The FOG MEN

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 563, 17 September 1932, Page 19 (Supplement)

The FOG MEN

=By .

J. M. WALSH

CHAPTER XXXII. Round Up. Without warning of any sort a lightin the ceiling of the cellar sprang into being, and Slade and the chauffeur blinked in the unaccustomed radiance. Quaile had found the switch, probably it was close beside the door, and now at least they could see wliat they were doing. A moment later came the inspector's, voice warningly. ‘ Look out, Slade,” he said. “I’m dropping a rope down to you. Catch.” A coil of rope came hurtling down. Slade caught one end of it. Quaile apparently had made the other end *rast 80 me where up above. “You go first,” the detective said to the chauffeur. “Tell Quaile I’m sending the lady up next,” ho said. “She’s still in a faint, so he’ll have to be careful.” The chauffeur nodded, and went on hie way. He had no sooner disappeared over the lower ledge of the doorway than Slade caught the free end of the rope, drew in as much 6lack as possible, and tied it round Anne's waist in sucli a fashion that the knot could not pull tight and hurt her. Slade caught the momentary glimpse of a policeman’s helmet. So Quaile was not alone. He must have utilised his long absence to secure reinforcements Quaile*s voice roused him to action. “Come on,” his senior called. “We haven’t much time to waste. It will be daylight in an hour or so.” “How about Laxity?” Slade said. “I think he’s done for, but ...” “But we can’t leave him there, of course,” Quaile finished the sentence for him. “All right, we’ll fix it.” A few monments later Slade stood once more on terra finna. Quaile turned off the lights—it was then the detective noticed that a switch was set in the wall close to the door —and slammed the door. Slade swept his eyes round the little group. There were several uniformed men and a couple of plain-clothes detectives, among whom he recognised Benuet. But of prisoners there was no sign. The girl herself was reclining on a rug on the ground, and as Slade’s gaze swept across to her she opened her c /cs and gave him a weak little smile. He looked past her, searching for Lanty’s body, but -t had disappeared. Probably the police had spirited it away before the girl had recovered full possession of her senses. Which, perhaps, was just as well. “What’s the plan of campaign?” Slade asked. “There isn’t one,” Quaile said grimly. “While you’ve been sleeping down there we’ve been rounding up those we could. Ashlin was arrested at his own place, pulled out of bed as a matter of fact.” “What happened to you when the car was held up. and what have you been doing in the intervai ?” “All in good time,” Quaile said. “We haven’t finished the job by a long chalk yet. We’ve got to get the specie, and that’s going to take some time and trouble, I fancy. Meanwhile we’ve got another call to make. Feel fit for more trouble T~

