THE SIX-HOUR MYSTERY

Taranaki Daily News, 12 September 1930, Page 11

THE SIX-HOUR MYSTERY

By

ANTONY MARSDEN

I ‘‘l've an idda lie'll make tracks to rejoin Ijis friend —and I want to know where they hang out. But he knows me, although he'd hardly he expecting ino here. When the train comes. I’ll slip into this phone-box by the barrier. Stand near the collector., facing me; if our man tin ns rip, I'll sign yon as he passes tlwough. Then you can (rail .him; I'll come along behind.'’ . .. . .. They were not. disappointed. Among the few alighting from the nine-twenty train was Eddie Roper, in hie new bowler hut. Thornton delayed until his ally had taken up the pursuit, then followed at a little, distance. Roper had passed the burrierr'qtiickly, with a somewhat worried look'on his face; but he showed no suspicion that he might be observed—neither glancing about him on the platform, not. even trembling to avoid the more brightly-lit portions of the thoroughfare when lie got outside. Clearly, he had aTreitdy satisfied himself that he had shaken off his shadowers. He struck off through the town —the plain-clothes constable not far behind him, while Thornton, out of sight of Roper, brought up the rear of the procession. But from his memory of the map, Thornton soon realised that, wherever Roper was making for so purposefully, it was not the bungalbw;.He struck the riverside road at a point farthur on, and still went forward. ; ' The road, became a lamps few and far between; and- though the mist was thinner during the last hour, there was in places still enough of it to make blitid patches between one lamp and the next. The little procession tailed out, as its three, members began to have the Toad to themselves; and the second man was almost as far ahead of him as Thornton dared allow, When Jus pace quickened slightly, his gait at the same time degenerating into the erratic and shambling progress of drunkenness.

Thornton watched keenly, followingin the shadow of the tree-lined fence on the other side of the road; and as his colleague passed the next lamp-post the Bow Street man observed that hie hand came out behind him, waving unobstrusively the motorist’s signal “Stop!” Thornton obliterated himself in ’ the recess of a convenient gateway to watch developments. That signal could only mean one thing; that the first shadower had found himself obliged either to overhaul their quarry or else to. risk dis-: covery by standing still in the road. Roper was not in Thornton’s view;--either because he .was too far ahead or because ho had now turned in at the gate of one of the riverside houses. . Tin second theory, the more likely one, was almost at once confirmed; as the sham-drunkard reeled along the pathway his hand came out again, pointing this time towards the fence of the gaiden he was just approaching. Thornton was near enough to discern a dark patch that marked the gateway of it. His colleague passed it, his voice quavering into song; and once more, a few paces beyond the gate, Thornton saw the hand extended. Then the mist swallowed up its owner, and Thornton was left to himself.

