“Crooked Company,”

Wairarapa Daily Times, 16 March 1933, Page 7

“Crooked Company,”

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.

COPYRIGHT.

CHAPTER XlX—Continued

Again, after a little search, she saw the reflection of the two men, but this time the slim man’s face was shown in the glass. It was somehow familiar to her, but in a blurred, vague way. The man, while talking to his companion, moved so that the mirror gave a better image of him, and Anne recognised the face, and placed it. It belonged to the man who looked in on her and spoke to heir when she lay in that bedroom. Involuntarily", fear crashing on her like a thunderbolt, Anne made a moveto the door of .the shop. Safety for the moment at least was there. But as she stirred she saw through the mirror that the two men behind appeared to be moving towairds her, and at the same moment she heard the noise of loud quarrelling voices. A man, who had apparently just got out -of a taxi-cab was disputing noisily and angrily with the cabman, and the cabman, as irate as he, was loosing his rage quite as loudly. In the distraction thus provided, Anne saw a chance of slipjring into the shop unnoticed by her siiadowers. Two steps she took, and then, when it needed but another two to land her in hear haven of refuge, she felt a faint stabbing pain in her left arm, and at the same instant saw that she was between the two men. Ilea- stub-handled umbrella was in her right hand —a. poor thing as a weapon of offence. She used it, but for defence. With all her strength she- jammed the handle of it into the centre of the window in front of her. Then, while shouts of alarm, mingled with the- crash of falling glass, rang dimly in heir ears, blackness descended on her. CHAPTER XXI. Like a. wily and philosophic spider, Doe Summers, having flung out the 1 threads of the net in which he hoped to catch Anne Garrison, sat comfortably in his Jermy-n St. flat, patiently awaiting news of her recapture. He realised that it would be a delicate and difficult business to get her again in his power, but he had faith in his tools, and having put Hopkins in charge of operations was unworried by fears of failure.

Carefully examining his plans for robbing the Central Bank he had decided that, for the present at least,, he needed Anne Garrison as a lio-stage. Unless he had her in his power he had no hold over her brother, who' already might have decided to kick -over the traces and refuse to play the part allotted to him, until the young man had .proved his sincerity in tlu> compact they had entered it. was necessary to have at his command means of enforcing it. Before Doc Summers left- the cottage for Horsham Station Hopkins had telephoned the news that Anne Garrison had returned to her home and, since reaching it, had gone out. Later, just as ho was leaving for his train, another message told him that she had returned to Eosslare Square and that the house was being watched.

About an hour after his arrival at his flat he got word from Hopkins that she had just left the house and that Hopkins, and two other men were trailing her. in a taxi-cab. He was expecting at any minutes to hear that she was in safe keeping and again on her wav to the cottage outside Horsham. He was just lighting a fresh cigar—it was then about five o ’clock —when the- opening of the door of his flat told him that Hopkins had arrived. It e-ould only be Hopkins that entered, for to no one else did he entrust a key to the door. It rather surprised him- that the man had come to the flat-, but he had ™f-sumed that he had done his work, that Anne Garrison had been recaptured and left in safe custody. As long as there had been no hitch ho was quite satisfied that Hopkins should do things his own way. But when 'Hopkins opened the door “ of the sitting-room and showed his face he guessed at once that things had gone wrong. ’“Well, what’s happened?” Doc Summers asked harshly. ”1 cau see you made a mess of it.”

“I done my best, Doc. The girl beatus, that’s aIL” “What d’y-e mean?” Doc Summers snapped. “How could she beat you- — she’s still alive, isn’t she?” '“I left two good men still on the job, Doc, but I had to sheer off myself for fear of being spotted.” “Tell me about it,” Doe Summers directed.

'“ Well, Doe, it was this way. We trailed the girl from her house, looking for an opportunity of giving her the dope and getting her into a taxi we had along. At Oxford Circus she got out of a bus and walked down Re-gent-st. looking at the shop windows on her way. With the crowds there was it looked easy getting her once I gave her the needle, .so about half-way down the street I gave the office to a man in a cab to start a row with the driver —one of . our men, Doc—so as to get attention off our business with the girl. Buck Morgan was with me on the pavement and when the noise started we made for the girl, who was looking in a window. I gave her the needle all right, and we’d have had her in the taxi and on our way, but that before the dope had time to work she slammed at the window and smashed it with a little umbrella she carried. My guess is that she tumbled to the game when she felt the needle, spotted me at the same moment, and made sure of being arrested for window smashing so as to escape us.” “Where is she now—what happened next? ’ ’

“I did the best I could, Doc. The doorman and some inside fellas firom the shop made a rush and grabbed the girl, but she was gone by then —thedope had .worked. I said she was with me, and that she must have had a fit ■or a faint and fallen against the window, and that I’d pay the damage and take her nwav and look after her. But they wouldn’t have.that—-the doorman had seen her take the smack at the window —so while they were carrying her inside, a policeman with her now, I thought I’d best make- myself scarce before perhaps they’d nab me, too, so I slid off; but I left Buck and another good man watching and maybe they’ll get her later.” “A prety hash you’ve made of it. It’ll be a stiff business getting her now she’s had her eyes -opened.”

