Fire-Tongue Read online

  CHAPTER XII. THE VEIL IS RAISED

  Rising from the writing table in the library, Paul Harley crossed tothe mantelpiece and stared long and hungrily at a photograph in a silverframe. So closely did he concentrate upon it that he induced a sort ofauto-hypnosis, so that Phil Abingdon seemed to smile at him sadly. Thena shadow appeared to obscure the piquant face. The soft outline changed,subtly; the lips grew more full, became voluptuous; the eyes lengthenedand grew languorous. He found himself looking into the face of OrmuzKhan.

  "Damn it!" he muttered, awakened from his trance.

  He turned aside, conscious of a sudden, unaccountable chill. It mighthave been caused by the mental picture which he had conjured up, or itmight be another of those mysterious warnings of which latterly he hadhad so many without encountering any positive danger. He stood quitestill, listening.

  Afterward he sometimes recalled that moment, and often enough askedhimself what he had expected to hear. It was from this room, on anearlier occasion, that he had heard the ominous movements in theapartment above. To-day he heard nothing.

  "Benson," he called, opening the library door. As the man came along thehall: "I have written a note to Mr. Innes, my secretary," he explained."There it is, on the table. When the district messenger, for whom youtelephoned, arrives, give him the parcel and the note. He is to acceptno other receipt than that of Mr. Innes."

  "Very good, sir."

  Harley took his hat and cane, and Benson opened the front door.

  "Good day, sir," said the butler.

  "Good day, Benson," called Harley, hurrying out to the waiting cab."Number 236 South Lambeth Road," he directed the man.

  Off moved the taxi, and Harley lay back upon the cushions heaving a longsigh. The irksome period of inaction was ended. The cloud which for atime had dulled his usually keen wits was lifted. He was by no meanssure that enlightenment had come in time, but at least he was in hotpursuit of a tangible clue, and he must hope that it would lead him,though tardily, to the heart of this labyrinth which concealed--what?

  Which concealed something, or someone, known and feared as Fire-Tongue.

  For the moment he must focus upon establishing, beyond query or doubt,the fact that Sir Charles Abingdon had not died from natural causes.Premonitions, intuitions, beliefs resting upon a foundation of strangedreams--these were helpful to himself, if properly employed, but theywere not legal evidence. This first point achieved, the motive of thecrime must be sought; and then--the criminal.

  "One thing at a time," Harley finally murmured.

  Turning his head, he glanced back at the traffic in the street behindhim. The action was sheerly automatic. He had ceased to expect todetect the presence of any pursuer. Yet he was convinced that hisevery movement was closely watched. It was uncanny, unnerving, thisconsciousness of invisible surveillance. Now, as he looked, he started.The invisible had become the visible.

  His cab was just on the point of turning on to the slope of VauxhallBridge. And fifty yards behind, speeding along the Embankment, was asmall French car. The features of the driver he had no time to observe.But, peering eagerly through the window, showed the dark face of thepassenger. The man's nationality it was impossible to determine, but thekeen, almost savage interest, betrayed by the glittering black eyes, itwas equally impossible to mistake.

  If the following car had turned on to the bridge, Harley, even yet,might have entertained a certain doubt. But, mentally putting himselfin the pursuer's place, he imagined himself detected and knew at onceexactly what he should do. Since this hypothetical course was actuallypursued by the other, Harley's belief was confirmed.

  Craning his neck, he saw the little French car turn abruptly and proceedin the direction of Victoria Station. Instantly he acted.

  Leaning out of the window he thrust a ten-shilling note into thecabman's hand. "Slow down, but don't pull up," he directed. "I am goingto jump out just as you pass that lorry ahead. Ten yards further onstop. Get down and crank your engine, and then proceed slowly over thebridge. I shall not want you again."

  "Right-oh, sir," said the man, grinning broadly. As a result,immediately he was afforded the necessary cover, Harley jumped fromthe cab. The man reached back and closed the door, proceeding on hisleisurely way. Excepting the driver of the lorry, no one witnessed thiseccentric performance, and Harley, stepping on to the footpath, quietlyjoined the stream of pedestrians and strolled slowly along.

