The Devil's Cocktail (19 page)

His Excellency rose from his chair, and for a few minutes paced up and down the room. Then he sat down again.

‘I think you had better tell us everything, Captain Shannon,' he said.

Hugh told him all that he and his companions had discovered. His auditors listened with growing amazement and, when eventually he had finished, there was a tense silence for several minutes. At last the Governor knocked out the ashes of his pipe.

‘The whole thing sounds like part of a particularly imaginative novel,' he remarked. ‘And you have actually sent those two letters home?'

‘Yes, sir!'

‘Well, it looks, Shannon, as though you and your companions have saved Great Britain from disaster. God only knows what would have happened if we had never known these things. Of course the home Government will deal with the matter as soon as it is in a
position to act. What a blow for the League of Nations and our hopes of disarmament!'

‘That meeting on December the twenty-first will be interesting,' remarked the Deputy Commissioner.

‘I shall be there!' said Hugh quietly.

‘How are you going to manage it?' queried His Excellency.

‘I don't know yet,' was the reply; ‘but it is absolutely essential that I should be present. In fact what action Great Britain takes will depend upon a complete report of the meeting being placed before the Government.'

Sir Reginald smiled.

‘Now that I know these things,' he said, ‘it is going to be a difficult matter to remain inactive. I shall feel like an idler, who watches while great stakes are being played for. A tremendous responsibility rests on your shoulders, Shannon!'

‘I realise that, sir, but with Cousins and Miles to share the work with me, I have no fear of the result. Of course, you and Mr Rainer will be careful to let no suspicion reach either Rahtz, Novar, or Hudson that you are aware of anything?'

‘Certainly not,' said His Excellency.

Rainer sighed.

‘I wish I could arrest the three of them now,' he said.

‘Such a thing would be ridiculous at the present juncture,' said Hugh. ‘They have no idea yet that I suspect them, and when they find out, if they do—' He paused and smiled grimly.

‘Did you say they are watching you?' said the Governor.

‘Every movement, sir!' returned the secret agent. ‘But they are watching me because they know why I am in India. At present they haven't the vaguest idea that I have discovered anything.'

‘You will keep me well posted about events?' asked the Governor.

‘By all means, sir!'

‘And, of course, Rainer will always be ready to supply you with any help.'

The Deputy Commissioner nodded quickly.

‘I'm only sorry,' he said, ‘that I cannot take a hand now.'

Hugh smiled.

‘You'll probably have all the excitement you want before we are finished.'

His Excellency put a few more shrewd questions, during which he and Rainer learnt, much to their amusement, of the way Hugh had tricked his two shadowers in the car. Then the latter took his leave, accompanied by the Commissioner. They stood talking on the terrace for a few minutes before parting.

‘I am looking forward to meeting Cousins,' said Rainer. ‘It appears to me from what you have told us about him that he is the sort of man one reads about but seldom meets.'

‘He is!' smiled Hugh. ‘Cousins is in a class by himself, and is one of the most brilliant men we have.'

Soon after that they shook hands and Rainer drove away. Hugh gave him a few minutes and then followed. It was quite dark by this time, and it was necessary to have the powerful headlights on. He did not hurry, being too engrossed in his thoughts to desire speed. He turned into Crescent Road, and had reached the gates of his bungalow, when gently he pulled up and at the same time switched off the lights. He had caught the sudden flash of an electric torch at the side of the house, and it gave him cause for reflection. In the first place, the servants were quite likely to use such torches, but their quarters and the kitchen were on the opposite side of the house; secondly, he knew that Miles had a bridge appointment at the Club and that Cousins had expressed his intention of having a glance, as
he called it, round Rahtz's house. Therefore only Joan was in. Hugh came to the conclusion that the owner of the torch was someone who had no business there. He got out and, releasing the brakes, quietly pushed the car half way down the drive, and left it there. Then gradually he crept nearer and nearer to the bungalow.

Again came the flash, and he saw that it was focused on the bathroom door of his own rooms. He noticed that the door was being pushed open, then the light disappeared. Hugh entered the bungalow as quietly as he could, crept by the sitting room where Joan was curled up in an armchair reading a book, and reached his own bedroom. The door was open, but the room was hidden by a curtain. He listened intently, but not a sound reached his ears. Taking a small revolver from his pocket he carefully drew aside the curtain, and quietly entered. The room was in pitch blackness and he stood for several minutes wondering where the intruder was. At last, came a slight sound from the direction of the dressing room, and he caught the reflection of a light, which immediately disappeared again. He moved to the electric switch and placed his left hand on it.

