At nine o'clock that night the colonel, in immaculate evening-dress, sat playing double-dummy bridge with his two companions. In the light of the big shaded lamp overhead there was something particularly peaceful and innocent in their occupation. No word was spoken save of the game.
It was a quarter to nine, noted the colonel, looking at the little French clock on the mantelpiece. He rose, walked to the window and looked out. It was a stormy night and the wind was howling down the street, sending the rain in noisy splashes against the window panes. He grumbled his satisfaction and returned to the table.
Did you see the paper? asked Pinto presently.
I saw the paper, said the colonel, not looking up from his hand. "I make a point of reading the newspapers."
You see they've made a feature of----
Mention no names, said the colonel. "I know they've made a feature about it. So much the better. Everything depends----"
It was as he spoke that Solomon White came into the room. Boundary knew it was he before the door handle turned, before the hum of voices in the hall outside had ceased, but it was with a great pretence of surprise that he looked up.
Why, if it isn't Solomon White! he said.
The man was haggard and sick-looking. He had evidently dressed in a hurry, for his cravat was ill-tied and the collar gaped. He strode slowly up to the table and Boundary's manservant, with a little grin, closed the door.
Where have you been all this time, Solomon? asked Boundary genially. "Sit you down and play a hand."
You know why I've come, breathed Solomon White.
Surely I know why you've come. You've come to explain where you've been, old boy. Sit down, said Boundary.
Where is my daughter? asked White.
Where is your daughter? repeated the colonel. "Well, that's a queer question to ask us. _We've_ been saying where is Solomon White all this time."
I've been to Brighton, said the man, "but that's nothing to do with it."
Been at Brighton? A very pleasant place, too, said Boundary. "And what were you doing at Brighton?"
Keeping out of your way, damn you! said White fiercely. "Trying to cure the fear of you which has made a rank coward of me. If you wanted to find a method for curing me, colonel, you've found it. I've come back for my daughter--where is she?"
The colonel pushed his chair back from the table and looked up with a quizzical smile.
Now you're not going to take it hard, Solomon, he said. "We had to have you back and that was the only scheme we could think of. You see, there are lots of little bits of business that have to be cleared up, bits of business in which you had a hand the same as my other business associates."
Where is the girl? asked the man steadily.
Well, I'm going to admit to you, said the colonel, with a fine show of frankness, "that I've put her away--no harm has come to her, you understand. She's at a little place at Putney Heath, a house I took specially for her, surrounded by loving guardians----"
Like Pinto? asked the man, looking down at the silent Silva.
Like Lollie. Now you can't deny that Lollie's a very nice girl, said the colonel. "Sit down, Solomon, and talk things over."
When I've got my girl I'll talk things over with you. Where is this place?
It is on Putney Heath, said the colonel. "Now aren't I being straightforward with you? If I had any bad designs against the girl, should I tell you where she is? If you go there, Solomon, take some of your copper friends."
I have no copper friends, said the man angrily. "You know that well enough. What am I that I should go to the police? Can I go to them with clean hands?"
Well, that's a question I've often asked myself, said the colonel. "I've often said----"
What is the name of the house? interrupted White. "I want to see whether you're playing square with me, Boundary, and if you're not, by----"
Don't threaten me, don't threaten me, Solomon, said the colonel with a good-humoured gesture. "I'm a nervous man and I suffer from heart disease. You ought to know better than that. Bishopsholme is the place. It is the fourth big house after passing Tredennis Road--a fine villa standing in its own grounds. It looks a bit deserted because it was empty until a few days ago, when I put a scrap or two of furniture into it. Why not wait----"
First I'll find out whether you're speaking the truth, and if you're not----
Gently, gently, growled Crewe. "What's the good of kicking up a row, White? The colonel's dealing straighter with you than you're dealing with us."
He was not in the colonel's secrets, and he himself was deceived, thinking that the girl had been removed to the house which he now heard about for the first time, and that the sole object of the abduction was to bring White back.
Stay a while, said Boundary. "It is only just nine----"
But White was gone.
He pushed past the servant, one of the readiest and most dangerous of the colonel's instruments, and into the half-dark corridor. There was a light on the landing below, and as he ran down the stairs he thought he saw somebody standing there. It looked like a woman till the figure turned, and then Solomon White stood stock still. It was the first time he had seen Jack o' Judgment. The shimmer of the black silk coat, the curious suggestion of pallor which the white mask conveyed, the slouch hat, throwing a black bar of shadow diagonally across the face, lent the figure a peculiarly sinister aspect.
Stand!
The voice was commanding, the glittering revolver in the figure's hand more so.
Who are you? gasped Solomon White.
Jack o' Judgment! Have you ever heard of little Jack? chuckled the figure. "Oh, here's a new one--Solomon White, too, and never heard of Jack o' Judgment! Didn't you see me when they took me out of 'Snow' Gregory's pocket? Little Jack o' Judgment!"
Solomon White stepped back, his face twitching.
I had nothing to do with that, he said hoarsely, "nothing to do with that, do you hear?"
Where are you going? Won't you tell Jack something, give him a bit of news? Poor old Jack hears nothing these days, sighed the figure, laughter bubbling between the words.
I'm going on private business. Get out of my way, said the other, remembering the urgency of his mission.
But you'll tell Jack o' Judgment? wheedled the figure, "you'll tell poor old Jack where you are going to find your beautiful daughter?"
You know! said the man.
He took a step forward, but the revolver waved him back.
You'll speak, or you don't pass, said Jack o' Judgment. "You don't pass until you speak; do you hear, Solomon White?"
The man thought.
It is a place called Bishopsholme, he said gruffly, "on Putney Heath. Now let me pass."
Wait, wait! said the figure eagerly, "wait for me--only five minutes! I won't keep you! But don't go, there's death there, Solomon White! It is waiting for you--don't you feel it in your bones?"
The voice sank to a whisper, and in spite of himself, a cold shiver passed down White's spine. He half-turned to go back.
Wait! said the figure again eagerly, fiercely. "I shall not keep you a minute--a second!"
Solomon White stood irresolutely, and the mask seemed to melt into the darkness. White strained his ears to catch the soft patter of its shoes as it mounted the stairs, but no sound came. Then with a start he seemed to awake as if from a bad dream, and without another word strode down the remaining stairs into the night.
On the landing above, the strange being who called himself "Jack o' Judgment" stood outside the door of Boundary's flat. He had taken a key from his pocket and had it poised, when he heard the clatter of the other's feet. He stood undecidedly, but only for a second, then the key slipped into the lock and the door opened. The butler from his little pantry saw the figure and slammed his own door, bolting it with trembling fingers.
In a second Jack o' Judgment was in the room facing the paralysed trio.
He spoke no word, but suddenly his right arm was raised, some shining object flew from his hand, and there was a crash of glass and instantly a vile odour. On the opposite wall where the bottle had broken appeared a dark and irregular stain.
Then, without so much as a laugh, he stepped back through the door and raced down the stairs in pursuit of White. It was too late; the man had disappeared. Jack o' Judgment stood for a moment listening, then he slipped off the black coat and ripped off the mask. The coat was of the finest silk, for he rolled it into the space of a pocket-handkerchief and slipped it in his pocket. The handkerchief went the same way. If there had been observers, they would have caught a glimpse of a man in evening dress as he went swiftly down the half-lighted stairway.
He turned and walked in the shadow of the building and passed down a side street, where a big limousine was awaiting him. He gave a murmured direction to the driver, and the car sped on its way.
Solomon White had a taxi waiting, and gave his directions. He was sufficiently loyal to the band to avoid calling especial attention to the house where the girl was imprisoned, and he told his cab to wait at the end of Putney Heath. The night was wild and boisterous and very dark, but he carried an electric torch, and presently he came to weather-stained gates bearing in letters which had half-faded the name he sought. He pushed open the gate with some trouble. There was a curving carriage-drive which led to the front door, which stood at the head of a flight of steps under a square and ugly portico.
He looked up at the building, but it was in darkness. Apparently it was empty, but he knew enough of the colonel's methods to know that Boundary would not advertise the presence of the girl to the outside world.
