Delphi Complete Works of Arthur Morrison Page 5

  Kentish stared gloomily at the tracks and said nothing.

  “However,” Hewitt resumed, “I think I’ll take a little walk now and think over it. You go into the house and show yourself at the bar. If anybody wants to know how Crockett is, he’s pretty well, thank you. By the by, can I get to the Cop — this place of Taylor’s — by this back lane?”

  “Yes, down to the end leading to the Catton road, turn to the left and then first on the right. Any one’ll show you the Cop,” and Kentish shut the door behind the detective, who straightway walked — toward the Old Kilns.

  In little more than an hour he was back. It was now becoming dusk, and the landlord looked out papers from a box near the side window of his snuggery, for the sake of the extra light. “I’ve got these papers together for you,” he said, as Hewitt entered. “Any news?”

  “Nothing very great. Here’s a bit of handwriting I want you to recognize, if you can. Get a light.”

  Kentish lit a lamp, and Hewitt laid upon the table half a dozen small pieces of torn paper, evidently fragments of a letter which had been torn up, here reproduced in fac-simile:

  The landlord turned the scraps over, regarding them dubiously. “These aren’t much to recognize, anyhow. I don’t know the writing. Where did you find ‘em?”

  “They were lying in the lane at the back, a little way down. Plainly they are pieces of a note addressed to some one called Sammy or something very like it. See the first piece, with its ‘mmy’? That is clearly from the beginning of the note, because there is no line between it and the smooth, straight edge of the paper above; also, nothing follows on the same line. Some one writes to Crockett — presuming it to be a letter addressed to him, as I do for other reasons — as Sammy. It is a pity that there is no more of the letter to be found than these pieces. I expect the person who tore it up put the rest in his pocket and dropped these by accident.”

  Kentish, who had been picking up and examining each piece in turn, now dolorously broke out:

  “Oh, it’s plain he’s sold us — bolted and done us; me as took him out o’ the gutter, too. Look here— ‘throw them over’; that’s plain enough — can’t mean anything else. Means throw me over, and my friends — me, after what I’ve done for him! Then ‘right away’ — go right away, I s’pose, as he has done. Then” — he was fiddling with the scraps and finally fitted two together— “why, look here, this one with ‘lane’ on it fits over the one about throwing over, and it says ‘poor f’ where its torn; that means ‘poor fool,’ I s’pose — me, or ‘fathead,’ or something like that. That’s nice. Why, I’d twist his neck if I could get hold of him; and I will!”

  Hewitt smiled. “Perhaps it’s not quite so uncomplimentary, after all,” he said. “If you can’t recognize the writing, never mind. But, if he’s gone away to sell you, it isn’t much use finding him, is it? He won’t win if he doesn’t want to.”

  “Why, he wouldn’t dare to rope under my very eyes. I’d — I’d — —”

  “Well, well; perhaps we’ll get him to run, after all, and as well as he can. One thing is certain — he left this place of his own will. Further, I think he is in Padfield now; he went toward the town, I believe. And I don’t think he means to sell you.”

  “Well, he shouldn’t. I’ve made it worth his while to stick to me. I’ve put a fifty on for him out of my own pocket, and told him so; and, if he won, that would bring him a lump more than he’d probably get by going crooked, besides the prize money and anything I might give him over. But it seems to me he’s putting me in the cart altogether.”

  “That we shall see. Meantime, don’t mention anything I’ve told you to any one — not even to Steggles. He can’t help us, and he might blurt things out inadvertently. Don’t say anything about these pieces of paper, which I shall keep myself. By-the-by, Steggles is indoors, isn’t he? Very well, keep him in. Don’t let him be seen hunting about this evening. I’ll stay here to-night and we’ll proceed with Crockett’s business in the morning. And now we’ll settle my business, please.”

  In the morning Hewitt took his breakfast in the snuggery, carefully listening to any conversation that might take place at the bar. Soon after nine o’clock a fast dog-cart stopped outside, and a red-faced, loud-voiced man swaggered in, greeting Kentish with boisterous cordiality. He had a drink with the landlord, and said: “How’s things? Fancy any of ‘em for the sprint handicap? Got a lad o’ your own in, haven’t you?”