It was dead quiet down there along the river at that time of night. The snatch of drunken song tailed oil’ into silence; and a few seconds later Thornton, listening with all his ears, fancied he heard, the faint tinkle of a bell from the house in the riverside garden.. A pause—then the sound again; this time the inspector was sure of it. If it were llcper who had turned in there, he must be impatient for admittance. Thornton did not stir; and in a very little while his caution was justified. A bowler-hatted figure emerged from the gate, paused for a moment in uncertainty, and then walked briskly back along the road by which they had come. Thornton, beneath the over-arching trees on the other side of tho road, had a clear view of him as ho went hurrying past; it was Roper, undoubtedly. The inspector glanced up the lane, but his colleague was not in evidence. No doubt he Would be waiting s'oniewhere up there in the dark, to watch for their quarry’s reappearance and to pick him up again if he continued his walk. But Roper had doubled back. The next move must be Thornton’s; and the drunk trick, once played, could not now be repeated. Thornton allowed the shadowed man to pass out of sight, and almost out of hearing, before venturing in pursuit. But the dead stillness of the night served him well. Roper was hurrying ahead with quick, nervous strides, suspecting nothing evidently, and concerned only* with the urgency of whatever might be his errand. Moreover, he was now heading straight for “Capri”; and Thornton, with a grass edge to walk on and with tho map in his mind, could afford to continue the pursuit by ear. Sure enough, the sound of footsteps ceased about opposite the spot where “Capri” must lie. Thornton crept on for another dozen yards. This time the borqugh engineer of Twickenham had served his interests belter than at the other house; there was no lamp-post nearer than eighty yards—and that one almost opposite the fence of tho bungalow. lie could just make out the shadowy, figure of-Roper between the light and himself—hanging about now, waiting. . .;■ Sure of his own in visibility,, he crossed from the grass-edge to-a neighbouring gate and slipped through into the shrubs that fronted the. garden. Hardly had lie done so when 1m became aware of footsteps approaching soft Iv, close at hand. Someone was following his own tracks towards “'Capri.” lie leaned outward across the fence; a moment later his hand had silently detained the Twickenham constable who was doubling back on the trail. From the cover of tho shrubs the two peeied down the pathway. Ivopci still Ingered near the fence, between them and tho distant light, dimly discernible. “Capri?” the inspector whispered. _ “Yes, sir. That’s about where.. it is. Wliut’s next?” ‘•Wait here,” Thornton advised Ins companions. “lie's maybe making up his mind to go in. If he docs, we close up. If he goes somewhere else, we lollo.y_you first, as before. Unless lies sighted you?” ' - “No sir, be never turned round. He went straight down the drive of that oilier house—it stands a good way back from the road. Even if he was watching UH when I went past drunk, I was hunched up and turned my head away, so he can’t have seen much of me. “Where does that lane lead? The inspector nodded in the direction of the house which Roper had first visitQ(l, “Nowhere particular, sir. It ends near the lock;” and then, suddenly, “Your man’s coming back, sir—” T’io inspector drew him down beliina the fence, and whispered low in his ear: “He’s going to have another snot, then. Follow—well behind.-Jf he gets in this time, or if anyone meets him theie, keep watch outside thp house, and send

word fo the police station as soon as you can.” Ho ceased. From the direction of the bungalow they could hear steps approaching. In a few moments Roper passed the spot, where they crouched in the shrubs, not two yards .away. He walked more slowly now, as I,hough the first ardour of his quest had cooled, and he were uncertain what to do. As bis footsteps receded the lips of the Twickenham man sought Thorntons cai. “You’ll be at the station, sir?” ‘•I’ll be there by and by. .lust now I'm overdue to pay a call at, the bungalow. Off now! He's goiie far enough.” The two rose silently, and slipped through the gate. Then, as the junior man once more took up Ropers trail, Thornton turned down the toad the other way and walked off towards ‘•Capri-’’. Roper, presumably, was satisfied that his friends were not at the bungalow, since he, had not entered; and Thornton was highly curious to know whom and what ho should find there. « * * *

Jim Nash lay face downwards on the floor where they had Hung him. The big negro was kneeling on the small 01. his back, and ho could feel the revolvermuzzle behind his right ear. Woolcroft had produced a length of coid, with which he first tied Nash’s ankles together, then lushed his elbows tightly behind his back. This done, the white man drugged him into a sitting posture against the wall, while Jakes revolver covered him. “Sit right there and keep your mouth shut,” Wooleroft advised him grimly. “]f you want fo commit suicide, you know how!” 'Then a.t once he turned eagerly to the negro. “The girl's got away. Did you —” Jakes grinned. “I sure did. She walked right into my arms —” A groan burst from Nash, but neither of the two men paid him the least attention. “You’ve caught her?” Wooleroft cried. “Yeh. You were dead right, boss, when you figured we’d best bring the dope along. It’s come in mighty useful.” “She’s—” “Sound asleep —in the launch. Don’t

fret.” . Wooleroft swung round at Nash with a leer of triumph.