A minute went by, then he heard the swish of the curtain which hung between the bedroom and the dressing room, and knew that the man was actually in the room with him. A few seconds later and the electric torch was switched on and the light focused on the floor. It gradually moved higher and round the room. When it had almost reached him, Hugh turned on the lights.

‘This is an unexpected visit, Kamper!' he said grimly, as he recognised the other.

A vicious oath came from the startled visitant.

‘Put your hands up, and keep 'em up!' commanded Hugh. ‘I've been wanting to have a little talk with you for a long time!'

Rather to Shannon's surprise the small, sallow-faced man with the shifty eyes made no effort at resistance. He calmly sat on the bed, and put his torch in his pocket.

‘I did not invite you to sit down,' said Hugh.

The other shrugged his shoulders.

‘Vell, it can't hurt you if I do, I suppose,' he said, speaking in a heavy nasal voice, which suggested that he was suffering from adenoids.

‘I have no objection to your sitting, as a matter of fact, but there are several chairs in the room!'

The Jew rose, sauntered to an easy chair, and threw himself into it with an appearance of utter nonchalance, which annoyed his captor.

‘You take things very coolly, my friend!' he said.

‘Zere is not a great deal of good doing othervise,' was the reply.

‘I'm glad you are so sensible!'

A sneering smile appeared on the Jew's face.

‘I vould be very annoyed at this accident, only I happen to know that you vill have to let me go.'

‘Indeed! Perhaps you will tell me why?'

‘Simply because you vould have to give away the real reason vhy you are in Lahore, if you handed me over to the police!'

‘Oh!' Hugh began to feel vastly amused at the calm insolence of the other. ‘You think so, do you? I'm afraid that you are in for an unpleasant shock.'

The Jew smiled unbelievingly.

‘Bluff!' he said quietly and calmly.

‘No, Mr Kamper, it is not bluff! Quite apart from whether I give myself away or not, and I assure you there is nothing to give away, you seem to forget that I can have you arrested for the very serious crime of housebreaking!'

That appeared to give the man something to think furiously on. He bit his lips, and his shifty little eyes, for the first time, looked at Hugh. What he saw in the latter's face did not seem to reassure him.

‘You dare not!' he growled, but in rather a doubtful tone.

‘There is no question of daring,' said Hugh firmly, ‘and such is my intention! At the same time it may please you to know that what I was and what I am are two entirely different things, and though I am now merely a professor in a college, I have not so far forgotten my old profession as to also forget the connection you had with it. In fact I can and
will
, tell a most interesting story to the authorities here. No; keep your hands up!'

‘How can I keep my hands up?' grunted Kamper.

‘Getting tired?' inquired Shannon. ‘Very well, stand up, and when I have relieved you of any lethal weapons you have upon you, you may put your hands down.'

The Jew refused to move, and Hugh approached to within a foot of him.

‘Stand up!' he snapped. ‘I won't have any nonsense and as sure as my name is Shannon, I'll shoot you if you don't do as you're told.'

It takes a man of great courage to refuse to obey an order in the face of a revolver pointed firmly at him, and Kamper was not a man of great courage – in fact like most of his breed he was a coward at heart. Also he knew that Shannon would do as he threatened, a glance into those steel grey eyes assured him of that. He rose to his feet, his hands still held high above his head.

Hugh had no intention of merely feeling for weapons, and so with the revolver pressed against a spot over Kamper's heart, he went thoroughly through the latter's pockets. He found a long stiletto-like knife in a curiously fashioned sheath, the electric torch, a revolver, a few letters written in Russian, some bank notes, and a watch; that was all. But when he removed the watch the Jew made an effort to prevent him, immediately stopped by the pressure on his breast.

‘You can put down your hands now!' said Hugh. He sat down on the bed, the watch in his left hand. ‘Apparently this is the object you least desired me to have,' he went on; ‘therefore worth examining,'

‘It is vorth a lot to me,' said Kamper, sullenly, ‘It vas a present, and I don't vant to lose it.'

‘You're not going to lose it, my friend!'

Hugh opened the back of the watch, and at the same time the Jew made a convulsive leap forward, only to be brought up by the cold touch of the revolver against his head.