  “Oh, yes,” Kentish replied. “Crockett. Only a young un not got to his proper mark yet, I reckon. I think old Taylor’s got No. 1 this time.”

  “Capital lad,” the other replied, with a confidential nod. “Shouldn’t wonder at all. Want to do anything yourself over it?”

  “No, I don’t think so. I’m not on at present. Might have a little flutter on the grounds just for fun; nothing else.”

  There were a few more casual remarks, and then the red-faced man drove away.

  “Who was that?” asked Hewitt, who had watched the visitor through the snuggery window.

  “That’s Danby — bookmaker. Cute chap. He’s been told Crockett’s missing, I’ll bet anything, and come here to pump me. No good, though. As a matter of fact, I’ve worked Sammy Crockett into his books for about half I’m in for altogether — through third parties, of course.”

  Hewitt reached for his hat. “I’m going out for half an hour now,” he said. “If Steggles wants to go out before I come back, don’t let him. Let him go and smooth over all those tracks on the cinder-path, very carefully. And, by the by, could you manage to have your son about the place to-day, in case I happen to want a little help out of doors?”

  “Certainly; I’ll get him to stay in. But what do you want the cinders smoothed for?”

  Hewitt smiled, and patted his host’s shoulder. “I’ll explain all my tricks when the job’s done,” he said, and went out.

  On the lane from Padfield to Sedby village stood the Plough beer-house, wherein J. Webb was licensed to sell by retail beer to be consumed on the premises or off, as the thirsty list. Nancy Webb, with a very fine color, a very curly fringe, and a wide smiling mouth revealing a fine set of teeth, came to the bar at the summons of a stoutish old gentleman in spectacles who walked with a stick.

  The stoutish old gentleman had a glass of bitter beer, and then said in the peculiarly quiet voice of a very deaf man: “Can you tell me, if you please, the way into the main Catton road?”

  “Down the lane, turn to the right at the cross-roads, then first to the left.”

  The old gentleman waited with his hand to his ear for some few seconds after she had finished speaking, and then resumed in his whispering voice: “I’m afraid I’m very deaf this morning.” He fumbled in his pocket and produced a note-book and pencil. “May I trouble you to write it down? I’m so very deaf at times that I — Thank you.”

  The girl wrote the direction, and the old gentleman bade her good-morning and left. All down the lane he walked slowly with his stick. At the cross-roads he turned, put the stick under his arm, thrust his spectacles into his pocket, and strode away in the ordinary guise of Martin Hewitt. He pulled out his note-book, examined Miss Webb’s direction very carefully, and then went off another way altogether, toward the Hare and Hounds.

  Kentish lounged moodily in his bar. “Well, my boy,” said Hewitt, “has Steggles wiped out the tracks?”

  “Not yet; I haven’t told him. But he’s somewhere about; I’ll tell him now.”

  “No, don’t. I don’t think we’ll have that done, after all. I expect he’ll want to go out soon — at any rate, some time during the day. Let him go whenever he likes. I’ll sit upstairs a bit in the club-room.”

  “Very well. But how do you know Steggles will be going out?”

  “Well, he’s pretty restless after his lost protégé, isn’t he? I don’t suppose he’ll be able to remain idle long.”

  “And about Crockett. Do you give him up?”

  “Oh, no! Don’t you be impatie
nt. I can’t say I’m quite confident yet of laying hold of him — the time is so short, you see — but I think I shall at least have news for you by the evening.”

  Hewitt sat in the club-room until the afternoon, taking his lunch there. At length he saw, through the front window, Raggy Steggles walking down the road. In an instant Hewitt was down-stairs and at the door. The road bent eighty yards away, and as soon as Steggles passed the bend the detective hurried after him.

  All the way to Padfield town and more than half through it Hewitt dogged the trainer. In the end Steggles stopped at a corner and gave a note to a small boy who was playing near. The boy ran with the note to a bright, well-kept house at the opposite corner. Martin Hewitt was interested to observe the legend, “H. Danby, Contractor,” on a board over a gate in the side wall of the garden behind this house. In five minutes a door in the side gate opened, and the head and shoulders of the red-faced man emerged. Steggles immediately hurried across and disappeared through the gate.

