THE HOUSE OF EVIL

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18043, 31 December 1926, Page 22

THE HOUSE OF EVIL

“STAR’S” NEW SERIAL.

By

WILLIAM LE QUEUX.

CHAPTER XIII.—-(Continued.) “ Windsor.” suggested Grewgus. “ That is it, Windsor. I did notice one thing about her, that she was very reserved about her own affairs.” “ She had every reason to be,” saic the detective grimly. “ Well, Mon sieur Calliard, y-ou have been very obliging. It is now my- turn to give you some, information. * I have every reason to believe that this agreeable mannered young woman is one of the decoys of a firm of blackmailers; thal she gets hold of men with, the ultimate object of fleecing them.” The Frenchman looked intensely astonished. “ The decoy- of a black mailing gang,” fie repeated. “ A hand some, brilliant young woman like that! She ought to have made a good marri age. I cannot help feeling for her more pity than disgust. And that respectable' looking old Jewess, the mother. Is she a criminal also?” Grewgus looked at him sharply. “ You had no suspicion, then, of this. I take**it? Now, Monsieur Calliard, whatever you say- to me on this subject will pass out of my mind: I promise you I will not make use of it. Can y-ou assure me that, she has not attempted to blackmail you?” It occurred to Grewgus that she had made the attempt, and that her sudden flight was due to the fact that she had been foiled, that the Frenchman had taken a bold attitude and defied her. The next words undeceived him “Upon my- word of honour, Monsieui Grewgus, no.” Grewgus was fairly convinced that the jeweller was speaking the truth that he was not actuated by a feeling of shame which led him to deny he had been the victim of an artful ad venturess. “Upon my word of honour, no,” he repeated emphatically-. “The opinion I formed of her was that she was an unconventional girl, leading a roving sort of existence with a careless and not very interesting mother, that she was pleased to come across anybody who would take her about and give her a good time. In spite of her gaiety and enjoyment of life, I judged her to be of a rather cold temperament. She never seemed to crave for admiration, although, like all women, she liked a compliment when you paid it to her.” “But surely you made her handsome presents from time to time,” persisted Grewgus. Monsieur Calliard was a genial old fellow enough, but not likely- to attract a handsome young woman by- his personal gifts. But the Frenchman shook his head very decidedly. “Monsieur Grewgus, I come of thrifty forbears. I like my little flutter now and again, as I have admitted to you, but 1 never care to pay- too dear for mv weaknesses. What did I give Miss Glenthorne during this visit? Bah! it is not worth thinking of. A iew flowers sent to the hotel, some boxes of chocolates, once I think half a dozen pairs of gloves. It was not that which made her dine with me whenever I asked her. It is a bit of a riddle, I confess. Do you think there is any possibility of your being mistaken. of your having received wrong information about her? I am a man of the world, and I could detect no sign of the greedy adventuress.” Grewgus replied that his evidence was too strong to admit of such a supposition. But still what Calliard had told him imparted a fresh air of mystery- to the affair. “If blackmail was not her game, she must have had some other object in view,” said the detective to Ly-don when he had finished the story. “I cannot think those meetings in Rome and Paris were the result of accident. I should say- that by some means she or her friends had obtained information of Calliard’s movements, and she had followed him for the purpose of fascinating herself into his good graces. She, no doubt, read him at a glance, a weak, susceptible man, a bit thrifty perhaps, and garrulous to a fault.” "A ou did not, of course, mention anything of Stormont or Whitehouse to the Frenchman?” asked Lydon, who had been thinking very deeply- as he listened to the story. “I gave him no indication that there was anybody else concerned in my investigations,” was Grewgus’s reply. “Is it possible that we have suspected Stormont wrongly-, after all?” said the young man presently, who was profoundly astonished that there had I been no backmail. “Is it possible that he sent her and the man Edwards on some peculiar and special business errand, and that he, and perhaps Whitehouse, knew nothing of the double life she is leading, this combination of businesswoman and adventuress?” I But the experienced detective shook his bead. “They- have both been closely watched, Mr Ly-don, except in those few particular hours -when they made off. If they were engaged on legitimate business in Paris, with whom were they doing it? They would have called on people; people would have called on them. She. was never with anybody but Calliard and Edwards. Edwards had not got even a second string to his how; he was never seen with anybody but her.” “What is your reading of it, then?” “I incline to the idea they found out they- were w«ched, and gave up the game in the middle, before the woman could formulate her plans for fleecing Calliard.” “Have y-ou any other theory?” “Only that a further my-stery is developing, which we. may or may- not discover. By- the way, there is something I forgot to tell you. They left, as you have learned, a day- before me. I wired at once to one of my- men in London in code to find out if Zillah Mayhew had returned to Ashstead Mansions.” “And the reply?” “She had, and also the mother. They left Paris as Mrs and Miss Glenthorne. They have returned to London as Mrs and Mis,s Mayhew.” It was all very puzzling, very baffling. Lydon owned frankly- he could not see his way through the maze. After a pause, the detective spoke. “Now the question is. Mr Lydon, do y-ou feel disposed to spend any more money?” “What is your advice? asked the voung man. “To go on,” answered the detective in a decided voice. lam convinced that we are only at the beginning of the mystery.” “So be it, then. What are the next steps?” “Simmons only awaits a message from me to take them. In the course of conversation, Calliard told me he was only staying three days longer in Pais. He is going on to Brussels, where he does a big business. Now y-ou have decided, I shall instruct him to follow Calliard. If there is a further mystery-, as I strongly suspect, it is round him that it will centre. Here in London Ishall keep observation upon Miss Mayhew, and if I can possibly come across him, upon Edwards.” With that the interview «nded. At the end of another week, Jasper Stor-

mont and his wife came back to the Cecil, bringing Gloria with them. Lydon had a shrewd suspicion that the banker, who, according to his daughter's account, was a man of simple tastes and habits, was not a little oppressed by- the opulence and splendour of F^ffington.

