JUSTUS WISE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14507, 22 October 1910, Page 3 (Supplement)

JUSTUS WISE.

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.

JiT ALFRED WILSON-BATiRbTf.

COPYRIGHT.

SYNOPSIS. Ju-stiks Wise, confidential, agent, and factotum, Dark. find their (>bßtruclire smoking badly and ' m "the "chimney, lion is the tload body ox a room hist as They carry the co r ir.to anoi.h r0111(: . s t o a voting mail, named (.eor#. MUii'J , consult Mr. Wise. Millbank explat s. bat lie «< oiifjagie.l to a Miss West, hut. tor sol '. ablo reason her father ha-d lalt.. ,',,-iftors Mr. lie mutch. To further complicate inatten. . wr. West, had disappeared and ' Vise« " noe a investigate. Prior to West « d ™pi e* a " a wronger had railed on him and tlw two l'^ 1 ; e violent, quarrel. After Millbank » < 'J, t| ia t Wise and Dark, i.. their hevv.Ulerment find hat tho bo.lv has ■ disappeared from the next ! .), ■ It had been removed through a small door■ opp ing- .... to a back stairway that connects *it various otllees on different, floors, an<l tu £y I),„l no trace anywhere. Wise "unn'SW tat I the ho.lv was thai of Wont. as Ihe dcx npt OTI '9 identical, hut receives a telegram i™" jntlbank which adds to the mystery, as it state-, that West lias returned safely.

CHAPTER TV

Mor<s"i\(; threw no light on the adventures winch luul como to the confidential agent on the previous day, and Justus Wise spent, ail hour or two quarrelling with Dark., and pacing up and down his office like a tiger robbed of an expected prey.

Then, a naturally mercurial temperament jegan to reassert itself. Fate, it is true, nad t,t.-ate<l him very scurvily yesterday, but had ho not grappled with Fate for many years and not always come oil second best Was all lost? Were all his golden dreams of the day before to come to nothing'!

Seating himself at bis desk, ho gazed at his thousand circulars, and thought furiously: an-:, as ho thought, his brow commenced to clear. True, ho had lost his "second client," the frank, engaging young man with tho income of his own ; true, his " liret," that mysterious, portly bodyho gazed at tho door of the second room with a shudder— had been taken from him, but— tho young man had left £20 behind him, and. in his telegram at least, had made no mention of requiting their return. And the. body V W<>ll., the body had disappeared, taken from him by someone whose cleverness Justus thought of liercely, but admiringly. \et the body had been was —tho body of someone, and that someone a man of importance, unless Justus was a fool.

