +"Mr. Handyside," said Theydon. "I won't waste time now by telling you +how grateful we all are. Get on with the knitting!" + +"Sir, I've had the time of my life--a rip-snorting movie, with George T. +on the film from A to Z ... No! Go away, exchange. I'm renting this line +for the next quarter of an hour. Well, we made a bee-line for Beachy +Head--so Jackson told me--and, when the automobile pulled up, we got +under a hedge and I did a bit of scout work on my feet. I saw Silk Hat +pick out a lady from a bunch of people, who seemed to be taking the view +with sandwiches, and it was simple as falling off a log to follow the +position of affairs--Silk Hat urging lady to come with him, lady +astonished, not able to size up exact bearings of the yarn, but finally +yielding. Now, if Miss Forbes hadn't told us that her mother had written +saying she was going to Beachy Head with a picnic party this afternoon I +would have gotten off at the wrong address, because I could hardly have +failed to believe that Silk Hat was picking up a female accomplice. But, +as things stood, I suspicioned that, failing the daughter, he was +putting up a bunco tale for the mother--a situation new, I believe, in +the realm of romantic fiction. I thought it was up to me to play a +strong hand, so I threw a few facts on the screen for Jackson's benefit, +and he straightway hit the pike in pursuit. Where the country was open +we kept well in the rear, but crept closer in villages and towns. We had +to stop at Tunbridge Wells for petrol, but that didn't cut any ice, +because Jackson knew the country like a book, and we sighted the +automobile within five minutes, though the milestones were pretty +numerous during that run. After that, nothing particularly happened, +except to a hen and a dog, until we came near Croydon--that is, I knew +it was Croydon because Jackson said so, and I have considerable faith in +him. In between whiles, where there was nothing doing, he and I fixed up +an automobile tour. Well, outside Croydon, there's a new road, with a +half-built villa at the near end and a way-back farmhouse at the other +end. That villa was the one thing needed when the thug made a bee-line +for the farm. I jumped out, told Jackson to find something to do to his +machine at the corner of the next block, and hurried into the Alpine +chalet. From a top back room I watched Silk Hat carrying a lady into the +farm. Eh, what's that? Yes, he was carrying her. I guess he'd given her +a dope so as to stop any cry for help. It made me feel pretty mean to be +standing there without taking a hand in the deal, but I forced myself to +believe that another hour or two couldn't make such a heap of difference +to the lady, while it would be better to leave things to the police. I +waited just twenty minutes--I have all the times scheduled--until the +car came back. By hurrying downstairs I was able to look inside as it +passed, and Silk Hat was alone. He took the London road. I strolled +out--didn't dare to hurry, you know, in case any one might be watching +from the farm--and put in some hard thinking while walking to Jackson's +stand. There were two courses open, either to send Jackson after the +auto and try myself to get in touch with you and the police, or put +Jackson on guard near the farm. Whether I decided rightly or not I +haven't a notion, but I let the car go, and for this reason: We know +where the lady is, and so does the thug; if the police put up a hard +game they can rescue her without his knowledge and spread a web for the +fly to walk into later. But they must get a move on. This phone is +nearly a mile from the farm, and Jackson is tightening nuts outside the +villa I spoke of. Now, what's the next item on the program?" + +Winter grabbed the receiver unceremoniously. + +"I am a representative of Scotland Yard, Mr. Handyside," he said. "If +ever you want work come to me, J. L. Winter, and I'll find you some. +Miss Forbes is vexed with me because I have stopped her from thanking +you, but compliments must wait. Will you go as quickly as possible to +the chief police station at Croydon? By the time you get there I'll be +in touch with the inspector in charge, and he will do the rest. You +understand? Goodby!" + +Winter rang off. He smiled blandly at Evelyn. + +"There's no opportunity now for sentiment," he explained. "Our American +friend will appreciate quick action far more than talk." + +Then he tackled the telephone again and asked to be put through to the +Croydon police station. + +"There must be no delay," he added. "This is an official call." + +He was in touch with Croydon in a remarkably short space of time, and +soon was in communication with a police inspector. + +"What's your name?" he demanded. + +"Inspector Wilkins," came the surprised answer. + +"Were you a sergeant at the time of the Surrey Bank robbery?" + +"Yes; but what the--" + +"I am Winter of Scotland Yard. Do you recognize my voice?" + +"Well--er--" + +"Do you remember that nip of old brandy I gave you while we were +freezing in a drafty warehouse at three o'clock in the morning waiting +for the Smasher to come for his plant?" + +"Yes. You're Mr. Winter right enough, sir." + +"Good! I want you to believe what I'm going to tell you, as there is a +big job ahead. A gang of Chinese cutthroats have kidnaped a lady, wife +of the London banker, Mr. James Creighton Forbes. In a few minutes an +American, a Mr. Handyside, will be with you. He will point out the house +near Croydon to which the lady has been taken in a motor car. Collect +half a dozen plain-clothes men and two in uniform and go with Mr. +Handyside--without attracting attention, of course. Surround the house +and arrest any one, especially any Chinaman, who attempts to leave. +Release the lady, and ask Mr. Handyside to escort her to her home, 11 +Fortescue Square, Belgravia. If she is very ill, which is improbable, +she should be taken to a hospital. In that event Mr. Handyside should +telephone Mr. Forbes. Occupy the farm and arrest any one who comes +there, no matter what the pretext, until Mr. Furneaux or I arrive. I'll +be with you in two hours. Tell Mrs. Forbes that her daughter will set +out from Eastbourne by the next train leaving after 6:30. Got all that?" + +"Yes, sir! Are these Chinamen likely to show fight?" + +"Better be prepared. But, after posting your sentries, I advise you and +the uniformed constables to rush the place. By the way, it will save me +some trouble if you phone the Yard and tell them exactly what I have +told you. Ask for Furneaux. If he is not in, instruct them to leave a +written record for him." + +"I'll see to it, sir. Is that all?" + +"Yes. Goodby! Meet you in two hours." + +He whirled round on Theydon. + +"Tell the manager to supply at once the best car to be had in Eastbourne +for love or money," he said. "I want something that is sure to go and go +fast." + +The chief inspector, with full steam up, was energy personified. His +bulging eyes, his firm chin, his round fists, one clenching the +telephone instrument, the other resting on the table, were eloquent of +the man of action. + +His pride had been sore stricken by the escape of Wong Li Fu when that +master scoundrel was actually in his grasp. But those powerful hands of +his were far-reaching, and it would go hard with the jiu jitsu expert +when next they gripped his lithe frame. + +Almost before Theydon had quitted the room Winter snapped--there is no +other word for it--literally snapped a question at Evelyn. + +"What's your telephone number?" + +She told him, and again the Eastbourne exchange was bidden exert itself. + +"That you, Mr. Forbes?" said the chief inspector, after a short wait. + +"Yes." + +"I am Winter, of Scotland Yard. I want to assure you that your wife and +daughter will be under your roof within the next three hours. Mrs. +Forbes will probably be escorted by a gentleman named Handyside, an +American. You owe him all possible thanks, because it is due to his +action alone that Mrs. Forbes will soon be rescued from captivity. Yes, +she was carried off from Beachy Head this afternoon by Wong Li Fu, but, +by the rarest good fortune, this Mr. Handyside, a friend of Mr. +Theydon's, was able to follow on the trail, and steps are now being +taken to free her. Your daughter will speak to you. I intervened merely +to vouch for it that an almost incredible story is true. By the way, let +no one know that Mrs. Forbes is in London. Warn your servants not to +speak of her return. One more word--have you heard anything of +Furneaux?" + +"I have not heard from or seen him since we parted outside Bow Street +police station. But, for Heaven's sake, what is this you tell me about +my wife?" + +"Miss Forbes will give you all the particulars we possess. Be calm and +remain at home. You can best assist us by stopping within call. Mrs. +Forbes and the American should arrive first, possibly before 7:30. If +there is any hitch, which is unlikely, Mr. Handyside will telephone you. +Your daughter will tell you the hour she and Mr. Theydon should reach +Victoria. She will speak to you now. Excuse my abruptness. A lot of +things may happen before I retire for the night, and I have no time to +pick and choose my words." + +Evelyn, able at last to pour out her soul in thanksgiving, nearly broke +down when she heard her father's voice. + +"Oh, Dad," she wailed, "I've passed through a dreadful time since I +spoke to you shortly after five o'clock. I dropped as if I had been shot +when Mrs. Montagu, who was one of the picnic party, told me that a man +of foreign appearance, with a scar on the left side of his face, and who +said he was a doctor, came to Beachy Head and told poor mother that I +had sent for her." + +She went on to relate such facts as were known to her, and was in the +midst of a sensational narrative when Theydon announced that a +high-powered touring car was in readiness. + +"Won't you take us with you?" he said to Winter. "There is no train from +here till 7:30, and in a motor we should be well on the way to London by +that time." + +Winter had anticipated some such request, and a prompt refusal was on +the tip of his tongue, when he recalled that he would pass through +Tunbridge Wells, whence an earlier train might be available. A glance at +the time table showed that a train left Tunbridge Wells at 7:15. + +"Yes," he said. "I'll take you part of the way. Tell your father, Miss +Forbes, that you will arrive at London Bridge at 8:40. If you two reach +London by a different route I think you should be tolerably safe." + +"If any Chinaman shows up between here and Fortescue Square I'll shoot +him at sight," Theydon said, producing an automatic pistol. + +"I wouldn't do that," smiled Winter. "You might bore a hole in some +perfectly innocent Celestial. But you won't be troubled. Wong Li Fu +carries out his own plans, and at present he is congratulating himself +on the possession of a valuable hostage. But, come along! How about a +wrap for you, Miss Forbes? We'll create a breeze, you know." + +She ran into her mother's bedroom and came out with a fur coat and motor +veil, articles which, she had guessed correctly, her mother would not be +wearing for the short run to Beachy Head. The hotel manager lent coats +to the men, and they started, not without hearty congratulations from +several people in the porch, whose fears on Mrs. Forbes's account +Theydon had dissipated when he went out to order the car. + +Winter gave their thoughts a new direction when Theydon inquired what +means the authorities would adopt to rid the country of the pestiferous +gang which carried on its vendetta with such scant respect for the law +and order of Great Britain. + +"Once we have Mr. and Mrs. Forbes and this young lady safely housed in +Fortescue Square, and protected, not only by their own servants but by +the Metropolitan Police, we will devote ourselves to routing out the +whole crew," he announced. "My idea is that when we lay hands on the +ringleader, the rest will be easy. Furneaux's prisoner, Len Shi, may be +got to talk when a Chinese interpreter tackles him. Again, there is +every prospect of an important capture being made in the Croydon house. +Most important of all is the prolonged absence from the yard of +Furneaux. He is busy, or he would have put in an appearance there hours +ago, if only to get to know my whereabouts. That means something. +Furneaux never wastes time. Usually we hunt in couples. Today, by the +fortune of war, we are separated, and perhaps fortunately so. It is all +your fault, Mr. Theydon." + +"Mine?" was the astonished cry. + +"Yes. We had to try all sorts of tricks on you before you would speak. +Just imagine Scotland Yard being compelled to tap the telephone of a +respectable and well-known author before he would own up to such +knowledge as he possessed of the murder in No. 17!" + +So that was how Furneaux had played the necromancer, and was able to +mystify Theydon that morning. + +The chief inspector, by raising the question, was touching on dangerous +ground, as he was well aware, but he was determined now that all +barriers should be thrown down. Evelyn Forbes was no bread-and-butter +miss from whose cognizance the evil things of life must be sedulously +averted. A, woman of spirit and intelligence, who had already run the +dreadful risk of sharing Mrs. Lester's fate, should be made to +understand every phase of the difficulty with which the Criminal +Investigation Department had yet to deal. + +British law and Chinese anarchy would soon grapple in a life and death +conflict, and it was idle folly to suppose that, no matter how reticent +her friends might be, this sharp-witted girl would not find out for +herself the exact nature of the link which bound the fortunes of her own +family with those of the dead woman. + +Theydon tried to pass off the detective's retort with a careless laugh, +but Evelyn reverted to the topic when they were seated in the +London-bound train after Winter had dropped them at Tunbridge Wells +Station. + +"What did the chief inspector mean when he said you refused to help him +at first?" she inquired. "There are gaps in my history of this affair. +How did you come to know that my father was acquainted with Mrs. Lester? +Why did you seem, at one time, to be taking sides with my father against +a public inquiry by the police?" + +Then, seeing there was no help for it, Theydon began at the beginning +and told the girl the full, true and unexpurgated story of events on the +Monday night. Once or twice, when he hinted at the cause of his +otherwise inexplicable actions--which, quite obviously, lay in his +interest in the girl herself, she blushed a little and averted her eyes. +But she listened in silence, and did not speak during many seconds after +he had ceased. + +Then she simply murmured: + +"Poor, dear Dad! How worried he must have been! And how well he +concealed it from me!" + +After another pause, she added: + +"We are deeply in your debt, Mr. Theydon. When this ordeal is ended, and +those horrid men have been put in prison or driven out of the country, +our next difficulty will be to--to thank you adequately for what you +have done." + +_Surgit amari aliquid!_ Even in life's pleasantest hours something +bitter arises. Theydon was in the company of the woman he loved, yet no +word of love could rise to his lips. In the first place he dared not woo +the daughter of a millionaire; in the second were his suit even +possible, he was far too honorable minded to take immediate advantage of +her disturbed state and the services he had undoubtedly rendered, and +give the slightest hint of his passion. + +So he sighed and looked out of the window at a fast-flying vista of a +Kentish hillside, and contented himself by saying: + +"For what little I have done, or attempted to do, I am already rewarded +far beyond my wildest dreams." + +Even that was more than he meant to say. Glancing timidly at Evelyn to +see whether or not she resented his words, he was astounded to find that +she had blushed scarlet, and, in her turn, was absorbed in the +landscape. + +Then he remembered that in the frenzy of the moment following the report +of her mother's capture by Wong Li Fu, he had kissed her. Had he, or had +he not? If not, why not now? But that way lay madness. And, wretched +doubt, was she already the promised bride of another man? It was a +relief when the train stopped at Sevenoaks. + +When it moved on again, they were normal young people once more, and +discussed various features of the Young Manchus' raid on society as +though the extermination of political adversaries were a commonplace +occurrence in modern England. + +At last, after a journey which lived long in their minds, since even a +prosaic train may follow the path to Wonderland, they arrived at London +Bridge, and hummed in a taxi through streets of gaunt warehouses until +the light of Westminster flashed on a Thames veiled in the blue mystery +of a Summer gloaming. + +The cab had hardly halted outside the Fortescue Square mansion when the +door was thrown wide, and Tomlinson appeared, flanked by two stalwart +footmen. The butler's face was aglow with pleasure. + +"It's all right now you've come, Miss Evelyn," he said joyfully. "Mrs. +Forbes arrived more than an hour ago." + +But Tomlinson was in error. He did not know what tribulations loomed +already through the haze of the future, or he would have laid to heart +the time-honored advice to venturesome travelers: + +"Never hallo till you're out of the wood!