'“lt’s the -first time I’ve fell down on a job, Doc —you’ll give me credit.” “It’s no use wasting breath on what can’t be helped. Next time you fail

BY FRANCIS MARLOWE. (Author of “The Secret of the Sandhills,” “The Sunset Express,” “In Pursuit of a Million,” etc).

‘Not in the least; a- narcotic, that’s all. Harmless, but very quick acting and effective. Another injection and a draught will put her right. As soon as that prescription is filled I’ll pull her round in about five minutes, feeling nothing worse but a little bit shaky. ’ ’ (To be Continued).

will bo the last time. Stay around now, while I think what’s best to be done. I may want you, or perhaps Buck Morgan may ring up and give us a line on how to act. One thing we’ve got to do- is to prevent the girl from seeing heir brother before ho comes here to-night-—if she hasn’t already seen him.”

“What about me going round to the young fella and telling him his sister’s waiting here for him. Would that help, Doc?” Doe -Summers had not replied when the tinkle of the telephone bell interrupted. He crossed the room to- the instrument and picked up the receiver. He took the message in silence, replaced the receiver and turned to look blackly at Hopkins. . “Buck Morgan says the girl’s left the R-e-gcnt-st. shop in a cab, alone. They trailed heir in their taxi, but got held up at Piccadilly, and lost her. Fine lot of boobs I’ve got working for me! ” “Gee! Doc, that’s tough.” CHAPTER XXII. Hopkins was correct in his surmise that Anne Garrison had tried to get herself anrested for window-smashing —at least she took that risk deliberately—to save herself from falling into his hands. Certainly she knew the advertisement manager of the firm whose window she had broken, but only in a busines way, and even if she had had time to think about the matter she would not have expected the firm to regard her acquaintance with him as justification for the damage she had done. As a matter of fact, when she struck at the window her only thought was that her act would almost certainly bring a policeman immediately to the spot, and that in his custody she would be safe. She felt herself to be in- a desperate situation, and she had chosen a desperate way out. The policeman did not arrive on the scene as promptly as she had expected. When lie put in an appearance, thrusting his way through the curious crowd that thronged the footpath, Anne was already in the shop, into which she had been carried unconscious by the uniformed dooirman and one of the shopmen. The doorman, as Hopkins had told Doc. Summers, had seen her strike at the window. He had jumped for her and grabbed her roughly, just at the very instant that the injected dope had taken effect, and when she swayed limply back' on him and collapsed in his arms his very natural conclusion was that she was intoxicated and that heir attack on the window was the freak of a drunken woman. He had communicated this impression to the shopman who helped him to carry her into the shop, and it was still his belief when lie curtly repelled Hopkins’s intervention, regarding him as probably responsible for her condition, and feeling not quite sure, whether he, too, ought not to be detained as her accomplice. It was the policeman, a sensible man experienced in “drunks,” who scented that da-ink was not responsible for Anne’s state, and on his advice a departmental head despatched an as-

sistant for a doctor, and had Anno taken into an office at the back of the shop. It was at this point that HopInns had unostentatiously and discreetly re-moped himself. A doctor arrived speedily—fortunately there was one close at hand —- and it needed his very brief investigation to put a new face on the incident of the smashed window. “This girl’s been drugged,” he said, looking up at the departmental manager. “How did she come here?” The. departmental manager told him the story. “H’in! an- injection pro-bably,” the doctor remarked and lifted up one of Anne’s eyelids to examine the eye, “wasn’t there anyone with her?” “The doorman told me that a man claimed to be her friend, and wanted to pay for the damage to the window and take her away, but he refused to let him.” '“Sensible man,” the doctor commented, and busied himself with a small writing pad and fountain pen. “Can you get this sent to- a chemist, and madei up without delay?” he asked presently, “and,” he added, “if this man who said he was the girl’s friend, is about I’d like to-see him.” The departmental manager took the prescription and left the office. He returned within a minute or se, looking somewhat perplexed. '“The man seems to have disappeared.” “I thought 3'ou wouldn’t find him,” the doctor commented drily. “As I thought, it was a needle injection in the street.” With -expert hands he stripped Anne’s shoulders and examined them, and the upper part of her arms. He pointed out a minute reddish spot on the left arm. '“That’s where she got it,” he remarked. “I expect she felt the needle and guessed what it meant. -She 'smashed your window as the quickest way of calling for help.” . The departmental manager made sounds expressive of deep concern. “I’ve heard of cases of this kind,” the doctor continued, while he re-cov-ered Anne’s shoulders, “but this is my first case. The girl has probably escaped something pretty bad —if she hadn’t had the presence of mind to smash your window she might have figured in the papers to-morrow as a -mysterious disappearance. The man who vanished is probably the chap that, doped her.” '‘ls her condition serious?” the departmental manager asked.