NUMBER 17:

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 168, 15 July 1916, Page 20

NUMBER 17:

By LOTUS TBACT. 'Author of "Rainbow Island," "The Pillar of Light» "One Wonderful Vight* rate Terms of Surrender," "The House of Storm," "There Wae 2Vo Other-Way," eta., etc.,

A Mastery of London.

CHAPTER VII. WHEKEIX MR. FORBES KXPLAIXS ■ HIMSELF. Even the boldest may tlinch when confronted with that which is apparently a manifestation of the supernatural. Thoydon and Forbes were standing in a chamber of death. To the , best of their belief they were alone in an otherwise oinpty flat, and those ominous worde coming from someone unknown and unseen blanched their faces with terror I'.llt 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 recognised in a strange little figure—wearing a blue serge suit, n 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 the 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 eort 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?" ha cried angrily. " And -what right have you to spry on gentlemen in this manner, listening to their conversations, and breaking in with a cheap stage effect obviously intended to startle?"

Furneaux remained motionless, his feet set well apart and liis hands thrust into his trousers pockets. The trim, natty figure, the spruce and sunimer-liko attire, the small, wizened lace with its cynically humorous and wide-awake aspect—above all. a certain jauntiness of ah- and cocksure expression—certainly did suggest a comedian fresh from the Loards. His beady eyes sparkled slightly at the taunt about " stage effect." but lie seemingly gave heed only to -the millionaire's caustic demand for an explanation. " You tell," he said, nodding to They-tk-n. " This is Mr. farneaux, of Scotland Yard." said the latter nervously. He imagined lie could detect in Furneaux's glance a mixture of srrnrsement and contempt, amusement at the notion that any amateur should harbour the belief that the two best men in the " Yard" could be egregiously hoodwinked, and contempt of oce who so far forgot himself as to even dare attempt" such a tiling in relation to a police inquiry into a murder. "I don't kne-tr, and care less, who Mr Furneaux, of Scotland Yard, may be," went on "orbes 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 eufiice for you." "Eeally, 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 la more than any Home Secretary dare do, and, if you harbour 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 We exactly what I have said. Of course, you don't Teally 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 inquiry secret until the whole position can be laid before the law officers of the Crown. The Home Secretary may have gone that far, ■Mγ Forbes, but not one inch farther, and you know it." The two antagonists, co singularly disproportionate in size, were yet so perfectly matched in the vastly more important qualities of brain and nerve that the contest lost all account 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 gauged the state of affairs accurately enough," he said, speaking Jmore calmly. "May I, then, recommend you to consult your direct superiors before carrying your investigations any further, 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 most salient facts," and the detective's glance dwelt "iot an instant on Theydon, who, again, in his own estimation, shrank into the boots of a fourth-form boy detected by a master in overt breach of college Irules. But the little man was speaking impreeeively, and compelled his "wandering wits to pay attention. "It will clear the air, .perhaps," went on Furneaux, "if I point out that if anyone here is playing the spy—carrying on some underhand game, that is—it is not I. These apartments are in charge of the police. The manager of the "whole Hock 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 cloeed. 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 yeiaistent-ati;ea?pt.'touibroTT:-beatJilifi-4e- ,-

teetive 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 est- ilislunent. Bates surprised both his master and mc by producing it when 1 expressed a wish to examine the place."

"But why adopt such a clandestine method?"

Forbes' face, usually so classic in outline, assumed a certain rigidity, and his firm chin grew markedly aggressive. "1 don't answer questions put in that way," he said.

Furneaux laughed sardonically. "You meet with greater respect in Capel Court, 1 have no doubt," he snapped. "There you stand on a pedestal, with one hand nourishing a chequebook and the other resting j;racef\illv on the neck of a golden calf. Here, you are simply an ordinary citizen behaving in a suspicio-us manner. If the uniformed policeman on the neighbouring 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 mc like that! I don't care tuppence for your millions and your social position. What Ido 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 mc now why Mrs. Lester was killed. Tell mc, too, why the same hand which thrust a little ivory ekull into the dead woman's under-bodice caused a similar token to be delivered to you by this morning's post. Ah, that touches you. docs 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 t-o haye the effect of a paralytic shock. Thenceforth he was under-dog in the fight. "How do you know." he gasped, "that 1 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 1 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 josstick oppresses mc." Then Theydon found hie tongue. '"If Mr Furneaux cares to abandon hie vigil, my flat is entirely at your disposal." he said. "My vigil, as you accurately describe it, has ended for the time being, -, 6aid 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 uo be amiable to one another. I'm sorr3' if 1 lost my temper just now, but I regard myself as being the only detective in existence who uses other sections of hit, brain than those governed by statues made and provided, and it riles mc when men of superior intelligence like yourselves treat mc 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 cf 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, 1 have stayed the pangs of hunger with an apple and a glass of water."' By this time. Theydon had thoroughly revised hie first estimate of the diminutive detective. Indeed, he was beginning to look on him as a very noteworthy person, a man whose mental equipment in wae most unwise to assess at any lower valuation than the somewhat exalted one which Furneaux himself haA set forth with such refreshing candour. Aβ 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 woo-begone 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 ans-wer. "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 ie of greater importance than the food we eat and the liquid 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 per cent, in the Arabian berry to 2 per cent, 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 weigh 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 an 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 heaT 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. I Lester was now directed -with equal ■ feioattfr agvaat Jm aad Wyglf-

To an extent, Furncauz's scheme eusceeded. A gleam, of interest ehot 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 calibre. I suppose it would be unkind to suggest 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 favour 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 Battensea who used to tremble at sight of mc. Now he hae learnt wisdom, and lias 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, bachelors."