He stood hesitating, wondering. The whole thing might be a trap, but Solomon White was not easily scared. He took a revolver from his pocket, drew back the hammer and walked forward cautiously. There was no sign of life. The rustling of shrubs and trees was the only mournful sound which varied the roar of the storm.
He was opposite the door, and one foot was raised to surmount the first step, when there came a sound like the sharp tap of a drum.
Rap-rap!
Solomon White stood for fully a second before he crumbled and fell, and he was dead before he reached the ground.
Still there was no sign or sound of life. A church clock boomed out the quarter to ten. A motor-car went past, and then the laurel bushes by the side of the steps moved, and a man in a black mackintosh stepped out. He bent over the dead man, picked up the fallen torch and flashed the light on the dead man's face, then, with a grunt of satisfaction, Raoul Pontarlier unscrewed his Soubet silencer and slipped his automatic into the wet pocket of his mackintosh.
Feeling in an inside pocket for a cigarette, he found one and lit it from the smouldering end of a tinder-lighter. Then, carefully concealing the lighted cigarette in the palm of his hand, he walked softly and noiselessly down the drive, keeping to the shadow of the bushes and watching to left and right for signs of approaching pedestrians. At two points he could see the heath road, and nobody was in sight. There was plenty of time, and men had been ruined by haste. He reached the gate and carefully looked over. The road was deserted. His hand was on the gate, when something cold and hard was pushed against his ear and he turned round.
Put up your hands! said a mocking voice. "Put them up!"
The Frenchman's hands rose slowly.
Now turn round and face the house. Quick! said the voice. "_Marchez!_ Halt!"
Raoul stopped. If he could only get his hands down and duck, one lightning dive....
His captor evidently read his thoughts, for he felt a hand slip into his mackintosh pocket, and he was relieved of the weight of his automatic.
Go forward, up the steps. Stop!
The stranger had seen the huddled figure of White, and stooped over him. He made no comment. He knew the man was dead before his hands had touched him.
Mount the steps, _canaille!_ said the voice, and Raoul walked slowly up the steps of the house and halted with his face against the door.
A hand came up under his uplifted arm and sought the keyhole. A few minutes' fumbling until the prongs of the skeleton key had found its corresponding wards, and then the door swung open, emitting a scent of mustiness and decay.
_Marchez!_ said the stranger, and Raoul walked forward and heard the door slam behind him.
The house was not empty, in the sense that it was unfurnished. The unknown was using an electric torch of extraordinary brilliancy, and revealed a dilapidated hall-stand and a musty chair. He took a brief survey and then:
Down those stairs! he said, and the murderer obeyed.
They were in the kitchen now, and again the bright light gleamed about. The windows were heavily shuttered, the grate was rusty, and a few odd pieces of china on the sideboard were dirty. There was a gas bracket in the centre over a large deal table, and this the stranger turned on. He heard the hiss of escaping gas, struck a match and lit it, and then for the first time Raoul gazed in fear and astonishment upon the man who held him.
Monsieur, he stammered, "who are you?"
The masked figure slipped his hand into his pocket and flicked a card upon the table, and Raoul, looking down, saw the Jack of Clubs, and knew that his end was near.
* * * * *
For three hours the Frenchman had lain on the floor, tied hand and foot, a gag in his mouth, and the clocks were striking two when Jack o' Judgment came back. This time he wore neither mask nor coat but over his arm he carried a coil of fine rope. Raoul watched him, fascinated, as he walked about the kitchen, whistling softly to himself, and now and again breaking into scraps of song.
Monsieur, monsieur, blubbered the terrified man, "I would make a confession. I will make a statement before the judge----"
Jack o' Judgment smiled.
You shall make a statement before your judge, for I am he, he said, "and I think this is the place."
He glanced up at the high roof of the kitchen, for there was a stout hook, where in old times heavy sides of bacon hung. He drew the table under the place and put a chair on top. Then he mounted, and with a skillful cast of his rope caught the hook and drew the rope slowly through. He did not move the table or take any notice of the man on the floor, but stood as a workman might stand who was calculating distances, and all the time he whistled softly.
Monsieur, monsieur, for God's sake spare me! I will make reparation!
You speak truly, said the other without taking his eyes from the rope, "for it is reparation you make this night for two dead men, and God knows how many besides."
Two?
The murderer twisted his head.
For a man called Gregory particularly, said Jack o' Judgment, "shot down like a mad dog."
I was paid to do it. I knew nothing against him, I had no malice in my heart, said the man eagerly.
Nor have I, said Jack o' Judgment, "for behold! I shall kill you without passion, as a warning to all villains of all nationalities."
This is against the law, whined the man, beads of sweat standing on his forehead. "Give me a knife and let me fight you. You coward!"
Give Solomon White a pistol, and let him fight you, said the other. "It is against the law--well, I know it. But it is much more speedy than the law, my little cabbage!"
He was busy making a slip-knot at one end of the rope, and presently he had finished it to his satisfaction.
Raoul Pontarlier, he said, "this is a moment for which I have waited."
The man screamed and twisted his head, but the noose was about his neck and tightening. Then with a wrench Jack o' Judgment jerked him to his feet.
On to the table, he said sternly. "Mount! It is quicker so!"
I will not, I will not! yelled the Frenchman. His voice rose to a shrill scream. "I--help!... help!..."
Half an hour later Jack o' Judgment came down the dark path, stopping only for a second to look upon the figure of Solomon White.
God have mercy on you all! he said soberly, and passed into the night.
The Putney mystery, said the _Daily Megaphone_, "surpasses any of recent years in its sensational character. There is a touch of the bizarre in this grim spectacle of the dead man at the door of the empty house, and the swaying figure of his murderer hanging in the kitchen, with no other mark of identification than a playing card pinned to his breast.
The tragedy can be reconstructed up to a point. Mr. White was evidently killed in the garden by the Frenchman who was found hanging. The automatic pistol in his pocket, which had recently been discharged, might support this theory even if the police had not found tracks of his feet in the laurels. But who hanged the man Raoul with a hangman's rope? That is the supreme mystery of all. The Putney police can offer no information on the subject, and Scotland Yard is as reticent. The circumstances of the discovery are as follows. At three o'clock on the morning of the 4th, Police-Constable Robinson, who was patrolling his beat, entered the garden, as is customary when houses are empty, to see if any doors had been forced. There had been an epidemic of burglaries in the region of Putney Heath during the past two or three months, and the police are exercising unusual vigilance in relation to these houses. The constable might not have made his inspection that night but for the fact that the garden gate had been left wide open....
Here followed an account of how the body was found and how further investigation led the constable to the kitchen to make his second gruesome discovery.
Colonel Boundary folded up the paper slowly and put it down. He had bought a copy of an early edition of the evening newspaper as he was stepping into his car, and now he was driving slowly through the park. He lit a cigar and gazed stolidly from the window. But his face showed no sign of mental perturbation.
The car had made the circuit of the Park twice when, turning again by Marble Arch, he saw Crewe standing on the sidewalk. A word to his chauffeur, and the machine drew up.
Come in, he said curtly, and the other obeyed.
The hand that he lifted to take his cigarette from his lips trembled, and the colonel eyed him with quiet amusement.
They've got you rattled too, have they? he said.
My God! It's awful! said Crewe. "Awful!"
What's awful about it? asked the colonel. "White's dead, ain't he? And Raoul's dead, ain't he? Two men who might talk and give a lot of trouble."
What did he say before he died? That's what I've been thinking. What did he say?
Who? Raoul? demanded the colonel. He had asked himself the same question before. "What could he say? Anyway, if he had a statement to make, and his statement was worth taking, why, he'd be alive to-day! Raoul was the one witness that they wanted, if they only knew it. They've bungled pretty badly, whoever they are."
This Jack o' Judgment, quavered Crewe, his mouth working. "Who is he? What is he?"
How do I know? snarled the colonel. "You ask me these fool questions--do you expect a reply? They're dead, and that's done with. I'd sooner he killed Raoul than made a mess of my room, anyway!"
Why did he do it? asked Crewe.
The colonel growled something about fools and their questions, but offered no explanation.
It may have been a monkey trick to make us change, our quarters--the stuff was sulphuretted hydrogen and asafoetida. It may have been just bravado, but if he thinks he can scare me----
He sucked viciously at his cigar end.
