X 14

Taranaki Daily News, 31 January 1933, Page 11

X 14

Sy

I. M. GILBERT

CHAPTER IV.— (Continued).

Wace answered, talking hurriedly—! “We must clear out of this at once,” he said. “That carrion in there had better be put in the car with Comrade Ellis and myself before you leave. I will give the General Alarm 'Signal by 'phone to every one who is not here. You all know what to do under the circumstances. Lie low until further orders.”

There was a general scurry, then to my unspeakable dread I heard feet on the stairs. Some one was coming up I

I turned the door handle and slipped into the room beyond, hoping to get out by the window, but there was only a skylight. I was caught like a rat in a trap. In one corner of the anartment I could just distinguish a bed, and although a rotten place of concealment it was better than nothing. Kicking aside a leather bag which was in the way I crawled underneath, and wriggled as near to the wall as possible.

My predicament was an extremely nasty one, for I had no doubt of my fate should they discover me. I would fight, of course; but what chance had a single man against a crowd? Death would be certain, and the grave, which they intended to dig, would be made large enough for two. Whoever was climbing the stairs seemed to be in a desperate hurry. I had scarcely got into position before he reached the top, then, to my alarm, he came into the very attic in which I lay. hid. As the man entered he switched on the light. Next he pulled some clothes out of a wardrobe and began to fold them on the bed. As he did it his boots were less than three feet from my face. All at once he bent down and groped about, very: nearly touching me, and I thought the end had come. <My heart was beating so loudly that I felt sure he must hear it. Suddenly he saw the handbag where I had kicked it, and heaved it up on to a chair. The packing didn’t take long, but it seemed an age to me. There was dust on the door which got into my nostrils, producing the most frightful desire to sneeze, so I gripped the sides of my nose between finger and thumb and held my breath, until the top of my head felt as if it would come off.

At last, just when I thought that I could bear it no longer, the man picked up his luggage, extinguished the light, and went out, not troubling to close the door behind him. It had been a near thing, for the sneeze defeated me before he got to the bottom of the stairs. It was a quiet one as sneezes go, but it would have been disastrous five seconds ’earlier.

I lay still listening. Evidently most of the others had gone now, for Wane could be heard asking If every one was away. The front door slammed, I heard the noise of the car go■'.ing off, and then there was silence. CHAPTER V. ; I remember, when playing hide-and-seek as a child, the thrill when the seeker passed my hidey-hole. I got the same thrill now, only magnified a hundredfold.

For perhaps five minutes I remained where I was; then, as nothing happened, I emerged from the bedroom and felt my way down the stairs step by step. The whole place was in darkness, but to have turned on the lights would have been to court disaster, for there was always the possibility of a watcher having been left on guord. Although the corpse had certainly been taken away, I had not an unnatural antipathy to revisiting the laundry, and therefore cautiously entered'the dining-room. The flicker of the Are, which was nearly out, was enough to show me that everything had been removed from the table. The glass door on to the verandah was closed and bolted, but it was easy to open it again. Once outside, I didn’t hesitate, and ran across the lawn towards the gate, half expecting to bump into an ambush. No one attempted to Interfere with me, however, and within a few minutes I had got safely back to my taxi, where the driver was sitting peacefully. Evidently he had heard nothing unusual; probably the belt of trees had deadened any. noise. At all events he made no remark, and only grunted in answer to my order to drive me to Piccadilly Circus.

Throughout the journey I concentrated my mind on the new situation. The more I thought it over the less satisfactory it seemed to be. I had escaped death, literally by inches, which, was something to be thankful for, but it couldn’t be denied that I had lost another great opportunity. Not that I felt myself really to blame for failing to get the dispatch case, because the interruption had ‘been sheer bad luck. True, I might have picked up the box before jumping across to the telephone—but it is so easy to criticise afterwards. At the moment my only object had been to stop the bell ringing, and I had no time for anything else. I tried to cheer myself with the thought that things might have turned out worse. In spite of my bloomer I had gained a great deal of useful information. The plot was no longer a mystery; the names of several members of the gang, even their appearances, were known to me, but unfortunately I still lacked definite proof. Most of the facts could only be based on my own statements, and even If the police were willing to be convinced, they might, not be able to do much. My opponents were on their guard, and would take precautions to leave no incriminating evidence about. An official investigation might cause their plans to be postponed, but not necessarily abandoned, as preparations had been made for just such a contingency, because Wace had spoken of “the General Alarm,” whatever that might mean. One th*ng, however was Tn my favour. My enemies thought that the letter had been stolen. The very fact that some one might have overheard, their discussions would perhaps. alone be sufficient to deter them carrying out the first of the murders, at least until the arrival of their leader; but if the pretended theft