‘Sit down!' said Shannon sternly. ‘If you make a move like that again I'll shoot. You had a very narrow escape then!'

Slowly the fellow slunk back and sank into the chair. Hugh found
a folded piece of paper in the back of the watch. With the other's eyes following his movements with a look of hatred, he straightened out the paper, and glanced at it. What he saw there almost made him start with surprise. It was a replica of the drawing on the sheet of paper that Miles had found in Hudson's coat pocket in Bombay, with the addition of three figures written in the centre of the map – just under the eagle and dragon – ‘8. 21.'

Hugh leant forward.

‘What is this?' he asked.

‘Can't you see vot it is?' replied Kamper sulkily.

‘I wouldn't ask if I could. I recognise a map of India, but what do the eagles and dragons imply?'

‘Eagles and dragons, I suppose!'

‘It might be to your advantage to answer my question properly,' said Hugh quietly.

‘I have answered it. I suppose I can draw eagles and dragons, and lions and tigers, if I vant to!'

‘And then put the drawing carefully away in the back of your watch,' remarked Hugh sarcastically. ‘I did not know that you were an artist, Kamper!'

‘Vell, you know now!'

‘I remain unconvinced. This was not drawn by you, my man.'

The Jew glanced quickly at him, then shrugged his shoulders.

‘Oh, well, if you won't tell me,' went on Hugh, ‘I daresay I can puzzle it out; also the meaning of the figures!'

‘Vot figures?' cried Kamper, and started to his feet.

‘Ah! So you had forgotten them!' grinned Shannon. ‘They must be important, too, I should think from your look of alarm. Oh, well, we're getting on! Are you quite determined not to explain the meaning of this?'

He waved the paper. Kamper looked as though he would have liked to have made a grab at it, but refrained.

‘Zere is nothing to explain,' he growled. ‘You can tear it up if you like.'

‘Of course I can,' laughed Hugh, ‘but I won't!' He put it in his pocket. ‘Now,' he said; ‘I want to know first what you are doing in Lahore; secondly, why you are in my room?'

The Jew maintained a sullen silence in spite of repeated efforts by Hugh to get him to talk. At last the Englishman gave it up.

‘As you won't confess,' he said, ‘nothing remains to be done, but to hand you over to the authorities. I might as well tell you that I have known of your presence in Lahore for a considerable time – I was waiting for you to come out into the open and proclaim yourself!'

Kamper shot him a look in which fear and surprise were equally blended.

‘How did you know?' he gasped.

‘You were seen some weeks ago in a motor car. I think it must have been the day you arrived. Now then, come along into the corridor: I am going to ring up the police and tell them to come and collect you.'

The Jew rose quietly enough, Hugh watching him carefully the while, prepared for an attempt at escape. But he was not quite prepared for what actually did happen. He was standing slightly sideways and close to the other man as the latter rose. Suddenly Kamper kicked hard and viciously at a spot behind Hugh's right knee, and the latter staggered and almost fell. Before he could recover, the Jew dashed into the bathroom and away.

Shannon was after him in a flash, but the kick had numbed his leg and when he followed the Jew outside the latter was nowhere to be seen. He hobbled down the path, searching in the bushes on either
side as he went, but Kamper had completely disappeared.

Hugh presently reached the car which was standing, of course, where he had left it, and leaning on the radiator bitterly reproached himself for not being more careful. He stood there for some time listening and endeavouring to search the darkness for a sign of the fugitive, but nothing suspicious occurred and, at last, he got into the car and drove it to the garage where he locked it up for the night.

When he entered the house Joan was still in the sitting room reading. Apparently nothing had disturbed her.

‘Hullo, Hugh!' she said. ‘You've been longer than I expected.'

He smiled grimly.

‘I've been in for some time,' he replied. ‘While you were sitting here, I was entertaining Kamper in my bedroom.'

She looked at him in wide-eyed surprise. He told her of the Jew's visit, and how he had let him escape.

‘Good gracious!' she exclaimed. ‘I heard nothing! Are you hurt?'

‘No,' he replied shortly; ‘my leg was a bit numb for a few minutes. It's all right now! But what an utter fool I was to let him get away!'

‘You couldn't help it; but why didn't you call me? I could have telephoned to the police for you.'

‘I wish I had,' he groaned. ‘That fellow is as cute as a cartload of monkeys.'

