IV.
THE CASE OF THE DIXON TORPEDO.
Hewitt was very apt, in conversation, to dwell upon the many curiouschances and coincidences that he had observed, not only in connection withhis own cases, but also in matters dealt with by the official police, withwhom he was on terms of pretty regular, and, indeed, friendly,acquaintanceship. He has told me many an anecdote of singular happeningsto Scotland Yard officials with whom he has exchanged experiences. OfInspector Nettings, for instance, who spent many weary months in a searchfor a man wanted by the American Government, and in the end found, by themerest accident (a misdirected call), that the man had been lodging nextdoor to himself the whole of the time; just as ignorant, of course, as wasthe inspector himself as to the enemy at the other side of the party-wall.Also of another inspector, whose name I can not recall, who, having beengiven rather meager and insufficient details of a man whom he anticipatedhaving great difficulty in finding, went straight down the stairs of theoffice where he had received instructions, and actually _fell over_ theman near the door, where he had stooped down to tie his shoe-lace! Therewere cases, too, in which, when a great and notorious crime had beencommitted, and various persons had been arrested on suspicion, some werefound among them who had long been badly wanted for some other crimealtogether. Many criminals had met their deserts by venturing out of theirown particular line of crime into another; often a man who got intotrouble over something comparatively small found himself in for astartlingly larger trouble, the result of some previous misdeed thatotherwise would have gone unpunished. The ruble note-forger Mirsky mightnever have been handed over to the Russian authorities had he confined hisgenius to forgery alone. It was generally supposed at the time of hisextradition that he had communicated with the Russian Embassy, with a viewto giving himself up--a foolish proceeding on his part, it would seem,since his whereabouts, indeed even his identity as the forger, had notbeen suspected. He _had_ communicated with the Russian Embassy, it istrue, but for quite a different purpose, as Martin Hewitt well understoodat the time. What that purpose was is now for the first time published.
* * * * *
The time was half-past one in the afternoon, and Hewitt sat in his inneroffice examining and comparing the handwriting of two letters by the aidof a large lens. He put down the lens and glanced at the clock on themantel-piece with a premonition of lunch; and as he did so his clerkquietly entered the room with one of those printed slips which were keptfor the announcement of unknown visitors. It was filled up in a hasty andalmost illegible hand, thus:
Name of visitor: _F. Graham Dixon_.
Address: _Chancery Lane_.
Business: _Private and urgent_.
"Show Mr. Dixon in," said Martin Hewitt.
Mr. Dixon was a gaunt, worn-looking man of fifty or so, well, althoughrather carelessly, dressed, and carrying in his strong, though drawn, faceand dullish eyes the look that characterizes the life-long strenuousbrain-worker. He leaned forward anxiously in the chair which Hewittoffered him, and told his story with a great deal of very naturalagitation.
"You may possibly have heard, Mr. Hewitt--I know there are rumors--of thenew locomotive torpedo which the government is about adopting; it is, infact, the Dixon torpedo, my own invention, and in every respect--notmerely in my own opinion, but in that of the government experts--by farthe most efficient and certain yet produced. It will travel at least fourhundred yards farther than any torpedo now made, with perfect accuracy ofaim (a very great desideratum, let me tell you), and will carry anunprecedentedly heavy charge. There are other advantages--speed, simpledischarge, and so forth--that I needn't bother you about. The machine isthe result of many years of work and disappointment, and its design hasonly been arrived at by a careful balancing of principles and means, whichare expressed on the only four existing sets of drawings. The whole thing,I need hardly tell you, is a profound secret, and you may judge of mypresent state of mind when I tell you that one set of drawings has beenstolen."
"From your house?"
"From my office, in Chancery Lane, this morning. The four sets of drawingswere distributed thus: Two were at the Admiralty Office, one being afinished set on thick paper, and the other a set of tracings therefrom;and the other two were at my own office, one being a penciled set,uncolored--a sort of finished draft, you understand--and the other a setof tracings similar to those at the Admiralty. It is this last set thathas gone. The two sets were kept together in one drawer in my room. Bothwere there at ten this morning; of that I am sure, for I had to go to thatvery drawer for something else when I first arrived. But at twelve thetracings had vanished."