Now a man of importance, a man of veal tli and position, cannot disappear for ong without, the fact creating some at tonion. Relations, business friends and acmaintaneee, commence to make inquiries, md to the man who knows something money gravitates. Justus Wise knew something. \\\ was not lost, but it might bo unless 10 kept bis eves open. And hero it might jo mentioned that this must have been newly a figure of speech, for Mr. Justus kVLsos eyes looked and were sharpest when her were half closed. fell ill" Dark to look after the office, Justus put on his glossy hat and gloves md went out. , . Half-way downstairs ho stopped, and. i-azed St the door of an office facing him m the- landing. It was at the back door jf these same premises, on the back stairrase, that he had stopped and gazed on .ho previous day. The door told him nothing, however, eave the name of the decu pants of the office, and that lie *new already: " The Wapiti Syndicate, Limited, Registered Offices. S. Wvvill, secretary." It was at the. rear of these premises he had fancied yesterday that the sooty footsteps had paused, but the front told him nothing. Could the inmates? Justus bit his lips and gazed for a moment. He could hardly ask for his cniriositv to be satisfied, and he was pass, inn on"when the door opened suddenly and two men appeared on the threshold. One of these Justus already knew by sight. It was S. Wyvill, the secretary of the Wapiti Syndicate, Limited. The second he did not know, yet lie gave an involuntary start as he caught, his eye. A stout, well-dressed, prosperous man, "about fifty, stout, with dark hair and rather bald forehead, well-dressed No wonder Justus started; not at all like his " first client," yet the same description. Was the world full of men of Mr. West s appearance? And then, as the individual emerged into the passage came the secretary's parting words, Good-da\, Mr. West, good-day. sir," and Justus drew back and pretended to look into ms pocketbook. "Mr. West!" It was the missing financier himself. . . . Or rather, it was the financier who had been missed, and who had returned-so inconsiderately. . Justus squinted afc him ferociously as he followed him downstairs. Why had he returned, the old fool? Why hadnt he been the "first client indeed He had had a furious quarrel with an unknown man, he had disappeared, a body answering to his description had found its wav into Justus's chimney, and yet here lie was, alive and hearty, going down Justus's own stairs ! Justus stopped suddenly his quick brain alert. All this was more than disgusting; it began to be mteiestinjr, surety- . , In the street the financier paused a moment irresolutely, tracing figures in-1 he mud of the pavement with the fcruli. ot his gold-topped umbrella, his shouldeis bowed and his whole attitude for a moment one of extreme dejection; then ha straightened himself, and, as if suddenly, hailed a passing cab. Ashley Gardens, Number 400, he said, and got Justus's eyes watched him keenly. "Ashlev Gardens? That is not your home, lie thought. " 1 have nothing to do, and, thanks to Mr. Millbank s £20, 1 can afford to see into this ; I will. And springin" into a second cab which followed on the first, he gave the driver the necessary instructions, and leaning well back, pulled thoughtfully at his whiskers. Half-way down Regent-street Mr. West stopped at Gerard's, and descending, emerged in a few moments apparently completely freed from his previous dejection and adorned with a large buttonhole of carnations. And Justus Wise, adnurin"* the portly middle-aged man a gallant air, pulled bis whiskers harder than hefore. . ~ "Ashlev Gardens— morning callflowers in his buttonhole—for a middleaged gentleman with a grown-up daughter at home—this might be very interesting, thought Justus, and his eye followed the cab in front. At 400, Ashley Gardens, Mr. West descended briskly and entered the house. Justus followed him a few minutes later. It was a building composed of flats that he found himself in, and he was examining the names on little plates at the side or the doorwav when the lift which had taken Mr. West upstairs descended, and the hall porter approached him. Justus's quick eye sized up the man in a moment, and he took half a crown out of his pocket and held it meditatively in his fingers. . " Will Mr. West- be long, do you think I he said, looking from the man to the halfcrown and back again. The man looked at the half-crown in his turn and smiled. " I shouldn't wait, if I was you, sir," he said ; " he might be an hour or more." Justus Wise looked at the board of names and pretended to frown. " Dear, dear!" he said, "and I can't possibly wait more than a few minutes." He paused and eyed the board again; six out of the eight names began with a "Mrs." or a " Miss." " I suppose he finds her —very fascinating, he hazarded. The porter grinned again. She are, he said, taking gratefully the half-crown which at last came his way. " But you can see her for this money, yourself—at the Warndoff. Shi does her part fine, and can't she d-uice V "Miss Gertie Tilijfc," said the confidential agent, his eye swiftly _ searching the board. "Yes, I believe she is excellent, I will take your advice and spend another— ah —half-crown on seeing her. I won't wait for Mr. West; thank you very >miich. Goodiiivj" /md h&jsiieatefk.

