STALKING DEATH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22000, 5 January 1935, Page 11 (Supplement)

STALKING DEATH

CHAPTER V; —(Continued) " Only once. She went up to London to see him and I went with her. Mr. Standish didn't know anything about it, ana I didn't tell him. I should have done if I'd thought she was going to make a fool of herself again. But there was no need." " She was no longer in love witn st. Avait, I suppose?" " Oh, she was in love with him all right—in love with the man she had known twelve years; ago. But he had changed. She didn't recognise him at first—he looked so old. It would be the life in prison, I expect?" Macdonakl nodded. " Yes, twelve years in a French ' prison is enough to break the strongest." "It wasn't only his looks, sir. He as so bitter! He didn't attempt to make love to Miss Vivie, although she had gone there expecting it. He seemed to hate all women and he said some very hurtful things to her. Then he demanded money." "Did she give him any?" sharply. " Yes. She had drawn a cheque foxthirty pounds from her bank that morning. She gave him twenty." " Did he get any more money out of her on other occasions?" " He did —more's the pity! He wrote to her regularly —such beautiful letters! ]f you hadn't seen the man and known what he was,'it would have made you weep to read them- He said he was in very poor circumstances, and Miss Yivie sent him money in memory of their old love." "Did she destroy those letters?" " No, sir. I've got them. She gave them to me to keep." " Good!" Macdonald rose to his feet. "Can I have them, Mrs. Quirk?" She hesitated. ."Well, I don't know aa I ought to give them up. They were entrusted to me, and " Look here," interposed. Macdonald brusquely, "you want to see the man who murdered your mistress punished, don't you?" " Oh, yes, sir." " Then give me those letters. I promise you they shan't leave my hands."* ' _ Mrs. rose from her chair and crossing tfte room, picked up an old sandalwood, box which was standing on a bureau Selecting a key from a bunch she wore at her waist, she opened it, took out a bundle of letters and handed them to bfm without a word. " Thank you." He untied the silver ribbon which bound them and glanced through them quickly. A phrase here and there caught his eye and arrested his attention. Undoubtedly Michel St. Avait had the power of stringing words together. If he had taken to novel writing this power, combined with his imagination, would have brought him honour, fame and money. But the crooked strain in his nature had triumphed, and had precipitated him to the disaster which had finally broken him. Macclonald pocketed the letters. He would read them in the privacy of his own room. One more question, Mrs. Quirk, then. I won't bother you again. Do you remember the address your mistress wrote to when she sent the money?" " There were different addresses, sir. He seemed to move about a lot. But I remember that when we went up to see him he told her that a certain address in Limehouse would always find him. I'm afraid I've forgotten it, but it was a sort of shop kept by a Chinese gentleman." " What is his name?" asked Macdonald, eagerly. " A very funny' name, sir—Charley Sen." CHAPTER VI SHIRLEY GETS A SHOCK In the early hours of the following morning Shirley was awakened by something hard striking her bedroom window. It was raised half-way, for she was an enthusiastic devotee of fresh air, no matter what the weather. A moment later a pebble skidded across the floor. Jumping out of bed she hastily donned her dressing gown and thrust her feet into fur-trimmed mules, then hurried across to the window and looked out. A man was standing below in the garden. As the moonlight beat on his upturned face she gave a cry of astonishment. It was her brother. Raising the window as far as it would go she leant out. " Nigel!" she called softly. " Nigel!" "Hush!" He put his finger to his lips. " Someone will hear you. Can you come down, Shirley? I've got to talk to you." There was an air of desperation about him that sent a stab of fear to her heart. What could be the matter? Why did he come to her at this time of night, rattling on her window pane when everyone was in bed, instead of waiting till the morning and coming to the house in the ordinary way. He looked thoroughly • exhausted, too, as though he had walked miles. " Wait a minute," she said. " I'll put on some clothes and come down." She dressed hastily, then donned a heavy coat, for the night was chilly. Taking an electric torch, which had been her mother's birthday present to her, she made hep way quietly downstairs, and out by way of the side door, which led into the conservatory. This brought her out at the left side of the house, and she had to walk a few hundred yards before she reached the spot where her brother was waiting. He was pacing up and down, his hands in his pockets, a cigarette droopmg from his lips. His clothes were torn a nd damp, and he had lost his hat and tie. " Nigel, whatever is it?" she gasped. " I want some money—twenty or thirty pounds as quickly as you can let me have it," he replied. " But why? What's happened? What are you doing here like this? Oh, Nigel, you haven't—haven't " " Yes, I have," ,he retorted savagely. I've gone.wrong, as you so elegantly style it. I played the fool gambling with a chum of mine, and lost more than I could pay, so I borrowed a bit lr °m the office, intending to return it °"t of my winnings. Well, I didn't I lost again." "And do they know —the people at tin office?" "They must do by now. Naturally, j- didn't wait for them t-o find out. I bolter]." ' Oh, Nigel! there may be a warrant out for your arrest." Most probably is. But I'm not going to be caught—not J. I've some fiends in these parts who'll hide me or a consideration. Then, later on, , things have grown a bit quieter, _hevll get me aboard a ship at HarTj! , °f course, it'll cost money. hat s why I've come to you. The ft ater hasn't got any." ~ what have you told her?" ~ That I've been transferred to anner^ branch for a bit.. In Wales. I aren t tell her what part of the county I was coming to. She might let out_ to the police; they're sure to g° nosmg round at home." Shirley's eyes blazed and her cheeks few scarlet. you ought to be ashamed of