  He presently passed the stationary cab without giving any sign ofrecognition to the dismounted driver. Then, a minute later, thecab overtook him and was soon lost in the traffic ahead. Even as itdisappeared another cab went by rapidly.

  Leaning forward in order to peer through the front window was thedark-faced man whom he had detected on the Embankment!

  "Quite correct," murmured Harley, dryly. "Exactly what I should havedone."

  The spy, knowing himself discovered, had abandoned his own car in favourof a passing taxicab, and in the latter had taken up the pursuit.

  Paul Harley lighted a cigarette. Oddly enough, he was aware of afeeling of great relief. In the first place, his sixth sense had beentriumphantly vindicated; and, in the second place, his hitherto shadowyenemies, with their seemingly supernatural methods, had been unmasked.At least they were human, almost incredibly clever, but of no more thanordinary flesh and blood.

  The contest had developed into open warfare. Harley's accurate knowledgeof London had enabled him to locate No. 236 South Lambeth Road withoutrecourse to a guide, and now, walking on past the big gas works and therailway station, he turned under the dark arches and pressed on to wherea row of unprepossessing dwellings extended in uniform ugliness from apartly demolished building to a patch of waste ground.

  That the house was being watched he did not doubt. In fact, he no longerbelieved subterfuge to be of any avail. He was dealing with dangerouslyaccomplished criminals. How clever they were he had yet to learn; and itwas only his keen intuitive which at this juncture enabled him to scorea point over his cunning opponents.

  He walked quite openly up the dilapidated steps to the door of No.236, and was about to seize the dirty iron knocker when the door openedsuddenly and a girl came out. She was dressed neatly and wore a pseudofashionable hat from which a heavy figured veil depended so as almostto hide her features. She was carrying a bulging cane grip secured by abrown leather strap.

  Seeing Harley on the step, she paused for a moment, then, recoveringherself:

  "Ellen!" she shouted down the dim passageway revealed by the opening ofthe door. "Somebody to see you."

  Leaving the door open, she hurried past the visitor with averted face.It was well done, and, thus disguised by the thick veil, another manthan Paul Harley might have failed to recognize one of whom he had neverhad more than an imperfect glimpse. But if Paul Harley's memory did notavail him greatly, his unerring instinct never failed.

  He grasped the girl's arm. "One moment, Miss Jones," he said, quietly,"it is you I am here to see!"

  The girl turned angrily, snatching her arm from his grasp. "You've madea mistake, haven't you?" she cried, furiously. "I don't know you and Idon't want to!"

  "Be good enough to step inside again. Don't make a scene. If you behaveyourself, you have nothing to fear. But I want to talk to you."

  He extended his arm to detain her. But she thrust it aside. "My boy'swaiting round the corner!" she said, viciously. "Just see what he'll dowhen I tell him!"

  "Step inside," repeated Harley, quietly. "Or accompany me to KenningtonLane Police Station--whichever you think would be the more amusing."

  "What d'you mean!" blustered the girl. "You can't kid me. I haven't doneanything."

  "Then do as I tell you. You have got to answer my questions--either hereor at the station. Which shall it be?"

  He had realized the facts of the situation from the moment when thegirl had made her sudden appearance, and he knew that his only chance ofdefeating his cunning opponents was to frighten her. Delicate measureswould be wast
ed upon such a character. But even as the girl, flingingherself sullenly about, returned into the passage, he found himselfadmiring the resourcefulness of his unknown enemies.

  A tired-looking woman carrying a child appeared from somewhere andstared apathetically at Harley.

  Addressing the angry girl: "Another o' your flames, Polly?" she inquiredin a dull voice. "Has he made you change your mind already?"

  The girl addressed as "Polly" dropped her grip on the floor and, bangingopen a door, entered a shabby little sitting room, followed by Harley.Dropping onto a ragged couch, she stared obstinately out of the dirtywindow.

  "Excuse me, madam, for intruding," said Harley to the woman with thebaby, "but Polly has some information of use to the police. Oh, don't bealarmed. She has committed no crime. I shall only detain her for a fewminutes."