“So you weren’t quite so clever as you thought, Mr. Karin.” And to Jakes in a lower tone. “We can’t leave her there, though. If she comes to —” “Aw, let her!” the negro sneered. “She’s strapped up and gagged. She’ll do no harm for a bit.” He jerked his gun towards Nash. “This guy’s the problem, boss ”

But Wooleroft laughed savagely. “If there’s a problem knocking round, it's the one that he’s up against!” He broke off, stooped towards the helpless man, and hit him a stinging blow across the face witji the flat of his hand.

“You mutt!” he exulted, with a sort of passionate bitterness. “You silly sap! You made a break, I guess, when you put up all that smart-Alcc stuff about not knowing anything! And then you stood yourself a first-class laugh, eh ? You sat here, codding me—when you’d have done a darn sight better to find out where the stull’ was buried, and get after it! Well, you’ve had your joke, all right —and now your chance has gone, and the laugh’s on you!” But the negro broke in impatiently. “Cut it, boss. The guy’s found out where he gets off at all right without you wise-cracking him. We gotta fix what to do. Listen here.” Form few moments the two men conferred apart in low tones, Nash watched them, helploss. Just at first the shock of realising that Irma’s escape was cut off had almost robbed him of power to think at all; but now he set his wits to work again, desperately. For himself, hopeless though his immediate future might seem, he had not too much anxiety. For if Karin feared the intervention of the police, these fellows feared it no less. The need for secrecy must hamper'them; they might put up their bluff of threatening him with the gun; but when it came to the pinch, Nash guessed that they would bo as loath to risk the noise of a shot as he himself would have been.- Further, since he knew nothing of the secret they sought, they could get nothing out of him; sooner or later—-sooner probably—‘they would have to admit stalemate. The thought of- a frank confession crossed his mind. His job was as good aS done; as he sat covering his visitor a few minutes ago he had heard the last quarter before ten chime out; if he now owned his real identity he would have gained tho hour which the Russian had asked for arid discharged his part of tho bargain. : But would they believe him? He had renounced, that earlier bluff, when he pretended knowledge of his visitor s errand and consented to come to terms. It was too late to double back on that old trail now. And he had Irma to think of. Even if ho confessed —even if he convinced his captors that he was speaking the truth —they had tho girl as well as Nash himself in their power; and they might wreak their disappointed spite on her, too. The pain in his cheek still burned, where Woolcroft's savage blow had gone home; at all costs he must risk no such treatment —for her. Then tho solution camo to him. Karin’s idea—the alternative blufi’! He might still manage to secure the girl s retreat that way; after which he must take his chance of extricating himself as occasion offered. If he could only convince them.

The two men were still conferring on tho other side of I he room. But as their arguments grew hotter the low tones were raised a little and Nash could hear what they said.

“Not here, boss!” the negro repeated doggedly. “Not. ill this match-box of a place where God-kiiows-who can walk in! You’re sure crazy to think of it!” Tho other wan shook Iris head. “We’ve got to know, right now! If Malic Bressler’s working in league with him, we' may have no time to lose.” “Say, what can that dame do alone? She doesn't know the place, no mure tiiaii Karin. Now we’ve got hold of Karin awl the girl, the stuff's our when we like.” “When he likes, you mean,” growled the other, with a savage glance at Nash. “It's the same thing, ain’t it? He’s going to like all right, soon as wc start in on him.” The negro’s eyes wore fixed upon Nash, too, with a look of gloating ferocity. “All the more reason to start now.” “You've said it, boss! But not here,” insisted the negro impatiently. “Why, boss, anybody'd think you'd got no place of your own. Down in those cellars, though—by gad, we’ll have the, good news out of him down there, if we spend all night at it!” “And tho girl?” Woolcroft hesitated. “Let tho girl come, too. She’s sure ready to start. And what’s the launch

for, anyhow ?” The big man nodded suddenly. “Guess you’re right, Jakes. This place is too dam’ public. Find some rope, sharp! We’ll have to have him tied up better ;haii that.”