"You suspect somebody, probably?"
"I can not. It is a most extraordinary thing. Nobody has left the office(except myself, and then only to come to you) since ten this morning, andthere has been no visitor. And yet the drawings are gone!"
"But have you searched the place?"
"Of course I have! It was twelve o'clock when I first discovered my loss,and I have been turning the place upside down ever since--I and myassistants. Every drawer has been emptied, every desk and table turnedover, the very carpet and linoleum have been taken up, but there is not asign of the drawings. My men even insisted on turning all their pocketsinside out, although I never for a moment suspected either of them, and itwould take a pretty big pocket to hold the drawings, doubled up as smallas they might be."
"You say your men--there are two, I understand--had neither left theoffice?"
"Neither; and they are both staying in now. Worsfold suggested that itwould be more satisfactory if they did not leave till something was donetoward clearing the mystery up, and, although, as I have said, I don'tsuspect either in the least, I acquiesced."
"Just so. Now--I am assuming that you wish me to undertake the recovery ofthese drawings?"
The engineer nodded hastily.
"Very good; I will go round to your office. But first perhaps you can tellme something about your assistants--something it might be awkward to tellme in their presence, you know. Mr. Worsfold, for instance?"
"He is my draughtsman--a very excellent and intelligent man, a very smartman, indeed, and, I feel sure, quite beyond suspicion. He has preparedmany important drawings for me (he has been with me nearly ten years now),and I have always found him trustworthy. But, of course, the temptation inthis case would be enormous. Still, I can not suspect Worsfold. Indeed,how can I suspect anybody in the circumstances?"
"The other, now?"
"His name's Ritter. He is merely a tracer, not a fully skilleddraughtsman. He is quite a decent young fellow, and I have had him twoyears. I don't consider him particularly smart, or he would have learned alittle more of his business by this time. But I don't see the least reasonto suspect him. As I said before, I can't reasonably suspect anybody."
"Very well; we will get to Chancery Lane now, if you please, and you cantell me more as we go."
"I have a cab waiting. What else can I tell you?"
"I understand the position to be succinctly this: The drawings were in theoffice when you arrived. Nobody came out, and nobody went in; and _yet_they vanished. Is that so?"
"That is so. When I say that absolutely nobody came in, of course I exceptthe postman. He brought a couple of letters during the morning. I meanthat absolutely nobody came past the barrier in the outer office--theusual thing, you know, like a counter, with a frame of ground glass overit."
"I quite understand that. But I think you said that the drawings were in adrawer in your _own_ room--not the outer office, where the draughtsmenare, I presume?"
"That is the case. It is an inner room, or, rather, a room parallel withthe other, and communicating with it; just as your own room is, which wehave just left."
"But, then, you say you never left your office, and yet the drawingsvanished--apparently by some unseen agency--while you were there in theroom?"
"Let me explain more clearly." The cab was bowling smoothly along theStrand, and the
engineer took out a pocket-book and pencil. "I fear," heproceeded, "that I am a little confused in my explanation--I am naturallyrather agitated. As you will see presently, my offices consist of threerooms, two at one side of a corridor, and the other opposite--thus." Hemade a rapid pencil sketch.
"In the outer office my men usually work. In the inner office I workmyself. These rooms communicate, as you see, by a door. Our ordinary wayin and out of the place is by the door of the outer office leading intothe corridor, and we first pass through the usual lifting flap in thebarrier. The door leading from the _inner_ office to the corridor isalways kept locked on the inside, and I don't suppose I unlock it once inthree months. It has not been unlocked all the morning. The drawer inwhich the missing drawings were kept, and in which I saw them at teno'clock this morning, is at the place marked D; it is a large chest ofshallow drawers in which the plans lie flat."
"I quite understand. Then there is the private room opposite. What ofthat?"
"That is a sort of private sitting-room that I rarely use, except forbusiness interviews of a very private nature. When I said I never left myoffice, I did not mean that I never stirred out of the inner office. I wasabout in one room and another, both the outer and the inner offices, andonce I went into the private room for five minutes, but nobody came eitherin or out of any of the rooms at that time, for the door of the privateroom was wide open, and I was standing at the book-case (I had gone toconsult a book), just inside the door, with a full view of the doorsopposite. Indeed, Worsfold was at the door of the outer office most of theshort time. He came to ask me a question."
