The Councillors of Falconhoe

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 105, 4 May 1923, Page 10

The Councillors of Falconhoe

\Jjr FRED M. WHITE.

i i CHAPTKR XXXV. 1 a ijik.-'tion or Minor. A minute later, and JclK'orsc w;is in :touch with tlic hend of the Ccnnan Street il'olice, in the W'ilhelnistrasse. .And a quarter of an hour ufter tluit the I'oim'cillors were seated in tin- private office jof Heir Nliinbiirg himself. I "Xow, gentlemen,'" he w.i<l. "will you j tell mc in a few words wlmt all the •trouble is about? Is it anything in connection with (lie mysterious diwajipcarMice of the greiit Opora Singer ir" "Well, in.liiv.tly. ' .lelicorso replied. "FVrliaps you will allow mc to tell yon the story'in my own words. If I had been in the Hotel Addon live mi miles sooner I should not have had to troifhle I yon. Yon were £ood enough to leave this matter entirely in the hands of tile Councillors, and 1 can assure you that we much prefer to do our work in one own way. We littd hoped not to trouble you until we could put all the striiifr.i into I your hands and leave yon to arrest the 'gang of scoundrels and deal out justice in your own fashion, (luce ivo had exposed the conspiracy, which was to lead Ho another frrent war. and taken our fee J for doing so. we regard our tusk as done. ■We didn't want to frighten those men. [We wanted them to on as if nothing ihnd happened, until yon were ready for the grraml coup. But they arc alarmed and uneasy. They cannot understand j why it is that they have hoard nothing of yon Ki-khardl. By this time all (ierIniaiiy should have hcVn liilkiiiff aliout tintragedy. Those fellows are very nervous and mystitied. because, you «■<■. lliorr is no tragedy, I know for a fact that Barradne telephoned to Munich tliis J afternoon for infonniitioii from one of I his tools there, bcrnua* Nijiitoriiiii Inez Salviati heard the conversation, and reported it to me.'" "Hut slie is missing," the ufllcer protested. "She was." .Telicor.-e corrected. "She is now hack with her friends in the I hotel, safe and sound. I don't think j I need po into her adventurer, just at [present, because then- are other tiling* I more pressing. But I am telling yon I hard facts. The Sipiioiina was more or iless kidnapped by Rarnidos. .-v as to ] secure her silence after whiit she had I overheard, and hut for the courage and daring of the Ladies I'evensey. who ar» two of our most valued asui'stnuts. .-.he might still Iμ- coutined In the inner n-.-m of the Kpioure*' I'liil.. where llnrritiin* jdiscnvered her. You ><•<■ the necessity of I hurry, Herr Shinl.urg. Th-.se scundrcU lare thoroughly nronsed now. They urn '■ frightened to death, and don't know'whnl jto do. I think my little com.-.h in tli— ! house of our friend llckhar.ll was perjliaps a bit too subtle. You >ci-. 1..- and I his lot are lirmlv under the ini<irv«ninii that they shut Eckhonll to pieces, where j hs lie is very much alive and in Uerlin jat tin- pre-fu't minute. And. Hgain, they haven't the remotest notion what became of the body of Professor yon Doriui. IVobiil.lv most of thwo men will stay here and bra/on it out. They will rely upon some planned alibi in which prominent society people, both men and women, will appear and piv,- evidence that they have so carefully rehearsed. Hut if I know anything of Barrados. he will holt. Within twenty-four hours he will be on hifi way to the KllSfiian frontier, and once he reaches Moscow we can't touch him. Lenin and Trotsky will see that he is all right. What I wan* you to do is to have Bnrrndos arrested. He is probably still in Berlin making preparations. Hut first of all he will have to warn his comrades, which will take him some time. If you set your bloodhounds on the track at once you ought to have him by midnight." Tferr Shinlnirg reached for his desk telephone. "It shall he done on the instant," he said stolidly. "If Count Harrados is in Berlin we will have him within an hour and even if he has left the capital be will be detained on the frontier. He is too prominent a person to lie overlooked. Hut what about the others, Heir Jclicorse? ' 1 have a shrewd idea who they arc, hut J you have not yet discussed them with mc. That we left entirely to you. Perhaps you can throw your net over the lot of them." "You can make your mind easy about that," Jelicorse smiled. "There were six of them in that attack on yon Kckliardt. They may wriggle ns they like, and talk as "they 'please, and invent what alibis they choose, hacked by the perjuries of all the aristocracy in Prussia. i But I shall have a witness that cani not lie, and a little dumb witness thai will cover them nTJ with confusion. My dear sir. we have done our work very thoroughly. There are the half dozen I speak of, and as many more besides, all of whom are in Berlin at the present moment. What you have to do is to arrest every member of the Kpioiires' j Club to-night, and detain them till, say, four o'clock to-morrow afternoon. Then we will come round here and ask you I merely to pla<?e a white sheet, between these two windows. We will see to the rest. Xow, here is a complete list of the members of the club, and the sooner you act, the better." There was no longer any occasion lor Knderby and Farneombe to hide themselves away in the seclusion of the board-ing-house in Potsdam, so they went back to the .Addon Hotel, and in Inez' private sitting-room there was quite a happy reunion. "I suppose I am more of a public character than ever';" Inez asked. "How are you going to account for my disappearance and the way in which I disappointed by public to-night?" "Oh, that should be easy enough," .Telieorse laughed , . "You are suffering from sudden loss of memory. Quite a fashionable complaint, of which even a prima donna need not be ashamed. You have been subject to such attacks since childhood. One of the eccentricities of genius and that sort of thing. So en- , grossed in the new part and so eager to give you beloved public the best, that you wandered off and' found yourself late at night miles from Berlin. Why, it's done every day." "Yes, what a happy idea," Lady Pe.-S>' tried. "Yes, and what a topping day it has been."' Lady Joan beamed delightedly. "■A real .adventure with real revolvers, and the scoundrel of melodrama brought to bay by two intrepid girls who bearded him. in his own den at the risk of tiieir lives. And now I suppose it's finished," she went on regretfully. "We shall go I back to the humdrum life again, and t shall have to marry Kiel and be re- j spectable ever afterwards.' , "And' I suppose Tony will beat mc," j Lady Peggy said. "Xot unless it's necessary." Vickers laughdd. "But what is the next chapter in tiie story? , ' "There is only one more." Jelicorse explained. "We have simply got to liavc those men arrested, and when I have proved beyond a demonstration that the