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +NO SURRENDER + + +Mrs. Forbes, a slim, elegant woman, looked as if she were her daughter's +elder sister. Although driven by hay fever to the seaside regularly at +the beginning of the London season, she was far from being a _malade +imaginaire_. She did not go willingly. Each year she hoped against hope +that the annoying ailment would not make itself felt, yet no sooner was +the month of May well established than for six or seven weeks she had +either to drag her husband and daughter away from the metropolis or live +by herself in some South Coast hotel. + +She had tried Brighton, whence Mr. Forbes could travel to the city, but +soon discovered that the daily train journey was not good for his +health. After that, she insisted on adopting the self-denying ordinance +of leaving Evelyn with her father in the town house from the middle of +May till the end of June, when all three went to the Highlands. + +She, of course, had not the remotest knowledge of the terrors +threatening her household; a thunderbolt out of a Summer sky would have +astonished her less than the indignities she endured when haled away +from Eastbourne in the luxurious car which Wong Li Fu had at his +command. + +Theydon had been in the house nearly half an hour and was exchanging +experiences with Forbes and Handyside--the latter, by virtue of his +extraordinary share in the day's adventures, being admitted to the full +confidence of the others--when Evelyn brought her mother into the +library. + +"Here is some one who positively refuses to retire for the night until +she has met you, Mr. Theydon," said the girl, radiant with joy and +relief, now that the shadow of death had passed, apparently forever, +leaving her dear ones unscathed. + +Mrs. Forbes, an aristocrat to the finger tips, greeted her guest with +marked cordiality. + +"I have been living during the past few hours like one of the characters +one sees in the fearsome little plays produced on the stage of the Grand +Guignol in Paris," she said, gazing at him with frank brown eyes +singularly like her daughter's, "but I have contrived to gather one +definite impression among the whirl of things, and that is that were it +not for Mr. Frank Theydon, my daughter and I would now be in as bad a +predicament as two women could possibly face anywhere." + +"I was lucky enough to be of some little use, but Mr. Handyside is the +lion of today's contest," said Theydon. + +"I am grateful to both of you, how grateful I can never find words to +tell, but Mr. Handyside rivals you in modesty, Mr. Theydon. He assured +me that you were the _deus ex machina_, though he obtained the machine +itself, and rode sixty miles to rescue me from my dragon. By the way, +where is the motor cyclist--what is his name?" + +"Jackson, ma'am," put in Handyside. "He went back to Eastbourne--thought +nothing of it. I fixed him all right. He's coming to London next week. +I've hired him for a trip round the island." + +"In a side-car?" laughed Evelyn. + +"No; I guess we'll run to something more roomy." + +"Jim, dear," said Mrs. Forbes to her husband, "get Mr. Jackson's +address. Our thanks to him, at least, can take a tangible form. No, +Evelyn, I'm not going to bed. I mean to sit up and talk. I want to hear +everything. You men must smoke big strong cigars, please. If I breathe +tobacco smoke I shall not fancy I want to sneeze." + +"I, for one, am simply aching to hear what happened to you," said +Theydon. + +Mrs. Forbes was equally ready to retail her trials. + +"When a man who resembled a tall and well-built Japanese came to me on +the Downs," she said, "I really believed him to be what he said he +was--assistant to an Eastbourne doctor. I never dreamed he was Chinese, +not that it mattered at all where I was concerned, only one becomes +quite accustomed to meeting well-dressed Japanese men in society, but +hardly ever a Chinaman. I thought, too, I remembered his face, which is +quite possible, since my husband tells me that this Wong Li Fu was once +an attache at the Chinese Embassy. He spoke excellent English, with a +strongly marked lisp; when he said that my daughter wished to see me at +the Royal Devonshire Hotel, and that a Dr. Sinnett had sent a car for my +convenience, I was mainly concerned in getting him to admit the real +cause of his presence, because I naturally assumed that Evelyn had met +with an accident. No sooner had the car started than he seized my +wrists, and gave them a queer twist, which seemed to render me powerless +for a few seconds. 'If you scream or resist I hurt you--so--only very +bad,' he said. I was that astonished I hardly realized what was taking +place before he had my wrists and ankles strapped, tightly, but not +painfully, and had placed a gag in my mouth. 'Now, you keep quiet,' he +said, and showed me a horrible-looking knife, which he put on the seat +between us. 'If you move at all when we pass through towns,' he went on, +'I stick this into you very deep.' Somehow, I knew that he meant to +carry out his threats to the letter. At first I was more angry than hurt +or even alarmed. Then I began to believe that I had fallen into the +clutches of a lunatic, and grew horribly afraid. I saw that we were +following the London road, and it oppressed me like a dreadful sort of +nightmare to be speeding through a familiar district, a countryside +dotted with the houses and estates of personal friends, and be unable to +stir or utter a sound. It seemed to be almost stupid to see policemen in +the streets of Tunbridge Wells, one of whom gazed into our car sharply, +because, I suppose, we were traveling rather fast, and feel that no one +could begin to guess at my predicament. You all appreciate the fact, of +course, that I knew nothing whatever of any quarrel between my husband +and a faction in China?" + +"Your husband adopted the policy of the ostrich, Helena," said Forbes, +grimly. "It may or may not be a fable as regards ostriches--I don't know +enough about them to feel certain, but it is unquestionably too often +true of mankind. I believed my head was hidden and imagined the +remainder of my body was safe in consequence. Now I learn that my +opponents have been tracking me steadily for half a year. The one fact +which stands out clearly above all others during the past forty-eight +hours is the phenomenal range and completeness of Wong Li Fu's plans." + +"I didn't mean my comment as a reproach, dear," and Mrs. Forbes gave him +a look which told plainly that these two were lovers after many years of +wedded happiness. "Thank God, we have all escaped--thus far!" + +"Oh, mother," laughed Evelyn nervously, "you are not anticipating more +horrors, are you?" + +"A few hours ago I would have scoffed at any one who said that a handful +of Chinese could tear aside our cloak of civilized security as though it +were a spider's web," was the serious reply. "But I have interrupted my +own story. I began to think that I would be taken to some awful den in +the East End, and held there till some huge sum of money was paid by way +of ransom, when the car suddenly quitted the main road and bumped over a +rough surface. I knew I was near Croydon--the last place I would have +suspected as a brigands' stronghold. Then we halted, and that wretched +man lifted me out, carried me into a back room of an old-fashioned +house, put me in a fairly comfortable chair, tied me in with ropes, and +left me. I couldn't speak. I was looking at a blank wall and +smoke-stained ceiling. I was sure then that he was after money, and +began to calculate the time which must elapse before my husband would +hear from him and arrange for my release. I wondered how much he would +ask--ten, twenty, fifty thousand pounds. How much would you have paid, +Jim?" + +Mrs. Forbes took her trials so cheerfully that they all laughed. + +"That's hardly a fair question, is it?" she continued, stealing another +glance at her husband. "At any rate, being a banker's wife, I knew how +extraordinarily difficult it would be to raise any considerable sum of +gold at such a late hour, and I resigned myself to remaining a prisoner +all night. Then I think I wept a little, but not for long, because I +felt that they meant to keep me alive, and as I look more delicate than +I really am, even a Chinaman would see that he was taking some risk by +denying me food and all liberty of movement. Then--very soon, it +seemed--I heard an outer door being forced off its hinges and English +voices, and the door of my room was broken open, and I saw a police +inspector and some constables. Hitherto I have never properly +appreciated our policemen. From this day I become their most ardent +admirer and enthusiastic helper. I could have gone down on my knees to +those big, kind-looking men in uniform. In fact I nearly did. When they +released me I could hardly stand. After that, Mr. Handyside came, and +accompanied me here, with a detective sitting next the driver, and my +husband and Evelyn have told me something of the extraordinary things +which have been going on in London while I was gadding about at +Eastbourne." + +"Was the detective a man named Furneaux?" inquired Theydon. + +Mrs. Forbes hesitated, and her husband answered for her, as he alone, +among the members of the household, had met the Jersey man. + +"No," he said. "He belonged to the Croydon force, and was sent as an +escort. Furneaux seems to have been swallowed alive since three o'clock. +Everybody is inquiring for him, and no one appears to know anything +about him." + +"I wonder whether Wong Li Fu is aware I have been liberated?" said Mrs. +Forbes. "It's rather odd, is it not, that nothing has been heard from +him or his gang if I was to be held a prisoner in order to extort +terms?" + +"I fancy he meant to add significance to his demand for a reply by +advertisement in tomorrow's Times," said Forbes. "You see, Helena, he +meant to carry off Evelyn as well as you." + +Mrs. Forbes smiled again at that. + +"What in the world should each of us have thought if we had both been +bound and gagged in that car?" she cried. + +"I know what I think," said her husband emphatically. "You are going +straight to bed now, and you'll take ten grains of bromide before lying +down. Evelyn, I appoint you nurse. Don't leave your mother till she is +sound asleep." + +Mrs. Forbes rose at once. She admitted, though reluctantly, that a +night's rest was necessary to steady her nerves. + +"Ah!" she sighed, "I shall be so glad when all this turmoil is ended, +and we are settled for the season in Sutherland." + +"Sutherland, ma'am," inquired Handyside. "Isn't that in the far north of +Scotland?" + +"Yes." + +"It would be, just as the North Foreland is in Kent." + +Theydon explained his friend's theory of geographical names in the +British Isles, and on that lightly humorous note the ladies disappeared. +When they were gone Forbes quickly gave a sinister turn to their talk. +He produced a letter from his pocket. + +"Listen to this," he said. + +"Y. M. is pleased to inform James Creighton Forbes that Mrs. Forbes is a +prisoner, and will remain, without food or drink and unable to move, in +an empty house until Y. M.'s demands are granted." + +His face was white with fury while he read, and his fingers moved +convulsively as if he could feel them twining around Wong Li Fu's +throat. The other men maintained a sympathetic silence. They understood +why that ghastly message had been withheld from the cognizance of the +lady who had just quitted them. + +"It was delivered by a messenger boy shortly before you arrived, +Theydon," said Forbes, when his passion had subsided and he could trust +his voice again. + +"Have you informed Scotland Yard?" said Theydon. + +"No. I dared not use the telephone. I could not leave my wife. She is +far more shaken than she thinks. Ever since her return she has followed +me if I even walked across the room. It was pitiful. I had to lie to her +when the butler brought this infernal note. She saw it was typed, and +believed my explanation that it was a mere record of an office +cablegram." + +"Give it to me," said Theydon. "Mr. Handyside and I must leave you now. +We'll take it to Scotland Yard. Mr. Winter ought to know of it. In all +likelihood he is arranging to remain in the Croydon house tonight, and, +if Wong Li Fu is telling the truth, which is highly probable, the local +police can watch the place adequately." + +"Yes. You're right, of course. I should have seen that an hour ago, but +my brain is on fire owing to the torture these fiends have devised." + +"Are you quite safe here? It is an absurd question, but I would like to +feel assured on that point. Shall I return, and strengthen your guard?" + +"I'm exceedingly obliged to you, but, in addition to two of my servants, +thoroughly trustworthy men, a detective sergeant and constable have come +from Scotland Yard. They are now having supper. When the household +retires for the night two will remain in this room, with the door open, +and two in the butler's room, which commands the other staircase. +Moreover a constable will patrol this side of the square, and a second +one the back of the premises, until long after daybreak." + +"Tell you what," said Handyside, when he and Theydon were in a taxi, and +had made certain they were not being followed, "tell you what, son, +you've struck a bonanza in this Chinese drama." + +"What do you mean?" said Theydon. + +"Well, I guess you're the curly-haired boy where Miss Evelyn is +concerned." + +"Like most Americans, you jump at conclusions," was the ungracious +reply. + +"And, like most Americans, I'm right nearly all the time," said +Handyside dryly. + +"Surely one can hardly discuss such a matter." + +"Why not? If a proposition sounds hard, chew on it, and may be you'll +get your teeth into it somehow." + +Theydon nearly allowed himself to become angry. Was his hopeless +admiration for Evelyn Forbes so patent that a sharp-eyed stranger could +discern it after a brief hour in their company? + +"Millionaires' daughters marry poor men only in novels and on the +stage," he said bitterly. "In real life, and in England, they take unto +themselves titles and landed estates." + +"I guess Wong Li Fu will have to round you up some more," was the +cryptic answer, and Handyside forthwith plunged airily into some wholly +different topic. + +At Scotland Yard they inquired for Furneaux, and were told he had not +reported at headquarters since the early afternoon. So Theydon was +introduced to another representative of the department, and handed over +the typed note; the detective promised that its purport should be +telephoned to Croydon without delay. + +When the two reached the Embankment again, Theydon felt unaccountably +tired, and was minded to take leave of his companion then and there. But +Handyside placed an unerring finger on the cause of his weariness. + +"Say, Mr. Theydon," he cried, "I don't know what food product +arrangements you've made all day, but I couldn't have eaten less since +breakfast if Wong Li Fu was sitting over me with a pistol. How about a +square meal? Come to my hotel, and I'll start the chef on a nice little +menoo while we're having a wash and a brush up." + +"By Jove! Now I know what is the matter with me," was the astonishing +answer. "I have lunched and dined on a cup of tea at Eastbourne." + +"Guess I'm fifteen years older than you, so I knew my trouble all the +time. Those people in Fortescue Square were so rattled that they never +thought of asking us to eat. Come right along. It's only a step." + +"I'll come with pleasure. I owe you some money, too, which I was nearly +forgetting." + +"What do you owe for?" + +"Railway tickets, and taxis, and motor-cycles, to begin with." + +"No, sir," said the American decisively. "I've had the cheapest day's +amusement I've ever dreamed of. On balance I owe you one sovereign. As +for those half-tickets from Eastbourne I wouldn't sell them for dollars +and cents. When I get back to my home, 21,097 Park Avenue, Chicago, I'll +have those bits of cardboard framed, and when some particular friend +asks the reason I'll tell him, suppressing names of course, and he'll go +away thinking that George T. Handyside is the biggest liar in the State +of Illinois, which is some pumpkin, you bet." + +"What beats me," rejoined Theydon, "is how you remember where you live. +You must have a marvelous head for figures." + +So they dined well, and wined moderately, and Theydon walked to +Innesmore Mansions, thinking of little else in the world except of the +moment when he held Evelyn Forbes in his arms, almost in an embrace, and +he had dared, nearly, if not quite, to kiss her. + +As he drew near Innesmore Mansions, however, he kept his wits about him. +One of the most remarkable features of a series of remarkable crimes was +the thorough command of the resources of civilization exhibited by the +Young Manchus. A few days earlier he would not have dared to introduce +into a story of his own an association composed exclusively of Chinamen +which adapted to its needs the motor car, the messenger boy, perhaps the +telephone and telegraph, to say nothing of the advertising columns of +the daily press. + +It was monstrous to imagine that a number of Orientals--marked men, +every one, no matter what disguises they might adopt--should dare bid +defiance to the forces of the British Constitution in order that they +might wreak vengeance on those more enlightened compatriots who wished +to see their country rescued from the effete control of a puppet +Emperor. + +But Theydon was now some days older and many degrees wiser. He knew that +the wildly improbable had become dogged fact, that Chinese fanaticism, +tigerish in its crafty and utter cold-bloodedness, was setting at naught +not only the ordinances of the law, but the brightest intellects whose +duty it was to make that law respected. + +It behooved him, therefore, to lend a sharp eye to his own safety, and +never a vehicle or pedestrian came near while he traversed the quiet +streets in the neighborhood of Innesmore Mansions that he did not give +the closest attention to cab or wayfarer, as the case might be. + +As it happened, that quarter of London was singularly deserted. The +first flight of people homeward-bound from the theaters was well over; +the later contingent, supping in restaurants, had not begun to arrive. +Save for the slow-moving figure of a policeman the long front of the +mansions themselves was devoid of life. + +Nevertheless, it was with a feeling of relief that he turned the key in +the lock of No. 18, and heard the scraping of a chair on the kitchen +floor as Bates rose to meet him. + +"Hello, Bates!" he cried wearily, "here I am again, you see! Anything +new or interesting during my absence?" + +"Mrs. Paxton--" began the valet, stopping when his master uttered a +sharp exclamation. Theydon had completely forgotten Miss Beale and his +sister. + +"Yes," he said. "Sorry I interrupted you. What of Mrs. Paxton?" + +"I saw her, sir, as you ordered, and she promised to call on Miss Beale. +She kem here about an hour ago--" + +"Who? My sister?" + +"Yes, sir. She was anxious to see you. From what I could gather, sir, +the two ladies had bin puttin' their heads together, and agreed that +this Chinese business has a nasty look, an' you'd better