  He bowed to the tired-looking woman and closed the sitting-room door."Now, young woman," he said, sternly, adopting this official manner ofhis friend, Inspector Wessex, "I am going to give you one warning, andone only. Although I don't think you know it, you have got mixed up witha gang of crooks. Play the game with me, and I'll stand by you. Try anyfunny business and you'll go to jail."

  The official manner had its effect. Miss Jones looked sharply across atthe speaker. "I haven't done anything," she said, sullenly.

  Paul Harley advanced and stood over her. "What about the trick with theserviettes at Sir Charles Abingdon's?" he asked, speaking the words inslow and deliberate fashion.

  The shaft went home, but the girl possessed a stock of obstinatecourage. "What about it?" she inquired, but her voice had changed.

  "Who made you do it?"

  "What's that to you?"

  Paul Harley drew out his watch, glanced at the face, and returned thetimepiece to his pocket. "I have warned you," he said. "In exactly threeminutes' time I shall put you under arrest."

  The girl suddenly lifted her veil and, raising her face, looked up athim. At last he had broken down her obstinate resistance. Already he hadnoted the coarse, elemental formation of her hands, and now, the veilremoved, he saw that she belonged to a type of character often foundin Wales and closely duplicated in certain parts of London. There wasa curious flatness of feature and prominence of upper jaw singularlyreminiscent of the primitive Briton. Withal the girl was notunprepossessing in her coarse way. Utter stupidity and dogged courageare the outstanding characteristics of this type. But fear of the law isstrong within them.

  "Don't arrest me," she said. "I'll tell you."

  "Good. In the first place, then, where were you going when I came here?"

  "To meet my boy at Vauxhall Station."

  "What is his name?"

  "I'm not going to tell you. What's he done?"

  "He has done murder. What is his name?"

  "My God!" whispered the girl, and her face blanched swiftly. "Murder!I--I can't tell you his name--"

  "You mean you won't?"

  She did not answer.

  "He is a very dark man," continued Harley "with black eyes. He is aHindu."

  The girl stared straight before her, dumbly.

  "Answer me!" shouted Harley.

  "Yes--yes! He is a foreigner."

  "A Hindu?"

  "I think so."

  "He was here five minutes ago?"

  "Yes."

  "Where was he going to take you?"

  "I don't know. He said he could put me in a good job out of London. Wehad only ten minutes to catch the train. He's gone to get the tickets."

  "Where did you meet him?"

  "In the Green Park."

  "When?"

  "About a month ago."

  "Was he going to marry you?"

  "Yes."

  "What did you do to the serviettes on the night Sir Charles died?"

  "Oh, my God! I didn't do anything to hurt him--I didn't do anything tohurt him!"

  "Answer me."

  "Sidney--"

  "Oh, he called himself Sidney, did he? It isn't his name. But go on."

  "He asked me to get one of the serviettes, with the ring, and to lend itto him."

  "You did this?"

  "Yes. But he brought it back."

  "When?"

  "The afternoon--"

  "Before Sir Charles's death? Yes. Go on. What did he tell you to do withthis serviette?"

  "It--was in a box. He said I was not to open the box until I put theserviette on the table, and that it had to be put by Sir Charles'splate. It had to be put there just before the meal began."

  "What else?"

  "I had to burn the box."

  "Well?"

  "That night I couldn't see how it was to be done. Benson had laid thedinner table and Mrs. Howett was pottering about. Then, when I thoughtI had my chance, Sir Charles sat down in the dining room and began toread. He was still there and I had the box hidden in the hall stand, allready, when Sidney--rang up."

  "Rang you up?"

  "Yes. We had arranged it. He said he was my brother. I had to tell him Icouldn't do it."

  "Yes!"

  "He said: 'You must.' I told him Sir Charles was in the dining room, andhe said: 'I'll get him away. Directly he goes, don't fail to do what Itold you.'"

  "And then?"

  "Another 'phone call came--for Sir Charles. I knew who it was, because Ihad told Sidney about the case Sir Charles was attending in the square.When Sir Charles went out I changed the serviettes. Mrs. Howett found mein the dining room and played hell. But afterward I managed to burn thebox in the kitchen. That's all I know. What harm was there?"

