THE MAN WITH THE DALMATIAN

Taranaki Daily News, 23 July 1930, Page 14

THE MAN WITH THE DALMATIAN

By

FRANCIS FURNESS

CHAPTER XV (continued.) FINGER PRINTS. “But how did you get to know him?” asked Miss Benton, “I was determined to make an effort to help Vallance,” said Kyrle, “and just aA a chance shot I called at Markham's and inquired if his clerk was still there. He was. The lawyer who has taken the chambers has kept the man on. I found that the clerk knew Vallance, and I gradually won hie confidence.” “I’m quite certain you did not take long to do that.” Miss Benton ventured a sly wink. “Of course,” said Kyrle, “I gave him some money. He was very reluctant at first to. discuss the affairs of his late employer, and he seems to be terribly scarced lest someone should find out that that he had been talking, “He obviously knows a good deal more than he has told me, and I have promised not to speak a word to the police, to Vallance, nor to a living soul, but I have told you because you are the first woman I have ever met whom I instinctively trust.” Miss Benton flushed with pleasure.

“My dear, you will not regret doing so. It was a secret that you were bound to share with someone, and in this case two minds are better than one, You and I have become amateur detectives, and who knows but we may be the means of solving the mystery?” Miss Benton’s, final words to Kyrle were, “Keep friendly with Sir Ralph, my dear, however distasteful it may be; in an unguarded moment one day he may tell you something that will help to forge* another link in the chain, as they say in detective stories.” Two days after'Vallanee’s crash at Brooklands Mr. Bresky called to see Sir Ralph Chester. Tile call was mainly to discuss a financial matter; in other words, he wanted some money for services rendered. : ’ Sir Ralph tried to be affable about it. “The fact remains, Bresky, that the job was not a ; success.”

“I. did all that I was asked to do,” said the little mechanic. “I took a very big risk, and everything went according to plan, as they used to say in the Great War. Didn’t I knock out the fellow Simmonds beautifully, and put him out of harm’s way?” “Yes,” said Ralph, “but unfortunately he broke loose too soon, and was down at the pit soon after you left.” • “I dare say he did. But he wasn’t in time to prevent the smash. You can’t deny there was a smash, exactly as required. It wasn’t my fault that the driver had the devil’s own luck.”

“I can’t help that, Bresky —the point is that this man Chester wasn’t killed, and he’s very much alive and is coming out of hospital to-day, and he and the police will be looking for the man who

did it. Don’t you think it better to leave the country for a bit? You will be much safer abroad.” Bresky was getting indignant. “I don’t want to leave the country. They’ve got nothing on me. Why, look how I camouflaged myself! I fooled the lot of them, except that girl who kept hanging round the pit, who seems to have a crush on Chester. Anyway she kept watching me out oif the corner of her eye and made me feel uneasy.. That was why I left earlier than I intended.

“I had arranged the getaway when the smash came and everybody was excited. I’m glad I cleared out when I did though, though how that ginger-headed noodle managed to break out I don’t know. I thought it would have taken Houdini all his time to slip those knots.”

“Look here, Bresky,” broke in Ralph, “I admire all you did It was damned clever. Nobody appreciates it more than I do,” he coaxed. “There is not a man in the country who could have done it. If Chester had snuffed it I should have been a rich man to-day and you would have had enough to retire on. But, ft didn’t come off and,.l haven’t got the proceeds to pay you.” Bresky looked at him in amazement.

Life at Greyfont was very pleasant, except for occasional inquiries from the police, who believed they were hot on the scent of the bogus mechanic. Ralph was right in his belief . that finger prints would be found, and as there were corresponding prints of Mr. Bresky at Scotland Yard, the departure of that individual for the Continent was well timed.

The Yard were just a little too late in getting on his track, but having found out that tills extremely clever performer was at Brooklands on the; day in

“Do you mean to tell me, Sir Ralph, that I’ve been and done all this sweat just for the sake of that fiver you gave me in advance?” His tone was menacing, but Ralph merely smiled. He knew his man. He knew that he could frighten him. “Don’t be a fool, Bresky. Of course you will have more than that fiver. What I’m asking you to do, is take what I can afford to give you for the present, and that is fifty pounds, and clear out of the country.” '“Fifty quid. Fifty quid,” Bresky gasped. “Go out of the country with that! How long do you think that will last? Do you expect me to go and live in the bush somewhere and feed like — like a nigger? I tell you I’m not going. I tell you they can’t get me.” Ralph got up and paced the room. “Bresky, my lad, there are such things as finger prints,” he said impressively. “If they don’t get you on anything else, they’ll get you on your finger prints. They will find them in the pit.” Bresky wilted. “You were very clever,” said Ralph watching the effect of his words, “but you forgot one thing. You did not wear gloves." “How the blazes could I wear gloves all the time on that job?” groaned Bresky. “What sort of a, mechanic would I have looked like?” He sank back in his chair, beaten and scared. Ralph knew that he had won, and he went to a desk and took from a drawer some money and some papers. He counted out fifty pounds. There were no bank notes, all the money was in one pound notes. “Why didn’t you warn me about finger prints?” cried Bresky in despair. “I did not think it necessary to tell a great expert like Bresky how to do his job,” said Ralph, coolly. “Here’s the money, and here’s your passport, and thank me for wangling the passport safely for you, it took some doing.” Bresky limply accepted what Ralph offered.