I've got workmen in to strip the walls and re-paper the bit that's soiled, he said. "I'll be back there to-night."
The colonel threw the end of his cigar from the window and relapsed into moody reverie. When he spoke it was in a more cheerful tone.
Crewe, he said, "that guy at Scotland Yard has given me an idea."
Which guy? asked Crewe, steadying his voice.
The First Commissioner, said the colonel, lighting another cigar. "He particularly wanted to know if 'Snow' had any relations. Curse 'Snow'!" he said between his teeth, and dropping his mask of urbanity. "I wish he'd--well, it doesn't matter; he's dead, anyway--he's dead."
Relations? said Crewe. "Did you tell him anything?"
I told him all I knew, and that was very little, said the colonel, "but it struck me that Sir Stanley knows much more about this fellow 'Snow' than we do. At any rate, somebody's been making inquiries, and I guess that somebody is the fellow who settled Raoul."
Jack o' Judgment?
Jack o' Judgment, repeated the colonel grimly. "You showed 'Snow' Gregory into the gang--what do you know about him?"
Crewe shook his head.
Very little, he said. "I met him in Monte Carlo. He was down and out. He seemed a likely fellow--educated, a gentleman and all that sort of thing--and when I found that he'd hit the dope, I thought he'd be the kind of man you might want."
The colonel nodded.
He never talked about his relations. The only thing I know was that he had a father or an uncle, who was in India, and I gathered that he had forged his name to a bill. When I arrived in Monte Carlo he was spending the money as fast as he could. I guess that was why he called himself Gregory, for I'm sure it wasn't his name.
You're sure he never spoke of a brother?
Never, said Crewe; "he never talked about himself at all. He was generally under the influence of dope or was recovering from it."
The colonel pushed back his hat and rubbed his forehead.
There must be some way of identifying him, he said. "He came from Oxford, you say?"
Yes, I know that, said Crewe; "he spoke of it once."
What house in Oxford? There are several colleges, aren't there?
From Balliol, said Crewe. "I distinctly remember him talking about Balliol."
What year would that be?
Crewe reflected.
He left college two years before I met him at Monte Carlo, he said; "that would be----" He gave the year.
Well, it is pretty simple, said the colonel. "Send a man to Oxford and get the names of all the men that left Balliol in that year. Find out how many you can trace, and I dare say that will narrow the search down to two or three men. Now get after this at once, Crewe. Spare no expense. If it costs half a million I'm going to discover who Mr. Jack o' Judgment is when he's at home."
He dismissed Crewe and gave fresh instructions to his driver, and ten minutes later he was stepping out of his limousine at the entrance to Scotland Yard.
Stafford King was not in, or at any rate was not available. Greatly daring, the colonel sent his card to the First Commissioner. Sir Stanley Belcom read the name and raised his eyebrows.
Show him in, he said, and for the second time the colonel was ushered into the presence of the chief.
Well, colonel, said Sir Stanley, "this is rather a dreadful business."
Terrible, terrible! said the colonel, shaking his head. "Solomon White was one of my best friends. I've been searching for him for weeks."
So I've heard, said Sir Stanley dryly. "Have you any theory?"
None whatever.
What about this man called Raoul? Is he unknown to you? asked Sir Stanley.
That's what I've come to see you about, sir, said the colonel in a confidential tone. "You remember the last time I was here, you suggested that possibly the murderer of poor Gregory might be a Frenchman. _You_ remember how you told me that these French assassins have a trick of leaving some fantastic card or sign of their handiwork?"
Sir Stanley nodded.
Well, here you have the same thing repeated, said the colonel triumphantly, "and the identical card. Do you think, sir, that the murderer of my poor friend Gregory and my poor friend White was the same man?"
In fact, Raoul? asked Sir Stanley.
The colonel nodded, and for a few moments Sir Stanley communed with his well-kept finger-nails.
I don't think it will do any harm if I tell you that that is my theory also, Colonel Boundary, he said, "and, giving confidence for confidence, would you have any objection to telling me whether Raoul is one of your--er--business associates?"
There was just the slightest shade of irony in the last two words, but the colonel preferred to ignore it.
I'm very glad you asked me that question, sir, he said with a sigh, so palpably a sigh of relief that the recording angel might be excused if he were deceived. "I have never seen Raoul before. In fact, my knowledge of Frenchmen is a very small one. I do very little business in France, and I certainly do no business at all with men of that class."
What class? asked the other quickly.
The colonel shrugged his big shoulders.
I am only going on what the newspapers say, he said. "They suggest that this man is an apache."
You do not know him? asked Sir Stanley after a pause.
I have never seen him in my life, said the colonel.
Again Sir Stanley examined his finger-nails as though searching for some flaw.
Then you will be surprised to learn, he drawled at last, "that you sat next to him in the cooling-room of the Yildiz Turkish Baths."
The colonel's heart missed a beat, but he did not flinch.
You surprise me, he said. "I have only been to the Turkish baths once during the past three months, and that was yesterday."
Sir Stanley nodded.
According to my information, which was supplied to me by my very able assistant, Mr. Stafford King, that was also the morning when Raoul was seen to enter that building.
And he sat next to me? said the colonel incredulously.
He sat next to you, said Sir Stanley, with evidence of enjoyment.
Well, that is the most amazing coincidence, exclaimed the colonel, "I have ever met with in my life! To imagine that that scoundrel sat shoulder to shoulder with me--good heavens! It makes me hot to think about it."
I was afraid it would, said the First Commissioner.
He pressed the bell and his secretary came in.
See if Mr. Stafford King is in the building, and tell him to come to me, please, he said. "You see, colonel, we were hoping you would supply us with a great deal of very useful information. We naturally thought it was something more than a coincidence that this man and you should foregather at a Turkish bath--a most admirable rendezvous, by the way."
You may accept my word of honour, said Colonel Boundary impressively, "that I had no more idea of that man's presence, or of his identity, or of his very existence, than you had."
Stafford King came in at that moment, and the colonel, noting the haggard face and the look of care in the dark-lined eyes, felt a certain amount of satisfaction.
I've just been telling the colonel about his meeting in the Turkish baths, said Sir Stanley. "I suppose there is no doubt at all as to that happening?"
None whatever, sir, said Stafford shortly. "Both the colonel and this man were seen by Sergeant Livingstone."
The colonel suggests that it was a coincidence, and that he has never spoken to the man, said Sir Stanley. "What do you say to that, King?"
Stafford King's lips curled.
If the colonel says so, of course, it must be true.
Sarcasm never worries me, said the colonel. "I'm always getting into trouble, and I'm always getting out again. Give a dog a bad name and----"
He stopped. There arose in his mind a mental picture of a man swinging in an underground kitchen, and in spite of his self-control he shuddered.
And hang him, eh? said Sir Stanley. "Now, I'm going to put matters to you very plainly, colonel. There have been three or four very unpleasant happenings. There has been the death of the chief witness for the Crown against you; there has been the death of this unhappy man White, who was closely associated with you in your business deals, and who had recently broken away from you, unless our information is inaccurate; there is the death of Raoul, who was seen seated next to you and apparently carrying on a conversation behind a fan."
He never spoke a word to me, protested the colonel.
And we have the disappearance of Miss White, which is one of the most important of the happenings, because we have reason to believe that Miss White, at any rate, is still alive, said Sir Stanley, taking no notice of the interruption. "Now, colonel, you may or may not have the key to all these mysteries. You may or may not know who your mysterious friend, the Jack o' Judgment----"
He's no friend of mine, by heaven! said the colonel, and neither man doubted that he spoke the truth.
As I say, you may know all these things. But principally at this moment we are anxious to secure authentic news concerning Miss White. Both I and Mr. Stafford King have particular reasons for desiring information on that subject. Can you help us?
The colonel shook his head.
If by spending a hundred thousand pounds I could help you, I would do it, he said fervently, "but as to Miss White and where she is, I am as much at sea as you. Do you believe that, sir?"
No, said Sir Stanley truthfully; "I don't."