I yourself to expose mother to that, i You'vfe got into this mess through your own foolhardiness, and then you've the ; nerve to ask me to help you out." j " Well, you wouldn't like your own brother to go to prison, would you?" I " No. And for that reason I'll let | you have fifteen pounds. I've saved it | while I've been here. But I haven't any | more and 1 don't get my salary till the end of- the month." " But you can get some money, can't vou ? " "How?" ironically. "I can't misappropriate funds." "That's right. Hit a fellow when he s down. Lord! how 1 hate you good women. You don't seem to have a bit of human feeling in you. You can get j money if you like. You're pretty enough. That old josser who employs I you'd be easy game. You've always said | how good he is to you." " 1 wouldn't dream of asking Mr. Standish for money. How can you suggest such a thing? Arc you so lost to all sense of decency?" "All right! all right! old girl. No need to get ratty. I'm desperate—you must realise that. I've got to have money." " You can have the fifteen pounds I've saved. I can't give it to you tonight. I've got to draw it from the bank." " But I daren't come here again," cried Nigel in a panic. " Then, I'll bring it to you. Tell me some place where we can meet." He thought for a moment. " You'd better bring it to the barge," he said at length. " It's anchored about a mile away. I'll tell my friend to meet you at the old wall with the rowing boat and he'll row you to the barge. Will four o'clock to-morrow afternoon suit ?" " Yes. 1 think I can get off." " Righto. Then, I suppose you couldn't lay your hands On a couple of suits of clothes, could you?" " Certainly not, I'm not going to turn thief, even if it is a family failing. I'll bring you the money at four o'clock to-morrow afternoon. And now, hadn't you better go?" # "In a great hurry to get rid of me, aren't you? Still, perhaps I'd better." He turned and slouched off down the drive, his shoulders hunched, his hands in his pockets. Already he had adopted the furtive, suspicious air of the fugitive. Shirley stood watching him, her heart in her mouth. Oh! what an awful thing to have overtaken them at this particular time! Poor, poor mother, it would kill her when she got to know. And she was bound to soon. The first thing.the police would do would be to search Nigel's home. One thing was clear—it was up to her to help him get away if possible. But it was going to be very difficult. Everyone at the Manor was more or less under police surveillance. Still, she'd have to risk it. The local police weren't to be feared, and the man from Scotland Yard would not arrive until to-morrow. The great stumbling block was Macdonald. She didn't make the mistake of underestimating his intelligence. Although he had given her no reason to believe it, she was sure that he suspected her, either of having a hand in the murder or of a liaison with Jasper Standish. Detestable thought! Jasper Standish was the last man in the world to make love to another woman with his young daughter in the house. A governess, too —an employee, a sort of upper servant when all was said and done. And as for her having a hand in the murder—the idea was absurd. Vivien Standish had been murdered by the man who had murdered those other poor women. In her opinion, there was no doubt about it. All the same, it was a luc-ky thing that she had been with Macdonald the very afternoon it happened. It