"Well," Hewitt replied, "it all comes to the simple first statement. Youknow that nobody left the place or arrived, except the postman, whocouldn't get near the drawings, and yet the drawings went. Is this youroffice?"
The cab had stopped before a large stone building. Mr. Dixon alighted andled the way to the first-floor. Hewitt took a casual glance round each ofthe three rooms. There was a sort of door in the frame of ground glassover the barrier to admit of speech with visitors. This door Hewitt pushedwide open, and left so.
He and the engineer went into the inner office. "Would you like to askWorsfold and Ritter any questions?" Mr. Dixon inquired.
"Presently. Those are their coats, I take it, hanging just to the right ofthe outer office door, over the umbrella stand?"
"Yes, those are all their things--coats, hats, stick, and umbrella."
"And those coats were searched, you say?"
"Yes."
"And this is the drawer--thoroughly searched, of course?"
"Oh, certainly; every drawer was taken out and turned over."
"Well, of course I must assume you made no mistake in your hunt. Now tellme, did anybody know where these plans were, beyond yourself and your twomen?"
"As far as I can tell, not a soul."
"You don't keep an office boy?"
"No. There would be nothing for him to do except to post a letter now andagain, which Ritter does quite well for."
"As you are quite sure that the drawings were there at ten o'clock,perhaps the thing scarcely matters. But I may as well know if your menhave keys of the office?"
"Neither. I have patent locks to each door and I keep all the keys myself.If Worsfold or Ritter arrive before me in the morning they have to wait tobe let in; and I am always present myself when the rooms are cleaned. Ihave not neglected precautions, you see."
"No. I suppose the object of the theft--assuming it is a theft--is prettyplain: the thief would offer the drawings for sale to some foreigngovernment?"
"Of course. They would probably command a great sum. I have been looking,as I need hardly tell you, to that invention to secure me a very largefortune, and I shall be ruined, indeed, if the design is taken abroad. Iam under the strictest engagements to secrecy with the Admiralty, and notonly should I lose all my labor, but I should lose all the confidencereposed in me at headquarters; should, in fact, be subject to penaltiesfor breach of contract, and my career stopped forever. I can not tell youwhat a serious business this is for me. If you can not help me, theconsequences will be terrible. Bad for the service of the country, too, ofcourse."
"Of course. Now tell me this: It would, I take it, be necessary for thethief to _exhibit_ these drawings to anybody anxious to buy the secret--Imean, he couldn't describe the invention by word of mouth."
"Oh, no, that would be impossible. The drawings are of the mostcomplicated description, and full of figures upon which the whole thingdepends. Indeed, one would have to be a skilled expert to properlyappreciate the design at all. Various principles of hydrostatics,chemistry, electricity, and pneumatics are most delicately manipulated andadjusted, and the smallest error or omission in any part would upset thewhole. No, the drawings are necessary to the thing, and they are gone."
At this moment the door of the outer office was heard to open and somebodyentered. The door between the two offices was ajar, and Hewitt could seeright through to the glass door left open over the barrier and into thespace beyond. A well-dressed, dark, bushy-bearded man stood there carryinga hand-bag, which he placed on the ledge before him. Hewitt raised hishand to enjoin silence. The man spoke in a rather high-pitched voice andwith a slight accent. "Is Mr. Dixon now within?" he asked.
"He is engaged," answered one of the draughtsmen; "very particularlyengaged. I am afraid you won't be able to see him this afternoon. Can Igive him any message?"
"This is two--the second time I have come to-day. Not two hours ago Mr.Dixon himself tells me to call again. I have a very important--veryexcellent steam-packing to show him that is very cheap and the best of themarket." The man tapped his bag. "I have just taken orders from thelargest railway companies. Can not I see him, for one second only? I willnot detain him."
"Really, I'm sure you can't this afternoon; he isn't seeing anybody. Butif you'll leave your name----"
"My name is Hunter; but what the good of that? He ask me to call a littlelater, and I come, and now he is engaged. It is a very great pity." Andthe man snatched up his bag and walking-stick, and stalked off,indignantly.