“You’ve been doing all the work bo far,” Slade said. “It’s time I had a hand, particularly seeing I haven't shone too well right through the ease. But how about ?” He did not finish the sentence, but with a gesture indicated the girl. Quaile pursed his lips. “She’s a problem.’’ he said in a low voice. “We should send her home, but it's your job to take her there. However, we had a policewoman come out with the others —for reasons I’ll tell you later—and she can look after the young lady at the police station.” It seemed the most satisfactory solution in the circumstances, and Slade felt he could add nothing to it. Anne seemed more or less her own self again, though the shock of Lanty’s death had certainly unnerved her. A police guard was left in charge of Hallam’s house, pending further investigations there at a later hour, and the remainder of the party in two cars went off to complete the work of the morning. Quaile utilised the time, taken on the journey to explain briefly what had happened to him. For all his plumpness the man could move quickly when the need arose, and he had seen the obstruction ahead just the faintest fraction of a second ahead of the chauffeur. He had taken the risk of hurling himself over the back of the car. As a matter of fact, he came through with a few bruises from contact with the roadway. More by accident than anything the lights of the following car did not pick him up as he rolled over on the roadway, and he managed to scramble across the unmade pathway and into some bushes that grew on the vacant ground beyond that. He lay there, reasoning out the situation and trying to position himself. He was too far away to hear anything that was being said, but as be lay stretched close to the ground lie be-'# me aware of a curious feature that is not an uncommon property of fog.-. That was that the closer to the ground he was the more clearly he could see. It was true that his vision was mostly of wheels and unindividualised legs. But in a very few minutes indeed the car and the lorry drove off, and the legs began to move across the pathway. He already had more or less of an idea where he was, and he had little or no difficulty in recognising the place as Hallam’s house. Once he had established that fact lie decided on a scouting expedition. He got into the grounds without much difficulty, and just about the time they were . searching for his, as they believed, unconscious body on the road outside he was beginning a cautious circuit of tile house. The one thing that worried him was bow they had been able to time his and Slade’s arrival at this particular spot so accurately. But the moment he began to reason back and recollect where they had first picked up the rattle-trap car he sawlight. In the course of his cautious circling of the house, to make a long story short, he caught the flare of one of Slade’s matches from the collar ventilator, and surmised something of what must have occurred. This particular ventilator, it must he explained, was placed in what was actually the outer wall of the house some six to twelve inches above the ground. He lay down with his ear close against the ventilator. He could hear voices, and though he could not make out what was being said, he recognised the tone of one as Slade’s, and the other as a girl’s. He called cautiously, and after an interval he called again, then recollecting the electric torch in his pocket lie put it close to the grid of the ventilator and flashed a nwssage in Morse. As we already know, Slade answered that by striking matches, a crude method of reply, but the only

one available to him. Quaile’s intention, which he left more or less unexplained at the time, was to get to the nearest patrol and telephone through for reinforcements. He also advised the Yard to take the rather bold, but none the less sound, step of arresting Ashlin, and trust to luck to secure the necessary corroborative evidence within a reasonable time. The Yard force rendezvoused with Quaile at the local police station according to schedule. Some false move on someone’s part, however, must have given the alarm, and Lanty, in the hope of putting the worst of the evidence against him out of action, whether temporarily or otherwise it was hard to say, made for the cellar. He certainly had no idea that Quaile had already located this temporary prison; that was his one blunder, and the one that cost him hi 6 life.

As it was, Slade’s shot precipitated matters and startled the remaining occupants of the house. Hallam, his family, and young Sanfield were caught in the act of making their escape. The car swerved off and ran into what looked like a cul-de-sac and came abruptly to a halt. Slade, glancing back, saw that the second police car had disappeared. He remarked on its absence, and Quaile nodded. “It’s got its work to do too,” he said. “Bonnet’s in charge there and he’ll see everything goes sweetly. You come with me. We’re going to do a little housebreaking now.” He pointed to a house that stood by itself a little back from the road. “Place belongs to the young gentleman we arrested a while back.”