Ho got no further than a few steps down the street, however, and observing that the J porter had not followed him. he looked around him. Opposite to No. 400 he caught sight of a. convenient doorway, and ho popped quickly inside it., and waited, with hie eye upon Miss' Tillet's house. "The man who succeeds is the man who knows how to seize an opportunity.."' he said, calmly, "I certainly think all this is promising." It was even more so than he had imagined. for he had been fully prepared to wait the hour or so the porter had mentioned, yet he had hardly been ensconced in his hiding-place for 10 minutes when Mr. Wist emerged again into the street. But. though the financier had been butsuch a short time in the house, his appearanace had already undergone a. striking change. His gallant air, the self-satisfied smilo, the ruddy colour in his heavy face had all vanished ; even his wonderful buttonhole seemed to have faded and grown shabby, and ho looked already ten years older. His dejected attitude had returned, and he staggered a.s he reached the pavement. For a. moment he stood looking round him, then, striking his forehead wildly with his clenched fist, he walked quickly away. Justus Wise was so overwhelmed with this sudden transformation that he stood idly watching him, allowing him even to turn the corner of the street before lie attempted to follow him. He pulled himself together, however, and was about to leave his shelter in pursuit when another person emerged from tho house opposite. This was a middle-aged woman in a maid's costume, with a basket over her anil, who hurried out. and took the direction opposite to that in which the financier had gone. But- she, too, appeared excited, and talked to herself as she walked. Justus.- keen eyes followed her and took her in. "Tho actress's maid," he thought; "she looks it. down to the ground. Upset-, too, hurrying out with a basket, 'i o the chemist's, I expect—big row, sal volatile, smelling salts, brandy, perhaps. Now if she is tho only maid, and she looks it, Mies Gertie is alone. West has gone home ; had a row, or made a row, arid gone home. I can find him any time, if I want him, but Miss Gertie—l wonder—" Mr. Justus Wise watched the maid down tho street, then, taking a small mirror from his pocket, ho smoothed his hair and whiskers. "It's a long time since I did this kind of thing," he said, " but a confidential agent shall be equal to any emergency," and he walked across the street. As luck would have if, his friend tho porter was nowhere to bo seen, and,, marking on the board the position of the actress's flat-, he slid quietly upstairs. At tho door bearing Miss Tibet's name ho paused, and looked for the bell, 'and as he gazed ho noticed something which made him start —tho door was ajar, left open evidently by the maid in her hurry. There was no ono watching on the landing, and swiftly and noiselessly Justus slipped inside. He found himself in an expensively furnished pink-and-'white hall, from which pink-and-whito doors opened into rooms on each side. These doors, unlike that of the hall, were closed, but from one of them came the sound of a woman's voice, and then a crash of broken china repeated after a moment. Justus Wise listened, smiled, and moved softly to the door. "Hysterics," he said, and even as he spoko there came a wild gurgle, a scream of laughter, then a heavy thud, and silence. Ho tapped' gently at the panels. There was no answer, and opening the door softly, he stepped inside. On tho hearthrug of the extravagantly furnished boudoir lay an exceedingly pretty and dishevelled lady. Around here were fragments of broken china and upset chairs. Justus Wise, after a quick glance round the room, stepped towards her. She was hardly insensible, for her heels still tapped the floor, but she took no not ice of his entrance, and for a moment ho stood irresolute. Then kneeling down, ho placed the lady's head in what* he considered to be the l>est position, unfastened the lace scarf about her neck, and commenced to chafe her hands vigorously. His attentions had no effect for the moment but to bring on a fresh attack of hysi teria, but at last the lady appeared to return to consciousness. "The beast ! the old idiot 1" she said, and opening her eyes she sat up and stared at Justus. "Why, who rro'you?" she exclaimed suddenly, and with an attempt, at dignity sho struggled to her feet. "Are you the doctor V' Justus shook his head. " Xo, lam not tho doctor," he said. "I am—ahem—my name is —Mr. Justus Wise." Miss Tillet's face flushed angrily, and she drew herself up imperiously. " Then may I ask how you come to be in my apartment V" she said quickly. Justus Wise rubbed his hands together and bowed ingratiatingly. "It is an accident—a pure accident," ho murmured. "I happened to bo passing on the landing ; I heard cries, and"—with an apologetic glance at the confusion around—' something broken. The door was open, and, thinking someone was in danger, I—er —ventured in— Miss Tillet looked at hint reflectively for an instant. "Then you can go out again," she said. Justus, a little out of countenance, bowed amiably. " 1 trust you will forgive my intrusion," ho said ; " it was with tho best of motives. I thought I might bo of some use, and really, now that the incident has given me the happiness of seeing off the stage one whom I have long admired on, I cannob find it in my heart to regret it." Miss Tillet cast a glance at him, and walking to tho glass, arranged the dark waves of her hair. "Rats 1" she said after a moment; "that's not why you are here, you know. You're not that sort. Has he sent you '! If he has, you can tell him I won't go. It isn't, likely, just at a ime when I'm making a hit like this. Tell him South America is not in my line, and that he can go alone there or to —" Justus intervened hastily, before the unknown destination had passed the actress's red lips. " I assure you," he said quickly, "that I am sent- by no one, and that my explanation is a true one. Will you allow me to give you my card '!—Mr. Justus Wise. You will see my name and address. Should you at any time require the services of a confidential agent, 1 trust" The actress interrupted him with a quick exclamation. "A confidential agent '( I suppose you mean a private detective '! Then you are sent by West." " 1 assure you I am not . I know Mr. West by sight, it is true, but I have never spoken to him, nor had any communication with him." Miss Tillet looked at him meditatively, but Justus met the gaze of her dark eyes with the greatest calmness, and she appeared to come to a decision. "I think you aren't telling me lies, though one can never tell," she said. "But, in any case, I don't care tlia-t for old West. j He can't hurt me, but there's something | wrong about him, and I should like to know what it is.'" Justus Wise began to brighten up. and he again rubbed his hands ingratiatingly. "I see," he said quickly. "You would like ! him watched." The actress bit her 'dps. then she turned and faced Justus. " Look at me," she said. She was a tall, handsome girl of about 28, with dark hair parted in the middle and waved on each side, fine eyes and a smile known, wherever a picture postcard existed. Her rather dishevelled condition, and the tear-stains on her cheeks, did not detract from her appearance, and Justus looked at her admiringly. ' Well 1" said Miss Tillet, at last-; "this isn't a case of jealousy. But there's something wrong with West, and I should just like to know what's up. You can never tell with these city men, and when he comes here and wants me to—" She stopped, after a glance at Justus, who was leaning forward eagerly. "Yes'/" said the ageiifc quickly, "wants you to— "Wants me to go oft' to—" She did not finish the sentence, for at that moment a violent ring came at the bell, making them both start and without any reason look guiltily at one another. Miss Tillet rose and went quickly to the door, which was plainly visible from Justus's seat. It was a messenger-boy who had rung, and Justus watched the actress as, with a little exclamation, sho seized the note he brought and tore it open. " From West, for a hundred pounds !" he thought, his keen eyes fixed on the actress as if he could read her thoughts from that distance. " Changed his mind, 1 expect. What does he say. now, I .sender 2"