keep out of +it." + +"What Chinese business, Bates?" + +"Well, sir, Miss Beale will 'ave it that Mrs. Lester was killed by a +Chinaman, an' one of the police on duty in this district told me a +little while ago that he saw no less than three Chinamen prowlin' round +here last Monday between dusk and dark." + +Theydon drew a deep breath. If there was gossip going on about +"Chinamen" in connection with the murder in No. 17 the newspapers would +soon be getting hold of it. The arrest of Len Shi by Furneaux must be +reported. Possibly some newspaper correspondent in Eastbourne would hear +of the kidnaping exploit, and describe the Eastern aspect of its chief +actor, Mrs. Forbes's name would "transpire" in the paragraph, and, by +putting two and two together the lynx-eyed journalism of London would +ferret out a good deal of the truth. + +"Ladies very often talk nonsense about such things," he said sharply. +"Why should any Chinaman single out poor Mrs. Lester as a victim? I +think the inquiry may be left safely to Scotland Yard. Have you seen the +evening papers? I'll bet you sixpence nothing was said at the inquest +concerning Chinamen?" + +"No, sir. That's true. However, Mrs. Paxton wants you to ring her up." + +"Why?" + +"She wants to be sure you are safe home." + +Theydon laughed. "How can I?" he cried. "She is not on the telephone." + +"Mrs. Paxton left a number, sir. If you give them a call it will be +taken to her." + +Theydon shook his head good-humoredly but obeyed. A voice at the other +end answered: + +"Will you oblige me by telling Mrs. Paxton that I took an American +friend to Eastbourne this afternoon and returned by a late trains," he +said. + +"Who is it, please?" + +"Mr. Theydon, Mrs. Paxton's brother." + +"O, I have a message for you. Miss Beale is staying with Mrs. Paxton +tonight. There was a Chinaman in her hotel, and she didn't like it." + +Theydon controlled his feelings sufficiently to thank his informant. He +really wanted to say something crude. + +"Gad!" he muttered, when he had rung off, "these women have Chinamen on +the brain. Look here Bates," he added emphatically, "I hope you won't +lend an ear to this nonsense. You've seen no Chinamen, I supposed?" + +"No, sir." + +"If you do see one, tell me, and I'll get to know his business, pretty +quick." + +"Yes, sir." + +"Any letters?" + +"Three, sir, and a small parcel. I put them on your table. Shall I get +you something, sir?" + +"No, thanks. I've just had a huge supper. Goodnight." + +"Goodnight, sir. Any orders for the morning?" + +"Let me sleep as long as I like, unless I'm wanted." + +Theydon entered the sitting room. He opened the letters. Two were of no +moment; the third was a request from the editor of a magazine that the +"copy" of his article on the "Forbes Peace Propaganda" should be +forwarded as speedily as practicable. What a mad world it was, to be +sure! Here was an important periodical waiting impatiently for the views +of the millionaire on the best means of securing peace on earth and good +will to all men, while that same master mind was obsessed with fear of a +few Chinese bandits. Society was looking to Forbes for a promised +panacea against war and its evils; Forbes himself was wondering whether +bolts and locks and armed servants and policemen would protect him and +his from the claws of the Young Manchus! + +Theydon heard Bates locking and bolting the outer door of the flat with +a certain thankfulness. He was thinking of the sheer impossibility of +any marauder gaining access to No. 18, when he opened the small parcel +which the valet had spoken of. He speculated idly as to the nature of +its contents, because he could not remember having ordered any article +which would be contained in so tiny a package. + +He took out a piece of stout paper, folded twice, and a little white +object fell to the table and rolled over several times, finally coming +to rest with a curious suddenness. It was a small, carved, ivory skull! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +SOME NEW MOVES IN THE GAME + + +Theydon gazed dazedly at the skull for the best part of a minute. His +state of mind was that of a man, utterly incredulous, who nevertheless +thinks he sees a ghost. Then he recovered himself and laughed angrily, +harshly, because he had not succeeded better in controlling his nerves. + +He examined the paper. It bore no writing of any kind. It was precisely +similar in color and texture to the two typed slips which Forbes had +received, but the sender had evidently thought that the skull was +symbolical enough of deadly intent without troubling to add a written +threat. + +The ivory skull was an exact replica of its predecessors. The set teeth, +the scowling grin of the gaunt jawbones, the dull menace of the empty +eye sockets, were equally convincing, equally disconcerting. + +Lighting a cigarette, Theydon scrutinized the address and postmarks. In +a sense, it was ludicrous to find "Francis B. Theydon, Esq., 18 +Innesmore Mansions, W. C.," typed in plain script on the wrapper. What +an unholy alliance of modern science and medievalism! The mind almost +refused to focus itself on the tragic aspect of the affair, yet the hour +at which the package was posted, 5:30 p. m. in the West Strand, showed +conclusively that Wong Li Fu, at any rate, had not sent the death's head +by his own hand, but had entrusted it to a confederate. The notion +brought in its train the departure of Miss Beale from her hotel, +"because she had seen a Chinaman there." "Every little helps," mused +Theydon, "I must let Scotland Yard know." + +He went straight to the telephone, and was pleased to hear that Mr. +Winter had reached headquarters. The chief inspector was feeling +grateful, and said so. + +"It was very thoughtful on your part to deal so promptly with the +message received by Mr. Forbes," he said. "I meant remaining in Croydon +all night. No one came to the house, of course. Wong Li Fu's note +explained why. Callous and calculating demon, isn't he?" + +"Yes. Even more calculating than you are aware. He has included me in +the count now. When I reached home ten minutes since, after gormandizing +with Mr. Handyside, I found the totem of the tribe awaiting me." + +"The what?" + +"An ivory skull." + +"You don't say!" and there was a genuine thrill in Winter's voice. +"Anything else?" + +"There was no written legend. I have no doubt the enemy believes that +such a work of art speaks for itself. It does. I am to be exterminated, +I suppose." + +A marked pause ensued. When Winter spoke again his tone was grave. + +"This is a very serious business, Mr. Theydon," he said. "The worst part +of it is that it seems to be spreading in an ever-widening circle. If it +goes much further we'll be obliged to run in every Chinaman in London, +and sift out the decent ones from the heap until we reach the unpleasant +residuum. Are you worried about things? If so, I'll send a man to mount +guard tonight." + +"Not at all, thanks. Bates and I will take care that there isn't even a +joss stick in the flat before we go to bed. But I say, there's another +matter. Have you met Miss Beale?" + +"Yes. She came here this morning. She gave evidence at the inquest, I am +told. What of her?" + +"I asked my sister to spend the evening with her, and she was so alarmed +at finding a Chinaman as a fellow-guest in her hotel that she is +spending the night in my sister's house." + +"A plague on all Chinamen!" cried Winter wrathfully. "After this I'm +dashed if I don't drink Indian tea. However, we'll look him up. Sleep +soundly. Your earlier sins of omission are forgiven you, because you +have done us several good turns today. I'll tell your local police +station that if any pigtail or squint eye is found within half a mile of +Innesmore Mansions tonight it is to be jugged without the slightest +hesitation. Keep the skull safely. Furneaux is collecting them." + +"Have you seen him, then'" + +"No. But I've heard from him. He has gone home suffering from opium +poisoning." + +"Great Scott!" + +"O, that's only pretty Fanny's way. He means that he is sick of the reek +of Chinamen. You know his peculiar views with regard to tobacco. If he +has been prowling around among opium dens in the East End all the +evening, I'm sorry for him. But he'll turn up all right in the morning, +looking like a skinned weasel. By the way, it'll interest you to hear +that we have cleared up one minor issue. You remember that Ann Rogers, +Mrs. Lester's maid, was called away by a telegram saying that her father +was ill?" + +"Yes." + +"The old fellow, who is a bit of a sponge, admits that he was given two +pounds by 'a foreign gentleman' for sending that telegram and shamming +illness during the night. I wish I could put the hoary old rascal in +jail, but his action probably saved Ann Rogers from sharing her +mistress's fate." + +"Mr. Winter, has it struck you that the man who devised this scheme, +beginning with the murder of Mrs. Lester and ending, Heaven alone knows +when or where, is an organizing genius of a very high orders." + +"You would be surprised if you knew the real extent and scope of this +affair," said Winter. "Some day soon I'll be more outspoken. Goodnight. +If you go out in the morning leave word with Bates where you can be +found if wanted." + +Theydon turned from the telephone and found Bates standing beside him. +That stolid and worthy ex-noncommissioned officer was armed with a +red-hot poker. Henceforth his employer saw pretense was useless. + +"Beg pardon, sir," said the valet apologetically. "I couldn't help +overhearin' what you were sayin', an' if there's any blinkin' Chinee +hidden in this place I'll put a mark on him he won't forget in a hurry." + +Theydon could not help laughing, but Bates was in earnest. + +"Once I was stationed in Cork, sir," he said solemnly, "an' we had to +stop a riot. It was then I learnt the reel vally of a red-hot poker. +It's as good as a baynit any time. I've kep' this one handy since Mr. +Furneaux ran out. I do believe he saw a Chinaman." + +"He did, and, what is more, arrested him. Well, come on, Bates. There +are not many hiding places in one of these flats. I only hope we find a +Celestial. It would be the fitting finale to a busy day." + +But their search was in vain, though they succeeded in scaring Mrs. +Bates badly. It was almost inconceivable that two such men, one a +powerfully-built athlete and the other an ex-soldier, should even +imagine that any marauder could be secreted in the flat; but the +European insensibly credits the Oriental with occult powers, and they +took their task quite soberly. + +Singularly enough it led to a discovery bearing directly on the problem +of Mrs. Lester's death. Lending out of the kitchen was a narrow +scullery; here a lift, worked by a wheel on the ground level, delivered +coals by the sack and other heavy parcels. + +Theydon glanced at the sliding panel which gave access to the lift. +Obviously he seldom, if ever, visited this part of his domain. + +"Can that thing be operated only from the ground?" he inquired. + +"O, no, sir," said Bates. "I often pull it up when I want to lower the +dust bin." + +"Can you do it now?" + +Bates looked surprised at first, then thoughtful. Theydon's words had +suggested a new idea. He opened the panel, tugged vigorously at a rope, +and soon the lift itself, a sort of large cupboard, open at the side, +came in view. + +"By gum!" he muttered, gazing at its spacious depths, "I never thought +of that." + +"You see what I'm driving at, then?" + +"Why, of course, sir. A moderate-sized man could stow away inside there +and hoist himself to any floor. It 'ud be perfectly easy an' safe as +nails. A hundredweight of coal is nothing to it." + +"I think we see now at least one method whereby the man who killed Mrs. +Lester could have entered the flat without her knowledge?" + +"Not a doubt about it, sir. Nearly noiseless, too, an' if you heard it +working you'd imagine it was meant for the flat beneath, because there's +a whistle to warn us when it's comin' here." + +They surveyed the lift in silence for a little while. Then Bates caused +it to descend again, and Theydon examined the rather flimsy device which +fastened the panel. + +"I'm not what you might describe as a nervous individual," he said, at +last, "but it wouldn't be fair to your wife and yourself, Bates, if I +didn't tell you I have just received an ugly reminder that the gang +which killed Mrs. Lester has a grudge against me now. Wouldn't it be a +reasonable thing if we drove a couple of screws into that door tonight?" + +Bates stroked his chin. The long-dormant spirit of combat kindled in his +eye. + +"Better still, sir," he grinned, "let's drive a screw into any one who +comes up in the lift." + +"But how?" + +"By tying your pistol firmly to the dresser, putting it on a +hair-trigger--I know how to do that, of course--an' letting it plug a +bullet into the right place when the panel is half open." + +"Are we justified in taking the law into our own hands?" + +"Is any one justified in tryin' to get in here an' cut our throats while +we're asleep, sir?" + +Theydon weighed the pros and cons of this thesis very carefully. He +dreaded the possibility of taking a human life, even in self-defense. +Yet against the wretches who had strangled Edith Lester, and coolly +prepared to leave Mrs. Forbes to starve in an empty house until their +revengeful scheme was perfected by full knowledge of the identity of +every man in China, who had assisted in the downfall of an effete +monarchy, what code of conduct would apply unless it were that which +holds sway in the jungle? + +"Couldn't we contrive matters so that if the pistol were fired it need +not necessarily inflict a fatal wound?" he said. + +"Let's see what we can do, sir," and Bates set to work gleefully on the +arrangements. There was not the slightest difficulty in devising an +efficient means of pressing a trigger with a reduced pull by opening the +door. Any schoolboy could adjust a piece of string to act unfailingly. +By measuring distances, and careful sighting of the pistol when fixed in +position, they arrived at a line of fire which would strike a body +crouched in the lift about the region of the right shoulder. + +Then Bates locked the scullery door, put the key in his pocket, and +assured his trembling wife that she might sleep like a top, since no +bloomin' Chinaman could get at her that night. Theydon himself retired +soon afterwards. He was as tired as though he had been trudging steadily +along country roads since daybreak. + +When he awoke, it was broad daylight. Around the corners of the drawn +blinds in his bedroom he could see strips of golden sunshine. Glancing +at a clock on the mantlepiece he was amazed to find that the hour was +ten o'clock, so, not only had there not been a raid on the premises, but +Bates had taken the overnight instructions literally, and allowed him to +sleep far beyond the usual hour. + +He rose hurriedly, raced to the bathroom and shouted for "breakfast in +fifteen minutes." He was splashing in his tub when the telephone bell +rang, and Bates answered. Within a few seconds the valet was knocking at +the door. + +"A Mr. Handyside has rung up, sir," was the announcement. "I think he's +an American. He wants to know if there is anything doin'. He said you +would understand." + +"Tell him I'm alive, and will call at his hotel at 11:30." + +"Yes, sir." + +When Bates brought in the breakfast Theydon was glancing hurriedly +through the morning papers. Some of them contained an allusion to the +Eastbourne incident, but no names were mentioned. + +A reference to "developments" in connection with the "Innesmore Mansions +Murder," however, caught his eye. Appended to a brief account of the +inquest were the following paragraphs: + +"It may be taken as certain that the police are not altogether at sea as +to the motive of this atrocious crime. Strange as it may seem--the +victim being a young and attractive lady, living unostentatiously and +taking little, if any, part in the social life of London--there is some +probability that Mrs. Lester's death was the outcome of political +revenge rather than an incident in an interrupted burglary. + +"At first, every indication pointed to the act of some ghoul surprised +by the unfortunate lady in her bedroom, but we have reason to believe +that graver issues to the community-at-large will be revealed when +Scotland Yard's inquiry is completed. It must not be forgotten that her +husband died 'suddenly' some six months ago in Shanghai. Oddly enough, +the police are now keeping a close surveillance on Chinese quarters in +London, not only in the neighborhood of the docks, but in the +fashionable West. It may, or may not, be a mere coincidence that a +Chinaman was arrested yesterday at St. Albans and lodged in Bow Street. + +"There are not wanting other similar 'coincidences' in places so far +apart as a well-known South Coast seaside resort and South Croydon. At +present, the whole matter is nebulous, but striking developments may +take place at any hour, and the murder of Mrs. Lester may yet figure as +one of the most sensational crimes of recent years." + +Theydon was reading these discreet but exceedingly well-informed +sentences with much care, when he noticed that Bates had closed the +sitting-room door before beginning to arrange the contents of the tray +on the table. Such an unusual action meant something. + +"Well, what is it now?" he inquired, lifting his eyes to the +manservant's impassive face. + +"When the milkman come this morning, sir, he told me that a policeman +was found lyin' insensible on the road outside the mansions shortly +after three o'clock," was the answer, conveyed in a low note that +suggested a matter better kept from the cognizance of Mrs. Bates. + +"That's a bad job for the policeman; it is nothing very remarkable +otherwise," said Theydon. + +"But the milkman heard he was set about by three swells, young gentlemen +in evening dress, sir, who ran away when another constable appeared." + +"Very likely. There was a row, and the law got the worst of it. Anyhow, +we were not disturbed during the night." + +"No, sir. I was only thinkin' of what might have happened if the police +were not on the job." + +"Look here, Bates"--and Theydon's manner was most emphatic--"if you and +I begin seeing shadows we'll soon collect a fine show of Chinese ghosts. +I'm astonished