The Red Triangle

 BEING SOME FURTHER CHRONICLES OF MARTIN HEWITT, INVESTIGATOR

 By Arthur Morrison

 _Short Story Index Reprint Series_

BOOKS FOR LIBRARIES PRESSFREEPORT, NEW YORK

First Published 1903Reprinted 1970

STANDARD BOOK NUMBER:8369-3466-0

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER:75-116962

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

CONTENTS

 I. The Affair of Samuel's Diamonds

 II. The Case of Mr. Jacob Mason

 III. The Case of the Lever Key

 IV. The Case of the Burnt Barn

 V. The Case of the Admiralty Code

 VI. The Adventure of Channel Marsh

THE AFFAIR OF SAMUEL'S DIAMONDS

I

I have already recorded many of the adventures of my friend MartinHewitt, but among them there have been more of a certain few which werediscovered to be related together in a very extraordinary manner; and itis to these that I am now at liberty to address myself. There may havebeen others--cases which gave no indication of their connection withthese; some of them indeed I may have told without a suspicion of theirconnection with the Red Triangle; but the first in which that singularaccompaniment became apparent was the matter of Samuel's diamonds. Thecase exhibited many interesting features, and I was very anxious toreport it, with perhaps even less delay than I had thought judicious inother cases; but Hewitt restrained me. 

"No, Brett, " he said, "there is more to come of this. This particularcase is over, it is true, but there is much behind. I've an idea that Ishall see that Red Triangle again. I may, or, of course, I may not; butthere is deep work going on--very deep work, and whether we see more ofit or not, I must keep prepared. I can't afford to throw a single cardupon the table. So, as many notes as you please, Brett, for futurereference; but no publication yet--none of your journalism!"

Hewitt was right. It was not so long before we heard more of the RedTriangle, and after that more, though the true connection of some of thecases with the mysterious symbol and the meaning of the symbol itselfremained for a time undiscovered. But at last Hewitt was able to unmaskthe hideous secret, and for ever put an end to the evil influence thatgathered about the sign; and now there remains no reason why the fullstory should not be told. 

I have told elsewhere of my first acquaintance with Martin Hewitt, ofhis pleasant and companionable nature, his ordinary height, hisstoutness, his round, smiling face--those characteristics that aided himso well in his business of investigator, so unlike was his appearanceand manner to that of the private detective of the ordinary person'simagination. Therefore I need only remind my readers that my bachelorchambers were, during most of my acquaintance with Hewitt, in the oldbuilding near the Strand, in which Hewitt's office stood at the top ofthe first flight of stairs; where the plain ground-glass of the doorbore as inscription the single word "Hewitt, " and the sharp lad, Kerrett, first received visitors in the outer office. 

Next door to this old house, at the time I am to speak of, a much newerbuilding stood, especially built for letting out in offices. It happenedthat one day as Hewitt left his office for a late lunch, he became awareof a pallid and agitated Jew who was pervading the front door of thisadjoining building. The man exhibited every sign of nervous expectancy, staring this way and that up and down the busy street, and once or twicerushing aimlessly half-way up the inner stairs, and as often returningto the door. Apprehension was plain on his pale face, and he was clearlyin a state that blinded his attention to the ordinary matters about him, just as happens when a man is in momentary and nervous expectation ofsome serious event. 

Noting these things as he passed, with no more than the observation thatwas his professional habit, Hewitt proceeded to his lunch. This donewith, he returned to his office, perceiving, as he passed the next-doorbuilding, that the distracted Jew was no longer visible. It seemed plainthat the person or the event he had awaited with such obviousnervousness had arrived and passed; one more of the problems, anxietiesor crises that join and unravel moment by moment in the human ant-hillof London, had perhaps closed for good or ill within the past half-hour;perhaps it had only begun. 

A message awaited Hewitt at his office--an urgent message. Thehousekeeper had come in from next door, Kerrett reported, with an urgentrequest that Mr. Martin Hewitt would go immediately to the offices ofMr. Denson, on the third floor. The housekeeper seemed to know little ornothing of the business, except that a Mr. Samuel was alone in Mr. Denson's office, and had sent the message. 

With no delay Hewitt transferred himself to the next-door offices. Therethe housekeeper, who inhabited a uniform and a glass box opposite thefoot of the first flight of stairs, directed Hewitt, with the remarkthat the gentleman was very impatient and very much upset. "Third floor, sir, second door on the right; name Denson on the door. There's nolift. "

"W. F. Denson" was the complete name, followed by the line "Foreign andCommission Agent. " This Hewitt read with some little difficulty, for thedoor was open, and on the threshold stood that same agitated Jew whomHewitt had seen at the front door. 

A little less actively perturbed now, he was nevertheless stillnervously pale. "Mr. Martin Hewitt?" he cried, while Hewitt was stillonly at the head of the stairs. "Is it Mr. Martin Hewitt?"

Hewitt came quietly along the corridor, using eyes and ears as he came. The Jew was a man of middle height, very obviously Jewish, and with aslight accent that hinted a Continental origin. 

"I have just received your message, " Hewitt said, "and, as you see, I amhere with no delay. Is Mr. Denson in?"

"No--good heafens no--I would gif anything if he was, Mr. Hewitt. Comein, do! I haf been robbed--robbed by Denson himself, wit'out a wort ofdoubt. It is terrible--terrible! Fifteen t'ousant pounds! It ruins me, Mr. Hewitt, ruins me! Unless you can recover it! If you recover it, Iwill pay--pay--oh, I will pay fery well indeed!"

There was a characteristically sudden moderation of the client'semphasis when he came to the engagement to pay. Hewitt had observed itin other clients, but it did not disturb him. 

"First, " he said, "you must tell me your difficulty. You say you havebeen robbed of fifteen thousand pounds----"

"Tiamonts, Mr. Hewitt--tiamonts! All from the case--here is the case, empty----"

"Let us be methodical. We will shut the door and sit down. " Hewittpressed his client into a chair and produced his note-book. "It will bebetter to begin at the beginning. First, I should like to know yourname, and a few such particulars as that. "

"Lewis Samuel, Hatton Garden--150, Hatton Garden--tiamont merchant. "

"Yes. And what is your connection with Mr. Denson?"

"Business--just business, " Samuel responded. He pronounced it"pishness, " and it seemed his favourite word. "Like this; I will tellyou. I haf known him some time, and did at first small pishness. Hebought a little tiamont and haf it set in pracelet, and hepay--straightforward pishness. Then he bought some very good pastestones, all set in gold, and he pay--quite straightforward pishness. Atthe same time he says, 'I am pishness man myself, Mr. Samuel, ' he says, 'and I like to make a little moneys as well as pay out sometimes. Don'tyou want any little agencies done? I do all foreign commissions, and Ican forwart and receive and clear at dock and custom house. If you sendany tiamonts I can consign and insure--very cheapest rates to you, special. If you want brokerage or buy and sell for you, confidential, Ican do it with lowest commission. Especially I haf good connection withAmerica. I haf many rich Americans, principals and customers, ' he says, 'and often I could do pishness for you when they come over. '"

"By which he meant he might sell them diamonds?" Hewitt queried. 

"Just so, Mr. Hewitt--reg'lar pishness. And after that two or threelittle parcels of tiamonts he bought--for American customers, he says. But he says he can do bigger pishness soon. Ay, so he has--goot heavens, he has! But I tell you. I do also one or two small pishnesses with him, and that is all right--he treat me very well and I pay when it suits. Then he says, 'Samuel, ' he says, very friendly now inteet, 'Samuel, could you get a nice large lot of tiamonts for an American customer Iexpect here soon?' And I say, 'Of course I can. ' 'Enough, ' he says, 'tofit out a rich man's wife--that is, to pegin. He is not long rich, andhe will want more soon--ah, she will make him pay! But to pegin--a goodfit-out of tiamonts, eh?'

"I tell him yes, and I offer usual commission. But no, says Denson, hewants no commission; he will make his own profit. That I don't mind solong as I get mine; so I agree to put the tiamonts in at a price. TheAmerican, he says, is to come over about a big company deal, and when itis through he will pay well. So last week I pring a peautifulcollection all cut but unset, and I wait out in that room while Densonshows them to his customer. "

"You mean you let them out of your sight?"

"Yes--that is not so uncommon; reg'lar pishness. You see I was outhere--this is the only way out. Denson was in the inner office with thestones and the American. Neither could get out without passing here. AndI had done pishness with him alretty. "

"Well?"

"You see I wait downstairs with my case--this case--till Denson sendsdown. He doesn't want me to show--fery natural, you see, in pishness. When I sell to make a profit, perhaps for somebody else, I don't wantthat somebody to know my customer, else he sells direct and I lose myprofit--fery natural. See?"

"Of course, I understand. It's a point of business among you gentlemento keep your own customers to yourselves. And often, no doubt, diamondspass through several hands before reaching the eventual customer, leaving a profit in each. "

"Always, Mr. Hewitt--always, you might say. Well, you see, Denson sendsdown that his customer is in, and I come up. Denson comes out from theinner office, takes my case, and I wait in there. "

The case which Samuel showed Hewitt was of black leather, perhapseighteen inches long by a foot wide. The arrangement of the office wassimple. In this, the outer room, a small space was partitioned off bymeans of a ground glass screen, and it was in there that Samuel meantthat he had waited. 

"Well, he took the case in, and I could hear some sound of talking--butnot much, you see, the door being shut. After a time the door opens andI hear Denson say: 'Very well, think over it; but don't be long oryou'll lose the chance. Excuse me while I put them back in the safe. 'Then he shuts the door and brings the case to me and goes back. But ofcourse I stay till I haf looked very carefully through all the tiamonts, in the different compartments of the case, in case one might haf droppedon the floor, or got changed, you know. That is pishness. "

"Just so. And they were all right?"

"All right and same as the list--I know well a tiamont that I haf seenonce. So I go away, and afterwards Denson tells me that the Americanliked much the stones but wouldn't quite come up to price. That, ofcourse, is fery usual pishness. 'But he will rise, Samuel, ' Denson says. 'I know him quite well, and them tiamonts is as good as sold with agood profit for me; and a good one for you, too, I bet, ' he says. I wasputting the lot to him for fifteen t'ousant pounds, and it would havebeen a nice profit in that for me. And then Denson he chaffs me and hesays, 'Ah! Samuel, ' he says, 'wasn't you afraid my customer and me wouldhook it out o' the window with all your stones?' I don't like that sorto' joke in pishness, you see, but I say, 'All right--I wasn't afraid o'that. The window was a mile too high, and besides I could see it fromwhere I was a-sitting. ' And so I could, you see, plain enough to see ifit was opened. "

The ground-glass partition, in fact, cut off a part of the window of theouter office, which, being at an angle with the inner room, gave a sideview of the window that lighted that apartment. 

"Denson laughed at that, " Samuel went on. "'Ha-ha!' says he, 'I neverthought of that. Then you could see the American's hat hanging up justby the window--rum hat, ain't it?' And that was quite true, for I hadnoticed it--a big, grey wideawake, almost white. "

Hewitt nodded approvingly. "You are quite right, " he said, "to tell meeverything you recollect, even of the most trivial sort; the smallestthing may be very valuable. So you took your diamonds away the firsttime, last week. What next?"

"Well, I came again, just the same, to-day, by appointment. Just thesame I sat in that place, and just the same Denson took the case intothe inner room. 'He's come to buy this time, I can see, ' Denson whispers, and winks. 'But he'll fight hard over the price. We'll see!' and off hegoes into the other room. Well, I waited. I waited and I waited a longtime. I looked out sideways at the window, and there I see theAmerican's big wideawake hat hanging up just inside the other window, same as last time. So I think they are a long time settling the price, and I wait some more. But it is such a very long time, and I begin tofeel uneasy. Of course, I know you cannot sell fifteen t'ousant wort' oftiamonts in five minutes--that is not reasonable pishness. But I couldhear nothing at all now--not a sound. And the boy--the boy that camedown to call me up--he wasn't come back. But there I could see the bigwideawake hat still hanging inside the window, and of course I knewthere was only one door out of the inner room, right before me, so itseemed foolish to be uneasy. So I waited longer still, but now it was solate, I thought they should have come out to lunch before this, and thenI was fery uneasy--fery uneasy inteet. So I thought I would pretend tobe a new caller, and I opened the outer office door and banged it, andwalked in very loud and knocked on the boy's table. I thought Densonwould come when he heard that, but no--there was not a sound. So I gotmore uneasy, and I opened the window and leaned out as far as I could, to look in at the other window. There I could see nothing but the bighat and the back of a chair and a bit of the room--empty. So I went andbanged the outer door again, and called out, 'Hi! Mr. Denson, you'rewanted! Hi! d'y'ear?' and knocked with my umbrella on the inner door;and, Mr. Hewitt--you might have knocked me down with half a feather whenI got no answer at all--not a sound! I opened the door, Mr. Hewitt, andthere was nobody there--nobody! There was my leather case on the table, open--and empty! Fifteen t'ousant pounds in tiamonts, Mr. Hewitt--itruins me!"

Hewitt rose, and flung wide the inner office door. "This is certainlythe only door, " he said, "and that is the only window--quite well inview from where you sat. There is the wideawake hat still hangingthere--see, it is quite new; obviously brought for you to look at, itwould seem. The door and the window were not used, and the chimney isimpossible--register grate. But there was one other way--there. "

The inner wall of each of the rooms was the wall of the corridor intowhich all the offices opened, and this corridor was lighted--and theoffices partly ventilated--by a sort of hinged casement or fanlightclose up by the ceiling, oblong, and extending the most of the length ofeach room. Plainly an active man, not too stout, might mount achair-back, and climb very quietly through the opening. "That's the onlyway, " said Hewitt, pointing. 

"Yes, " answered Samuel, nodding and rubbing his knuckles togethernervously. "I saw it--saw it when it was too late. But who'd havethought o' such a thing beforehand? And the American--either therewasn't an American at all, or he got out the same way. But, anyway, hereI am, and the tiamonts are gone, and there is nothing here but thefurniture--not worth twenty pound!"

"Well, " Hewitt said, "so far, I think I understand, though I may havequestions to ask presently. But go on. "

"Go on? But there is no more, Mr. Hewitt! Quite enough, don't you think?There is no more--I am robbed!"

"But when you found the empty room, and the case, what did you do? Sendfor the police?"

The Jew's face clouded slightly. "No, Mr. Hewitt, " he said, "not for thepolice, but for you. Reason plain enough. The police make a great fuss, and they want to arrest the criminal. Quite right--I want to arrest him, and punish him too, plenty. But most I want the tiamonts back, becauseif not it ruins me. If it was to make choice between two things for me, whether to punish Denson or get my tiamonts, then of course I take thetiamonts, and let Denson go--I cannot be ruined. But with the police, ifit is their choice, they catch the thief first, and hold him tight, whether it loses the property or not; the property is only second withthem--with me it is first and second, and all. So I take no more risksthan I can help, Mr. Hewitt. I have sent for you to get first thestones--afterwards the thief if you can. But first my property; you canperhaps find Denson and make him give it up rather than go to prison. That would be better than having him taken and imprisoned, and perhapsthe stones put away safe all the time ready for him when he came out. "

"Still, the police can do things that I can't, " Hewitt interposed; "stoppeople leaving or landing at ports, and the like. I think we should seethem. "

Samuel was anxiously emphatic. "No, Mr. Hewitt, " he said, "certainly notthe police. There are reasons--no, _not_ the police, Mr. Hewitt, at anyrate, not till you have tried. I cannot haf the police--just yet. "

Martin Hewitt shrugged his shoulders. "Very well, " he said, "if thoseare your instructions, I'll do my best. And so you sent for me at once, as soon as you discovered the loss?"

"Yes, at once. "

"Without telling anybody else?"

"I haf tolt nobody. "

"Did you look about anywhere for Denson--in the street, or what not?"

"No--what was the good? He was gone; there was time for him to gomiles. "

"Very good. And speaking of time, let me judge how far he may have gone. How long were you kept waiting?"

"Two hours and a quarter, very near--within five minutes. "

"By your watch?"

"Yes--I looked often, to see if it was so long waiting as it seemed. "

"Very good. Do you happen to have a piece of Denson's writing aboutyou?"

Samuel looked round him. "There's nothing about here, " he said, "butperhaps we can find--oh here--here's a post-card. " He took the card fromhis pocket, and gave it to Hewitt. 

"There is nothing else to tell me, then?" queried Hewitt. "Are you surethat you have forgotten nothing that has happened since you firstarrived--_nothing at all_?" There was meaning in the emphasis, and asharp look in Hewitt's eyes. 

"No, Mr. Hewitt, " Samuel answered, hastily; "there is nothing else I cantell you. "

"Then I will think it over at once. You had better go back quietly toyour office, and think it over yourself, _in case_ you have forgottensomething; and I need hardly warn you to keep quiet as to what haspassed between us--unless you tell the police. I think I shall take theliberty of a glance over Mr. Denson's office, and since his office boystill stays away, I will lend him my clerk for a little. He will keephis eyes open if any callers come, and his ears too. Wait while I fetchhim. "

II

It was at this point that my humble part in the case began, for Hewitthurried first to my rooms. 

"Brett, " he exclaimed, "are you engaged this afternoon?"

"No--nothing important. "

"Will you do me a small favour? I have a rather interesting case. I wanta man watched for an hour or so, and I haven't a soul to do it. Kerrett_may_ be known, and I _am_ known. Besides, there is another job forKerrett. "

Of course, I expressed myself willing to do what I could. 

"Capital, " replied Hewitt. "Come along--you like these adventures, Iknow, or I wouldn't have asked you; and you know the dodges in this sortof observation. The man is one Samuel, a Jew, of 150 Hatton Garden, diamond dealer. I'll tell you more afterwards. Kerrett and I are goinginto the offices next door, and I want you to wait thereabout. PresentlyI will come downstairs with him and he will go away. An hour or so willbe enough, probably. "

I followed Hewitt downstairs. He took Kerrett with him and locked hisoffice door. I saw them both disappear within the large new building, and I waited near a convenient postal pillar-box, prepared to seem verybusy with a few old letters from my pocket until my man's back wasturned. 

In a very few minutes Hewitt reappeared, this time with a man--a Jew, obviously--whom I remembered having seen already at the door of thatoffice more than an hour before, as I had passed on the way from thebookseller's at the corner. The man walked briskly up the street, and I, on the opposite side, did the same, a little in the rear. 

He turned the corner, and at once slackened his pace and looked abouthim. He took a peep back along the street he had left, and then hailed acab. 

For a hundred yards or more I was obliged to trot, till I saw anothercab drop its fare just ahead, and managed to secure it and give thecabman instructions to follow the cab in front, before it turned acorner. The chase was difficult, for the horse that drew me was a poorone, and half a dozen times I thought I had lost sight of the other cabaltogether; but my cabman was better than his animal, and from his highperch he kept the chase in view, turning corners and picking out the cabahead among a dozen others with surprising certainty. We went acrossCharing Cross Road by way of Cranborne Street, past Leicester Square, through Coventry Street and up the Quadrant and Regent Street. At OxfordCircus the Jew's cab led us to the left, and along Oxford Street wechased it past Bond Street end. Suddenly my cab pulled up with a jerk, and the driver spoke through the trapdoor. "That fare's getting down, sir, " he said, "at the corner o' Duke Street. "

I thrust a half-crown up through the hole and sprang out. "'E's crossingthe road, sir, " the cabman finally reported, and I hurried across thestreet accordingly. 

The man I was watching was strikingly Jewish enough, and easy todistinguish in a crowd. I had almost overtaken him before he had gone adozen yards up the northern end of Duke Street. He walked on intoManchester Square. There a small, neat brougham, with blinds drawn, wasbeing driven slowly round the central garden. I saw Samuel walkhurriedly up to this brougham, which stopped as he approached. Hestepped quickly into the carriage and shut the door behind him. Thebrougham resumed its slow progress, and I loitered, keeping it in view, though the blinds were drawn so close that it was impossible to guesswho might be Samuel's companion, if he had one. I think I have said thatwhen the Jew came to the office door with Hewitt I perceived that he wasa man I had seen before that day. I was now convinced that I had alsoseen that same brougham, at the same time; but of this presently. 

The carriage made one slow circuit, and then Samuel got out and shut thedoor quickly again. I took the precaution of turning my back and lettinghim overtake and pass me on his way back through Duke Street. At the endof the street he mounted an omnibus going east, and I took another seatin the same vehicle. The rest was uninteresting. He went direct to No. 150 Hatton Garden, and there remained. I read his name on the door-postamong a score of others, and after a twenty-minutes' wait I returned tomy rooms. I had no doubt that it was the meeting in the brougham thatHewitt wished reported, and I remembered his rule was never to watch aman a moment after the main object was secured. 

Hewitt was out, and he did not return till after dusk. Then he camestraightway to my rooms. 

"Well, Brett, " he said, "what's the report? As a matter of fact, Samuelis my client, as I shall explain presently. I don't like spying on aclient, as a rule, but I was convinced that he was keeping somethingback from me, and there was something odd about his whole story. Butwhat did you see?"

I told Hewitt the tale of my pursuit as I have told it here. "I cameaway, " I concluded, "after it seemed that he was settled in his officefor a bit. But there is another thing you should know. When he firstcame out with you I recognised him at once as a man I had seen at thatsame door a little after two o'clock--say a quarter past. "

"Yes?" answered Hewitt. "I saw him there myself a littlesooner--something like two, I should say. What was he doing?"

"Well, " I replied, "he was doing pretty well what he did in ManchesterSquare. For as a matter of fact the brougham also was here then--justoutside the next-door office. I think I might swear to that samebrougham--though of course I didn't notice it so particularly that firsttime. "

Hewitt whistled. "Oh!" he said. "Tell me about this. Did he get into thebrougham this time?"

"Yes. He came out of the office door with a black leather case in hishand and a very scared look on his face. And he popped into thebrougham, leather case, scared look and all. "

"Ho--ho!" said Hewitt, thoughtfully, and whistled again. "A blackleather case, eh! Come, come, the plot thickens. And what happened? Didthe carriage go off?"

"No; I saw nothing more--shouldn't have noticed so much, in fact, if thewhole thing hadn't looked a trifle curious. Nervous, pallid Jew with ablack case--as though he thought it was dynamite and might go off at anymoment--closed brougham, blinds drawn, Jew skipped in and banged thedoor, but brougham didn't move; and I fancied--perhaps onlyfancied--that I saw a woman's black veil inside. But then I turned inhere and saw no more. "

Hewitt sat thoughtfully silent for a few moments. Then he rose and said, "Come next door, and I'll tell you how we stand. The housekeeper willlet us in, and we'll see if you can identify that black case anywhere. "

It seemed that Hewitt had by this established a good understanding withthe housekeeper next door. "Nobody's been, sir, " the man said, as headmitted us and closed the heavy doors. "Office boy not come back, nornothing. "

We went up to Denson's office on the third floor, the door of which thehousekeeper opened; and having turned on the electric light, he leftus. 

"Now, is that anything like the case?" Hewitt asked, when thehousekeeper was gone; and he lifted from under the table the very blackcase I had seen Samuel take into the brougham. 

I said that I felt as sure of the case as of the brougham. And thenHewitt told me the whole tale of Samuel and his loss of fifteen thousandpounds' worth of diamonds, just as it appears earlier in this narrative. 

"Now, see here, " said Hewitt, when he had made me acquainted with hisclient's tale, "there is something odd about all this. See thispost-card which Samuel gave me. It is from Denson, and it makes thismorning's appointment. See! 'Be down below at eleven sharp' is themessage. He came and he waited just two hours and a quarter, as he tellsme, being certain to the time within five minutes. That brings, us to aquarter-past one--the time when he finds he is robbed; and he camedownstairs in a very agitated state at a quarter-past one, as I havesince ascertained. At two I pass and see him still dancing distractedlyon the front steps--certainly very much like a man who has had a seriousmisfortune, or expects one. At a quarter-past two--that was about it, Ithink?" (I nodded) "At a quarter-past two you see him, still agitated, diving into the brougham with this black case in his hand; and a littleafterward--after all this, mind--he tells me this story of a robbery ofdiamonds from that very case, and assures me that he sent for me themoment he discovered the loss--that is to say, at a quarter-past one, apositive lie--and has told nobody else. He further assures me that hehas told me everything that has happened up to the moment he meets me. Then he goes away--to his office, as he tells me. But you find himposting to Manchester Square in a cab, and there once more plunging intothat same mysterious closed brougham. Now why should he do that? He hasseen the person in that brougham, presumably, an hour before, and therecan be nothing more to communicate, except the result of his interviewwith me--a thing I warned him to keep to himself. It's odd, isn't it?"

"It is. What can be his motive?"

"I want to know his motive. I object to working for a client whodeceives me--indeed, it's unsafe. I may be making myself an accomplicein some criminal scheme. You observe that he never called for thepolice--a natural impulse in a robbed man. Indeed, he expressly vetoesall communication with the police. "

"Of course he gave reasons. "

"But the reasons are not good enough. I can't stop a man leaving thiscountry anywhere round the coast except by going to the police. "

"Can it be, " I suggested, "that Samuel and Denson are working incollusion, and have perhaps insured the stones, and now want your helpto make out a case of loss?"

"Scarcely that, I think, for more than one reason. First, it isn't arisk any insurer would take, in the circumstances. Next, the insurerwould certainly want to know why the police were not informed at once. But there is more. I have not been idle this while, as you would know. I will tell you some of the things I have ascertained. To begin with, Samuel is known in Hatton Garden only as a dealer on a very small andpeddling scale. A dabbler in commissions, in fact, rather than a buyerand seller of diamonds in quantities on his own account. His office isnothing but a desk in a small room he shares with two others--smalldealers like himself. When I spoke to the people most likely to know, ofhis offering fifteen thousand pounds' worth of diamonds on his ownaccount, they laughed. An investment of two or three hundred pounds instones was about his limit, they said. Now that fact offers freshsuggestions, doesn't it?" Hewitt looked at me significantly. 

"You mean, " I said after a little consideration, "that Samuel may havebeen entrusted with the diamonds to sell by the real owner, and has madeall these arrangements with Denson to get the gems for themselves andrepresent them as stolen?"

Hewitt nodded thoughtfully. "There's that possibility, " he said. "Thougheven in that case the owner would certainly want to know why the policehad not been told, and I don't know what satisfactory answer Samuelcould make. And more, I find that no such robbery has been reported toany of the principal dealers in Hatton Garden to-day; and, so far as Ican ascertain, none of them has entrusted Samuel with anything like solarge a quantity of diamonds as he talks of--lately, at any rate. "

"Isn't it possible that the diamonds are purely imaginary?" I suggested. "Mightn't there be some trick played on that basis? Perhaps a trick onthe American customer--if there was one. "

Hewitt was thoughtful. "There are many possibilities, " he said, "which Imust consider. The diamonds may even be stolen property to begin with;that would account for a great deal, though perhaps not all. But thewhole thing is so oddly suspicious, that unless my client is willing tolet me a great deal further into his confidence to-morrow morning Ishall throw up the case. "

"Did you direct any inquiries after Denson?"

"Of course; which brings me to the other things I have ascertained. Hehas not been here long--a few months. I cannot find that he has beendoing any particular business all the time with anybody except Samuel. With him, however, he seems to have been very friendly. The housekeeperspeaks of them as being 'very thick together. ' The rooms are cheaplyfurnished, as you see. And here is another thing to consider. Thehousekeeper vows that he never left his glass box at the foot of thestairs from the time Samuel went upstairs first to the time when he camedown again, vastly agitated, at a quarter-past one, and sent a message;and during all that time _Denson never passed the box_! And the maindoor is the only way out. "

"But wasn't he there at all?"

"Yes, he was there, certainly, when Samuel came. But note, now. Observethe sequence of things as we know them now. First, there is Denson inhis office; I can find nothing of any American visitor, and I amconvinced that he is a total fiction, either of Denson's or Samuel andDenson together. Denson is in his office. To him comes Samuel. Neitherleaves the place till Samuel comes down at a quarter-past one o'clock. Itold you he sent some sort of message. The housekeeper tells me that hecalled a passing commissionaire and gave him something, though whetherit was a telegram or a note he did not see; nor does he know thecommissionaire, nor his number--though he could easily be found if itbecame necessary, no doubt. Samuel sends the message, and waits on thesteps, watching, in an agitated manner (as would be natural, perhaps, ina man engaged in an anxious and ticklish piece of illegality) for anhour, when this mysterious brougham appears. He takes this black caseinto the brougham, and he obviously brings it out again, for here it is. Whatever has happened, he brings it out empty. Then he sends thehousekeeper for me. When at length I arrive, Denson has certainly gone, but there was an opportunity for that while the housekeeper was absenton the message to my office--_after_ all Samuel's agitation, and afterhe had carried his case to and from the brougham. "

"The whole thing is odd enough, certainly, and suspicious enough. Haveyou found anything else?"

"Yes. Denson lives, or lived, in a boarding house in Bloomsbury. He hasonly been there two months, however, and they know practically nothingof him. To-day he came home at an unusual time, letting himself in withhis latchkey, and went away at once with a bag, but the accounts of theexact time are contradictory. One servant thought it was before twelve, and another insisted that it was after one. He has not been back. "

"And the office boy--can't you get some information out of him?"

"He hasn't been seen since the morning. I expect Denson told him to takea whole holiday. I can't find where he lives, at the moment, but nodoubt he will turn up to-morrow. Not that I expect to get much from him. But I shan't bother. Unless Mr. Samuel will answer satisfactorily somevery plain questions I shall ask--and I don't expect he will--I shallthrow up the commission. He called, by the way, not long ago, but I wasout. We shall see him in the morning, I expect. "

A look round Denson's office taught me no more than it had taught Hewittalready. There were two small rooms, one inside the other, with ordinaryand cheap office furniture. It was quite plain that any man of ordinaryactivity and size could have got out of the inner room into the corridorby the means which Samuel suggested--through the hinged wall-light, nearthe ceiling. Hewitt had meddled with nothing--he would do no more tillhe was satisfied of the _bonâ fides_ of his client; certainly he wouldnot commit himself to breaking open desks or cupboards. And so, the timefor my attendance at the office approaching--I was working on the_Morning Ph[oe]nix_ then, and ten at night saw my work begin--we shutDenson's office, and went away. 

III

In the morning I was awakened by an impatient knocking at my bedroomdoor. Going to bed at two or three I was naturally a late riser, andthis was about nine. I scrambled sleepily out of bed, and turned thekey. Hewitt was standing in my sitting-room, with a newspaper in hishand. 

"Sorry to break your morning sleep, Brett, " he said, "but somethinginteresting has happened in regard to that business you helped me withyesterday, and you may like to know. Crawl back into bed if you like. "

But I was already in my dressing-gown, and groping for my clothes. "No, no, come in and tell me, " I said. "What is it?"

Hewitt sat on the bed. "I'll tell you in due order, " he said. "First, Isaw Samuel again last night--after you had gone away. You remember Iwent back to my office; I had a letter or two to write which I had setaside in the afternoon. Well, I wrote the letters, shut up, and wentdownstairs. I opened the outer door, and there was Samuel, in the actof ringing the housekeeper's bell. He said he was very anxious, andcouldn't sleep without coming to hear if I had made any progress; he hadcalled before, but I was out. I half thought of taking him back to myoffice, but decided that it wasn't worth while. So I walked along to thecorner of the Strand, till I got him well under the lights. Then Istopped and talked to him. 'You ask about the progress in your case, Mr. Samuel, ' I said. 'Now, I have sometimes met people who seem to considerme a sort of prophet, seer, or diviner. As a matter of fact, I amnothing but a professional investigator, and even if I were possessed ofsuch an amazing genius as I lay no claim to, I could never succeed in acase, nor even make progress in it, if my client started me with falseinformation, or only told me half the truth. More, when I find that suchis the state of affairs, and that if I am to succeed I must begin byinvestigating my client before I proceed with his case, I throw thatcase up on the instant--invariably. Do you understand that? Now I musttell you that I have made no progress with your case, none; for thatvery reason. '"

"He protested, of course--vowed he had told me the simple truth, and soforth. I replied by asking him certain definite questions. First, Iasked him whose the diamonds were. He repeated that they were his own. To that I simply replied, 'Good evening, Mr. Samuel, ' and turned away. He came after me beseechingly, and prevaricated. He said something aboutanother party having an interest, but the matter being confidential. Tothat I responded by asking him with whom he had communicated beforesending for me, and who was the person in the brougham which he hadtwice entered. That flabbergasted him. He said that he couldn't answerthose questions without bringing other parties into the matter, to whichI answered that it was just those other parties that I meant to knowabout, if I were to move a step in the matter. At this he got into a sadstate--imploring, actually imploring, me not to desert him. He said heshould do something desperate--something terrible--that night if Ididn't relieve his mind, and undertake the case. What he meant he'd doI didn't know, of course, but it didn't move me. I said finally that Iwould deal only with principals, and that until I had the personalinstructions of the actual owner of the diamonds, in addition to acomplete explanation of the brougham incident, I should do nothing, andI recommended him to go to the police; and with that I left him. "

"And you got nothing more from him than that?"

"Nothing more; but it was something, you see. He admitted, to allintents, that the diamonds were not his own. And now see here. I supposeI left him about ten o'clock. Here is a paragraph in one of thismorning's newspapers. It is only in the one paper; the matter seems tohave occurred rather late for press. "

Hewitt gave me the paper in his hand, pointing to the followingparagraph:

/# "HORRIBLE DISCOVERY. --A shocking discovery was made just before midnight last night, near the York column, where a police-constable found the dead body of a man lying on the stone steps. The body, which was fully clothed in the ordinary dress of a labouring man, bore plain marks of strangulation, and it was evident that a brutal murder had been committed. A singular circumstance was the presence of a curious reddish mark upon the forehead, at first taken for a wound, but soon discovered to be a mark apparently drawn or impressed on the skin. At the time of going to press, no arrest had been made, and so far the affair appears a mystery. "#/

"Well, " I said, "this certainly seems curious, especially in the matterof the mark on the forehead. But what has it all to do----"

"To do with Samuel and his diamonds, you mean? I'll tell you. _That deadman is Denson!_"

"Denson?" I exclaimed. "Denson? How?"

"I get it from the housekeeper next door. It seems that when the policecame to examine the body they found, among other things--money and awatch, and the like--a piece of an addressed envelope, used to hold afew pins--the pins stuck in and the paper rolled up, you know. There wasjust enough of it to guess the address by--that of the office next door;and it was the only clue they had. So they came along here at once andknocked up the housekeeper. He went with them and instantly recognisedDenson, disguised in labourer's clothes, but Denson, he says, unmistakably. "

"And the mark on the forehead?"

"That is very odd. It is an outlined triangle, rather less than an inchalong each side. It is quite red, he says, and seems to be done in agreasy, sticky sort of ink or colour. "

"Was anything found--the diamonds?"