The colonel left Scotland Yard with a sense that he had spent the morning not unprofitably. It was his way to beard the lion in his den, and after all, the police department was no more formidable than any other public department. He spent the morning quietly in Pinto's flat, making certain preparations. The workmen were making a thorough job of his damaged wall, as he found when he looked in, and the horrible odour had almost disappeared. It was to be a much longer job than he thought. It had been necessary to cut away and replace the plaster under the paper for the infernal mixture had soaked deep. Still the colonel had plenty to occupy his mind. What he called his legitimate business had been sadly neglected of late. Reports had come in from all sorts of agencies, reports which might by careful study be turned to the greatest advantage. There was the affair of Lady Glenmerrin. He had been months accumulating evidence of that lady's marital delinquencies, and now the iron was ready to strike--and he simply had no interest in a deal which might very easily transfer the famous Glenmerrin Farms to his charge at a nominal figure.
And there were other prospects as alluring. But for the moment the colonel was mainly interested in the stock value of Colonel Dan Boundary and the possibility of violent fluctuations. He was losing grip. The story of Jack o' Judgment had circulated with amazing rapidity, by all manner of underground channels, to people vitally concerned. Crewe, who had been a stand-by in almost every big coup he had pulled off, was as stable as pulp. White his right-hand man, was dead. Pinto--well, Pinto would go his own way just when it suited him. He had no doubt whatever as to Pinto's loyalty. Silva had big estates in Portugal, to which he would retire just when things were getting warm and interesting. Moreover, the British Government could not extradite Pinto from his native land.
The colonel found himself regretting that he had missed the opportunity of taking up American citizenship during the seven years he had spent in San Francisco. And what of Crewe? Crewe was to reveal himself most unmistakably. He came in in the late afternoon and found the colonel working through the litter on his desk.
Have you started your search at Oxford? asked the colonel.
I've sent two men down there--the best men in London, replied Crewe.
He drew up a chair to the desk and flung his hat on a near-by couch.
I want to have a little talk with you, colonel.
Boundary looked up sharply.
That sounds bad, he said. "What do you want to talk about? The weather?"
Hardly, said Crewe. A little pause, and then: "Colonel, I'm going to quit."
The colonel made no reply. He went on writing his letter, and not until he reached the end of the page and carefully blotted the epistle did he meet Crewe's eyes.
So you're going to quit, are you? said Boundary. "Cold feet?"
Something like that, said Crewe. "Of course, I'm not going to leave you in the lurch."
Oh, no, said the colonel with elaborate politeness, "nobody's going to leave me in the lurch. You're just going to quit, that's all, and I've got to face the music."
Why don't you quit too, colonel?
Quit what? asked Boundary. "And how? You might as well ask a tree to quit the earth, to uproot itself and go on living. What happens when I walk out of this office and take a first-class state-room to New York? You think the Boundary Gang collapses, fades away, just dies off, eh? The moment I leave there's a squeal, and that squeal will be loud enough to reach me in whatever part of the world I may be. There are a dozen handy little combinations which will think that I am double-crossing them, and they'll be falling over one another to get in with the first tale."
Crewe licked his dry lips.
Well that certainly may be in your case, colonel, but it doesn't happen to be in mine. I've covered all my tracks so that there's no evidence against me.
That's true, said the colonel. "You've just managed to keep out of taking an important part. I congratulate you."
There's no sense in getting riled about it, said Crewe; "it has just been my luck, that's all. Well, I want to take advantage of this luck."
In what way?
I'm out of any bad trouble. The police, if they search for a million years, couldn't get a scrap of evidence to convict me, he said, "even if they'd had you when Hanson betrayed you, they couldn't have convicted me."
That's true, said the colonel again. He shook his head impatiently. "Well, what does all this lead to, Crewe? Do you want to be demobilised?" he asked humorously.
That's about the size of it, said Crewe. "I don't want to be in anything fresh, and I certainly don't want to be in this----"
What?
In this Maisie White business, said Crewe doggedly. "Let Pinto do his own dirty work."
My dirty work too, said the colonel. "But I reckon you've overlooked one important fact."
What's that? demanded Crewe suspiciously.
You've overlooked a young gentleman called Jack o' Judgment, said the colonel, and enjoyed the look of consternation which came to the other's face. "There's a fellow that doesn't want any evidence. He hanged Raoul all right."
Do you think he did it? said Crewe in a hushed voice.
Do I think he did it? The colonel smiled. "Why, who else? And when he comes to judge you, I guess he's not going to worry very much about affidavits and sworn statements, and he's not going to take you before a magistrate before he hands you over to the coroner."
Crewe jumped to his feet.
What have I done? he asked harshly.
What have you done? Well, you know that best, said the colonel with a wave of his hand. "You say the police haven't got you and haven't a case against you. Maybe you're right. That Greek was saying the same sort of thing to me. He was here this afternoon squealing about taking the girl to the Argentine, and wanted us to send the doctor, and he'll be waiting to meet us when we land. There's no evidence against him either. Maybe there's more evidence than you imagine. I wouldn't bank too much upon the police passing you by, if I were you, Crewe. There's something about Mr. Stafford King that I don't like. He's got more brains in his little finger than that dude commissioner has in the whole of his body. He doesn't say much, but I guess he thinks a lot, and I'd give something to know what he's thinking about me just now."
Time had long ceased to have any significance for Maisie White. There was daylight and nightlight. She seemed to remember that she had made a great fight on the day she arrived at this strange house when the hard-faced nurses had strapped her to the bed, and an old man, with trembling fingers, had pushed a needle into her arm. She remembered it hurt, and then she remembered very little else. She viewed life with a dull apathy and without much understanding. She ceased to resent the presence of the women who came and went, and even the uncleanly old doctor no longer filled her with a sense of revulsion. She just wanted to be left alone to sleep, to dream the strangest dreams that any girl had ever had. She did not know that this was the action of bromide of potassium, consistently administered in every drink she took, in every morsel of food she ate. Bromide in bread, in coffee, in mashed potatoes, in rice, in all the vehicles by which the drug could be administered.
Sometimes by reason of her sheer vitality she flung off the effects of the dope, and was keenly conscious of her surroundings. There was one girl who came and went, a pretty girl with fluffy golden hair, who looked at her dispassionately and made no reply to the questions with which Maisie plied her. And once she had seen Pinto and would have screamed, but they stopped her in time. One night the old doctor had come into the room very drunk. He was crying and moaning in a maudlin fashion about some mysterious position which he had lost, and he had sat on the bed and, cursed his passion for strong drink with such vehemence that she, in her half-dazed state of mind, had found herself interested against her will.
In one of her lucid intervals she had realised a vital fact, that she was under the influence of a drug, and instinctively knew that she was becoming more and more immune to its action. She formed a vague plan, which she had almost forgotten the next morning. She must always be sleepy, almost dazed; she must never show signs of returning consciousness. She had been a week in the "nursing home" before she made this plan. She could lie now with her eyes shut, picking up the threads. She heard somebody talk of a ship and of a passport, and learned that she was to be removed in another week. She could not find where, but it was somewhere on a ship. She tried once, when the nurses were out of the room, to get out of bed and walk to the window. Her legs gave way beneath her, and it was with the greatest difficulty that she managed to crawl back to bed.
There was no escape that way. There was no help either from the nurses who were not nurses at all, nor from the maudlin little doctor, nor from the pretty girl who came sometimes and looked down on her with undisguised contempt--or was it pity? Then one night she woke in a fright. Two people were talking. She half turned her head and saw that Pinto was in the room, and his face was a flaming fury. She had seen that look before, but now his rage was directed at somebody else, and with a start she recognised the pretty girl that the nurses called Lollie.
You're not in this, Lollie, said the man, and she laughed.
That's just where you're wrong, Silva, she replied. "I'm very much in it. What happens to this girl when she leaves here heaven only knows--I guess it's up to the colonel. But while she's here I'm looking after her."
You are, are you? he said between his teeth. "Well, now you can go and take a walk."
I can also take a seat too, she said.
He walked over to her and glowered down at the girl, and she puffed a cloud of cigarette smoke in his face.
I'm a crook because it pays me to be a crook, said the girl calmly. "If it's jollying along one of the colonel's blue-eyed innocents, or keeping a watchful eye upon Mr. King, or acting trustful maiden to some poor fool from the country--why, I'm ready and willing, because that's my job. But this is a different matter altogether. If the colonel says she's got to go abroad, why, I suppose she's got to go. But she's not going to be on my conscience, that's all," said Lollie.
