JOHN LYON, DETECTIVE.

Golden Bay Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 22, 10 November 1910, Page 3

JOHN LYON, DETECTIVE.

K r Copyright.'a

Seing a Strange Chronicle froiw the Note-book of John Lyon, Elucidator, Known as the “ Lion of the Law.”

the Author of " The Castle

Mystery," etc., etp

PART 14. CHAPTER VI. PASSION : A DAGGER AND A PISTOL. Tbs chiof of the Birmingham police walking from side to side of his >f&ce with long angry strides, when John Lyoa was announced. I-le greeted the detective with a sternness fhich merged to horror as he stepped into the light. And the elucidator was certainly neither a prepossessing nor a pleasing sight. His lean face was pallid, mapped with haggard lines und grey with a thick coating of dirt. One side of his head was purple and contused, and blotched in places with Jongealed blood, which had matted hia hair together and pasted it in biota upon hia forehead. " Groat heavens, man I” the chief sxclaimed. “ What in thunder have pou been doing ?” " I have been down in Glasgow for fcha beneht of my health,” was the iiippant reply. "As I was afraid I might be missing some sport down here, I hired a motor to come back on, and I am afraid I over-drove a ■little." “ But, your head—”

“ Bother my head ! It’s my business to be in the wars, captain. Is anything doing in the Birmingham ■bandit case ?’’

“ Doing T” The chief uttered the words with a groan. “ They’ve fired their bomb-shell and fired it with devilish cunning, too,” he said, gloomily. ”By the look of you I should say that you had been up against the whole gang, ind come ofi fourth best.” " Never mind me. Tell me about chin bomb-shell." “ I mean that they have started raking in the ransoms. Read this.” He took a note from a pigeon-hole of his desH and laid it before the elucidator who perceived that it was in paper and print precisely like the previous message sent by the bandits. The epistle was to the point, unmarred by any necessary verbiage.

“We are now in a position to demand pajment of the two thousand, pounds due from you,” ho read. " The money must be in gold coin, or in diamonds of an approximate value, and scaled in canvas or leathern bags of a size convenient for transport. It must be placed in the middle of the lawn of Carisbrook House, Sutton Coldfield, at midnight, on the 6th. If all hi satisfactory your daughter will be set free in the park before dawn. Be careful to attach your signature to the ransom, and take note that any attempt to communicate with the police will bring almost instant death to your daughter., —Th« Bandits of Birmingham."

Lyon drew In his breath with a long whistle as he laid the extraordinary epistle down. 11 Whew 1 We are dealing with the boldest vagabonds who ever turned their wits to roguery. Where is Carisbrook House ?”

“ There shows their infernal ingenuity. It is an empty mansion abutting upon the park and the lawn is the size of a cricket field. If the ransoms are placed in the centre of the lawn they will be out of sight of the trees which fringe it, and there Is no nearer cover.” ” And how are the bandits going to get hold of the money ?” " With an aeroplane, I presume," the chief grunted. “I can believe them capable of anything. How, in the first place, did they manage to

kidnap grown men and women, without being seen or even heard by i soul ?” “ That way madness lies," the deective said, shrugging his shoulders. " I have smoked nearly a gross of Russian cigarettes over the problem ind am no nearer a solution. Are your detectives on the trail ?”

“ On the trail ? The fools aro utterly at their wits’ end.”

“ Then I must see what I can do,” the Lion of the Law rejoined with a vwinkle in his eves’. He had been inubbed by the authorities too often lot to seize upon a chance of reprial when it came his way. “ Although I am but a poor, mean .mateur detective, T am not yet at ny feeble wits’ end. I have found nit the haunt where the victims are concealed, and I have seen the chief plotters.” " Then why, In the name of all that’s good and had, don’t you take a file of men and raid the place ?” almost shouted the chief in a tone of incredulity. “ I will have you arrested as aiding and abetting if you are not careful.” “If we raided the den we should almost inevitably lose all the criminals,” Lyon responded. ” The prisoners are safe until midnight, anyway, and T prefer to work on my own lines. You may hear from me lirectly.” “ Won’t you tell me why you went to Glasgow T Man—”