"No. He says there was money--two or three five-pound notes, I believe, some small change, a watch, keys and so forth; but there's not a wordof diamonds. "

I paused in my dressing. "Does that mean that the murderer has gotthem?" I asked. Hewitt pursed his lips and shook his head. "It _may_mean that, " he said, "but does it look altogether like it whenfive-pound notes are left? On the other hand, there is the disguise; theonly reason that we know of for that would be that he was bolting withthe diamonds. But the really puzzling thing is the mark on the forehead. Why that? Of course, the picturesque and romantic thing to suppose isthat it is the mark of some criminal club or society. But criminalassociations, such as exist, don't do silly things like that. Whencriminals rob and murder, they don't go leaving their tracks behind thempurposely--they leave nothing that could possibly draw attention to themif they can help it; also, they don't leave five-pound notes. But I'moff to have a look at that mark. Inspector Plummer is in charge of thecase--you remember Plummer, don't you, in the Stanway Cameo case, andtwo or three others? Well, Plummer is an old friend of mine, and notonly am I interested in this matter myself, but now that it becomes acase of murder, I must tell the police all I know, merely as a loyalcitizen. I've an idea they will want to ask our friend Mr. Samuel somevery serious questions. "

"Will you go now?"

"Yes, I must waste no more time. You get your breakfast and look out forme, or for a message. "

Hewitt was off to Vine Street, and I devoted myself to my toilet and mybreakfast, vastly mystified by this tragic turn in a matter alreadypuzzling enough. 

 * * * * *

It was not a messenger, but Hewitt himself, who came back in less thanan hour. "Come, " he said, "Plummer is below, and we are going next door, to Denson's office. I've an idea that we may get at something at last. The police are after Samuel hot-foot. They think he should be made sureof in any case without delay; and I must say they have some reason, onthe face of it. "

We joined Plummer at once--I have already spoken of Plummer in myaccounts of several of Hewitt's cases in which I met him--and we allturned into the office next door. There we found a very frightened andbewildered office boy, whom Denson had given a holiday yesterday, aftersending him down to Samuel. He had come to his work as usual, only tomeet the housekeeper's tale of the murder of his master and the end ofhis business prospects. He had little or no information to impart. Hehad only been employed for a month or six weeks, and during that timehis work had been practically nothing. 

Plummer nodded at this information, and sniffed comprehensively at theoffice furniture. "I know this sort o' stuff, " he said. "This is the waythey fit up long firm offices and such. This place was taken for thejob, that's plain, by one or both of 'em. "

The boy's address was taken, and he was given a final holiday, and askedto send up the housekeeper as he went out. Plummer passed Hewitt a bunchof keys. 

The housekeeper entered. "Now, Hutt, " said Martin Hewitt, "you weresaying yesterday, I think, that the main front door was the onlyentrance and exit for this building?"

"That's so, sir--the only one as anybody can use, except me. "

"Oh! then there _is_ another, then?"

"Well, not exactly to say an entrance, sir. There's a small private doorat the back into the court behind, but that's only opened to take incoals and such, and I always have the key. This house isn't like yours, sir; you have no back way into the court as we have. It's a convenience, sometimes. "

"Ah, I've no doubt. Do you happen to have the key with you?"

"It's on the bunch hanging up in my box, sir. Shall I fetch it?"

"I should like to see it, if you will. "

The housekeeper disappeared, and presently returned with a large bunchof keys. 

"This is the one, Mr. Hewitt, " he explained, lifting it from among therest. 

Hewitt examined it closely, and then placed beside it one from the bunchPlummer had given him. "It seems you're not the only person who ever hada key exactly like that, Hutt, " he said. "See here--this was found inMr. Denson's pocket. "

Plummer nodded sagaciously. "All in the plant, " he said. "See--it'sbrand new; clean as a new pin, and file marks still on it. "

"Take us to this back door, Hutt, " Hewitt pursued. "We'll try this key. Is there a back staircase?"

There _was_ a small back staircase, leading to the coal-cellars, andonly used by servants. Down this we all went, and on a lower landing westopped before a small door. Hewitt slipped the key in the lock andturned it. The door opened easily, and there before us was the littlecourtyard which I think I have mentioned in one of my othernarratives--the courtyard with a narrow passage leading into the nextstreet. 

Martin Hewitt seemed singularly excited. "See there, " he said, "that ishow Denson left the building without passing the housekeeper's box! Andnow I'm going to make another shot. See here. This key on Denson's bunchattracted my attention because of its noticeable newness compared withmost of the others. _Most_ of the others, I say, because there is oneother just as bright--see! This small one. Now, Hutt, do you happen tohave a key like that also?"

Hutt turned the key over in his hand and glanced from it to his ownbunch. "Why, yes, sir!" he said presently. "Yes, sir! It's the same asthe key of the fire-hose cupboards!"

"Does that key fit them all? How many fire-hose cupboards are there?"

"Two on each floor, sir, one at each end, just against the mains. Andone key fits the lot. "

"Show us the nearest to this door. "

A short, narrow passage led to the main ground-floor corridor, where acupboard lettered "Fire Hose" stood next the main and its fittings. "Wehave to keep the hose-cupboards locked, " the housekeeper explainedapologetically, "'cause o' mischievous boys in the offices. "

This key fitted as well as the other. A long coil of brown leather hosehung within, and in a corner lay a piece of chamois leather evidentlyused for polishing the brass fittings. This Hewitt pulled aside, andthere beneath it lay another and cleaner piece of chamois leather, neatly folded and tied round with cord. Hewitt snatched it up. Heunfastened the cord; he unrolled the leather, which was sewn into a sortof bag or satchel; and when at last he spread wide the mouth of thissatchel, light seemed to spring from out of it, for there lay aglittering heap of brilliants!

"What!" cried Plummer, who first got his speech. "Diamonds! Samuel'sdiamonds!"

"Diamonds, at any rate, " replied Hewitt, "whether Samuel's or somebodyelse's. But they can't have been there long. How often is this cupboardopened?"

"Every Saturday reg'lar, sir, " replied the housekeeper; "just to dust itout and see things is right. "

"Now, see here!" said Martin Hewitt, "I've had luck in my conjectures asyet, and I'll try again. Here is what I believe has happened. Every wordthat Samuel told me about the theft of those diamonds was true, exceptas to their ownership. Denson has planned all along to rob him of asbig a collection of diamonds as he could prompt him to get together, and he has played up to this for months. His smaller dealings one wayand another were ground-bait. Very artfully he let Samuel take thediamonds safely away once, in order that he should be less watchful andless suspicious the second time. This second time he does the trickexactly as we see. He hangs up the imaginary American's hat, he escapesby the fanlight, and he goes out by the back way to avoid thehousekeeper's observation. He has arranged beforehand for this, too. Hehas seized an opportunity when the housekeeper has been out of his boxto get wax impressions of these two keys, and he has made copies ofthem. And here we come on a curious thing. It is easy enough tounderstand why he should foresee and get himself a key for the backdoor, in order to make his escape. But why the key of the hose-cupboard?Why, indeed, should he leave the diamonds behind him at all? It is plainthat he meant to come back for them--probably at night. He would havebeen wholly free from observation in that quiet courtyard, and he couldlet himself in, get the diamonds, and leave again without exciting thesmallest alarm or suspicion. But why take all the trouble? Why not stickto the plunder from the beginning? The plain inference is that hefeared somebody or something. He feared being stopped and searched, orhe feared being waylaid _sometime during yesterday_. By whom? There'sthe puzzle, and I can't see the bottom of it, I confess. If I could, perhaps I might know something of last night's murder. 

"As to Samuel's prevarications, there is only one explanation that willfit, now that the rest is made clear. He must have been entrusted withthese diamonds by a private owner, for sale--secretly. Some lady ofconspicuous position in difficulties, probably--perhaps unknown to herhusband. Such things occur every day. A common expedient is to sell thestones and have good paste substituted, in the same settings. Samuelwould be just the man to carry through a transaction of that sort. Thatwould account for everything. The jewels are _en suite_, cut, butunset--taken from a set of jewellery, and paste substituted. Samuelarranges it all for the lady, finds a customer--Denson--who treats himexactly as he has told us. When he realises the loss Samuel doesn't knowwhat to do. He mustn't call the police, being bound to secrecy on thelady's behalf. He sends her a hasty message, and remains keeping watchby Denson's office. She hurries to him with all possible secrecy, keeping her carriage blinds down; he dashes into the brougham todescribe the disaster, taking his case with him in his frantic desire toexplain things fully. The lady fears publicity, and won't hear of thepolice--she instructs him to consult me: and consequently, of course, when I recommend communicating with the police he won't listen to thesuggestion. Samuel has arranged with the lady to hurry off and reportprogress as soon as he has consulted me, and this he does, the ladyhaving appointed Manchester Square for the interview. Perhaps she hintssome suspicion of Samuel's honesty--rather natural, perhaps, in thecircumstances. That terrifies him more than ever, and leads to hisfrantic appeals to me when I throw the case up. Come, there's my guessat the facts of the case, and I'll back it with twopence and a bit more. Eh, Plummer?"

"I don't take your bet, " answered Plummer. "The thing's plain enough;except the murder. There's something deeper there. "

Hewitt became grave. "That's true, " he said, "and something I can seeno way into, as yet. But come--you take this parcel of diamonds, asrepresenting the law. And here comes one of your men, I think. "

We had been approaching the front door during this talk, and now apolice constable appeared, and saluted Plummer. "Samuel's just beenbrought in, sir, " he reported. "He's half dead with fright, and he'ssent a message to Lady H---- in P---- Square; and he says he wants Mr. Martin Hewitt to come and speak for him. "

"Poor Samuel!" Hewitt commented. "Come, we'll go and make him happy. Here are the diamonds, and, those safely accounted for, there's noevidence to connect him with the murder. We'll get him out of the messas soon as possible. "

And so they did. Hewitt's reading of the case was correct to a tittle, as it turned out, and with very little delay Samuel was released. Butwith the message from the police station, the fat was in the fire asregarded Lady H----. Her husband necessarily became acquainted witheverything, and there was serious domestic trouble. 

Samuel was glad enough to get quit of the business with no worse than abad fright, as may well be supposed. He showed himself most grateful toHewitt in after times, giving him excellent confidential advice andinformation more than once in matters connected with the diamond trade. He is still in business, I believe, in a much larger way, and I have nodoubt he is the wiser for his experience, and for the lesson whichHewitt did not forget to rub well in: that it is useless and worse toplace a confidential matter in the hands of a man of Hewitt'sprofession, and at the same time withhold particulars of the case, however unessential they may appear to be. 

 * * * * *

But meantime, on the way to Vine Street I asked Hewitt what led him tosuppose that the new key on Denson's bunch fitted a lock in thatparticular office building. 

"Call it a lucky guess, if you like, " Hewitt answered; "but as a matterof fact it was prompted by pure common sense. Plummer showed me thethings found on the body, and I saw at once that the keys offered theonly chance of immediate information. I went through them one by one. There was his latchkey--the key with which he had gone into his lodgingsto fetch away the disguise. There was another largish key, equallyold--probably the key of his office door. There were other smaller keys, also old--plainly belonging to bags and trunks and drawers and so forth. And then there was the large, perfectly new key. What was that? It wasnot the key of any bag or drawer, clearly--it was the key of a door--adoor with a lever lock. What door? Had Denson some other office? Perhapshe had, but first it was best to begin by trying it on places we werealready acquainted with. At once I thought of Denson's disappearanceunobserved by the housekeeper. Could this be the key of some privateexit from the office building? I resolved to test that conjecture first, and it turned out to be the right one. Being successful so far, ofcourse I turned to the other new key and tried that, as you saw. "

"But what of that triangular mark on the man's forehead?"

Martin Hewitt became deeply thoughtful. "That, " he said, "is a matterwholly beyond me at present, as indeed is the whole business of themurder. Whether we shall ever know more I can't guess, but the matter isdeep--deep and difficult and dark. As to the mark itself, that seems tohave been impressed from an engraved stamp of some sort. It is a plainequilateral triangle in red outline, measuring about an inch on eachside. It is in a greasy, sticky sort of red ink, which may be smeared, but is very difficult, if not impossible, to rub away. What it means Ican't at present conjecture. I have told you my reasons for not thinkingit the sign of any gang of criminals. But whose sign is it? Surely notthat of some self-constituted punisher of crime? For such a person, withno risk to himself, could have handed Denson over to the police, if heknew of his offence. Can he have been murdered by an accomplice? But heused no accomplice; if one thing is plain in all that story of thestolen diamonds it is that Denson did the thing wholly by himself. Besides, an accomplice would have taken the keys and have gone andsecured the diamonds for himself; else why the murder at all? But nokeys were taken--nothing was taken, as far as we can tell. And why wasthe body placed in that conspicuous position? It is pretty certain thatthe crime cannot have happened where the body was found--somebody musthave heard or seen a struggle in such a place as that. As it is, Ishould say, the body was probably brought quietly to the spot in a cab, or some such conveyance. 

"But mystery envelops this crime everywhere. So far as I can see, thereis no clue whatever beyond the Red Triangle, which, as yet, I cannotunderstand. The strangling points to the murder being committed by apowerful man, certainly, and it is a form of crime that may have beenperpetrated silently. But beyond that I can see nothing. The apparentmotivelessness of the thing makes the mystery all the darker, and thecircumstances we are acquainted with, instead of helping us, seem tocomplicate the puzzle. 

"What was it that Denson feared when he left those diamonds behind him, when he might have carried them away? And why should he fear it indaytime and not at night, since it would seem plain that he meant tohave returned for the stones at night? Where did he go to disguisehimself yesterday--we know it was not in his lodgings--and where has heleft the clothes he discarded?"

All these doubts and mysteries were destined to be cleared up, in moreor less degree; but it was not till Hewitt and I had witnessed othersingular adventures that the answer came to the problem, the realmeaning of the Red Triangle was made apparent, and its connection withthe theft of Samuel's diamonds grew clear. For indeed the connectionproved in the end to be very intimate indeed. Once, a little later, wewere allowed to see a shade farther into the mystery, as I shall tell inthe proper place; but even then the real secret remained hidden from ustill the appointed end. 

So ended the case of Samuel's diamonds, so far as concerned Samuelhimself and the owner; but the case of the Red Triangle had only begun. 

THE CASE OF MR. JACOB MASON

I

The mystery of Denson's death remained a mystery, despite all the policecould do. The coroner's jury returned a verdict of "Murder by someperson or persons unknown"--which, indeed, was all that could beexpected of them; for they had no more before them than the bare factthat the body, disguised in the clothes of a labourer, had been found onthe steps near the Duke of York's column, just before midnight, by apolice constable. But for the housekeeper's identification, even thename of the victim would have been unknown. The jury certainly wastedsome time in idle speculation as to the strange triangular mark found onthe forehead, without a speck of evidence to help them; but in the endthey returned their verdict, and went home. 

But the police knew a little more than the jury, though that littlerather confused than helped them. They exercised their judgment at theinquest in withholding all evidence of the theft of diamonds on whichthe victim had been engaged, the curious particulars of which I havealready related. In this they followed their usual course in cases wherethe evidence withheld could give the jury no help in arriving at theirverdict, and at the same time might easily hamper further investigationsif revealed. For the theft had been frustrated by Martin Hewitt'sexertions, as we have seen, and in any case the thief was now dead andbeyond the reach of human punishment. The one matter now remaining forthe police was inquiry into the murder of this same thief, and the oneobject of their exertions the apprehension of the murderer or murderers. 

The case, as I have already said, was in the hands of Inspector Plummer, an intelligent officer and an old friend of Hewitt's. A few days' workafter the inquest yielded Plummer so little result that he called atHewitt's office to talk matters over. 

"I suppose, " Plummer began, "it's no use asking if you've heard anythingmore of that matter of Denson's murder?"

Hewitt shook his head. "I haven't heard a word, " he said. "If I had, itwould have come on to you at once. But I hope you've had some luckyourself?"

"Not a scrap; time wasted; and the few off-chance clues I tried have lednowhere, so that I'm where I was at the start. The thing is quite theoddest in all my experience. See how we stand. Here's a man, Denson, whohas just pulled off one of the cleverest jewel robberies ever attempted. He so arranges it that he walks safely off with fifteen thousand pounds'worth of diamonds, leaving the victim, Samuel, stuck patiently in anoffice for an hour or two before he even begins to suspect anything iswrong, and _then_ unable to set the police after him, for the reasonsyou discovered. But this Denson doesn't carry the plunder offstraightway, as he so easily might have done--he conceals it in the veryhouse where the robbery was committed, taking with him a key by aid ofwhich he may return and get it. Why? As you explained, it was probablybecause he feared somebody--feared being stopped and searched _on theday of the robbery_--not after, since it was plain he meant to returnfor his booty at night. Who could this have been, and why did Densonfear him? Mystery number one. Then this Denson is found dead that samenight disguised in the clothes of a labourer, in a most conspicuous spotin London--the last place in the world one would expect a murderer toselect for depositing his victim's body, for it is evidently _not_ theplace where the murder was committed. More, on the forehead there isthis extraordinary impressed mark of a Red Triangle. Now, what can allthat mean? Robbery, perhaps one thinks. But the body isn't robbed! Thereare three five-pound notes on it, besides a sovereign or two and somesmall change, a watch and chain, keys and all the rest of it. Then oneguesses at the diamonds. Perhaps it was an accomplice in the robbery, who finds that Denson is about to bolt with the whole lot. But ifthere's one thing plain in this amazing business it is that Denson _had_no accomplice; he did the whole thing alone, as you discovered, and heneeded no help. More than that, if this were the work of an accomplicewhy didn't he get the jewels? There were the keys to his hand and heleft them! And would such a person actually go out of his way to put thebody where it must be discovered at once, instead of concealing it tillhe could himself get away with the diamonds? Of course not. But therewas no accomplice, and it's useless to labour that farther. All thesearguments apply equally against the theory that it was the work of somecriminal gang. They would have taken all they could get, notes, keys, diamonds and all, and they wouldn't have been so foolish as to exhibitthe body with that extraordinary mark; criminal gangs are not such foolsas to take unnecessary chances and gratuitously leave tracks behindthem, as you know well enough. Well then, there we stand. So far, do yousee any more in it than I do?"

Hewitt shook his head. "No, " he said, "I can't say I do. All theconsiderations you have mentioned have already occurred to me. I talkedthem over, in fact, with my friend Brett. My connection with the caseceased, of course, with the discovery of the jewels, and about themurder I know no more than has been told me. I never saw the body, andso had no opportunity of picking up any overlooked clue; thoughdoubtless you have seen to that. I know not a tittle more than you havejust summarised, and on that alone the thing seems mystery pure andunadulterated. "

"All there is beyond that was ascertained by the divisional surgeon onexamination of the body. The man died from strangulation, as you know, and the natural presumption from that was that the murderer must havebeen a powerful man. But the surgeon is of the positive opinion--he iscertain, in fact--that Denson was strangled with an instrument--atourniquet. "

"A tourniquet?"

"Yes, a surgeon's tourniquet, such as is used to compress a leg or armand so stop a flow of blood. He considers the marks unmistakable. Nowthat might point to the murderer being a medical man. "

"Conjecturally, yes; though, of course, it justifies nothing more thanconjecture. "

"Precisely. Well, that was something, but precious little. A tourniquetis a common thing enough--no more than a band with screw fittings, andthere was nothing to show that the tourniquet used was any differentfrom a thousand others; and I can see no particular reason why a doctorshould commit a murder like this any more than any other man; in whichthe divisional surgeon agreed with me. And doctor or none, that RedTriangle was altogether unaccounted for. About that, too, by the way, the divisional surgeon told me a little, but a very useless little. Themark was not properly dried, owing to its slightly greasy nature, andalthough it was almost impossible to remove it wholly, it _was_ possibleto scrape off a little of the ink, or colour. Here is a little of it ona paper--quite dried now, of course. "

Plummer carefully took from his pocket a small folded paper, unfoldedit, and revealed a smaller paper within. On this were two little smearsof a bright red colour. "There--that's the stuff, " he said. "The surgeonexamined it, and he reports it to be rather oddly constituted--so as tobear some affinity of meaning, possibly, to the triangle. For the stuffis a compound of three substances--animal, vegetable and mineral; thereis a fine vegetable oil, he says, some waxy preparation, certainly ofanimal origin, and a mineral--cinnabar: vermilion, in fact. But thoughthere _may_ be some connection between the triangle and the substancesrepresenting the three natural kingdoms, it gives nothingpractical--nothing to go on. "

Martin Hewitt had been closely examining the marks on the paper, and nowhe answered, "I'm not so sure of that, though, Plummer. I think at leastthat it gives us another conjecture. I should guess that the man youwant, as well as being acquainted with the use of the tourniquet, has atsome time travelled in, or to, China. "

"Why?"

"Unless I am wider of the mark than usual, this is the pigment used onChinese seals. A Chinaman's seal acts for his signature on all sorts ofdocuments; it is impressed or printed by hand pressure from a littleengraved stone die, precisely as this triangle seems to have been, andthe ink or colour is almost always red, compounded of vermilion, wax, and oil of sesamum. "

Plummer sat up with a whistle. "Phew! Then it may have been done by aChinaman!"

Hewitt shrugged his shoulders. "It's possible, " he said; "of course, though, the sign, the triangle, is not a Chinese character. As acharacter, of course it is the Greek _Delta_. But it may be no characterat all. In the signs of the ancient Cabala, the triangle, apex upward asit was in this case, was the symbol of fire; apex downward, it signifiedwater. "

Plummer patted the side of his head distractedly. "Heavens!" he said, "don't tell me I'm to search all China, and Greece, and--wherever thecabalistic pundits come from!"

"Well, no, " Hewitt answered with a smile. "I think I should, at anyrate, begin in this country. I rather think you might make a beginningat Denson. That is what I should do if the case were mine. See ifanything can be ascertained of his previous life--probably under anothername or names. _He_ may have been in China. Yes, certainly, as we standat present, I should begin at Denson. "

"I think I will, " the inspector replied, "though there's precious littleto begin on there. I'd like to have you with me on this job, but, ofcourse, that's impossible, since it's purely a police matter. Butsomething, some information, may come your way, and in that case you'lllet me know at once, of course. "

"Of course I shall--it's a serious matter, as well as a strange one. Iwish you all luck!"

Plummer departed to grapple with his difficulties, but in fact it wasHewitt who first heard fresh news of the Red Triangle, and that from awholly unexpected quarter. 

It was, indeed, only two days after Plummer's visit that Kerrett broughtinto Hewitt's private room the card of the Rev. James Potswood, with arequest for a consultation. Mr. Potswood's name was known to Hewitt, as, indeed, it was to many people, as that of a most devoted clergyman, rector of a large parish in north-west London, who devoted not only allhis time and personal strength to his work, but also spent every pennyof his private income on his parish. It was not a small income that Mr. Potswood spent in this unselfish way, for he came of a wealthy family, and though a good part of his parish was inhabited by well-to-do people, there was quite enough poverty and distress in the poorer quarters tocause this excellent man often to regret that his resources were noteven larger. He was a spare active grey-whiskered man of nearly sixty, with prominent and not very handsome features, though his face was fullof frank and simple kindliness. 

"My errand, Mr. Hewitt, " he said, "is of a rather vague, not to sayvisionary, character, and I doubt if you can help me. But at any rate Iwill explain the trouble as well as I can. In the first place, am Iright in supposing that you were in some way professionally engaged inconnection with that extraordinary case of murder a week or so ago--thecase in which a man named Denson was found dead on the steps by the Dukeof York's column?"

"Yes--and no, " Hewitt answered. "I was professionally engaged on acertain matter about which you will not wish me to particularise--sinceit is the business of a client--and in course of it I came upon theother affair. "

"Then before I ask what you know of that mysterious event, Mr. Hewitt, I will tell you my story, so that you may judge whether you are able toreveal anything, or to do anything. Of course, what I say is in thestrictest confidence. "

"Of course. "

"I have a parishioner, a Mr. Jacob Mason, of whom I have seen verylittle of late years--scarcely anything at all, in fact, till a few daysago. He is fairly well to do, I believe, living a somewhat retired lifein a house not far from my rectory. For many years he has laboured atnatural science--chemistry in particular--and he has a very excellentlyfitted laboratory attached to his house. He is a widower, with nochildren of his own, but his orphan niece, a Miss Creswick, lives underhis guardianship. Mr. Mason was never a very regular church-goer, butyears ago I saw much more of him than I have of late. I must beperfectly frank with you, Mr. Hewitt, if you are to help me, andtherefore I must tell you that we disagreed on points of religion, insuch a way that I found it difficult to maintain my former regard forMr. Mason. He had a curiously fantastic mind, and he was constantlybeing led to tamper with things that I think are best left alone--whatis called spiritualism, for instance, and that horrible form of modernsuperstition which we hear whispers of at times from the Continent--thealleged devil-propitiation or worship. It was not that he did anything Ithought morally wrong, you understand--except that he dabbled. And hewas always running after some new thing--animal magnetism, or telepathy, or crystal-gazing, or theosophy, or some one of the score of such thingsthat have an attraction for a mind of that sort. And it was acharacteristic of each new enthusiasm with him that it prompted him totry to convert _me_; and that in such terms--terms often applied to thedoctrines of that religion of which I am a humble minister--as I couldin nowise permit in my presence. So that our friendly intercourse, though not interrupted by any definite breaking off, fell away to almostnothing. For which reason I was a little surprised to receive a visitfrom Mr. Mason on the afternoon of the day on which the newspapersprinted the report of the finding of the body of Denson. You mayremember that only one morning paper mentioned the matter, and that verybriefly; but there were full reports in all the evening papers. "

"Yes, the discovery was made very late the previous night. "

"So I gathered. Well, I was told that Mr. Mason had been shown into mystudy, and there I found him. He was in an extremely nervous andagitated state, and he had an evening paper in his hand. With scarcelya preliminary word he burst out, 'Have you seen this in the paper?This--this murder? There--there's the report. ' And he thrust the paperinto my hands. 

"I had not seen or heard anything of the matter, in fact, till thatmoment, and now he gave me little leisure to read the report. He walkedup and down the room, nervously clasping his hands, sometimes together, sometimes at his sides, sometimes before him, shaking his head in ashuddering sort of way, and bursting out once or twice as though thewords were uncontrollable, 'What ought I to do? What _can_ I do?'

"I looked up from the paper, and he went on, 'Have you read it? It's amurder--a horrid murder. The poor wretched fellow was trying to escape, but he couldn't. It's a murder!'

"'It certainly seems so, ' I said. 'But what--did you know this man, Denson?'

"'No, of course not, ' Mason replied, 'but there it is, plain enough, andhere's another paper with just the same report, but a little shorter. 'He pulled the second paper from his pocket. 'I got what different papersI could, but these are the two fullest. It's plain enough it's a brutalmurder, isn't it? And the man was a merchant, or an agent, or something, in Portsmouth Street, but he was found in labourer's clothes--proof thathe feared it and was trying to escape it; but he couldn't--hecouldn't--no! nor anybody. It's awful, awful!'

"'But I don't understand, ' I said. 'Won't you sit down?' For Masoncontinued to pace distractedly about the room. 'What is it you thinkthis unfortunate man was trying to escape? And what am I to do in thematter?'

"He stopped, pressed both hands to his head, and seemed to controlhimself by a great effort. 'You must excuse me, ' he said. 'I'm a bit rundown lately, and my nerves are all wrong. I'm talking rather wildly, I'm afraid. I really hardly know why I came to you, except that Ihaven't a soul I can talk to about--well, about anything, scarcely. '

"He took a chair, and sat for a little while with his head forward onhis hand and his eyes directed towards the floor. Then he said, in amusing way, rather as though he was thinking aloud than talking to me, 'You were right, after all, Potswood, and I was a fool to disregard yourwarnings. I oughtn't to have dabbled--I should have left those thingsalone. '

"I said nothing, thinking it best not to disturb him, but to leave himfree to say what he wanted to say in his own way. He remained quiet fora minute or two more, and then sat up with an appearance of much greatercomposure. 'You mustn't mind me, Potswood, ' he said. 'As I've told you, I'm in a bad state of nerves, and at best I'm an impulsive sort ofperson, as you know. I needn't have bothered you like this--I camerushing round here without thinking, and if the house had been a bitfarther off I should have come to my senses before I reached you. Afterall, there's nothing so much to disturb one's-self about, and thisman--this Denson--may very well have deserved his fate. Don't you thinkthat likely?'

"He added this last question with an involuntary eagerness that scarcelyaccorded with the indifferent tone with which he had begun. I answeredguardedly. I said of course nobody could say what the unhappy man's sinsmight have been, but that whatever they were they could never justifythe fearful sin of murder. 'And, ' I added, 'if you know anything of thematter, Mason, or have the smallest suspicion as to who is the guiltyperson, I'm sure you won't hesitate in your duty. '

"'My duty?' he said. 'Oh yes, of course; my duty. You mean, of course, that any law-abiding citizen who knows of evidence should bring it out. Just so. Of course _I_ haven't any evidence--that paper gave me thefirst news of the thing. '

"'I think, ' I rejoined, 'that anybody who was possessed of even lessthan evidence--of any suspicion which might lead to evidence--should goat once and place the authorities in possession of all he knows orsuspects. '

"'Yes, ' he said--very calmly now, though it seemed at cost of a greateffort--'so he should; so he should, no doubt, in any ordinary case. Butsometimes there are difficulties, you know--great difficulties. ' Hestopped and looked at me furtively and uneasily. 'A man might fear forhis own safety--he might even know that to say what he knew would be tocondemn himself to sudden death; and more, perhaps, more. Suppose--itmight be, you know--suppose, for instance, a man was placed between thealternatives of neglecting this duty and of breaking a--well an oath, abinding oath of a very serious--terrible--character? An oath, we willsay, made previously, without any foreknowledge of the crime?'

"I said that any such oath taken without foreknowledge of the crimecould not have contemplated such an event, and that however wrong thetaking of such an oath might have been in itself, to assist inconcealing such a crime as this murder was infinitely worse--infinitelyworse than taking the oath, and infinitely worse than breaking it. Though as to the latter, I repeated that any such engagement madewithout contemplation or foreknowledge of such a crime would seem to bevoid in that respect. I went further--much further. I conjured him tomake no secret of anything he might know, and not to burden hisconscience with complicity--for that was what concealment would amountto--in such a terrible crime. I added some further exhortations whichI need not repeat now, and presently his assumed calmness departedutterly, and he became even more agitated than when first he came. Hewould say nothing further, however, and in the end he went away, sayinghe would 'think over the matter very seriously. '

"It was quite plain to me that my poor friend was suffering acutely fromthe burden of some terrible secret, and that in his impulsive way he hadrushed to confide in me at the first shock of the news of this murder, and that afterwards his courage had failed him. But I conceived it myduty not to allow such a matter to stand thus. Therefore, giving Mason afew hours for calm consideration, I called on him in the evening. I wastold that he was not very well and had gone to bed; he had, however, left a message, in case I should call, to the effect that he would comeand see me in the morning. I waited the whole of that next morning andthe whole of the afternoon, and saw nothing of him. In the eveningurgent parish work took me away, but next morning I called again atMason's house and saw him. This time he avoided the subject--tried tododge it, in fact. But I was not to be denied, and the result wasanother scene of alternate agitation and forced calmness. I will notweary you, Mr. Hewitt, with useless repetition, but I may say that Ihave seen Mason twice since then without bringing him to any definiteresolve. As a matter of fact, I believe that he is restrained fromsaying anything further by fear--sheer terror. He has even gone so faras to deny absolutely that he knows anything of the matter--and then hascontradicted himself a minute afterwards. At last, this morning, I havebrought him a degree further. In the last few days I made it my businessto acquaint myself, as far as possible, with the exact circumstances ofthe tragedy, so far as they are known, and in course of my inquiries Isaw the housekeeper of the offices next door--the man who identified thebody as Denson's. He either could not, or would not, tell me very much, but he _did_ say that you had been working in some way in connectionwith the case, and that you knew as much of it as anybody. That gave mean idea. This morning I told Mason that not only he, but I also had aduty in respect to this matter, and my duty was to see that nothing inconnection with such a crime as this should be hushed up on anyconsideration or for anybody's fancies. I said that if he liked he needtell me no more, but might take _you_ into consultation professionally, as your client, allowing me first to see you and to assure you that, consistently with his own safety, he was anxious to further the ends ofjustice. I said that, as your client, your first duty would be toprotect him, that your professional practice would keep your mouthabsolutely sealed, and that you already knew a good deal about thecrime--perhaps more than he suspected. I protested that this seemed tome the very least he could do, and I warned him that if he refused to doeven this, I should have to consider whether it was consistent with mycharacter, as a clergyman and a loyal citizen, any longer to conceal thefact that he was keeping back information that might lead to theapprehension of the murderer. This frightened him, and between the fearof the threat and the fear that you might already know more than hesuspected, he authorised me--he was even eager about it--to come and seeyou; always, of course, under a pledge of strict professional secrecy. "

"So far your account is quite clear, Mr. Potswood, " Hewitt said. "Youhave done your best, now I must do mine. You wish me to see Mason atonce, no doubt?"

"I arranged to bring you to his house, if you were willing and yourengagements permitted, at three this afternoon. Will that do? I havebeen keeping you, I see--it is past one already. Will you lunch with meat my club?"

"With great pleasure--more especially as I have a few questions to askas we go along. Is it far?"

"Just at this end of Pall Mall--we will walk, if you like. "

"Tell me now, " said Hewitt as they went, "anything you know about Mr. Mason's habits, family connections, and so forth, as fully and asminutely as you please. Has he any friends connected with China, forinstance?"

"China? Why, no, I think not; except--but I'll tell you all I know. Mr. Mason has no family connections, so far as I am aware--at any rate, inLondon--except his niece, Miss Creswick. She is within a few months oftwenty-one, a charming girl, but horribly shut in, for Mason has almostno visitors. Miss Creswick was his sister's daughter; she lost hermother first and then her father, and was left to the guardianship ofher uncle. He was also trustee under the will, and he has, I believe, discretion to keep charge of her property, if he thinks fit, till shereaches the age of twenty-five; though in case of his death she is toinherit in the ordinary way, on coming of age. She is a very dutifuland, indeed, an affectionate niece; though I must say he is scarcelyfair to her, keeping her, as he does, so completely secluded from thesociety of young people of her own age. Mere thoughtlessness, I think;he has had no children of his own, his mind is wholly occupied with hisscience and his fads, and he makes himself a recluse without a thoughtof the girl. And that brings me to what I was about to say at first, when you asked me if Mr. Mason had any friends connected with China. There is a young doctor--Lawson is his name--some very distantconnection of the family, I think, who had a professional appointment ofsome sort in Shanghai for a year or two, but who is now in London tryingto work up a small practice of his own. If you hadn't mentioned China Ishouldn't have thought of him, since he never goes to the house now--or, at any rate, is supposed not to go. "

"Doesn't go to the house? And why is that?"