They passed through the door into a smaller room where the night watchers sat. She made as though to sit at the table when he gripped her arm and swung her round. She put up her hands to defend herself, but was thrown against the wall, and his grip was on her throat.
Do you know what I'll do for you? he hissed.
I don't care what you do, she said. She was on the verge of tears. "You're not going into that room--you're _not_ going!"
She sprang at him, but with a snarl like a wild beast, he turned and struck her, and she fell against the wall.
Now get out--he pointed to the door--"get out and don't show your face here again. And if you've got any information, you can report it to the colonel and see what he's got to say to you!"
She slunk from the room. Pinto went back to the room where the girl lay.
Cover your head with a blanket, my pretty? he said. "Pinto must not see that pretty face, eh?"
He laid hold of the blanket's edge and pulled it gently down. But the blanket would not come away. It was being clutched tightly. With a jerk he wrenched it down, then stumbled backwards to the floor, a grotesque and ludicrous figure, for the white silk mask of Jack o' Judgment confronted him and the hateful voice of his enemy shrilled:
I'm Death! Jack o' Judgment! Poor old Jack! Jack, the hangman! You'll meet him one day, Pinto--meet him now!
Pinto collapsed--he had fainted.
There is one fact which I would impress upon you, said Sir Stanley Belcom, addressing the heads of his departments at the early morning conference at Scotland Yard, "and it is this, that the criminal has nine chances against the one which the law possesses. He has the initiative in the first place, and if he fails to evade detection, the law gives him certain opportunities of defence and imposes certain restrictions which prevent one taking a line which would bring the truth of his assertions or denials to light. It protects him; it will not admit evidence against him; it will not allow the jury to be influenced by the record of his previous crimes until they have delivered their verdict upon the one on which he stands charged; in fact, gentlemen, the criminal, if he were intelligent, would score all the time."
That's true enough, sir, said Cole, of the Record Office. "I've never yet met a criminal who wasn't a fool."
And you never will till you meet Colonel Boundary, said Sir Stanley with a good-natured smile, "and the reason you do not meet him is because he is not a fool. But, gentlemen, every criminal has one weak spot, and sooner or later he exposes the chink in his armour to the sword of justice--if you do not mind so theatrical an illustration. Here, again, I do not think that Boundary will make any such exposure. One of you gentlemen has again brought up the question as to the prosecution of the Boundary Gang, and particularly the colonel himself. Well, I am all in favour of it, though I doubt whether the Home Secretary or the Public Prosecutor would agree with my point of view. We have a great deal of evidence, but not sufficient evidence to convict. We know this man is a blackmailer and that he engages in terrorising his unfortunate victims, but the mere fact that we know is not sufficient. We need the evidence, and that evidence we have not got. And that is where our mysterious Jack o' Judgment is going to score. He knows, and it is sufficient for him that he _does_ know. He calls for no corroborative evidence, but convicts and executes his judgment without recourse to the law books. I do not think that the official police will ever capture Boundary, and if it is left to them, he will die sanctified by old age and ten years of comfortable repentance. He will probably end his life in a cathedral town, and may indeed become a member of the town council--hullo, King, what is the matter?"
Stafford King had rushed in. He was dusty and hot of face, and there was a light of excitement in his eyes.
She's found, sir, she's found!
She's found? Sir Stanley frowned. "To whom are you referring? Miss White?"
Stafford could only nod.
With a gesture the commissioner dismissed the conference. Then:
Where was she found? he asked.
In her own flat, sir. That is the amazing thing about it.
What! Did she come back herself?
Stafford shook his head.
It is an astonishing story, sir. She was, of course, detained and held prisoner somewhere, and last night--she will not give me any details--she was carried from the house where she had been kept prisoner. She had an awful experience, at which she only hints, poor girl! Apparently she fainted, and when she came to she was in a motor-car being carried along rapidly. And that is about all she'll tell me.
But who brought her away? asked the commissioner.
Again Stafford shook his head.
For some reason or other she is reticent and will give no information at all. It is evident she has been drugged, for she looks wretchedly ill--of course, I haven't pressed her for particulars.
It is a strange story, said the commissioner.
I have a feeling, Stafford went on, "that she has given a promise to her unknown rescuer that she will not tell more than is necessary."
But it is necessary to tell the police, said the commissioner, "and even more important for the young lady to tell her--fiance, I hope, King?"
The young man reddened and smiled.
I agree with you that this is not the moment when you can cross-examine the girl, but I want you to see her as soon as you possibly can and try to induce her to tell you all she knows.
* * * * *
Maisie White lay on the sofa in her own room. She was still weak, but oh! the relief of being back again and of ending that terrible nightmare which had oppressed her for--how long? Even the depressing effect of the drug could not quench the exaltation of finding herself free. She went over the details of the night one by one. She must do it, she thought. She must never lose grip of what happened or forget her promise.
First she recalled seeing the weird figure of Jack o' Judgment. He had lifted her from the bed and had laid her on the floor. She remembered seeing him slip beneath the blankets, and then Pinto had come. She recalled the cracked voice of her rescuer, his fantastic language.
She had awakened to consciousness to find herself in a big car which was passing quickly through the dark and deserted streets. She had no recollection of being carried from the room or of being handed to the thick-set man who stood on a ladder outside the open window. All she recalled was her waking to consciousness and seeing in the half-light the gleam of a white silk handkerchief.
She was too dazed to be terrified, and the soft voice which spoke into her ear quelled any inclinations she might have had to struggle. For the man was holding her in his arms as tenderly as a brother might hold a sister, or a father a child.
You're safe, Miss White, said the voice. "Do you understand? Are you awake?"
Yes, she whispered.
You know what I have saved you from?
She nodded.
I want you to do something for me now. Will you? She nodded again. "Are you sure you understand?" said the voice anxiously.
I quite understand, she replied.
She could have almost smiled at his consideration.
I am taking you to your home, and to-morrow your friends will know that you have returned. But you're not to tell them about the house where they have kept you. You must not tell them about Silva or anybody that was in that house. Do you understand?
But why? she began, and he laughed softly.
I am not trying to shield them, he said, answering her unspoken thought, "but if you give information you can only tell a little, and the police can only discover a little, and the men can only be punished a little. And there's so much that they deserve, so many lives they have ruined, so much sorrow they have caused, that it would be a hideous injustice if they were only punished--a little. Will you leave them to me?"
She struggled to an erect position and stared at him.
I know you, she whispered fearlessly; "you are Jack o' Judgment."
Jack o' Judgment! he laughed a little bitterly. "Yes, I am Jack o' Judgment."
Who are you? she asked.
A living lie, he replied bitterly, "a masquerader, a mummer, a nobody."
She did not know what impelled her to do the thing, but she put out her hand and laid it on his. She felt the silky smoothness of the glove and then his other hand covered hers.
Thank you, he said simply. "Do you think you can walk? We are just turning into Doughty Street. We've passed the policeman on his beat; he is going the other way. Can you walk upstairs by yourself?"
I--I'll try, she said, but when he assisted her from the car she nearly fell, and he half carried, half supported her into her room.
He stood hesitating near the door.
I shall be all right, she smiled. "How quickly you understand my thoughts!"
Wouldn't it be well if I sent somebody to you--a nurse? Have you the key I gave you?
How did you get it? she asked suddenly, and he laughed again.
Jack o' Judgment, he mocked, "wise old Jack o' Judgment! He has everything and nothing! Suppose I send a nurse to you, a nice nurse. I could send the key to her by messenger. Would you like that?"
She looked doubtful.
I think I would, she said with a weak smile. "I am not quite sure of myself."
He did not take off the soft felt hat which was drawn tightly over his ears, nor did he remove his mask or cloak. She was making up her mind to take a closer stock of him, when unexpectedly he backed towards the door, and with a little nod was gone. He had left her on the couch, and there she was, half dozing and half drugged when the matronly nurse from St. George's Institute arrived half an hour later.
Stafford called in the afternoon and was surprised and delighted to learn that he could speak to the girl. He found her looking better and more cheerful. He bent over and kissed her cheek, and her hand sought his.
Now, I'm going to be awfully official, he laughed, "I want you to tell me all sorts of things. The chief is very anxious that we should lose no time in getting your story."