Hewitt stood still, gazing through the small aperture in the doorway.
"You'd scarcely expect a man with such a name as Hunter to talk with thataccent, would you?" he observed, musingly. "It isn't a French accent, nora German; but it seems foreign. You don't happen to know him, I suppose?"
"No, I don't. He called here about half-past twelve, just while we were inthe middle of our search and I was frantic over the loss of the drawings.I was in the outer office myself, and told him to call later. I have lotsof such agents here, anxious to sell all sorts of engineering appliances.But what will you do now? Shall you see my men?"
"I think," said Hewitt, rising--"I think I'll get you to question themyourself."
"Myself?"
"Yes, I have a reason. Will you trust me with the 'key' of the privateroom opposite? I will go over there for a little, while you talk to yourmen in this room. Bring them in here and shut the door; I can look afterthe office from across the corridor, you know. Ask them each to detail hisexact movements about the office this morning, and get them to recall eachvisitor who has been here from the beginning of the week. I'll let youknow the reason of this later. Come across to me in a few minutes."
Hewitt took the key and passed through the outer office into the corridor.
Ten minutes later Mr. Dixon, having questioned his draughtsmen, followedhim. He found Hewitt standing before the table in the private room, onwhich lay several drawings on tracing-paper.
"See here, Mr. Dixon," said Hewitt, "I think these are the drawings youare anxious about?"
The engineer sprang toward them with a cry of delight. "Why, yes, yes," heexclaimed, turning them over, "every one of them! But where--how--theymust have been in the place after all, then? What a fool I have been!"
Hewitt shook his head. "I'm afraid you're not quite so lucky as you think,Mr. Dixon," he said. "These drawings have most certainly been
out of thehouse for a little while. Never mind how--we'll talk of that after. Thereis no time to lose. Tell me--how long would it take a good draughtsman tocopy them?"
"They couldn't possibly be traced over properly in less than two or twoand a half long days of very hard work," Dixon replied with eagerness.
"Ah! then it is as I feared. These tracings have been photographed, Mr.Dixon, and our task is one of every possible difficulty. If they had beencopied in the ordinary way, one might hope to get hold of the copy. Butphotography upsets everything. Copies can be multiplied with such amazingfacility that, once the thief gets a decent start, it is almost hopelessto checkmate him. The only chance is to get at the negatives before copiesare taken. I must act at once; and I fear, between ourselves, it may benecessary for me to step very distinctly over the line of the law in thematter. You see, to get at those negatives may involve something very likehouse-breaking. There must be no delay, no waiting for legal procedure, orthe mischief is done. Indeed, I very much question whether you have anylegal remedy, strictly speaking."
"Mr. Hewitt, I implore you, do what you can. I need not say that all Ihave is at your disposal. I will guarantee to hold you harmless foranything that may happen. But do, I entreat you, do everything possible.Think of what the consequences may be!"
"Well, yes, so I do," Hewitt remarked, with a smile. "The consequences tome, if I were charged with house-breaking, might be something that noamount of guarantee could mitigate. However, I will do what I can, if onlyfrom patriotic motives. Now, I must see your tracer, Ritter. He is thetraitor in the camp."
"Ritter? But how?"
"Never mind that now. You are upset and agitated, and had better not knowmore than is necessary for a little while, in case you say or do somethingunguarded. With Ritter I must take a deep course; what I don't know I mustappear to know, and that will seem more likely to him if I disclaimacquaintance with what I do know. But first put these tracings safely awayout of sight."
Dixon slipped them behind his book-case.
"Now," Hewitt pursued, "call Mr. Worsfold and give him something to dothat will keep him in the inner office across the way, and tell him tosend Ritter here."
Mr. Dixon called his chief draughtsman and requested him to put in orderthe drawings in the drawers of the inner room that had been disarranged bythe search, and to send Ritter, as Hewitt had suggested.
Ritter walked into the private room with an air of respectful attention.He was a puffy-faced, unhealthy-looking young man, with very small eyesand a loose, mobile mouth.