  "Harm enough!" said Harley, grimly. "And now--what was it that 'Sidney'stole from Sir Charles's bureau in the study?"

  The girl started and bit her lip convulsively. "It wasn't stealing," shemuttered. "It wasn't worth anything."

  "Answer me. What did he take?"

  "He took nothing."

  "For the last time: answer."

  "It wasn't Sidney who took it. I took it."

  "You took what?"

  "A paper."

  "You mean that you stole Sir Charles's keys and opened his bureau?"

  "There was no stealing. He was out and they were lying on his dressingtable. Sidney had told me to do it the first time I got a chance."

  "What had he told you to do?"

  "To search through Sir Charles's papers and see if there was anythingwith the word 'Fire-Tongue' in it!"

  "Ah!" exclaimed Harley, a note of suppressed triumph in his voice. "Goon."

  "There was only one paper about it," continued the girl, now speakingrapidly, "or only one that I could find. I put the bureau straight againand took this paper to Sidney."

  "But you must have read the paper?"

  "Only a bit of it. When I came to the word 'Fire-Tongue,' I didn't readany more."

  "What was it about--the part you did read?"

  "The beginning was all about India. I couldn't understand it. I jumpeda whole lot. I hadn't much time and I was afraid Mrs. Howett would findme. Then, further on, I came to 'Fire-Tongue'."

  "But what did it say about 'Fire-Tongue'?"

  "I couldn't make it out, sir. Oh, indeed I'm telling you the truth! Itseemed to me that Fire-Tongue was some sort of mark."

  "Mark?"

  "Yes--a mark Sir Charles had seen in India, and then again in London--"

  "In London! Where in London?"

  "On someone's arm."

  "What! Tell me the name of this person!"

  "I can't remember, sir! Oh, truly I can't."

  "Was the name mentioned?"

  "Yes."

  "Was it Armand?"

  "No."

  "Ormond?"

  "No."

  "Anything like Ormond?"

  The girl shook her head.

  "It was not Ormuz Khan?"

  "No. I am sure it wasn't."

  Paul Harley's expression underwent a sudden change. "Was it Brown?" heasked.

  She hesitated. "I believe it did begin with a B," she admitted.

&n
bsp; "Was it Brunn?"

  "No! I remember, sir. It was Brinn!"

  "Good God!" muttered Harley. "Are you sure?"

  "Quite sure."

  "Do you know any one of that name?"

  "No, sir."

  "And is this positively all you remember?"

  "On my oath, it is."

  "How often have you seen Sidney since your dismissal?"

  "I saw him on the morning I left."

  "And then not again until to-day?"

  "No."

  "Does he live in London?"

  "No. He is a valet to a gentleman who lives in the country."

  "How do you know?"

  "He told me."

  "What is the name of the place?"

  "I don't know."

  "Once again--what is the name of the place?"

  The girl bit her lip.

  "Answer!" shouted Harley.

  "I swear, sir," cried the girl, beginning suddenly to sob, "that I don'tknow! Oh, please let me go! I swear I have told you all I know!"

  "Good!"

  Paul Harley glanced at his watch, crossed the room, and opened the door.He turned. "You can go now," he said. "But I don't think you will findSidney waiting!"

  It wanted only three minutes to midnight, and Innes, rather haggard andanxious-eyed, was pacing Paul Harley's private office when the 'phonebell rang. Eagerly he took up the receiver.

  "Hullo!" came a voice. "That you, Innes?"

  "Mr. Harley!" cried Innes. "Thank God you are safe! I was growingdesperately anxious!"

  "I am by no means safe, Innes! I am in one of the tightest corners ofmy life! Listen: Get Wessex! If he's off duty, get Burton. Tell him tobring--"

  The voice ceased.

  "Hullo!--Mr. Harley!" called Innes. "Mr. Harley!"

  A faint cry answered him. He distinctly heard the sound of a fall. Thenthe other receiver was replaced on the hook.

  "Merciful Heavens!" whispered Innes. "What has happened? Where was hespeaking from? What can I do?"