The Devil's Cocktail (24 page)

Hugh laughed heartily.

‘Oscar,' he said, ‘you've got to learn a lot about my sister. I can see that she is going to spend the rest of her life twisting you round her little finger.'

‘That's what her little finger's for, bless it!' said the American.

They rose from the table.

‘Very well, Joan,' said Hugh, ‘you've won!'

She danced with delight.

‘You're a dear!' she said to her brother, and kissed him. ‘And you're a darling!' she added to Miles and repeated the performance.

He took her in his arms and returned the caress with compound interest.

‘And what am I?' asked the plaintive voice of Cousins.

‘You're one of the nicest men I have ever met!' she said with conviction.

‘Thank you!' he replied, bowing. ‘But – er – don't I get the doings?'

She looked at him half shyly, half smilingly.

‘Well, perhaps just a teeny one!' she said, and glancing round to see that no servants were about, she kissed him gently on the forehead and ran from the room.

‘The touch of an angel's wing,' he murmured. ‘But you notice,' he went on, ‘that granddad only gets a kiss on the forehead! Ah! To be young again!'

‘Go and have your dinner, Jerry!' laughed Hugh. ‘Then as soon as you're ready we'll beard the lion in his den.'

‘A bear, not a lion, I reckon,' said Miles; ‘and by the time we have finished with him, he'll have the sorest head that any bear ever had!'

Cousins did not take very long to eat his dinner and, when he had finished, the injured men were taken out to the car, and put in the tonneau with him to look after them. Hugh, Joan, and Miles squeezed into the front seat. It was rather a tight fit, but Joan and Miles seemed to like it, and apparently, in their desire to allow Hugh room to drive, they crushed together into a remarkably small space, and he actually found more room than he needed. However, he made no comment, which shows that Hugh was a tactful person.

As they passed the gate post they saw that the knife was still sticking where it had been flung. Shannon pulled up, and Cousins got out of the car, and obtained the dangerous-looking weapon. He threw it on to the seat, and they drove on.

It did not take very long to reach Novar's bungalow, and they arrived to find a car standing in the porch. Hugh pulled up just behind the other machine.

‘It looks as though he has visitors,' he said.

‘No,' said Cousins; ‘that's his own car. I know the number remarkably well.'

Shannon, Miles, and Cousins got out and lifted the recumbent form of the fellow with the fractured skull on to the ground. He still showed no signs of returning consciousness, but the man with the broken jaw had regained his senses on the way. He was helped out also, while the other man was able to step out without any assistance. The three were taken to the veranda. Then Cousins came back.

‘Sit tight, Miss Shannon!' he said. ‘And if anyone comes near you, call out!'

‘Very well,' she promised, and he returned to the others. Hugh knocked loudly on the door, and after a moment's delay, a servant came.

‘
Sahib salaam do
!' said the former.

‘
Jih, sahib
!' said the man, and held open the door for them to enter.

Hugh indicated that they would stay where they were, and the bearer went off to inform his master. After some minutes the heavy tread of Novar was heard from the corridor. Shannon turned and smiled at the others. Miles winked.

‘Jerry,' he said, ‘there's a switch there! Let us have all the light we can on this historical scene!'

Cousins switched on a powerful light, which illuminated the whole veranda, and at that moment the door opened, and Novar appeared before them.

‘Good evening,' he said. ‘What can—'

Then he recognised his visitors, and a spasm passed across his face, but he recovered himself instantly.

‘This is a pleasure,' he said, but the tone of his voice denied the assertion. ‘Come in!'

‘No, we won't come in, thanks very much!' said Hugh. ‘We just called to return some belongings of yours.'

‘Some belongings of mine?' questioned Novar in a surprised tone.

‘Yes; they gave me a little trouble, but they're nearly intact!'

‘I don't understand you,' said the astounded man. ‘When did I leave any possessions of mine with you?'

‘You didn't leave them,' replied Hugh. ‘You merely sent them along! I'm afraid they are not in such good condition as they were!'

‘What on earth do you mean?' Novar's face expressed a most remarkable mixture of emotions: surprise, doubt, distrust, fear, all were there.

‘You are a forgetful fellow!' said Hugh chidingly. He was
enjoying himself. ‘Perhaps you'll remember when you see them.'