at you, a man who has been under fire." + +"Sorry, sir. I thought you'd like to hear the lytest, that's all." + +Theydon ate a hearty breakfast, thus proving that the marvels and +portents of the previous day had not begun to undermine his +constitution. Finding he had time, after attending to his +correspondence, to walk to Handyside's hotel in the Strand, he did so. +The American was awaiting him at the end of a long, thin cigar. + +"Any noos?" said the Chicagoan, after a cheerful greeting. + +"Yes. The feud continues. You heard about those ivory skulls yesterday?" + +"Yes, sir. They reminded me of the tales of my youth." + +"Well, I got mine last night. Here it is!" + +"Gee whiz!" + +Handyside took the small object which Theydon produced from a waistcoat +pocket. He examined it with minute care. + +"I've never crossed the Pacific," he said, after apparently satisfying +himself as to the exact nature of the unpleasant token, "but one of my +hobbies is the collection of ivories. In my home--" + +"21,097 Park Avenue," interrupted Theydon. + +"Just so--four doors short of 211th Street. Well, sir, when you blow in +there you'll see a roomful of curios. I'm not exactly a connoisseur, but +I know enough to tell Japanese work from Chinese. This was made by a +Jap. And that reminds me. You said last night that Wong Li Fu put you +off your balance by a jiu jitsu trick and handed that husky detective +some, too. Very few Chinks have ever even heard of jiu jitsu. I've a +notion that a bunch of Japs is mixed up in this business." + +"Surely not?" + +"It's possible. You good people here are crazy in your treatment of the +Japanese. You think they're civilized because they dress in good shape, +and can put up a mighty spry imitation of Western ways. But they ain't. +They're the greatest menace to Europe that has yet come up on the tape. +Do you believe they want China to wake up and organize before they're +ready to take hold? No, sir. Anyhow, that skull was carved by a Japanese +artist, and a bully good one at that." + +The two were standing near the fireplace of a square and spacious foyer. +There were plenty of people in the place, some conversing with friends, +others writing or doing business at the various bureaus. It chanced that +Theydon faced the two swing doors which led to the street, and he was +returning the bit of ivory to his pocket when, somewhat to his surprise, +Furneaux entered. + +The detective saw him, too--of that he was quite certain--but ignored +him completely. After one sharp, comprehensive glance around, as though +he were seeking some one who was not visible, the little man went to a +desk, scribbled a note, handed it in at the inquiry office, walked +swiftly in the direction of an anteroom and restaurant, and disappeared +forthwith. + +Theydon was puzzled by Furneaux's behavior, but was quick to perceive +that if the latter had not wished to be left alone he would at least +have made some sign of recognition. + +A page approached Mr. Handyside. + +"Note for you, sir," he said. + +The American opened the envelope and read a few lines scribbled on a +sheet of note-paper. He passed it to Theydon. + +"The circus is now about to commence," he said, and the meaning of this +enigmatical remark was made clear when Theydon saw what was written. + +"Dear Sir," it ran, "take Mr. Theydon to your room. I'll join you there +immediately.--C. F. Furneaux." + +"If this is the little sleuth who was missing yesterday I guess we've +gotten our call," commented Handyside, with an amused grin at the +expression of bewilderment on his companion's face. + +"I was just about to tell you that Furneaux had come in and crossed the +hall." + +"Well, let's beat it to the third floor. I have the key in my pocket." + +They were walking through a long corridor when Furneaux appeared at the +other end. Beyond the three men, not another person was visible in that +part of the hotel, and in a few seconds they were behind the closed door +of Handyside's room. + +"So you're still on the map?" said the detective, surveying Theydon with +an air of professional interest. + +"Yes, but I have received notice to quit," was the retort. + +"So I hear. The executioner was quick on the heels of the warrant, too. +If it had not been for the precautions Winter took last night the +newsboys would have been bawling a second Innesmore Mansions tragedy +during the past couple of hours." + +Theydon smiled. + +"I'm not joking," snapped Furneaux. "In fact, I feel rather bad about +it. I woke up at eight o'clock, and pictured you and Bates and his wife +lying about in No. 18 in very uncomfortable and ungainly attitudes. I +was so worried and miserable that I telephoned your hall porter to learn +the worst, and was quite astonished when he said that Bates had just +been chatting with him. You don't understand, of course. I forgot to +tell you about the lift. Wong Li Fu's special delegate climbed into No. +17 by that means and three of 'em would have reached you last night in +the same way if a policeman hadn't met them in the street." + +"My man heard about the row. He guessed, too, that it had something to +do with us. The policeman was badly injured, he was told." + +"Yes--nothing broken; he was put to sleep by some confounded Japanese +wrestling trick." + +"Japanese, you say?" + +"Precisely. The Young Manchus are being backed up by a second gang which +calls itself the 'Sons of Nippon.' I don't know what London is coming +to. We've entertained Anarchists, Nihilists and Dynamitards for years. +Now we have the Yellow Peril with us. I wish I were King for a few days. +There would be a bigger clearance of reptiles out of England than St. +Patrick made in Ireland." + +"Mr. Handyside here told me only ten minutes since that he was convinced +there were Japs in league with the Chinese." + +"How did you know?" and Furneaux whirled round on the American +instantly. + +"By using the gray matter at the back of my head," was the reply. "No +Chink ever taught Wong Li Fu how to put away two chesty individuals like +Mr. Theydon and your painter, Mr. Winter. But I couldn't be sure till I +had seen the ivory skull. Then I knew." + +"So did I know yesterday morning," said Furneaux, "and a deuce of a time +the discovery gave me. Anyhow, the street fight outside Innesmore +Mansions at daybreak today settles the matter. There were two Japanese +and one Chinaman. The Japs outed the policeman. Fortunately he and +another man made a five-minute point at each end of the mansions, and, +as No. 1 failed to turn up, No. 2 went to look for him. He saw the end +of the row, and ran to help, blowing his whistle for assistance. +Unfortunately for us, two of the three confounded blackguards escaped." + +"O, you've got one, then?" cried Theydon. + +"Yes, a Jap. The constable was wise enough to give him the point of his +truncheon in the gullet, and that settled him." + +"I wonder if he is the one who would have been shot had he broken into +my flat," said Theydon musingly. + +"Shot! Man alive, you'd never have heard him!" + +"Not till he had a bullet lodged securely in his inside, it is true. +Bates and I surveyed that lift last night, Mr. Furneaux, and regarded it +as the weak part of our defenses, so we arranged that an automatic +pistol should live up to its name, and fire at any one who opened the +sliding panel." + +"Did you now?" said Furneaux admiringly. "Whose brainy idea was +that--yours or Bates's?" + +"A joint effort," he said, with a self-satisfied smile. + +"Well, I'm glad it didn't come off. British law is a fearsome and +wonderful thing. You might both have got ten years for fixing a +man-trap, to wit, a lethal engine. However, during the next few days +you're going to change your abode. Tell Bates and his wife that they +need a holiday, and ought to visit relatives in Yorkshire or North +Wales. Pack what you need for a week, at least, and make straight for +Fortescue Square." + +"Are you joking?" said Theydon, genuinely astounded. + +"Do I look it?" And, indeed, the detective did not. "Winter has just +settled that program with Mr. Forbes. You see, you're in this affair +now, neck and crop, and it's easier for us to safeguard one place than +two. You're pleased, aren't you? Doesn't a pretty girl live there?" + +"Sir," said Handyside, "he's tickled to death, and that's a fact. I'm +the only one to make a kick. I kind of reckoned on being allowed to play +a walking-on part in this drama, but I look like being cut out in the +new shuffle." + +"I can make use of you," said Furneaux promptly. "You've seen Wong Li +Fu, and would know him again?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"And you can tell a Japanese from a Chinaman at sight?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Good. You're enrolled. Next thing you'll be receiving an ivory skull, +too. These beggars are the smartest crowd I've come across in twenty +years. I think they would have beaten us if it hadn't happened that Mr. +Theydon and you, each of you strangers to the Forbes family, were +selected by fate to intervene at psychological moments. The Young +Manchus and their allies had the ground surveyed thoroughly. They even +had us of the Yard marked down. Oh, it's a plot and a half, I can assure +you, and the worst thing is that the real struggle is yet ahead. All +that has happened before is mere skirmishing compared with what's to +come." + +"Is that why you covered up your tracks, even in this hotel, before you +came to my room?" inquired Handyside. + +"It is, and let me tell you that you're a living example of a +contradiction in terms. You use your brains, Mr. Handyside, yet you +smoke a cigar calculated to atrophy the keenest intellect. You, an +American, chewing a vile Burmese Cheroot! _Cre' nom d'un pipe!_ When +this bubble has burst I must reason with you!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +WHEREIN THEYDON SUFFERS FROM FAINT HEART + + +Furneaux, with that phenomenally clear mind of his, had perceived and +expressed in one trenchant sentence the outstanding and almost unique +feature of the tragic mystery which centered around the death of Edith +Lester. Theydon's connection with either international finance or the +rebirth of China was remote as that of the man in the moon. Yet he had +been pitchforked by fate into an active and, indeed, dominating +influence over those phases of both undertakings which were peculiar to +London. + +Theydon mused on this element in an unprecedented situation as he sat in +the taxicab which bore him swiftly to Innesmore Mansions. Another quite +abnormal condition was the ignorance of London with regard to the fierce +struggle now being waged in its midst. + +On the one hand, a few Oriental fanatics--most of whom were probably +less swayed by racial enthusiasm than by good payment for services +rendered--were carrying out the orders of a master criminal with a +sublime indifference to the laws framed by the "foreign devils" whom +they despised; on the other were ranged the three members of the Forbes +family and Theydon himself, supported by the forces of the Crown, it was +true, but singularly isolated from the knowledge and sympathy of their +fellow-citizens. + +Miss Beale hardly counted. The servants in Fortescue Square shared with +Bates and his wife a sort of territorial interest in the fight. When +Fortune picked an occasional warrior for the fray she chose a man from +Chicago, a motorcyclist from Eastbourne, a policeman in Charing Cross +road. + +How portentous had been that hand raised to stem the traffic at a +congested corner on the Monday night! Into what a vortex of crime and +passion had it not pointed, all unknowing! + +If the cab in which Theydon was hurrying home from Daly's Theater had +not been delayed by the dispute between driver and policeman, he would +never have known that the millionaire visited Innesmore Mansions, and +the subsequent course of the night's history might have left him wholly +unaffected. + +Then his wayward thoughts took to brooding on the gray car which +shadowed him from Waterloo to Fortescue Square, and again from the +square to his own abode. If it held some member of the Embassy staff, +why had no more been heard of it? And what had Winter and Furneaux meant +by hinting that far wider issues were bound up with the affair than the +authorities were yet at liberty to divulge? The attack on Forbes, +sinister and malevolent in its scope and purpose, was, in a sense, open +warfare. But it was impossible to guess what part, if any, the official +representatives of China filled in the fray. Were they active allies of +Scotland Yard or did they hold what is known in the law courts as a +watching brief? He could not tell. He only knew that each successive +period of twenty-four hours broadened the area covered by the struggle, +and there, at least, he found solid backing for the little detective's +demand that the threatened people should dwell under one roof. His +pulses quickened at the notice that this new departure implied constant +association with Evelyn Forbes. Yet, what did it avail? Why should he +dream of fanning into a fiercer fury the flame of his love? As matters +stood, he had about as much chance of marrying Evelyn Forbes as of +becoming Emperor of China! + +The incongruity of the situation was illustrated with cruel accuracy by +the fact that he could ill afford the stoppage of his work demanded by +the present trend of events. He earned what might be regarded as a good +income by his pen, but his expenses were not light, and he had deemed +himself fortunate the previous year when he was able to invest a hundred +pounds! + +As a matter of fact, the interest on his "securities" paid for his +gloves and ties; another lucky year might see him provided for life with +boots and socks! He pictured himself--if he were idiot enough, when all +this turmoil was ended, to pose as a suitor for Evelyn Forbes's +hand--explaining his financial position to the millionaire, and wilting +under the scornful amusement in those earnest, deep-seeing eyes. Phew! +He grew hot at the mere notion of such folly. + +Little wonder, therefore, that the driver of the taxi should gaze +quizzically after Theydon's alert figure as it vanished in the stairway +of Innesmore Mansions. + +"Got the hump, an' pretty bad," soliloquized the man. "Gimme a bob over +the fare, an' all, so can't be stony. But Lord love a duck, you never +can tell!" + +Theydon was about to unlock the door of his flat when it opened in his +face, and his sister nearly collided with him. She screamed slightly, a +certain quality of alarm in her exclamation merging instantly into +joyful recognition. + +"So you have come home!" she cried. "My goodness! What a fright you've +given me!" + +"Why?" he said, with a reassuring and brotherly hug. + +"I've had horrid dreams. I couldn't rest all last night for thinking of +you." + +"Is George absent?" George was her husband, a consulting engineer, whose +professional duties often took him to distant parts of the country. + +"Yes." + +"Then you and Miss Beale have been living on tea and scraps. Really, +Mollie, I credited you with more sense. Tell me what you ate last night, +and I'll diagnose your dreams." + +"We dined at a first-class restaurant in the West End," said Mrs. Paxton +indignantly. "It would be much more to the point if you explained how +you have been living the past few days. I have not been so worried about +anything since George was trapped in that horrid mine." + +Mollie was on the verge of tears. Her brother resolved instantly to +minimize matters, or she would fret more than ever on his account. + +"Now, look here, old girl," he said, meeting her critical glance +steadily. "Miss Beale has been putting absurd notions into that stylish +little head of yours. By the way, is that the latest thing in hats? It +suits you admirably." + +Mrs. Paxton smiled, though her eyes were glistening suspiciously. + +"You can't humbug me, Frank, so please don't try," she protested. "Why +are you mixed up in this dreadful business? Why are you constantly +meeting detectives? Why did you rush off to Eastbourne yesterday? When +did you become acquainted with this Mr. Forbes? Have you seen his +daughter?" + +Theydon was at least sufficiently well versed in the peculiarities of +the feminine temperament to know that he would, be safe in answering the +last question first. + +"Yes," he said. "I have seen a good deal of Miss Forbes recently. Have +you ever met her?" + +"She was at the horse show last year with Lady de Winton's party. She's +an awfully pretty girl, and will be worth millions, I suppose. Some one +said that young de Winton was simply crazy about her, but he looks such +a sloppy youth that I could hardly imagine those two getting married. Of +course, there's the title, yet a title is not everything." + +Young de Winton! Theydon had not even been aware hitherto of the +existence of a marriageable scion of that noble house. + +"That particular young spark has not been in evidence during the past +few days at any rate," he commented, and his voice was not so nonchalant +as he imagined, because Mrs. Paxton looked up quickly. + +"Perhaps it was only idle gossip," she said. "Is Miss Forbes a nice girl +to talk to? She struck me as being very animated." + +"Animated"--while in the company of that undoubted oaf, de Winton! +Theydon choked back something tinged with gall as he replied quietly: + +"She could not well help being highly intelligent. Her father and mother +are charming people. I was introduced to Mr. Forbes owing to a magazine +commission to write an article about his interest in aviation. Now you +see how promptly even the most gorgeous bubble bursts when it impinges +against a solid little fact. As it happens, Mr. Forbes and I will have +so much in common during the next day or two that I am now going to stay +with him. I came here to pack a portmanteau. If you'll be a good little +girl and listen while I'm at the telephone you will hear all about it." + +The words were no sooner uttered than he wanted to recall them. It would +be no easy matter to discuss Furneaux's suggestion with any one in +Fortescue Square without letting his sister into the secret that the +visit was necessitated by considerations of his own personal safety. + +Mrs. Paxton's eyes were sparkling with a new interest. + +"I had no idea you were on terms of such intimacy with the family," she +cried. "Don't