Fiimeaux's efforts wore rewarded when the really excellent beverage provided by Mrs. Bates was disposed of. Forbes seemingly atoned for his earlier secrotivenees by placing every fact in his possession fully and fairly before his auditors.

'"Noarly seven years ago." he said, "I nude a very large cum of money by amalgamating certain shipping interests at a favourable moment. Thus, as it happened, I had at command practically unlimited resources when 1 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 iind peaecTloving 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 clenienta which go to form a great race. But the Mancluis held them in bondage, body and soul, and, so powerful i 3 self-interest,- there hae never been an Emperor or statesman who strove to elevate the masses who v>as 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-organised 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 1 could neither go and live in the Far Ea6t nor transact my business through ordinary banking channels. So 1 had to find <i substitute, and my choice fell on a rising young barrister named Arthur Lester, whom 1 h-jd known since he was a boy, and who had married the daughter of an old friend. He had v taste for adventure, and was alive to the magnificent career which lay before one who helped materially in the re-birth of China. In ii word, he went to Shanghai as my agent, and the outcome of hie work there ii the present Chinese constitution. Of course, as holds good of a-U human affairs, events did not follow the present track mapped out for them. Set. on the whole, he and 1 were satislied. China is awake at laot. 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, arc shadows of the past, but, unhappily, the conquerors who have !«en 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. 1 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 newspaper*." Kurneaux clicked 1)U 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 wae Theydon" whom he addrceeed.

"I'd give a week's pay if Winter was here now, and I could see those big eyea of his bulging out of his head," he cackled.

Theydon nodded. He understood perfectly. Then he caught Forbes' inquiring glance, and explained matters.

"Mr. Furneaux hinted last night at some such development as that which your present statement conveys, and hi.s colleague, Mr. Winter, pretended to scout it," he said.

"Pretended!" shrieked Furneaux, instantly in a rage. "That was how it struck mc," said Theydon coolly.

"Didn't I drag the Chinese aspect of the crime out of him with a pincers?" came the indignant demand.

"Unquestionably. I only remark that your largc-eized 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 6mell jose-eticke, 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 vase2"° he ehrilled.

"Yce. For all that, I don't think he missed the leaet hint of your meaning. 1, J'urneaux 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 come degree of accuracy; he only smiled. "As a thrower of dust I was a most abject failure," he said. Furneaux sniffed 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 tinderstand what a big thing it wae to deduce the vaguest outline of the truth from the facte 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 Lave 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 have never yet been able to obtain a full and authentic list of the reform leaders. They suspected ptor Lester of complicity in the movement, and killed him. It was through Mrs. Lester that I first became awaTe of their existence as an.active- organisation, antH-ioped that,

I when she had returned to England, and was living quietly in London, she would bo lost sight of —ignored, in fact. Nevertheless, both she and I thought it prudeut that our acquaintance should cease until the turmoil in China has 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 wofuily mistaken. An Oriental vendetta 1 neither slackens nor dice. By some I means wholly unknown to mc, the Young Manchus must have discovered, or guessed, that in leaving Lester's widow out of their reckoning they had lost a promising clue. 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 tho 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 1 was able to scrutinise him carefully, and, owing to a scar on the left side of his face, recognised him. His name is Wong Li Fu, a Manchu of the Manchus, a mandarin of almost imperial lineage. Some years age 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 Peking. Somehow, his presence iv London was disconcerting and menacing. Who more likely than he, 1 argued, to be a leading spirit among the Young Manehus? In any event, London was not uig 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 ber whereabouts. I happened to be taking my daughter to Daly's Theatre and contrived to slip away on some pretext after the performance. I found Mrs. Lester alone in her flat, and she fell In with mv 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 a 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 mc. Ah, mc! I obeyed the one intuition. Why was I deaf to its logical successor?"' Furneaux, sitting on the edge of a chair, his head bent forward, his piercing black oyes 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. "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' face. "In heaven's name, liow do you know anything of any letter?" he cried. "I'll tell you later. But am I not right?" "Yes. you arc." "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 breiist pocket of his coat. But first he withdrew from the box a little round 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 a cosy 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:—lf you ore willing to come to terms, announce tSe fact by advertisement in Thursday's Times.' Address your reply to V.M.. and sign it, J.C.F. Yield, and you will hear further. Refuse, and no other warning will be given." (To be continued Saturday next.)