"Well, there was a disagreement. What it was I don't quite know, but inthe first place it had some connection with some of Mason'sexperiments--something which Lawson declined to help him with forprofessional reasons, or else something he declined to do for Lawson, Idon't know which. But the thing went further, for, as a matter of fact, there was something between the young people--Lawson is onlytwenty-eight--and Mason put an end to that. It had been something like aformal engagement, I think, but in the quarrel--Mason was alwaysquarrelling with somebody when he _had_ friends, and that's why he hasso few now--in the quarrel things were said that ended in a rupture. Whether young Lawson was fortune-hunting or not I cannot say, but Masoncertainly accused him of it, and promised to keep back the girl's moneyas long as he could. In the meantime Mason declared an end to theengagement, and poor Helen was broken-hearted; for as I have said, sheis an affectionate girl, and she hadn't a friend to confide in. But I'mboring you--you don't want to know all these things, surely?"

"On the contrary, I can't possibly know too much, and the particularscan't possibly be too minute. Nine cases out of ten I bring to an issueby means of a triviality. You were saying a little while back that therewere almost _no_ visitors at Mr. Mason's house; but you said 'almost, 'and that means there are some. Who are they?"

"Very occasionally--rarely, in fact--there are one or two members oflearned societies with whom he had been in correspondence, or who areold friends. There is a Professor Hutton and a Dr. Burge, I believe; butthey don't appear once in six months; and there is Mr. Everard Myatt, who is more frequent. He does not profess to be a great man of science, but he is interested in chemistry as an amateur, and is, I fancy, a sortof disciple of Mason's. He has noticed a sad difference in Mason justlately, and he even called on me yesterday, though I hardly knew him bysight, in the hope that I would back up his urgent suggestion thatMason should go off for a change and a rest. Beyond these I don't thinkI know of a single visitor. But here we are at the Megatherium. "

II

Mr. Jacob Mason's house stood in its own grounds in a quiet suburbanroad. It was not a very large house, but it straggled about comfortablyin the manner of detached houses built in the suburbs at a time whenspace was less valuable than now, and it consisted of two floors only. The front door was not far from the road, and was clearly visible topassengers who might chance to look through either of the two iron gatesthat opened one on each end of the semi-circular drive. 

All these things Martin Hewitt noticed as the Rev. Mr. Potswood pushedopen one of these gates, and the two walked up the drive. The front doorstood in a portico, and a French window gave access to the roof of thisportico from a bedroom or dressing-room. As Hewitt and his companionapproached the house the French window was pushed open, and a manappeared--a middle-aged, slightly stoutish man with a short, grey beard;commonplace enough in himself, but now convulsed with noisy anger, shaking his fists and stamping on the portico-roof. 

"Get out!" he shouted. "Don't come near my house again, or I'll have youflung out! Go away and take your friends with you! D'you hear? Go away, sir, and don't come here annoying me! Go! Go at once!"

Mr. Potswood absolutely staggered with amazement. "Why, " he gasped, "it's Mason! He's mad--clean mad! Why, Mason, my poor friend, don't youknow me?"

"Get out, I say!" cried Mason. "Give me no more of your talk! I won'thave you here!" And now Hewitt caught a glimpse of a girl's face at thewindow behind the man--a pale and handsome face, drawn with anxiety andfear. 

Hewitt seized the clergyman quickly by the arm. "Come, " he whisperedhurriedly, "come away at once. There is a reason for this. Get away atonce. If you can answer back angrily, do so, but at any rate, comeaway. "

He hurried back to the gate, half dragging the astounded rector, who wasall too honest a soul to be able to counterfeit an anger he did notfeel, even if his amazement had not made him speechless. Hewitt closedthe gate behind him and said as he walked, "Where is the rectory? Wewill go there. He may have sent a message while you were out. "

Mechanically the rector took the first turning. "But he's mad!" heprotested. "Mad, poor fellow! Merciful heavens, Mr. Hewitt, his wholetale must have been a delusion! A mere madman's fancy! Poor fellow! Wemust go back, Mr. Hewitt--we really must! We can't leave that poor girlthere alone with a raving maniac!"

"No, " Hewitt insisted, "come to the rectory. That is no madness, Mr. Potswood. Couldn't you see the colour of the man under the eyes, and theshaking of his beard? That was not anger and it was not madness. It wasterror, Mr. Potswood--sheer, sick terror! Terror, or some emotion verymuch like it. "

"But, if terror, why that outburst? What does it mean? If it wereterror, why not rather welcome our company and help?"

"Don't you see, Mr. Potswood?" answered Hewitt. "Don't you guess? _Masonis watched, and he knows it!_ He was acting his anger before unseeneyes--and he knew they were on him!"

"God be merciful to us all, " ejaculated the clergyman. "Poor man--poorsinner! What is this unspeakable thing which has him in its clutches?What had he done to give himself over to such a power?"

"We can tell nothing, and guess nothing, as yet, " Hewitt answered. "Letus see if he has sent you a message. It seems likely. If he has it mayhelp us. If not--then I think we must do something decisive at once. Butdon't hurry so! It is hard to restrain one's self, I know, but there maybe eyes on us, Mr. Potswood, and we must not seem to be persisting inour errand. "

So they went through the quiet streets for the two or three furlongsthat seemed so many miles to the good parson. Arrived at the rectory, Mr. Potswood pushed impatiently through the gate, and was hurryingtoward the house, when he perceived a bent little old man standing amongsome shrubs with his own gardener, who was digging. 

"There's Mason's gardener!" the rector exclaimed, and went to meet him. 

The old man touched his hat, looked sharply towards Hewitt, who waswaiting near the rectory door, and then disappeared round a corner ofthe house, the rector following. In a few seconds Mr. Potswoodreappeared, with a slip of paper in his hand. "Here, " he said, "seethis! The old man was told to give it to nobody but me, and in nobodyelse's presence. He's been waiting since one o'clock. "

Scrawled on the paper, in trembling and straggling letters, were thesewords:--

/# "You must not bring Mr. Martin Hewitt to my house this afternoon. I am watched. It is hopeless. Do not desert me. Bring him to-night after dark at eight. I shall want his best skill, and you shall know all. After dark. Come to the back gate in the lane, which will be ajar, and through the conservatory at the side, where my niece will be waiting at eight, after dark. Burn this and do not let it out of your sight first. Send a line by this man to say you will do as I ask, but do not say what it is, for fear of accidents. Send at once. Do come at eight, with Mr. Hewitt. "#/

"We must do as he says, " remarked Hewitt. "We know nothing of thismatter, and we must be guided till we do. Just write an unsignednote--'All shall be as you request, ' or words to that effect, and besure the man gives it to him. Let him out behind through the churchyard, if possible, and tell him not to go straight from one house to theother. Is he an intelligent man?"

"Yes--uncommonly shrewd, I believe. He says he can't have been followed. He knows several gardeners hereabout, and he seems to have called oneach of them on his way--in at the front of the garden and out at theback each time, after a few minutes' conversation. Gipps is rather acunning old fellow. "

"Ah, " said Hewitt admiringly, "that's the sort of messenger I oftenwant. I'll give him half a crown for himself and the money to pay for atelegram on his way. He knows nothing essential, of course?"

"No--only that his master is in some sort of trouble, and warned himthat he might be followed. "

"That is good. I shall telegraph to Detective-Inspector Plummer, ofScotland Yard. All right--I quite understand that all I have heard isconfidential. I shall tell Plummer nothing till I may--indeed, as yetI have very little to tell that would help him. But I think it will bewell to have the police within call--we may want them at a moment'snotice; I have no police powers, you see, and Plummer has the Densoncase in hand. I will ask him to be here, at this house, before a quarterto eight, if you will allow me. "

And so the telegram went to Plummer, and Hewitt, accepting the rector'sinvitation to an early dinner before starting on their visit, resignedhimself to wait. He did not like the waste of time, as he frankly toldMr. Potswood. He would have preferred to see Mason at once, at anyrisk, and to take what means he thought necessary without delay. But asit seemed that the risk was to be chiefly Mason's, and as Mason knew allof which both he and the rector were ignorant, Mason must be allowed tochoose his own time. 

The excellent Mr. Potswood endured agonies of suspense, though he alsoinsisted that Mason's wishes must be observed exactly. "What is itall--what can it be?" he ejaculated again and again. "What dreadfulinfluence can thus compass a man about, here in London, in these times?"

 * * * * *

It was autumn, and night fell early. Dinner was over at last, and theyhad scarcely left the table when Plummer arrived, anxious and eager. 

"You'll have to trust me a little, Plummer, " Hewitt said, when he hadmade him known to the rector. "I can tell you nothing now--know nothing, in fact, or very little more than nothing. The fact is, I'm going to seea man who promises information to me alone, in confidence, as hisclient, and I don't know how long I may have to keep you in the dark. But this is where the trail lies hot, and I know that's where you wantto be. More, if you're wanted suddenly you'll be at hand. You have a manor two with you, I suppose, as I suggested?"

"Three of the best of them. They will follow us up. Is it far?"

"No, close enough. It is a house in a walled garden--not a high wall. Wego in at a gate from the lane behind, and I think you should wait atthat gate, and put your men at hand. We mustn't go in as a crowd. Therector had better go first, and you and I will follow on the oppositeside of the road. "

So the procession was formed, and it was still some three minutes shortof eight o'clock when Hewitt and Plummer joined the clergyman at thedoor in the garden wall behind Mason's house. The door was ajar as hadbeen promised in Mason's note. Leaving Plummer on guard without, MartinHewitt and the rector stepped as silently as possible through the littlekitchen garden and across a strip of lawn toward where a dull lightilluminated the conservatory, at the right-hand end of the house. Thedoor of the conservatory was ajar also, and this the rector pushed open. 

"Miss Creswick!" the rector called, in a loud whisper. "Miss Creswick!"And with that a girl appeared within. 

"Oh, Mr. Potswood, " she said, "I'm so glad you've come! I can't thinkwhat's wrong with poor uncle! I'm afraid he must be going mad! He isterrified at something, and he has been getting worse, till he couldhardly speak or walk. Dr. Lawson has been--about an hour ago, and sincethen uncle has been much quieter, in his study. "

They were entering the dimly-lighted drawing-room now. "Dr. Lawson?"queried the rector. "Rather an unusual visitor, isn't he? How long hashe been gone?"

Miss Creswick flushed slightly through all her paleness and grief. "Idon't know, " she said. "He let himself out, I fancy. He said he couldnot stay long when he came, but I didn't hear him go; I have beenupstairs, and the servants are in the kitchen--they say uncle's mad, andI'm really afraid he is!"

They left the drawing-room, and walked along the corridor and the hallto the opposite side of the house, where the study lay. Miss Creswicktapped gently at the door, but there was no answer. She tapped again, louder, and then came the faint sound of a quick step on the carpet, andthen a slight scraping noise, as when a door is closed over a carpet itwill scarcely pass. "That's the window into the garden, " said MissCreswick. "Why is he going out? Uncle! Uncle Jacob!"

But now the silence was wholly unbroken. Hewitt snatched quickly at thedoor-handle. "Locked!" he said. "Come--the quickest way into thegarden!"

They ran out at the front door, and round toward the study window. Itwas a French window, exactly at the opposite end of the house to theconservatory, and now the gas-light streamed out through one half of it, which stood curtainless and ajar, while the curtain was drawn across theother half. Hewitt was the least familiar with the place, but he wasquickest on his legs, and more seriously alarmed than the others. Hereached the window first--and instantly turned and thrust the rectorback against Miss Creswick. "Quick! take her away, " he said; "we are toolate!" and in the same moment, even as Hewitt dashed over the threshold, he snatched a whistle from his pocket, and blew his hardest. 

There on the floor lay Mason, his face dreadful and staring and black;tight in his neck was the band of a tourniquet, and fresh and wet on hisforehead was the Red Triangle. 

Hewitt snatched at the screw of the tourniquet behind the neck, andloosened it as quickly as hands could turn. But it was too late. Toolate, the examining surgeon afterwards said, by a quarter of an hour. 

Plummer was at the window with his men at his heels even before thetourniquet was half unscrewed. 

"Round the wall of the garden, " shouted Hewitt, "and whistle up thepolice! He's only this moment out!"

The house was alive with shouts and screams. The rector came runningback, and Hewitt, busy with his useless attempt at restoration, callednow for a doctor. People were scampering in the street, and Hewitt leftthe victim to the care of the rector, and himself joined Plummer, all infewer seconds than it may be told in. 

But Plummer and his men were beaten, for nothing--not so much as amoving shadow--was seen in the garden or about the walls. Worse, thegeneral trampling would obliterate possible tracks. Plummer set a guardof police about the wall, and came in for consultation with Hewitt. 

The body was carried into another room, and Hewitt and Plummer began anexamination of the study. 

"No signs of a struggle, " commented Plummer, "and there was no noise, they say. That's very odd. "

"From what I have seen and heard to-day, " said Hewitt, "it is as Ishould have expected. I believe the man was almost killed by terrorbefore he was strangled--dazed, stricken dumb, paralysed, deafened byit--everything but blinded, poor wretch. And to have been blinded wouldhave been a mercy. "

And then, as they made their examination systematically, calmly andwithout flurry, Hewitt told the whole tale of his day's adventures, together with all he had heard from the rector. "The man's dead, " hesaid, "and his confidence is at an end. Indeed, I never had it--thecase, so far as I am concerned, is over before I have even touched it. Ihaven't had a chance, Plummer; and the thing is deep and dark, deep anddark. Oh, if only the man had let me come to him in the daylight, spiteof all! This might all have been averted. . . . There has been a closesearch here, too. See how everything is turned over. But, stay!"

A low fire smouldered in the grate, and on it lay ashes of many burntpapers. Hewitt passed the shovel carefully under these ashes, liftedthem out and placed them gently on the table under the light of thegas-pendant. 

"I must leave you, " said Plummer. "There'll be an inspector here fromthe station in a moment--he won't interfere with you, and if anybody canget information out of this room it's you. The next thing for me isplain. I must make sure of Dr. Lawson, if he can be found. "

"That is quite right, without a doubt, " Hewitt responded. "I may findanything or nothing in this room, and, meanwhile, he was the lastperson known to have been here, and the only visitor, and he was notheard to go out, unless we heard him go when we were outside the studydoor. More, it was plainly some one familiar with the place who was ableto get away so quickly by the window and the garden. "

"And his interest in getting rid of Mason, too--the girl of age ina few months, and all obstacles to getting hold of her, and her money, removed. And--and the surgical tourniquet, the Chinese colour andeverything!"

"Quite right, you must make sure of him, as you say. You will get hisaddress from the rector. Meanwhile I'll try to begin my littlecontribution to the case--to begin it as best I can, after all thechances have made it useless. "

III

It was after nine when Plummer returned. The rector had just rejoinedHewitt in the study, having left poor Miss Creswick, utterly brokendown, in her room, in charge of a scarcely less terrified servant. Plummer tapped, and pushed the study door open. 

"That's done clean and sure enough, " he said, with professionalcalmness. "And he's a cool hand, is that Dr. Lawson. But have you foundanything more? We shall want all we can get. "

"We shall, " Hewitt assented, "and we shall find more than we've got now, or I'm grievously mistaken. But tell me first what you've done. "

He removed the blotting pad, on which the paper ashes still lay, andvery carefully shut it away in a wide drawer where no draught coulddisturb it; he also shut another drawer which stood open. 

"We had no difficulty in finding Dr. Lawson, " Plummer began. "We methim, in fact, leaving his surgery. I went back with him into thegas-light, and there put it to him plump. Well, he was staggered, badly. Any man would be, of course. But he pulled himself together wonderfullysoon, and the first thing he said was that he was just on his way toMason's house. I thought at first, of course, that he meant to deny thathe had been there already, and I gave him the usual warning about whathe said being used in evidence. But he went on, and I've got it allsafely noted. He admitted that he had been here, at about seven o'clockor just before, and he said he came because Mr. Mason sent for him. Thatdoesn't seem likely, does it, on the facts as we know them?"

"Why, no, " said the rector. "The last time he was here he was orderedout, and I know of no reason why he should have been asked to cometo-day. We must ask if anybody was sent. "

"I have asked, " replied Plummer, "just now, and none of the servants wassent. But Lawson's story is that he _was_ sent for and came, though hesaid he shouldn't say what Mason wanted to see him about till he knewmore of the case. Looks as though he hadn't quite got his story readyyet, doesn't it? He had thought over the point about not being seen togo away, though; he said he had let himself out at about half-pastseven, being familiar with the ways of the house. And he said that Masonwas rather unwell--nervously upset--when he left him, but that wasall. "

"It's terrible, " said the rector, "terrible. It seems impossible tobelieve it of young Lawson; and yet--and yet!" And then after apause--"Good heavens!" he burst out again. "Why, I only realise it now!There is the other crime, too! Denson! Two murders! Two--and mostcertainly by the same hand! Mr. Plummer, I _can't_ believe it! Oh, there's more behind, more behind, Mr. Hewitt. "

"There _is_ more, " said Hewitt, "as you will see when I tell you thelittle I have been able to ascertain. There _is_ more behind, though Isee little of it yet. First----"

There was a sharp knock at the front door, followed by a ring, muffledin the distant kitchen. Hewitt started up. "Who is this late visitor atthis unvisited house?" he said. "If it is the police, well enough. Butif anybody else--_anybody_--you may call me Doctor, or anything youplease, except Martin Hewitt. Don't forget that!"

There were hurried steps in the hall, a question or two, and the studydoor was pushed open. Two servants--they would not venture from thekitchen singly this dreadful night--made a confused announcement of "Mr. Myatt, " and were instantly pushed aside by Mr. Myatt himself, anxiousand agitated. 

The late Mr. Mason's closest scientific friend was a palish, black-bearded man, of above middle height, with stooping shoulders and avery quick pair of eyes. There was something about his face that somehowreminded Hewitt of portraits he had seen of John Knox, and yet it wasnot such a face as his; it seemed oddly unlike in its very likeness. 

"What is this dreadful news, Mr. Potswood?" he cried. "I heard peopletalking in the next street on my way home. Is it true? But the servantshave told me so. They say our poor friend--but there has been an arrest, hasn't there?"

The rector nodded gravely. 

"And who? Tell me about it, Mr. Potswood--tell me!"

"I think I must see how Miss Creswick is doing, " said Hewitt, speakingacross to Plummer and making for the door. 

"Certainly, doctor, certainly!" answered Plummer with a nod. 

Hewitt closed the door behind him, leaving the rector in the full tideof his account of the day's events; but Hewitt's way took him to thekitchen, where the servants were cowering and whispering together, frightened and bewildered. 

"Is there any paint or varnish of any sort in the place?" he askedsharply. "Give me anything there is--black, if possible--and a brush, quickly. "

"There's--there's Brunswick black, sir, for the stove, " said the cook. 

"That will do; be quick. Oh, there's Gipps, the gardener! You're justthe man I want, Gipps. Come and find me a board or a plank, quick as youplease!" And Hewitt pushed the old gardener before him into the gardenby the kitchen door. 

 * * * * *

A quarter of an hour later, Mr. Everard Myatt, having heard all that wasto be told of his friend's terrible death and the arrest of Mr. Lawson, turned to go, meeting Hewitt at the study door on his way. 

"And how is poor Miss Creswick by now, doctor?" he asked anxiously. 

Hewitt shook his head. "No better than you could expect, " he said, "but, on the whole, no worse. She mustn't be seen to-night, of course, but, perhaps, if you could call round in the morning with the rector----"

"Of course--of course! Poor girl--and Dr. Lawson suspected, too--what aterrible blow for her! Anything I can do, doctor, of course, as I saidto Mr. Potswood--anything I can do I will do as gladly as such sadcircumstances permit. "

The rector had been coming to the door with Mr. Myatt, but Plummer, catching a sign from Hewitt, restrained him unseen, and Hewitt and thevisitor walked into the hall together. 

"They have put out the light, it seems, " Hewitt said. "I wonderwhy--unless people from the crowd have been coming into the garden andstaring in through the glass panels. I wonder if we can find thedoor-handle. Yes, here it is. Dark outside, too! Good-night--mind howyou go on the steps!"

Mr. Myatt checked and stumbled in the dark porch, and reached quicklydownward. 

"There's a board standing across the porch, " he said. 

"A board?" replied Hewitt. "So there is. Let me move it, or it'll upsetsomebody. Good-night!"

Mr. Myatt strode off into the dark night, and Hewitt, noiselesslylifting the board he had himself placed in position, hastened back tothe study. 

He swung up the board, all sticky and shiny with Brunswick black, andlaid it across a spread newspaper, on the table. There on the top, inthe midst of the black varnish, were the prints of all five finger-tipsof a hand, where Mr. Myatt had felt for the obstruction in the porch. 

Hewitt opened the drawer he had shut a little while back, and tooktherefrom a sheet of writing-paper. And when, with the lens from hispocket, he began to examine that paper in comparison with thefinger-marks on the board, Plummer and the rector could see that therewere also two distinct finger-marks on the paper and one faint one--allred. Plummer came to look. 

"What's this?" he said. "Was this what you were going to tell us about?"

Hewitt did not reply for a few moments, but continued his examination. Then he rose and turned to Plummer. 

"You've still got that piece of paper in your pocket, I suppose, " hesaid, "with the little red smudges of colour put there by the policesurgeon?"

"Yes--here it is, " and the detective took it from his waistcoat pocket. 

"Thanks, " said Hewitt. "Now, see here. That is a little of the red stufftaken from the mark on Denson's forehead a week ago, and found toconsist of vermilion, oil and wax. You have seen the second impressionof that awful mark on the forehead of your poor friend Mason, Mr. Potswood, to-night. This room has been searched for papers before webegan, and papers have been burnt. In the search this drawer wasopened--containing, as you see, nothing but a supply of new headednote-paper. The note-paper was hastily lifted to see if anything elselay beneath, and here, on the bottom sheet, these finger-marks were leftin that same adhesive, freely marking red--a sort of stuff that sticksto and marks whatever it touches. The hand that lifted that paper wasthe hand that impressed that ghastly mark; and the hand that left itsprint on this black varnish was Mr. Everard Myatt's! Now compare thetwo!"

Plummer had snatched the lens, and was narrowly comparing the marks ereHewitt had well finished speaking. 

"They are!" he cried, as the rector bent excitedly over him. "They arethe same! See--forefinger and middle finger--the same, every line!"

"I needn't tell you, " pursued Hewitt, "certainly I needn't tell Plummer, that that is the most certain and scientific method of identificationknown. The police know that--and use it. But now there is some more. Yousaw me take that charred paper from the fire. Sometimes words may beread on charred paper--it depends on the paper and the ink. Most of thecinders were too much broken to yield any information, though we may tryagain by daylight. But one was suggestive. See it!" Hewitt verycarefully pulled out the flat drawer that held the cinders. 

"You see, " he went on, "that one--this--is different from the rest. Ithas retained its original form better, and has been less broken, becauseof being of thicker paper. It is a crumpled envelope. Look at theflap--it has never been closed down. Moreover, on that same flap you mayread in embossed letters, still visible, part of the name of this house. Plain inference--this was an envelope intended for a letter never sent, and so crumpled up and dropped into the waste-paper basket. But whyshould such an apparently unimportant thing as that be carefully broughtfrom the waste-paper basket and burnt? Somebody was anxious that thesmallest scrap of paper evidencing a certain correspondence should bedestroyed. But look closely at the front of the envelope--the ink showsa rather lighter grey than the paper. The address is incomplete--at anyrate, no more than some of the first line and a little of the second isat all visible now; but it is plain that the first line begins with anE. The letters immediately following are not distinct, but next there isa capital M beginning a name which is clearly Myatt or Myall. Now, _that_ is why, when Myatt came here, I took the first steps to hand toget an impression of his finger-tips, in order to compare them with themarks on that paper. "

"But why, " asked the astonished rector, "why did he come back?"

"Nothing but a bold measure to see how things were going--he came as hisown spy, that's all. He's a keen and dangerous man. Don't you remembertelling me how he called on you yesterday, though you hardly knew him bysight, merely to ask you to persuade Mason to take a holiday? It struckme as a little odd at the time. He was pumping you, Mr. Potswood--hewanted to find what Mason had been saying! And he is not alone--plainlyhe is not alone, for poor Mason knew they were watching everywhere. Butcome--this is no time for speculation. Plummer--you must hold himsafely--we'll pick up evidence enough when you've got him. I wouldn'tleave it, Plummer--I'd take him to-night!"

"You're right--right, as usual, Mr. Hewitt, " Plummer agreed. "Moreespecially as the rector was--well, a little incautious in talking tohim just now. "

"I? What did I say?" Mr. Potswood asked, astonished. "I had nosuspicions--how could I have----"

"No, Mr. Potswood, " the detective replied, "you had no suspicions, andfor that very reason, in the excitement of the narrative, you called Mr. Martin Hewitt by his right name at least twice! And after I had calledhim 'doctor, ' too!" he added regretfully. 

"Is that so?" asked Hewitt. 

The poor rector was sadly abashed. "But I really wasn't aware of it, Mr. Hewitt!" he protested. "I hardly think I could--but, there, perhaps Idid! Of course, if Inspector Plummer remembers it----"

"He'll be off!" exclaimed Hewitt. "With that hint, and finding the blackstuff on his hands, he'll smell a rat instantly! Come, Mr. Potswood--youcan show us the nearest way to his house, at any rate! Come--we may gethim yet!"

 * * * * *

But the good rector's slip of the tongue was fatal, and Myatt was notyet to meet the fate that fitted him. The house was not far--less than amile away. It was a detached house, but quite a small one--smaller thanMason's. Plummer blocked every exit with a man, but his caution waswasted. Myatt was gone. 

There was the house and the furniture and two servants, just as it mighthave been any day in the year when Myatt was out for an hour. But nowhe was out for good. The police watched and waited all night, and allthe next day; they waited and watched for a week, and the house wasunder observation after that, but Myatt never returned. He had made hisplans, it was plain, for just such a flight, whenever the necessitymight arise; and when he was assured that danger threatened, he simplyvanished in the dark of a London night. Search brought noinformation--not a scrap of telltale paper lay in Calton Lodge--not aletter, not a line. Though, indeed, the police were to see more ofMyatt's work yet--and so was Hewitt. 

Dr. Lawson's detention did not last the night out. The unhappy Mason hadindeed sent to him, by a chance messenger, having grown desperate inlong waiting for the return of Gipps from the rectory. Mason was readyto call in any aid, to recall any of the friendships he had sacrificedin the past. But Lawson was long in coming, having received the noteafter a long professional round, and when at last he arrived, Mason wasa little reassured by the promise of Hewitt's visit. Therefore, he didnot tell the doctor so much as he might have done. Nevertheless, hetalked wildly and vaguely, so that Dr. Lawson feared some disturbance ofhis reason. The doctor quieted and soothed him, however, and when heleft he promised to return after his consultation hour at the surgerywas over. He must have been watched away from the house, and then theblow fell that sealed for ever the lips of Jacob Mason. 

Poor Miss Creswick was taken from the old house in which she could nolonger remain, and for a few months she stayed at the rectory, tendedlovingly by the rector's excellent wife--stayed there, in fact, till herwedding-day, which took place early the next year; so that for her andDr. Lawson the tragedy ended in happiness, after all. 

 * * * * *

"God forgive me, " cried the rector in the grey of the morning, whenit became clear that Myatt had escaped--"God forgive me! Through mystupidity a horrible creature has been set loose in the world to workhis diabolical will afresh!"

"Never mind, " said Hewitt. "It was not stupidity, Mr. Potswood--nothingbut your openness of character. You were not trained to the cunning thatwe must use in my profession. And there will be more than Myatt totake--he was not alone! It is plain that Mason was found to be waveringin whatever horrible allegiance he had bound himself, and he waswatched. No, Myatt was not alone!"

"No, I fear not, " replied the clergyman. "I fear not: there is horriblemystery still. The watching and besetting that terrified him so much;the fact that he seems to have yielded up his life without astruggle--and that with help so near; and the connection--what could ithave been?--between Mason and the other victim--Denson. That is a deepmystery indeed! And that horrible sign! Mr. Hewitt, you have donemuch--but not all!"

"No, " replied Martin Hewitt, "not nearly all. It is even doubtfulwhether or not it will be my lot to come across the thing again; but itwill be in the hands of the police. And, after all, we have achievedsomething. For we know that if Myatt can be captured we shall be at theheart of the mystery. "

THE CASE OF THE LEVER KEY

I

In some of the cases which we now know to have been connected with theRed Triangle, there was nothing, in the first place, to show any suchassociation. In some of these cases the connection has become apparentonly since the final clearing up of the whole mystery, and with thesecases we have no present concern; but in others it revealed itselfduring the investigation of the case. It was to this second categorythat the next case belonged--the next at all connectible, that is, afterthat of the mysterious death of Mr. Jacob Mason and the flight ofEverard Myatt. 

The case was remarkable in other respects also; first, because in one ofits features it had a resemblance to the case of Samuel's diamonds, which first brought the Red Triangle to Hewitt's notice; next, becausein its course Hewitt encountered what he declared to be the mostingenious and baffling cryptogram that he had ever seen in the length ofhis strange experience; and thirdly, because I was the means of placingthat cryptogram in his hands, owing to one of those odd chances thatarise again and again in real life--are, indeed, so common as to passalmost unregarded--and yet might be thought improbable if offered in theguise of a mere story. Hewitt has often alluded to the curiouspersistence of such chances in his experience. I think I have elsewherementioned a certain police officer's prolonged search after a criminalfor whose arrest he held a warrant, ending in the discovery--because ofa misdirected call--that the man had been living all the time next doorto himself; and I have also told of the other detective inspector, who, being sent in search of a criminal of whom he had but the meagrest andmost unsatisfactory particulars, and whom he scarcely hoped ever to rundown, actually _fell over_ the man as he was leaving the office where hehad received his information, in the doorway of which the fellow hadstooped to tie his shoe-lace! But, as Hewitt would say, nothing but theexceptional nature of the surrounding circumstances makes these thingsseem extraordinary. What more ordinary experience, for example, than tomeet a friend in some London street--perhaps one friend of the onlydozen or so you have among the four millions of people about you? Theodds against you two, of all the millions, choosing the one street ofthe thousands in London to walk down at the same minute of time, wouldseem incalculable; and yet the chance comes off so often as to be amatter of the most ordinary experience. 

On this occasion I was expecting orders from my editor to producecertain articles on the subject of the London hospitals. It will beremembered that the matter was very much in the air a few years ago, andas nothing is professionally more uncomfortable than to be called onsuddenly for an accurate and reasonable leading article on a subject oneknows nothing about, I wrote to my friend, Barton McCarthy, who ishouse-surgeon at St. Augustine's, and he replied by an offer to tell meanything I cared to ask if I would call at the hospital. 

I set out accordingly some little time after a breakfast even later thanordinary, and called in at Hewitt's office on my way downstairs, to saythat I should not be lunching at our usual place that day. 

"No, " Hewitt answered, "nor shall I, I expect. I'm off to the City, atonce. I have an urgent message to go immediately to Kingsley, Bell andDalton's, in Broad Street, where a big bond robbery has just beendiscovered. Perhaps I can give you a lift in my cab?"

We hurried off together accordingly. Hewitt knew nothing of the case hehad to examine, and so could tell me nothing, beyond the short urgentrequest that he would come at once, and that the matter involved theloss of bonds to a very large amount; and he dropped me at a convenientspot, whence my walk to the hospital was but a short one. 

I saw my friend McCarthy, and bothered him very successfully for nearlyan hour, getting all the information I had expected, and more, during avery interesting walk through the great hospital. 

"You get some idea in a place like this, " said McCarthy, as we came atlast into the receiving room for accident cases, "you get some idea, Brett, of the size of this great London machine working about us. Youmight walk about the streets for a week and never see a seriousaccident, or even an accident at all, and yet, you see, here they comeall day long--a stream of people damaged or killed in the machine. "

A decent workman was having a gashed hand dressed and strapped, and anavvy with bandages about his head was being led away by a friend. Nurses and dressers were waiting ready to take their orderly turns atthe incoming casualties, and as we looked a more serious case wasbrought in on an ambulance by two policemen. The patient was a ragged, disreputable-looking fellow of middle age, in grimy and tatteredclothes, whose head had been roughly bandaged by the policemen whobrought him. He had been knocked down and kicked on the head by abutcher's cart-horse, it seemed, in Moorgate Street, and he was quiteinsensible. A very short examination showed that the case was nothingtrivial, and McCarthy sent me to sit in his private room to wait lunch, while he gave the matter his personal attention. 

When he returned he brought a small crumpled envelope in his hand. "Thatcase is put to bed, " he said, "still insensible. "

"Is it very bad?" I asked. 

"Slight fracture of the occipital, and, of course, concussion of thebrain--probably contusion, too, I expect we shall find presently. Not soover serious for a healthy man, but I'm afraid he's an old soaker--thesort that crumple up at a touch. Nobody knows him, and there's nothingto identify him in the pockets--a few coppers, an old knife, and so on. So we can't send to tell his friends--unless we bring in your friendMartin Hewitt to trace 'em out, which would come too expensive. Besides, " McCarthy added, dropping into a seat before his desk, "if he'sgot any friends they'll come, sooner or later, when they miss him. Thisis the only thing he'd got beside what's in the pockets--he'd been senton a message, probably. "

My friend held up the crumpled envelope and took from it a small key. "He'd got this envelope gripped tightly in his hand, " he said, "butthere was no address on it, so we tore it open in the hope of findingone inside. But there was nothing there but the key. If you were a verypromising pupil of your friend Hewitt, I should expect you to take aglance at it and tell us the man's address at once, together with hisage, birthplace, when vaccinated, and the residence of his maternalgrandmother. But you're not, so I'll let you off. "

McCarthy turned the key idly about in his hand and tried it on a lock inhis desk. "Stopped up, " he remarked, withdrawing it, and peeping intothe barrel; "not dirt, either--stopped up with paper! What's that for?"

He took a pin to clear the barrel, and the paper came away quitereadily. It was a tight little roll, which the surgeon pulled out into asmall strip rather less than three inches long and about half-an-inchbroad. 

"Hullo!" he exclaimed. "Look here! Here's a job for Martin Hewitt, afterall! Figures! What does that mean? And what an amazing place to putthem in! A key barrel! By Jove, Brett, this looks like one of yourfavourite adventures. Somebody sends a key in an envelope, and a row ofincomprehensible figures rolled up inside the key. Look at it!"

I took the key and the paper. The key was of a good sort; small, inscribed "Tripp's Patent" on the bow, and it evidently belonged to asuperior lever lock. The paper which had come from the barrel was verythin and tough--a kind I have seen used in typewriters. It had been verycarefully and closely rolled, and then pushed into the key so that itsnatural tendency to open out held it tightly within. Written upon itwith a fine pen appeared a series of very minute figures, thus:--

 9, 8, 14, 4, 20, 18, 5, 9; 15, 19, 20, 0, 3, 9, 8, 5; 3, 23, 0, 0, 5, 13, 14, 19; 19, 20, 0, 0, 0, 0, 6, 1; 5, 20, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 22; 1, 15, 0, 0, 0, 0, 18, 5; 1, 8, 20, 11, 18, 9, 5, 20; 12, 5, 23, 14, 14, 1, 1, 20. 

