THE DEPUTY AVENGER

Waikato Times, Volume 109, Issue 18257, 19 February 1931, Page 4

THE DEPUTY AVENGER

Serial Story

(By Ralph Trevor.)

SYNOPSIS. ' Dudley Varwell loses £SOO at roulette, after promising his father to give up gambling altogether. Richard Strange comes to his assistance, and promises to take the debt on to his own shoulders, and to give it out that Dudley had been acting for him at the roulette table.

Richard is engaged to Rita Varwell, but lately has had money losses. Ho believes that Rita will wait for him. She is a mercenary, however, and breaks off the engagement, at the same time blaming him for encouraging her brother to gamble. Strange is sick at heart, and bitter towards all women. How to get the £SOO by the end of the month is now his problem. He inserts the following advertisement in “The Times”: — “Young man will enter into agreement to perform any special service in consideration of the sum of £500.” Mr Stephen Anwsll answers Strange’s advertisement. Anwell has lived at Hampstead for two years, the previous twenty being spent in South Africa. He tells Strange that his half-brother, Charles Braynton, had years before earned Stephen’s undying hatred. Anwell now wants his revenge on Charles through the daughter, whom Charles idolises. He wants Strange to win Mary's heart, and then break it. Strange accepts, remembering how a woman has treated him. At the Braynton’s he meets Nadya Darracq, who is out to become the second Mrs Braynton; also Carl Leeming, whose intention is to marry Mary Braynton. He also makes .mu acquaintance of Olga Brent, a friend ol' the Braynton’s. Then Strange finds that he loves Mary Braynton as he has never loved before. At the Braynton’s he meets Nadya. Darracq, who is out to become the second Mrs Braynton; also Carl Leeming, whose intention is to marry Mary Braynton. He also makes the acquaintance of Olga Brent, a friend of the Braynton’s. Strange finds himself amid a circle of dark intrigue. He discovers that Leeming is in league with Nadya.

Then Strange finds that he loves Mary Braynton as he has never love' before,

At the Braynton’s he meets Nadya Darracq, who is out to become the second Mrs Braynton; also Carl Leeming, whose intention is to marry Mary Braynton. He also makes the acquaintance of Olga Brent, a friend of the Braynton’s. Strange finds himself amid a circle of dark intrigue'. He discovers that Leeming is in league with Nadya, and he secs danger ahead for both Mary and her father. Then Strange finds that he loves Mary Braynton as he has never loved before, and he learns that Mary is deeply in love with himself. Can, iie break with Stephen Anwell? He to his house to plead, but Anwell is adamant —relentless.

A few hours after Strange has been at Anweli’s house, the old man is found murdered.

CHAPTER XIII,— (Continued.) And as it happened, while the young constable was boarding a bus at Clapham Junction for the City, Bissett's telephone number was called from Scotland Yard, and half an hour later he fell into step with one of his subordinates away out at Highgate. The bell at Bissett's elbow tinkled, and, consulting the indicator, he tumbled out of his chair and made his way to tne sanctum of Chief 'Constable Darbishire. “Oh, Bissett, he exclaimed, as the Superintendent advanced into the room. “It’s about this Anwell business. You’re quite sure everything is all right? You know how dangerous it is to starve the newspapers, but you're quite certain, in your own mind, that we’re following the correct course?” “Quite sure, sir,” responded Bissett. “Of course, I admit that until I’ve seen the whole tiling in the right perspective, and got my people correctly lined up, so to speak, there must inevitably be a certain amount of risk. I hope you will permit me, sir, to continue working on my own lines.” “Certainly, Bissett, certainly! We’ve got to go through with it now, and I’ve never known you fail yet. By the way, what are you doing about the inquest?” "Evidence of identification only was taken this afternoon, sir, and I obtained an adjournment for seven days. I think that will be enough." “And the jury?” queried the great man, with a noticeable lift of his dark eyebrows. “They will not view r the body, sir," smiled Bissett. “The modern jury is not nearly so ghoulish as its forefathers.” “Thank you, Bissett." Back again in his room, Bissett got through to the Evening Wire, whose news editor was a particular friend of his, and asked him if he could step round and see him. “It’s about the Anwell affair,” he added, tersely. Twenty minutes later Bissett was smoking a cigar with Ilarokl Raeburn, a tall, military-looking man of about forty-five. “You know, Bissett,” Raeburn was saying, “I don’t feel at all comfortable.” “You seldom do,” smiled Bissett. “but I want you to prune your stuff down as finely as you can. Put all the blame on to me, if you like. But I don’t want any scare headlines just at present. The time’s not ripe for that. I gave you my word that you’d get the first glimpse at my final story, and I’m not a man to break my word. You can arrange It with the others?” Raeburn was silent for a moment, contemplating the end of his Corona! Then a smile crossed his face. "I’ll do my best, Bissett, old man, but how am I going to placate them when you trot out your exclusive stuff for me? I’ve got to promise the blighters something, you know.” Bissett was thoughtful. When he had first conceived the idea of only telling the newspapers just as much as he thought would be good for them from his own individual point of view, he had certainly not anticipated any carping criticism such as he was finding in one quarter at least. “I suppose you’ll have to give them part of the finished story,” lie said. “That- would be quite all right, wouldn’t it?” “I’m not so sure about that. The modern news editor is a greedy devil. He has a habit of expecting everything for himself.” “Then for once he won’t have to be so hungry,” replied Bissett, with a gesture of finality. “I've never met such a genus of cannibals north of the

Author of “The Jade Token,” “Under Suspicion,” eto., eto.