“It’s a bad business this,” he said weakly, as he got up to go. “It will soon blow over,” Ralph remarked encouragingly, “and when it’h safe to come back I’ll let you know, and maybe there will be a whacking big cheque if the new scheme I’ve got works all right. I don’t see how it can fail this time.” Bresky said not another word, and slunk out of the house. : CHAPTER XVI. A MIDNIGHT SURPRISE ATTACK. Sir Ralph watched his disappearance with a sigh of relief, and proceeded to devote his attention to this new plan, which, if less diabolical than his last, had at any rate a similar basis of ingenuity. It meant further contact with other personalities in the so-called underworld of London, and for the time being we will leave him to it. Vallance Chester, quickly recovering from his accident, and discovering the amazing plot that had very nearly ended in his last appearance at Brooklands, went back to Greyfont to recuperate, and to meditate over the strange tricks fate was playing him. He was prepared for another threat to his existence very soon, but as the weeks went by and nothing happened; ho came to the conclusion that the conspirators had decided to leave him alone.

question, the detectives began to look for the people who must have been cooperating with him. Here they came up against a difficult proposition, for most of Bresky’s old associates were either serving long' sentences, or had not seen him for some time. Apparently of late Mr. Bresky had been very . careful whom he associated with, mindful of the fact that when trouble begins and the police get busy, one’s friends are apt to be indiscreet, if not disloyal. And so gradually the rumours of an impending arrest began to die away, and Vallance ceased to take much interest in the case, and busied himself with a racing car of a new type that he thought might bring off a surprise at the next international contest. He returned late one evening after a spin at Brooklands and a visit to town. The chauffeur was having a night off and was away, and there were .only two female domestics in the house when he went to bed rather early and fell sound asleep.

He was awakened in the middle .of the night by Thor, who slept in the hall downstairs. The Dalmatian barked once and growled. Now Thor was in the habit of barking even when a stranger was within a mile of the house, and it was a habit which Vallance was inclined to discourage, as tramps frequently came by and he disliked having his sleep disturbed.

A word from his master was usually sufficient to keep Thor quiet in almost any circumstances, no matter how great the provocation, and Vallance shouted to him to be quiet. He was dozing off again when, to his surprise, he heard the dog 'growl.' It was unlike Thor to growl after being

told about.it, and Vallance decided to

go downstairs and see if there was any trouble about. On two occasions tramps

had got into the house, and one of them was badly bitten by the Dalmatian. The dog’s reputation had been extensively circulated since then, and these visits were discontinued. Vallance had a look out of the window first, and saw nothing. He was rather surprised that Thor had not ceased to growl after having deliberately disobeyed his master and broken the silence. There were two ways downstairs, one

by the main staircase, the other by a staircase leading from the landing outside the servants’ bedrooms, and he decided to go that way, for he might be better able to spring a surprise on any intruder that might be below.

When he reached the hall there was\

nobody there, but what disturbed him was that there was no sigh of Thor, who would have immediately run to him. He had not turned on any of the lights, nor had he used the flash lamp in his hand.

He decided not to call to the dog, nor to give the slightest indication that he was moving about the house. ’ Something had happened to v Thor, about that there could be no doubt,'for he would never have left the house without his master’s consent. Vallance feared that the Dalmatian had been attacked, and the s thought that the dog might have suffered serious injury made him feel a little mad.

Having stood nearly a minute in the hall hearing no sound, he slipped silently into a small lavatory on the ground floor constructed under the stairs and waited. From this point of vantage, he could command a view of the hall and the doors of the dining room and his study, which were the nearest to the front entrance, for a tiny electric light was always kept burning in the front hall and dimly lit the scene. The dining room door was slightly open and he remembered shutting it when he went to bed. He could hear nothing but the ticking of the hall clock. A minute passed and, then the door of the dining room opened very slowly a few inches and the masked face of a man peered round it, and the eyes looked up the stairs and about the hall. The man remained in this position for more than a minute, and then apparently satisfied, said softly: “It’s all right.” “Are you certain?” came a muffled voice, behind the door. “I tell you it’s all right.”

The situation at that moment struck Vallance as comic. The two burglars—they apparently were burglars—-looked just like a pair of stage criminala, as the door was very slowly pushed open, and the two men, the second also masked, tip-toed into .the hall. They were both of medium height and wore cloth-, .-.capa,.with the peaks pulled over the eyes. Physically neither of them looked formidable. • One of them

carried a life preserver, the other had a jemmy. The second man whispered. “What about the dog?” Vallance held his breath as he waited for the answer. “He’ll be quiet for a-few minutes. If not I’ll finish him,” a remark which made Vallance set his teeth. “You’re sure you cut the telephone wire ?” “Yes, it.was the telephone all right.” There was a silence as the two men stood in the middle of the hall near the foot of the main staircase, apparently undecided what to do next. “It’s got to look like a burgulary,” said the first man. “Do you think you’ve made enough mess in that room ?” “Yes, I took all the best stuff out of the sideboard and loaded up the sack, but it ain’t worth much bv the look of it.” * "... Vallance could not help smiling at the unconscious humour of the two. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t help ourselves now we are here.” “Oh, shut up,” said the man with the life preserver, “ you stop down here while I go up the stairs. He sleeps in that room. It ought to be easy.” He made a suggestive movement with the life preserver. “If he ain’t in that room I shall try the others. If you hear anything; whistle.” (To bo Continued).