She shook her head.
There's no story to tell, Stafford, she said.
No story to tell? he said incredulously. "But weren't you abducted?"
She nodded.
There's that much you know, she said; "I was abducted and taken away. I have been detained and I think drugged."
No harm has come to you? he asked anxiously.
Again she shook her head.
But where did they take you? Who was it? Who were the people?
I can't tell you, she said.
You don't know?
She hesitated.
Yes, I think I know, but I can't tell you.
But why? he asked in astonishment.
Because the man who rescued me begged me not to tell, and, Stafford, you don't know what he saved me from.
He--he--who was it? asked Stafford.
The man called Jack o' Judgment, said the girl slowly, and Stafford jumped up with a cry.
Jack o' Judgment! he said. "I ought to have guessed! Did you see his face?" he demanded eagerly.
She shook her head again.
Did he give you any clue as to his identity?
None whatever, she replied with a little gleam of amusement in her eyes. "What a detective you are, Stafford! And I thought you were coming down here to tell me"--the colour went to her cheeks--"well, to tell me the news," she added hastily. "Is there any news?"
None, except----
Then he remembered that she knew nothing whatever of her father's death and its tragic sequel, and this was not the moment to tell her. Later, when she was stronger, perhaps.
She was watching him with trouble in her eyes. She had noted how quickly he had stopped and guessed that there was something to be told which he was withholding for fear of hurting her. Her father was uppermost in her mind and it was natural that she should think of him.
Is there any news of my father? she asked quietly.
None, he lied.
You're not speaking the truth, Stafford. She put her hand on his arm. "Stafford, is there any news of my father?"
He looked at her, and she saw the pain in his face.
Why don't you wait a little while, and I'll tell you all the news, he said with an assumption of gaiety. "There have been several fashionable weddings----"
Please tell me, she said, "Stafford. I've been for weeks under the influence of a drug, and somehow it has numbed pain, even mental pain, and perhaps you will never find me in a better condition to hear--the worst."
The worst has happened, Maisie, he said gently.
He has been arrested? she asked.
He shook his head.
No, dear, worse than that.
Not--not suicide? she said between her set teeth.
Again he shook his head. "He is dead," he said softly.
Dead!
There was a long silence which he did not break.
Dead! she said again. "How?"
He was shot by--we think it was by a member of the Boundary Gang, a man named Raoul.
She looked up at him.
I have never heard my father speak of him.
He was a man imported from France, according to our theory.
And was he captured?
He was killed too, said Stafford; "he was caught in the act and instantly executed."
By whom? she asked.
By Jack o' Judgment, replied Stafford.
Jack o' Judgment! She breathed the words. "And I--I never thanked him! I never knew!"
He told her the story step by step of the discovery which the police had made and the theories they had formed.
He was lured there, said the girl.
She did not cry. She seemed incapable of tears.
He was lured there and murdered, and Jack o' Judgment slew his murderer? Poor father! Poor, dear daddy!
And then the tears came.
Half an hour later he left her in charge of the nurse and went back to Scotland Yard to report.
The news of the girl's escape had been received in another quarter. Colonel Boundary had sat in his favourite chair and listened without comment to Pinto's halting explanation.
Oh, they went out of the window and down a ladder, did they? said the colonel sarcastically when the Portuguese had finished, "and you had a fit on the mat, I suppose? Well, that's a hell of a fine story! And what did you do? You who were plastered all over with guns? Couldn't you shoot?"
Did you shoot when you saw Jack o' Judgment? said the other sullenly. "It is no good your telling me what I ought to do."
Maybe it isn't, said the colonel. "Well, there's nothing to do now, anyway. The girl's gone, and all your fine plans have come unstuck."
They weren't my plans, said Pinto indignantly, "it was your scheme throughout."
The colonel bit off the end of his cigar and contemplated the ceiling reflectively.
We can only wait and see what will happen, he said. "The odds are all in favour of our being raided."
Pinto went pale.
Yes, said the colonel, talking to himself, "I guess this is our last day of freedom. Well, Pinto, I hope you can pick oakum."
Oh, shut up about oakum, growled the other; "it isn't a joke."
It is not a joke, said the colonel, "and if it is, it is one of those jokes that make people laugh the most. And do you know the kind of joke that makes people laugh the most, Pinto? It is when somebody gets hurt; and we are the people who are going to get hurt."
Do you think she'll tell the police?
It is extremely likely, said the colonel; "in fact, it is extremely unlikely that she won't tell the police. I am rather glad I'm out of it."
Pinto leaped up.
You're out of it! he shouted. "You're in it up to the neck!"
The colonel shook his head.
I'm absolutely out of it, Pinto, he said, flicking the ash of his cigar into the fireplace. "I cannot be identified with this unhappy affair by so much as a finger-print."
The Portuguese scowled down at him.
So that's the game, is it? You're going to double-cross us? You're going to be out of it and we're going to be in it.
Sit down, you fool. Double-cross you! You are easily scared at a little leg-pulling. I'm merely pointing out that it is not a matter in which I am greatly interested. It is a good thing for you I'm not. Who are the police after? You and Crewe and the rest of the gang? Not on your life! They're after me. They get the trunk and all the branches come down with it. Do you see? There's no sense in lopping off a few branches even of deadwood. It won't be good enough if they connect you with the case, unless they connect me too. They're after the big horns, they're not shooting the little bucks. If she tells the police, they're going to nose around for two or three days, seeing how far they can connect me with it. And if there's any connection--the slightest, Pinto--why, they'll pinch you without a doubt, but they'll pinch me too.
The colonel blew a blue ring of smoke into the air and watched it float to the ceiling.
The advantage of having a business associate like me is that I'm a sort of insurance to you little crooks. I am the big fish they're trying to hook, and their bait isn't the kind of bait that you'd swallow.
I've burnt all the papers I had, explained Pinto, "and covered my trail."
When you burnt your boats and came in with me, said the colonel, "you burnt everything that was worth burning. I tell you it isn't you they're trailing. It is me or nothing. Maybe they'll scare you," he said reflectively, "hoping you'll turn King's evidence. I've got a feeling that you won't--if I had a feeling the other way about, Pinto, you wouldn't see the curtain rise at the Orpheum to-night. And now," said the colonel, "we'll go out."
He rose abruptly, walked into his bedroom, and came out wearing his broad felt hat. He found Pinto biting his finger-nails nervously and looking out of the window.
I don't want to go out, said Pinto.
Come out, said the colonel. "What's the good of staying here, anyway? Besides, if they are going to pinch you, I don't want them to pinch you in my rooms. It would look bad."
They walked downstairs into the street, and a few minutes later were strolling across the Green Park, the colonel a picture of a contented bourgeoisie with his half-smoked cigar, and his hands clasped together under the tails of his alpaca coat.
I don't see how you can say they've no evidence against you. Suppose Crotin squeals?
He ain't stopped squealing yet, said the colonel philosophically, "but I don't see what difference it makes. Pinto, you haven't got the hang of my methods, and I doubt if you ever will. You're a clever, useful fellow, but if you were allowed to run the gang, you'd have it in gaol in a month. Take Crotin," he said. "I dare say he's feeling sore, and maybe this damned Jack o' Judgment person is standing behind him telling him----" He stopped. "No, he wouldn't either," he said after a moment's thought, "Jack o' Judgment knows as much about it as I do."
What are you talking about? asked the other impatiently.
Crotin, said the colonel; "he hasn't any evidence against me. You see, I do not do any business by letters. You fellows have often wanted me to write to this person and that, but writing is evidence. Do you get me? And what evidence has Crotin? Absolutely none. I have never written a line to him in my life. Crewe brought him down to the flat. We gave him a dinner and put the proposal to him in plain language. There's nothing he could take before a judge and jury--absolutely nothing."
He took the cigar from his mouth and blew a cloud of smoke.
That's the way I've built the business up--no letters, no documents, nothing that a lawyer can make head or tail of.
What about the documents that Hanson talked about?
The colonel frowned and then laughed.
They're nothing but records of our transactions, and they're not evidence. Why, even the police have given up the search for them. By the way, I haven't done with Crotin, he said after a while.
He's done with you, I should think, said Pinto grimly.
The colonel nodded.