He stepped aside. Cousins and Miles did the same, and Novar's horrified eyes beheld three Indians, whom he knew very well indeed. One had his arm in a sling, another had a bandage round his face – these two were sitting miserably on the floor. The other, with his head wrapped in bandages, was lying prone, and appeared to be asleep.

Novar leant, against the door post; his face had gone the colour of chalk and seemed to be more flabby than ever. His teeth clenched together and a hissing sound came from between them. For a moment there was a silence which was so pregnant with feeling that it seemed almost noisy. At last Hugh spoke again:

‘Well, aren't you grateful?' he asked.

Novar's hand stole to his jacket pocket, but Miles made a slight movement, and a revolver gleamed in his hand.

‘Don't be a fool, Novar!' he said, and his voice sounded like steel. ‘There are three of us and when it comes to drawing a gun, I guess any one of us could pull three before you got your finger on the trigger of yours. You kinder look foolish sliding your hand about in that baby fashion.'

‘What are you all talking about?' the other asked, almost pathetically. ‘Is this some elaborate practical joke?'

‘Don't try to bluff, Novar!' said Hugh sternly. ‘I told you you ought to learn to play poker, didn't I? Here are your possessions! They all want medical attention. You had better have them seen to as soon as possible.'

‘But I've never seen these men in my life before!' protested the Russian.

‘Gee! That's mighty strange!' said Miles sarcastically. ‘Did you give them their orders with your back turned towards them, or were you blindfolded?'

‘Gentlemen,' said Novar, spreading his hands out in a gesture of hopelessness. ‘I give you my word that you have made some extraordinary mistake. Come inside, and let us talk this matter over!'

‘No, thanks!' said Hugh. ‘I prefer to be on the outside of this house. We have done what we came to do – there are your goods; take them! And next time you send your emissaries to commit murder, be more subtle about it. We know you, Novar, and we're not to be deluded. You had better go and talk this over with your friend Rahtz – that is if he has recovered from cholera yet!'

With that the three turned and walked down the steps and reentered the car. Hugh backed slowly up the drive, Cousins and Miles keeping their hands on their revolvers the while. Novar stood like a statue where they had left him, and gradually there came over his face a look of diabolical fury. With a glance of malignant scorn at the three miserable wretches in front of him, he turned suddenly and entered the bungalow, slamming the door behind him. He went straight to the telephone, and rang up Hudson.

As soon as they were outside the gates of Novar's grounds, Miles and Joan sat in the tonneau, and Cousins joined Hugh in front: thus they proceeded home. They were well satisfied with their visit to Novar, but resolved to redouble their precautions against attack of any kind for the future. Joan went to bed fairly early, but the three men stayed up talking for a considerable time. Before they retired they made certain that every door in the house was securely locked and bolted, and with a final whisky and soda wandered off to their various rooms.

Hugh found it difficult to sleep that night and when he did eventually fall into a troubled slumber, it seemed to him that it was only a few minutes before he was awake again with a feeling that there was something wrong. He listened intently, but nothing was to be heard save the ticking of his clock on the mantelpiece, the luminous
dial of which showed him that it was twenty minutes past two. He smiled to himself, and came to the conclusion that the events of the evening had reacted on his mind. Making himself as comfortable as he could, with his arm under the pillow in a favourite attitude, he tried to get to sleep again. Then suddenly he was sitting up, every nerve on the alert. He had distinctly caught the sound of soft footsteps.

Getting quietly out of bed, he put on his dressing gown and slippers and moved to the door. He had almost reached it, when there was a piercing scream, and the front door slammed. With a horrible dread in his heart he dashed into the corridor, at the same moment as Miles switched on the lights, and Cousins made his appearance.

‘My God! What was that?' cried the latter.

‘It's Joan! See to Joan!' shouted Miles in agony.

Hugh was in his sister's bedroom, and had switched on the lights in a second. One glance revealed to him an empty bed and the bedclothes thrown back. He called to the others and they entered. The door communicating with the bathroom was locked on the bedroom side, and there was no sign of the poor girl anywhere.

‘They've got her!' groaned Hugh. ‘The fiends! They've got her!'

