The City of Masks/Chapter 16
CHAPTER XVI
SCOTLAND YARD TAKES A HAND
IT was raining hard. Stuyvesant, thoroughly alarmed and not at all elated by his astonishing conquest, halted in dismay. The pelting torrent swept up against the side of the canvas awning that extended to the street; the thick matting on the sidewalk was almost afloat. Headlights of automobiles drawn up to the curb blazed dimly through the screen of water. He peered out beyond the narrow opening left for pedestrians and groaned.
"Taxi!" he frantically shouted to the doorman.
Some one tapped him on the shoulder. He started as if a gun had gone off at his back. It was all up! For once the police were on the spot when— A voice was shouting:
"By thunder, I didn't think it was in you!"
He whirled to face, not the expected bluecoat, but the sallow detective.
"My God, how you startled me!"
"I'd have bet my last dollar you hadn't the nerve to—ahem! I—I— Say, take a tip from me. Beat it! Don't hang around here waitin' for that girl. That guy in there is beginning to see straight again, and if he was to bust out here and find you— Well, it would be something awful!"
"Get me a taxi, you infernal idiot!" roared the conqueror in flight, addressing the starter.
"Have one here in five minutes, sir," began the taxi starter, grabbing up the telephone.
"Five minutes?" gasped Stuyvie, with a quick glance over his shoulder. "Oh, Lord! Tell one of those chauffeurs out there I'll give him ten dollars to run me to the Grand Central Station. Hurry up!"
"The Grand Central?" exclaimed the detective. "Great Scott, man, you don't have to beat it clear out of town, you know. What are you going to the Station for?"
"For a taxi, you damn' fool," shouted Stuyvie. "Say, who was that man in there?"
"Didn't you know him?"
"Never saw him in my life before,—the blighter. Who is he?"
The detective stared. He opened his mouth to reply, and as suddenly closed it. He, too, knew on which side his bread was precariously buttered.
"I don't know," he said.
"Well, the papers will give his name in the morning,—and mine, too, curse them," chattered Stuyvie.
"Don't you think it," said the other promptly. "There won't be a word about it, take it from me. That guy,—whoever he is,—ain't going to have the newspapers say he was knocked down by a pinhead like you."
The insult passed unnoticed. Stuyrie was gazing, pop-eyed, at a man who suddenly appeared at the mouth of the canopy, a tall fellow in a dripping raincoat.
The newcomer's eyes were upon him. They were steady, unfriendly eyes. He advanced slowly.
"I sha'n't wait," said Stuyvie, and swiftly passed out into the deluge. No other course was open to him. There was trouble ahead and trouble behind.
Thomas Trotter laughed. The sallow-faced man made a trumpet of his hands and shouted after the departing one:
"Beat it! He's coming!"
The retreating footsteps quickened into a lively clatter. Trotter distinctly heard the sallow-faced man chuckle.
The Marchioness and Jane went home in the big Millidew limousine instead of in a taxi. They left the restaurant soon after the departure of Stuyvesant Smith-Parvis. The pensive-looking stranger from Scotland Yard came out close upon their heels. He was looking for his American guide.
Trotter brought his car up to the awning and grinned broadly as he leaned forward for "orders."
"Home, James," said Lady Jane, loftily.
"Very good, my lady," said Trotter.
The man from Scotland Yard squinted narrowly at the chauffeur's face. He moved a few paces nearer and stared harder. For a long time after the car had rolled away, he stood in the middle of the sidewalk, frowning perplexedly. Then he shook his head and apparently gave it up. He went inside to look for his friend.
The next day, the sallow-faced detective received instructions over the telephone from one who refused to give his name to the operator. He was commanded to keep close watch on the movements of a certain party, and to await further orders.
"I shall be out of town for a week or ten days," explained young Mr. Smith-Parvis.
"I see," said the sallow-faced man. "Good idea. That guy—" But the receiver at the other end clicked rudely and without ceremony.