" T went because f was taken,” the eJnrtdat.or laugh**!, opening tho door. ' ‘ WtoA Uve '* «• «•« * lend ” bat ” Vf «l*mmi'st, tlie doo: gently, buckling as a* descend**! i>e stairs, and made his way through to Corporation Stresi. A wash and brush uo at the

barber’s transformed his appearance, and when he boarded a tram-car ft few minutes later, he was looking as fresh as a new coat of paint. Truth to tell, his evasive answers to the chief’s questions had not been without reason. By a sudden inspiration he believed he had added the last link to the chain which he had been gradually welding, and he wished to put his idea to the test at once. If he accepted any help from the force he knew where the credit would go to and he did not intend the work he had done to be crowned with laurels for some other person. At Aston station he alighted and sought a garage. His own car had been left at the gates of Sutton Park, and he had not thought to inquire after its whereabouts. This, however, was a small matter, for the hired vehicle suited his purpose equally well—to get to Carisbrook House as soon as possible. He did not fear any immediate danger from the people on the yacht from whom he had escaped ; having full steam up, they would doubtless leave their moorings at once sooner than face the risk of arrest to send warning to the conspirators at Sutton.

Having obtained the direction from a postman at Erdington he soon found the vacant house which had been named in the impudent message from the self-styled bandits. It. was one of those vast old mansions, too big for modern families, which may often be seen in the Midland and Northern counties. From chimneys to cellars it was in a state of decay. The walls were crumbling, the windows devoid of glass, and the doors dropping away from the rusty hinges. The park-like grounds had returned to a primeval state of vegetation, weeds and aristocrats of the hothouse hobnobbing together in a socialistic brotherhood. A big blackpainted board by the central gateway gave notice that the land was to he sold by auction for building purposes. Apparently the auction had proved abortive, as a paper strip—” For sale by private treaty” —hinted.

Leaving his car in a quiet turning, Lyon surmounted the gate and made his way up to the house. The door was locked, hut a skeleton key disposed of its feeble pretensions to being a barrier, and he soon found himself free to commence the search which he had come to make. A more thorough hunt had never been undertaken in the history of mankind. On his hands and knees, with a magnifying glass to his right eye und an electric torch in one hand he carefully scrutinised the floor literally inch by inch. His satisfaction increased with every minute that passed. The pounded earth was hard nearly as granite, but in the grey dust which covered ,it, he could discern hundreds of footprints, recently made by feet of many shapes and sizes.

The fact inspired him to even greater efforts, and his minute thoroughness met with a speedy reward. In the remote darkness of a wine-bin he at length found the outline of a trap-door. He spent a few minutes in examining it, and then hurried away. If the bandits had any spies keeping watch upon the premises, he wished to foster an impression that he had met with no success, and with this object in view he adopted a dejected aspect as he returned to his car. By his expression one would have thought that he had lost a near relative at tho very least. An hour later, however, he might have been seen leisurely entering the park by the central gateway. Having made certain by various ruses, that nobody was following, ho went direct to the hollow oak by which he had previously entered the subterranean vaults, and mounted nimbly. As before, ho hung at full length, and dropped to alight safe and sound on the mattress. The conspirators had taken no warning from his previous entrance ; the tunnel was deserted, and but two of the lanterns were burning. Not a sound penetrated from either direction, and Lyon after a momentary hesitation, started of! to the right—the way he had taken on his previous visit. He judged—a surmise which afterwards proved correct—that the other continuation of the tunnel merely led to the secret door in the wood by which Nicholson and the Spanish woman had vanished when ho was endeavouring to shadow them. Cautiously, step by step, ho made his way into the dense fog of darkness.

The tunnel narrowed as he proceeded, finally resolving itself into a passage which could be spanned by a man’s arm. Before ho had been walking long a dimmed patch of light grew out of the gloom ahead. As he drew nearer he saw that it proceeded from an oval opening which gave entrance to a large cavern. The illumination came from lanterns stuck at intervals along tho walls, all of their, burning brightly. Boftly as a mouse he stole to tho cntranco and peered through. Ho bad been prepared for something of the kind, but nevertheless the rashness of tho place amazed him. The roof was supported by shaved treetrunks, and these in turn had been propped by shorter pieces of timber. As be gazed round be perceived several openings in tho wall, evidently tho entrances to other tunnels.

At first glance ho had imagined tho cave to b* deserted, but as bis eyes grew more accustomed to the light, ho perceived a man seated at a rough wooden table, busily engaged In writing Lyon smiled grimly ns he recognised his old enemy Nicholson He might have a chance of ovnninK ap the score. Revolver in readiness ho strode swiftly across the intervening space, and brought one hand down with a thwack upon the man’s hack.

He had heard of men “ lumnintr

out of their skins,” and Nicholson certainly came near performing that interesting feat. The force of his start left him limp and trembling, and for a full minute he gazed in a fascinated way at the detective without realising the meaning of his presence.