‘After them!' cried Cousins. ‘Go and get the car out, Hugh! And you, Oscar, put on a dressing gown and shoes – hurry!'

The little man rushed away to garb himself, while Hugh dashed frantically to the garage. Miles hastily put on some shoes, and an overcoat. His face was white, his teeth clenched, and there was a look almost of madness in his eyes.

‘If one little hair of her darling head is hurt,' he muttered, ‘I'll tear the devils to pieces with my own hands.'

Novar rang up Hudson with his mind in a perfect tumult of emotions. Recent events had convinced him, as well as Rahtz, that Shannon had, by some means or other, discovered that the Principal of Mozang College was in Lahore for other reasons besides the education of the young Indian. But Novar fancied himself secure, had not imagined for one moment that he also was suspected. The arrival of Shannon, Cousins and Miles with their injured prisoners – the men he had sent either to kill or seriously disable Shannon – had, therefore, come as a terrible shock to him. His mind was in a state of chaos, he was almost bereft of the power of thought; he was only aware of a blind fury, intermingled with a dreadful fear, as he waited for Hudson to come to the telephone in reply to his urgent call.

At last he heard the voice of the other.

‘Is that Novar?' it asked.

‘Yes! Get into your car quickly, and drive to Rahtz's bungalow! I'll meet you there.'

‘What has happened?'

‘You'll know all presently! Hurry!'

He rang off, and calling for his chauffeur had himself driven to Rahtz's bungalow, without bestowing another glance at the three men on the veranda. He met Mrs Rahtz at the door of her house talking to a woman visitor, who was just going. It needed a gigantic effort to hide the agitation which was consuming him, but he succeeded tolerably well, and raised his hat with a pretence of his usual suave politeness.

‘I am afraid my husband is asleep, Mr Novar,' said Mrs Rahtz.

‘I wouldn't think of disturbing him at such an hour,' said he, ‘but as I was passing I called in to ask how he is.'

As he spoke he looked meaningly at her.

‘Come in for a few minutes!' she said. And saying ‘goodbye' to her visitor, she ushered him into the drawing room.

As soon as they were inside he threw off the cloak of urbanity.

‘I must see Rahtz immediately,' he said. ‘It is a matter of the gravest importance. Hudson will be here in a moment also.'

‘What has happened?' she asked, her face paling.

‘Never mind that now!' he replied. almost curtly. ‘Go and wake Rahtz, if he is really asleep!'

She went without another word, and Novar spent the time until her return in walking about the room, with hands behind his back and muttering to himself. Hudson arrived just as Mrs Rahtz was on her way back to the drawing room, and entered the house without ceremony.

‘Is Novar here?' he asked eagerly.

‘Yes!' she replied. ‘Mr Hudson,
what
is the matter?'

‘I haven't the vaguest notion,' he said. ‘Where is he?'

She led the way into the room.

‘My husband is waiting for you,' she said to Novar.

He nodded curtly to Hudson.

‘Come with me!' he said, and without taking any further notice of Mrs Rahtz walked off to the bedroom followed by the civil service man.

Rahtz was sitting in bed propped up by pillows. He looked years older, and his face was white and haggard; even his moustache seemed to be drooping and lifeless, but there was a gleam in his eyes which showed that his mind was still in its most active state.

‘Find chairs and sit down, both of you!' he said in a thin voice, and when they were seated: ‘What's the matter, Novar?' he asked.

‘We've absolutely underrated Shannon and Cousins,' burst out the other. ‘And Miles, too, is hand in glove with them. Something must be done immediately, or we are ruined!'

Hudson clutched the arms of his chair, and looked at the speaker with eyes of frightened inquiry. Rahtz frowned but made no comment.

‘Tonight,' went on Novar, ‘I've had a visit from all three of them, and they brought back three of the four men I sent to Crescent Road in the hope of killing Shannon!'

A particularly ugly oath burst from between Rahtz's bloodless lips.

‘Then they know—' began Hudson hoarsely.

‘They know that I am a Russian emissary as well as Rahtz,' interrupted Novar. ‘I am wondering what else they know!'

‘Do you think they also know of my connection with you?' asked the terror-stricken Hudson.