CHAPTER XIV. It was not long before Grewgus’s prophec}* that they were only at the beginning of the mystery came true. What is now about to be narrated is gleaned from the letters sent to his chief from Brussels by Simmons. Eater on he came to England and amplified the various details of the whole affair. Monsieur Calliard went to Brussels in due course from Paris and took up his quarters at one of the well-known hotels in that delightful city. Simmons, obeying his chief’s telegraphed instructions, followed him, and was always at his heels. On this visit the gay old Frenchman was apparently devoting himself wholeheartedly to his business, and not indulging in any little flutters. His habits were exceedingly regular. He devoted his mornings, and frequently his afternoons, in visits to his various customers. The rest of his time he spent at the hotel. No ladies, young or mid-dle-aged, relieved the monotony of his leisure moments. Needless to say that Simmons kept open a wary eye for the reappearance j of Zillah Mayhew and the man Edwards. To his surprise neither turned up. In the meantime Grewgus was keeping a watch on the women at Ashstead Mansions, and convinced himself, with the aid of the friendly hall-porter, that she was in* London during the whole of the time that Leon Calliard was in Brussels. Therefore, a certain theory of his was shattered, when he found she was staj’ing on from day j to day. His idea was that, having discovered she was being shadowed in Paris, her plans had been suddenly nipped in the bud by that fact, and she had headed for the shelter of the flat. This did not mean that she had given up her original designs against the wealthy jeweller, only postponed them. After a brief interval, during which she judged the scent would have become cold, she would follow him to Brussels, and there add him to her no doubt very numerous list of victims. It followed from this, then, that blackmail had not been her ultimate object. But it was obvious that she had some object in sticking so closely to the Frenchman. And so far as it was possible to reason, the instructions given by Stormont to Edwards were concerned with the wealthy jeweller, as neither the man nor the woman had associated with anybody else during their stay in Paris. Edwards had been seen about with nobody except the girl who called herself Miss Glenthrone. For three days Simmons kept a pretty close watch on Calliard. On the fourth he relaxed his vigilance a little, having made tip his mind by now that nothing more was to be feared from the pair of confederates. And on this day something unusual happened. Calliard did not return to the hotel for lunch, and he did not return for dinner. Simmons did not attach very great importance to this; he might have gone somewhere else for the day on business. To-morrow he would see him pursuing his ordinary routine, without a doubt. But when the mor-, row came, and on Calliard appearedin his usual haunts, Simmons became alarmed. That evening he went to the director of the Palace Hotel, with whom he had a slight acquaintance, and who knew the nature of his occupation, and inquired for news. He explained that, unknown to Calliard himself, he was watching his movements in connection with a certain couple who might have evil designs upon him. The director, a most voluble person, was quite ready to talk to a man whom he knew he could trust. "I have known Monsieur Calliard for years, ever since I have been connected with the Palace Hotel; his connection with us is a long time and dates before the time I came here. I suppose you know that he is a man of considerable wealth, a partner in a very flourishing firm in Marseilles. He came here about every few months to do business with the leading jewellers in Brussels, and he carried in that brown bag his samples, worth some hundreds of thousands of francs. When 1 he had finished his rounds for the day it was his invariable custom to deposit that very valuable bag in our safe.” Simmons noticed that the director had been speaking all along in the past tense. He had a very sure premonition of what was coming. ‘Tie went out as usual after breakfast to make his customary morning calls, taking his bag with him. As I take it, you have been watching him, probably you know that as well as I d o?” Simmons had to admit that on this particular morning his vigilance had been relaxed. Having made up his mind that neither of the pair he suspected were in the vicinity, he was prepared to take it easy till Monsieur Calliard left Brussels, when lie would follow him to his next stopping place. The director shrugged his shoulders: “That is most unfortunate, for then we might know more than we do. He said especially that he would return to luncheon—as a matter of fact he has lunched and dined here every day during his visit—but he happened to make particular mention of it. Luncheon time arrived, and he did not turn. up. We didn’t attach very great importance to the fact. ITe might have been detained, or been invited by one of his customers. When dinner-time came and he was again absent, I began to feel a bit uneasy. Remember he was carrying in that bag a small fortune." “Monsieur Calliard is just a. little bit —what shall we say—frisk}- for a man of his age, is he not?” queried Simmons. The director smiled: "A wee bit, perhaps. I fancy he is rather susceptible where the other sex is concerned. On previous occasions he has sometimes brought here to lunch and dinner some fascinating members of it. But this time nothing of the sort happened. Not a soul has been to see him since he first set foot in the hotel." Simmons thought there might be a good reason for this Xo doubt the volatile Frenchman had received a rude shock when Grewgus told him the real character of the young woman to whom he was so hospitable in Paris. He had resolved to walk more warily for a little time. “When I came down this morning arid found he was still absent, I came to the conclusion it was time to act. I notified the police at once. I despatched a long wire to his firm in Marseilles, acquainting them with the suspicious circumstances. I have had one in reply.” - (To be Continued. ) x