I ! Epicures' Club is up to its neck in murder I shall retire gracefully, and as soon as I am back in England again the better 1 shall be pleased." "Now, how tantalising," Lady Peggy cried. "Jjo you mean to .-ay we. are not suing to be in at the death?" "What a bloodthirsty idea,"' Joan protested. "1 don't mean actually the execution," Lady Peggy suid. ""1 mean, aren't we going to !«• present when the villains are '■unfounded and honest virtue comes into its own? Now. Hilary, 1 know you have got some wonderful stunt up your sleeve. Do tell us what it is, and 1 do let us be present when you press the button." "1 wish f could." -lelicorse .-aid regretfully. "But that is impossible. You see. tlie last act takes place in the ifiiee of the Chief of Police hero, and be would I moat certainly object. But you shall see the stunt, anrl you xliall sec ihc pretty picture that yon arc <so anxious about. You shall gee it in this very room. Meanwhile, lam going to t'-ll you exactly what liappenej ehoz Kckbardt. At any rate, it was quite as ingenious as the other little matter we have just alluded to." With that .Jelicorse went on into n long I explanation of recent events, and then j almost unkindly suggested that it wa.« time for bed. Early the next afternoon he and the other Councillors, together with Virkers and Nelson, repaired to the Wilhelmstrasse. whore they were met with the pleasing information that the whole ~i the ini-inbors of the Epicure*" I Club were safely lucked up in the buildling and that llurriuloe had not escaped. I— 5

"We have tlic whole lot of them. •jenUi-men," Herr shinburg explained. "•The cnpturc i« complete. Of course. they iirn making a preat fuss, and we are being besieger! by nil the loading! monarchists to release them on bail. I Acli. (hat would never do. And yet. i unless uc can at once formulate poms I serious eharpp, such as murder, we shall liavp to comply. Therefore, lam looking to you. 11 err Jelieorse, to supply mc with r.-al proofs." "VVliieli I am going to tlo," .Telieorsc said promptly. "I want you to have Count Burrados brought, here, because, when tlie time comes, lie is almost certain to desert his companions and turn State evidence. Bring him in hero handcuffed, afcid, oh. by the way. I see you have got the sheet up I asked, of you." With that .Telioorse laid a box on the | table, from which he produced a small mechanical instrument which he proceeded to attach to the socket of an electric lamp. "Now. ] am quite ready.' , be said. "Brinj; ill the prisoner, and neat, him on a chair facing the sheet. There will he no occasion to say anything, because, unless I am greatly mistaken, Barrados will do most of the talking." Barrados came in. sulky and defiant, and a little uneasy as he saw what was U'oiup: on. Then the door was locked and the shutters closed, and the room plunged in darkness. A brilliant light nhone from the little, instrument, and half a dozen figures began to move in a white disc, on the sheet. One glance was sufficient for Barrados. "Mcm Gott!" he cried. "What is this? Those devils of Councillors again. Will they haunt mc to my grave?" (To be continued daily.) I