Misa Til let crumpled up the paper with a little laugh. "Wait a moment, boy," she said. " I will write the answer." And sho entered the room again, and seating herself unceremoniously at a little desk near the window, the wrote hurriedly. She had placed the note by her side, face upwards on the desk, but she had crumpled it; and Justus, though lie: idled towards her and peered over her shoulder, could see no more than a word here and there, and the signature, " Willie." "William WestWillie." It. was the financier, of course, though Justus could hardly repress a smile as lie recalled the portly form and age of the actress's adorer. He was peering nearer, trying to make out more, when .Miss Tillet hastily blotted the sheet of paper she had covered with large hieroglyphics, and rose, almost bumping the agent's nose with her black curls. "Take this." she said to the messenger boy, and she gave him the note. .She was so quick in her movements that .she was back again in the room before Justus had time to decide whether it was worth while or not to steal the financier's note which she had left upon the desk ; yet ho wished he had stolen it, for a glance at her face showed him that it had changed matters entirely.

When the bell rang lie had been on the point of learning something interesting ; now he saw that the chance \.as gone. .Miss Tillet was no longer inclined to bo communicative, and she showed it with her customary frankness. " You must excuse me now, Mr. Wise," she said coolly, facing Justus standing. "I have got a. bad headache, and I must go and lie down."

Her tone and manner were explicit, but Justus made an effort. " [ think you were about- to suggest' .something I might do for you--" ho said, ingratiatingly. "Oh ! I was talking through my hat," returned the young lady coldly : "yousee you took me rather by surprise. But please excuse me now."

Justus was dismissed, and he knew it. Ho sighed, and taking a card from his pocket, handed it vj the actress. "Net- at all; you must forgive me !" he raid, politely ; "but there may come a timo when you would like to avail yourself of my services. If so. p'wise remember this address will always find me." Miss Till fit took the card rather disdainfully between her fingers, but Justus notice.'. thai, she did not put it down, and, lowing low, he took his leave. " She'll keeo the card, and she won't show it to Wesi, : ' I.:-; thought. "There has been ro hat What about that boy V" ffis di iirissal had been a matter of seconds ; he could hear the messenger still clattering down the stairs beneath him, and ho quickly ran for the lift. When no reached the street the boy was or.lv a few yards in front of him, and Justus soon caught him up. " One moment, messenger," he. said, breathlessly, tapping the youth on the shoulder ; " Miss Tillet has made a mistake in the address."' And he took the note from the boy's hand. " Here, I say !" expostulated the messenger quickly. But Justus ignored his cry. The gum on the envelope was still wet, and in a second he had the note out and had glanced through it. "All right, old boy. Glad you have got mora sensible. There is no place like home, after all. Yes. I shall be there.—Gektik."