I guess so, but he hasn't done with the gang. You can take him on next.
I? said Pinto in affright. "Now look here, colonel, don't you think it's time we laid low----"
Laid low! said the colonel scornfully. "We're either going to get into trouble or we're not. If we're not going to get into trouble, we might as well go on. Besides, we want the money. The business has slackened off, and we haven't had a deal since the Spillsbury affair, and that won't last very long. We've got to split our loot six ways, Pinto, and that leaves very little for anybody."
Where are you going now? asked the other, as the colonel changed his direction.
It just struck me that we might as well go over to the bank and see how our balance stands. Also, with the exchange going against us, I want to tell Ferguson to buy dollars.
The handsome premises of the Victoria and City Bank in Victoria Street were only a stone's throw from the park; and, whatever might be the views of Ferguson, the manager, as to the colonel's moral character, he had a considerable respect for him as a financier, and Dan Boundary was shown immediately into the manager's office.
He was gone some time, whilst Pinto waited impatiently outside. The colonel never invited other members, even of the inmost council, to share his knowledge of finances. They all knew roughly the condition of the exchequer, but really the balance at the Victoria and City was the colonel's own. It was the practice of the Boundary Gang (as was subsequently revealed) to share, after each coup, every man taking that to which he was entitled. The money was split between five, the sixth share going to what was known as the Gang Account, a common fund upon which all could draw in moments of necessity.
The Gang Fund was not so described in the books of the bank. It was known as "Account B." The expenses of operations were usually paid out of the colonel's private account, and credited to him when the share-out came. He was absolute master of his own balance, but it required three signatures to extract a cheque from Account B. One of the objects of the colonel's visit was to reduce this number to two, the death of Solomon White having removed one of the signatories.
He returned to Pinto, apparently not too well satisfied.
There's quite a lot of money in the Gang Account, he said. "I've struck off Solly's name, and your signature and mine, or mine and Crewe's, is sufficient now."
Or mine and Crewe's, I suppose? suggested Pinto, and the colonel smiled.
Oh, no, said he. "I'm not a great believer in the indispensability of any man, but I'm making the signature of Dan Boundary indispensable before that account is touched."
They walked back through the park, and the colonel expounded his philosophy of wrong living.
The man who runs an honest business and mixes it with a little crooked work is bound to be caught, he said, "because his mind is concentrated on the unpaying side of the game. You've got to run a crook business in an honest way if you want to escape the law and pay big dividends. They call our system blackmail, but it ain't. A blackmailer asks for something for nothing, and he's bound to get caught sooner or later. We offer spot cash for all the things we steal, and that baffles the law. And we're not the only people in London, or in England, or in the world, who are pulling bargains by scaring the fellow we buy from. It is done every day in the City of London; it is done every day by the trusts that control the little shops in the suburbs; it is done even by the big proprietary companies that tell a miserable little tradesman that, if he doesn't stop selling one article, they won't supply him with theirs. Living, Pinto, is preying. The only mistake a crook ever makes is when he goes outside of his legitimate business and lets some other consideration than the piling up of money influence him."
How do you mean? asked Pinto wearily. He hated the colonel when he was in this communicative mood of his.
Well, said the colonel slowly, "I shouldn't have been so keen to go after Maisie White if it hadn't been that you were fond of her and wanted her. That's what I call letting love interfere with business."
But you said you were afraid of her blabbing. You don't put it on to me, said the indignant Pinto.
I was and I wasn't, said the colonel. "I think I almost persuaded myself that the girl was a danger. Of course, she isn't. Even Solomon White wasn't a danger."
He stopped dead, and, speaking slowly and pointing his words with a huge forefinger on the other's chest, he said:
Bear this fact in mind, Pinto, that I have no malice against Miss White, and I don't think that she can harm me. As far as I'm concerned, I will never hurt a hair of her head or do her the slightest harm. I believe that she has nothing against me, and I give orders to anybody who's connected with me--in fact, to all of my business associates--that that girl is not to be interfered with.
Slowly, emphatically, every word emphasised, the colonel spoke, but Pinto did not smile. He had seen the colonel in this gentle mood before, and he knew that Maisie White was doomed.
Had Pinto been a psychologist, which he was not, he might have been struck by the unusual reference on the part of the colonel to the funds of the gang. It was a subject to which the colonel very seldom referred, and it was certainly one which he did not emphasise. The truth was that the colonel's investigations into his own private affairs had not been as satisfactory as he had hoped would be the case.
He was in the habit of advancing money, and the gang owed him a considerable sum, money which had been advanced for the pursuit of various enterprises. To draw that money would leave the Gang Fund sadly depleted, and he could not afford to draw upon it at a moment when they were all on edge. Not only were the two principal subordinates in the condition of mind which led them to jump at every knock and start at every shadow, but he had been receiving urgent messages from all parts of the country from the other men, and he had determined upon a step which he had not taken for three years--a meeting of the full "Board" of his lawless organisation.
That night summonses went forth calling his "business associates" to an Extraordinary General Meeting of the North European Smelter Syndicate. This was one of the companies which he operated, and the existence of which was justified by a small smelting works in the North of England, and owed its international character to the fact that it had branch works in Sweden. Its turnover was small, its list of stockholders was select. A summons to a General Meeting of the North European Smelter Company meant that the affairs of the gang were critical, and in this spirit the call was obeyed.
The meeting was held in the banquet hall of a West End restaurant, and the twenty men who assembled differed very little in appearance from twenty other provincial business men who might have been gathered to discuss the affairs of any company.
Their coming excited no comment, and apparently did not even arouse the attention of vigilant Scotland Yard. Nor, had the colonel's speech been taken down by a shorthand writer and submitted to the police, could any suggestion be found of the significance of the meeting. He spoke of the difficulties of trading, of the "competition" with which the company was faced, and called upon all the shareholders to assist loyally the executive in a very critical and trying time. But those who listened knew very well that the "competition" was the competition of the police, and they had their own ideas as to what constituted the trying time to which the colonel made reference.
It was a very commonplace, ordinary company meeting, which ended in a conventional way by a vote of confidence in the directors. It was when that had been passed, and the meeting had been broken up, and members and officials were talking together, that the real business started.
Then it was that Selby, the stout little man whose special job was to act as intermediary between the company and its more criminal enterprises, received his instructions to speed up. Selby was the receiver of letters. A burglar or a pickpocket who acquired in the course of his activities documents and letters which had hitherto been worthless found a ready market through Selby. Eighty letters out of every hundred were absolutely valueless, but occasionally they would find a rich gem, a love letter discreetly cherished, on which a new "operation" would be based. Then would begin the torturing of a human soul, the opening of new vistas of despair, the stage be cleared for a new tragedy.
The colonel was to find that the chief anxiety of his "shareholders" was not as to the future of the company or as to the success of its trading. Again and again he was asked a question couched in identical words, and again and again he replied with a shrug of his big shoulders:
What's the good of worrying about a thing like that? Jack o' Judgment is a crook! That's all he is, boys, a crook. He's not the sort of man who'll go to the police and give us away; he wouldn't dare put his nose inside a police station. You leave him to us, we'll fix him sooner or later.
But, somebody asked uneasily, "what about Raoul, that fellow who was killed at Putney?"
The colonel lifted his eyebrows.
Raoul, he said; "he was nothing to do with us. I never heard the fellow's name until I read it in the paper. As to White"--he shrugged his shoulders again--"we can't prevent people having private quarrels, and may be this Frenchman and White had one. My theory is," he said, elaborating an idea which had only at that moment occurred to him, "that Raoul, White and this Jack o' Judgment were working together. Maybe it isn't a bad thing that White was killed under the circumstances."
He dropped his hand on the other man's shoulder and oozed geniality.
Now, back you go, my lads, and don't worry. Leave it to old Dan to fix Jack o' Judgment, or Bill o' Judgment, or Tom o' Judgment, whoever he may be, and that we'll fix him you can be certain.
Coming away from the meeting, he expressed himself as being perfectly satisfied with its results. He brought Pinto and Crewe back with him in his car, and dropped the latter at Piccadilly Circus. Pinto would have been glad to have joined the "Swell," but the colonel detained him.
I want to talk to you, Pinto, he said.