  This was both interesting and instructive. Hewitt took up a position in the side street and waited. In ten minutes the trainer reappeared and hurried off the way he had come, along the street Hewitt had considerately left clear for him. Then Hewitt strolled toward the smart house and took a good look at it. At one corner of the small piece of forecourt garden, near the railings, a small, baize-covered, glass-fronted notice-board stood on two posts. On its top edge appeared the words, “H. Danby. Houses to be Sold or Let.” But the only notice pinned to the green baize within was an old and dusty one, inviting tenants for three shops, which were suitable for any business, and which would be fitted to suit tenants. Apply within.

  Hewitt pushed open the front gate and rang the door-bell. “There are some shops to let, I see,” he said, when a maid appeared. “I should like to see them, if you will let me have the key.”

  “Master’s out, sir. You can’t see the shops till Monday.”

  “Dear me, that’s unfortunate, I’m afraid I can’t wait till Monday. Didn’t Mr. Danby leave any instructions, in case anybody should inquire?”

  “Yes, sir — as I’ve told you. He said anybody who called about ‘em must come again on Monday.”

  “Oh, very well, then; I suppose I must try. One of the shops is in High Street, isn’t it?”

  “No, sir; they’re all in the new part — Granville Road.”

  “Ah, I’m afraid that will scarcely do. But I’ll see. Good-day.”

  Martin Hewitt walked away a couple of streets’ lengths before he inquired the way to Granville Road. When at last he found that thoroughfare, in a new and muddy suburb, crowded with brick-heaps and half-finished streets, he took a slow walk along its entire length. It was a melancholy example of baffled enterprise. A row of a dozen or more shops had been built before any population had arrived to demand goods. Would-be tradesmen had taken many of these shops, and failure and disappointment stared from the windows. Some were half covered by shutters, because the scanty stock scarce sufficed to fill the remaining half. Others were shut almost altogether, the inmates only keeping open the door for their own convenience, and, perhaps, keeping down a shutter for the sake of a little light. Others, again, had not yet fallen so low, but struggled bravely still to maintain a show of business and prosperity, with very little success. Opposite the shops there still remained a dusty, ill-treated hedge and a forlorn-looking field, which an old board offered on building leases. Altogether a most depressing spot.

  There was little difficulty in identifying the three shops offered for letting by Mr. H. Danby. They were all together near the middle of the row, and were the only ones that appeared not yet to have been occupied. A dusty “To Let” bill hung in each window, with written directions to inquire of Mr. H. Danby or at No. 7. Now No. 7 was a melancholy baker’s shop, with a stock of three loaves and a plate of stale buns. The disappointed baker assured Hewitt that he usually kept the keys of the shops, but that the landlord, Mr. Danby, had taken them away the day before to see how the ceilings were standing, and had not returned them. “But if you was thinking of taking a shop here,” the poor baker added, with some hesitation, “I — I — if you’ll excuse my advising you — I shouldn’t recommend it. I’ve had a sickener of it myself.”

  Hewitt thanked the baker for his advice, wished him better luck in future, and left. To the Hare and Hounds his pace was brisk. “Come,” he said, as he met Kentish’s inquiring glance, “this has been a very good day, on the whole. I know where our man is now, and I think we can get him, by a little management.”

  “Where is he?”

  “Oh, down in Padfield. As a matter of fact, he’s being kept there against his will, we shall find. I see that your friend Mr. Danby is a builder as well as a bookmaker.”

  “Not a regular builder. He speculates in a street of new houses now and again, that’s all. But is he in it?”

  “He’s as deep in it as anybody, I think. Now, don’t fly into a passion. There are a few others in it as well, but you’ll do harm if you don’t keep quiet.”

  “But go and get the police; come and fetch him, if you know where they’re keeping him. Why — —”

  “So we will, if we can’t do it without them. But it’s quite possible we can, and without all the disturbance and, perhaps, delay that calling in the police would involve. Consider, now, in reference to your own arrangements. Wouldn’t it pay you better to get him back quietly, without a soul knowing — perhaps not even Danby knowing — till the heat is run to-morrow?”