Stuyvesant took an afternoon train for Virginia Hot Springs. At the Pennsylvania Station he bought all of the newspapers,—morning, noon and night. There wasn't a line in any one of them about the fracas. He was rather hurt about it. He was beginning to feel proud of his achievement. By the time the train reached Philadelphia he had worked himself into quite a fury over the way the New York papers suppress things that really ought to be printed. Subsidized, that's what they were. Jolly well bribed. He had given the fellow,—whoever he was,—a well-deserved drubbing, and the world would never hear of it! Miss Emsdale would not hear of it. He very much wished her to hear of it, too. The farther away he got from New York the more active became the conviction that he owed it to himself to go back there and thrash the fellow all over again, as publicly as possible,—in front of the Public Library at four o'clock in the afternoon, while he was about it.
He had been at Hot Springs no longer than forty-eight hours when a long letter came from his mother. She urged him to return to New York as soon as possible. It was imperative that he should be present at a very important dinner she was giving on Friday night. One of the most influential politicians in New York was to be there,—a man whose name was a household word,—and she was sure something splendid would come of it.
"You must not fail me, dear boy," she wrote. "I would not have him miss seeing you for anything in the world. Don't ask me any questions. I can't tell you anything now, but I will say that a great surprise is in store for my darling boy."
Meanwhile the nosy individual from Scotland Yard had not been idle. The fleeting, all too brief glimpse he had had of the good-looking chauffeur in front of Spangler's spurred him to sudden energy in pursuit of what had long since shaped itself as a rather forlorn hope. He got out the photograph of the youngster in the smart uniform of the Guard, and studied it with renewed intensity. Mentally he removed the cocky little moustache so prevalent in the Army, and with equal arrogance tried to put one on the smooth-faced chauffeur. He allowed for elapsed time, and the wear and tear of three years knocking about the world, and altered circumstances, and still the resemblance persisted.
For a matter of ten months he had been seeking the young gentleman who bore such a startling resemblance to the smiling chauffeur. He had traced him to Turkey, into Egypt, down the East Coast of Africa, over to Australia, up to Siam and China and Japan, across the Pacific to British Columbia, thence to the United States, where the trail was completely lost. His quarry had a good year and a half to two years the start of him.
Still, a chap he knew quite well in the Yard, after chasing a man twice around the world, had nabbed him at the end of six years. So much for British perseverance.
Inquiry had failed to produce the slightest enlightenment from the doorman or the starter at Spangler's. He always remembered them as the stupidest asses he had ever encountered. They didn't recognize the chauffeur, nor the car, nor the ladies; not only were they unable to tell him the number of the car, but they couldn't, for the life of them, approximate the number of ladies. All they seemed to know was that some one had been knocked down by a "swell" who was "hot-footing it" up the street.
His sallow-faced friend, however, had provided him with an encouraging lead. That worthy knew the ladies, but somewhat peevishly explained that it was hardly to be expected that he should know all of the taxi-cab drivers in New York,—and as he had seen them arrive in a taxi-cab it was reasonable to assume that they had departed in one.
"But it wasn't a taxi-cab," the Scotland Yard man protested. "It was a blinking limousine."
"Then, all I got to say is that they're not the women I mean. If I'd been out here when they left I probably could have put you wise. But I was in there listenin' to what Con McFaddan was sayin' to poor old Spangler. The woman I mean is a dressmaker. She ain't got any more of a limmo than I have. Did you notice what they looked like?"
The Scotland Yard man, staring gloomily up the rain-swept street, confessed that he hadn't noticed anything but the chauffeur's face.
"Well, there you are," remarked the sallow-faced man, shrugging his shoulders in a patronizing, almost pitying way.
The Londoner winced.
"I distinctly heard the chauffeur say 'Very good, my lady,'" he said, after a moment. "That was a bit odd, wasn't it, now? You don't have any such things as titles over 'ere, do you?"
"Sure. Every steamer brings one or two of 'em to our little city."
The Englishman scratched his head. Suddenly his face brightened.
"I remember, after all,—in a vague sort of way, don't you know,—that one of the ladies had white hair. I recall an instant's speculation on my part. I remember looking twice to be sure that it was hair and not a bit of lace thrown—"
"That's the party," exclaimed the sallow-faced man. "Now we're getting somewhere."
The next afternoon, the man from Scotland Yard paid a visit to Deborah's. Not at all abashed at finding himself in a place where all save angels fear to tread, he calmly asked to be conducted into the presence of Mrs. Sparflight. He tactfully refrained from adding "alias Deborah, Limited. London, Paris and New York." He declined to state his business.