When later Miles and Cousins returned – the latter reporting that he could not get into Rahtz's bungalow as there was a party on, though as far as he could make out Rahtz himself seemed to be absent – Hugh repeated to them the story of his encounter with Kamper.

‘Rotten luck!' sympathised Cousins over the escape.

Miles nodded.

‘Perhaps it's as well though,' he said thoughtfully. ‘Handing
Kamper over to the authorities would have meant their asking an endless stream of questions.'

‘I would have referred them to Rainer,' said Hugh. ‘Besides the Jew will tell the others that I have that paper with the map on it, and I have an idea that it is rather important.'

‘M'm, yes; that's true!'

‘Let us see it!' said Cousins.

Hugh took it from his pocket, and handed it round. Joan examined it as eagerly as the two men.

‘It's just the same as the other,' remarked Miles, ‘except for the figures. I wonder what they mean!'

‘I wonder what the whole thing means,' said Hugh almost in exasperation.

Various explanations were mooted and put aside as being absurd, then Joan gave a little cry. The others looked at her inquiringly.

‘I think I've got it!' she exclaimed. ‘Didn't you say that the meeting was to be held on the twenty-first?'

Hugh nodded eagerly.

‘Well,' she went on, ‘this twenty-one stands for that date, and the eight means the time that the meeting is to be held!'

‘Golly!' said Miles. ‘You've hit it, Miss Joan!' She looked at him half shyly, half reproachfully. ‘I mean – Joan!' he added with a broad smile, and she looked wholly shy.

‘Trust a woman's wit!' remarked Cousins. ‘Now let me see, there should be a quotation from—'

‘Never mind your quotations,' interrupted Hugh. ‘We now know practically all there is to know about that meeting. Probably the drawing is a kind of passport those fellows carry about with them, so that they can prove their bonafides to each other.'

‘Far more likely,' said Joan, ‘it is a passport to the meeting!'

Cousins whistled; Hugh stared; Miles slapped his leg.

‘I'll bet my bottom dollar she is right,' said the American. ‘Joan has more brains than the rest of us put together.'

‘Well, I'll carry one with me on the twenty-first,' said Hugh, ‘and, if it becomes necessary, try it on.'

‘And I've got a hunch I'll carry the other,' said Miles.

‘Where do I come in?' asked Cousins indignantly.

‘You, Jerry, will stay at home like a good dutiful valet.'

‘To borrow a little of your own picturesque phraseology,' replied Cousins; ‘you have another think coming!'

‘What about the letters, Hugh?' asked Joan.

‘Yes,' said the American, ‘perhaps they contain some information.'

Hugh went to his room and brought back the letters and other things he had taken from Kamper.

‘Quite a collection!' murmured Cousins. ‘A nasty-looking knife, that! I don't suppose he exactly carried it to trim his fingernails, so it's as well you relieved him of it.'

‘He professed to have a great sentimental desire for the watch,' remarked Hugh, ‘but that was before I found that sheet of paper in it! What are these about, Cousins?'

He handed the letters to the other, who read them through and then handed them back with an air of disappointment.

‘They're only ordinary,' he said. ‘One is from a brother telling him about his troubles on a farm near Ivanovo, another is addressed from the post office at Nijni Novgorod telling him that his mother is dangerously ill, and the other is from his mother herself saying that she is better, but doesn't expect to live long, and would like him to come to her.'

Hugh grunted, while Miles grinned.

‘Somehow,' he said, ‘one doesn't associate Kamper with a mother, but I suppose he's only human after all!'

After dinner Miles was left alone with Joan in the sitting room – Hugh and Cousins were apparently busy elsewhere – and he made a great pretence of reading the newspaper, but his eyes kept straying to the glorious picture of young womanhood, who sat curled up in her favourite attitude in a chair before the fire. Joan was dressed in a simple little evening frock of cloudy blue georgette, which suited her colouring wonderfully. Miles thought he had never seen anything more beautiful, and likened her to an angelic figure poised on the clouds.

Joan was reading a book, at least it would be more correct to say that she was trying to read a book, but her thoughts must have been far away, for nearly half an hour went by and she had only turned over one page though, as a rule, she read quickly. At last she even gave up trying and, putting the novel down with a sigh, sat gazing into the depths of the fire, which seemed to her to be winking at her in the most outrageous manner.