” I have come to continue our little conversation,” the Lion of the Law said, seating himself upon the edge of the table. ” There were a lot.

of questions 1 wanted to ask, and you interrupted rudely the last, time I was here. In the first place, how many exits are there from this den?” Nicholson gasped, a quick ebb of crimson rushing into his cheeks. His starting eyes field a mixture of amazement, fear, and incredulity. Lyon’s very coolness nearly frightened him out of his wits. He stared nervously back at the tunnel mouth, as if he expected to see a horde of policemen waiting there.

John Lyon recalled his wandering thoughts expeditiously by tapping on his forehead with the pistol-barrel. ” Answer my questions,” he said, coldly. ” 1 shall shoot you dead at the first sign of revolt. How many exits are there from this cavern ?”

The man licked his dry lips with a tongue as dry and answered wildly : ” Three.” ”So I thought. Are you alone here—not counting your captives, of course ?” ” Dolores —Signora Navarro is in the cabin with the< girls.” “Good ! One final quest Jon. How did you manage the kidnapping so quietly ?” Nicholson was regaining his selfpossession in some measure, and he hesitated, a nasty glitter in his eyes. The elucidator levelled the pistol, and his reply came tripping instantly front his blue lips. ”We had a motor,” he blurted out half .angrily. ” And a powerful drug. We followed them about until we caught them in a lonely road, and kidnapped the kids by force. The grown-up people were enticed to look into the car in various ways.”

” And then, I suppose, you simply drove to ('arisbrook House, and brought the victims in through the trap there?” A nod was the answer.

” Humph ! I admire the boldness of your roguery. How did you think you were going to abstract, the ransom from the lawn ? I suppose you guessed that an army of police would hover in the bushes ?” “We have a secret tunnel which leads directly to the centre of the lawn,” was the sullen answer. “Curse you ! How much more do you want to know ?”

“ Nothing else at present. I will handcuff you and see that—”

The elucidator’s speech came to an abrupt end, and at the same instant a triumphant shout rang out from the lips of t-he captive. Stepping forward to carry his words into effect, he had tripped over a stool which lay on the. ground and staggered forward. Before he could recover himself Nicholson had leaped with the. ferocity of a wild beast, waving an ebony ruler in his hand. Crack ! Tt descended upon Lyon’s skull with a pulpy thud, and he saw a thousand stars as he fell prone upon the ground. Twirling round he caught his assailant’s wrist, as the scoundrel stooped to strike again and by sheer force pulled him from his feet and downward. Locked in a death-grip they writhed over and over, fighting like two fiends. Gradually the Lion of the Law felt that he was being overpowered. The blow upon his head had nearly shattered the sense from his brain and for a moment he actually swooned. When the mist of sickness lifted he was fiat upon the ground. Nicholson was kneeling on his chest, and in one hand he held a revolver. His eyes flamed with n demonical passion as he ground it into the detective’s forehead. ” Die, meddling fool !” he grated. “ Aha, you show fear at last !” Lyon, with the man’s iron grin unon his throat, strove in vain to shout a warning. Truly he showed fear, hut it was not for himself. Over Nicholson’s shoulder 'be had seen Dolores dart into the cavern. Tn an instant she had realised the tragedy that was impending. A scream rang from her lips. ” Vjle wretch,” she hissed. “ Would you kill tho only man in all the world—the man the world worships —the man T love ?”

Stooping swiftly she lifted her black skirt and whipped a dagger from her garter. With right hand uplifted, a yellow light of passion in her lynx eyes, she flung herself forward, her lips q/uivering as if she breathed a curse. Once ! twice ! thrice ! Three times the weapon was buried to the hilt in Nicholson’s body ere Lyon could mako a single movement. With a spasmodic effort tho villain rose and staggered. His fingers, closing with a dying grip upon the trigger of the revolver, sent a single message of death flashing from the muzzle. A scream followed the deafening report. Tho Spanish woman tottered limply upon the body nf the man she had murdered, and lay still. “ She ln\ ed me !” John Lyon murmured again and again, sinking hack in a weakness that came as much from horror as from the mortal sickness of his swoon. ” And hut for her secret passion I might he—good God ! ” He broke off his words with an exclamation which revealed a curious conflict of emotions—pity, horror, amazomerit, and dread all linked In one Like « blind man he staggered ap and his way to the tunnel from which he had come.

The epilogue to the tragedy of the Bandits of Birmingham had still to be written ; but the police would do that.

END OP SEVENTH CHRONICLE