"Sit down, Mr. Ritter," Hewitt said, in a stern voice. "Your recenttransactions with your friend Mr. Hunter are well known both to Mr. Dixonand myself."
Ritter, who had at first leaned easily back in his chair, started forwardat this, and paled.
"You are surprised, I observe; but you should be more careful in yourmovements out of doors if you do not wish your acquaintances to be known.Mr. Hunter, I believe, has the drawings which Mr. Dixon has lost, and, ifso, I am certain that you have given them to him. That, you know, istheft, for which the law provides a severe penalty."
Ritter broke down completely and turned appealingly to Mr. Dixon.
"Oh, sir," he pleaded, "it isn't so bad, I assure you. I was tempted, Iconfess, and hid the drawings; but they are still in the office, and I cangive them to you--really, I can."
"Indeed?" Hewitt went on. "Then, in that case, perhaps you'd better getthem at once. Just go and fetch them in; we won't trouble to observe yourhiding-place. I'll only keep this door open, to be sure you don't loseyour way, you know--down the stairs, for instance."
The wretched Ritter, with hanging head, slunk into the office opposite.Presently he reappeared, looking, if possible, ghastlier than before. Helooked irresolutely down the corridor, as if meditating a run for it, butHewitt stepped toward him and motioned him back to the private room.
"You mustn't try any more of that sort of humbug," Hewitt said withincreased severity. "The drawings are gone, and you have stolen them; youknow that well enough. Now attend to me. If you received your deserts, Mr.Dixon would send for a policeman this moment, and have you hauled off tothe jail that is your proper place. But, unfortunately, your accomplice,who calls himself Hunter--but who has other names besides that--as Ihappen to know--has the drawings, and it is absolutely necessary thatthese should be recovered. I am afraid that it will be necessary,therefore, to come to some arrangement with this scoundrel--to square him,in fact. Now, just take that pen and paper, and write to your confederateas I dictate. You know the alternative if you cause any difficulty."
Ritter reached tremblingly for the pen.
"Address him in your usual way," Hewitt proceeded. "Say this: 'There hasbeen an alteration in the plans.' Have you got that? 'There has been analteration in the plans. I shall be alone here at six o'clock. Pleasecome, without fail.' Have you got it? Very well; sign it, and address theenvelope. He must come here, and then we may arrange matters. In themeantime, you will remain in the inner office opposite."
The note was written, and Martin Hewitt, without glancing at the address,thrust it into his pocket. When Ritter was safely in the inner office,however, he drew it out and read the address. "I see," he observed, "heuses the same name, Hunter; 27 Little Carton Street, Westminster, is theaddress, and there I shall go at once with the note. If the man comeshere, I think you had better lock him in with Ritter, and send for apoliceman--it may at least frighten him. My object is, of course, to getthe man away, and then, if possible, to invade his house, in some way oranother, and steal or smash his negatives if they are there and to befound. Stay here, in any case, till I return. And don't forget to lock upthose tracings."
* * * * *
It was about six o'clock when Hewitt returned, alone, but with a smilingface that told of good fortune at first sight.
"First, Mr. Dixon," he said, as he dropped into an easy chair in theprivate room, "let me ease your mind by the information that I have beenmost extraordinarily lucky; in fact, I think you have no further cause foranxiety. Here are the negatives. They were not all quite dry when I--well,what?--stole them, I suppose I must say; so that they have stuck togethera bit, and probably the films are damaged. But you don't mind that, Isuppose?"
He laid a small parcel, wrapped in a newspaper, on the table. The engineerhastily tore away the paper and took up five or six glass photographicnegatives, of a half-plate size, which were damp, and stuck together bythe gelatine films in couples. He held them, one after another, up to thelight of the window, and glanced through them. Then, with a great sigh ofrelief, he placed them on the hearth and pounded them to dust andfragments with the poker.
For a few seconds neither spoke. Then Dixon, flinging himself into achair, said:
"Mr. Hewitt, I can't express my obligation to you. What would havehappened if you had failed, I prefer not to think of. But what shall we dowith Ritter now? The other man hasn't been here yet, by the by."