"Well, " inquired McCarthy, "what do you make of it?"

"Not much as yet, " I admitted. "But it's pretty certain it must be acryptogram or code-writing of some sort; and if that's the case, I_think_ I might back myself to read it--with a little time. " For I wellremembered the case of the "Flitterbat Lancers, " and the lesson incypher-reading which Hewitt then gave me. 

"Come, " my friend replied, much interested, "let's see how you do it. Meantime we'll get on with our lunch. "

I took a pencil and a spare sheet of paper, and I studied those figuresall through lunch and for some little time after. It soon became plainthat the problem was much more difficult than it looked, and I said so. "At the first glance, " I said, "it looked a fairly easy cypher; but as amatter of fact, I don't think it's easy at all. One assumes, of course, that the figures stand for letters, and on that assumption two or threepeculiarities are noticeable. First, the highest number written here is23, so that all the letters indicated, in whatever order they may come, are within the compass of the twenty-six letters of the alphabet. Next, the numbers most frequently repeated, if we except the noughts, are 5and 20, which occur seven times each. Now, the vowel most frequentlyoccurring in average English writing is e, and you will at once perceivethat e is number five in the alphabet, counting from the beginning. More, if we go on counting so, we shall find that 20 is _t_, which isone of the most frequently occurring consonants. This would seem to hintthat the cypher is of the very simplest description, consisting of themere substitution of figures for letters in the exact order of thealphabet. But what, then, of the noughts? What can they mean? Moreespecially when we consider that in three places there are actually fournoughts in succession; for, of course, no letter is repeated four timessuccessively in any English word, nor in any foreign word that I canimagine. But let us put down the letters in substitution for thefigures, on the supposition that the figures stand for letters in theiralphabetical order, leaving the noughts as they are. Then we get this. "

I rapidly pencilled the letters on the spare paper, thus:--_i, h, n, d, t, r, e, i; 0, s, t, 0, c, i, h, e; c, w, 0, 0, e, m, n, s; s, t, 0, 0, 0, 0, f, a; e, t, 0, 0, 0, 0, c, v; a, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, r, e; a, h, t, k, r, i, e, t; l, e, w, n, n, a, a, t_. 

"See there, " I said. "Now, I can make nothing of that. When I come toexamine the comparative frequency of the different letters, I find themmuch as they might be expected to be in a sentence of normal English, and any change would destroy the proportion. _E_ and _t_ are the mostfrequent, and then come _a, n, i, r, s, _ and _c_. But as they standthey all mean nothing. It is possible that this may be one of thedifficult variable letter cyphers, which Hewitt might read, but I can't. But even then, if the values of the letters change as they would do, they would get out of their normal proportions of frequency; so that avariable letter cypher seems unlikely. And there is another oddity. Look, and you will see that, counting the noughts in, the letters go ingroups of eight, with a semi-colon at the end of each group. Now, it isimpossible that the message can be a sentence in which every word hasexactly eight letters--or, at least, I should think so. It can scarcelybe that the semi-colon itself means a letter--it would be singular forone letter to occur with such curious regularity as that. There is noother visible division between the words, nor any single one of theusual aids by which the reader of secret cypher is able to take a holdof his work. No, I'm afraid I must give it up; for the present, at anyrate. But I really think it is a thing that would vastly interestHewitt, if I might show it to him. I suppose I mustn't?"

"Well, " McCarthy answered, "perhaps it isn't strictly according to rule, but I think I might venture to lend it to you till to-morrow, if thatwill do. Indeed, I think, on second thoughts, that I may considermyself quite justified, since it may lead to the man's identification, and it will be a sufficient answer to any inquiry to say that I haveshown it to Mr. Martin Hewitt for that purpose. But you'll be careful ofit, won't you? Do you want the key, too?"

"I think, if I may, I will take the key and the envelope all together. You can never tell what may or what may not help him, and the threethings may hang together, and perhaps explain each other in somemysterious way. "

"Very good--here's the whole bag of tricks. It's a queer businessaltogether, and I must say I feel inquisitive; certainly, if Hewitt canget anything out of those figures I shall be mighty curious to know howhe does it. You'll come in again to-morrow, then?"

I promised I would, and walked off with the crumpled envelope, thelittle key, and the puzzling strip of figures. Since the lesson fromHewitt which I have alluded to, I had often amused myself withcryptogram reading, and I had never found a cypher message in anewspaper "agony-column" the meaning of which I could not get at with alittle trouble. But this was something altogether beyond me; and if Ihave any reader who prides himself on his ability to read secret cypher, I recommend him to try his skill on this one before he reads further. 

The circumstances, too, seemed as puzzling as the writing itself. Why, if any person wished to send a note and a key in a closed envelope, should he take the trouble to pack the note inside the key? Why, especially when the note was already written in so baffling a cypher?Whither had this ragged messenger been going with the mysteriouspackage, and who had sent him, and why?

Guessing and musing, I reached home, and found that Hewitt had returnedbefore me. I made my way into his office, and came on him sitting at hisdesk with a large lens, attentively examining a broken brass padlock. 

"Am I bothering you?" I asked. "Are you on the bond robbery, now?"

Martin Hewitt nodded, with a jerk of the hand toward the padlock. "It'sa tough job, " he said, "and I shall shut myself up presently and thinkhard over it; just now I can't see my way into it at all. But what haveyou got there?"

"Never mind, " I said, "you're too busy now. I came across something veryodd at the hospital, which I thought would interest you--that's all. "

"Very well, let me see it. I haven't begun my bout of cogitation yet. Show me. "

I put the envelope, the key and the paper on the table before him. Hewitt, with a glance of surprise, picked up the key and examined it. "That's curious, " he said, and straightway began fitting the key to thebroken padlock on the desk. 

"Why, man alive!" he cried, with a sudden burst of excitement, "wheredid you get this? This--this is the article--the key--the very thing Iwant!" He sprang to his feet and stared in my face in sheer amazement. "Heavens, Brett, the thing's almost supernatural! I've a broken leverpadlock here, and of all things in the world I wanted to find the onekey that fitted it; and you calmly walk in and clap down the very thingunder my nose! Where did you get it?"

I told him the tale of the man who had been knocked down in MoorgateStreet, and I explained exactly how the paper, the key and the envelopewere found in relation to each other, and why I had brought them. 

"And when was the man knocked over?" Hewitt asked. 

"Some time between one and two o'clock, I should say, " I replied. "Theybrought him in well before two, at any rate. "

Hewitt stared into vacancy for a moment, thinking hard. Then he said, "Brett, I believe you've saved my reputation--not that it could havesuffered much, perhaps, in such a desperate case. But as a fact I hadalready advised the calling in of the police, and should, perhaps, evenhave given up the part of the case still left me. But this ought to putme on the proper track. You see, every one of these patent lever locksdiffers in some slight degree from all the rest, and only its own keywill fit it; and here, by this amazing piece of good luck, is the onekey for this very lock, and the man who had it is detained in hospital. Come, I'm off to see him. Insensible, you say, when you left?"

"Yes, " I answered, "and likely to be so for some time, McCarthy thinks;so you probably won't get much information out of him just yet. But thecypher----"

"I'll examine the cypher as I go along, I think. But I should like totake a look at the man, at any rate, even if he can't tell me anything. Will you give me a note to your friend McCarthy?"

"Of course, " I answered, readily, and sat down to scribble the few linesnecessary to introduce Hewitt. 

When I had finished, Hewitt, who had been examining the cryptogrammeanwhile, remarked: "This cypher is something out of the common, Brett. I certainly don't expect to be able to read it in thecab-journey--perhaps not in a week of study. The man who devised this isa man of abilities altogether beyond the average. "

"I have had my best try at it, " I said, "but it beats me wholly. Ibrought it purely as a matter of curiosity, to show you; it was themerest chance that I brought the key as well. "

"And if you hadn't I should probably have put the cypher aside until thecase was over, and so have missed the whole thing. Another lesson neverto despise what seem like trifles. If you have studied the cypher youhave no doubt observed--but there, we'll talk that over afterwards, andthe whole case if you like. I'll go now, and I'll tell you all about thebusiness when time permits. "

II

Here is the case of the bond robbery as it had been presented to MartinHewitt that morning, while I was at St. Augustine's Hospital, and as Ilearned it from him later. I had been a little puzzled to hear Hewittsay that the case had seemed so desperately hopeless that he advised thecalling in of the police, because my experience had rather been that itwas Hewitt who was commonly called in--often too late--when the policewere beaten, and I had never before heard of a case in which this orderof things was reversed. It turned out, however, as will be seen, that inthe state of the matter as it first presented itself the only measuresthat seemed possible were such as it was in the power of the policealone to adopt. 

Messrs. Kingsley, Bell, and Dalton were an old-established firm ofbrokers whose operations were not enormous nor much in the eye of thepublic, but who carried on a steady and reputable business in a set ofoffices high up in a great building in Broad Street--a building solarge that the notice "Offices to let" was a permanent fixture in thefront porch. The firm's clients were chiefly steady-going investors ofthe old-fashioned sort, who wished to avoid all speculative fireworks, and to deal through a firm whose habits were conformable to their own. The last Kingsley had left the firm and soon afterward died, some fewyears back, and now the head of the firm was Mr. Robert Stanstead Bell, a gentleman of some sixty years of age. There were a couple of sleepingpartners--relations--but the one other active partner was Mr. ClarenceDalton, a young man but recently advanced to partnership, and, it wassaid, likely to become Mr. Bell's son-in-law whenever the oldgentleman's daughter Lilian should be married. 

The steady, even round of business to which Kingsley, Bell, and Dalton, and their clerks were accustomed was suddenly interrupted by anappalling loss. It was discovered that bonds were missing from the safe, bonds to the amount of some £25, 000; and whence, how, or when they weretaken was an utter mystery. It was this loss which had occasioned theurgent message to Hewitt. 

When Hewitt reached the spot he was shown at once into an inner office, where Mr. Bell sat waiting. The old gentleman was in a sad state ofagitation, and it was with some difficulty that Hewitt got from him areasonably connected account of the trouble. 

"The loss comes at such a time, Mr. Hewitt, " the senior partnerexplained, "that I don't know but it may ruin us utterly, unless myclients' property can be recovered. We have had to pay out heavy sums oflate to the representatives of dead or retiring partners, and othercircumstances combine with these to make the matter in this way evenmore terribly serious than the very large amount of the loss would seemto suggest. So I beg you will do what you can. "

"That of course, " responded Hewitt. "But please tell me, as clearly asyou can, the precise circumstances of the case. Where were the bondstaken from?"

"This safe, " Mr. Bell answered, turning toward a very large and heavyone, which might almost have been called a small strong room. "They werekept, together with others, in this box, one of several, as you see. Thebox was fastened, like the rest, with a Tripp's patent lever padlock, the only key of which I kept, together with the key of the safe. "

The box indicated was one of ordinary thin sheet iron, japannedblack--something like what is called a deed box. 

"The padlock has been broken open, I see, " Hewitt observed. 

"Yes, but I did that myself this morning. It had been blocked up in someway, so that the key wouldn't turn--doubtless in order to cause delaywhen next the box should come to be opened. As it was I might havedesisted and put off opening it till later, but I had a reason forwishing to refer at once to a list which was in the box, and so Idecided to break the padlock. It was more difficult than one mightexpect, with such a small padlock. "

"And then you discovered your loss?"

"Then I discovered the loss, Mr. Hewitt, though it was a mere chanceeven then. For see! All the bonds have not been taken, and those leftare placed on the top, while the space below is filled with dummies. Ihardly know why I turned them over--for the list was at the top--but Idid, and then----" Mr. Bell finished with a despairing gesture. 

"And this was some time this morning?"

"At about half-past eleven. "

"And when did you last open the box before that?"

"Ten days ago at least, I should think--and even then the bonds may havebeen gone, for I only opened it to refer to the same list, and Iexamined nothing else. "

"You say that some bonds are left and others are gone. I presume thosetaken are such as would be easy to negotiate, and those left are such aswould be difficult. Is that the fact?"

"Precisely. "

"Then the thief evidently knows the ropes, and altogether the matterwould seem awkward. For anything short of ten days, you see, and quitepossibly for even a longer time than that, these bonds have been in theundisturbed possession of some person who could easily dispose of them, and would certainly do so without a moment's delay. "

Mr. Bell nodded sadly. "Quite true, " he said. 

"But now tell me a little more. You say you yourself keep the only keyof the padlock, as well as the key of the safe. So that you open thesafe every morning yourself and close it at night?"

"Just so. "

"And do you never entrust the keys to anybody else?"

"The key of the safe is on a separate bunch from the key of the box. This second bunch, with the key of the box, is _always_ in my pocket, and not a soul else ever touches it. The other bunch, with the outerkey of the safe, I sometimes hand to my partner, or to the head clerk, Mr. Foster, if something is wanted from the safe when I am busy. Though, as a rule, the safe door is open so long as I am about the place. Nothing but the books can be taken out without the use of other keys forthe drawers and boxes, which I keep on the private bunch. "

"And would it be possible for anybody--anybody at all, mind--to get atthat private bunch of keys in such a way, for instance, as to be able totake a wax impression of the key of that bond-box?"

"No, certainly not, " Mr. Bell answered with decision. "Certainly not. Atany rate, not in this office, " he added. 

"Ah, not in this office. Anywhere else?"

"No, nor anywhere else, I should think, " the other replied, though thistime a little more thoughtfully. "There's only my own family at home andthe servants and----"

"Anybody who has access to this room of the office?" Hewitt askedkeenly. 

Mr. Bell seemed a little startled. 

"Why, no, " he said, "nobody at home comes to the office--not even avisitor, except, of course, my junior partner, who visits the roompretty frequently. "

"Very well. You don't remember ever mislaying the keys temporarily, Isuppose, either here or at home?"

"No-o, " Mr. Bell replied slowly. "I can't say that I do rememberanything of the sort. No--and I believe I should be sure to remember ifI had. "

"Ah! And when you realised your loss what did you do? Told your partnerfirst, I suppose?"

"No--he doesn't know of the discovery. He went out just before I madeit, and I don't expect him in again to-day. " But as Mr. Bell spoke theregrew plain in his face the pallor of a new fear. 

Martin Hewitt observed it, but kept his thoughts to himself. "Well, " hesaid, "you didn't tell your partner. Nor the police?"

"No, Mr. Hewitt. You see, of course, the first thing the police attemptis to catch and punish the thief, and they make the recovery of theproperty a subsidiary object. But for me, Mr. Hewitt, the recovery ofthe property, as I have explained, is the one great consideration. Punish the thief by all means, but first save me from ruin, Mr. Hewitt!That is why I sent for you; for that, and because I thought it might beadvisable to keep the matter quiet, till you had taken some steps. "

"There is something in that consideration, certainly. So you have toldnobody of the loss, except me?"

"Nobody but Foster, my head clerk--an old and faithful servant. It washe, in fact, who suggested sending for you. As he put it very forcibly, you can act for _me_ and my interests, while the police act forthemselves, and--very properly, of course, as police--in the interest ofthe community. "

"Very well. I see you have several clerks in the outer office. Do theyever come into this room?"

"Never, unless they are sent for. "

"If you and your partner were out, and one of the clerks came in_without_ being sent for, the rest would know it, of course?"

"Certainly. "

"I observe three private rooms opening out of this. What are they?"

"This is a sort of extra inner room where I have private interviews withclients--I was in there with a client for half an hour this morningbefore I discovered the loss. The next is a mere little box of a roomwhere the correspondence clerk sits and works. The other is a largerplace--it is shared between my partner, Mr. Clarence Dalton, and thehead clerk, Mr. Foster. "

"Now let me have your broken padlock--and the key. I see you have forcedup the front plate with a screw-driver. I will borrow thatscrew-driver, if you please, and force it off completely. "

Hewitt's client produced a screw-driver from a drawer, and in a very fewmoments the interior of the little padlock lay uncovered. Hewittexamined the lock attentively for some few minutes, trying the keyseveral times against the levers. Then he stood up and said--

"Mr. Bell, you have made a mistake. This is not your lock at all!"

"Not my lock!" exclaimed the broker. "What do you mean? I tell you it isthe lock of that box, and I broke it open myself!"

"Yes, " answered Hewitt calmly, "it was on that box, and you broke itopen yourself; but all the same it is not your lock. Let me explain. These are very good little padlocks, with an excellent lever action, 'dogged against detent, ' as the technical phrase goes; so that only thekey properly made for each lock will open it. They are so good, indeed, as locks, that it would be a waste of time to try picking them, when, because of their small size, it is so very easy to break them apart, just as you have done yourself, and just as I could probably have donein half the time, having had rather more experience. Now that is whathas been done with _your_ lock by the person who has your bonds. But ofcourse a broken lock has one disadvantage as compared with a skilfullypicked lock--it shows at the first glance what has happened. In thiscase, Mr. Bell, _your_ lock has been broken and taken away, and thethief, having first provided himself with another padlock of preciselythe same make and size, has substituted _that_, locked it with itsproper key and so left it!"

"What! Then that was why----"

"That, of course, was why you supposed it to be out of order when youattempted to open it with _your_ key. As a matter of fact, it is evennow in perfectly good order, except for the damage we have jointlycommitted with the screw-driver. And now, observe! That lock was shut byanother key; if the man that did that is as sharp as I suppose he is, hewill have got rid of that key at once. But perhaps he hasn't; and ifnot, then the man who has that key is the thief. At any rate, the key isthe clue we must hunt for. Let us have your clerks in one by one, andlook at their keys. Some are out at lunch by this time, probably?"

"No--I said they might be wanted, so kept them. I thought you mightprefer to see them before they went out. "

"Very well thought of, but perhaps scarcely judicious, on the whole. Because if there _is_ a guilty person among them it may give him ahint; and the odds are rather against its being very useful, consideringthe possibility--even probability--that the bonds and the collateralevidence left here days ago. But we'll look at their keys, by all means, and then they may go to lunch as soon as you please. Let me do thetalking, or perhaps you'll start a scare. Send for the nearest clerksfirst, then the others. As each comes in, mention his name, so that Ican hear it. Say, 'Oh, Mr. Brown'--or Jones, or what not--'have you somekeys about you?' Don't mention my name, and I will do the rest. Push tothe door of the safe, and lock this drawer in the table. "

Mr. Bell did as Hewitt directed, and then called the head clerk, Mr. Foster, from his room, with the prescribed inquiry about keys. 

"Yes, Mr. Foster, " Hewitt added pleasantly, "I'm not sure that the lockis quite in order, but I promised to open it for Mr. Bell, so we'lltry. "

Mr. Foster, a slim, active old gentleman, grown grey in the firm'sservice, pulled a bunch of keys from his pocket, and Hewitt scrutinisedeach narrowly. "No, " he said, "I'm afraid none of these will do. Stay, "he added suddenly, and turning his back, carried the bunch to thewindow. "No, " he concluded, as he came back to the table and tried oneof the keys fruitlessly. "No, I'm afraid none of those will do. Thankyou, Mr. Foster. You don't happen to have any more, do you?"

No, Mr. Foster hadn't any more, and he retired to his room. Then Mr. Bell called the correspondence clerk, Mr. Henning. Mr. Henning was amuch younger man than the head clerk--twenty-six or so--pale andblue-eyed, with weak whiskers and a straggling moustache. His keys werejust as readily produced as Mr. Foster's, but again Hewitt's examinationwas unsuccessful. The only other key he had belonged to the typewriter, and _that_ did not fit. 

Then came Mr. Potter, the book-keeper, round, and tubby, and puffy, andhis keys went under inspection in the same way, taking a little longerthis time, with two separate dashes to the light of the window. Thenthere was Mr. Robson, young and spruce, Mr. Clancy, older and less tidy, and four or five more. All the keys were examined, all with the samelack of success, and all the clerks were sent away to take their turnsat lunch. 

"No, " Hewitt reported, as soon as he and Mr. Bell were alone again, "itwas certainly none of those keys. Though indeed, my little attempt wasdesperate at best. A man would be a fool to keep _that_ key longer thanhe needed it, and especially to string it with his others. Still, ofcourse, it is by just such blunders as that that nine criminals out often are discovered. And now let me take a good look at that box and itscontents. "

He lifted the box from the safe to the table, and narrowly scrutinisedits exterior, especially about the hasp, where the padlock had been. "Either the thief was an experienced hand, " he said, "or he took somesteady practice with a few such padlocks as this before setting to work. There are no signs of banging about or slipping of tools anywhere. "

"But, of course, banging or anything violent would have been noticed ina place like this, " Mr. Bell remarked. 

"In office hours, yes, " responded Hewitt. "But we mustn't forget thatoffice hours are only seven or eight out of the twenty-four. "

"But you don't suspect burglary, do you?"

"I'm afraid, as yet, I've precious little ground for suspecting anythingdefinite, " Hewitt answered; "but we must keep awake to everypossibility. Now let us see the dummies. " He turned them over, andloosened them wherever they were tied. "Yes, " he remarked, "quite neatlydone. Filled in with ordinary blank foolscap, such as, no doubt, youhave in your office--but, then, it is in every other office, too; everystationer has it by the ream. No marks anywhere--no old newspapers, nothing that could give the shadow of a clue. " He dropped the last ofthe papers, and turned to his client. "Mr. Bell, " he said, "this thinghas been thought out to the last inch. There is something like genius inthis robbery--if genius is the capacity for taking pains. My advice toyou is to call in the Scotland Yard people at once. "

"Do you mean you can do nothing?" asked Mr. Bell despairingly. "Don'ttell me that, Mr. Hewitt!"

"No, I don't mean that, " Hewitt answered. "I mean that until I have hadtime to think the thing over very thoroughly I can't tell what I can orought to do. Meantime, I think the police should know; not because Ithink they can see farther into the thing than I can--for, indeed, Idon't think they can; but simply because the thief is getting a longerstart every moment, and the police are armed with powers that are not atmy disposal. They can get search warrants, stop people at ports andrailway stations, arrest suspects--do a score of things that will benecessary. Send to Scotland Yard and get Detective Inspector Plummer, ifhe's available--he's as good a man as they have. Tell him that you'veengaged me, or, better still, write a note to the Scotland Yardauthorities, and let me have it, to send or not as I think best, after Ihave turned the thing over in my mind. I shall take one good look roundthis office, and then run back to my rooms for an hour or two's hardconsideration of whatever I may see. One or two small things I _have_seen already--though I'd rather not mention them till I've made up mymind how they bear. Matters seem likely to have gone so far that perhapsthe regular police course of catching the thief first will be the bestplan, if it can be done. Meantime, it will be my business to keep my eyefirst on the recovery of the bonds. But I think we must have the police, Mr. Bell. Now, I'll take my general look round. "

III

After Martin Hewitt had rushed off to St. Augustine's Hospital with thekey, the envelope, and the cypher I had brought him, I heard nothing ofhim till dusk fell--about six. Then I received this telegram:--

/# "Cypher read. Most interesting case. If you can spare an hour be outside 120 Broad Street at six thirty. --Hewitt. "#/

I had to be at my office between eight and nine, and to keep Hewitt'sappointment I should probably have to sacrifice my dinner. But I wasparticularly curious to know the meaning of that cypher, and just ascurious to know how it could be read; and, moreover, I knew that anycase that Hewitt called interesting would probably be interesting abovethe common. So I took my hat and sought a cab. 

I was first at the meeting-place--indeed, a little before my time. No. 120 Broad Street was a great new building of offices, most, if not all, closed at this time--a fact indicated by the shutting of one of thehalves of the big front door, where a char-woman was sweeping the stepsunder the board which announced that offices were to be let. I waitednearly a quarter of an hour, and then at last a hansom stopped anddeposited Hewitt and another older gentleman before me. 

"Hope we haven't kept you waiting, Brett, " Hewitt said. "This is Mr. Bell, of Kingsley, Bell and Dalton; it took me a little longer than Iexpected to reach him. His offices are shut, and the clerks all gone, but we are going to turn up the lights for a bit. The lift man is gonetoo, I expect, so we shall have a good long stair-climb. "

As to the lift man Hewitt was right, and during our long climb Ireceived, briefly, an account of the loss Mr. Bell's firm had suffered. "I have told Mr. Bell, " Hewitt said, "that it was you who happenedacross the key in such an odd fashion, and when I wired I was sure hewould be glad to let you see the upshot of your strange bit of luck. Iwas also pretty sure that you would like to see it, too. For I reallybelieve that this case--which I confess seemed pretty near hopeless afew hours ago--is coming to an issue now, and here. "

"Did you get any information out of the man in the hospital?" I asked. 

"Not a scrap, " Hewitt replied. "He was still insensible, and though Isaw his clothes, and they told me a good deal about the gentleman'spersonal habits--which are not dazzlingly noble, to put it mildly--theytold me nothing else whatever, except that he had recently been knockeddown in the mud, which I knew already. But the cypher has told mesomething, as I will explain presently. "

By this time we had reached the high floor in which the offices stood, and Mr. Bell, all wonder and pale agitation, unlocked the outer door, and turned on the electric light. 

"Now, " cried Hewitt, "show me your ventilators!"

There were some, it seemed, in the top panes of the windows, but thesewere not what Hewitt wanted. There were others in the form of uprightchambers or flues, made of metal, and painted the same colour as thewalls about them. They rose from the floor in corners and wall angles, and could be shut or opened by means of lids over their upper ends. These were more to Hewitt's mind, and he went about from one to another, groping under the lids, and poking down into the flues with awalking-stick. There was a wire-grating, or diaphragm, it seemed, ineach of them, two or three feet down, and we could hear the end of thestick raking on this at each investigation. One after another of theseventilators Hewitt examined, till he had examined them all, in outer andinner rooms, without result; and I could see that he was disappointed. 

"There must be another somewhere, " he said, and hunted afresh. 

But plainly he had tried them all, and now he could do no more than trythem all again, with as little result. 

"It _is_ a ventilator, " he said, positively. "Unless----" he broke offthoughtfully and stood silent for a few moments. "Ah! of course!" heresumed presently. "We'll send for the housekeeper and a candle. Whichis the nearest empty office--the nearest office to let? Is there one onthis floor?"

"I think not, " Mr. Bell answered. "But there's one on the floor below, just opposite the lift--I see the bill on the door every day as I comeup. "

"We'll try that, then. I'll rake out every ventilator in this palatialedifice before I'll call myself beaten. Come, call the housekeeper. Isthere a speaking tube? Tell him to bring a light. "

The housekeeper came, wonderingly, with a watch-man's oil-lantern, andwe all went to the floor below. Opposite the lift was a glass door fromwhich a bill had recently been torn. 

"Why, it's let!" said Mr. Bell. 

"Yes, sir, " assented the housekeeper. "Let a day or two ago to a Mr. Catherton Hunt. Or, at least, a deposit was paid. "

"But see--the door's not locked, " Hewitt observed, pushing it open. "Ithink we'll trespass on Mr. Catherton Hunt's new offices, since theyseem quite empty, and he hasn't taken possession. Come--ventilators!"

It was a small office--an outer room of moderate size, and one smallerinner room. Hewitt at once attacked the ventilators in the largerapartment--there were two of them--but retired disappointed from each. There was one ventilator only in the small room. Hewitt tilted the lid, which was at about the level of his eyes, thrust in his hand, and drewforth a bundle of folded papers; thrust in his hand again and drew forthanother bundle; did it again, and drew forth more!

Mr. Bell fell upon the first bundle almost as a dog falls upon a bone;and now he snatched eagerly at each successive paper or bundle, tillHewitt raked the grating with his stick, and declared that there were nomore. "Is that all?" he asked. 

Mr. Bell went tremblingly from paper to paper, and, at last, said thathe believed it really was. "I can verify it by the list upstairs, " headded, "if you are sure there are no more. "

"No more, " repeated Hewitt, rattling his stick in the ventilator again. "Let us go and verify, by all means. "

We sent the puzzled housekeeper away, and returned to the office above, and presently Mr. Bell, now beginning so far to recover from hisamazement as to express incoherent gratitude, reported that the bondswere correct and complete to the last and least. 

"Very well, " said Hewitt, "then my part of the business is done, thoughI must say I've had luck, or rather, Brett has had it for me. But thepolice must come on now. I think, Mr. Bell, we'll go along to ScotlandYard when we leave here. They'll be wanting to see Mr. Catherton Hunt, Iexpect, whoever he is--and somebody in your office, too, if I'm notsadly mistaken. "

"Who?" gasped Mr. Bell. 

"That, perhaps, you can help to point out. See here--do you know whosefigures they are?" and Hewitt produced the small slip of papercontaining the cypher. 

"They're very small, " remarked Mr. Bell, putting on his glasses; "verysmall indeed; but I think--why they're Henning's, I do believe!"

"Ah! one or two other little things seemed to point that way. Henning isyour correspondence clerk, I believe, and I expect this thin little slipis a specimen of your typewriter paper. Have you any of his writtenfigures for comparison?"

"Well no--I hardly think--you see he typewrites his letters, andalthough I know his writing very well I can't at the moment put my handon any figures of his. "

"Never mind--it's mere matter of curiosity; the police will ask himquestions in the morning. What _I_ believe has happened is this. Ourfriend Henning--if he's the man--has a friend outside a great dealcleverer than himself--though he would seem to have his share ofcunning, too. Between them they resolved to rob you in the way they havedone--temporarily. Henning was to take advantage of his position in thatlittle inner room to get at the safe some day when it was open and whenyou were engaged in your own private inner room with a client, soleaving the safe unwatched. He was provided with a spare patent padlockand key, of the sort you used on that black box, and his confederate haddrilled him in the trick of breaking that particular sort of padlockopen, with other spare specimens. He got his opportunity this morning. "

"Only this morning?"

"This morning, I think, else we should never have got these bonds back, nor even have heard of them again. I think you said you were engagedwith a client for half an hour?"

"Yes, from about half-past ten to eleven. "

"That was his chance, and he took it. He broke the padlock, took out thebonds, substituted the dummies he had already prepared in his own desk, and locked the box again with the new padlock. Meantime Hunt had paid adeposit, pending references, on the office below--the nearest emptyroom. Of course, he wouldn't get the key until the tenancy was finallyaccepted--which he never intended it should be. But he easily arrangedto have the door left unlocked for a day or two, on some convenientexcuse--arranging decorations, or what not. And the bill was taken down, so that prospective and prospecting tenants were kept away. The bondsbeing stolen, Henning took the first opportunity of carrying them to theempty office--probably piecemeal--a thing he could easily manage almostunder your nose, before you were aware of your loss. There he was toconceal them, either in the chimney, under the boards, or in theventilator, as he might find convenient--and he found the ventilatormost convenient. Then he was to apprise his confederate of the fact thatthe robbery had been effected in order that Hunt might come and quietlyfetch the plunder away. The message was to take an ingenious form. Huntwas to have a fellow waiting about in the street, and as soon as Henningcould get out--say to lunch--he was just to _send the key_ by thismessenger--the key with which he had locked the new padlock on the blackbox. You see the advantages of that simple arrangement. First, the key, which is evidence, is got rid of in a safe and effectual way--a thingthat couldn't be done as well by merely flinging it away on or near thepremises, where it might be found. Next, the message is perfectlysecret--the messenger could never guess what the key meant, nor couldany other person not in the confederate's confidence. And, at the sametime, the key tells all that is necessary; the robbery has beeneffected--come and remove the plunder. 

"But something unforeseen happens. No sooner are the bonds stolen andsafely hidden than you go to the box, find something wrong with thelock, break it open and discover the loss. This was a thing that theytrusted would not happen till after the bonds were safely got away. More, I am sent for, the clerks are kept in from lunch, and so on. Henning gets into a funk, and resolves to send a message of specialurgency to his confederate. For that purpose he uses a cypher which thetwo have agreed upon--the most ingenious cypher I have ever seen usedfor the purpose. He doesn't wish to make his message any moreconspicuous than he need, so he writes his cypher on this scrap of paperand rolls it inside the key--probably another expedient agreed upon incase of necessity. Then the key goes into an envelope, for greatersecurity of the cypher message, and the messenger gets it when Henningis at last released for lunch. What happened to the message we know; andhere it is. 

"Now I will not weary you with a detailed account of the different waysin which I attacked this cypher, but I will take the shortest possiblecut to the true interpretation. A very short examination of thecryptogram shows that while no number is included above 23, the numbers, in their relative frequency, roughly agree with the relative frequencyof the corresponding letters of the alphabet, _a_ for 1, _b_ for 2, andso on. "

Here I handed Hewitt the pencilled note I had made at the hospital, withletters substituted for the figures, thus:--_i, h, n, d, t, r, e, i; 0, s, t, 0, c, i, h, e; c, w, 0, 0, e, m, n, s; s, t, 0, 0, 0, 0, f, a; e, t, 0, 0, 0, 0, c, v; a, o, 0, 0, 0, 0, r, e; a, h, t, k, r, i, e, t; l, e, w, n, n, a, a, t. _

Hewitt took the paper and went on. "If that were all the thing would bechildishly simple. But you will see that we seem as far from thesolution as ever; for the letters as they stand mean nothing, though infact they are in normal relative frequency; so that if they mean otherletters, all the rules are upset, and we are at a standstill. I admitthat for a long time the thing bothered me. But a peculiarity struck me. Not only were the figures, or letters, disposed in groups of _eight_, but there were also _eight_ such groups--sixty-four altogether. What didthat suggest? What but a chessboard?"

"A chessboard?" I queried. 

"Just so--a chessboard. Eight squares each way--sixty-four altogether. So I drew a rough representation of a chessboard, and set out theletters on it, in their order, like this:--

 i h n d t r e i o s t o c i h e c w o o e m n s s t o o o o f a e t o o o o c v a o o o o o r e a h t k r i e t l e w n n a a t

"Now, there was my chessboard with my letters on it. I tried readingthem downward, across, upward and diagonally, in the direction of themoves of different chess pieces--king, queen, rook and bishop. Nothingcame of that, whatever I did; the thing was as unreadable as ever. Butthere remained one chess-move to try--the eccentric move of the knight;the move of one square forward, backward or sideways, and then onesquare diagonally, or, as it has sometimes been more conciselyexpressed, the move to the next square but one of a different colourfrom that on which it rests. I tried the knight's move, and I read thecypher. 