  “Well, yes, it would, of course.”

  “Very good, then, so be it. Remember what I have told you about keeping your mouth shut; say nothing to Steggles or anybody. Is there a cab or brougham your son and I can have for the evening?”

  “There’s an old hiring landau in the stables you can shut up into a cab, if that’ll do.”

  “Excellent. We’ll run down to the town in it as soon as it’s ready. But, first, a word about Crockett. What sort of a lad is he? Likely to give them trouble, show fight, and make a disturbance?”

  “No, I should say not. He’s no plucked un, certainly; all his manhood’s in his legs, I believe. You see, he ain’t a big sort o’ chap at best, and he’d be pretty easy put upon — at least, I guess so.”

  “Very good, so much the better, for then he won’t have been damaged, and they will probably only have one man to guard him. Now the carriage, please.”

  Young Kentish was a six-foot sergeant of grenadiers home on furlough, and luxuriating in plain clothes. He and Hewitt walked a little way toward the town, allowing the landau to catch them up. They traveled in it to within a hundred yards of the empty shops and then alighted, bidding the driver wait.

  “I shall show you three empty shops,” Hewitt said, as he and young Kentish walked down Granville Road. “I am pretty sure that Sammy Crockett is in one of them, and I am pretty sure that that is the middle one. Take a look as we go past.”

  When the shops had been slowly passed, Hewitt resumed: “Now, did you see anything about those shops that told a tale of any sort?”

  “No,” Sergeant Kentish replied. “I can’t say I noticed anything beyond the fact that they were empty — and likely to stay so, I should think.”

  “We’ll stroll back, and look in at the windows, if nobody’s watching us,” Hewitt said. “You see, it’s reasonable to suppose they’ve put him in the middle one, because that would suit their purpose best. The shops at each side of the three are occupied, and, if the prisoner struggled, or shouted, or made an uproar, he might be heard if he were in one of the shops next those inhabited. So that the middle shop is the most likely. Now, see there,” he went on, as they stopped before the window of the shop in question, “over at the back there’s a staircase not yet partitioned off. It goes down below and up above. On the stairs and on the floor near them there are muddy footmarks. These must have been made to-day, else they would not be muddy, but dry and dusty, since there hasn’t been a shower for a week till to-day. Move on
again. Then you noticed that there were no other such marks in the shop. Consequently the man with the muddy feet did not come in by the front door, but by the back; otherwise he would have made a trail from the door. So we will go round to the back ourselves.”

  It was now growing dusk. The small pieces of ground behind the shops were bounded by a low fence, containing a door for each house.

  “This door is bolted inside, of course,” Hewitt said, “but there is no difficulty in climbing. I think we had better wait in the garden till dark. In the meantime, the jailer, whoever he is, may come out; in which case we shall pounce on him as soon as he opens the door. You have that few yards of cord in your pocket, I think? And my handkerchief, properly rolled, will make a very good gag. Now over.”

  They climbed the fence and quietly approached the house, placing themselves in the angle of an outhouse out of sight from the windows. There was no sound, and no light appeared. Just above the ground about a foot of window was visible, with a grating over it, apparently lighting a basement. Suddenly Hewitt touched his companion’s arm and pointed toward the window. A faint rustling sound was perceptible, and, as nearly as could be discerned in the darkness, some white blind or covering was placed over the glass from the inside. Then came the sound of a striking match, and at the side edge of the window there was a faint streak of light.

  “That’s the place,” Hewitt whispered. “Come, we’ll make a push for it. You stand against the wall at one side of the door and I’ll stand at the other, and we’ll have him as he comes out. Quietly, now, and I’ll startle them.”

  He took a stone from among the rubbish littering the garden and flung it crashing through the window. There was a loud exclamation from within, the blind fell, and somebody rushed to the back door and flung it open. Instantly Kentish let fly a heavy right-hander, and the man went over like a skittle. In a moment Hewitt was upon him and the gag in his mouth.