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Taranaki Daily News, 27 January 1933, Page 11

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£ly

I. M. GILBERT

CHAPTER lll.—(Continued).

I promised to carry out his suggestion, and as he got up to leave he wished me bon voyage. “Remember, not a word to a soul, otherwise you may upset everything,” he emphasised as he left the robm. My caller had hardly got out of the door when I picked-up the Continental time-table to look for suitable trains. His warning hadn’t frightened me exactly, but the hint' ■ had been a pointed one, and besides, there was nothing to keep me longer in London. . A few moments later, even before I had found the correct place in the book, my man entered and coughed discreetly. > . .. -

“Beg yogr -pardon, sir.” “I am sorry if yoti have been inconvenienced; I didn’t know*he was a reporter.” “Reporter!” I laughed. “That gentleman has -nd connection with the newspapers.-- Whatever made you think that?’-’ • •

“Hasn’t he,-sir?” he asked in surprise. “The night porter,.who has just come on; duty, saw the. gentleman on his way in, and says he is the same person who called . to ' inquire about you last night, immediately after you arrived home. Begging your pardon, sir, but the gentleman said there had been some slight trouble, and explained that he was a reporter.” For a moment.l stood flabbergasted, then in a it was all clear to me. Grabbing my hat, I pushed past the astonished servant and dashed down the 6 airs in frantic haste for fear I should, be too late. It was touch and go, for as I ran out of the front door on to the pavement the “ superintendent ” was stepping into a big blue saloon waiting a short distance away. The light had almost gone, but I could have sworn that it was the same car which had stopped near the flat entrances in the small hours of the morning. That settled it. I signalled a passing taxi and shouted to the driver:. —■.

“ Do you see that motor moving off? Well, follow it, but don’t get too elose in case we are noticed.” '

“This is a police affair,’ 1 I added. ** There will be an. extra quid for you "if we are successful.”

Afte all, why shouldn’t I borrow a leaf from my opponent’s book? Two could play. ■Hie. sleuth game, and It certainly did the trick,:..,for. without further protest we started in pursuit. Our quarry went up Duke Street into , Piccadilly,- ' then turned westwards. Luckily my attention was too engrossed, on the chase to have much -time for regrets, otherwise -I might have kicked myself. “ Superintentendent,” Indeed! What a fool he had inada of .ma! Obviously my enemies; had tracked me home on the previous night, 'only they had been unable to find out exactly, what the position was.What could have been simpler than to send .some one ; with a plausible excuse to ask for the information? It was a skillfully prepared trap into which I.had'fallen with my .eyes wide open, thinking all the while what a clever fellow I was. My self-respect was back- to zero, but my course was. now quite clear. Thank heavens things were no worse. By a fluke I still had a chance- to save the .situation, and it was up to me to take lt.i Although thete was no knowing what the outcome would toe, my duty wasi plain. I was on the trail, and musti stick to it, Wherever it led. j The big car threaded its way through. the traffic, turned up Park Lane, passed Marble Arch, and went on into Edgware Road. Evidently,, our destination was -somewhere . in. North London, or beyond. For awhile iny main concern was lest we should be separated by being hung up in a traffic block. However, wej managed to avoid that. Then I was in a fidget that the. speed would prove' too much for'my vehicle, for as wo.’ drew away from the crowded area, 'our' pace increased. i We ran through Kilburn and Gricklewood, and still the chase showed no signs of slackening. Now a fresh difficulty began .to. worry me.’ Had we enough petrol? For all I knew, the scent might last for miles. Somewhere beyond Brent Reservior we swung to the right, along a quiet suburban avenue, where the houses gradually tailed off until we were al-j most out into the open country. Here, concealment became-the chief problem, and we were obliged to drop! further behind. Fortunately the, saloon’s head-lamps had been switched 1 on, and their : glare helped to guide us.

Finally, when I was wondering if cur journey would ever coms to an end, the car in front turned slowly down a side road. I thrust my head out of the window to tell my driver to go straight on* and we were just in time to see the red tail light dis-' appearing through a gateway not a 1 hundred yards from where the roads’ Joined. It began to look as if wa had arrived at our goal, and that the next, part of my Quest would have to be’ foot. A short distance ahead our road curved slightly through a small wood,' and - when we were round this bend I stopped the taxi gave orders for it toi wait for me, and ran back. ■ As I. reached the gate on the side road the. saloon reappeared. In an instant 1 dropped into- the ditch crouching down, watched the big car go off again in the direction from which-we had come. It was empty, except for an unknown man at the wheel; evidently, the pseudo police officer had got out.> When the coast was clear I slipped stealthily through the gate to find myself in the garden of a medium-sized; villa standing in its own grounds,' with a belt of trees hebind it. The black mass of the house- loomed out; In front, but it was very dark and; hard to see distinctly. The only sign, -of -life was a faint glow coming .from; a window to one side of what looked like the main entrance. , If I were to learn anything more myj Investigations must be pushed further so, stepping softly. I advanced over lawn, avoiding a gravel drive. As 1 approached closer, the apparent win-! dow resolved itself into a glass door,, opening on to a low veranda. The blind was drawn, but there was a chink of light at one side. Bending’ down Ito be inconsplcious, I crept, .cautiously uj)_to it and looked In. _ ;