of Sillar’s document could be kept up, then, and only then, the delay would become a certainty. I had one great difficulty. The natural course for any one who had got the letter was to deliver it at once to Scotland Yard, and if the police took no action suspicion was bound to be aroused. I began to think that a second interview with the inspector must be the solution; but I was very loath to acknowledge this, to I had a feeling that the affair was my ora pigeon. Silly pride, perhaps, although not to be wondered at in the circumstances. It was about ten o’clock when I paid off the taxi, not forgetting the extra pound, and turned into a restaurant to have a bite of supper. During the meal I jotted down the more important points on the back of a menu card. As far as my recollection goes they were something like this: 1. I am sunposed to have the letter, which Is really in the dispatch case. The mistake may be discovered at any moment, but, even if the case is opened, the letter may escape notice, provided the address, side is not uppermost, for the envelope is exactly like others already in the box. 2. The. first murder is arranged for to-morrow. It may not be committed, if it is thought .that I know too much. It will not be committed if it is believed that the letter is in my posession.

3. X 14 arrives in London on Sunday. To-day Is Wednesday. That gives me four days at most. 4. Wace has charge of the dispatch case, and he is going to Edinburgh on Friday night. Even if the trail cannot be picked In London, this will give me a chance, but it is running things rather fine; also Wace ■ may change his plans. I read over the four notes, and then added a fifth:

5. I must pretend to have the letter, while trying to get it. If this tails, I will go to the police. I had no delusions as to what this resolve entailed. My life was probably already in danger, for although no one had seen me at the house my adversaries would have been very dense if they hadn’t made a pretty shrewd guess at the Identity of their unwelcome visitor. Once they knew for certain, they would go to any lengths to kill me. Please don’t imagine that there was anything particularly brave or heroic about my decision. It simply seemed to me to be the only way, if I wero to maintain my self-respect. Ellis's remarks still rankled. While it had been easy enough to arrive at my conclusion, it was very difficult to invent a plausible reason why, if the letter had been taken, the contents had not been communicated to the authorities at once. I sat long over a cup of coffee trying to see a way. The brain wave, which finally came to me, may not have been brilliant, but. it had distinct possibilities. Only one explanation would have any hope of being believed. No matter how repugnant, it was up to me to play the part of a scoundrel, especially as the crook’s point of view might be the more readily understood by the villains themselves. Obtaining a scrap of paper from the waiter, I wrote a brief letter. I made it short and to the point. It read as follows:

“A certain document, which was obtained by me this evening, can be bought for £5OO. If you want it, reply urgently in the agony column of Friday’s Times, stating place, date, and hour of payment. Meanwhile it is safe, but will be sent elsewhere on Saturday should you not wish to purchase.” No envelope or address was necessary, as I intended to deliver it in person.

I tore the menu card into tiny pieces, paid my bill, and set out, walking rapidly in the direction of Soho. It was early enough for people to be about, so there was comparatively little risk.

As it happened, I was nearly too late. The Italian and his two womenfolk were in the very act of leaving the ice-cream shop when I turned the corner. . They 4 were all carrying bundles—even the supposed bed-rid-den old hag had a large parcel under her arm. Evidently a sudden change of residence was in progress. Lazaroni’s jaw dropped when he saw me, and he nearly let his luggage fall. Lifting my hat in the best Continental manner, I handed him the folded slip of paper. “Pardon me, signore,” I said, bowing gravely, “this little billet-doux may interest you. It is to be trusted that you are remaining respectable.” The man took the note gingerly, as if he expected it to bite him, and I hurried away at once, but the look of amazement on his face quite cheered me up. Had he met Mussolini himself he couldn’t have appeared more astounded. I almost felt one up on his wife also, for even she hadn’t managed to get in a single word. Well, my boats were burned! I had issued the challenge. »If Sillar’s envelope were not already discovered the rogues would be furious, for they would realise that they must settle my score before going on with their plans, and it was up io me to keep out of their clutches until such time as I could strike back. It certainly would be essential for me to do the vanishing trick very soon; but'before that I must visit my rooms to collect some necessities' and make various personal arrangements. Although no one suspicious looking was near the entrance to the block of flats, the night porter informed me that he had" twice turned away unknown inquirers who were very interested in my whereabouts. This wasn’t surprising, and merely showed that- my .enemies were not wasting time.. Already they had marked me down.

I .felt very weary when I got home, and decided that it would be safe to spend the night there, although, as events turned out, my decision was a foolish one, and might easily have proved fatal. My travels ought to have commenced straight away. Looking back, it seems madness to ever have dreamt of stopping on, and I can only put tb&Japs&. down to be-

ing so tired that my sense of danger 'was temporarily blunted. About half an hour after getting in. there came a telephone message from the porter to say that a gentleman called to see me who gave his name as Mr Smith. “The gent is standing close beside me, sir,” he added in a whisper. "He says his business is of a very confidential nature, which must be communicated to you alone.” “That is very probable,” I said. “What does he look like?” This time the reply was hardly audible—the porter must have had his lips close against the mouthpiece. (To ne s'uitlnuea.j