had saved her a great deal of inconvenience and annoyance. She wondered why Macdonald disliked her so. She had done nothing to incur his dislike; on the contrary, _ she had always endeavoured to be specially nice to him, to atone for her stupid mistake on the occasion of their first encounter. And yet there seemed to be a continual passage of arms between them. No matter how hard she strove to suppress it, he contrived to arouse her fighting instinct.' " He's a hateful man," she told herself "vehemently. But when she tried to analyse her feelings toward him, she found that hate played a very small part in them. . Could she be falling in love with him? Oh! but that would be too absurd. He was at least fifteen years her senior, and she felt perfectly sure he wasn't a marrying man. Besides, he would never think of her in that way. He didn't even want to flirt with her, like several of Jasper Standish's guests had done. He distrusted her, if he didn't Actually dislike her. And the greatest obstacle of all —there was the difference in their social status. She was only a governess, while he held a very high position at Scotland Yard, and had been given a baronetcy for his services in the Intelligence Department during the war. True, he came of humble stock, and wasn't ashamed to admit it, although his father had been rich enough to have him educated at Etcfn. But his family was quite undistinguished, not | with its roots planted deep in tradition, I like Jasper Standish's, for instance. Her family was as good as Macdonald's, probably better, but he had made a great success of life, while she was just a dreary failure. His position, won entirely through his own efforts, entitled him to look high for a bride. Perhaps it was just as well that Jasper Standish had given her notice. She would leave at the end of the month and resolutely put all thoughts of Macdonald from her. If she stayed at the Manor she bade fair to make a fool of herself. She went quietly back to the house, taking care to relock the door into the conservatory, then switching off her electric torch, she stole across the hall, mounted the stairs, and cautiously made her way to her own room. The door was as she had left it —slighly ajar. Pushing it open, she inside, then leant with her back against it to recover her breath, conscious that her heai't was beating like hammer strokes. Thank Heaven no one had seen her. She would not have felt so thankful if she had noticed a door at the end of the corridor open softly and a man appear in the aperture, his eyes glued to her as she flitted to her room. It was Maodonlad, and her midnight perambulations gave him much fogjd for thought. The following morning Sally developed a slight chill, and Shirley advised her to stop in bed for the day. As there was no cough mixture in the house she asked Jasper if she might borrow the car and go into Tollesbur.y to get some. He assented at once, asking if she would like Parker to drive her. " No, thanks," said Shirely. " I can easily manage myself." Jasper looked rather worried. " I don't like yoif or Sally to drive (alone, Miss Matthews. After what happened to my poor wife. . . ." " All right, Jasper, old man, I'll go with Miss Matthews," Macdonald put in. " I want some tobacco and I could do with a new pipe." " I wouldn't dream of troubling you, Sir lan," said Shirley coldly. " That's all right. I want to go." Inwardly fuming, Shirley went up to