"I began at the top left-hand corner, just as one does in reading abook. I read the moves downward--_i_ to _w_, _e_ and _h_, and found thatled to nothing. So I took the one alternative move, and, with a littleconsideration, skipped along from _i_ to _t_ in the second line ofsquares, _t_ in the top line, _h_ in the second line, _e_ in the third, _r_ in the top and _e_ in the second. That gave me an idea. There werethe letters _i, t, t_, followed by the word _here_. I tried backfrom the _i_ again, and taking in the reverse order the _w, e_ and _h_which I had first given up, I read my own name, as you can see it, fromthe _h_ on the bottom line but one, moving upward. So I had the words_Hewitt here_. I need not carry you through all the steps, which willnow be plain enough to you. But I found that the message actually beganin the _right_-hand corner, and read thus, the noughts counting fornothing--

"_'Invent loss disc take at once Martin Hewitt here fear watch. '_

"The noughts were plainly merely inserted to fill in unneeded squares, and keep the rest of the figures in their proper relative places whenthe cypher was written in line. At first I was a little puzzled tounderstand what seemed to be the first word _invent_. But it was quiteclear that _loss disc_ meant 'loss discovered, ' so I concluded that herein the beginning was a contraction also, and that _in_ was a separateword. In that case _vent_ could be a contraction for no other word but'ventilator, ' in accordance with the sense of the words. So I concludedthat the meaning of the whole sentence was simply this: 'The plunder isin the ventilator, the loss is discovered, take away the booty at once;Martin Hewitt is here, and I fear I may be watched. ' There is thereading, and our little adventure this evening is what it has led to. 

"Of course, the confederate wouldn't go groping about the squares sopainfully as I have had to do. To him the reading would be simpleenough, for the order of the moves would be preconcerted. Each of theconspirators would have, as a guide, both to reading and writing thecypher, a drawn set of squares, numbered in the order of the moves--1where we have the _i_, 2 where we have the _n_, 3 where we have the _v_, and so on. With that before him, either reading or writing in thisextraordinary cryptogram would be easy and quick enough. And now forScotland Yard!"

IV

We learned late on the following day that Henning had not appeared atthe office. From that we assumed that he must have met his confederatein the evening, and, finding that he had not received the message sent, conceived that something was wrong, and made himself safe. Theconfederate, Hunt, however, made his appearance early next morning, butescaped. 

What happened is best told in Plummer's words when he called on Hewittin the afternoon. 

"I went round this morning, " he said, "as I said I would last night. Itook a good man with me, and we got the dummy bonds that had been put inBell's box and popped 'em in the ventilator, where the real ones hadbeen hidden. You see, we'd got nothing _legal_ against Catherton Hunt asyet, but if we could only grab him with those dummy bonds on him itmight help, with the other evidence we could scrape up (and especiallyif we could take Henning), to sustain a charge of conspiracy to steal. Well, he came so quick he was on us before we were quite ready. We'd gotthe dummies in their place, and I was in front of the door telling myman the likeliest corner to wait in, when suddenly up pops the liftright in front of me, with a gentleman in it--clean-shaven. I looked athim and he looked at me. I had a sort of distant notion that I mighthave seen him before, and it's pretty certain he had something more thana distant notion about me. 'Down again, ' he says to the lift man, beforethe gate was swung, 'I've forgotten something!' And down the lift went. You'll understand I had no idea he was the man we wanted; but as thelift went down and my eyes were on the man's face, I saw who he was!When he stood straight before me I had no more than a vague notion thatI'd seen him somewhere before. But down the lift went, and in the flashof time when he'd nearly disappeared, and the bottom part of his facewas hidden by the sill of the lift opening--the part of his face wherehis beard had been when we met him last--I saw it was Myatt!"

"Myatt? Good heavens!"

"Everard Myatt, Mr. Hewitt, the man that murdered Mr. Jacob Mason!Everard Myatt, for a thousand, with his beard shaved! And we've lost himagain! What could we do? We shouted and ran downstairs, and that wasall. He'd gone, of course. And when we asked the hall porter he told usthat Mr. Catherton Hunt had just come down the lift and hurried out!"

THE CASE OF THE BURNT BARN

I

Everard Myatt--or Catherton Hunt--was lost again. Martin Hewitt had beenwholly successful, for he had recovered Mr. Bell's missing bonds; butthe police caught neither of the conspirators. Investigation atHenning's lodgings showed that careful preparations must have been madefor an immediate flight if it should become necessary, and the flighthad taken place. The man in the hospital, who had been knocked down incarrying from one to the other the extraordinary message that Hewittdeciphered, remained insensible for a few days, and could not bequestioned till some time later still. Then he professed to haveforgotten all about the message on which he was going when he met hisaccident, and the medical men in attendance informed the police that itwas quite possible that the fellow's statement was true. He said that he_did_ carry messages sometimes, when he could get a job, but he couldremember nothing of the message of the key, nor of who had sent him, norwhere he was to go. Nevertheless, the police, although they professedto accept his statement, kept a wary eye on him after his discharge fromthe hospital, for they had a very great suspicion that he knew more thanhe chose to tell. But nothing more was heard of the accomplices tillanother case of Martin Hewitt's brought the news, and that in a mannerstrange enough. 

The matter began, as so many matters of Hewitt's did, with the receiptof a telegram, followed immediately by another. For the first havingbeen handed in at a country office not very long before eight theprevious evening, it was not delivered at Hewitt's office till themorning, in accordance with the ancient manners and customs observed inthe telegraphic system of this country. It had been despatched fromThrockham, in Middlesex, and it was simply a very urgently wordedrequest to Hewitt to come at once, signed "Claire Peytral. " The secondtelegram, which came even as Hewitt was reading the first, on hisarrival at his office, ran thus:--

/# "Did you receive telegram? See newspapers. Matter life or death. Would come personally but cannot leave mother. Pray answer. --Peytral. "#/

The answer went instantly that Hewitt would come by the next train, forhe had seen the morning paper and from that knew the urgency of thecase. But a consultation of the railway guide showed that trains toThrockham were fewer than one might suppose, considering the proximityof the village to London, and that the next would leave in about an hourand a quarter; so that I saw Hewitt before he started. He came up to myrooms, in fact, as I was beginning to breakfast. 

"See here, " he said, "I am sent for in the Throckham case. Have you seenthe report?"

As a leader writer, I had little business with the news side of mypaper, and indeed I had no more than a vague recollection of some suchheading as: "Tragedy in a barn, " in one evening paper of the day before, and "Murder at Throckham" in another. So I could claim no very exactknowledge of the affair. 

"Here you have a paper, I see, " Hewitt said, reaching for it. "Perhapstheir report is fuller than that in mine. " He gave me his own newspaperand began searching in the other. "No, " he said presently, "much thesame. News agency report to both papers, no doubt. "

The report which I read ran as follows:--

/# "Singular Tragedy. --An extraordinary occurrence is reported from Throckham, a small village within fifteen miles of London, involving a tragic fatality that has led to a charge of murder. On Thursday evening an old barn, for some time disused, was discovered to be on fire, and it was only by extraordinary exertions on the part of the villagers that the fire was extinguished. Upon an examination of the place yesterday morning the body of Mr. Victor Peytral, a gentleman who had lived in the neighbourhood for some time, and who had been missing since shortly before the discovery of the fire, was found in the ruins. The body was burnt almost beyond recognition, but not so much as to conceal the fact that the unfortunate gentleman had not perished in the fire, but had been the victim of foul play. The throat was very deeply cut, and there can be no doubt that the murderer must have fired the barn with the object of destroying all traces of the crime. The police have arrested Mr. Percy Bowmore, a frequent visitor at the house of the deceased. "#/

"My telegram, " said Hewitt, "is plainly from a relative of this Mr. Peytral who is dead--perhaps a daughter, since she speaks of beingunable to leave her mother. In that case, probably an only child, sincethere is no other to leave. "

"Unless the others are too young, " I suggested. 

"Just so, " Hewitt replied. "Well, Brett, " he added, "to-day isSaturday. "

Saturday was, of course, my "off" day, and I understood Hewitt to hintthat if I pleased I might accompany him to Throckham. "Saturday it is, "I said, "and I have no engagements. Would you care for me to come?"

"As you please, of course. I can guess very little of the case as yet, naturally, beyond what I have read in the paper; but the subtle sense ofmy experience tells me that there is all the chance of an interestingcase in this. That's _your_ temptation. As for myself, I don't mindadmitting that--especially in these country cases, where the resourcesof civilisation are not always close at hand--I'm never loth to have afriend with me who isn't too proud to be made use of. That's _my_temptation!"

No persuasion was needed, and in due time we set out together. 

II

It is my experience that places are to be found within twenty miles ofLondon far more rural, far sleepier, far less influenced by the greatcity that lies so near, than places thrice and four times as far away. They are just too far out to be disturbed by suburban traffic, and toonear to feel the influence of the great railway lines. These main linesgo by, carrying their goods and their passengers to places far beyond, and it is only by awkward little branch lines, with slow and raretrains, that any part of this mid-lying belt is reached, and even thenit is odds but that one must drive a good way to his destination. 

Throckham was just such a place as I speak of, and that was the reasonwhy we had such ample time to catch the first of the half-dozenleisurely trains by which one might reach the neighbourhood during theday. The station was Redfield, and Throckham was three miles beyond it. 

At Redfield a coachman with a dogcart awaited Hewitt--only onegentleman having been expected, as the man explained, in offering togive either of us the reins. But Hewitt wished to talk to the coachman, and I willingly took the back seat, understanding very well that myfriend would get better to work if he first had as many of the facts aspossible from a calm informant before discussing them with the deadman's relations, probably confused and distracted with their naturalemotions. 

The coachman was a civil and intelligent fellow, and he gave Hewitt allhe knew of the case with perfect clearness, as I could very well hear. 

"It isn't much I can tell you, sir, " he said, "beyond what I expect youknow. I suppose you didn't know Mr. Peytral, my master, that's dead?"

"No. But he was a foreigner, I suppose--French, from the name. "

"Well, no, sir, " the coachman replied, thoughtfully; "not Frenchexactly, I think, though sometimes he talked French to the mistress. They came from somewhere in the West Indies, I believe, and there's atrifle of--well, of dark blood in 'em, sir, I should think; though, ofcourse, it ain't for me to say. "

"Yes--there are many such families in the French West Indies. Did youever hear of Alexandre Dumas?"

"No, sir, can't say I did. "

"Well, he was a very great Frenchman indeed, but he had as much 'darkblood' as your master had--probably more; and it came from the WestIndies, too. But go on. "

"Mr. Peytral, you must understand, sir, has lived here a year ortwo--I've only been with him nine months. He talked English always--asgood as you or me; and he was always called _Mr. _ Peytral--not Monsieur, or Signor, or any o' them foreign titles. I think he was naturalised. Mrs. Peytral, she's an invalid--came here an invalid, I'm told. Shenever comes out of her bedroom 'cept on an invalid couch, which iscarried. Miss Claire, she's the daughter, an' the only one, and she washoping you'd ha' been down last night, sir, by the last train. She's inan awful state, as you may expect, sir. "

"Naturally, to lose her father in such a terrible way. "

"Yes, sir, but it's wuss than that even, for her. You see, this Mr. Bowmore, that they've took up, he's been sort of keepin' company withMiss Claire for some time, an' there's no doubt she was very fond ofhim. That makes it pretty bad for her, takin' it both ways, you see. "

"Of course--terrible. But tell me how the thing happened, and why theytook this Mr. Bowmore. "

"Well, sir, it ain't exactly for me to say, and, of course, I don't knowthe rights of it, bein' only a servant, but they say there was a suddenquarrel last night between Mr. Peytral and Mr. Bowmore. I think myselfthat Mr. Peytral was getting a bit excitable lately, whatever it was. OnThursday night, just after dinner, he went strolling off in the dusk, alone, and presently Mr. Bowmore--he came down in the afternoon--wentstrolling off after him. It seems they went down toward the Penn'sMeadow barn, Mr. Peytral first, and Mr. Bowmore catching him up frombehind. A man saw them--a gamekeeper. He was lyin' quiet in a littlewood just the other side of Penn's Meadow, an' they didn't see him asthey came along together. They were quarrelling, it seems, thoughGrant--that's the gamekeeper--couldn't hear exactly what about; but heheard Mr. Peytral tell Mr. Bowmore to go away. He 'preferred to bealone' and he'd 'had enough' of Mr. Bowmore, from what Grant could makeout. 'Get out o' my sight, sir, I tell you!' the old gentleman said atlast, stamping his foot, and shaking his fist in the young gentleman'sface. And then Bowmore turned and walked away. "

"One moment, " Hewitt interposed. "You are telling me what Grant saw andheard. How did it come to your knowledge?"

"Told me hisself, sir--told me every word yesterday. Told me twice, infact. First thing in the morning when they found the body, and thenagain after he'd been to Redfield and had it took down by the police. Itwas because of that they arrested Mr. Bowmore, of course. "

"Just so. And is this gamekeeper Grant in the same employ as yourself?"

"Oh, no, sir! Mr. Peytral's is only just an acre or two of garden and apaddock. Grant's master is Colonel White, up at the Hall. "

"Very good. You were saying that Mr. Peytral told Mr. Bowmore to get outof his sight, and that Mr. Bowmore walked away. What then?"

"Well, Grant saw Mr. Bowmore walk away, but it was only a feint--adodge, you see, sir. He walked away to the corner of the little woodwhere Grant was, and then he took a turn into the wood and beganfollowing Mr. Peytral up, watching him from among the trees. Came closeby where Grant was sitting, following up Mr. Peytral and watching him;and so Grant lost sight of 'em. "

"Did Grant say what he was doing in the wood?"

"He said he'd found marks of rabbit-snares there, and he was watching tosee if anybody came to set any more. "

"Yes--quite an ordinary part of his duty, of course. What next?"

"Well, Grant didn't see any more. He waited a bit, and then moved off toanother part of the wood, and he didn't notice anything else particulartill the barn was on fire. It was dark, then, of course. "

"Yes--you must tell me about the fire. Who discovered it?"

"Oh, a man going home along the lane. He ran and called some people, andthey fetched the fire-engine from the village and pumped out of thehorse-pond just close by. It was pretty much of a wreck by the time theygot the fire out, but it wasn't all gone, as you might have expected. You see, it had been out of use for some time, sir, and there was mostlynothing but old broken ploughs and lumber there; and what's more, therewas a deal of rain early in the week, as you may remember, sir, so thethatch was pretty sodden, being out o' repair and all--and so was thetimber, for the matter o' that, for there's no telling when it was lastpainted. So the fire didn't go quite so fierce as it might, you see;else I should expect it had been all over before they got to work onit. "

"Not at all a likely sort of place to catch fire, it would seem, either, " Hewitt commented. "Old ploughs and such lumber are not verycombustible. "

"Quite so, sir; that's what makes 'em think it so odd, I suppose. Butthere _was_ a bundle or two of old pea-straw there, shied in lastsummer, they say, being over bundles from the last load, and thereleft. "

"And when was Mr. Bowmore seen next?"

"He came strolling back, sir, and told the young lady he'd left herfather outside, or something of that sort, I think; said nothing of thequarrel, I believe. But he said the barn was on fire--which he must haveknown pretty early, sir, for 'tis a mile from the house off that way;"and the coachman pointed with his whip. 

"Nothing was suspected of the murder, it seems, till yesterday morning?"

"No, sir. Miss Claire got frightful worried when her father didn't comehome, as you would expect, and specially at him not coming home allnight. But when the fire was quite put out, o' course the people wentaway home to bed, and it wasn't till the morning that anybody went in toturn the place over. Then they found the body. "

"Badly burnt, I believe?"

"Horrid burnt, sir. If it wasn't for Mr. Peytral's being missing, Idoubt if they'd have known it was him at all. It took a doctor'sexamination to see clear that the throat had been cut. But cut it hadbeen, and deep, so the doctor said. And now the body's gone over toRedfield mortuary. "

Hewitt asked a few questions more, and got equally direct answers, except where the coachman had to confess ignorance. But presently wewere at the house to which Hewitt had been summoned. 

It was a pleasant house enough, standing alone, apart from the village, a little way back from a loop of road that skirted a patch of opengreen. As we came in at the front gate, I caught an instant's glimpse ofa pale face at an upper window, and before we could reach thedrawing-room door Miss Claire Peytral had met us. 

She was a young lady of singular beauty, which the plain signs ofviolent grief and anxiety very little obscured. Her complexion, of avery delicate ivory tinge, was scarcely marred by the traces ofsleeplessness and tears that were nevertheless clear to see. Her eyeswere large and black, and her jetty hair had a slight waviness that wasthe only distinct sign about her of the remote blend of blood from aninferior race. 

"Oh, Mr. Hewitt, " she cried, "I am so glad you have come at last! I havebeen waiting--waiting so long! And my poor mother is beginning tosuspect!"

"You have not told her, then?"

"No, it will kill her when she knows, I'm sure--kill her on the spot. Ihave only said that father is ill at--at Redfield. Oh, what shall I do?"

The poor girl seemed on the point of breakdown, and Hewitt spoke sharplyand distinctly. 

"What you must do is this, " he said. "You must attend to me, and tell meall I want to know as accurately and as tersely as you can. In that caseI will do whatever I can, but if you give way you will cripple me. Itall depends on you, remember. This is my intimate friend, Mr. Brett, whois good enough to offer to help us. Now, first, I think I know the headsof the case, from the newspapers, and, more especially, from yourcoachman. But when you sent for me, no doubt you had some definite ideaor intention in your mind. What was it?"

"Oh, he is innocent, Mr. Hewitt--he is, really! The only friend I havein the world--the only friend we all have!"

"Steady--steady, " Hewitt said, pressing her kindly and firmly into aseat. "You _must_ keep steady, you know, if I am to do anything. Iexpected that would be your belief. Now tell me why you are so sure. "

"Mr. Hewitt, if you knew him you wouldn't ask. He would never injure mypoor father--he went out after him purely out of kindness, because I wasuneasy. He would never hurt him, Mr. Hewitt, never, never! I can't sayit strongly enough--he never would! Oh! my poor father, and now----"

"Steady again!" cried Hewitt, more sharply still. I could see that hefeared the hysterical breakdown that might come at any moment after thelengthened suspense Miss Peytral had suffered. "Listen, now--you mustn'tfrighten yourself too much. If Mr. Bowmore is innocent--and you say youare so certain of it--then I've no doubt of finding a way to prove it ifonly you'll make your best effort to help me, and keep your wits aboutyou. As far as I can see at present there's nothing against him that weneed be afraid of if we tackle it properly, and, of course, the policemake arrests of this sort by way of precaution in a case like this, onthe merest hint. Come now, you say you were uneasy when your father wentout after dinner on Thursday night. Why?"

"I don't know, quite, Mr. Hewitt. It was my mother that was uneasy, really, about something she never explained to me. My father had takento going out in the evening after dinner, just in the way he did onThursday night. I don't know why, but I think it had something to dowith my mother's anxiety. "

"Did he dress for dinner?"

"No, not lately. He used to dress always, but he has dropped it oflate. "

Hewitt paused for a moment, thoughtfully. Then he said, "Mrs. Peytral isan invalid, I know, and no doubt none the better for her anxiety. But ifit could be managed I should like to ask her a few questions. What doyou think?"

But this Miss Peytral was altogether against. Her mother was sufferingfrom spinal complaint, it appeared, with very serious nervouscomplications, and there was no answering for the result of the smallestexcitement. She never saw strangers, and, if it could possibly beavoided, it must be avoided now. 

"Very well, Miss Peytral, I will first go and look at some things I mustsee, and I will do without your mother's help as long as I possibly can. But now you must answer a few more questions yourself, please. "

Hewitt's questions produced little more substantial information, itseemed to me, than he had already received. Mr. Peytral had taken thehouse in which we were sitting--it was called "The Lodge" simply--twoyears ago. Before that the family had lived in Surrey, but they had notmoved direct from there; there was a journey to America between, on somebusiness of Mr. Peytral's, and it was on the return voyage that they hadmet Mr. Percy Bowmore. Mr. Bowmore had no friends nearer than Canada, and he was reading for the Bar--in a very desultory way, as I gathered. Miss Peytral's childhood had been passed in the West Indies, at the townof San Domingo, in fact, where her father had been a merchant. Hermother had been a helpless invalid ever since Miss Peytral couldremember. As to the engagement with Bowmore, it would seem to have hadthe full approval of both parents all along. But a rather curious changehad come over her father, she thought, a few months ago. What it wasthat had caused it she could not say, but he grew nervous and moody, often absent-minded, and sometimes even short-tempered and snappish, athing she had never known before. Also he read the daily papers withmuch care and eagerness. It was plain that Miss Peytral had no idea ofany cause which might have led to a quarrel between Bowmore and herfather, and Hewitt's most cunning questions failed to elicit thesmallest suggestion of reason for such an occurrence. 

Ten days or so ago, Mr. Peytral had returned from a short walk afterdinner, very much agitated; and from that day he had made a practice ofgoing out immediately after dinner every evening regularly, walking offacross the paddock, and so away in the direction of Penn's Meadow. Thefirst visit of Percy Bowmore after this practice had begun was onThursday, but the presence of the visitor made no difference, as MissPeytral had expected it would. Her father rose abruptly after dinner andwent off as before; and this time Mrs. Peytral, who had been broughtdown to dinner, displayed a singular uneasiness about him. She hadexperienced the same feeling, curiously enough, on other occasions, MissPeytral remarked, when her husband had been unwell or in difficulties, even at some considerable distance. This time the feeling was so strongthat she begged Bowmore to hurry after Mr. Peytral and accompany him inhis walk. This the young man had done; but he returned alone after awhile, saying simply that he had lost sight of Mr. Peytral, whom he hadsupposed might have come home by some other way; and mentioning alsothat he had been told that Penn's Meadow barn was on fire. 

When it grew late, and Mr. Peytral failed to return, Bowmore went outagain and made inquiry in all directions. It grew necessary to concoct astory to appease Mrs. Peytral, who had been taken back to her bedroom. Bowmore spent the whole night in fruitless search and inquiry, andthen, with the morning, came the terrible news of the discovery in theburnt barn; and late in the afternoon Bowmore was arrested. 

The poor girl had a great struggle to restrain her feelings during theconversation, and, at its close, Hewitt had to use all his tact to keepher going. Physical exhaustion, as well as mental trouble, were againsther, and stimulus was needed. So Hewitt said, "Now you must try yourbest, and if you will keep up as well as you have done a little longer, perhaps I may have good news for you soon. I must go at once and examinethings. First, I should like to have brought to me every single pair ofboots or shoes belonging to your father. Send them, and then go and lookafter your mother. Remember, you are helping all the time. "

III

Hewitt examined the boots and shoes with great rapidity, but with asingularly quick eye for peculiarities. 

"He liked a light shoe, " he said, "and he preferred to wear shoes ratherthan boots. There are few boots, and those not much worn, although hewas living in the country. Trod square on the right foot, inward on theleft, and wore the left heel more than the right. It's plain he hatednails, for these are all hand-sewn, with scarcely as much as a pegvisible in the lot; and they are all laced, boots and shoes alike. Come, this is the best-worn pair; it is also a pair of the same sort the maidtells me he must have been wearing, since they are missing; low shoes, laced; we'll take them with us. "

We left the house and sought our friend the coachman. He pointed outquite clearly the path by which his master had gone on his last walk;showed us the gate, still fastened, over which he had climbed to gainthe adjoining meadow, and put us in the way of finding the small woodand the barn. 

Both within and without the gate there was a small patch bare of grass, worn by feet; and here Martin Hewitt picked up his trail at once. 

"The ground has hardened since Thursday night, " he said; "and so muchthe better--it keeps the marks for us. Do you see what is here?"

There were footmarks, certainly, but so beaten and confused that I couldmake nothing of them. Hewitt's practised eye, however, read them as Imight have read a rather illegibly written letter. 

"Here is the right foot, plain enough, " he said, carefully fitting theshoe he had brought in the mark. "He alighted on that as he came overthe gate. Half over it is another footmark--Bowmore's, I expect, for Ican see signs of others, in both directions--going and coming. But weshall know better presently. "

He rose, and we followed the irregular track across the meadow. Likemost such field-tracks, its direction was plainly indicated by the thinand beaten grass, with a bare spot here and there. Hewitt troubled totake no more than a glance at each of these spots as we passed, but thatwas all he needed. The meadow was bounded by a hedge, with a stile; andat the farther side of this stile my friend knelt again, with everysign of attention. 

"A little piece of luck, " he reported. "The left shoe has picked up atiny piece of broken thorn-twig just here. See the mark? The shoe was alittle soddened in the sole by this time, and the thorn stuck. I hope itstuck altogether. If it did it may help us wonderfully when we get tothe barn, for the trouble there will be the trampling all round of thepeople at the fire. "

So we went on till we reached the edge of the little wood. Thefield-path skirted this, and here Hewitt dropped on his knees and set towork with great minuteness. 

"Keep away from the track, Brett, " he warned me, "or you may make itworse. The police have been here, I see, and quite recently, coming fromthe direction of Redfield. Here are two pairs of unmistakable policeboots and another heavy pair with them; no doubt they brought thegamekeeper along with them, to have things fully explained. "

From the corner of the wood to a point forty yards along the path; backto the corner again, and then into the wood Hewitt went, carefullyexamining every inch of the ground as he did so. Then at last herejoined me. 

"I think the gamekeeper has told the truth, " he said. "It's prettyplain, thanks to the soft ground hereabout, notwithstanding thepolicemen's boots. Here they came together--the thorn-twig sticks to theshoe still, you see--and here they stopped. The marks face about, andBowmore's steps are retraced to the corner of the wood. Peytral's turnagain and go on, and Bowmore's turn into the edge of the wood and comealong among the trees. You don't see them in the grassy parts quite aswell as I do, I expect, but there they are. We'll keep after Peytral'sprints. Bowmore's come back in the same track, I see. "

The next stile led to Penn's Meadow. This meadow--a large one--stretchedover a rather steep hump of land, at the other side of which the barnstood. From the stile two paths could be discerned--one rising straightover the meadow in the direction of the barn, and the other skirting itto the left, parallel with the hedge. 

"Here the footprints part, " Hewitt observed, musingly; "and what doesthat mean? Man[oe]uvring--or what?"

He thought a moment, and then went on: "We'll leave the tracks for thepresent and see the barn. That is straight ahead, I take it. "

When we reached the top of the rise the barn came in view, a blackenedand sinister wreck. The greater part of the main structure was stillstanding, and even part of the thatched roof still held its place, scorched and broken. Off to the right from where we stood the villageroofs were visible, giving indication of the position of the road toRedfield. A single human figure was in sight--that of a policeman onguard before the barn. 

"Now we must get rid of that excellent fellow, " said Hewitt, "or he'llbe offering objections to the examination I want to make. I wonder if heknows my name?"

We walked down to the barn, and Hewitt, assuming the largest possibleair, addressed the policeman. 

"Constable, " he said, "I am here officially--here is my card. Of courseyou will know the name if you have had any wide experience--Londonexperience especially. I am looking into this case on behalf of MissPeytral--co-operating with the police, of course. Where is yourinspector?"

He was a rather stupid countryman, this policeman, but he was visiblyimpressed--even flurried--by Hewitt's elaborate bumptiousness. Hesaluted, tried to look unnaturally sagacious, and confessed that hecouldn't exactly say where the inspector was, things being put about sojust now. He might be in Throckham village, but more likely he was atRedfield. 

"Ah!" Hewitt replied, with condescension. "Now, if he is in the village, you will oblige me, constable, by telling him that I am here. If he isnot there, you will return at once. I will be responsible here till youcome back. Don't be very long, now. "

The man was taken by surprise, and possibly a trifle doubtful. ButHewitt was so extremely lofty and so very peremptory and official, thatthe inferior intelligence capitulated feebly, and presently, afteranother uneasy salute, the village policeman had vanished in thedirection of the road. The moment he had disappeared Hewitt turned tothe ruined barn. The door was gone, and the scorched and charred lumberthat littered the place had a look of absolute ghostliness--perhapschiefly the effect of my imagination in the knowledge of the ghastlytragedy that the place had witnessed. Well in from the doorway was agreat scatter of light ashes--plainly the pea-straw that the coachmanhad spoken of. And by these ashes and partly among them, marked in someodd manner on the floor, was a horrible black shape that I shuddered tosee, as Hewitt pointed it out with a moving forefinger, which he made totrace the figure of a prostrate human form. 

"Did you never see that before in a burnt house?" Hewitt asked in ahushed voice. "I have, more than once. That sort of thing always leavesa strange stain under it, like a shadow. "

But business claimed Martin Hewitt, and he stepped carefully within. Scarcely had he done so, when he stood suddenly still, with a lowwhistle, pointing toward something lying among the dirt and ashes by thefoot of that terrible shape. 

"See?" he said. "Don't disturb anything, but look!"

I crept in with all the care I could command, and stooped. The place wasfilled with such a vast confusion of lumber and cinder and ash that atfirst I failed to see at all what had so startled Hewitt's attention. And even when I understood his direction, all I saw was about a dozenlittle wire loops, each a quarter of an inch long or less, lying among alittle grey ash that clung about the ends of some of the loops in clots. Even as I looked another thing caught Hewitt's eye. Among thestraw-ashes there lay some cinders of paper and card, and near themanother cinder, smaller, and plainly of some other substance. Hewitttook my walking-stick, and turned this cinder over. It broke apart as hedid so, and from within it two or three little charred sticks escaped. Hewitt snatched one up and scrutinised it closely. 

"Do you see the tin ferrule?" he said. "It has been a brush; and thatwas a box of colours!" He pointed to the cinder at his feet. "That beingso, " he went on, "that paper and card was probably a sketch-book. Brett!come outside a bit. There's something amazing here!"

We went outside, and Hewitt faced me with a curious expression that forthe life of me I could not understand. 

"Suppose, " he said, "_that Mr. Victor Peytral is not dead after all_?"

"Not dead?" I gasped; "but--but he is! We know----"

"It seems to me, " Hewitt pursued, with his eyes still fixed on mine, "that we know very little indeed of this affair, as yet. The body wasunrecognisable, or very near it. You remember what the coachman said?'If it wasn't for Mr. Peytral's being missing, ' he said, 'I doubt ifthey'd have known it was him at all. ' I think those were his exactwords. More, you must remember that the body has not been seen by eitherof Peytral's relatives. "

"But then, " I protested, "if it isn't his body whose is it?"

"Ah, indeed, " Hewitt responded, "whose is it? Don't you see thepossibilities of the thing? There's a colour-box and a sketch-bookburned. Who carried a colour-box and a sketch-book? Not Peytral, or weshould have heard of it from his daughter; she made a particular pointof her father's evening strolls being quite aimless, so far as herknowledge or conjecture went; she knew nothing of any sketching. Andanother thing--don't you see what _those_ things mean?" He pointedtoward the place of the little wire loops. 

"Not at all. "

"Man, don't you see they've been boot-buttons? When the bootsshrivelled, the threads were burnt and the buttons dropped off. Boot-buttons are made of a sort of composition that burns to a grey ash, once the fire really gets hold of them--as you may try yourself, anytime you please. You can see the ash still clinging to some of theshanks; and there the shanks are, lying in two groups, six and six, asthey fell! Now Peytral came out in laced shoes. "

"But if Peytral isn't dead, where is he?"

"Precisely, " rejoined Hewitt, with the curious expression still in hiseyes. "As you say, where is he? And as you said before, who is the deadman? Who is the dead man, and where is Peytral, and why has he gone?Don't you see the possibilities of the case _now_?"

Light broke upon me suddenly. I saw what Hewitt meant. Here was apossible explanation of the whole thing--Peytral's recent change oftemper, his evening prowlings, his driving away of Bowmore, and lastly, of his disappearance--his flight, as it now seemed probable it was. Thecase had taken a strange turn, and we looked at one another with meaningeyes. It might be that Hewitt, begged by the unhappy girl we had butjust left to prove the innocence of her lover, would by that very actbring her father to the gallows. 

"Poor girl!" Hewitt murmured, as we stood staring at one another. "Better she continued to believe him dead, as she does! Brett, there'smany a good man would be disposed to fling these proofs away for thegirl's sake and her mother's, seeing how little there can be to hurtBowmore. But justice must be done, though the blow fall--as it commonlydoes--on innocent and guilty together. See, now, I've another idea. Stayon guard while I try. "

He hurried out toward the farther side of the broad band of trampledground which surrounded the burnt barn, and began questing to and fro, this way and that, receding farther from me as he went, and nearing thehorse-pond and the road. At last he vanished altogether, and left mealone with the burnt barn, my thoughts, and--that dim Shape on the barnfloor. It was broad day, but I felt none too happy; and I should nothave been at all anxious to keep the police watch at night. 

Perhaps Hewitt had been gone a quarter of an hour, perhaps a littlemore, when I saw him again, hurrying back and beckoning to me. I went tomeet him. 

"It's right enough, " he cried. "I've come on his trail again! There itis, thorn-mark and all, by the roadside, and at a stile--going toRedfield--probably to the station. Come, we'll follow it up! Where'sthat fool of a policeman? Oh, the muddle they _can_ make when theyreally try!"

"Need we wait for him?" I asked. 

"Yes, better now, with those proofs lying there; and we must tell himnot to be bounced off again as I bounced him off. There he comes!"

The heavy figure of the local policeman was visible in the distance, andwe shouted and beckoned to hurry him. Agility was no part of thatpoliceman's nature, however, and beyond a sudden agitation of his headand his shoulders, which we guessed to be caused by a dignified spasm ofleisurely haste, we saw no apparent acceleration of his pace. 

As we stood and waited we were aware of a sound of wheels from thedirection of Redfield, and as the policeman neared us from the right, so the sound of wheels approached us from the left. Presently a fly hovein sight--the sort of dusty vehicle that plies at every rural railwaystation in this country; and as he caught sight of us in the road thedriver began waving his whip in a very singular and excited manner. Ashe drew nearer still he shouted, though at first we could notdistinguish his words. By this time the policeman, trotting ponderously, was within a few yards. The passenger in the fly, a thin, dark, elderlyman, leaned over the side to look ahead at us, and with that thepoliceman pulled up with a great gasp and staggered into the ditch. 

"'Ere 'e is!" cried the fly-driver, regardless of the angryremonstrances of his fare. "'Ere 'e is! 'E's all right! It ain't 'im!'Ere he is!"

"Shut your mouth, you fool!" cried the angry fare. "_Will_ you stopmaking a show of me?"

"Not me!" cried the eccentric cabman. "I don't want no fare, sir! I'mdrivin' you 'ome for honour an' glory, an' honour an' glory I'll makeit! 'Ere 'e is!"

Hewitt took in the case in a flash--the flabbergasted policeman, theexcited cabman and the angry passenger. He sprang into the road andcried to the cabman, who pulled up suddenly before us. 

"Mr. Victor Peytral, I believe?" said Martin Hewitt. 

"Yes, sir, " answered the dark gentleman snappishly, "but I don't knowyou!"

"There has been a deal of trouble here, Mr. Peytral, over your absencefrom home, as no doubt you have become aware; and I was telegraphed forby your daughter. My name is Hewitt--Martin Hewitt. "

Peytral's face changed instantly. "I know your name well, Mr. Hewitt, "he said. "There's a matter--but who is this?"

"My friend, Mr. Brett, who is good enough to help me to-day. If I maydetain you a moment, I should like a word with you aside. "

"Certainly. "

Mr. Peytral alighted, and the two walked a little apart. 