Equator. But you see my point, don’t you, Raeburn? Let the murder die out. ]f you fellows won't start raising a stink, the public won’t trouble. By to-morrow it will have found a new sensation. That’s the way with the public. It has a shockingly bad memory.” “Well,” exclaimed Raeburn* rising and stretching himself like a long, lean dog, “you can depend on me doing my damndest; and now I’ll wish you good morning.” When Raeburn had gone, Superintendent Bissett settled himself before his desk, and drummed on the glass top with his finger tips, lie was trying to make up his mind what his first move ought to be. Slowly he reached out for the dossier on the far side of the table. It contained the papers relating to two particularly interesting people, a man and a woman. They were so interesting to Superintendent Bissett that he would never have consented for a moment that anyone other than himself should handle this rather delightful case.

The dossier contained the records of a fascinating woman, who called herself Nadya Darracq, and a man who went under the name of Carl Looming. Superintendent Bissett had taken a paternal interest in them for the past three years. He had a shrewd idea that the woman, at any rale, was behind a great many affairs that had perplexed the police of more than one country. There was the case of the jewels that disappeared from the

house of the Comtesse De La | Rochelle at Chantilly. Nadya had • been staying with the Comtesse at [ the time, but the Comtesse swore that her charming young friend was entirely above suspicion, and there, of course, the police had to leave the matter. Then there was the New York affair a year later. Nadya was on a visit to friends in Greenwich Village on the night when John P. Vanderlyn, the millionaire leather king from Chicago l , found he had been robbed of half his diamond collection In a manner that left; no doubt regarding : the ingenuity of the thief or thieves. He had come down to New York to inspect the gems, which were purported to be from a collection once owned by the Empress Eugenie, and were then in the possession of Ivan Metc.hicov and his dark-haired sister, Sonia. John P. Vanderlyn was a cautious man. lie employed the services of an expert valuer, who inspected (lie stones and reported favourably on them. It was true they were only small stones, but they had a special interest and significance, and John P. paid a hundred thousand dollars and took them back to his hotel with a shooter in each pocket. Twelve hours later his cheque had been cashed, but feeling uneasy, he called up the valuer again and asked him to look at the stones. He was told they were beautiful imitations—every one of them a masterpiece of its kind; but they weren’t the diamonds that Ivan. Metchlcov had spread out for him in the chamois-lined case at his hotel. Vanderlyn was furious. In ten minutes he had told the New York police commissioner what he thought of police methods, and threatened to purchase the senator’s job, just to have the satisfaction of sacking the entire force, because no trace could be found of Ivan and his charming, ingenuous sister, Sonia.

There were dozens of other cases of a similar nature, and Bissett had carefully placed them together in the one dossier, because lie felt sure that the fascinating woman, who now called herself Nadya Darracq, was behind them all, and also because the transaction had been in diamonds on each occasion—a point that rather intrigued the well-ordered mind of Superintendent Bissett.

CHAPTER XIV. 1 Tho Queen of Diamonds. The telephone on Bissett’s desk rang shrilly. He heard the voice of Sergeant Ramsden in the Inquiry Office. “There’s a young woman down here,” called the sergeant, “wanting to speak to the Commissioner. Says she’s come about the Anwell murder. Looks like an informer.” “What name does she give?” asked Bissett. “Darracq,” came the startling reply. “Miss Nadya Darracq. “Send her in to me, Ramsden,” intimated Bissett, quietly, and replaced the receiver. So Nadya Darracq had come to the lions’ den—she had, come to give information about the murder of Stephen Anwell. Bissett chuckled to himself. This was a move he had hardly expected from her. It \va: neat; it was adroit, and it was als clever. The door opened, and a young, plain-clothes constable showed her . into Bissett's sanctum, j The Superintendent rose to greet 1 her. “Miss Darracq, I Relieve?” he smiled, and she nodded. “That is my name, Mr Commissioner.” “Not yet,” laughed Bissett, with a ■ restraining gesture of his hands. “Some day perhaps, but the moment merely Superintendent Bissett.” j "Oh,” there was an obvious note of disappointment in the woman’s exclamation. “I asked for the Commissioner. You see it is extremely imi portant.” j “Many ask, but few are granted,” he smiled blandly, “and now if you’ll j that chair you can confide in me like j a father.” I Nadya Darracq smiled. It was a charming and utterly disarming smile, and its 1 import was not lost on Superintendent Bissett. “It’s about the murder of a Mr Anwell,” she began, wih admirably affected nervousness. “I think I ought to tell you just how much I know about that affair.”

(Continued to-morrow.)