tell me, Frank, that your flights have taken you to the +elevated region in which millionaires' daughters figure as possible +brides!" + +"Now you are making me out a Mormon," and Theydon grinned fiercely. + +"You know what I mean. This Miss Forbes--by the way, what is her +Christian name?" + +"Let me see. I think I have heard it. Doris, is it, or Phyllis? No, I +remember now--Evelyn." + +"O, then, if you are so vague on that point I suppose I must reconcile +myself to owning a bachelor brother again." + +He shook his head at her. + +"Ah, you women!" he said. "Yet I used to regard you as quite a sensible +person, Mollie! Now, how in the name of goodness could I possibly +entertain any notion of marrying the only daughter of a man in Forbes's +position?" + +"It all depends," was the illogical but crushing retort. "There are +plenty of millionaires' daughters whom I would not regard as good enough +for my brother. And, let me tell you, the family is making progress. A +little bird whispered the other day that George's name will appear in +the next list of honors. He is to receive a knighthood." + +It was not new to Theydon to learn that his brother-in-law stood in high +favor with the Government, because Paxton had been appointed on two +Royal Commissions with reference to mining regulations, but he affected +a surprised incredulity as offering a way of escape from an inquisition +which he dreaded. + +"Dear me!" he smirked. + +Therein he erred. His sister gave him a puzzled glance. + +"You are not yourself today, Frank," she said dubiously. "You are +acting. For whose benefit? Not mine, surely!" + +"If your prospective ladyship will pardon me I will now go to the +telephone," he countered. + +Anything, even a mad jumble of incoherence in his talk with the Forbes +household, was better than the troubled scrutiny of those clear brown +eyes. Leaving the door open so that his sister could hear his side of +the conversation, he rang up No. 11 Fortescue Square. + +The butler answered. + +"That you, Tomlinson?" said Theydon. "Will you ask Mr. Forbes if I am to +turn up in time for afternoon tea? If it is more convenient that I +should arrive later I have lots of things to attend to, and can fill in +a few hours easily." + +"I really don't know what to say, sir," came the astounding answer. +"Mrs. Forbes has been shot--" + +"Great heavens!" + +"Yes, sir. She was merely looking out through the drawing-room window, +when some one fired at her from a passing motor car." + +"Do you mean that she is dead?" + +"No, sir--not quite so bad as that. The bullet struck her left shoulder. +A few inches lower and it would have pierced her heart. The doctors are +with her now. I--" + +Some interruption took place on the line and the butler's voice ceased. +Theydon, careless now as to what construction his sister might place on +his words, was about to storm at the exchange for cutting the +communication. He meant to say that on no consideration would he inflict +the presence of a stranger at such a terrible moment, when a coldly +metallic, almost harsh question reached him. + +"That you, Theydon?" + +"Yes," he said. Forbes was speaking. + +"I was crossing the hall, and guessed it might be you. Come as soon as +you are at liberty. You will be welcome. If we are to be besieged I want +some one who will not be afraid to shoot. These policemen are too +scrupulous. They saw some cursed Mongol leaning out through the window +of the closed car, and could have either shot him or put a bullet so +close that his aim would have been disturbed. As it was, my wife only +escaped death by the mercy of Providence. She bent slightly at the very +instant the would-be assassin fired, and the bullet simply lacerated her +shoulder. After this, I'll defend myself and my womenfolk, but I need at +least one other man whom I can trust. Will you come?" + +"I'll be with you within twenty minutes." + +He heard the clang of the receiver being replaced on its rest at the +other end of the wire. Somehow, the sound conveyed a new determination +on Forbes's part. He had his back to the wall. No matter what view the +law took of his action subsequently, he would protect his dear ones at +all hazards. + +After that, Theydon hesitated no longer. + +"Bates," he cried, "throw into a bag such clothes as I shall need for a +few days' stay in Mr. Forbes's house. When I am gone, pack your own +boxes and take a week's holiday. Go anywhere you like, out of London, +but go at once. Send me your address, care of Mr. Forbes, and I'll let +you know when I want you again." + +"If it's a matter of holdin' out against them--" + +Bates intended making a declaration of war, but his employer broke in +emphatically. + +"I want you to obey my orders fully and unquestionably," he said. Bates +promptly became the well-trained valet once more. + +"Yes, sir," he said. "Your portmanteau will be ready in ten minutes. +Half an hour later me an' Mrs. Bates will leave for my cousin's place in +Hampshire." + +Theydon returned to the sitting room. His sister's face was white with +fear, but he threw restraint to the winds. + +"Mollie," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders, "you are very +dear to me, but there is one woman in the world who, if fate proves +kind, may yet be dearer. She is in danger. If some one said that of you +to your husband, what would he do?" + +She kissed him with tremulous lips. "He would act just as you are going +to act," she said. "But, dear, can't you trust me? I cannot help, +perhaps, but I can pray for you." + +"Well, then, Sis, I won't fence with you any longer. There's a sort of +feud between Mr. Forbes and a faction in China. He helped the reformers +financially, and some supporters of the dethroned dynasty are trying to +compel him by force to give them a list of the prominent men who control +the revolution. If he yields, it means that nearly a hundred leading men +in China--men whose only thought is the welfare and progress of their +country--will be ruthlessly murdered. If he continues to refuse, his own +life and the lives of his wife and daughter are at stake. These fiends +killed Mrs. Lester within a few feet of this very room. They killed her +husband six months ago. They tried to kidnap Evelyn Forbes yesterday, +and succeeded, for a while, in carrying off her mother, their plan being +to torture one or both, even unto death. Heaven help me, I love Evelyn +Forbes, and I would count my life well spent if I died in defending her. +Should anything happen to me and she is spared, tell her that, will +you--and my spirit will thank you." + +"We must not think of death, but of life," was the brave answer. "Can I +do anything? Could George assist if he were here?" + +"No, Mollie. Perhaps I am exaggerating matters, though the history of +this week would make strange reading if published broadcast. Indeed I +shall now urge on Mr. Forbes the advisability of sending the facts to +the press. London would be stirred to its depths, and every one of its +citizens would be quick to observe and report the presence of Chinamen +or Japanese in the West End. Some innocent Orientals would suffer, but +the police might at least be enabled to capture the pestiferous gang +which has committed this latest outrage. Just think of some cold-blooded +scoundrel shooting at a sweet-mannered and gentle lady like Mrs. +Forbes!" + +"Surely the authorities can protect her." + +"That is the wild absurdity of the position. Of course, you didn't hear +what Mr. Forbes said. The armed detectives on duty in his house actually +saw the Chinaman who fired the shot which wounded her, leaning out +through the window of a closed car. But they cannot blaze away at any +passer-by merely because he is, or resembles, an Asiatic. What they dare +not do, however, he and I will endeavor cheerfully. Bates!" + +"Yes, sir," came the cry from a bedroom. + +"If you are packing two bags, put that pistol and a box of cartridges in +the smaller one." + +"Yes, sir." + +Mrs. Paxton at this crisis proved herself a woman of spirit. + +"I think you're right, Frank," she said quietly. "I refuse to believe +that any British court of justice would blame any man for defending the +lives of his wife and daughter, nor you for helping him. If the +peacefully disposed Chinese residents in London wish to avoid risk let +them keep away from No. 11. Fortescue Square. May I come with you?" + +"You, Mollie?" + +He looked at her with troubled eyes. For the moment such was the fire in +his brain he did not understand. + +She laughed gallantly. + +"I don't mean as one of the garrison," she said. "May I not make the +acquaintance of these people? Sometimes, the mere knowledge that others +are aware of one's troubles and sympathize with one is comforting. Miss +Beale is not expecting me till tea time. I told her I might lunch with +you. Indeed, I promised to call at her hotel for her letters, and that +is halfway on your road." + +"You're a brick, Mollie," said her brother. "I do believe Evelyn Forbes +will be glad to see you. The most amazing thing about this affair is +that none of the many friends Mr. and Mrs. Forbes and their daughter +must possess in London has the slightest inkling of the truth. I suppose +the servants are instructed to tell ordinary callers that the various +members of the family are out, or some of them indisposed, or something +of the sort.... But come along! I hear Bates banging my belongings into +the passage. I'm in a fever to be there and taking part in the row." + +Soon they were seated in a taxi and speeding to Smith's Hotel, Jermyn +Street. + +"Have you invited Miss Beale to reside with you while she is in London, +Sis?" said Theydon, allowing his thoughts to dwell for a moment on the +less tragic side of events. + +"Yes. What else could I do? Poor thing, she was terrified at the notion +of sleeping under the same roof as a Chinaman." + +"I don't blame her. But there's a certain element of risk for you, +Mollie--" + +"Oh, bother! Don't tell me that a few Chinamen can threaten all London." + +Yet even the valiant-hearted Mrs. Paxton yielded to the haunting terror +of the bandits when the taxi drew in behind a gray car already standing +at the curb outside Smith's Hotel, and her brother grasped her wrist in +sudden warning. + +"Sit still," he said. "Now we may get on the track of some of the gang. +That is the car which followed me on Monday night." + +His sister, of course, did not understand. She had heard nothing of the +pursuit and its curious sequel. + +"Do you mean it is one of the cars which these men use?" she whispered +breathlessly. + +"Yes. I'll explain later. But what impudence! The scoundrels have not +even changed the number plate." + +Unquestionably, the number of the gray landaulet now within a few feet +of them was XY 1314. Theydon stooped, opened a dressing case lying at +his feet, and took out the automatic pistol placed there by Bates. He +put it in the right-hand pocket of his coat. + +"Now, I'll reconnoiter," he said, and opened the door. The taxi driver +was already gazing curiously in at his fares, wondering why one or both +did not alight. + +"Be ready to start the instant I want you," said Theydon to the man, and +he strolled past the gray car, with every sense alert, every muscle +braced. If Wong Li Fu were seated inside he would cover him with the +pistol and hold him there until the police came, or shoot him dead if he +offered any resistance. + +Fortunately, therefore, all things considered, the interior of the car +was absolutely empty, save for a copy of the Times on the back seat. +Even the presence of the newspaper was significant. In that issue should +have appeared Forbes's reply to "Y. M." which Furneaux had suppressed as +unnecessary. + +There was a chauffeur at the wheel--no Chinaman, but a tightly-buttoned +and black-legginged young Englishman--in fact, the real thing in +chauffeurs. + +"Whose car is this?" demanded Theydon. + +"It belongs to the Chinese Embassy, sir," said the man, answering +civilly enough, but not unnaturally showing some surprise at the curt +question. + +"Are you waiting here for some official of the Embassy?" went on +Theydon. + +"Not exactly, sir, some friends of His Excellency." The man glanced +toward the door of the hotel. "Here they are now," he added. + +Theydon turned. Two Chinamen, sedate, pig-tailed persons, were +descending the steps. With them was Furneaux! One of the Orientals gave +Theydon a rather sharp glance, having noticed, apparently, that he was +conversing with the chauffeur, but Furneaux, after a stonily indifferent +stare, said to the second Chinaman, in plain English: + +"Do you mind dropping me at Scotland Yard?" + +"With pleasure," was the composed reply. + +The three entered, and the gray car made off, leaving Theydon to gaze +blankly after it. His sister, though badly scared at first, quickly +recovered her self-possession. She even made a joke of the incident. + +"As an anti-climax, Frank, that is the best thing of its kind you have +ever brought off," she tittered. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +FORCEFUL TACTICS + + +Though a prey to that most burthensome of cares--the uneasy +consciousness of an impalpable yet ever-threatening evil--Theydon was +not blind to the humorous element in the present situation. Mrs. Paxton, +of course, did not know who the little man accompanying the Chinamen +was. + +She had seen her brother stalk the motor car and its presumed occupants +in the most approved melodramatic fashion, and could not help noticing +his complete discomfiture. Naturally she imagined he had encountered a +pair of perfectly harmless citizens of the Middle Kingdom, and, being +one of those happy beings more readily swayed to laughter than to tears, +rallied him upon an apparent blunder. + +"Never before have I discovered a neurotic streak in you, Frank," she +said, after she had obtained a couple of letters for Miss Beale, and +they were en route again. "Come now, confess. If Evelyn Forbes--or, let +me see, is it Phyllis or Doris? No, Evelyn. If Evelyn Forbes, then, did +not happen to be a remarkably pretty girl, would you really attach such +terrific importance to the mad goings-on of a set of Chinese fanatics? I +doubt it." + +The cab was threading its way through the traffic of St. James Street +and Piccadilly on a busy afternoon in the season, and Theydon had much +to tell her before they arrived at Fortescue Square, but he sat by her +side in silence for a little while. + +"Frank," said his sister, at last, "it is not like you to seek refuge in +silence. I'm sorry if my chaff annoyed you. Don't forget that you know +everything about this mysterious business, and I know very little." + +Her sympathetic voice roused him from the stupor which had benumbed his +senses. + +"I allowed imagination to run away with me, Sis," he said gently. "It +was thoughtless on my part. Please forgive me. I suppose those two +Chinamen are unofficially connected with the Embassy. At any rate, the +man with them, the little man in a blue serge suit and straw hat, is +Furneaux of Scotland Yard, a pocket marvel among detectives, the sort of +criminal-hunter you read about in Gaboriau, but can scarcely accept as +existing in real life." + +From that instant he bent his wits to the task of acquainting Mrs. +Paxton with the history of the preceding three days. He was aware of the +irrepressible trembling which shook her slender frame when he spoke of +the ivory skull found in Edith Lester's underbodice, and the replica of +the same grewsome token sent to Forbes, so suppressed all mention of his +own experiences on returning to Innesmore Mansions overnight. + +Furneaux had asked him for the bit of ivory that morning, and, +incidentally, had produced the others from his pocket. The detective +gave no reason for his eagerness to possess these trophies, but seemed +to invest them with great importance. While keeping up a constant flow +of talk with his sister, Theydon tried to puzzle out the detective's +motive for carrying such sinister messengers of death around London. + +Try as he might, he could arrive at no plausible explanation, but he did +not make the error of attributing Furneaux's action to mere impulse. +Those men of the Yard had a solid foundation for every step they took. +Even the visit to Smith's Hotel, and subsequent departure in the gray +car, meant a definite stride onward in the fight against Wong Li Fu. Of +that he was assured. + +At 11 Fortescue Square there were no outward signs of recent disturbance +beyond the presence of a sharp-eyed policeman at each corner of the row +of houses of which Mr. Forbes's residence formed one of the center pair. +Theydon expected to see a shattered window in the drawing-room on the +first floor, where, presumably, Mrs. Forbes was standing when the shot +was fired, but each pane in three large windows was intact, and the +windows were closed. + +Then he reflected--as, indeed, proved to be the case--that on such a +fine day the window would probably be open. Two windows on the second +floor and one in the cloakroom near the front door were raised a few +inches, but drawn curtains screened from observation any watchful eye +which might be stationed behind them. As a matter of fact, armed +detectives were hidden there, and they had been given specific orders to +shoot without warning any one of Chinese appearance whose behavior was +suspicious, while three men were in readiness in the hall to rush out +into the square and make an arrest under similar circumstances. + +In that fashionable quarter, at that hour, automobiles of every type +were passing constantly. At the very next door a well-appointed carriage +and pair was in readiness to take an elderly lady for a drive in the +park. As yet, none of the other residents in the square had the remotest +notion that No. 11 was in a state of siege. The position of affairs, if +it were not so desperate, was almost amusing! + +Mrs. Paxton and Theydon were admitted without any delay, and Forbes +himself hurried downstairs to greet them. He was pale, but quite +composed. All the nervous uncertainty of the previous day had vanished. +He was armed and willing for the fray. If, as was by no means unlikely, +Wong Li Fu staked everything on a gambler's throw and led his cohort in +a daylight raid on the house, the Manchu leader would meet with a very +warm reception. + +Forbes was surprised to find that a lady had