I saw Hewitt talking and pointing toward the burnt barn, and I wellguessed what he was saying. He was giving Peytral warning of what he haddiscovered in the barn, explaining that he must give the information tothe police, and asking if, in those circumstances, Peytral wished to gohome, or to make other arrangements. Often Hewitt's duty to his clientsand his duty as a law-upholding citizen between them put him in somesuch delicate position. 

But there was no hesitation in Mr. Victor Peytral. Plainly he fearednothing, and he was going home. 

"Very well, then, " I heard Hewitt say as they turned towards us, "perhaps we had better go on slowly and let my friend cut across thefields first to break the news. Brett--I knew you would be useful, sooner or later. "

And so I hurried off, with the happy though delicate mission to restoreboth father and lover to Miss Claire Peytral. 

IV

Miss Peytral had to be put to bed under care of a nurse, for therevulsion was very great, and so was her physical prostration. Bowmore, now set free, and in himself a very pleasant young fellow, came withhurried inquiries and congratulations, and then rushed off to London tocable to his friends in Canada, for fear of the effect of newspapertelegrams. 

When at last Hewitt and I sat with Mr. Peytral in his study, "Mr. Hewitt, " said Peytral, "I am not sure how far explanations may gobetween us. There is more in that death in the barn than the police willever guess. "

Peytral was haggard and drawn, for, as he had let slip already, he hadscarce slept an hour since leaving home on Thursday. 

"I am tired, " he said, "and worn out, but that is not a novelty with me;and I'm not sure but we may be of use to each other. Did my daughtertell you why she sent Mr. Bowmore after me on Thursday night?"

Hewitt explained the thing as briefly as possible, just as he had heardit from Miss Peytral. 

"Ah, " said Peytral, thoughtfully. "So she thought my manner became moodya few months back. It did, no doubt, for I had memories; and more, I hadapprehensions. Mr. Hewitt, I think I read in the papers that you were insome way engaged in the extraordinary case of the murder of Mr. JacobMason?"

"That is quite correct. I was. "

"There was another case, a little while before, which possibly you maynot have heard of. A man was found strangled near the York column, byPall Mall, with just such a mark on his forehead as was found on Mr. Mason's. "

"I know that case, too, as well as the other. "

"Do you know the name of the murderer?"

"I think I do. We speak in confidence, of course, as client andprofessional man?"

"Of course. What was his name?"

"I have heard two--Everard Myatt and Catherton Hunt. "

"Neither is his real name, and I doubt if anybody but himself knows it. Twenty years ago and more I knew him as Mayes. He was a Jamaican. Mr. Hewitt, that man's foul life has been justly forfeit a thousand times, but if it belongs to anybody it belongs to me!"

It was terrible to see the sudden fiery change in the old man. Hislassitude was gone in a flash, his eyes blazed and his nostrils dilated. 

For a little while he sat so, his mouth awork with passion; then he sankback in his chair with a sigh. 

"I am getting old, " he said, more quietly, "and perhaps I am not strongenough to lose my temper. . . . Well, as I said, Mayes was a Jamaican, arenegade white. Do you remember that in the black rebellion of 1865, there was a traitorous white man among the negroes? Eyre hanged a fewrebels, and rightly, but the worst creature on all that islandescaped--probably escaped by the aid of that very white skin that shouldhave ensured him a greater punishment than the rest. He escaped toHayti. Now you have probably heard something of Hayti, and of the commonstate of affairs there?"

We both had heard, and, indeed, the matter had been particularly broughtto Hewitt's notice by the case which I have told elsewhere as "TheAffair of the Tortoise. " As for me, I had read Sir Spenser St. John'sbook on the black republic, and I had been greatly impressed by thegraphic picture it gives of the horrible, blood-stained travesty ofregular government there prevailing. Nothing in the worst of the SouthAmerican Republics is to be remotely compared to it. In the worstperiods there was not a crime imaginable that could not be, and was not, committed openly and with impunity by anybody on the right side of theso-called "government"; and the "government" was nothing but anorganised crime in itself. 

"Well, " Peytral pursued, "then I need not expatiate on it, and you willunderstand the sort of place that Mayes fled to, and how it suited him. He was a man of far greater ability than any of the coarse scoundrels inpower, and he was worse than all of them. He was not such a fool as toaim at ostensible political power--that way generally led toassassination. He was the jackal, the contriver, the power behind thethrone, the instigator of half the devilry set going in that unhappyplace, and he profited by it with little risk; he was the confidentialadviser of that horrible creature Domingue. If you know anything ofHayti you will know what that means. 

"At this time I was comparatively a young man, and a merchant atPort-au-Prince. It was a bad place, of course, and business was riskyenough, but, for that very reason, profits were large, and that was anattraction to a sanguine young man like myself. I did very well, and Ihad thoughts of getting out of it with what I had made. But it was afatal thing to be supposed wealthy in Port-au-Prince, unless you were avillain in power, or partner with one. I was neither, and I was judged asuitable victim by Mayes. Not I alone, either--no, nor even only I andmy fortune. Gentlemen, gentlemen, my poor wife, who now lies----"

Peytral's utterance failed him. He rose as if choking, and Hewitt roseto quiet him. "Never mind, " he said, "sit quiet now. We understand. Resta moment. "

The old man sank back in his chair, and for a little while buried hisface in his hands. Then he went on. 

"I needn't go into details, " he said, huskily. "It is enough to say thatevery devilish engine of force and cunning was put in operation againstme. So it came that at last, on a hint from a hanger-on of thepolice-office, who had enough humanity in him to remember a kindness hehad experienced at my hands, that we took flight in the middle of thenight--my poor wife, myself, and our three children, with nothing in theworld but our bare lives and the clothes we wore. I might have tried toget aboard a foreign ship in the harbour, but I knew that would beuseless. I should have been given up on whatever criminal charge Mayeschose to present, and my wife and children with me. I had hope ofsomehow getting to San Cristobel, where I had a friend--over the borderin the other Government of the island, the Dominican Republic. That waseighty miles away and more, across swamps, and forests and mountains. Well, we did it--we did it. We did it, Mr. Hewitt, and I dream of itstill. They hunted us, sir--hunted us with dogs. We hid from them awhole day among the rank weeds--up to our shoulders in the water of apestilential fever-swamp; Claire, the baby, on her mother's back, andboth the boys on mine. They died--they died next day. My two beautifulboys, gentlemen, died in my arms, and I was too weak even to bury them!"

There was another long pause, and the man's head was bowed in his handsonce more. Presently he went on again, but at first without lifting hishead. 

"We did it, gentlemen, " he said--"we did it. We crawled into SanCristobel at the end of five days; and from that moment my dear wife hasnever once stood upright on her feet. So we came out of it, and thebaby, Claire, was the one that suffered least. She was too young tounderstand, and her mother--her mother saved her, when I could not savethe boys!"

He paused again, and presently sat up, pale, but in full command ofhimself. "You will excuse me, gentlemen, I am sure, and make allowancesfor my feelings, " he said. "There is not a great deal more to tell. Mayes did not last long in Hayti. Domingue was overthrown, and Mayesleft the island, I was told, and made for another part of the world. Years afterward I heard of his being in China, though what truth theremay have been in the rumour I cannot say. 

"My friend in San Cristobel--he was a cousin, in fact--put me on my legsagain, and after a while he helped me to begin business at San Domingo, under my present name, Peytral, which, in fact, was my mother's maidenname. There came a sudden push in trade with the United States aboutthis time, and I went into my affairs with the more energy to distractmy thoughts. In fifteen years--to cut a long story short--I had made thesmall competency which I have brought to England with me, with the ideaof a peaceful end to my life and my wife's; though I doubt if I am tohave that now. I doubt it, and I will tell you why. Mr. Hewitt, when Iwent away without warning on Thursday night I was dogging Mayes!"

Hewitt nodded, with no sign of surprise. "And the man killed in thebarn?"

"That is one more of his thousand crimes, without a doubt. Though itdiffers. Do you know what drew my attention to the murders of the menDenson and Mason, and so set me thinking? In each case the murder was bystrangulation, and the medical evidence at the inquests showed that itwas effected by means of a tourniquet. In fact, in the second case, thetourniquet itself was left behind. "

"Yes, " Hewitt replied, "I loosened it myself--but, unfortunately, I wastoo late. "

"Well, now, " Peytral went on, "in Hayti, in my time, Mayes's enemies hada habit of dying suddenly in the night, by strangulation, and atourniquet was always the instrument. And just as murder was quite apopular procedure in that accursed place, so strangulation by tourniquetbecame for a while the most common form of the crime. It was rapid, effective, and silent, you see. So that a murder by tourniquet, quite anunknown thing in this country, took my attention at once, and whenanother followed it so soon, I felt something like certainty. And thetriangle was suggestive, too. "

"Were Mayes's victims marked in that way in Hayti?"

"No, there was no mark. But"--here Mr. Peytral's features assumed acurious expression--"there are things which are not believed in thiscountry--which are laughed at, in fact, and called superstition. Youknow something of Hayti, and therefore you must have heard ofVoodoo--the witchcraft and devil-worship of the West Indies. Well, Mayeswas as deep in that as he was in every other species of wickedness. Itsounds foolish, perhaps, here in civilised England, and you may laugh, but I tell you that Mayes could make men do as he wished, with theirconsent or against it! And he used a thing--it was generally known thathe used a thing marked with a triangle--a Red Triangle--by the use ofwhich he could bend men to his will!"

Hewitt was listening intently, with no sign of laughter at all, notwithstanding his client's apprehension. And I remembered the case ofMr. Jacob Mason, and how that victim had so fervently expressed his wishto the excellent clergyman, Mr. Potswood, that he had never dabbled inthe strange devilries of Myatt--or Mayes, as we were now learning tocall him. 

"At any rate, " Peytral resumed, "you will understand that theconjunction of the tourniquet with the Red Triangle in the two cases youknow of caused me some excitement. My daughter, as you have said, noticed a change in my habits from that time; my wife did more--she knewthe reason. Mr. Hewitt, I am an older man, but there is hotter blood inmy veins than in yours. My father was English--though you might scarcelysuppose it--but my mother, to whose name I have reverted, was a FrenchCreole. So perhaps my natural instincts come nearer to those of oursavage ancestry than do yours. Whether or not you will understand me Ido not know, but I can tell you that even now, in cold blood--for myparoxysm has exhausted itself and me--it seems to me that it would be myduty, not to say my sacred duty, to tear that man to pieces with myhands whenever and wherever I could put them on him! My old passions mayhave slept, I find, but they are alive still, and I found them wakingwhen I realised that Mayes was alive and in England. The words 'sane'and 'insane' are elastic in their application, but I doubt if you wouldhave called me strictly sane of late. I evolved mad schemes for thedestruction of this wretch, and I was ready to devote myself andeverything I possessed to the purpose. More than once I contemplatedcoming to you--seeing that you had met the man in one of hisvillainies--with the idea of enlisting your aid. But I reflected thatyou would probably make yourself no party to a plan of private revenge, and I hesitated. And then--then, a little more than a week ago, I sawthe man himself! Changed, without doubt, but not half as much changed asI am myself. Nevertheless, sure as I am of him now, I hesitated then. For it was here in the meadow that you know, near the barn, and thething seemed so likely to be illusion that I almost suspected my senses. It was dusk, and he was walking and talking with another man, a gooddeal younger. And presently, while I was still confounded with surprise, and as they passed behind a clump of trees, Mayes was gone, and I sawhis companion alone. He was a young man--an artist, it would seem, withsketch-book and colours. "

I started, and Hewitt and I glanced at each other. Peytral saw it andpaused. "Never mind, " said Hewitt. "Please go on. "

"After that I came out every night, in the hope of seeing my enemyagain. On several evenings I saw the young artist waiting by the barnexpectantly, but nobody joined him. I found that this young man waslodging at a cottage in the village, and I resolved not to lose sight ofhim. 

"At last, on Thursday night, I saw Mayes again. Mr. Bowmore was here, and when I left the house he troubled me much by coming after me. I wasobliged to tell him that I wished to be alone, and I was in a nervouslyexplosive state when I did it. He seemed reluctant to go; my angerblazed out, and I violently ordered him off. From what he has told me itseems that he followed me still, but lost sight of me near Penn'sMeadow. Well, be that as it may, I saw Mayes and the young artist again. I watched from a rather awkward spot, and dusk was falling, so that Icould not see all that passed; but presently I was aware that Mayes wasmaking off by the road alone, and I followed him. 

"From that moment I think I really was mad, though my madness did notdrive me to attack him at once. I had a feeling of curiosity to seewhere he would go, and a curious cruel idea of letting him run for alittle first--as a cat feels, I suppose, with a mouse. You may judgethat I was not in my normal state of mind from the fact that all throughyesterday and part of to-day I never as much as thought of telegraphinghome to say that I had gone to London. For it was to London I followedhim. I took no ticket at the station--I got on the platform by stealth, and entered the train unobserved, for he and one boy were the onlypassengers, and I feared attracting attention. It was easy enough, insuch a station as Redfield, and I paid my fare at London. And after allI lost him! Lost him in London!"

"How?"

"Like a fool. I saw him enter a house, and waited. Followed him again, and waited at another. I might have flung him into the river from theEmbankment, and I refrained. And then--whether it began at a dark corneror in a group of people I cannot tell, but I suddenly discovered that Iwas following a stranger--a stranger of about Mayes's form and stature. It was what I should have expected, and provided for, in London streetsat night!

"If I have been mad, it was then I was worst. I suppose by that time itmust have been too late to get back home, but I never thought of that. Iran the streets the whole night, like a fool, hunting for Mayes. I kepton all day yesterday. I waited and watched hours at the two houses hehad visited; and it was not till early this morning that I flung myselfon a bed in a private hotel in Euston Road. I slept a little, and myparoxysm was over. Perhaps I am more fortunate than I am disposed tothink, since I am as yet in no danger of trial for murder. "

This passionate, wayward, stricken man was plainly the object offascinated interest to Hewitt. My friend waited a moment, and thensaid--"The houses he called at--I should like to know them. And whereyou lost sight of him. "

Peytral sat back, and gazed thoughtfully for fully half a minute inHewitt's face. "Do you know, " he said at length, "I don't think I'llanswer that question now. I'd like to leave it for a day or two. Yesterday I wouldn't have told you, even on the rack--no, not a word! Ishould have said, 'Take your own chances, and get him if you can. As forme, I consider him _my_ prey, and what scent I have picked up I shalluse myself!' A mad fancy, you will think, perhaps. For me the questionis, was I sanest then or now? I will take a day or two to think. "

V

In less than a day or two the identity of the victim of the burnt barnwas established. For Hewitt had his idea, and he communicated withPlummer, of Scotland Yard. The man with the buttoned boots and thesketch-book was the artist who had been staying at the cottage in thevillage, but who, singularly enough, had never been seen to draw, andhad left no drawings behind him. He had warned the people of the cottagethat he might be away for a night or two, and he had stayed away for twonights before; so that his disappearance did not disturb them, and whenthey heard that Mr. Peytral's body had been found in the barn theyaccepted the news as fact. They recognised at once a photograph producedby Plummer as that of their late lodger. And the photograph had beenprocured from Messrs. Kingsley, Bell and Dalton, the intended victims inthe bond case, and it was one of Henning, their vanished correspondenceclerk!

That his death would be convenient to Mayes, the greater scoundrel, wasplain enough. The bond robbery had been brought to naught, thanks toMartin Hewitt, and Henning was now useless. Worse, he might be caught, or give himself up, and was thus a perpetual danger. And probably hewanted money. This being so, it was a singular fact that at the inquestthe surgeon who had examined the wound gave it as his most positiveopinion that it had been self-inflicted. And it was inflicted with arazor, Henning's own, as was very clearly proved after inquiry. For therazor was found in the barn by the police, entangled with the blackenedframe of an old lantern. Here was still another puzzle; one to which thefinal revelation of the mystery of the Red Triangle gave an answer, aswill be seen in due place. 

THE CASE OF THE ADMIRALTY CODE

I

Quick on the heels of the case of the Burnt Barn followed the next ofthe Red Triangle affairs. Indeed, the interval was barely two days. Mr. Victor Peytral, it will be remembered, had declined to reveal to Hewittthe addresses of the two houses in London which he had seen Mayes visit, desiring to think the matter over for a few days first; but before anymore could be heard from him, news of another sort was brought byInspector Plummer. 

It may give some clue to the period whereabout the whole mystery of theRed Triangle began to be cleared up if I say that at the time ofPlummer's visit this country was on the very verge of war with a greatEuropean State. It is a State with which the present relations ofEngland are of the friendliest description, and, since the dreadedcollision was happily averted, there is no need to particularise in thematter now, especially as the name of the country with which we were atvariance matters nothing as regards the course of events I am torelate. Though most readers will recognise it at once when I say thatthe war, had it come to that, would have been a naval war of greatmagnitude; and that during the time of tension swift but quietpreparations were going forward at all naval depôts, and movements anddispositions of our fleet were arranged that extended to the remotestparts of the ocean. 

It was at the height of the excitement, and, as I have said, two daysafter the return of Hewitt and myself from Throckham, when the case ofthe Burnt Barn had been disposed of, that Detective-Inspector Plummercalled. I was in Hewitt's office at the time, having, in fact, called inon my way to learn if he had heard more from Mr. Victor Peytral, for, asmay be imagined, I was as eager to penetrate the mystery of the Triangleas Hewitt himself--perhaps more so, since Hewitt was a man inured tomysteries. I had hardly had time to learn that Peytral had not yet madeup his mind so far as to write, when Plummer pushed hurriedly into theroom. 

"Excuse my rushing in like this, " he said, "but your lad told me that itwas Mr. Brett who was with you, and the matter needs hurry. You've heardno more of that fellow--Myatt, Hunt, Mayes, whatever his name islast--since the barn murder, of course? Has Peytral given you the tip hehalf promised?"

Hewitt shook his head again. "Brett has this moment come to ask the samequestion, " he said. "I have heard nothing. "

"I must have it, " said Plummer, emphatically. "Do you think he will tellme?"

Hewitt shook his head again. "Scarcely likely, " he said. "He's an oddfellow, this Mr. Peytral--a foreigner, with revenge in his blood. I havedone him and his daughter some little service, and he told me all hisprivate history; but he seemed even then disposed to keep Mayes tohimself and let nobody interfere with his own vengeance. But I will wireif you like. What is it?"

"I'll tell you, " said Plummer, pushing the door close behind him. "I'lltell you--in confidence, of course--because you've seen more of thismysterious rascal than I have, and--equally in confidence, ofcourse--Mr. Brett may hear, too, since he's been in several of the casesalready. Well, of course, we all know well enough that we want thiscreature--Mayes, we may as well call him, I suppose, now--for threemurders, at least, to say nothing of other things. That's all very well, and we might have got him with time. But now we want him for somethingelse; and it's such a thing that _we must have him at once_, orelse"--and Plummer pursed his lips and snapped his fingerssignificantly. "We can't wait over this, Mr. Hewitt; _we've got to havethat man to-day_, if it can be done. And there's more than ordinarydepending on it. It's the country this time. The Admiralty telegraphiccode has been stolen!"

"By Mayes?"

Plummer shrugged his shoulders. "That's to be proved, " he said; "but hewas seen leaving the office at about the time the loss occurred, andthat's enough to set me after him; and there's not another clue of anysort. Mr. Hewitt, I wish you were in the official service!"

Hewitt smiled. "You flatter me, " he said, "as you have done before. Butwhy in this case particularly?"

"It's a case altogether out of the ordinary, and one of a string ofsuch, all of which you have at your fingers' ends. And I don't mindconfessing that this man Mayes is a little too big a handful forone--for me, at any rate. I wish you could work with me over this; infact, in the special circumstances I've a good mind to ask to have youretained, as an exceptional measure. But the thing's urgent, and there'sred-tape!"

Hewitt had taken a glance at his desk tablet, which he now flung down. 

"I'll do it for love, " he said, "if necessary. My appointment list isuncommonly slack just now, and even if it weren't, I'd make aconsiderable sacrifice rather than be out of this. This fellow Mayes isa dangerous man; and I feel it a point of honour that he shall notcontinue to escape. Moreover, I have begun to form a certain theory asto the Red Triangle, and all there is at the back of it--a theory Iwould rather keep to myself till I see a little more, since as it standsit may only strike you as fantastic, and if it is wrong it may lead someof us off the track; but it is a theory I wish to test to the end. SoI'm with you, Plummer, if you'll allow it; and you can make yourofficial application for a special retainer or not, just as you please. "

Plummer was plainly delighted. 

"Most certainly I will, " he said. "Shall I give you the heads of thecase, or will you come to the Admiralty and see for yourself?"

"Both, I think, " said Hewitt. "But first I will send a telegram toPeytral. Then you can give me the heads of the case as we go along, andI will look at the place for myself. I am in this case heart and soul, pay or no pay--and I expect my friend Brett would like to be in it, too. Is there any objection?"

"Well, " Plummer answered, a little doubtfully, "we're glad of outsidehelp, of course, but I'm not sure, officially----"

"Of course you are always glad of outside help, " Hewitt interrupted, "and in this case we may possibly find Brett more useful than you think. Consider now. He has seen a good deal of these cases--quite as much asyou, in fact--but he is the only one of the three of us whom Mayes doesnot know by sight. Remember, Mayes saw us both in the affair of Mr. Jacob Mason, and he saw you again in the case of the Lever Key--escaped, in fact, because he instantly recognised you. I'll answer for Brett'sdiscretion, and I'm sure he'll be glad to help, even if, for officialreasons, you may not find it possible to admit him wholly into yourcounsels. "

Of course I willingly assented, and the conditions understood, Plummeroffered no further objection. Hewitt despatched his telegram, and in avery few minutes we were in a cab on the way to the Admiralty. 

"This is the way of it, " Plummer said. "You will remember that when welost Mayes at the end of the Lever Key case, I was waiting for him inthat city office, with an assistant, and that we only saw him for aninstant in the lift. Well, that assistant was a very intelligent man ofmine, named Corder--a fellow with a wonderful memory for a face. NowCorder is on another case just now, and we'd put him on, dressed like aloafer, to hang about Whitehall and the neighbourhood, watching for someone we want. Well, this morning there came an urgent message to the Yardfrom the Admiralty, to ask for a responsible official at once, and I wassent. As I came along I saw Corder lounging about, and of course I tookno notice--it would not do for us people from the Yard to recognise eachother too readily in the street. But Corder came up, and made pretenceto ask me for a match to light his pipe; and under cover of that he toldme that he had seen Mayes not an hour before, coming out of theAdmiralty. At this, of course, I pricked up my ears. I didn't know whatthey wanted me for, but if there was mischief, and that fellow had beenthere, it was likely at least that he might have been in it. Corder wasquite positive that it was the man, although he had only seen him for amoment in the lift. He hadn't seen him go into the Admiralty office, buthe was passing as he came out, and noted the time exactly, so that hemight report to me at the first opportunity. The time was 11. 32, andMayes jumped into a hansom and drove off. He walked right out into themiddle of the road to stop the hansom--you know how wide the road isthere--so that Corder couldn't hear his direction to the cabman, but hetook the number as the cab went off. Corder ought to have collared himthen and there, I think, but he was in a difficult position. It wouldhave endangered the case he was on, which is very important; andbesides, he didn't realise how much we wanted him for, having only beenbrought in as an assistant at the tail of our bond case. Still less didhe guess--any more than myself--what I was going to hear at theAdmiralty office. "

"At any rate, " interrupted Hewitt, "you've got the number of the cab?"

"Here it is, " Plummer answered, "and I've already set a man to get holdof the cabman. You'd better note the number--92, 873. "

Hewitt duly noted the number, and advised me to do the same, in case Ishould chance to meet the cab during the afternoon; and as we neared ourdestination Plummer gave us the rest of the case in outline. 

"In the office, " he said, "I found them in a great state. A copy of thecode, or cypher, in which confidential orders and other messages aresent to the fleet all over the world, and in which reports and messagesare sent back, had disappeared during the morning. It was in charge of aMr. Robert Telfer, a clerk of responsibility and undoubted integrity. Hekept it in a small iron safe, which is let into the wall of his privateroom. It was safe when he arrived in the morning, and he immediatelyused it in order to code a telegram, and locked it in the safe again at10. 20. Two hours later, at 12. 20, he went to the safe for it again, inorder to de-code a message just received, and it was gone! And the lockof the safe is one that would take hours to pick, I should judge. Thereisn't a shade of a clue, so far as I can see, except this circumstanceof Mayes being seen leaving by Corder--just between Telfer's two visitsto the safe, you perceive. And of course there may be nothing in that, except for the character of the man. And that's all there is to go on, as far as I can see. I needn't tell you how important the thing is at atime like this, and how much would be paid for that secret code by acertain foreign Government. We have made hurried arrangements to havecertain places watched, and as soon as I have taken you to the office Imust rush off and make a few more arrangements still. But here we are. "

Mr. Robert Telfer's room was at the side of a long and gloomy corridoron the upper floor, and the door was distinguished merely by a numberand the word "Private" painted thereon. We found Mr. Telfer sittingalone, and plainly in a state of great nervous tension. He was a man offorty or thereabout, thin, alert, and using a single eye-glass. Plummerintroduced us by name, and rapidly explained our business. 

"I told you the name of the party I am after, Mr. Telfer, " Plummer said, "and I went straight to Mr. Martin Hewitt, as being most likely to haveinformation of him. Mr. Hewitt, whose name you know already, of course, is kind enough, seeing we're in a bad pinch, and pushed for time, tocome in and give us all the help he can. Both he and his friend, Mr. Brett, know a good deal of the doings of the person we're after, andtheir assistance is likely to be of the very greatest value. Do you mindgiving Mr. Hewitt any information he may ask? I must rush over to theYard to put some other inquiries on foot, and to set an observation ortwo, but I'll be back presently. "

"Certainly, " Mr. Telfer answered, "I'm only too anxious to give anyinformation whatever--so long as it is nothing departmentallyforbidden--which will help to put this horrible matter right. Please askme anything, and be patient if my answers are not very clear. I havebeen much overworked lately, as you may imagine, and have had verylittle sleep; and now this terrible misfortune has upset me completely;for, of course, I am held responsible for that copy of the code, and ifit isn't recovered, and quickly, I am ruined--to say nothing, ofcourse, of the far more serious consequences in other directions. "

"That is the safe in which it was kept, I presume?" Hewitt said, indicating a small one let into the wall. "May I examine it?"

"Certainly. " Mr. Telfer turned and produced the keys from his pocket. "The code was here, lying on this shelf when I needed it this morning atten. I took it out, used it, returned it to the same place exactly, andlocked the safe door. Then I took the draft of the telegram, togetherwith the copy in cypher, into the Controller's room, gave it into safehands, and returned here. "

Hewitt narrowly examined the lock of the safe with his pocket lens. "There are no signs of the lock having been picked, " he said, "even ifthat were possible. As a matter of fact, this is a lock that would takehalf a day to pick, even with a heavy bag of tools. No, I don't thinkthat was the way of it. You have no doubt about locking the safe door at10. 20, I suppose, before you went to the Controller's room?"

"No possible doubt whatever. You see, I left the whole bunch of keyshanging in the lock while I coded the telegram. It was a short one, andwas soon done. Then I returned the code to its place, locked the safe, and then used another key on the bunch to lock a drawer in this desk. Ihad no occasion to go to the safe again till about 12. 20, when theController's secretary came here with a telegram to be de-coded. Thesafe was still locked then, but when it was opened the code was gone. "

"You had had no occasion to go to the safe in the meantime?"

"None at all. I locked it at 10. 20, and I unlocked it two hours later, and that was all. "

"You were not in the room the whole of the time, of course?"

"Oh, no. I have told you that at 10. 20 I went to the Controller's room, and after that I went out two or three times on one occasion or another. But each time I locked the door of the room. "

"Oh, you did? That is important. And you took all your keys with you, Ipresume?"

"Yes, all. The keys on the bunch I took in my pocket, of course, and theroom door key I also took. There are one or two rather important paperson my desk, you see, and anybody from the corridor might come in if thedoor were left unlocked. "

"The lock of the door would be a good deal easier to pick than that ofthe safe, " Hewitt observed, after examining it. "But that would be of nogreat use with the safe locked. Shortly, then, the facts are these. Youlocked the code safely away at 10. 20, you left the room two or threetimes, but each time the door, as well as the safe, was locked, and thekeys in your pocket; and then, at 12. 20, or two hours exactly after thecode had been put safely away, you opened the safe again in presence ofthe Controller's secretary, and the code had vanished. That is the wholematter in brief, I take it?"

"Precisely. " Mr. Telfer was pallid and bewildered. "It seems a totalimpossibility, " he said; "a total, absolute, physical impossibility; butthere it is. "

"But as no such thing as a physical impossibility ever happens, " Hewittreplied calmly, "we must look further. Now, are there any other waysinto this room than by that door into the corridor? I see another doorhere. What is that?"

"That door has been locked for ages. The room on the other side is onelike this, with a door in the corridor; it is used chiefly to store olddocuments of no great importance, and I believe that whole stacks ofthem, in bundles, are piled against the other side of that same door. Wewill send for the key and see, if you like. "

The key was sent for, and the door from the corridor opened. As Telferhad led us to expect, the place was full of old papers in bundles andparcels, thick with ancient dust, and these things were piled highagainst the door next his room, and plainly had not been disturbed formonths, or even years. 

"There remains the skylight, " said Hewitt, "for I perceive, Mr. Telfer, that your room is lighted from above, and has no window; while the grateis a register. There seems to be no opening in that skylight but therevolving ventilator. Am I right?"

"Quite so. There is no getting in by the skylight without breaking it, and, as you see, it has not been broken. Certainly there are men on theroof repairing the leads, but it is plain enough that nobody has comethat way. The thing is wholly inexplicable. "

"At present, yes, " Hewitt said, musingly. He stood for a few moments indeep thought. 

"Plummer is longer away than I expected, " he said presently. "By theway, what was the external appearance of the missing code?"

"It was nothing but a sort of thin manuscript book, made of a few sheetsof foolscap size, sewn in a cover of thickish grey paper. I left it inthe safe doubled lengthwise, and tied with tape in the middle. "

"Its loss is a very serious thing, of course?"

"Oh, terribly, terribly serious, Mr. Hewitt, " Telfer replied, despairingly. "I am responsible, and it will put an end to my career, of course. But the consequences to the country are more important, andthey may be disastrous--enormously so. A great sum would be paid forthat code on the Continent, I need hardly say. "

"But now that you know it is taken, surely the code can be changed?"

"It's not so easy as it seems, Mr. Hewitt, " Telfer answered, shaking hishead. "It means time, and I needn't tell you that with affairs in theirpresent state we can't afford one moment of time. Some expedients arebeing attempted, of course, but you will understand that any new codewould have to be arranged with scattered items of the fleet in all partsof the world, and that probably with the present code in the hands ofthe enemy. Moreover, all our messages already sent will be accessiblewith very little trouble, and they contain all our strategical coalingand storing dispositions for a great war, Mr. Hewitt; and they can't, they _can't_ be altered at a moment's notice! Oh, it is terrible!. . . Buthere is Inspector Plummer. No news, I suppose, Mr. Plummer?"

"Well, no, " Plummer answered deliberately. "I can't say I've any newsfor _you_, Mr. Telfer, just yet. But I want to talk about a few thingsto Mr. Hewitt. Hadn't we better go and see if your telegram isanswered, Mr. Hewitt? Unless you've heard. "

"No, I haven't, " Hewitt replied. "We'll go on at once. Good-day for thepresent, Mr. Telfer. I hope to bring good news when next I see you. "

"I hope so, too, Mr. Hewitt, most fervently, " Telfer answered; and hislooks confirmed his words. 

We walked in silence through the corridor, down the stairs, and out bythe gates into the street. Then Plummer turned on his heel and facedHewitt. 

"That man's a wrong 'un, " he said, abruptly, jerking his thumb in thedirection of the office we had just left. "I'll tell you about it in thecab. "

As soon as our cab was started on its way back to Hewitt's officePlummer explained himself. 

"He's been watched, " he said, "has Mr. Telfer, when he didn't know it;and he'll be watched again for the rest of to-day, as I've arranged. What's more, he won't be allowed to leave the office this evening tillI have seen him again, or sent a message. No need to frighten him toosoon--it mightn't suit us. But he's in it, alone or in company!"

"How do you know?"

"I'll tell you. It seems the lead roofs are being repaired at theAdmiralty, and the plumbers are walking about where they like. NowI needn't tell you I've had a man or two fishing about among thedoorkeepers and so on at the Admiralty, and one of them found a plumberhe knew slightly, working on the roof. That plumber happens to be nofool--a bit smarter than the detective-constable, it seems to me, infact. Anyhow, he seems to have got more out of my man than my man gotout of him; and soon after I reached the Yard he turned up, asking tosee me. He said he'd heard that a valuable paper was missing (he didn'tknow what) from the room with the skylight in the top floor, where thegentleman with the single eye-glass was, and where the safe was let inthe wall; and he wanted to know what would be the reward for anybodygiving information about it. Of course I couldn't make any promise, andI gave him to understand that he would have to leave the amount of thereward to the authorities, if his information was worth anything; also, that we were getting to work fast, and that if he wished to be first togive information he'd better be quick about it; but I promised to make aspecial report of his name and what he had to say if it were useful. Andit will be, or I'm vastly mistaken! For just you see here. Our friend, Mr. Telfer, says he put that code safely away at 10. 20 in the safe, andthat he never went to the safe again till 12. 20, when the Controller'ssecretary was with him; never went to it for anything whatever, observe. Well, the plumber happened to be near the skylight at half-pasteleven, and he is prepared to swear that he saw Mr. Telfer--'the gentwith the eye-glass, ' as he calls him--go to the safe, unlock it, takeout a grey paper, folded lengthwise, with red tape round it, re-lock thesafe, and carry that paper out into the corridor! The plumber waskneeling by a brazier, it seems, which was close by the skylight, and heis so certain of the time because he was regulating his watch byWestminster Hall clock, and compared it when the half-hour struck, whichwas just while Telfer was absent in the corridor with the paper. He wasonly gone a second or two, and you will remember that Corder saw Mayesleaving the premises within two minutes of that time!"

"Yes!"

"Well, Telfer was back in a second or two, _without the paper_, and wenton with his affairs as before. That's pretty striking, eh?"

"Yes, " Hewitt answered thoughtfully, "it is. "

"It was a sort of shot in the dark on the part of the plumber, for heknew nothing else--nothing about Telfer legitimately having the keys ofthe safe, nor any of the particulars we have been told. He merely knewthat a paper was missing, and having seen a paper taken out of the safehe got it into his head that he had possibly witnessed the theft; andhe kept his knowledge to himself till he could see somebody inauthority. Mighty keen, too, about a reward!"

"And now you are having Telfer supervised?"