"Madam," said he, coming straight to the point the instant he was ushered into the presence of the white-haired proprietress, "I sha'n't waste your time,—and mine, I may add,—by beating about the bush, as you Americans would say. I represent—"
"If you are an insurance agent or a book agent, you need not waste any time at all," began Mrs. Sparflight. He held up his hand deprecatingly.
"—Scotland Yard," he concluded, fixing his eyes upon her. The start she gave was helpful. He went on briskly. "Last night you were at a certain restaurant. You departed during the thunder-storm in a limousine driven by a young man whose face is familiar to me. In short, I am looking for a man who bears a most startling resemblance to him. May I prevail upon you to volunteer a bit of information?"
Mrs. Sparflight betrayed agitation. A hunted, troubled look came into her eyes.
"I—I don't quite understand," she stammered. "Who—who did you say you were?"
"My name is Chambers, Alfred Chambers, Scotland Yard. In the event that you are ignorant of the character of the place called Scotland Yard, I may explain that—"
"I know what it is," she interrupted hastily. "What is it that you want of me, Mr. Chambers?" She was rapidly gaining control of her wits.
"Very little, madam. I should very much like to know whose car took you away from Sprinkler's last night."
She looked him straight in the eye. "I haven't the remotest idea," she said.
He nodded his head gently. "Would you, on the other hand, object to telling me how long James has been driving for her ladyship?"
This was a facer. Mrs. Sparflight's gaze wavered.
"Her ladyship?" she murmured weakly.
"Yes, madam,—unless my hearing was temporarily defective," he said.
"I don't know what you mean."
"Your companion was a young lady of—"
"My good man," interrupted the lady sharply, "my companion last night was my own private secretary."
"A Miss Emsdale, I believe," said he.
She gulped. "Precisely."
"Um!" he mused. "And you do not know whose car you went off in,—is that right?"
"I have no hesitancy in stating, Mr. Chambers, that the car does not belong to me or to my secretary," she said, smiling.
"I trust you will pardon a seemingly rude question, Mrs. Sparflight. Is it the custom in New York for people to take possession of private automobiles—"
"It is the custom for New York chauffeurs to pick up an extra dollar or two when their employers are not looking," she interrupted, with a shrug of her shoulders. She was instantly ashamed of her mendacity. She looked over her shoulder to see if Mr. Thomas Trotter's sweetheart was anywhere within hearing, and was relieved to find that she was not. "And now, sir, if it is a fair question, may I inquire just what this chauffeur's double has been doing that Scotland Yard should be seeking him so assiduously?"
"He has been giving us a deuce of a chase, madam," said Mr. Chambers, as if that were the gravest crime a British subject could possibly commit. "By the way, did you by any chance obtain a fair look at the man who drove you home last night?"
"Yes. He seemed quite a good-looking fellow."
"Will you glance at this photograph, Mrs. Sparflight, and tell me whether you detect a resemblance?" He took a small picture from his coat pocket and held it out to her.
She looked at it closely, holding it at various angles and distances, and nodded her head in doubtful acquiescence.
"I think I do, Mr. Chambers. I am not surprised that you should have been struck by the resemblance. This man was a soldier, I perceive."
Mr. Chambers restored the photograph to his pocket.
"The King's Own," he replied succinctly. "Perhaps your secretary may be able to throw a little more light on the matter, madam. May I have the privilege of interrogating her?"
"Not today," said Mrs. Sparflight, who had anticipated the request. "She is very busy."
"Of course I am in no position to insist," said he pleasantly. "I trust you will forgive my intrusion, madam. I am here only in the interests of justice, and I have no desire to cause you the slightest annoyance. Permit me to bid you good day, Mrs. Sparflight. Thank you for your kindness in receiving me. Tomorrow, if it is quite agreeable to you, I shall call to see Miss Emsdale."
At that moment, the door opened and Miss Emsdale came into the little office.
"You rang for me, Mrs. Sparflight?" she inquired, with a quick glance at the stranger.
Mrs. Sparflight blinked rapidly. "Not at all,—not at all. I did not ring."
Miss Emsdale looked puzzled. "I am sure the buzzer—"
"Pardon me," said Mr. Chambers, easily. "I fancy I can solve the mystery. Accidentally,—quite accidentally, I assure you,—I put my hand on the button on your desk, Mrs. Sparflight,—while you were glancing at the photograph. Like this,—do you see?" He put his hand on the top of the desk and leaned forward, just as he had done when he joined her in studying the picture a few moments before.