The l>oy, who certainly remembered seeing Just a moment before at the actress's flat, was standing with an indignant face, hesitating whether to attack the agent or not; and the latter, observing him at last, carefully folded up the note and replaced it in the envelope, after noting the address. "No ; it's all right after all," he said coolly. "There's twopence for you. Run along, my boy, and don't lose that letter."

The boy's finger® closed on the coppers and the note with relief. He still hesitated a moment, however, but Justus, smiling benignantly on him, walked away, and he continued his interrupted journey grumblingly.

Justus turned after a, second or two, and watched him make his way along the street. "W. West, Esq., 200, Berkeley Square," he mused. "Changed his mind, has he ? Was going to clear out., but couldn't get her to seo it. Now ho's going to stay and face the music. I wonder what's up ! This must be looked into. I must think how to touch him first, though."

With this object, Justus turned into a little foreign restaurant near by, a place which he often patronised, where he knew he could consider matters alone and undisturbed.

"I think I will take some macaroni a l'ltalienno and a small bottle of Chianti," he said to the bowing waiterfor Justus, in an Italian restaurant, liked to do as the Italians did —"and bring me a paper." The paper, however, took some time to fetch, and the macaroni arriving first, the agent was already half-way through it before, a midday Star was placed before him. Thus was fortunate, perhaps, for the moment Justus glanced at the sheet his appetite wis gone and ho sat staring idly at the print, his favourite dish forgotten. -Yet it was only a small paragraph that had so attracted liis attention. " The body of a well-dressed man was discovered early this morning floating in the Thames, near the Temple Steps. The deceased, who appeared to be about 50 years old, and was evidently of superior station, had apparently been the victim of foul play, as on his head he had a wound which was more than sufficient to cause death, and had evidently been inflicted before he was thrown into the water. Nothing was found in his pockets, nor were there any marks on his clothes which could identify him. The body has been taken for the present to the St. Giles's Mortuary." Justus eat, a fork full of dangling macaroni poised between his plate and his lips, and his pained gaze wandering round the little resta.urant with its plush-covered seals and gilded mirrors. "It ! Of course ! His body ! Stolen from him, thrown into the Thames, andjiow rescued again to spoil his lunch. Yes, to spoil his lunch, for the paragraph was clear. There were no marks of identification on the body, and what advantage had he now over the police, or even the rest of the world in the matter '! And yet —" Justus put down his fork and the paper with decision, his natural sanguineness returning to him. Who knew '! At all events ho would go and see this body, the body in which he felt ho had prior rights. He knew something more than anyone else, save Dark, could know of it, at all events, and he might make use of that knowledge yet. Mr. West must wait for lie present; the mortuary called him, and to the mortuary he must go. The confidential agent knew London as very few people know it, and it did not take him long to make his way to the dismal building through which so much human wreckage has passed, nor did he have any difficulty in gaining entrance. The constable on duty knew hiin well, and soon Justus was gazing for the second time on the body which had come so queerly into his life. For it was the body, as lie had guessed, the body which had stopped his office chimney and raised such false hopes, and Justus gazed at it, chewing his whiskers sadly. "I don't bear Mr. . West any malice," he thought, as he gazed, "but if you had only been him, what a difference it might have made to me. You aren't a bit like him really, though. I wonder who you are." The body of the stout, middle-aged man lay there placidly enough on its slab, as if "unresentful of its adventures, but it told nothing of its secrets, and Justus, after photographing the pale features on a retentive memory, was about to turn away when the door of the place opened and shut again hastily. ,

Someone had looked in and almost instantly disappeared again ; yet, quick as the intruder had been, Justus had swung round and caught a glimpse of him departing, and 'lie wondered for a moment .where ho had seen that figure before. | Then it came back to him, and he gave a little gasp. S. Wyvill, the secretary of the Wapiti Syndicate, whom he had seen talking to West upon the stairs that morning ! Was it he indeed ?

Whoever it might have been, he had seen Justus and flown ; that was evident, and, quick as lightning, Justus made for the door, only to catch sight of a coat-tail disappearing round tho corner of ho street in front. The agent followed swiftly, but, as luck would have it, a little too swiftly, for, rounding tho corner, ho cannoned heavily against a policeman, who held him for moment carefully while he surveyed him, and then let him go again* seeing that he was not tho pickpocket he had imagined. But the delay had been fatal, .and in the crowded street now before him Justus could only see an unfamiliar throng.

jXa. be continued on Wednesday:, -next.)