"I am. Not that we're likely to get the code from him; that's passedout, sure enough, in Mayes's hands--or else his pockets. "

To this confident expression of opinion Hewitt offered no reply, andpresently we alighted at his office, eager to learn if Peytral had giventhe information Hewitt so much desired. Sure enough a telegram wasthere, and it ran thus:

/# "On the night you know of, Mayes went first to 37 Raven Street, Blackfriars, then to 8 Norbury Row, Barbican. Message follows. "#/

"Now we're at work, " Hewitt said, briskly, "and for a while we part. Ishall make a few changes of dress, and go to take a look at 37 RavenStreet, Blackfriars. Will you two go on to Norbury Row? You'll have tobe careful, Plummer, and not show yourself. That is where Brett will beuseful, since he isn't known; if anybody is to be seen let it be him. Ishall be very careful myself--though I shall have some little disguise;and I fancy I shall not be so likely to be seen as you. "

"What are we to do?" I asked. 

"Well, of course, if you see Mayes in the open, grab him instantly. Ineedn't tell Plummer _that_. I think Plummer would naturally seize himon the spot, rush him off to the nearest station and go back with enoughmen to clear out No. 8 Norbury Row. If you don't see him you'll keep anobservation, according to Plummer's discretion. But, unless someexceptional chance occurs, I hope you won't go rushing in till wecommunicate with each other--we must work together, and I may have news. My instinct seems to tell me that yours is the right end of the stick, at Barbican. But we must neglect nothing, and that is why I want you tohold on there while I make the necessary examination at the other end. Do you know this Norbury Row, Plummer?"

"I think I know every street and alley in the City, " Plummer answered. "There is a very good publican at the corner of Norbury Row, who's beenuseful to the police a score of times. He keeps his eyes open, and Ishall be surprised if he can't give us _some_ information about No. 8, anyhow. Moon's his name, and the house is 'The Compasses. ' I shall gothere first. And if you've any message to send, send it through him. I'll tell him. "

On the stairs Plummer and I encountered another of his assistants. "I've got the cab, sir, " he reported. "Waiting outside now. Took up afare in Whitehall, opposite the Admiralty, and drove him to CharterhouseStreet; got down just by the Meat Market. That's all the man seems toknow. "

Plummer questioned the cabman, and found that as a matter of fact thatwas all he did know. So, telling him to wait to take us our littlejourney, we returned and reported his information to Hewitt. 

"Just as I expected, " he said, quietly. "He stopped the cab a bit shortof his destination, of course, --just as you will, no doubt. There's nota great deal in the evidence, but it confirms my idea. "

II

We followed Mayes's example by stopping the cab in Charterhouse Street, and walking the short remaining distance to Barbican. Norbury Row was anobscure street behind it, at the corner of which stood "The Compasses, "the public-house which Plummer had mentioned. We did not venture to showourselves in Norbury Row, but hastened into the nearest door of "TheCompasses, " which chanced to be that of the private bar. 

A stout, red-faced, slow-moving man with one eye and a black patch, stood behind the bar. Plummer lifted his finger and pointed quicklytoward the bar-parlour; and at the signal the one-eyed man turned withgreat deliberation and pulled a catch which released the door of thatapartment, close at our elbows. We stepped quickly within, and presentlythe one-eyed man came rolling in by the other door. 

"Well, good art'noon, Mr. Plummer, sir, " he said, with a longintonation and a wheeze. "Good art'noon, sir. You've bin a strangerlately. "

"Good afternoon, Mr. Moon, " Plummer answered, briskly. "We've come fora little information, my friend and I, which I'm sure you'll give us ifyou can. "

"All the years I've been knowed to the police, " answered Mr. Moon, slower and wheezier as he went on, "I've allus give 'em all theinformation I could, an' that's a fact. Ain't it, Mr. Plummer?"

"Yes, of course, and we don't forget it. What we want now----"

"Allus tell 'em what--ever I knows, " rumbled Mr. Moon, turning to me, "allus; an' glad to do it, too. 'Cause why? Ain't they the police? Verywell then, I tells 'em. Allus tells 'em!"

Plummer waited patiently while Mr. Moon stared solemnly at me after thisspeech. Then, when the patch slowly turned in my direction and the eyein his, he resumed, "We want to know if you know anything about No. 8Norbury Row?"

"Number eight, " Mr. Moon mused, gazing abstractedly out of the window;"num--ber eight. Ground-floor, Stevens, packing-case maker; first-floor, Hutt, agent in fancy-goods; second-floor, dunno. Name o' Richardson, bookbinder, on the door, but that's bin there five or six year now, andit ain't the same tenant. Richardson's dead, an' this one don't bind nobooks as I can see. I don't even remember seein' him _very_ often. Tallish, darkish sort o' gent he is, and don't seem to have manyvisitors. Well, then there's the top-floor--but I s'pose it's the sametenant. Richardson used to have it for his workshop. That's all. "

"Have you got a window we can watch it from?"

Mr. Moon turned ponderously round and without a word led the way to thefirst floor, puffing enormously on the stairs. 

"You _can_ see it from the club-room, " he said at length, "but this 'erelittle place is better. "

He pushed open a door, and we entered a small sitting-room. "That's theplace, " he said, pointing. "There's a new packing-case a-standingoutside now. "

Norbury Row presented an appearance common enough in parts of the city alittle way removed from the centre. A street of houses that once hadsheltered well-to-do residents had gradually sunk in the world to thecondition of tenement-houses, and now was on the upward grade again, being let in floors to the smaller sort of manufacturers, and to suchagents and small commercial men as required cheap offices. No. 8 wasmuch like the rest. A packing-case maker had the ground-floor, as Moonhad said, and a token of his trade, in the shape of a new packing-case, stood on the pavement. The rest of the building showed nothingdistinctive. 

"There y'are, gents, " said Mr. Moon, "if you want to watch, you'rewelcome, bein' the p'lice, which I allus does my best for, allus. Butyou'll have to excuse me now, 'cos o' the bar. "

Mr. Moon stumped off downstairs, leaving Plummer and myself watching atthe window. 

"Your friend the publican seems very proud of helping the police, " Iremarked. 

Plummer laughed. "Yes, " he said, "or at any rate, he is anxious weshan't forget it. You see, it's in some way a matter of mutualaccommodation. We make things as easy as possible for him on licensingdays, and as he has a pretty extensive acquaintance among the sort ofpeople we often want to get hold of, he has been able to show hisgratitude very handsomely once or twice. "

The house on which our eyes were fixed was a little too far up thestreet for us to see perfectly through the window of the second-floor, though we could see enough to indicate that it was furnished as anoffice. We agreed that the unknown second-floor tenant was more likelyto be our customer, or connected with him, than either of the others. Still, we much desired a nearer view, and presently, since the coastseemed clear, Plummer announced his intention of taking one. 

He left me at the post of observation, and presently I saw him loungingalong on the other side of the way, keeping close to the houses, so asto escape observation from the upper windows. He took a good look at thenames on the door-post of No. 8, and presently stepped within. 

I waited five or six minutes, and then saw him returning as he had come. 

"It's the top floors we want, " he said, when he rejoined me in Mr. Moon's sitting-room. "The packing-case maker is genuine enough, and verybusy. So is the fancy-goods agent. I went in, seeing the door wide open, and found the agent, a little, shop-walkery sort of chap, hard at workwith his clerk among piles of cardboard boxes. I wouldn't go further, incase I were spotted. Do you think you'd be cool enough to do it withoutarousing suspicion? Mayes doesn't know you, you see. What do you think?We don't want to precipitate matters till we hear from Hewitt, but onthe other hand I don't want to sit still as long as anything can beascertained. You might ask a question about book-binding. "

"Of course, " I said. "If you will let me I'll go at once--glad of thechance to get a peep. I'll bespeak a quotation for binding andlettering a thousand octavos in paste grain, on behalf of someconvenient firm of publishers. That would be technical enough, I think?"

I took my hat and walked out as Plummer had done, though, of course, Iapproached the door of No. 8 with less caution. The packing-case maker'smen were hammering away merrily, and as I mounted the stairs I saw thelittle fancy-goods agent among his cardboard boxes, just as Plummer hadsaid. The upper part of the house was a silent contrast to the busylower floors, and as I arrived at the next landing I was surprised tosee the door ajar. 

I pushed boldly in, and found myself alone in a good-sized room plainlyfitted as an office. There were two windows looking on the street, andone at the back, more than half concealed behind a ground glasspartition or screen. I stepped across and looked out of this window. Itlooked on a narrow space, or well, of plain brick wall, containingnothing but a ladder, standing in one corner. And the only other windowgiving on this narrow square space was in the opposite wall, but muchlower, on the ground level. 

I saw these things in a single glance, and then I turned--to find myselfface to face with a tallish, thin, active man, with a pale, shaven, ascetic face, dark hair, and astonishingly quick glittering black eyes. He stood just within the office door, to which he must have come withouta sound, looking at me with a mechanical smile of inquiry, while hiseyes searched me with a portentous keenness. 

"Oh, " I said, with the best assumption of carelessness I could command, "I was looking for you, Mr. Richardson. Do you care to give a quotationfor binding at per thousand crown octavo volumes in paste grain, plain, with lettering on back?"

"No, " answered the man with the eyes, "I don't; I'm afraid mycarelessness has led you into a mistake. I am not Richardson thebookbinder. He was my predecessor in this office, and I have neglectedto paint out his name on the door-post. "

I hastened to apologise. "I am sorry to have intruded, " I said. "I foundthe door ajar and so came in. You see the publishing season isbeginning, and our regular binders are full of work, so that we have tolook elsewhere. Good-day!"

"Good-day, " the keen man responded, turning to allow me to pass throughthe door. "I'm sorry I cannot be of service to you--on this occasion. "

From first to last his eyes had never ceased to search me, and now as Idescended the stairs I could _feel_ that they were fixed on me still. 

I took a turn about the houses, in order not to be observed goingdirect to "The Compasses, " and entered that house by way of the privatebar, as before. 

"That is Mayes, and no other, " said Plummer, when I had made my reportand described the man with the eyes. "I've seen him twice, once with hisbeard and once without. The question now is, whether we hadn't best sailin straight away and collar him. But there's the window at the back, anda ladder, I think you said. Can he reach it?"

"I think he might--easily. "

"And perhaps there's the roof, since he's got the top floor too. Notgood enough without some men to surround the house. We must go gingerlyover this. One thing to find out is, what is the building behind? Ah, how I wish Mr. Hewitt were here now! If we don't hear from him soon wemust send a message. But we mustn't lose sight of No. 8 for a moment. "

There was a thump at the sitting-room door, and Mr. Moon came puffing inand shouldered himself confidentially against Plummer. "Bloke downstairswants to see you, " he said, in a hoarse grunt that was meant for a lowwhisper. "Twigged you outside, I think, an' says he's got somethinkpartickler to tell yer. I believe 'e's a 'nark'; I see him with one o'your chaps the other day. "

"I'll go, " Plummer said to me hurriedly. "Plainly somebody's spotted mein the street, and I may as well hear him. "

I knew very well, of course, what Moon meant by a 'nark. ' A 'nark'is an informer, a spy among criminals who sells the police whateverinformation he can scrape up. Could it be possible that this man hadanything to tell about Mayes? It was scarcely likely, and I made up mymind that Plummer was merely being detained by some tale of a pettylocal crime. 

But in a few minutes he returned with news of import. "This fellow ismost valuable, " he said. "He knows a lot about Mayes, whom, of course, he calls by another name; but the identity's certain. He saw me lookingin at No. 8, he says, and guessed I must be after him. He seems to havewondered at Mayes's mysterious movements for a long time, and so kepthis eye on him and made inquiries. It seems that Mayes sometimes uses aback way, through the window you saw on the opposite side of the littlearea, by way of that ladder you mentioned. It's quite plain this fellowknows something, from the particulars about that ladder. He wants half asovereign to show me the way through a stable passage behind and pointout where our man can be trapped to a certainty. It'll be a cheap tenshillingsworth, and we mustn't waste time. If Hewitt comes, tell him notto move till I come back or send a message, which I can easily do bythis chap I'm going with. And be sure to keep your eye on the front doorof No. 8 while I'm gone. "

The thing had begun to grow exciting, and the fascination of the pursuittook full possession of my imagination. I saw Plummer pass across theend of the street in company with a shuffling, out-at-elbows-looking manwith dirty brown whiskers, and I set myself to watch the door of thestaircase by the packing-case maker's with redoubled attention, hopingfervently that Mayes might emerge, and so give me the opportunity ofcapping the extraordinary series of occurrences connected with the RedTriangle by myself seizing and handing him over to the police. 

So I waited and watched for something near another quarter of an hour. Then there came another thump at the door, and once more I beheld Mr. Moon. 

"Man askin' for you in the bar, sir, " he said. 

"Asking for me?" I asked, a little astonished. "By name?"

"Mr. Brett, 'e said, sir. He's the same chap, you know. He's got amessage from Inspector Plummer, 'e says. "

"May he come up here?" I asked, mindful of maintaining my watch. 

"Certainly, sir, if you like. I'll bring him. "

Presently the shuffling man with the dirty whiskers presented himself. He was a shifty, villainous-looking fellow of middle height, looking a"nark" all over. He pulled off his cap and delivered his message in arum-scented whisper. "Inspector Plummer says the front way don't matternow, " he said. "'E can cop 'im fair the other way if you'll go round tohim at once. If Mr. Martin Hewitt's here 'e'd rather 'ave 'im, but on'yone's to come now. "

Naturally, I thought, Plummer would prefer Hewitt; but in this case Ishould for once be ahead of my friend, and have the pleasure of relatingthe circumstances of the capture to him, instead of listening, as usual, to his own quiet explanations of the manner in which the case had beenbrought to a successful issue. So I took my hat and went. 

"Best let me go in front, " whispered the "nark. " "You bein' a toff mightbe noticed. " It was a reasonable precaution, and I followed himaccordingly. 

We went a little way down Barbican, and presently, taking a very narrowturning, plunged into a cluster of alleys, through which, however, Icould plainly perceive that our way lay in the direction of the back ofthe house in Norbury Row. At length my guide stopped at what seemed astable yard, pushed open a wicket gate, and went in, keeping the gateopen for me to follow. 

It was, indeed, a stable yard, littered with much straw, which the"nark" carefully picked to walk on as noiselessly as possible, motioningme to do the same. It was a small enough yard, and dark, and when myguide very carefully opened the door of a stable I saw that that wasdarker still. 

He pushed the door wide so as to let a little light fall on another doorwhich I now perceived in the brick wall which formed the side of thestable. After listening intently for a moment at this door, the guidestepped back and favoured me with another puff of rum and a whisper. "There's no light in that there passage, " he said, "an' we'd better notstrike one. I'll catch hold of your hand. "

He pulled the stable door to, and took me by the hand. I heard the innerdoor open quietly, and we stepped cautiously forward. We had gone somefive or six yards in the darkness when I felt something cold touch thewrist of the hand by which I was being led. There was a loud click, myhand was dropped, and I felt my wrist held fast, while I could hear mylate guide shuffling away in the darkness. 

I could not guess whether to cry out or remain quiet. I called after theman in a loud whisper, but got no answer. I used my other hand to feelat my right wrist, and found that it was clipped in one of a pair ofhandcuffs, the other being locked in a staple in the wall. I tugged myhardest to loosen this staple, but it held firm. The thing had been sosudden and stealthy that I scarce had time to realise that I was inserious danger, and that, doubtless, Plummer had preceded me, when alight appeared at an angle ahead. It turned the corner, and I perceived, coming toward me, carrying a lamp, the pale man of the eyes, whom I hadencountered not an hour before--in a word, Mayes. 

His eyes searched me still, but he approached me with a curiously politesmile. 

"No, Mr. Brett, " he said, "my name is not Richardson, and I am not abookbinder. Not that I am particular about such a thing as a name, foryou have heard of me under more than one already, and you are quite atliberty to call me Richardson if you like. I am sorry to have to talk toyou in this uncomfortable place, but the circumstances are exceptional. But, at least, I should give you a chair. "

He stepped back a little way and pressed a bell-button. Presently thefellow who had decoyed me there appeared, and Mayes ordered him tobring me a chair at once, which he did, with stolid obedience. I sat init, so that my wrist rested at somewhere near the level of my shoulder. 

"Mr. Brett, " Mayes pursued, when his man was gone, "I am not soimplacable a person as you perhaps believe me; in fact, I can assure youthat my disposition is most friendly. "

"Then unfasten this handcuff, " I said. 

"I am sorry that that is a little precaution I find it necessary to taketill we understand each other better. I am glad to see you, Mr. Brett, though I am sure you will not think me rude if I say that I should havepreferred Mr. Martin Hewitt in your place. But perhaps his turn willcome later. I have a proposition to make, Mr. Brett. I should like youto join me. "

"To join you?"

"Exactly. " He nodded pleasantly. "You needn't shrink; I shan't ask youto do anything vulgar, or even anything that, with your presentprejudices, you might consider actively criminal. You can help me, yousee, in your own profession as a journalist; and in other ways. And myenterprise is greater than you may imagine. Join me, and you shall bea great man in an entirely new sphere. A small matter of initiation isnecessary, and that is all. You have only to consent to that. "

I said nothing. 

"You seem reluctant. Well, perhaps it is natural, in your presentignorance. This is no vulgar criminal organisation that I have, understand. I have taken certain measures to provide myself with thenecessary tools in the shape of money, and so forth, but my aims arelarger than you suspect--perhaps larger than you can understand. AndI work with a means more wonderful than you have experience of. Forinstance, here is to-day's work. You know about the lost Naval Code, ofcourse--it is what you came about. That document is now lying in thedesk you stood by in the room where we spoke of paste grain book coversand the like. It was there then at your elbow. It will be sold for manythousands of pounds by to-morrow, and all the puny watchings anddodgings that have been devised cannot prevent it. The money will go toaid me in the attainment of the power of which you may have a part, ifyou wish. The means of attaining this I scruple no more about than youdid to-day about the story of the bookbindings. " He bowed with a slightsmile and went on. 

"Come now, Mr. Brett, put aside your bourgeois prejudices and join me. Your friend Plummer is coming gladly, I feel sure, and he will beuseful, too. And from what I have seen from Mr. Martin Hewitt, I haveno doubt I can make it right with him. If I can't it will be very badfor him, I can assure you; you have heard and seen something of mypowers, and I need say no more. But Hewitt is a man of sense, and willcome in, of course, and you had better come with your friends. I wantone or two superior men. Mason--you know about Jacob Mason, ofcourse--Mason was a fool, and he was lost--inevitably. The others"--hemade a gesture of contempt--"they are mere vulgar tools. They will havetheir rewards if they are faithful, of course; if not--well, youremember Denson in the Samuel diamond business? He was _not_ faithful, and there was an end of him. I may tell you that Denson was made anexample, for one was needed. I assigned him a certain operation, and, having brought it to success, he endeavoured to embezzle--didembezzle--the proceeds. He was made a conspicuous example, in a mostconspicuous public place, to impress the others. They didn't know _him_, but they knew well enough what the Red Triangle meant! Ah, my excellentrecruit--for so I count you already--there is more in that little signthan you can imagine! It is more than a sign--it is an implement of verypotent power; and you shall learn its whole secret in that little formof initiation I spoke of. See now, a present example. Telfer, theAdmiralty clerk, gave up that document at my mere spoken word. He willdeny it to his dying day, and he will be ruined for the act; but he gaveme the paper himself, at my mere order. If he were one of my own--if hehad passed through the initiation I offer you, I would have protectedhim; as it is, he must take his punishment, and though it is only I whowill benefit, he will still deny the fact! Ha! Mr. Brett, do you beginto perceive that I do not boast when I tell of powers beyond yourunderstanding?"

Truly I was amazed, though I could not half understand. Thecircumstances of the loss of the Admiralty code had been soinexplicable, and now these incredible suggestions of the primeactor in the matter were more mysterious still. 

"Ha! you are amazed, " he went on, "but if you will come further into mycounsels I will amaze you more. What are you now? A drudge of ajournalist, and if ever you make a thousand a year to feed yourself withyou will be lucky. Come to me and you shall be a man of power. There isa place beyond the sea where I may be king, and you a viceroy. Don'tthink I am raving! It is true enough that I am an enthusiast, but I havepower, power to do anything I please, I tell you! What are the greatestpowers among men on this earth? Some will say the pen, or the sword, orlove, or what not. Men of the world will say, money and lies; and theywill be very nearly right. Money and lies will move continents, but Ihave one greater power still--the very apex of the triangle! That powerI revealed to Jacob Mason. He thought to betray it, and it killed him. That power I will reveal to you, if you will accept the alternative Ioffer. "

"The alternative?"

"Yes, the alternative, for an alternative it is, of course. If you willgo through the form of initiation, I shall keep you here a little till Ican trust you--which will be very soon. But if not--well, Mr. Brett, Iwish to be as friendly as you please, but having been at the trouble ofcatching you, and having got you here safely, you who know so much now, you who could be so dangerous if you ever got away--eh? Well, you knowmy methods, and you have seen them exemplified, and you willunderstand. "

There was no anger in his voice as he uttered this threat, nor even, Ithought, in his eyes. But what there was was worse. 

"But I'm sure you will not make things unpleasant, " he concluded. "Youwill go through the little form I have arranged, if only for curiosity. Just think over it for a moment, while I go to close my little office. "

He took the lamp and turned away, but as he reached the angle of thepassage, there came a sound that checked his steps. I could hear a noiseof feet and hurried voices, and then suddenly arose a shout in a voicewhich seemed to be Plummer's. "Here!" it cried. "Help! This way, Hewitt!Brett!"

I shouted back at the top of my voice, wondering where Plummer was, andwhat it might all mean. And with that Mayes turned, and I saw that hewas about to make for the door I had entered by. I resolved he shouldnot pass me if I could prevent it, and I sprang up and seized my chairin my left hand, shouting aloud for help as I did so. 

Mayes came with a bound, and flung his lighted lamp full at my head. Itstruck the chair and smashed to a thousand pieces, and in that instantof time Mayes was on me. Plainly he had no weapon, or he would have usedit; but I was at disadvantage enough, with my right wrist chained to thewall. I clung with all my might, and endeavoured to swing my enemy roundagainst the wall in order that I might clasp my hands about him, and Ishouted my loudest as I did it. But the chair and the broken glasshampered me, and Mayes was desperate. The agony in my right wrist wasunbearable, and just as I was conscious of a rush of approaching feet aheavy blow took me full in the face, and I felt Mayes rush over me whileI fell and hung from the wrist. 

I had a stunned sense of lights and voices and general confusion, andthen I remembered nothing. 

III

I came to myself on the floor of a lighted room, with Hewitt's face overmine. My wrist seemed broken, though it was free, there was oil andblood on my clothes, and in my left hand I still gripped a piece ofMayes's coat. 

"Stop him!" I cried. "He's gone by the stable! Have they got him?"

"No good, Brett, " Hewitt answered soberly. "You did your best, but he'sgone, and Peytral after him!"

"Peytral?"

"Yes. He brought his own message to town. But see if you can stand up. "

I was well enough able to do that, and, indeed, I had only fainted fromthe pain of the strain on my wrist. Several policemen were in the room, beside Hewitt and Plummer. Mayes's stronghold was in the hands of hisenemies. 

Then I suddenly remembered. 

"The Admiralty code!" I cried. "It was in the office desk. Have you gotit?"

"No, " Hewitt answered. "Come, Plummer, up the ladder!"

Little time was lost in forcing Mayes's desk, and there the document wasfound, grey cover, red tape and all intact. The police were left to makea vigorous search for any possible copy, and the original was handed toPlummer, as chief representative of the law present. He had been trappedprecisely as I had been, except that he had been led further, and shutin a cellar as well as fastened by the wrist. Mayes, it seemed, hadwasted very little time in attempting to pervert him, and I have nodoubt that, whatever fate might have been reserved for me, Plummer wouldnever have left the place alive had it not been for the timely irruptionof Hewitt, with Peytral and the police. 

In half an hour Peytral returned. He had dashed out in chase of thefugitive, but failed even to see him--lost him wholly in the courts, infact. For some little while he persevered, but found it useless. 

The dirty-whiskered man made no attempt to escape, though there was talkof another man having got away in the confusion by way of the stableroof. The police were left in charge of the place, and we deferred acomplete exploration till the next day. 

Hewitt's tale was simple enough. He had endued himself in somewhat seedyclothes, and had visited 37 Raven Street, Blackfriars, which he foundto be merely a tenement house. It took some time to make inquiriesthere, with the necessary caution, because of the number of lodgers; andthen the inquiries led to nothing. It was an experience common enough inhis practice, but none the less an annoying delay, and when he returnedto his office he found Mr. Peytral already awaiting him. Peytraldescribed his following of Mayes at much greater length and detail thanbefore, and he and Hewitt had come on to Norbury Row at once and askednews of Mr. Moon. 

Mr. Moon's description of the successive disappearances of Plummer andmyself, and of our continued absence, so aroused Hewitt's suspicionsthat he instantly procured help from the nearest station, and approachedthe door of Mayes's office. A knock being unanswered, the door wasinstantly broken in. The room was found to be unoccupied, but the ladderwas still standing at the open window, by which Mayes had descended tothe back premises. Down this ladder Hewitt went, with the police afterhim. The rest I had seen myself. 

"But what, " I said, "what is this mystery? Why did Telfer give up thecode, and what is the power that Mayes talks of?"

"It is a power, " replied Hewitt, "that I have suspected for some time, and now I am quite sure of it. A secret, dangerous and terrible powerwhich I have encountered before, though never before have I known itspossibilities carried so far. It is hypnotism!"

"Hypnotism!" I exclaimed. "But can a person be hypnotised against hiswill?"

"In a sense, in most cases, he cannot. That is the explanation ofMayes's proposals to you to go through a 'form of initiation. ' If youhad consented, the 'form' would have been a process of hypnotism. Onceor twice repeated, and you would have been wholly under his control, sothat if he willed it and forbade you, you could tell nothing of what hewished kept secret, and you would have committed any crime he mightsuggest. Consider poor Jacob Mason! Remember how he struggled to tellwhat he knew, oppressed by the horror of it, and how it all ended! Andremember Henning the clerk, Mayes's tool in that case of bond robbery!What has happened to him? He committed suicide, as you know, immediatelyafter Mayes had left him at the barn. Brett, this power of hypnotism, apower for healing in the hands of a good man, may become a terriblepower for evil in the hands of a villain!"

"But Telfer, to-day? He seems to have known nothing of Mayes, and hewas not one of his regular creatures--Mayes himself told me so. "

"About that I don't know. But I expect we shall find that he has beenwillingly hypnotised at some time or another, perhaps more than once, bythis same scoundrel Mayes. Possibly in one of Mayes's appearances inrespectable society, at an evening party, or the like. In a case of thatsort the hypnotist may impress a certain formula--a word, a name, or anumber--on the subject's mind, by the repetition of which, at any futuretime, that same subject may be instantly hypnotised. So that, oncehaving become hypnotised, on any innocent occasion, the subject is inthe power of the hypnotist, more or less, ever after. The hypnotistsays: 'When I repeat such and such a sentence or number to you infuture, you will be hypnotised, ' and hypnotised the subject duly is, instantly. Supposing such a case in this matter of Mr. Telfer, it wouldonly be necessary for Mayes to meet him in the corridor, repeat hisformula and command the victim to bring out the paper he specified. Thisdone he could similarly order him to _forget the whole transaction_, andthis the victim would do, infallibly. "

It is only necessary to say here, parenthetically, that later inquiryproved the truth of Hewitt's supposition. Twice or three times Mr. Telfer had been hypnotised in a friend's chambers, by a plausible tallman whose acquaintance his host had made at some public scientificgathering. And in the end it became possible to identify this man withMayes. 

Mr. Moon, of "The Compasses, " was of great comfort to me that evening. My cuts and bruises were washed in his house, and my inner man revivedwith his food and drink. 

"Allus glad to oblige the p'lice, " said Mr. Moon; "allus. 'Cos why?Ain't they the p'lice? Very well then!"

THE ADVENTURE OF CHANNEL MARSH

I

Mayes's stronghold was taken, but Mayes had escaped us once again; thecage was in our hands, but the bird had flown. 

Martin Hewitt, however, had his plans, as he was soon to show. Therecovery of the Admiralty code was a good stroke, and was a satisfactoryending to an important case; but that, and even the capture of thecurious premises behind the Barbican, made but a halting-place in hispursuit of Mayes, and as soon as I was in some degree recovered from mystruggle, and the captured place had been hastily searched, the chasewas resumed without a moment's delay; and that adventure was enteredupon which saw the end of the Red Triangle and its unholy doings--whichcame terribly near to seeing the end of Hewitt himself, in fact. 

I have not described the den near the Barbican with any greatparticularity, but I have said that the office, accessible from the openstreet, was only connected with the hidden premises behind--premises, aswas afterwards discovered, held under a separate tenancy--by aneasily-shifted ladder. It was in these hidden premises, approached bythe maze of courts and the stable-yard, that the main evidences ofMayes's way of life were observable. The passage where my wrist had beenlocked to the wall, and the room or cellar in which Plummer had beenconfined, were the only parts of the lower premises fitted for thedetention of prisoners, with the exception of one very low and whollyunlighted cellar, entered by a trapdoor and a very steep flight of bricksteps. This place smelt horribly faint and stagnant; but it produced onmy mind, both then and when I examined it later, an effect of horror andrepulsion more than could be accounted for by the smell alone. Of itshistory nothing was discovered, and perhaps the feeling (though othersexperienced it as well as myself) was the effect of mere fancy; but Ihave never got rid of a conviction that that black cellar, or ratherpit--for it was very narrow--had been the instrument of crimes never tobe told. 

There were one or two rooms sparely furnished--one as a bedroom, alarger room, with a long table, a sofa, and several chairs; and in oneof the smaller rooms was found a stove, ladles and crucibles for themelting down of metals--gold or silver. It was in this same room alsothat the table stood, in the drawers of which were found papers, lettersand formulæ--things giving more than a hint of the use to which Mayeshad put his friendship with Mr. Jacob Mason, for of every possiblemanner and detail in which science--more particularly the science ofchemistry--could aid in the commission of crime, there were notes inthese same drawers. 

But most of these things were observed in detail later. The thing thatset us once more on the trail of Mayes, that very night and that veryhour, was found in the isolated office facing the street. It was acheque-book, quite full of unused cheques. 

"This cheque-book, " said Hewitt to Inspector Plummer and myself, "was inthe drawer below that in which we discovered the Admiralty code. TheEastern Consolidated is the bank, as you see--Upper Holloway branch. Nowwe must follow this at once, before waiting to search any further. Theremay be something more important as a clue, or there may not, but at anyrate, while we are looking for it we are losing time. This may bring usto him at once. "

"You mean that he may have some address in Holloway, " suggestedPlummer, "and we may get it from the bank?"

"There's that possibility, and another, " Hewitt answered. "He has had tobolt without warning or preparation, with nothing but the clothes he ranin--probably very little money. Money he will want at once, and he wouldrather not wait till the morning to get it; if he can get it at once itwill mean thirteen or fourteen hours' start at least. More, he will knowvery well that this place will be searched, that this cheque-book willbe discovered soon enough, and that consequently the bank will bewatched. This is what he will do--what he is doing now, very likely. Hewill knock up the resident manager of that bank and try to get a chequecashed to-night. I don't think that can be done; in which case he willprobably try to make some arrangement to have money sent him. Eitherway, we must be at the Upper Holloway branch of the Eastern ConsolidatedBank as soon as a hansom can get us there. "

Thus it was settled, and Hewitt and Plummer went off at once, leavingPlummer's men, with the City police, in charge of the raided premises;leaving some of them also to make inquiries in the neighbourhood. Mr. Victor Peytral had shown himself anxious to accompany Hewitt andPlummer, but had been dissuaded by Hewitt. I guessed that Hewitt fearedthat some hasty indiscretion on the part of this terribly wronged manmight endanger his plans. Peytral, however, seemed tractable enough, andleft immediately after them; he had business, he said, which he expectedwould occupy him for a day or two, and when it was completed he wouldsee us again. 

As for myself I only remained long enough to ascertain that the policecould find no trace of the direction of Mayes's flight in the immediateneighbourhood. They had little to aid them. He had gone without a hat, and his dress was in some degree disordered by his struggle with me; butthe latter defect he might easily have remedied in the courts as he ran, and they could gather no tidings of a hatless man. So I took my way tomy office, my wrist growing stiffer and more painful as I went, so thatI was not sorry to arrange for another member of the staff to take myduty for the night, and to get to bed a few hours earlier than usual, after the day's fatigue and excitement. 

II

Going to bed uncommonly soon I woke correspondingly early in themorning; but I was no earlier than Hewitt, who was at my door, in fact, ere my breakfast was well begun. 

"Well, " I asked eagerly, almost before my friend had entered, "have yougot him at last?"

"Not yet, " Hewitt answered. "But he did exactly as I had expected. Plummer and I knocked up the bank manager, who lives over the premisesat the Upper Holloway branch. He was a very decent fellow--rather youngfor the post--but he was naturally a bit surprised, possibly irritated, at being bothered by one and another after office hours. I showed himthe cheque-book, and asked him if it belonged to any customer of his. 

"'Why, yes, ' he said, examining the numbers, 'I remember this because itis the first of a new series, and we issued it the day before yesterdayto a new customer. Where did you get it?'

"'We are very anxious to see that customer, ' I said. 'Has he been herethis evening?'

"The manager seemed a trifle surprised, but answered readily enough. 'Yes, ' he said, 'he was here not an hour ago. '

"'Wanting to draw money?' I asked. But that the manager wouldn't tellme, of course. So that it was necessary for Plummer to step in andreveal the facts that this was a police matter, and that he was adetective-inspector. That made some difference. The manager told us thatour man had opened an account at the bank only two days before; and I'dlike you to guess what name he had opened it under. "

"Not Myatt?" I said. "After the chase----"

"No, not Myatt. "

"Catherton Hunt?"

"No, nor Catherton Hunt. He had opened it in the name of Mayes!"

"What! his actual name?"

"His actual original name, according to Peytral. The account wastransferred, it would seem, from another bank; and I have an idea we mayfind that he has been shifting his money about from one bank to anotheras safety suggested, using his real name with it. You remember we couldfind no trace of a banking account when the police raided and ransackedCalton Lodge after Mason was killed? Quite probably he has had smallcurrent accounts in other names at various times to aid in his schemes, but his main account has always stood in his real name; and by that, yousee, we get some confirmation of Peytral's story. Well, as I say, theaccount was opened in the name of Mayes, and the cheque-book was issuedwhich we discovered last night. The Upper Holloway branch saw no more ofits customer till yesterday evening, long after hours, when he drove upin a hansom. "

"Oh, " I said, "in a hansom, was it? The men left behind could get nonews of him. "

"Yes, we ascertained that last night; we called back, of course, thelast thing. I expect he got the first cab visible and drove off to ahatter's a fair distance away, and then on to the bank. At any rate, heknocked up the manager and told him that he had a sudden need for moneythat very night; could he have some?