By MARY RICHMOND o{ „ Strange c*TZ O r "The Masked Terror." etc.

AN ENTRANCING MYSTERY ROMANCE

(COPYRIGHT)

dress for the expedition. The man she wanted to avoid had thrust himself upon her. Yes, deliberately thrust himself upon her! He must have seen, she didn't want him. Now, what was she to do? How would she be able to withdraw hor money from the bank without him knowing? Of course, she was quite at liberty to do what she liked with her own money, but he'd think it strange and wonder whst she wanted it for. Then if he had heard of her brother's theft and subsequent flight from justice, he would put two and two together. Probably he had heard. The police would keep an eye on Nigel's relations, hoping that he might communicate with one of them. Well, she must just trust to luck, and seize whatever opportunity presented itself. Macdonakl was already in the driving scat of the Bentley when she appeared. He opened the door and motioned her to sit beside him. " You didn't want me to come? " ho observed, as they were running smoothly down the long tree-lined avenue. "Oh, nonsense! it was a matter of complete indifferonce to me." "Yet you'd rather have had Parker." " Since you will be so persistent, I'd rather have been alone, I can always get my shopping done so much quicker." He cast a glance at her charming profile. She was flushed, whether with anger or embarrassment he could not tell, but he had rarely seen her look so pretty, and suddenly he was seized with an insane desire to kiss hor. How would she react if he did, he wondered? Would she .tick him off, or would she take the line her Victorian grandmother might have done —slap his face and demand that lie left her at once ? It would be a'dangerous experiment at the present stage of affairs. Better not do anything he'd be sorry for afterwards. " You know, Miss Matthews, you interest ine enormously," he said presently. Shirley laughed. "Am I to take that as a compliment? I'm afraid I'm a very ordinary sort of person. There's nothing mysterious about me, thank goodness! Girls who earn their own living can't afford to cultivate anything like that." " I didn't mention the word 'mysterious,' " he replied. " I said you interested me, and you do. I've never met anyone like you before." " And I've never met anyone from Scotland Yard —much less a Commissioner. So we're quits! " " Talking of Scotland Yard, they're sending a man down to-day to take charge of the case." " Why don't you take charge of it? " "Because it's not my province and I'm on holiday. If he wants any advice or help of course he'll come to me." " Do you know him? " asked Shirley. " What's his name? " " Inspector Stainforth —Dick Stainforth, a nice young fellow. And that reminds me, I must warn Miss Sally not to- try and flirt with him. She must remember that he's down here purely on business." ' " You ought to warn me as well." " But you don't flirt,' said Macdonald quietly. " Oh, yes, I do," she laughed; "that is, when I get the chance. But there's not much scope in this benighted part of the world, now is there? " " I should have thought you'd have found plenty of promising material close at hand," he replied, with a look which made her cheeks take on a deeper tint. If he had been any other man she would have taken it as an encouragement to go further. Hastily she averted her eyes. For the rest of the drive she avoided the dangerous topic, then as they turned into Tollesburv she said: " You'd better park the car round this corner, then we'll each go to our respective shops and meet when we've finished." " What about a cup of coffee at the hotel? " She shook her head. " Not this morning, thanks. T must get back to Sally. iShe's always so cross when she's ill." Luck favoured Shirley after all, for having seen him turn into a tobacconist's she hurried across the street to the bank. Five minutes later, with fifteen brand new pound notes in her handbag, she emerged, and casting a hasty glance up and down the street, to make sure that the coast was clear, she set about her shopping. She was so quick that within a quarter of an hour she was back again at the car. Macdonald was placing a couple of bulky packages on the back seat.l " Ah! here you are. I give you full marks for smartness. Sure you won't change your mind and have that cup of coffee? " " No, thanks. I'd rather get back." "Eight you are then! " He helped her into the car, then placed two enormous boxes of chocolates tied with rosecoloured ribbons in her lap. " I've always heard that invalids like chocolates." " Sally does. It's awfully kind of you, Sir lan. You must go up and see her and let her thank you. But there are two boxes here." " One is for you, of course." " Oh," lamely. " You—you shouln't [ spoil me so." There Svas a shaky note in her voice, and to her disgust her heart begain to beat an irregular tattoo. What a fool she was making of herself I Time she went away. " I think you're one of the women who appreciate spoiling," he replied deliberately, and for a moment his hand rested on hers, accidentally, it -appeared but her woman's instinct told her that it was done with intent. When they reached the Manor she escaped from him as quickly as possible, and ran up to Sally's room. The invalid was sitting up in bed, wearing a charming rose-pink negligee trimmed with swansdown. She exclaimed at sight of the boxes of chocolates. " What monsters U Where did you get them from, darling? " Shirley explained. " Well, if he likes to go splashing his money about in that way I've no objection," said Sally. "Untie the ribbons, quickly! Oh, 1 do hope they're liqueur chocs. I adore them, don't you ? " For a few minutes the two girls ate in silence, Shirley perched on the end of the bed. " Do you mind if I leave for for a couple of hours this afternoon? " she asked presently. " i particularly want to go out." "That's all right, old dear! Don't you worry about me. Quirky will come up and sit with me, and J've got such a naughty book' from the library." " Sally! You shouldn't talk like that." " Oh, I know I'm an unfeeling wretch when only four days ago poor darling mother was alive, but if I didn't do something to take my mind off it al) I'd go mad." " What must your father be feeling, Sally? " " Oh, I know it's rotten for him—worse even than for me. Please don't talk about it, or I shall begin to cry again. And crying makes me so ill." (To be continued on Saturday next)