‘Of course they do!' said Rahtz brutally. ‘What fools we've been. I see it all now: they must have suspected us right from the beginning. Perhaps Miles stayed in Bombay to watch us, when we met you and Oppenheimer there, and they've watched us ever since. The devil
take them – and us, for imagining that they were fools!'

‘If they know about me, what am I to do?' moaned Hudson, and he was shaking in every limb.

‘Pull yourself together and don't be such a coward!' said Novar.

He himself was not in much better condition, Rahtz as usual being the most composed. The latter looked bitterly at the civil servant.

‘It's worms like you that ruin everything!' he said. ‘I wish we'd never met you.'

‘How have I ruined everything?' asked the other, with a glimpse of spirit.

‘Oh, don't let us quarrel again,' said Novar. ‘The position is desperate, and we've got to face it. Attempts have been made to do away with Shannon, and Cousins, and even Miles – they have all failed! Now what is to be done?'

‘I wonder who Miles really is?' said Rahtz. ‘It's through him, I feel sure, that we were first suspected. Oh, idiots that we were to think him a harmless fool!'

He ground his teeth with rage.

‘I can't understand why they have not put the police on our track!' said Novar.

‘Because they want to find out what we're doing,' replied the sick man.

‘But that doesn't explain why they have shown their hand now,' muttered Hudson.

‘I think I can see why they have done that,' said Rahtz. ‘The attempts that have been made on them lately, though unsuccessful, have worried them, and so they have come out into the open as a sort of warning to us to stop. But, by Heaven!' he cried, ‘it won't stop us! Now is the time to make some drastic move that will keep them
quiet, or destroy the three of them entirely! What did they say to you tonight, Novar?'

The latter repeated the conversation, and Rahtz's face was an unpleasant sight.

‘So he told you to talk it over with me, did he?' he snapped. ‘And how the devil did he know I had cholera?'

Novar shrugged his shoulders hopelessly.

‘How does he know anything?' he said.

The three men sat thinking for several minutes. Each showed his temperament by the expression on his face. Rahtz's was brutal in the intensity of his hatred; Novar's was twitching, half with fear, half with cruelty and cunning; Hudson's was wholly terror-stricken, the face of an arrant poltroon. Yet he was the first to speak, and he even spoke with a semblance of spirit.

‘It seems to me,' he said, ‘that we can't carry on any longer as we have been doing. You two don't stand to lose much. I, on the other hand, lose my post – everything. I daren't return to the office again, and neither of you can risk going on with your work openly. For all we know the police may have been informed already!'

Novar nodded.

‘There's a lot in what you say,' he said. ‘It certainly would be safer to go into hiding until after the meeting is over, and then we can disappear and lay low in Peshawar or 'Pindi.'

‘Bah!' said Rahtz. ‘That is all very well. But do you suggest doing this without striking another blow at Shannon?'

‘No, I don't!' cried Hudson, and his face was distorted with hatred. ‘I, for one, want to see him suffer hell, and that brute Miles, too!'

‘Why Miles?' inquired Novar.

‘Don't you know?' went on the civil servant, still in the shrill voice
of the coward forced to action. ‘He is engaged to Joan, and I want her. I'll have her if I wreck the schemes of the whole world!'

He rose to his feet and there was madness in his eyes.

‘You'll sit down and talk sense!' commanded Rahtz, and he looked meaningly at Novar, who stood up and, taking Hudson by the arm, helped him back into his chair almost gently.

‘No use getting excited, Hudson,' he said. ‘We've got to discuss this matter calmly. I think we had better go into hiding, and at once,' he went on. ‘Only four days remain until the meeting and it would be worse than rash to risk our liberty, when it is so essential that we should be free to receive our friends. Possibly the slightest hint of anything going wrong may seriously injure our cause, and we must not allow them to become alarmed!'

‘You are right!' nodded Rahtz. ‘I propose, therefore, that the three of us disappear tonight. All our preparations are made, luckily. And' – a hateful smile came into his face – ‘I have thought of the very means to make Shannon and Miles suffer to the utmost, and at the same time protect ourselves and give Hudson his heart's desire.'

‘What is that?' asked Novar quickly, and Hudson leant forward eagerly.