come with Theydon, but +expressed his pleasure at the visit, which, he said, was just the thing +his wife and Evelyn needed. + +"Yes," he went on cheerfully, noting the astonishment caused by his +words, "Mrs. Forbes is not seriously injured. The bullet lacerated the +top of her left shoulder, and the wound is painful but superficial. She +positively refuses to remain in bed, so our doctor humored her, provided +she promises not to pass the time looking through the drawing-room +window!" + +Mrs. Paxton, to whose senses the presence of armed detectives and +constables in uniform was even more eloquent than her brother's words, +glanced about the spacious entrance hall with wide-eyed amazement. Once +she and her brother were recognized as friends of the family, the men on +duty gave them no heed. + +Outside were the familiar sounds of London traffic; within were +preparations for conflict. The police carried revolvers openly in +leather cases strapped to their belts. On a table near the library door +were several automatic pistols ready to be snatched up in an emergency. +An alert detective, revolver in hand, was peering through the curtains +of the cloakroom; this sentry, in particular, would alarm the garrison +if, as Winter had definitely warned his assistants, an attempt were ever +made to enter the house by main force. + +"I think I must be dreaming," she said, trying bravely to lessen the +gravity of the statement by smiling at its inherent absurdity. "Am I in +London, or have I been whisked by magic to one of those outposts of +civilization where men and women of European race are often compelled to +band together for protection against savages? One reads of such things +comfortably while dawdling over breakfast, and one wonders idly why +people go to such places. But that something of the sort could happen in +London--why, it is simply fantastic!" + +"It is unpleasantly real, for all that, Mrs. Paxton," said Forbes, +leading the way up the stairs. "What else can we do? If the authorities +surrounded the house with a cordon of soldiers London would be in an +uproar. We want to avoid that, at all costs. I have been in +communication with the Home Office, and am advised that, if we decide to +put up with the inconvenience, it is better, and actually less risky, to +hold out here than seek safety by flight. I understand that Scotland +Yard is not losing an unnecessary minute, but there are obvious +difficulties in the way of decisive action. It is considered worse than +useless to effect isolated arrests, as these tend only to put the other +members of the gang on their guard. The chief inspector tells me that he +had some hope of being able to make a big haul tonight. The principal +drawback is the language bar. Chinese interpreters are few and far +between in London, and those who do exist--in the East End, for +instance--have long since lost any useful acquaintance with events in +their own country. This is a political matter, you understand, and must +be fought out on political lines. Strange as it may sound in your ears, +the cause of Chinese freedom is at issue in this very house. If Wong Li +Fu could secure a list of names now locked in a bureau in my library the +Constitutional party in China would perish forthwith for want of +leaders. But he won't get it. Thanks to your brother, Mrs. Paxton, his +deadliest attack failed yesterday. For today's accident we have +ourselves to blame. We did not even suspect that his malignity would +take the form of shooting the first person who chanced to look out of a +window." + +He had halted at the top of the broad staircase while making that +stirring declaration of war. + +"Pardon my outspokenness," he said, sinking his voice to a lower tone. +"I don't want to frighten my wife on my own account. She believes now +that the police are hunting these scoundrels in every hole and corner of +London. In a sense, that is true, but we never know the moment some +extraordinary action may be taken, so we remain constantly on the _qui +vive_." + +He heard the telephone ring beneath, and turned quickly. + +"I may be wanted," he said. "I'll join you presently. There is my wife's +boudoir," and he pointed to a door. "Take Mrs. Paxton in, Theydon. Mrs. +Forbes and Evelyn will be glad of your company." + +Theydon knocked, and heard Evelyn's voice bidding him enter. Mrs. Forbes +was lying on a couch, and her daughter had evidently been seated near +her, reading a newspaper. + +"I've brought my sister to see you," he explained. "I've been relating +such heroic things about you that she simply refused to go home without +ocular proof of your existence." + +Mrs. Forbes would have risen, but was restrained by the girl's emphatic +cry: + +"Mother, why won't you behave like an obedient invalid?" + +Thus coerced, "Mother" did behave. + +"They insist on treating me as a casualty," she cried cheerfully. "What +is your sister's name, Mr. Theydon?" + +"Mollie," he said thoughtlessly, for he had just touched Evelyn Forbes's +hand, and the mere contact gave him an electrical shock. + +The women laughed, and Mrs. Paxton blushed. + +"Mollie Paxton, at any rate," she said, realizing at once that her +brother had completely lost all self-possession at sight of his +divinity. "Now, as you are going to stay here, Frank, you shall give me +the full measure of the few minutes I can spare, so go and talk over +your adventures with Mr. Forbes while I gossip with the prisoners." + +Theydon saw that his tactful sister had struck the right note. She might +be trusted to make herself eminently agreeable. Her bright, smiling +manner had already created a good impression, and a lively chat with one +who had not passed through the vicissitudes which beset the Forbes +family would be an excellent tonic. + +"Before I efface myself, may I be allowed to congratulate Mrs. Forbes on +her escape?" he said, halting at the door. + +"Yes, you may," replied the older lady. "And, just to show that I am +convalescent, kindly tell Tomlinson that I am coming down to luncheon, +and that Mrs. Paxton will join us." + +Forbes was leaving the telephone when Theydon regained the hall and +explained that he had been dismissed from the feminine conclave +upstairs. The millionaire closed the door and motioned his companion to +a chair. + +"How long will it be before London wakes up to the knowledge of what is +going on in its midst?" he said. "Is there anything in the newspapers? I +have had no time to read. I passed a rather sleepless night, so did not +rise until a late hour. Then Helen was fired at. I need hardly tell you +that my time has been fully occupied since." + +Theydon gave a resume of the paragraph which had appeared in at least +one of the morning journals, and admitted that some inkling of the truth +was bound to gain publicity during the next few hours. + +"I cannot understand why it is the reporters are not here by the score +already," he went on. "Some passer-by must have seen or heard the +shooting. A pistol cannot be fired in a quiet square like this without +attracting general attention." + +"That is the extraordinary part of it," said Forbes, smiling grimly. +"People heard the noise, of course, but came to the conclusion that a +cylinder in the car had back-fired. That was the view taken by two +policemen on duty within a few yards of the house. A detective stationed +in the cloakroom actually saw the man raising the weapon. He, of course, +was under no delusion as to what had happened, and ran out instantly, +but the car was then traveling at a fast pace, and was out of sight +before the nearest constable could even endeavor to stop it. Anyhow, +what was the man to do? We cannot expect that he would whip out a +revolver, if he carries one, and blaze away indiscriminately at car and +occupants if the chauffeur refused to pull up. Really, Theydon, Wong Li +Fu has perplexed the authorities more than any desperado known to this +generation. He is aware that his hostage has escaped from Croydon, so he +calmly drives past my house, knowing full well that it is efficiently +guarded, and fires a pot shot at the first person seen through one of +the windows. The man whom I have spoken to over the telephone shares +that opinion. He is one of the legal advisers of the Home Office. Just +to show the baffling nature of the problem, he says that it will be +absolutely impossible, on the evidence available at present, to frame a +charge against any Chinaman other than Wong Li Fu. Yet we know that he +has at least four or five, and probably three times as many, +accomplices." + +"Have the police yet obtained any real clew as to the whereabouts of the +gang's headquarters? They must have some sort of meeting place. They +must eat and sleep somewhere." + +"That big detective, Winter, came here this morning. He seemed to be +very confident, though I think I gave him the worst shock he has +received for many a year when I informed him that within an hour after +he had left the house Mrs. Forbes had been shot at, and narrowly escaped +a fatal wound. It was he who asked me to invite you to come here. I'm +exceedingly sorry that our acquaintance, begun so happily, should +involve you in personal risk--" + +"As for that," broke in Theydon, "I would not change places with any man +in England at this moment." + +He feared instantly that he might have said too much, and added with a +laugh: + +"Don't forget, Mr. Forbes, that I write books, some of them--the most +popular ones, I am afraid--being of a sensational type. When this +tornado has died down, and Wong Li Fu is carefully hanged, and you and +your family are recuperating in Sutherlandshire, I shall resume work +with a new inspiration. Never again shall I say to myself, 'Oh, that is +too far-fetched,' or fear that I am straining my readers' credulity +beyond bounds. If a small gang of Chinamen and Japanese can hold up +London, bamboozle the best men in Scotland Yard, and keep a man of your +position a prisoner in his own house, I need have no fear of adopting +any situation my fertile brain can evolve, because four days ago I would +have scoffed at the things which have actually happened as quite +impossible and therefore unbelievable." + +"Japanese, you say? Why do you mention Japanese?" + +"The American, Mr. Handyside, tells me the skulls are of Japanese +workmanship. He argues also that the wrestling tricks of which Winter +and I, and Mrs. Forbes in lesser degree, have had some experience, are +Japanese. More than that, a Jap was arrested outside my place early this +morning." + +"Mr. Winter said something about it, but he spoke only of Chinamen." + +"I have Furneaux's authority for the statement that the prisoner is a +Jap, and belongs to a society calling itself the 'Sons of Nippon.'" + +"But confound it, I have no quarrel with Japan. If anything, I am one of +her best friends." + +"I must get Handyside to propound one of his favorite theories. He says +that a powerful and growing party among our allies in the Far East means +to keep China in a condition of anarchy until Japan is prepared, +financially and in armament, to take a commanding share in the ultimate +settlement. But, at best, the few Japanese adventurers in league with +Wong Li Fu hardly count. Once he is laid by the heels this feud will +evaporate into thin air." + +"If it doesn't, I must ask the Government to provide safe quarters for +my family in the Tower," muttered Forbes, rising and pacing the room in +the same thoughtful, care-laden way as he had paced it when Theydon +first told him of Edith Lester's end. + +"You said Wong Li Fu knew that Mrs. Forbes had been rescued from her +bonds last night," went on Theydon. "I suppose Winter told you that. Was +he only assuming the fact, or have there been developments at Croydon?" + +"A motor car drove up to the gate openly at ten o'clock this morning. A +police sergeant, jumping to the conclusion that one of his own chiefs or +a representative of Scotland Yard was paying the place a visit, +incautiously showed himself in the doorway, whereupon the car raced +away. It was an unfortunate and, perhaps, costly blunder, but the man is +hardly to be blamed. The very audacity of the gang is their best +safeguard." + +A luncheon gong clanged in the hall. Both men started, and then laughed. + +"You see," cried Forbes. "These rascals have got us on the jump. I don't +know how long my servants will stand the racket. They are most loyal, +and Tomlinson vows that not a syllable has been breathed outside by any +of our domestics. But the women's nerves are on edge. A scullery maid +dropped a decanter a little while since, and the crash drew +bloodcurdling shrieks from the kitchen. Come, let us eat, drink, and be +merry, for tomorrow we die. The quotation is not a felicitous one. +Indeed, it is distinctly ominous, but it seems to meet the conditions." + +He threw open the door, and saw the three ladies descending the stairs. + +"Helena," he cried sternly, "the doctor said you were not to stir out of +your room." + +"My dear, the doctor is a mere man, and fancies that a woman is not +fitted for warfare. He is quite mistaken. When aroused we can be +terrible." + +Mrs. Forbes, whose face was paler and eyes seemingly bigger and more +luminous than usual, was leaning on Evelyn's arm. She was dressed in a +blue tulle costume which lent a fragile air to an already slender form, +but she smiled so unaffectedly that even the policeman grinned. + +"You certainly look ferocious," said her husband, yielding instantly, as +she well knew would happen. + +"I believe you are all jealous," she vowed. "I am the only one who has +really been in the forefront of the battle. No. I forgot you, Mr. +Theydon. Didn't that horrid man knock you down?" + +"Yes," said Theydon, moistening his lips with his tongue. There was such +a peculiar rasp in his voice that it evoked a general laugh. + +Obviously the guests meant to avoid serious topics during the meal. +Evelyn Forbes chimed in with a reminiscence of her schooldays in +Brussels, and soon the talk was general, ranging from the year's Academy +to the Ladies' Gold Championship. + +Mrs. Paxton, an excellent mimic, was amusing them with imitations of the +voice and manner of a certain well-known lady golfer, when she was +interrupted by three sharp, irregular cracks which seemed to come from +the dining-room windows. Simultaneously a picture frame on the opposite +wall was split and a Worcester vase on a sideboard was smashed to atoms. + +Theydon, owing to his position at the table, was the first to notice +three small, starred holes in the plate glass of the windows. + +"Don't stand up!" he said, instantly. "Some one is shooting at the +house. Crouch on the floor, for Heaven's sake!" + +That urgent appeal was emphasized by a fourth bullet, which, taking a +lower flight, barely missed Forbes, upset a Venetian glass flower vase +on the table, and buried itself in the lower half of the sideboard. + +Forbes, heedless of the possible consequences to himself, sprang to his +wife's assistance, and, interposing his body as a shield between her and +the windows, led her to an angle of the wall where she would be safe. +The younger women, after a momentary hesitation, dropped to the floor +and crawled to the same refuge. Theydon ran out. The front door was +open. + +The police had heard the shooting, the sound of which had been deadened +to those in the dining room by the breaking glass and china. But within +a few minutes a useless pursuit was abandoned. The fusillade had come +from a car which halted close to the garden railings on the far side of +the square. Though the trees were nearly in full leaf, and dense +shrubberies seemed to shut off every house from any such method of +attack, investigation proved that it was possible to estimate accurately +the position of the dining-room windows in No. 11. + +When Theydon returned he found Forbes and the ladies gathered in the +hall. + +"Another narrow escape on both sides," he said coolly. "Two policemen +were just too late to interfere. Of course, they did not anticipate a +move in that quarter." + +"Have the--er--enemy made off in a car?" said Mrs. Forbes. + +"Yes. A constable in a taxi is trying to follow them." + +"Well, then, let us finish our luncheon. I had hardly touched my +cutlet." + +"By Jove, Helena, that doctor of ours was decidedly in error," cried her +husband. "You're right. If we're besieged we must carry ourselves +according to the code. Mrs. Paxton, I hope it won't disturb you if a +shell bursts before coffee is served!" + +Theydon glanced through a window before resuming his seat. + +"That volley has done things!" he announced. "London is stirring at +last. There's a crowd in front of the house, and a short, fat man is +explaining the procedure. Prepare now to receive the press in +battalions." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +WHEREIN UNEXPECTED ALLIES APPEAR + + +Although, as shall be seen, the final and complete defeat and extinction +of the London section of the Young Manchus were directly due to forces +set in motion by Furneaux, it was Winter's painstaking way of covering +the ground that unearthed the fraternity's meeting place, and thus +brought matters to a head speedily. For the rest, events followed their +own course, and great would have been the fame of the prophet who +predicted that course accurately. + +In later days, when more ample knowledge was available, it was a +debatable point whether or not the inmates of No. 11 Fortescue Square +were saved from an almost maniacal vengeance by the fact that a crisis +was precipitated. Winter maintained stoutly that the police must triumph +in the long run, whereas Furneaux held, with even greater tenacity, that +although the gang would undoubtedly be broken up, that much-desired end +might have been attained after, and not before, a dire tragedy occurred +in the Forbes household. + +The pros and cons of the argument were equally numerous and weighty. +They cannot be marshaled here. Each man and woman who reads this record +will probably form an emphatic opinion tending toward the one side or +the other. All that a veracious chronicler can accomplish is to set +forth a plain tale of events in their proper sequence, and leave the +ultimate verdict to individual judgment. + +Winter was a hard-headed, broad-minded official, whose long and wide +experience enabled him to estimate at their true value the far-reaching +powers of the State as opposed to the machinations of a few determined +outlaws. On the other hand, the amazing facility with which Furneaux +could enter into the twists and turns of the criminal mind entitles his +matured views to much respect. + +At any rate, this is what happened. + +Winter was sitting in his office, smoking a fat cigar, and wading +through reports brought in by subordinates concerning every opium den +and Chinese boarding house in the East End, when Furneaux entered. + +"Any luck?" inquired the chief, laying aside one document which seemed +to merit fuller inquiry; it described a club much frequented by Chinese +residents in London, men of a higher class than the sailors and firemen +brought to the port by ships trading with the Far East, and an +outstanding feature of the Young Manchus' operations was the intelligent +grasp of the ways and means of modern civilized life these filibusters +exhibited. + +"So-so," squeaked Furneaux. + +He flung himself into a big armchair, curled up in it like an animated +Buddha, and extracted one of the three ivory skulls from a waistcoat +pocket. + +"If you could only speak, you image of evil!" he muttered. "You're not +so dead that you cannot work mischief. Why the deuce, then, can't you +mouth your incantations? Then we would listen and learn." + +Winter, still sorting his papers, cocked the cigar inquisitively on one +side of his mouth. + +"Oh, I have ascertained a lot about the inner politics of China," +mumbled Furneaux, irritably, gazing fixedly at the skull after one quick +glance of his colleague. "Every little helps, of course. I have met some +Chinamen this morning who would cheerfully plunge Wong Li Fu into a +cauldron of boiling oil, and stir him round with a long stick when he +was in it. One man, quite an important personage in the jute line, has +lost a brother and a brother-in-law, the one in Canton, the other in +Pekin, and he lays both deaths at the door of the redoubtable Wong. +Another, the fellow who chanced to take up his quarters at Smith's +Hotel, is a delegate sent here specially to hunt out Wong, and destroy +him. I asked him how he meant to set about it, but his scheme is vague. +He's an opportunist of the first water. 'Me catchee and killee Wong Li +Fu one time,' was his best effort. I'm going to confront Len Shi with +these two in Bow Street. They may worm something out of him. But will +they own up if they do? Dashed if I know. The Oriental mind is on a par +with their blessed language. It has three thousand ways of expressing +one idea, and not one of 'em is our way." + +"Has Theydon gone to Fortescue Square?" + +"I suppose so. He turned up in Jermyn Street--outside Smith's Hotel, if +you please, with a lady in a taxi." + +"A lady? Miss Beale?" + +"No, his sister, judging from the family likeness. His eyes grew goggled +like yours when he saw the gray car." + +"Didn't you explain matters?" + +"Not I. Gave him the cut direct. My Chinamen are shy birds, and I +daren't flutter them by letting them think there are too many foreign +devils mixed up in the business. My London Chinaman was the brainy +person who got the Embassy busy when Mrs. Lester's death was announced. +He saw Wong Li Fu's hand in that from the first moment. Oddly enough, +though he and a man from the Embassy followed Theydon from Waterloo to +Forbes's place on Tuesday night, and again to Innesmore Mansions, he +didn't recognize him today. Or perhaps he did. I don't know. Talk about +the impassive Red Indian! A thoroughbred Chink would give a Pawnee chief +one glass eye and a coat of paint, and then beat him hollow at the +haughty indifference game." + +"My!" said Winter admiringly, "you've got your tongue loose today. Well, +here's an item which should prove useful. Whitechapel thinks we may find +a Young Manchu or two among that collection," and he threw an official +memorandum across the table. + +Furneaux repocketed the skull, and was gazing moodily at the report, +when a uniformed constable announced that a boy messenger wished to see +a "detective" with regard to the typed letter delivered at Mr. Forbes's +house on Wednesday evening. + +"Show him up," said the chief, and a smart-looking boy, wearing the +familiar uniform of his corps, was brought in. He glanced around +inquiringly. + +"Oh, you're the gentleman who came to our Piccadilly office," he said to +Winter. + +"Yes." + +"Well, sir, I haven't very much to tell you, but it was I who took the +letter to Fortescue Square. I saw the sender, a foreign-looking +gentleman, he was, with funny eyes, and I think I spotted him again this +afternoon. He was coming out of a house in Charlotte Street." + +"Are you sure?" demanded Winter, quickly. + +"He was awful like the man who engaged me, sir, and dressed the same +way." + +"Did you notice the number of the house?" + +"Yes, sir. No. 412." + +"Quite certain about that?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Good boy. If your information is of any service I'll take care you are +not forgotten." + +The boy saluted and went out. + +"We must look up No. 412," said Winter, quietly; but there was a ring of +genuine satisfaction in his voice, because the clew promised well, and +it was a complete justification of the straightforward method he adopted +in every inquiry, whereas Furneaux invariably preferred an abstruse +theory to a definite piece of evidence. + +The Jersey man's face had wrinkled as a preliminary to some sarcastic +comment on what he termed the "handcuff" way of reasoning, when the +telephone bell rang. Winter answered, and at once his self-possessed air +fled. Indeed, it was a very angry man who listened, because a +subordinate was telephoning from Fortescue Square a full account of the +shooting outrage. + +The Chief gave a few curt instructions as to securing the adequate +cooperation of the local police, who should take measures to render any +repetition of such daring tactics absolutely impossible. + +"No one was injured, you say?" he added. + +"No, sir." + +"Were the ladies very much frightened?" + +"They've gone back to finish luncheon, sir." + +"Good. Evidently they're all of the right breed. You can tell them I +said so, if you like. Assure Mr. Forbes that every care will be taken to +protect his house in future. See that strong patrols occupy every point +from which a gun can be aimed at any window, even the attics, in No. 11. +Phone me again when you have discussed matters with the district +superintendent." + +The receiver clanged back into its hook. Winter had not foreseen this +latest move. "Sheer impudence," he termed it. + +"More bullets?" inquired Furneaux laconically. + +"Yes. A long-range attack from across the square. Four shots lodged in +dining room." + +"No one hurt, and no one arrested?" + +"Not a soul." + +"James," said the little man solemnly, "Wong Li Fu is making us a +laughing-stock. Are you aware that the newspapers will get on our track +now? Can't you see the headlines?--'Another Sidney Street.' 'Chinese +Pirates Busy in London.' 'Scotland Yard Outwitted.' By this time +tomorrow the Commissioner will be suggesting that you and I ought to +think about retiring on pensions." + +Winter jumped up, overturning a chair in his haste. + +"Come!" he said. "If that Chinaman in Bow Street won't speak, I'll +torture him. What of the other fellow who was caught near Innesmore +Mansions?" + +"He's a Jap. He knows nothing. He was hired for the job--to put any +interfering bobby to sleep." + +The chief inspector angrily bundled some papers into a drawer, and threw +away his cigar, which he had allowed to go out. Furneaux produced an +ivory skull again, and scowled at it, whereupon his superior, snorting +with annoyance, strode to the window, and affected an interest he was +far from feeling in the panorama of the Thames. + +And thus they passed a harmonious quarter of an hour, which came to an +end with the appearance of an attendant to announce the arrival of "two +Chinese gentlemen to see Mr. Furneaux." + +They went down in the elevator without exchanging a word. At the +entrance stood the gray car, in which the Chinamen were already seated. +Furneaux introduced the chief inspector, and they were whisked to Bow +Street. There in a cell they found Len Shi, a somewhat sullen-looking +man whose European chauffeur's livery seemed curiously raffish and +unsuitable when contrasted with the more picturesque if sober-hued +garments worn by his fellow-countrymen. + +At first he maintained the sulky know-nothing role which he had adopted +successfully with the official interpreter. Furneaux, watching the faces +of prisoner and questioners, guessed that small progress was being made, +so, waiting until Len Shi was evidently quite satisfied with himself, he +suddenly thrust an ivory skull before the man's eyes. The result was +unexpected but puzzling. The man was badly scared, beyond doubt, but he +now became obstinately silent. + +Winter, than whom no living actor could play up better to Furneaux's +tactics in a touch-and-go encounter of this sort, assumed a highly +tragic air. + +"Handcuff that man, and bring him out!" he said to the constable in +charge of the cells. + +Len Shi blanched. He estimated the legal methods of Great Britain by +those which obtained in his own land, and probably thought he was being +led forth to immediate execution. + +The whole five crowded into the car, and the driver, the same English +chauffeur to whom Theydon had spoken, was told to make for 412 Charlotte +Street, and pass the house slowly, but not pull up. Len Shi, though +quaking with alarm, bore himself with a certain dignified stoicism until +he found out where the car was apparently stopping. Then he said +something in a panic-stricken voice and the jute merchant, who spoke +English fluently, turned to Furneaux. + +"Tell the chauffeur to return," he said. "Len Shi will now confess." + +Once started, Len Shi talked volubly. The others merely put in a +question now and then, and the detectives curbed their impatience as +best they might until Len Shi was safely lodged in Bow Street again. + +Then Winter led his Chinese helpers into an inner office and closed the +door. + +"Well?" he said, addressing the jute merchant. The other Chinaman had +very little English and could not maintain a conversation. + +But, to the chief inspector's surprise and wrath, the English-speaking +Chinaman had only a request to make. + +"Give me and my friend those three ivory skulls," he said. + +"Why?" he said. + +"Without them we can accomplish nothing." + +"Be good enough to explain yourself. Above all, tell me what Len Shi has +been jabbering about. He had plenty to say." + +"He told us of the fate of our friends in China. Those things do not +concern you. What you want is to have Wong Li Fu and the others--there +are nearly twenty in all--delivered into your hands. Very well. Give us +those ivory skulls, and bring your men to that house in Charlotte +Street, at one o'clock this night, and you will take them without a blow +being struck." + +"That is our business, not yours," said Winter, gruffly decisive. "I +cannot expose you two gentlemen to any personal risk in this affair. +Kindly--" + +"You do not understand," broke in the jute merchant, addressing the +burly representative of the Criminal Investigation Department as if he +were a fractious child who must be informed as to the why and wherefore +of a disagreeable duty. "What will you do? Surround the house with +policemen, break in the doors, and fight? You may, or may not succeed. +Some, plenty, of your men will certainly be killed. That is not good. We +do not wish it. Give me those skulls. I and my friend will go there. You +come at one o'clock, tap so on the door, and we will admit you. Then you +take Wong Li Fu and all the others. There will be no fight." + +The Chinaman's manner was singularly impressive as he tapped three times +on a high desk to emphasize, as it were, his instructions. The sound, +too, was curious. He did not use his knuckles, but bunched the fingers +of his right hand together, and rapped on the wood with the long nails +which are a mark of distinction in his race. + +"We make things easy and certain for you," he added, more by way of +painstaking argument than because any further explanation was really +necessary. "You do not wish to fail, no? You want to be sure that Wong +Li Fu's evil deeds shall be stopped? Good. We do that--I and my friend. +We can pass the door-keepers. Can you? No. At one o'clock we open the +door and the Young Manchus will be wholly in your power, to do with them +what you will. I promise that, and my word is always taken in the city." + +Winter turned troubled eyes on Furneaux. + +"What do you say?" he muttered irresolutely. + +"I think the plan is a good one, and should be adopted," was the instant +reply. + +Nevertheless, Winter was perplexed. He hemmed and hawed a good deal. +Seldom did he hesitate in this fashion. As a rule, he was quick to +decide and quicker to act. + +"I might entertain your scheme if I were told more about it," he said +dubiously, gazing with troubled eyes at the Chinaman's blandly +inscrutable face. "Please believe me when I say that I trust your good +faith, but I am not sure that even you understand fully the nature of +the adventure you have in mind. Wong Li Fu has already committed one +murder in London. He has attempted others, and is absolutely careless of +consequences. How can I have any guarantee that you and this other +gentleman may not be his next victims? He is a person who displays a +somewhat forced humor. We might enter the Charlotte Street house at one +o'clock and find your corpses there, with labels and ivory skulls neatly +attached." + +"That will not be so," was the grave answer. + +"If I agree, what time do you propose going there?" + +"About midnight." + +"And do you expect the police to leave the whole neighborhood severely +alone for another hour?" + +"Not unless you wish it. If you so desire you can occupy both ends of +the street, and arrest every Chinaman coming away from No. 412, but let +those pass who go towards it." + +"Will others go there--friends of yours, I mean?" + +"Oh, yes. We will overpower the Young Manchus by taking them unaware. We +will act quietly, but there will be no mistake. It is you who will err +if you do not accept our help." + +Then Winter yielded, though not with a good grace. The implied +suggestion that the London police could not handle a set of Mongolian +ruffians was utterly distasteful, yet he admitted, though unwillingly, +that he did not want to sacrifice some of his best men in rushing the +place. + +"All right," he said. "Hand over the skulls, Furneaux! It is quite +agreed," he went on, addressing the Chinaman again, "that I have full +liberty of action in so far as preliminary arrangements are concerned? I +see your point that Wong Li Fu must not be forewarned, and shall take +care that my men are hidden. I have your positive assurance, too, that +you are not exposing your own life in any way?" + +"To the best of my belief I shall be as safe in Charlotte Street as I am +here," said the jute merchant, smiling for the first time during the +interview. + +"One! Two! Three!" said Furneaux, counting the skulls into the +Chinaman's outstretched hand. + +For some reason, the action, no less than the words, jarred on Winter. + +"I do wish you wouldn't be so d---- d theatrical!" he growled. + +Furneaux said nothing. He accompanied the chief inspector when the +latter escorted the two Chinamen to their car, and whistled softly +between his teeth while Winter and he were walking to Scotland Yard. The +big man glowered at him once or twice, but passed no comment. When they +reached the Embankment, Winter took Furneaux to his room, but left him +instantly. He was absent a long time. When he came in again he was +cheerfully placid. + +Walking toward their favorite restaurant in Soho, they met a newsboy +running with an edition of an evening newspaper damp from the press. The +boy was shouting, "'Orrible crime in the West End; Chinese outrage!" +Furneaux bought a paper. It contained a lively account of the attack on +Mr. Forbes's house and described the mansion as an armed fortress. +Scores of police were parading the neighborhood and examining every +passing motor car lest it held Chinese bandits. The arrest of Len Shi at +St. Albans, and of a Japanese outside Innesmore Mansions, was recalled, +and an Eastbourne correspondent had sent a fairly accurate version of +the kidnaping of Mrs. Forbes. + +"The pack is in full cry now, James," grinned Furneaux. "Tomorrow--" + +"O, bother tomorrow! Let's eat, and talk about something else." + +"What? Both? Well, now, if that isn't a bit of luck," cried a pleasant +voice close behind them, and Mr. George T. Handyside held out his two +hands. + +"I was feeling kind of lonesome in the hotel, and just strolled out to +look at the shops," he rattled on. "Say, can you boys eat a line? Is +there any place in London where they know what a planked steak is?" + +"Planked steak!" snorted Furneaux. "When you've tasted a porterhouse +steak grilled by a master hand you'll never mention any other variety +again. Come right along, Mr. Handyside. Tell us fairy tales about God's +own country. We're in the right mood to believe anything!" + +"But what's this story of another shooting up in Fortescue Square? Is it +true?" + +Then Furneaux dug him in the ribs. + +"This isn't the Wild and Woolly West," he said. "This is London, sir, +poor, old, played-out London, whose beefy citizens do nothing but eat, +talk cricket or golf, and sleep. If you credit the newspapers, you'll +never get us in the right perspective." + +Another newspaper boy raced past, bawling loudly. + +"All a flam, is it?" said the American quizzically; + +"No," said Winter, "it's the truth, and less than the truth. Let's hunt +that steak, and we'll season the dish for you." + +Winter never erred when he chose a man as a friend. He liked Handyside, +and was half inclined to drop a hint in his ear as to the night's +program, for the American had seen Wong Li Fu more than once, and might +be useful for identification purposes. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE SETTLEMENT + + +Now, Len Shi had communicated one vital fact to his compatriots which +they had carefully concealed from the detectives. The opening campaign +against Forbes had practically ended that day. Thenceforth, for a week, +the Young Manchus meant to separate, revert to Chinese costume, live in +Chinese boardinghouses in the East End, and thus utterly mislead and +bamboozle the police, who, in their hunt for the miscreants, would be +searching for Chinamen in European dress and living in European style. + +Winter was in two minds whether or not to inform the inmates of No. 11 +as to the contemplated raid on the Charlotte Street rendezvous. +Ultimately, he decided to say nothing definite that evening. It was +better that the threatened people and their guards should not relax +their vigilance. "The best-laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft +a-gley," and if, perchance, the jute merchant's plan, whatever it might +be, miscarried, and some of the desperadoes escaped, they would be +stirred to instant reprisals. + +But there was no semblance of doubt or hesitation about the measures +taken by the police. That night, from eleven o'clock onward, not even a +prowling cat entered Charlotte Street without being seen by sharp eyes. +Nearly opposite No. 412 was a large warehouse, with a back entrance a +long way in the rear, and approached from another street. + +At midnight three Chinamen appeared, turned into Charlotte Street from +the south and shuffled on noiseless feet straight to No. 414. They +knocked, and after some delay were admitted. A minute later three others +came from the north, knocked on the door of No. 410 and disappeared, the +delay, seemingly caused by a parley with some one within, being longer +in this instance. + +Afterward squads of Chinamen, exactly 25, all told, came from north and +south in practically equal numbers and entered those two houses, but +never a man entered, or passed, or came out of No. 412. These more +numerous arrivals met with no hesitation on the part of the two +doorkeepers. They entered without let or hindrance. + +After that there was what is known in theatrical circles as a "stage +wait." Charlotte Street, save for its loafers and an occasional belated +resident of some dwelling other than those under observation, lapsed +into its normal and utterly dismal gloom. + +From 12:30 onwards, Winter, stationed on the south side, looked at his +watch many times. A little man, mingling with the disreputable rascals +on the north side, was similarly fidgety. + +A tall, slim man, wearing a dark overcoat, who lurked in a doorway near +Winter's post, blew the tip of the cigar he was smoking into a red glow +so that he might look at his watch. Another tall man, rather more +powerfully built, awaited developments with apparent unconcern. Mr. +Handyside, in fact, was in the august company of the Commissioner of +Police, and the latter, though eminently agreeable, nevertheless +observed an Olympian attitude. Thus might Jove watch a gathering in the +Pompic Way! + +At 12:45 there was a stir. Out of 410 and 414 came 25 Chinamen. They +gathered on the pavement, and did not attempt to walk away, though a +sudden and concentrated advance was made by the two sets of loafers, +while the doors of the warehouse opposite belched forth a startling +array of constables in uniform. + +Winter and Furneaux respectively headed the contingents from north and +south. An inspector was in charge of the central body, and even a +Chinaman who had not been a day in London must have realized that the +intent of these swift-moving detachments was to cut off his escape if he +meant flight. But not a Chinaman budged, save one, who seemed to +recognize the chief inspector, because he stepped forward and said in +suave tones: + +"These men are my friends. The others are inside. They are quite safe. +Kindly wait till one o'clock." + +"I must understand what you mean, Mr. Li Chang," said Winter sternly; +for some reason, he distrusted the smooth-spoken jute merchant. "Why +have you visited these two houses, and not 412? And what do we gain by +waiting here any longer? We must have been seen, and our purpose +guessed." + +"No," came the somewhat surprising answer. "No one in No. 412 is aware +of your presence. We have taken care of that. As for the other houses, +they provide the simplest means of access to the center one. Doorways +have been made in the cellar walls and special staircases built. +Consequently, if you broke open the door of 412 you would find the way +barred by two other locked doors, while the occupants, if aroused, could +escape from either or both of the next houses. We Chinese have a long +acquaintance with the needs of a secret society. You may take it from me +that the obvious way into or out of an opium den, for instance, is never +the way used by the habitues." + +By this time the commissioner, Handyside, Furneaux and the inspector had +come up, and the five formed a little group in the center of a +semicircle of detectives and police. There was absolutely no sign of +life in any of the houses; save for the raiders and the stolid +Orientals, the street itself was deserted. Many eyes, no doubt, were +peering through darkened windows, but the denizens of Charlotte Street +as a rule attend strictly to their own personal affairs when the police +are in evidence. + + * * * * * + +"What do you advise, sir," said Winter, addressing the commissioner. +"Mr. Li Chang wants us to make no move until one o'clock. It is only a +matter of six or seven minutes." + +"And what then? Are we to enter these other houses, and not No. 412?" + +"Yes," said the Chinaman. + +"Have you left the doors open?" + +"No. They must be forced. But there are only small locks. The bolts are +drawn." + +"The places are apparently in complete darkness. My men must use their +lamps, and may be attacked." + +"No," said Li Chang simply. "There will be no fighting. Those Manchu +dogs are helpless. We have seen to that." + +"But how? Do you mean that they are stupefied?" + +"Bound," said the Chinaman. "Tied hand and foot." + +"Again then, may I ask, why wait?" + +"It will be in order," was the calm reply. "I entered into an +arrangement with you. I want to abide by it." + +Winter breathed heavily. The ways of the Oriental were not his ways, but +a bargain was a bargain, so what more could be said? + +Suddenly, about two minutes to one o'clock, a curious crackling noise +was heard, a column of sparks burst high above the steep roof of No. +412, and the upper windows of the opposite houses reflected a red glare. + +"Good heavens! the place is on fire!" cried Winter. + +Simultaneously came a shout from both ends of the street. Men were +running from the detachment guarding the rear of the premises to say +that a fierce fire was raging on the first floor back of No. 412. + +"Smash in those three doors!" cried Winter to his helpers. "Drag out +every Chinaman you meet! Handcuff them in threes and fours! Arrest these +fellows standing outside, but keep the two lots separate!" + +"Why are we, your friends, to be arrested?" demanded Li Chang's +dignified voice. + +"I'll soon tell you why, you slim demon!" shouted the chief inspector, +roused to anger by the consciousness that he had been duped. "What +fiendish trick have you played on those wretches penned up inside there? +But I'll soon know." + +He turned to the local officer. + +"Better march this crowd of Chinamen straight to your station," he said. +"I'll follow soon, and lay a charge." + +He felt a claw-like hand on his arm, and wild with vexation though he +was, forced himself to listen. + +"We are ready to go where you wish," said Li Chang calmly. "But spare +your own men. They must not enter No. 412. They will be blown to pieces. +Stop them! I shall not warn you twice!" + +Somehow, Winter was impelled to obey. The center door was already +yielding, but he rushed forward and told the party which meant to enter +at that point to abandon it, and reinforce their comrades. A number of +detectives and police were already inside the dark hallways of Nos. 410 +and 414 when the very walls trembled under the shock of a violent +explosion in No. 412, which was quickly followed by three others. + +A tongue of flame darted instantly to a height of many feet above the +topmost storey, showing that the series of explosions had not only +destroyed the whole rear section of the house, and thus given the fire +fresh fuel and plenty of space but there could be no reasonable doubt +that the bombs, if bombs they were, had themselves been filled with some +highly inflammable substance. Thenceforth, the police could do nothing +beyond keeping at a distance the crowds which soon gathered, and thus +clear a space for the operations of the fire brigade. + +No. 412 was thoroughly gutted. Not a shred of the building remained +except the crumbling walls at front and back. Its neighbors were in +little better case, and the firemen devoted their efforts mainly toward +keeping the disaster within bounds. + +One thing was certain. No human being had escaped from out of that +doomed habitation. The fire, too, had gained hold with a phenomenal +rapidity which argued the use of petrol, or some kindred agent of +irresistible potency when ignited. + +Winter and Furneaux, accompanied by the commissioner and Mr. Handyside, +walked to the local police station. The American was the only one who +spoke. + +"Queer ducks, the Chinese!" he said, seemingly musing aloud rather than +inviting comment. "They like to settle their own differences. I guess +we'd feel pretty much like that if we lived in China." + +No one took up the point thus raised. Winter bent a searching, almost +sorrowful glance at Furneaux, but the little man's eyes were fixed on +the ground, as though he were deep in thought. + +In the charge room of the police station the twenty-five Chinamen +awaited them. Twenty-five pairs of oblique eyes gleamed at the four when +they entered, but not a word was spoken. + +Winter, of course, singled out Li Chang for a parley. + +"Now," he said, "tell me just what happened after you and these others +went into the two houses in Charlotte Street." + +The Chinaman faced him imperturbably. His manner was as unemotional and +his words as slow and methodical as if he were selling jute in his East +End warehouse. + +"We asked to be admitted, and after giving the password and showing the +sign there was no difficulty," he said. "We were in parties of three. As +you probably saw, I headed one, which entered No. 410. My friend, Won +Lung Foo, led the other. The ivory skulls made matters simple. We +explained to the door-keepers that we had just arrived from China, and +brought messages of great urgency. Once inside, we gagged and bound the +door-keepers. Then we entered No. 412, where we knew that Wong Li Fu +would be smoking opium with the remaining fourteen." + +"Were there seventeen in the gang, all told?" broke in Furneaux. + +"Seventeen Manchus. The rest are--paid men--of no account." + +"Queer," muttered Furneaux, almost to himself. "The story begins and +ends with the number 17!" + +Again did Winter strive to pierce his colleague with a look from those +bulging eyes, but the little man was far too occupied with a singular +numerical coincidence to pay any heed to him. + +"Well, go on!" he said impatiently, glaring at the Chinaman. + +"We went to the big room at the back," continued Li Chang quietly, +uttering each word separately, and evidently weighing it in his mind to +test its accuracy before use, "and found Wong Li Fu. Him we bound +quickly, and very securely. The others we tied in twos and threes. Of +course, we brought the two doorkeepers to the same room, so that you +should experience no difficulty, but take them all together." + +Here Mr. Won Lung Foo broke in. Evidently he could follow English better +than speak it. + +"Yes," he said. "We wantee you catchee Chineemans all togeller--muchee +wantee!" + +Then he smiled blandly, and his tongue rolled over his lips as though +some fruit or sweetmeat had left a pleasant taste there. + +"Then, if your surprise was so successful, what caused the fire?" said +Winter, affecting a magnificent disregard of the plain facts. + +Li Chang, for once, permitted his immobile features to show some +semblance of anxious uncertainty. + +"That," he said, "is a mystery which can, perhaps, never be solved. But +it saves your Government much trouble." + +In those few words he expressed quite clearly the line he adhered to +throughout a long cross-examination. Neither Winter nor the commissioner +could shake him. The fire was an accident--the outcome of an +extraordinary chance. He knew nothing whatsoever of its origin. + +After a protracted debate in private between the two heads of the +Criminal Investigation Department, the names and addresses of the +prisoners were recorded and they were set at liberty. + +Before Li Chang went away Furneaux demanded the return of the three +ivory skulls, which were promptly handed over. + +"One word in your ear," murmured the detective, _sotto voce_. "Did Wong +Li Fu recognize you?" + +"Oh, yes," said the Chinaman. + +"And you spoke to him?" + +"Oh, yes." + +The eyes of the two clashed. For once, Furneaux peered deep into the +mind of an Oriental, and what he saw there kept him quiet, but he knew, +just as surely as if he had been present, exactly what Li Chang said to +Wong Li Fu. He delivered a message from two graves in far-off China. + + * * * * * + +And that is all--or nearly all. + +The "Charlotte Street Fire" caused only a slight sensation. It became +known that No. 412 was a resort of Chinese opium fiends, and the loss of +the den and its frequenters was not treated as a National calamity. The +shooting at No. 11 Fortescue Square was regarded much more seriously, +and the newspapers were full of it all next day. + +Thenceforth, however, interest flagged. Mr. Forbes and his family and +servants left London for Scotland, and the Amateur Golf Championship +came along, so the escapades of a few Chinese fanatics in London were +quickly forgotten. + +They were forgotten, that is, by most people; but one man, Frank +Theydon, went back to his flat in Innesmore Mansions to plunge into work +and strive vainly to obliterate those pages of his memory charged with +bitter-sweet day-dreams. + +Strive as he would, and did, to bury the past under the duties and cares +of the present, the radiant vision of Evelyn Forbes remained +ineffaceable and entrancing. + +But he was built of tough fiber, and resolutely refused an invitation to +visit the Sutherlandshire glen in which Forbes and his daughter were +sedulously nursing to health and strength the dear wife and mother whose +nervous system had suffered far more than she permitted to become known +under the stress and strain of the kidnaping experience. + +Even when Evelyn herself wrote, seconding her father's most friendly +note, Theydon pleaded the exigencies of his profession and filled a +letter with an amusing account of Bates's chagrin because he had failed +to "bag a Chinaman on his own account," having actually purchased a +pistol and fixed it in position before he and his wife quitted the flat. + +Three months passed. On August 9, a broiling morning, Theydon was +dejectedly reading of preparations for the "Twelfth," when a telegram +reached him. It read: + +"Handyside has arrived here in his car. Come for the gathering of the +clan. We take no refusal. Forbes." + +Theydon traveled north that night. He reached the glen in time for +dinner next evening and passed a few delightfully miserable days in +Evelyn's company. + +At last, feeling that he was losing grip and might act foolishly, he +announced to Forbes, one night when a glorious moon was shining, and he +knew that Evelyn was awaiting him in the garden, that he must leave for +London next day. + +"Why?" inquired his host. "Has something unforeseen happened? I thought +you meant remaining here till the end of the month at the earliest." + +"I'm sorry," said Theydon, chewing a cigar viciously as a means toward +maintaining his self-control. "I'm sorry, but I must go." + +There was a slight pause. Forbes looked at his young friend with those +earnest, deep-seeing eyes of his. + +"Is it a personal matter?" he went on. + +"Yes." + +Again there was a pause. Theydon was well aware that he risked a grave +misunderstanding, but that could not be avoided. It might be even better +so. And then his blood ran cold, because Forbes was saying: + +"Are you leaving us because of anything Evelyn has said or done?" + +"No, no!" came the frenzied answer. "Heaven help me, why do you ask +that?" + +"Heaven helps those who help themselves," said the older man. "That is a +trite saying, but it meets the case. I think I diagnose your trouble, my +boy. You are in love with Evelyn, and dare not tell her so, because I +happen to be a rich man. Really I didn't think you had so poor an +opinion of me as to believe that money or rank would count against my +daughter's happiness." + +He said other things--kindly, wise, appreciative--but Frank Theydon +never knew what they were. He managed to stammer out some words of +gratitude and then went to find Evelyn. + +She had crossed a sloping lawn and was standing by the side of a little +stream that gargled and bubbled in joyous career to the nearby loch. She +had thrown a white shawl over her head and shoulders, and looked +adorably sylphlike as she turned on hearing his footsteps; the moonlight +shone on her face and was reflected in her eyes. + +"Oh, you're here at last!" she cried gaily. "The next time I ask any +cavalier to escort me he will come more quickly, I imagine." + +He stood in front of her, and stretched out both hands. + +"Evelyn," he said, "here is one cavalier, at any rate, who offers +himself as an escort for life." + +The merriment died out of her eyes, and the quip on her tongue failed +her. Greatly daring, her lover took her in his arms. Through the open +windows of the drawing room floated the tender refrain of a ballad. Mrs. +Forbes was singing, and sweet words blended with sweet music in the +still air. + +Then their lips met, and the dark glen became an earthly Paradise. + +THE END + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Number Seventeen, by Louis Tracy + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NUMBER SEVENTEEN *** + +***** This file should be named 4996.txt or 4996.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/9/9/4996/ + +Produced by Jim Weiler, xooqi.com + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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