"THE TURN OF THE TIDE.”

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17217, 7 December 1923, Page 10

"THE TURN OF THE TIDE.”

OUR SERIAL.

By

FRED M. WHITE.

CHAPTER XIX. From a wooden box on the floor Lock produced a metal cylinder a little more than two feet long, which had evidently at some time contained gas. The cock had been filed off. and round one shoulder was a sort of steel collar bolted on to the body of the cylinder with metal wedges. The cylinder was empty, and underneath the collar the metal of it had been melted away as if it had either been subjected to a great heat, or consumed by some powerful acid. “ Oh, that’s the thing all right, ’’ Ellis cried. “ Seems to be pretty clear how the dodge was worked. The cylinder was full of gas, and in that Thermos fla.sk necklace arrangement was some acid that ate through its coverings and through the envelope of the cylinder, thus releasing the gas. £ suppose that would be timed to take effeeit almost to a minute. A man with any scientific knowledge could easily calculate it. and it is pretty plain to me that Gilmour possesses that particular information. But what has the professor gob to say aoout it?” “ Well, if it is any satisfaction to you, his view is just the same.” Ijock said “ He was here about an hour ago, and made a thorough inspection of the cylinder. I think there is not the slightest, doubt that we are on the right track. However, we will go along to Wimpole Street together, and you shall hear for yourself what the professor has to say.” “There is nothing 1 should like better,” Ellis said. “ By the way, how is this side of the business going on? You know what I mean—his investigation into the mysterious death of that unfortunate man Avory.” “ All, that 1 cannot tell you. We have not discussed that angle of the matter. I know that he has not been idle, and, as a matter of fact, I have been taking a band at the game too. t have never known tbe professor to be wrong, and when he told me that Avory was dead before he was found in the Hampstead pond, I accepted his word for it without question. Now, that being so. the murderer, or murderers, must have placed the corpse in the water after their work was finished. I decline to believe that Avorv was at Hampstead at all , I believe he was •lone in not very far from the locality wh«*re he lived an.j I m not quite sure that I ain’t put my finger on the right spot. But we will get to that wi’.cn we call on the professor. My idea is that Avory was murdered, and his body conveyed to Hampstead in a cab or something of that sort. Or it might have been on a motor lorry.” ‘ What’s the object of that?” Ellis asked. " Why, to cover up tracks, of course. Get the body removed as far as possible from the scene of the crime. Besides, it surrounds the whole thing with’ an air of mystery, and perhaps suggests that Avory was leading a double life. I have made inquiries amongst his friends, and I can’t connect him with Hampstead at all. The police there have been backing me up, and they can tell me nothing. I shouldn’t mind making a small bet that Avory was never near Hampstead in his life. Some one wanted to get him out; of the way, and perhaps you can guess who that some one was.” “ Well, Gilmour for one,” Ellis cried. “ Precisely. Gilmour knew that he was recognised by Avory on a certain night-, and he was ready to take anj risks to close the mouth of so dangerous a witness. And it is my belief he did it. But he couldn’t have got the body away without assistance. He must hav chad some one in. bis confidence in a- position to place a conveyance at his disposal and convey the corpse to Hampstead. * Mind you, I am assuming that the crime was committed in <Wapping.” i£ Of course it was,” Ellis said. te 1 suppose you haven’t forgotten the card I found amongst .Avory’s possessions and tbe mysterious .address at 17. Greencorn Street. Oh, by the way. have you done anything in the matter of that particular house?” “ We will come to that presently, Lock said’ evasively. “ after we hare hud our conversation with the professor. Meanwhile, you are interrupting rne. T was saying just now something about a conveyance placed at, shall we say Gilmour’s, disposal? So I began to* make inquiries. T was looking for the man who has a taxi or a lorry by which ostensibly be gets a livelihood, and at the sain£ time has a great deal of time on his hands, and a fair amount of money to waste, and I found him.” ‘Go on,” Ellis cried eagerly. “Go

“ Well, he is a man called George. He doesn't seem to have any name but George, at least-, none of bis neighbours seem to be aware that he has a surname. He lives in a yard which used to be a mews in the old days, and he does entirely for himself in one room, over a stable loft. He has a lorry of sorts, and a taxi for which he holds a license. He takes out the cab sometimes. but sometimes for days on end it is never outside the garage. It hasn’t been outside the garage for two days to mf certain knowledge. The fellow doesn’t, drink, at least, not- to excess, and be has no ostentatious vices though be has plenty of money. Now. it struck me as odd that this man should be in a position to work one dav a week and. moreover, that he required no assistance, despite the fact that lie has two petrol conveyances. So I am having an eye kept upon him. and one of my best, men has managed to scrape acquaintance with him. 1 have discovered that on the night when I went down to the Moat House. George's cab left the garage just about the time it would take Gilmour to drive from Wapping to Cray. That is about as far as I have got un to now, except that the evening following the big robbery of furs from the lighter on the river George’s motorlorry was out from just after dark till two o’clock in the morning. Of course, that proves nothing. But when T get a bit further in mv investigations. we might find it very useful. But come along—let’s get to Wimpole Street.” Professor Phillipson was in the laboratory and welcomed his visitors eagerly. Ellis gazed round the big scientific workshop with its test tubes and all kinds of elaborate and delicate machinery, noting all these with a journalistic eye and with a view to the future. There was something very interesting in a place like this, with its maps and drawings, and the hundreds of small bottles on the shelves neatly labelled, and all of them filled with strange objects that- suggested something in the shape of nightmare dreams. The professor «.at at a big table with a. mass of papers before him. and he looked up eagerly as his visitors entered. He drew towards him a sheet of calculations, and laid a long -loader hand on the sheet of paper t (To be continued.)