I've had enough business for to-day, said the Portuguese.
So have I, said the colonel, "but that doesn't prevent my attending to pressing affairs. I was talking to you to-day--or was it yesterday?--about Crotin."
The Yorkshire woollen merchant? said Pinto.
That's the fellow, replied the colonel. "I suggested you should go and see him."
And I suggested that I shouldn't, said Pinto; "let him rest. You'll never get another chance like you had before."
Rest nothing, said the colonel testily, "you're scared because you imagine Crotin is warned? What do you think?"
Pinto was silent.
I suppose you think that, because Jack o' Judgment intervened at the right moment, he went back to Yorkshire feeling full of himself? Well, you're wrong. You don't understand one side of the psychology of this business. That little fellow is quaking in his shoes and wondering what his grand wife would say if the fact that he was a bigamist was revealed. And there's more reason for his fear to-day than ever there was. Look here!
He took a newspaper out of his pocket and Pinto remembered that, even during the meeting, the colonel had twice made reference to its columns and had wondered why. He had suspected that there had been some reference to the Boundary Gang, but this was not the case. The paragraph which the colonel pointed out with his thick forefinger was this:
By the death of Sir George Tressillian Morgan an ancient baronetcy has become extinct. His estate, which has been sworn at over a million, passes to his niece, Lady Sybil Crotin, the daughter of Lord Westsevern, Sir George's son and heir having been killed in the war. Lady Sybil is the wife of a well-known Yorkshire mill-owner.
I didn't know that, said Pinto, interested in spite of himself.
Nor did I till to-day, said the colonel. "The fact is, this damned Jack o' Judgment has put everything else out of our minds. And you can see for yourself, Pinto, that this business is important."
Pinto nodded.
We are not only after the mill, but here's a chance of making a real big coup. Now I can't send anybody else to Yorkshire--Crewe is impossible. Crotin knows him, and the moment he puts in an appearance, as likely as not Crotin would lose his head and give the whole show away. It is you or nobody.
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
You know, there are times when I'm sorry about Solomon White, he said, "he was the boy for this kind of business--that is to say in the old days--he got a bit above himself towards the end."
Pinto was to find that the colonel had made all arrangements, and that for the previous two days he had been planning a predatory raid on the Yorkshireman.
There was to be a bazaar in Huddersfield on behalf of a local hospital, in which Lady Sybil Crotin took a great interest. She was organising the fete and had invited subscriptions.
They're not coming in very fast, according to their local paper, said the colonel, "and that has given me an idea. You're a presentable sort of fellow, Pinto, and it is likely you'll be all the more successful because you're a foreigner. You'll go up to Yorkshire and you'll take a thousand pounds, and if necessary you'll subscribe pretty liberally to the fund, but it must be done through Lady Sybil. You can make yourself known to her and invite yourself to the house, where you can meet Crotin himself."
He made other suggestions, for he had worked out the whole scheme in detail for the other to carry into effect. Pinto's objections slowly dissipated. He was a vain man and had all the vices of his vanity. A desire to be thought well of, to be regarded as a rich man when he was in fact on the verge of ruin, had brought him into crooked practices and eventually into the circle of the colonel's acquaintances.
To appear amongst the fair as a giver of largesse on a magnificent scale suited him down to the ground. It was a part for which he was eminently fitted, as the colonel, a shrewd judge of humanity, knew quite well.
I'll take it on, said Pinto, "but do you think he'll squeal?"
Boundary shook his head.
I never knew a man who was caught on the rebound to squeal, he said. "No, no, you needn't worry about that. All you have to do is to use your discretion, choose the right moment, preparing him by a few hints for what is coming, and you'll find he'll sit down, like the hard-headed business man he is, and talk money."
Pinto pulled a little face.
I know what you're thinking, said the colonel. "You hate the idea of the generous donor being unmasked and appearing to anybody as a blackmailer. Well, you needn't worry about that. Lady Sybil will not know, nor will anybody else that counts. And, believe me, Crotin doesn't count. Anyway, you can pretend that you're a perfectly innocent agent in the matter, that you know me slightly and that I've dropped hints which made you curious and which you are anxious to verify."
Pinto went off to make preparations for the journey. He had one of the top flats in the Albemarle building, a suite of rooms which, if they were not as expensively furnished as the colonel's, were more artistic. He had recently acquired the services of a new "daily valet"--a step he could take without fear that his secrets would be betrayed, since he had no secrets in his own rooms, kept no documents of any kind, and received no visitors.
The man opened the door to his ring.
No, sir, nobody has been, said the servant in answer to his query, and Pinto was relieved.
For the past two days he had been living in a condition bordering on panic. It seemed unlikely that the colonel's confidence would be justified and that the police would take no action. And yet the incredible had happened. There had not been so much as an inquiry; and not once, though he had been on his guard, had he detected one shadow trailing him. His spirits rose, and he whistled cheerfully as he directed the packing of his trunk, for he was travelling North fully equipped for any social event which might await him.
I am going to Yorkshire, he explained. "I'll give you my address before I leave, and you can let me know if there are any inquiries and who the inquirers were."
Certainly, sir, said the man respectfully, and Pinto eyed him approvingly.
I think you'll suit me, Cobalt, he said. "My last valet was rather a fool and inclined to stick his nose into business which did not concern him."
The man smiled.
I shan't trouble you that way, sir, he said.
Of course, there's nothing to hide, said Pinto with a shrug, "but you know what people are. They think that because you're associated in business with Colonel Boundary you're up to all sorts of tricks."
That's what Mr. Snakit said, sir, remarked the man.
Snakit? said the puzzled Pinto. "Who the devil is Snakit?"
Then he remembered the little detective whom Maisie had employed and who had been bought over by the colonel.
Oh, you see him, do you? he asked carelessly.
He comes up, sir, now and again. He's the colonel's valet, isn't he, sir?
Pinto grinned.
Not exactly, he said. "I shouldn't discuss things with Snakit. That man is quite reliable and----"
Anyway, sir, I should not discuss your business, said the valet with dignity.
He finished packing and, after assisting his master to dress, was dismissed for the night.
A useful fellow, that, thought Pinto, as the door closed behind the man. The "useful fellow" reached the street and, after walking a few hundred yards, found a disengaged taxi and gave an address. Maisie White was writing when her bell rang. It rang three times--two long and one short peals--and she went downstairs to admit her visitor. She did not speak until she was back in her room, and then she faced the polite little man whom Pinto had called Cobalt.
Well, Mr. Grey, she said.
I wish you'd call me Cobalt, miss, said the man with a smile. "I like to keep up the name, otherwise I'm inclined to give myself away."
Have you found out anything?
Very little, miss, said the detective. "There's nothing to find in the apartment itself."
You secured the situation as valet?
He nodded.
Thanks to the recommendations you got me, miss, there was no difficulty at all. Silva wanted a servant and accepted the testimonials without question.
And you've discovered nothing? she said in a disappointed tone.
Not in Mr. Silva's room. The only thing I found out was that he's going to Yorkshire to-morrow.
For long? she asked.
For some considerable time, said the detective.
At least, I guess so, because he has packed half a dozen suits, top hats and all sorts of things which I should imagine he wouldn't take away unless he intended making a long stay.
Have you any idea of the place he's going to?
I shall discover that to-morrow, miss, said Cobalt. "I thought I'd tell you as much as I know."
And you have not been into the colonel's flat?
The man shook his head.
It is guarded inside and out, miss, now. He has not only his butler, who is a tough customer, to look after him, but he has Snakit, the man you employed, I understand.
That's the gentleman, said the girl with a little smile. "Very good, Cobalt--you'll 'phone me if you make any other discoveries."
She was sitting at her solitary breakfast the next morning when the telephone bell rang. It was from a call office, and presently she heard Cobalt's voice. "Just a word, miss. He leaves by the ten-twenty-five train for Huddersfield," said the voice, "and the person he is going to see is Lady Sybil somebody, and there's money in it."
How do you know? she asked quickly.
I heard him speaking to the colonel on the landing and I heard the words: 'He'll pay.'
She thought a moment.
Ten-twenty-five, she repeated; "thank you very much, Mr. Cobalt."
She hung up the receiver and sat for a moment in thought, then passed quickly to her bedroom and began to dress.