Although my view was rather restricted, I was’ able to make out cer-> tain details of a well-furnished dining-; room. . A bright fire burned on thei hearth, there was a door to the left,* and in the far corner, a screen oon-J cealed what was presumably a ser-: vice entrance near which, stood a small’ bookcase with a telephone on top of it. My attention howev.er, was Plainly concentrated on the people sitting around a central table. There were three men, all laughing and talking. In front of them was a litter of papers and an open dispatch >case. One individual had his back towards me, but the other two were not dlf;flcult to recognise. Facing the fire sat the sham detective. Next him was Judge, who was holding up a long envelope, and I was fairly certain It was the same one which had been in his hand the night foefbre. ■ I glued my ear to the glass in the hope of being able to hear what they were discussing, but the pane was too thick, so I squatted down under cover to one side and considered the situation. To acknowledge defeat was unthinkable; My pride had received a nasty jar, and, unless I could devise some way to bring the villains to book, they were going to win all along the line. I wondered If it would be possible me to break Into the house; and by getting close to one of the doors of the room, eavesdrop successfully; but the risk seemed enormous, for I dare not be caught, and servants were almost sure to' be about. Merely with the Idea of reconnoitring, I stole from th® veranda and 'prowled towards premises, jl found the kitchen entrance shut, and ’everything there in darkness. It (really began to look as if the three ‘men were in sole occupation. In ■order to make quite certain I crept on, .skirting the building. It was jumpy /work, and I got a fright each time a .twig snapped under foot. ; Suddenly a black object barred my ■path. I halted in my tracks, hardly to breathe. The thing, ■whatever it was, made no movement, ijbut it looked exactly like a man standing ready to spring at me. For perjhaps half a minute, I went forward fdgain, ready in an instant to fight or irun. The silent figure turned out to be- only a bush, but it had given me ia bad scare, quite sufficient to make Gie too intent on completing the circuit rapidly.- I hurried -on, and was •congratulating myself that another ffew yards would take me to the last corner, when my foot tripped and I Kvent sprawling over a couple of tspades which were lying on the 'ground, • The clatter they made was •tremendous, and some distance off a idog began to bark. I lay still as death, •wondering if my enemies had taken (alarm, but there was no sound from jinside the house. ; When the barking ceased I comimenoed to crowl, keeping to my hands ■and knees to avoid ■ any similar accidents; and it was as well I did so, 'for beyond the spades there was a coil :of rope which might easily have [brought me down again. In this way |I reached my starting point without 'further misadventure but also without my having discovered anything ■really helpful. It was maddening to be so near and •yet so far from success, and I began 'seriously to consider, breaking in. The • house looked secure enough, but some one had once told me that burglars upsually ' tried the unimportant dowa near the kitchen, because people so often forgot about (them when looking up for the night. Onca more making my way as noiselessly as possible to the rear, I tried the window nearest the back door. It woudn’t budge but a small one in a sort of outhouse gave a little under pressure, and with a push it opened with hardly a squeak.

Now was th© 'Crucial moment. Should I enter or not ? So far the gang h,ad beaten me; surely it was my turn to win a round. A bold offensive is often safest. Taking a firm grip of the sill I hoisted myself up, squeezed quitely on to the floor inside. CHAPTER IV. - The room which I had broken into was black as pitch, and, not being a professional cracksman with an electric torch handy, I was forced to strike a match. A draught of air from the window blew out the . light before I had time to see much, except that the place appeared to be a laundry. Between me and a door at the far side was a long table with a heap like a bundle of clothing on it; but I only got the merest glimpse, and then had to grope ahead in the darkness. A few steps brought me to the table, and I began feeling my way round it. Suddenly my Angers touched something cold and hard. It was a boot, an ordinary hobnail boot, but it wasn’t an empty boot, for it lay on its heel at an angle. Hurriedly withdrawing. my hand. I hesitated for a moment. Perhaps a man was sleeping on the table, and yet—-I could hear no sound of breathing! Trying to make as little noise as possible, I lit another match, and nearly dropped it when I saw what was in front of me. I had found the corpse again! It rested curled up, as if it had been bent double. The murderers hadn’l even taken the trouble to close the wide, staring eyes.

For a second or two I remained rooted to the spot, gazing at the distorted image of that which had once been a man. Then a'wave of nausea swept over me. The hideous sight was enough to unnerve anyone. It took a bit of an effort not to give up the-whole business and bolt, only there could be no leaving off now if the callous brutes who had committed this atrocity were not to escape. What I might have done was to go straight back to inform the police, but the memory of last night’s failure was still too fresh. It would have been a terrible fiasco to bring them once more ■on a “wild goose chase,” for the body might so easily disappear again during the interval. Pulling myself together, I struck a .third match, and advanced through the door into a deserted kitchen. Here

there was a couple of exits to choose from, and I tried the one nearest me. It gave on to a passage from which a back stair led to the floor above. At the end of this passage there was another door. Not knowing what might lie beyond, I blew out the match, and very cautiously turned the handle. Inside was a small pantry, dimly Illuminated by a narrow band of llghi shining round the edges of a baize swing partition. This was undoubtedly the service entrance into the. dining room, for I could hear the murmur of voices.

{To De Continued.!