“Young Sanfield,” Slade said. “Better stick to one of hie aliases if you want any peace of mind,” Quaile said warningly. “There’s no reason why his connection with the family need come out at thiri stage of his career. And now, listen. I’m not quite sure what birds we’re going to flush, but you can be quite certain that anyone who isn’t a policeman is one of the people we want. So if it comes to a case of firing, don’t hesitate, though don’t kill unless it’s absolutely necessary. The light was just beginning to grey in the east when Quaile, after several unsuccessful attempts, succeeded at last in picking the lock of the front door. The house, it was evident at a glance, was only a small cottage, a two-storeyed erection with three rooms in all on each floor. “Built, designed and owned by our retired architect friend, Mr. Hallam.” Quaile whispered. He took out lita watch. “Five minutes to go," he said. “That should be seven or eight minutes then before anything breaks loose. We’ll occupy the interval in hunting for the cellar.” He did not explain why he wanted to locate it, and Slade surmised it was no time to ask. However, it was speedily found. Quaile opened the door and peered down into the darkness with liis head on one side as though listening, but he showed no disposition to go down himself. Instead he shut the door, claimed again at the illuminated dial *of his watch, and remarked. “Time’s nearly up. A couple of minutes to go.” Actually it was only about three minutes later that things began to happen, but to Slade it seemed like hours. He was just beginning to wonder if anything had gone wrong to upset their plans when Quaile caught him by the arm and drew him quickly back into the passage. The next instant Slade heard something for himself, the sound of faint, stealthy footsteps on the wooden step leading from the cellar. There came a slight creaking sound as the door opening from the kitchen was pushed open and a man’s voice said something in a soft whisper. There were two of them, and almost at once something approaching the true state of affairs dawned on Slade. “This way.” the man murmured. “Into the passage.” As though his words had been an awaited signal the electric globe in the kitchen burst into radiance, and Quaile e deep voice came grimly from a spot a, yard or so ahead of Slade. “Hands up, the pair of you.” he snapped. “If you move an * inch I’ll blow a hole in you.” Even though the general trend of events had prepared him for something of the 6ort Slade could not altogether suppress the exclamation that rose to his lips. “Quite right.” said Quaile pleasantly. “Our friend. Mr. Mallab, .and hie charming daughter, the first and the last of the Fog Women.” CHAPTER XXXIIL Explanatory. “It will be just as well for you to remember when you come to give evidence against that gang,” said Inspector Quaile. “that the. one time your life was really in danger you were saved by the intervention of Mallah’s daughter. I’ll make a point of it in my report, though I don’t know that it will do her much good.” “Of course she wrote that letter T found in inv car that dav.” Slade agreed. “I was sure of that almost from the start, mainly because T couldn’t see who else could have done it. But I’ll own I couldn’t see for a long time what was at the back of her mind in warning me.”

Quaile smiled grimly. “She’s told me.” he said. “I’ve got them in Cannon Row pending certain developments, and I’ve had a word with her. She’s been quite frank about it all. Tt was Lanty’s own private vendetta, you see. He was beginning to get a bit afraid that your Lady Anne would, in his own parlance, spill the beans.” “But why try to disguise her writing In such a way that the blame was thrown on Lanty?” Slade queried. “The credit, you mean?” Quaile shrugged his shoulders. “Perhaps she thought it was an indirect way of indicating the actual culprit; she may have reasoned that knowing Lanty’s forging habits, and having specimens of him skill in our possession we start grilling him and in the process he might slip up and give something away. Who knows ?

“Anyway, from the very first time T had anything to do with that smoke stuff I scented, literally, something familiar about it. As you been in Algeria and over most of Xorth Africa. There arc powders there, herbs thev burn, things with sensuous, sensestealing odours, hypnotic stuff. Some of those Arabs know queer things. This smoke was from something of the kind, and Lnntv with his chemical knowledge managed to combine it with some other J

gas, eo that it became partially anaesthetic, a sort of laughing gas, if you like.

“Mallah, by the way, did not merely use his hobbies as a cover to his activities. He was genuinely interested in criminology, and some of his tips were of value. But of late hie usefulness had almost ceased. Either he was getting wrong information or else he was deliberately faking it for my benefit.” “His house? That and young Sanfield’s place were built by Maßalvs brother, our retired architectural friend Hallam.”

“You remember the day you were out there and you spoke about the rumble of the train ? A train only rumbles in the way you described when it's crossing over or going through some sort of confined space. The suggestion was a culvert or some sort of drain under the line and that’s why, when we got out there later, I asked to see that back entrance he had spoken about. It was the sight of that isolated house opposite that really set my brain working. I wondered if there could be any connection between them, and when later I found out who li\-ed in it, 1 began to realise the value of secret exits and entrances, and felt com'inced of the tunnel under the line.

“It served a twofold purpose, you see. Whichever house happened to be raided at. any time, there was always a way of escape for the occupants. When niv men flushed the Mallahs early this morning, they, as I guessed they would, took to the tunnel and walked quite neatly into our trap. “I don’t know how long ago they planned this business of the specie, but I fancy they always had the possibility of something of the kind in view, and the fact that Mallali’s house abutted on the railway allowed him to make a close and intensive study of the way the trains were run.