"The manager told him it would be impossible. Even if he had beenwilling to do it, against all regulations, it would still be impossible. For the strong-room and every cash receptacle in it was locked with twoseparate locks with different keys, and though he had one of these keyshimself, it was useless without the other, which was in the possessionof his second in command, who lived some distance out of London. Thiscourse is the usual precaution adopted in branch banks of this sort;opening and closing, morning and evening, have to be done by chief andassistant together. And I tell you, Brett, I believe that it was onlythe being informed of this fact that prevented Mayes from trying some ofhis hypnotic tricks on the bank manager; in which case there would havebeen a big bank robbery--perhaps something worse in addition. "

"Murder?"

"Murder with a tourniquet, perhaps--perhaps with some other weapon; but, at any rate, probably with the Red Triangle. You know, of course--indeedI told you, I think--that in most cases--not all--it is necessary to getthe subject's consent to the _first_ exercise of hypnotism on him. Itold you also it is possible for the practised hypnotist, while thesubject is under the influence of the _first_ experiment, to suggest tohim a certain word or formula, or even a silent sign, which shall bringhim under the influence at any other time, whenever the hypnotistchooses to repeat it--just as must have been done with Mr. Telfer, inthe case of the Admiralty code. The first suggestion would not be thedifficult thing it might seem--it would only require a little time andpersuasion. Nothing would be said about hypnotism, of course; perhapssomething about a little physical experiment, or the like, and then ina moment or two the subject would be in this creature's power for ever. Remember the little 'ceremony of initiation' that the scoundrelattempted to persuade you to submit to! That meant hypnotism--perhapsdeath. 

"But this is mere speculation. Mayes found that the keys on the premiseswere not enough to release his money, even if the strict rules of thebank had permitted the cashing of a cheque out of hours. But the managersuggested that perhaps some neighbouring tradesman would exchange cashfor a cheque, and, with the view of obliging the new customer, went withhim as far as the shop of Mr. Isaac Trenaman, a grocer and cheesemongerwith a rather large shop at the corner of the road. Mr. Trenaman, introduced and assured by the manager, was willing to give as much cashas he could find in the till against Mr. Mayes's cheque, and did so tothe extent of twenty-seven pounds, a cheque for which sum was duly drawnon one of the tradesman's own cheque forms, and left with him. Thisdone, the bank's new customer took himself off, with thanks andapologies; carrying with him, however, two blank cheque forms from Mr. Trenaman's book, the pennies for which he punctiliously paid over thecounter. Having no cheque forms with him, he explained, he might findthem useful if he could come across some friend who could provide thecash he wished to use that night. And having completed this business sofar, this charming new customer of the bank made off into the night. "

"And is that all you know of his movements?"

"Yes, as yet. He seems to have made no very definite excuse to themanager for wanting the money in such a hurry--just said something hadoccurred which made cash necessary, and was very polite and apologetic, generally. The manager formed a notion that it must be for some gamblingpurpose--he fancied that Mayes said something distantly alluding tothat, but wasn't sure. "

"Did you ask about the address given to the bank?"

"Of course; but there we gained nothing. The manager couldn't rememberit exactly, and the books, of course, were locked up. But we know italready--for what the manager _could_ remember was that it was an officeaddress, and somewhere near Barbican! So that we are back at theBarbican den again, where I am going now, with Plummer, to give a day toa minute investigation of the whole place. Meanwhile a watch is beingset at the bank in Holloway. "

"Do you expect him back there, then?"

"Hardly. You see he knows that by this time we must have found hischeque-book, and will be on the watch. But there is just a chance--avery remote one--that he may send a message; perhaps send somebody tocash a cheque. Though I don't expect it, for he is no fool--he is, indeed, a sort of genius--and that would be a mistake, I think. Still, he is bold, and that is where his money is, and he may make a dash atit. So a couple of Plummer's men are to be waiting there, this morning, in the manager's office, and if anybody comes from Mayes he will bedetained. Perhaps you would like to be with them? You can't be of muchuse with me, and the job will be dull. But there you _may_ have a chanceof excitement, and you will be useful to come and report if anythingdoes happen. Why, you may even bag Mayes himself!"

"Of course--I'll go anywhere you please. They told you last night, Isuppose, that Peytral had business, and had gone off?"

"Yes, and I'm not sorry. He is too dangerous a man to have about us, with his hot blood and the terrible injuries he keeps in memory. Aslikely as not, if we get Mayes, we should next have to collar Peytralfor shooting him, or something. So I'm not sorry he is out of it for abit. But can you start now? Plummer is in my office and the two men arein a cab outside. The bank opens at nine, and that is in UpperHolloway. "

I seized my hat and made ready. 

"You should keep your eyes open, " Hewitt hinted, "before you get to thebank and when you leave, as well as while you're there. Do you rememberhow poor Mason was watched? Well, there is probably some watching goingon now. Last night, on our way to the bank and back, I believe Plummerand I were watched pretty closely. "

III

Plummer's two plain-clothes men and I reached the neighbourhood of thebank with a quarter of an hour to spare, or rather more. We dismissedthe cab at some little distance from the spot, and approached singly, sothat it was not difficult for us to slip in separately among the dozenor fifteen clerks as they arrived. We passed directly into the manager'sroom, the door of which opened into the space left for the public beforethe counter. From this room the whole of the outer office was visiblethrough the glass of the partition. The manager, Mr. Blockley, a quick, intelligent man of thirty-six or so, gave us chairs and pointed out howbest we could watch the counter without ourselves being observed. 

"If a letter is sent, " he said, "it will be brought here to me, ofcourse, and I will bring the messenger in. If a cheque is presented fromMayes, I have told the cashier to slide that big ledger off his deskaccidentally with his elbow. That will be your signal, and then you cando whatever you think proper. I don't think I can do any more thanthat. "

We took our positions and waited. I felt pretty sure that if Mayes sentat all it would be early, for obvious reasons. And I was right, for thevery first customer was our man. 

He stepped in briskly scarcely a minute after the manager had ceasedspeaking, and I remembered having seen him waiting at the street corneras I came along. He was a well-dressed, smart enough looking man, infrock coat and tall hat. He took a letter-case from his pocket, pickedout a cheque from the rest of the papers in it, and passed it under thewire grille of the counter. 

The cashier took it, turned it over, and shifted mechanically to postthe amount in the book on his desk. As he did so his elbow touched theheavy ledger which the manager had pointed out to us, and it fell with acrash. The cashier calmly put his pen behind his ear, and stooped topick up the book, but even as he did it the two Scotland Yard men wereout before the counter, and had sidled up to the stranger, one on eachside. 

"May we see that cheque, if you please?" asked one, and the cashierturned its face toward him. "Ah, just so; a hundred pounds--Mayes. Wemust just trouble you to come with us, if you please. There is someexplanation wanted about that cheque. "

I had followed the two men from the manager's room, and now I saw thatwhile one had laid his hand on the stranger's shoulder the other hadtaken him by the opposite arm. "Why, " said the former, looking into hisface, "it's Broady Sims!"

"All right, " the man growled resignedly. "It's a cop. I'll go quiet. "

But as he spoke I saw the free hand steal out behind him and pitch awaya crumpled fragment of paper. One of the policemen saw it too, followedit with his eyes, and saw me snatch it up. 

"That's right, sir, " he said, "take care of that; and we'll have a cab, in case anything else drops accidentally. It's just a turning over, Broady, that's what it is. "

I spread out the piece of paper, and was astonished to find inscribed onit just such another series of figures, in groups of eight, as was foundin the cypher message in the Case of the Lever Key. 

Here was a great find--a secret message as clear to me as to Mayeshimself, and as likely as not the scrap of paper that would hang him! Itook one of the plain-clothes men aside while the other kept his hold ofBroady Sims. 

"This is very important, " I said. "It is a cypher message which Mr. Hewitt can read--or I, myself, in fact, with a little time. Must youtake it with you? If so, I'll make a copy now. "

"Well, sir, we're responsible, you see, " the man said, "so I think wemust take it; so perhaps you'd better make a copy, as you suggest. "

"Very well, " I said, "that is done in a few seconds. You can take yourman off, and I will go direct to Mr. Hewitt and Inspector Plummer withthe copy. " And with that I made the copy, which read thus:--

 23, 19, 15, 1, 9, 14, 9, 2; 20, 8, 1, 20, 14, 14, 20, 8; 14, 5, 12, 4, 9, 7, 5, 14; 3, 8, 18, 23, 0, 14, 1, 8; 22, 9, 6, 1, 18, 3, 5, 1; 19, 14, 15, 21, 9, 0, 20, 12; 18, 12, 21, 1, 6, 23, 20, 12; 9, 18, 15, 5, 18, 13, 12, 20. 

It struck me to ask the manager if the cheque just presented were one ofthose procured from Mr. Trenaman the night before, and I found that itwas. Then I left the policemen with their prisoner and made for thenearest cab-rank. This cypher message, no doubt conveying Mayes'sinstructions to the man just captured, was probably of the utmostimportance, and Hewitt must see it at once; and as the cab ambled alongtowards Barbican I busied myself in deciphering the figures according tothe plan of the knight's move in chess, as Hewitt had explained to me. Icould only see two noughts among the numbers, so plainly it was a longermessage than the one then deciphered--one of sixty-two letters, in fact. I turned the figures into the letters corresponding in the alphabet, _a_for 1, _b_ for 2, and so on, as Hewitt had done, and I arranged theseletters in the squares of a roughly drawn chessboard, so that they stoodthus:--

 w s o a i n i b t h a t n n t h n e l d i g e n c h r w o n a h v i f a r c e a s n o u i o t l r l u a f w t l i r o e r m l t

The letters thus set out, to read off the message was a simple taskenough, in view of the key Hewitt had given me. I began, as in the caseof the Lever Key message, at the right-hand top corner, and taking theknight's move from _b_ to _e_ in the last square but one of the thirdline, thence to _a_ at the end of the fifth line, and so to _t_ in theseventh line, and from that to _r_ (fifth square in bottom line), _u_ inseventh line and so on, in the order shown by the Lever Key message, acopy of which I kept as a curiosity in my pocket-book. So I read themessage through, and I set it down thus:--

/# _Be at ruin Channel Marsh to-night twelve; wait in hall for instruc. Word final. _#/

The general meaning of this seemed clear enough. The man whom thepoliceman had recognised as Broady Sims was to be at some spot--a ruinedbuilding, it would seem--in a place called Channel Marsh, at midnight, there to wait in the hall for instructions; no doubt for instructionswhere to take the hundred pounds he was to have got from the bank. "Wordfinal" was not so clear, though I judged--and I think rightly--that itmeant that the word "final" was to be used as a password by which thetwo messengers should know each other. 

I was almost at my destination, and was cogitating the message and itsmeaning, when the cab checked at some traffic in Barbican, just by the"Compasses" public-house, and Mr. Victor Peytral hailed me and climbedon the step of the cab. 

"I was just going to see if Mr. Hewitt was at the place, " he said, "andif so to ask him for news. But I am rather in a hurry, and perhaps youcan tell me?"

"We are on the track, I think, " I answered, "and I have just come acrossthis, which I am taking to Hewitt, " and with that I showed him mytranslation of the cypher, and gave him its history in half a dozensentences. 

"That's good, " Peytral answered. "I don't know Channel Marsh, do you?But probably Mr. Hewitt does. I won't keep you any longer--I see you'rehurrying. But I hope to see you again before long. "

He dropped off the step and disappeared, and the cab went on round thecorner by the "Compasses. "

I found Hewitt and Plummer in the office where, on pretence ofbookbindery, I had first seen Mayes face to face the day before. Theywere near the completion of their examination of this office and all itscontents, and soon would begin as systematically on the premises behind. I gave Hewitt my copy of the cypher message, and my translation, with anexact account of how it had come into my possession. 

Martin Hewitt studied the message for a minute or two, and then relapsedinto grave thought. So he sat for some little time, while Plummer leftthe room by the window and descended the ladder to speak with his men onguard below. 

Presently Hewitt looked up and said: "Brett, this message is mostimportant--probably as important as you suppose it to be. But at thesame time I believe you have made a great mistake about it. "

"But I haven't misread it, have I? Is there any other way----"

"No, you haven't misread it; you've read every word as it was intendedto be read. But it is a very different thing from what you suppose it tobe. "

"What is it, then?"

Martin Hewitt put the paper on the table and looked keenly in my face. "It is a trap, " he said. "It is a trap to catch _me_--unless I flattermyself unduly. "

I could not understand. "A trap?" I repeated. "But how?"

"Why should Mayes need to send his confederate instructions by writtennote? We know the nature of his hold over his subordinates, and we knowthat it means personal communication. Also, the cheque was in Mayes'sown hands last night. More, Mayes knows very well that I have read thatcypher--has known it for some time; otherwise how could we havediscovered the bonds in the case of the Lever Key? Also, Mayes knowsthat we have his cheque-book and know his bank. Didn't I assure you wewere watched last night? I believe he knows all we have done. In suchcircumstances he might risk his jackal's liberty by sending him on thedesperate chance of cashing a cheque, but, knowing the risk, he wouldnever have let him come with information on him. And least of all wouldhe have let him come carrying a vital secret written in that verycypher which he knows I read many weeks ago. And then see how thatmessage, instead of being concealed, was positively brought to yournotice! That man Broady Sims is a cunning rascal, and the police knowhim of old as a skilful swindler and bill-forger. A man like thatdoesn't get rid of a compromising scrap of paper by trundling it outunder your nose just at the moment he is arrested, when the attention ofeverybody is directed to him; no, he would wait his opportunity, andthen he would probably slip it into his mouth and swallow it. As it is, he would seem to have succeeded in dropping this paper full in yoursight, with an elaborate pretence of secrecy. Now this is what has beendone, Brett. That man has been sent to cash a cheque, with very littlehope of success, or none, because the first move that Mayes wouldanticipate on our part would be the watching for him and his cheques atthe bank in Upper Holloway. If by any chance the cheques had beencashed, well and good, no harm would have been done, and then Mayescould have gone on to arrange for drawing the rest of his balance--couldprobably have quite safely come himself to draw it. But if on the otherhand, as he fully anticipated, Sims was arrested, what then? Nothing waslost but a penny cheque-form, and even Sims--though Mayes would carenothing about that--could only be searched and then released, for thecheque was perfectly genuine, and there was no charge against him. Butsince he would certainly be searched, that cypher note was given him, with instructions to make a conspicuous show of attempting to get rid ofit. Now that note was written in a cypher which Mayes knew was as plainas print--to whom? To _me_. I am on his trail, and this note isdeliberately flung in my way, open as the day, but with every appearanceof secrecy. I am his dangerous enemy, and he knows it--as he told you, in fact, yesterday. If he can clear me away, he can take breath and makehimself safe. The purpose of this note is to induce me to go, alone, tothis place on Channel Marsh to-night at twelve, in the hope of learningwhere to find Mayes. There I am to be got rid of--murdered in some way, for which preparation will be made. Mayes judges my character prettywell. He knows that, in such circumstances as he represents, Sims beingkept away from his appointment, I should certainly go and take hisplace, and use his password, to learn what I could. And, Brett, _that isprecisely what I shall do_!"

"What? You will go?" I exclaimed. "But you mustn't--the danger! We'dbetter both go together. "

Hewitt smiled. "Why not forty of us?" he said. "No. Here is a chance ofbagging our man, for, however I am to be arranged for--whether by shot, steel, or the tourniquet, I make no doubt it is Mayes himself who is todo it. You shall come, however, you and Plummer at least. But we willnot go in a bunch--you shall follow me and watch, ready to help whenneedful. This Channel Marsh is an empty, dark space between two channelsof the Lea. It is among the Hackney Marshes, lying between Stratford andHomerton, and I fancy there is a deserted house there, though I can'tremember ever having seen it. Do you know it?"

"No; not in the least. "

"Well, I must reconnoitre to-day, and that with a lot of care. I think Itold you I was convinced of being watched, and that is a thing you can'tprevent in a place like London, if it is skilfully done. Now, Brett, youhave done very well this morning. If you want to be on the scene ofaction to-night at twelve, you must get leave from your editor, mustn'tyou? How's your wrist?"

It was still extremely stiff, and I told Hewitt that I doubted myability to hold a pen for two or three days. 

"Very well, then; get off and convey your excuses as soon as you please. I shall have a talk with Plummer, and then I shall take a few hours tomyself, by myself, in somebody else's clothes. Be in your rooms all theevening, for you may expect a message. "

IV

It was at a little past nine in the evening that I next saw Hewitt. Hecame into my rooms in an incongruous get-up. He wore corduroy trousers, a very dirty striped jersey, a particularly greasy old jacket, and atwisted neckcloth; but over all was an excellent overcoat, and on hishead a tall hat of high polish. 

"Brought to me by Kerrett, " he said, in explanation of the hat andovercoat. "He's been waiting with them for a long time in a court byMilford Lane. A good hat and overcoat will cover anything, and Ipreferred to enter this building in my own character. I've been wearingthat this afternoon, " and he pulled out of his pocket an old peaked capwith ear-pieces tied over the top. 

"You mustn't bring your best clothes, " he went on, "or you'll spoilthem scrambling about boats and groping in ditches. I have done myditch-groping for the day, and I'm going to change. You had best beputting on older things while I get into newer. "

"What sort of place is this Channel Marsh?" I asked. 

"Well, I should think there must be a great many better places to spenda night in. It must be the dreariest, wettest flat within many miles ofLondon, and I should like to see the portrait of the man who had theidea of building a house there. For a house there is, or rather theruins of it--deserted for years, and half carried away by rats andpeople who wanted slates and firewood and water pipes. "

"Is that the place where you intend waiting to-night?"

"It is. I haven't examined it nearly so closely as I should like, forfear of raising a scare. Channel Marsh is almost an island, with anarrow neck of an entrance at each end. A foot-track runs the wholelength, and a person in the ruined house can easily see anybody enteringthe Marsh from either end. For that reason I reconnoitred from aboat--the boat you will go in to-night. I think it is the very dirtiestold tub I ever saw, so that it suited my rig out. I discovered it at awharf some little way down the river, and I paid a shilling for the hireof it. Channel Marsh is banked a bit on one side, and I crept up undercover of the bank. I learned very little, beyond the general lie of theland, because I was so mighty cautious. I judged it better to be contentwith half an examination, rather than drive away the game. And even asit is I've an idea I have been seen. I lay up among some reeds tilldark, but after that I am _sure_ there was somebody on the Marsh--andskulking, too, like me. So after waiting and scouting for a little Igave it up and paddled quietly back. "

"But look here, Hewitt, " I said, "this seems a bit mad. Why go and riskyourself as you talk of doing? You believe Mayes will be there, at theruin, or will come there at twelve. Very well, then, why can't thepolice send enough men to surround the place and capture him forcertain?"

Hewitt smiled and shook his head. "My dear Brett, " he said, "you haven'tseen the place, and I have. It will be hard enough job for you andPlummer to get near the spot unobserved, guided by a man who knows everyinch. A trampling crowd of policemen would have as much chance as a herdof elephants, and on such light nights as we are having now they wouldbe seen a mile off. And who knows what scouts he may have out? No, as Isay, it will be a great piece of luck if you get through unobserved asit is, and even now I'm not perfectly certain that I couldn't do bestalone. However, arrangements are made now, and you are coming, three ofyou. "

"Then what are the arrangements?" I asked. 

"Just these. You are to leave here first. Make the best of your way toMile End Gate, where an old inn stands in the middle of the road. Go tothe corner of the turning opposite this, at the south side of the road. At eleven o'clock a four-wheeler will drive up, with Plummer and one ofhis men in it. The man is one who knows all the geography of ChannelMarsh, and he also knows exactly where to find the boat I used to-day. You will drive to a little way beyond Bow Bridge, and then Plummer's manwill lead you to the boat. You had better scull and leave the others tolook out. They will know what to do. You will pull along to a placewhere you can watch till you see me coming on to the Marsh by the path. As soon as you see me you will slip quietly along to a place thepoliceman will show you, close to the ruin, and watch again. That's all. I don't know whether or not you think it worth while to take a pistol. Icertainly shall; but then I'm most likely to want it. Plummer will haveone. "

I thought it well worth while, and I took my regulation "Webley"--arelic of my old Volunteer captaincy. Then, by way of the undergroundrailway, I gained the neighbourhood of Mile End, and interested myselfabout its back streets till the time approached to look for Plummer'scab. 

Plummer was more than punctual--indeed, he was two or three minutesbefore his time. The cab drew near the kerb and scarcely stopped, soquickly did I scramble in. 

"Good, " said Plummer; "we're well ahead of time. Mr. Hewitt quiteright?"

"Yes, " I said. "I left him so an hour and a half ago at his office. " Andwe sat silent while the cab rattled and rumbled over the stony road toBow Bridge, and the shopkeepers on the way put up their shutters andextinguished their lights. 

Bow Bridge was reached and passed, and presently we stopped the cab andalighted. Here Styles, Plummer's man, took the lead, and a little wayfarther along the road we turned into a dark and muddy lane on the left. We floundered through this for some hundred and fifty yards or so, andthen suddenly drew in at an opening on the right. Here we stood for afew moments while our guide groped his way down toward the muddy waterwe could smell, rather than see, a little way before us. 

There were a few broken steps and a broad black thing which was theboat. We got into it as silently as we could manage, and cast off. Itwas a clumsy, broad-beamed, leaky old conveyance, and that it was asdirty as Hewitt had described it I could feel as I groped for the scullsand got them out. The night was light and dark by turns--changing withthe clouds. We shipped the rudder, and Styles steered, or I shouldprobably have run ashore more than once, for the banks were not alwaysdistinct, and the channel was narrow and dark. We passed the black formsof several factories with tall chimneys, and then drew out among theMarshes, flat and grey, with wisps of mist lying here and there. So wewent in silence for a while, till at last we drew in against the bank onthe left and laid hold by a post at a landing-place. 

"This is the Channel Marsh, " whispered Styles, as we climbed cautiouslyashore. "We can't see the house very well from here, but there's whereMr. Hewitt will come through. "

Looking over the top of the low bank, we could discern a path whichtraversed the length of the marsh, entering it by a broken gate at aneck of land which we must have passed on our way. Here we crouched andwaited. We had heard the half-hour struck on some distant clock soonafter entering the boat, and now we waited anxiously for thethree-quarters. So long did the time seem to my excited perceptions thatI had quite decided that the clock must have stopped, or, at any rate, did not chime quarters, when at last the strokes came, distant andplaintive, over the misty flats. 

"A quarter of an hour, " Plummer remarked. "He won't be a minute late, nor a minute too early, from what I know of him. How long will it takehim from that gate to the ruin?"

"Eight or nine minutes, good, " Styles answered. 

"Then we shall see him in seven minutes or six minutes, as the case maybe, " Plummer rejoined in the same low tones. 

Slowly the minutes dragged, with not a sound about us save the suckingand lapping of the muddy river and the occasional flop of a water-rat. The dark clouds were now fewer, and the moon was high and only partiallyobscured by the thinner clouds that traversed its face. More than once Ifancied a sound from the direction of the ruin, and then I doubted myfancy; when at last there was a sound indeed, but from the oppositedirection, and in a moment we saw Hewitt, muffled close about the neck, walking briskly up the path. 

We regained the boat with all possible speed and silence, and I pulledmy best, regardless of my stiff wrist. During our watch I had had timeto perceive the wisdom of the arrangements which had been made. We hadbeen watching from a place fairly out of sight from the ruin, yetsufficiently near it to be able to reach its neighbourhood beforeHewitt; and certainly it was better to approach the actual spot at thesame time as Hewitt himself, for then, if he were being watched for, theattention of the watcher would be diverted from us. 

Presently we reached the reed-bed that Hewitt had spoken of, and I couldsee a sort of little creek or inlet. Here I ceased to pull, and Stylescautiously punted us into the creek with one of the sculls. The boatgrounded noiselessly in the mud, and we crept ashore one at a timethrough mud and sedge. 

The creek was edged with a bank of rough, broken ground, grown withcoarse grass and bramble, and as we peeped over this bank the ruinedhouse stood before us--so near as to startle me by its proximity. Itmust have been a large house originally--if, indeed, it was evercompleted. Now it stood roofless, dismantled, and windowless, and inmany places whole rods of brickwork had fallen and now littered theground about. The black gap of the front door stood plain to see, with ashort flight of broken steps before it, and by the side of these a thicktimber shore supported the front wall. It struck me then that the ruinwas perhaps largely due to a failure of the marshy foundation. 

The place seemed silent and empty. Hewitt's footsteps were now plain tohear, and presently he appeared, walking briskly as before. He could notsee us, and did not look for us, but made directly for the broken steps. He mounted these, paused on the topmost, and struck a match. It seemed arather large hall, and I caught a momentary glimpse of bare rafters andplasterless wall. Then the match went out and Hewitt stepped within. 

Almost on the instant there came a loud jar, and a noise of fallingbricks; and then, in the same instant of time I heard a terrific crash, and saw Hewitt leap out at the front door--leap out, as it seemed, froma cloud of dust and splinters. 

I sprang to my feet, but Plummer pulled me down again. "Steady!" hesaid, "lie low! He isn't hurt. Wait and see before we show ourselves. "

It seemed that the floor above had fallen on the spot where Hewitt hadbeen standing. He had alighted from his leap on hands and knees, but nowstood facing the house, revolver in hand, watching. 

There was a moment's pause, a sound of movement from the upper part ofthe ruin, another quiet moment, and then a bang and a flash from high onthe wall to the right. Hewitt sprang to shelter behind the heavy shore, and another shot followed him, scoring a white line across the thicktimber. 

Plummer was up, and Styles and I were after him. 

"There he is!" cried Plummer, "up on the coping!" I pulled out my ownpistol. 

"Don't shoot!" cried Hewitt. "We'll take him alive!"

Far to the right, on the topmost coping of the front wall, I could see acrouching figure. I saw it rise to its knees, and once more raise an armto take aim at Hewitt; and then, with a sudden cry, another human figureappeared from behind the coping and sprang upon the first. There was amoment of struggle, and then the rotten coping crumbled, and down, down, came bricks and men together. 

I sickened. I can only explain my feeling by saying that never beforehad I seen anything that seemed so long in falling as those two men. Andthen with a horrid crash they struck the broken ground, and the pistolfired again with the shock. 

We reached them in a dozen strides, and turned them over, limp, oozing, and lifeless. And then we saw that one was Mayes, and the other--VictorPeytral!

We kept no silence now, but Plummer blew his whistle loud and long, andI fired my revolver into the air, chamber after chamber. Styles startedoff at a run along the path towards the town lights, to fetch what aidhe might. 

But even then we had doubt if any aid would avail Mayes. He was theunder man in the fall, and he had dropped across a little heap ofbricks. He now lay unconscious, breathing heavily, with a terrible woundat the back of the head, and Hewitt foretold--and rightly--that when thedoctor did come he would find a broken spine. Peytral, on the otherhand, though unconscious, showed no sign of injury, and just before thedoctor came sighed heavily and turned on his side. 

First there came policemen, and then in a little time a hastily dressedsurgeon, and after him an ambulance. Mayes was carried off to hospital, but with a good deal of rubbing and a little brandy, Peytral came roundwell enough to be helped over the Marshes to a cab. 

The trap which had been laid for Hewitt was simple, but terriblyeffective. The floor above the hall--loose and broken everywhere--wassupported on rafters, and the rafters were crossed underneath andsupported at the centre by a stout beam. The rafters had been sawnthrough at both ends, and the rotten floor had been piled high withbroken brick and stone to a weight of a ton or more. The end of a loosebeam had been wedged obliquely under the end of the one timber nowsupporting the whole weight, so that a pull on the opposite end of thislong lever would force away the bricks on which the beam rested and letthe whole weight fall. It was the jar of the beam and the fall of thefirst few loose bricks that had so far warned Hewitt as to enable him toleap from under the floor almost as it fell. 

Peytral's sudden appearance, when we had time to reflect on it, gave usa suspicion as to some at least of the espionage to which Hewitt hadbeen subjected--a suspicion confirmed, later, by Peytral himself afterhis recovery from the shock of the fall. For fresh news of his enemy hadre-awakened all his passion, and since he alone could not find him, hewas willing enough to let Hewitt do the tracking down, if only hehimself might clutch Mayes's throat in the end. This explained the"business" that had called him away after the Barbican stronghold hadbeen captured; finding both Hewitt and Plummer somewhat uncommunicative, and himself somewhat "out of it, " he had drawn off, and had followedHewitt's every movement, confident that he would be led to his old enemyat last. What I had told him of the cypher message had led him to huntout Channel Marsh in the afternoon, and to return at midnight. He, ofcourse, regarded the message, as I did myself at the time, as aperfectly genuine instruction from Mayes to Sims, and he came to therendezvous wholly in ignorance as to what Hewitt was doing, and with nobetter hope than that he might hear something that would lead him in thedirection of Mayes. He had entered the marsh after dark from the upperend, and had lain concealed by the other channel till near midnight;then he had crept to the rear of the ruin and climbed to where anopening seemed to offer a good chance of hearing what might pass in thehall. He had heard Hewitt approach from the front, and the crash thatfollowed. The rest we had seen. 

V

Mayes never recovered consciousness, and was dead when we visited thehospital the day after; both skull and spine were badly fractured. Andthe very last we saw of the Red Triangle was the implement with which ithad been impressed, which was found in his pocket. 

It was a small triangular prism of what I believe is called soapstone. It was perhaps four inches long, and the face at the end correspondedwith the mark that Hewitt had seen on the forehead of Mr. Jacob Mason. It fitted closely in a leather case, in the end of which was a small, square metal box full of the red, greasy pigment with which the mark hadbeen impressed. 

It was from Broady Sims that we learnt the exact use and meaning of thisimplement: though he would not say a word till he had seen with his owneyes Mayes lying dead in the mortuary. Then he gasped his relief andsaid, "That's the end of something worse than slavery for me! I'll turnstraight after this. "

Sims's story was long, and it went over ground that concerns none ofHewitt's adventures. But what we learned from it was briefly this. Ithad been Mayes's way to meet clever criminals as they left gaol after aterm of imprisonment. In this manner he had met Sims. He had made greatpromises, had spoken of great ideas which they could put into executiontogether, had lent him money, and then at last had "initiated" him, ashe called it. He had put him to lie back in a chair and had directed hisgaze on the Red Triangle held in the air before him: and then theTriangle had descended gently, and he felt sleepy, till at the coldtouch of the thing on his forehead his senses had gone. This was donemore than once, and in the end the victim found that Mayes had only toraise the Triangle before him to send him to sleep instantly. Then hefound that he must do certain things, whether he wanted or not. And itended in complete subservience; so that Mayes could set him toperpetrate a robbery and then appropriate the proceeds for himself, forby post-hypnotic suggestion he could force him to bring and hand overevery penny. More, the poor wretch was held in constant terror, for heknew that his very life depended on the lift of his master's hand. Hecould be sent into lethargy by a gesture and killed in that state. Thatvery thing was done, in fact, as we have seen, in two cases. 

Sims was but one of a gang of such criminals, brought to heel and madevictims. Their minds and souls, such as they were, had passed into themiscreant's keeping, and terror reinforced the power of hypnotism. Theycommitted crimes, and when they failed they took the punishment; whenthey succeeded Mayes took the gains, or at any rate the greater part ofthem. He went, also, among people who were not yet criminals, and bydegrees made them so, to his own profit. The case of Henning, thecorrespondence clerk, was one that had come under Hewitt's eyes. He usedhis faculty also with great cunning in other ways--as we had seen in thematter of the Admiralty code. And it was even said among the gang that aman he had once hypnotised he could force by suggestion to commitsuicide when he became useless or inconvenient. 

Sims and the ragged fellow who had decoyed me into Mayes's den were theonly members of the gang whom we could identify after his death, butmany others must have shared their relief; and I sincerely hope--thoughI hardly expect--that they all availed themselves of their liberty toabandon their evil courses. As in fact the two I speak of did, and tookto honest work. 

All that had remained mysterious in the earlier cases now became clear. In the first, the case of Samuel's diamonds, Denson had been put intothe office where Samuel had found him, by Mayes, with the express designof effecting a diamond robbery. The robbery was effected, and theunhappy Denson formed a plan of making a bolt of it himself with thediamonds. He was, perhaps, what is called a difficult subject inhypnotism--amenable enough to direct influence, but not sufficientlyretentive of post-hypnotic suggestion. He hid the jewels and adopted adisguise, but Mayes was watching him better than he supposed. Thediamonds were lost, but Denson was found and done to death--probably notin that retreat near Barbican, but at night in some empty street. Thediamonds were not found on him, and the body, with the mark of theTriangle still on it, was taken by night to a central spot in London andthere left. Mayes probably thought that a notable example like this, soboldly displayed and so conspicuously reported in the Press, wouldimpress his auxiliaries throughout London with the terror that was oneof his weapons; for they would well understand the meaning of the RedTriangle, and they would receive a striking illustration of theconsequences of rebellion or bad faith. The money and the watch wereleft in the pockets because they were trifles after the loss of fifteenthousand pounds' worth of diamonds, and their presence in the pocketsmade the murder the less easy to understand--which was a point gained. And as to the keys--Mayes knew nothing of where the diamonds werehidden, and so had no use for them. For where could he use them? Densonhad left his lodgings, and as to the office, that, he would guess, wouldbe in the hands of the police, on Samuel's complaint. The immediateresult of this affair on the only honest member of Mayes's circle I havetold in the case of Mr. Jacob Mason. He was not yet thoroughly inMayes's hands, but he had "dabbled, " as he remorsefully confessed, andMayes had already found him useful. He was dangerous, and his end camequickly. Another victim who had probably begun innocently enough wasHenning, the clerk to Kingsley, Bell and Dalton, and his death in thePenn's Meadow barn leaves a mystery that never can be positively clearedup. Was it murder or was it suicide by post-hypnotic suggestion? It willbe remembered that the fire burst out in the barn after Mayes had leftit. 

The case of Mr. Telfer was explained clearly enough by Hewitt at thetime; but it is an example of the snares that lie open for the mostinnocent person who allows himself to be made the subject of hypnoticexperiments at the hands of persons with whom, and with whose objects, he is not thoroughly acquainted. And it must be remembered that at thistime there are persons advertising to teach the practice of hypnotism toanybody who will pay; to anybody who may use the terrible power as hepleases. More, the danger is so great that it has led two eminent men ofscience to issue a public protest and warning, with an urgent plea thatthe practice of hypnotism be restricted by law at least as closely asthat of vivisection. 

As to what would have happened if Plummer and I had yielded to Mayes'sthreats so far as to undergo the "initiation" he proposed, at the timewe were helpless in his hands--of that I have little doubt. I cannotsuppose that he would have wasted much time over me, once I had fallenlethargic. When Hewitt burst in he would have found me lying dead, withthe Red Triangle on my forehead. It would have saved Mayes a lot ofnoise and struggle, at least. 

But I often wonder whether or not there was anything in his reference tothe place beyond the sea, where he would make me a great man if I did ashe wished. Was it his design, having accumulated sufficient wealth, toreturn and take his natural place among the enlightened rulers of Hayti?He would not have been so much worse than some of the others.