‘Kidnap the girl! We can then send a note to Shannon telling him that she will be perfectly safe while he and his friends remain inactive, but if he attempts to find us or her' – he spread his hands out significantly. ‘That I think, will make both him and Miles suffer very acute agony and, at the same time, Hudson can have the girl and do what he likes with her!'

‘A splendid plan, my dear Rahtz,' said Novar, rubbing his hands together softly, while Hudson sat back in his chair, a gloating, horrible look in his eyes.

‘How do you propose to do it?' he asked.

‘I don't propose to do it at all,' replied Rahtz sharply. ‘As soon as you two have gone I shall get up and go to our little retreat, and I advise you two to follow my excellent example. Bring all papers of any importance with you and be careful to leave nothing incriminating behind. All of us, I believe,' he looked from one to the other with a smile, ‘have put our money in safe places, so we will lose nothing but our furniture and unnecessary clothing.'

‘Are you well enough to travel, Rahtz?' asked Novar.

‘Yes; I have been in the garden for a little time today. Besides,' he smiled again, ‘it is not far to our haven of safety!'

‘But what about the girl?' demanded Hudson querulously. ‘It is all very well to leave it to us, but—'

‘You will find Kamper in The Retreat. I should advise you to get there as soon as possible and put it in his hands. I know of no one more likely to tackle a matter of that sort successfully. Of course as soon as she has disappeared Shannon and his friends will come clamouring to our houses, but they will find empty shells!'

‘And your wife?' asked Novar.

‘She will stay here for a day or so; nobody can harm her, as she knows very little, and that she won't divulge. She will put it about that I have gone away for a change and make it right with the doctors. You, my dear Novar, are lucky that your wife. has already gone away for Christmas and it is known that you were to join her. Your servants must be told to say that you have gone a little earlier than you at first intended. I did not expect that we should have to use The Retreat quite so soon; however, I have no regrets!'

‘And what about me?' cried Hudson. ‘I can't put a report about that I have gone away for a change or a holiday!'

Rahtz looked at him with a sneer.

‘Your disappearance will merely be a nine days' wonder,' he said. ‘And, after all, you will have the girl.'

‘Yes,' said Hudson in a voice that would have repelled any decent man. ‘I shall have the girl!'

‘And now, gentlemen,' went on Rahtz, ‘you had better go and make your preparations at once. I am rather weary and I must rest before I move, besides which I have a lot to say to my wife.'

The other two rose.

‘Au revoir for the present!' said Novar, in a much more complaisant tone than he had used when he first entered the room. ‘We will meet later!'

He left, followed by Hudson. They each went straight to their respective homes. Hudson collected together everything he considered of importance and bundled them into a large suitcase, which he carried out to his car and, without a word to the servants, drove away. Novar was more meticulous and made a careful examination of every room in the bungalow. Once or twice he sighed when he looked at favourite articles of furniture and reflected that he would have to leave them behind. He spent more than half an hour in his study going through the drawers in his desk. He destroyed a pile of papers in the fire which was burning in the grate, and placed others in a bag which he had procured from his dressing room. He then opened the safe and, taking out everything inside it, put the contents into the bag with the other papers. That done, he sat down and wrote a letter.

When he had finished writing he called for a servant.

‘You will take the boxes, which are packed, and this letter for memsahib by the first train for Delhi tomorrow. I am leaving now in the car and am staying with friends on the way, so I will not arrive at Delhi for some days. You understand?'

‘Yes, sahib!'

‘If, before you leave, some men call to ask for me, you must know nothing, and if possible, get away tomorrow without anyone knowing where you have gone, as I do not want memsahib troubled by inquiries for me.'

‘Very well, sahib!'

‘Here is money for all your expenses and pay the other servants before you go!'

‘What about the three sick men, sahib? What is to be done with them?'

‘Damn them!' muttered Novar in Russian. ‘I had forgotten them.' He thought for a few minutes. ‘Get a tonga and send them to the hospital!' he said at last. ‘Pay the tonga driver well and tell him to say that you found them after a fight. They won't give themselves away; that's certain!'

A smile showed on the face of the servant. He knew a good deal and, if the truth were known, was almost as great a scoundrel as his master.

‘I will see to it, sahib,' he said.