“Did it occur to you to wonder how Hallam appeared on the scene last night, and before when your car was smashed up? Both houses had the ’phone on, and when we passed Maliah’s place last night our advent was signalled through. \ou may remember we picked up that rattle-trap car before we passed Maliah’s, and if you check back you’ll find it fell behind and remained a comfortable distance away from us until wc were well away from the house.

“The main tiling this case shows to me is that it pays to be able to think about two jumps ahead of the other man. Ashlin took over that warehouse partly as a blind, I’d imagine, and partly with the idea of having a reasonable excuse for a motor lorry hanging about. Naturally they’d expect us to conclude the warehouse had been taken over with the sole object o2 providing a temporary hiding place for the specie. “As a matter of fact, I reasoned much as they expected, but though I’m fat I m not a fool, and at the same time other possibilities occurred to me, and on the off-chance that one of them might be the thing that had actually happened, I took the step of blocking the road at once. The lorry was grabbed b ythe police this morning on the way to the docks, where no doubt its transhipment had already been arranged for in some disguised form. The lorry belongs to the gang, but the driver can t tell tales. You see, he made the mistake of resisting arrest, and got killed in the process. The only casualties were on the other side, and were caused by us.” “I know,” said Slade oddly. “I killed Lanty.” . lefc _ that ’worry you,” Quaile told nun. *\ou’r© thinking the girl will hold it against you. But, as it is, once things have liad a chance to simmer down she’ll probably have no more feeling against you than she would against the judge who, in other circumstances, might have granted her a divorce. Any other questions you’d like answered?” “One, ’ said b'lade, “though I don’t think it’s of much importance. There seems to be a certain mystery enveloping that bank account of Lanty’s.” °

Quaile chuckled. “Not so much mystery as it seems. Lanty with money to spend went rapidly to the devil, in other words he became unreliable, so they fixed up an account for him, paying him a fixed sum monthly. He was kept from kicking by the promise of a definite sum in addition to his share when the big coup had been brought off. Ashlin fixed that side of it, and I firmly believe that it was his intention that. Lanty should get mislaid, probably in the Thames some dark night, with a weight on his feet, when everything was over, so that he himself could strengthen the hold lie had on the Sanfields, with what ultimate object you know quite as well as I do.” “And I suppose,” Slade remarked, “that their idea in putting us in cold storage in Hallam’s cellar was merely with the idea of getting us out of the way for the time necessary for them to arrange to leave the country.” Quaile nodded. “That’s so. But T flew the coop for a start, and then Lanty. with some idea at the last of destroying the evidence against him, made a final mess of everything. Well, that’s that.” CHAPTER XXXIV. Valedictory. Extract from letter from Anne Sanfield to Frank Slade: “ . . . I’ve had a feeling for some time, due chiefly to the fact that I have not seen you of late, that you may imagine I am blaming you for your part in what took place that eventful night, just as no doubt you arc blaming me, with even greater reason, for my deception of you. For wliat 1 did I am heartily sorry, in so far as it has caused you hurt. It was done for reasons that have since been made plain to you, though whether you will agree as to their validity i«= quite another matter. “For what you did, please do not blame yourself, as 1 do not blame you It was the only course you could have taken in the circumstances, and 1 really believe your one lucky shot was th t •means of saving all our lives. “Perhaps some day, when your work no longer has so many claims on your time, we may meet again, and perhaps then you can tell me that you understand, though you cannot condone, the motives that actuated me then.” Telegram from Frank Slade to Lad\ Anne Sanfield: ; “Have month’s leave of absence. An informed Algeria ideal place for honeymoon this time of year. What is ycui opinion of Quaile a-s best man ?” Telegram from Lady Anne Sanfield t< Frank Slade: “Have no objection to either Algeria or Quaile in capacity you suggest. Bui wish to emphasise you are the best mar .1 know, and always wilt be.” THE END.