A hot flush mounted to Mrs. Sparflight's face, and her eyes flashed. The next instant she smiled.
"You are most resourceful, Mr. Chambers," she said. "It happens, however, that your cleverness gains you nothing. This young lady is one of our stenographers. I think I said that Miss Emsdale is my private secretary. She has no connection whatever with the business office. The button you inadvertently pressed simply disturbed one of the girls in the next room. You may return to your work, Miss Henry."
She carried it off very well. Jane, sensing danger, was on the point of retiring,—somewhat hurriedly, it must be confessed,—when Mr. Chambers, in his most apologetic manner, remarked:
"May I have a word with you, your ladyship?"
It was a bold guess, encouraged by his discovery that the young lady was not only English but of a class distinctly remote from shops and stenography.
Under the circumstances, Jane may be forgiven for dissembling, even at the cost of her employer's honour. She stopped short, whirled, and confronted the stranger with a look in her eyes that convicted her immediately. Her hand flew to her heart, and a little gasp broke from her parted lips.
Mr. Chambers was smiling blandly. She looked from him to Mrs. Sparflight, utter bewilderment in her eyes.
"Oh, Lord!" muttered that lady in great dismay.
The man from Scotland Yard hazarded another and even more potential stroke while the iron was hot.
"I am from Scotland Yard," he said. "We make some mistakes there, I admit, but not many." He proceeded to lie boldly. "I know who you are, my lady, and— But it is not necessary to go into that at pressent. Do not be alarmed. You have nothing to fear from me,—or from Scotland Yard. I—"
"Well, I should hope not!" burst out Mrs. Sparflight indignantly.
"What does he want?" cried Jane, in trepidation. She addressed her friend, but it was Mr. Chambers who answered.
"I want you to supply me with a little information concerning Lord Eric Temple,—whom you addressed last evening as James."
Jane began to tremble. Scotland Yard!
"The man is crazy," said Mrs. Sparflight, leaping into the breach. "By what right, sir, do you come here to impose your—"
"No offence is intended, ma'am," broke in Mr. Chambers. "Absolutely no offence. It is merely in the line of duty that I come. In plain words, I have been instructed to apprehend Lord Eric Temple and fetch him to London. You see, I am quite frank about it. You can aid me by being as frank in return, ladies."
By this time Jane had regained command of herself. Drawing herself up, she faced the detective, and, casting discretion to the winds, took a most positive and determined stand.
"I must decline,—no matter what the cost may be to myself,—to give you the slightest assistance concerning Lord Temple."
To their infinite amazement, the man bowed very courteously and said:
"I shall not insist. Pardon my methods and my intrusion. I shall trouble you no further. Good day, madam. Good day, your ladyship."
He took his leave at once, leaving them staring blankly at the closed door. He was satisfied. He had found out just what he wanted to know, and he was naturally in some haste to get out before they began putting embarrassing questions to him.
"Oh, dear," murmured Jane, distractedly. "What are we to do? Scotland Yard! That can mean but one thing. His enemies at home have brought some vile, horrible charge against—"
"We must warn him at once, Jane. There is no time to be lost. Telephone to the garage where Mrs. Millidew—"
"But the man doesn't know that Eric is driving for Mrs. Millidew," broke in Jane, hopefully.
"He will know, and in very short order," said the other, sententiously. "Those fellows are positively uncanny. Go at once and telephone." She hesitated a moment, looking a little confused and guilty. "Lay aside your work, dear, for the time being. There is nothing very urgent about it, you know."
In sheer desperation she had that very morning set her restless charge to work copying names out of the Social Register—names she had checked off at random between the hours of ten and two the previous night.
Jane's distress increased to a state bordering on anguish.
"Oh, dear! He—he is out of town for two or three days."
"Out of town?"
"He told me last night he was to be off early this morning for Mrs. Millidew's country place somewhere on Long Island. Mrs. Millidew had to go down to see about improvements or repairs or something before the house is opened for the season."
"Mrs. Millidew was in the shop this morning for a 'try-on,'" said the other. "She has changed her plans, no doubt."
Jane's honest blue eyes wavered slightly as she met her friend's questioning gaze.
"I think he said that young Mrs. Millidew was going down to look after the work for her mother-in-law."