"No; the fact is I didn't deliver the letter. The worthy gentleman savedme a world of trouble by taking himself out of the way." Hewitt laughed."I'm afraid he has rather got himself into a mess by trying two kinds oftheft at once, and you may not be sorry to hear that his attempt on yourtorpedo plans is likely to bring him a dose of penal servitude forsomething else. I'll tell you what has happened.
"Little Carton Street, Westminster, I found to be a seedy sort ofplace--one of those old streets that have seen much better days. A goodmany people seem to live in each house--they are fairly large houses, bythe way--and there is quite a company of bell-handles on each doorpost,all down the side like organ-stops. A barber had possession of the groundfloor front of No. 27 for trade purposes, so to him I went. 'Can you tellme,' I said, 'where in this house I can find Mr. Hunter?' He lookeddoubtful, so I went on: 'His friend will do, you know--I can't think ofhis name; foreign gentleman, dark, with a bushy beard.'
"The barber understood at once. 'Oh, that's Mirsky, I expect,' he said.'Now, I
come to think of it, he has had letters addressed to Hunter onceor twice; I've took 'em in. Top floor back.'
"This was good so far. I had got at 'Mr. Hunter's' other alias. So, by wayof possessing him with the idea that I knew all about him, I determined toask for him as Mirsky before handing over the letter addressed to him asHunter. A little bluff of that sort is invaluable at the right time. Atthe top floor back I stopped at the door and tried to open it at once, butit was locked. I could hear somebody scuttling about within, as thoughcarrying things about, and I knocked again. In a little while the dooropened about a foot, and there stood Mr. Hunter--or Mirsky, as youlike--the man who, in the character of a traveler in steam-packing, camehere twice to-day. He was in his shirt-sleeves, and cuddled somethingunder his arm, hastily covered with a spotted pocket-handkerchief.
"'I have called to see M. Mirsky," I said, 'with a confidentialletter----'
"'Oh, yas, yas,' he answered hastily; 'I know--I know. Excuse me oneminute.' And he rushed off down-stairs with his parcel.
"Here was a noble chance. For a moment I thought of following him, in casethere might be something interesting in the parcel. But I had to decide ina moment, and I decided on trying the room. I slipped inside the door,and, finding the key on the inside, locked it. It was a confused sort ofroom, with a little iron bedstead in one corner and a sort of roughboarded inclosure in another. This I rightly conjectured to be thephotographic dark-room, and made for it at once.
"There was plenty of light within when the door was left open, and I madeat once for the drying-rack that was fastened over the sink. There were anumber of negatives in it, and I began hastily examining them one afteranother. In the middle of this our friend Mirsky returned and tried thedoor. He rattled violently at the handle and pushed. Then he called.
"At this moment I had come upon the first of the negatives you have justsmashed. The fixing and washing had evidently only lately been completed,and the negative was drying on the rack. I seized it, of course, and theothers which stood by it.
"'Who are you, there, inside?' Mirsky shouted indignantly from thelanding. 'Why for you go in my room like that? Open this door at once, orI call the police!'
"I took no notice. I had got the full number of negatives, one for eachdrawing, but I was not by any means sure that he had not taken an extraset; so I went on hunting down the rack. There were no more, so I set towork to turn out all the undeveloped plates. It was quite possible, yousee, that the other set, if it existed, had not yet been developed.
"Mirsky changed his tune. After a little more banging and shouting I couldhear him kneel down and try the key-hole. I had left the key there, sothat he could see nothing. But he began talking softly and rapidly throughthe hole in a foreign language. I did not know it in the least, but Ibelieve it was Russian. What had led him to believe I understood Russian Icould not at the time imagine, though I have a notion now. I went onruining his stock of plates. I found several boxes, apparently of newplates, but, as there was no means of telling whether they were reallyunused or were merely undeveloped, but with the chemical impress of yourdrawings on them, I dragged every one ruthlessly from its hiding-place andlaid it out in the full glare of the sunlight--destroying it thereby, ofcourse, whether it was unused or not.
"Mirsky left off talking, and I heard him quietly sneaking off. Perhapshis conscience was not sufficiently clear to warrant an appeal to thepolice, but it seemed to me rather probable at the time that that was whathe was going for. So I hurried on with my work. I found three darkslides--the parts that carried the plates in the back of the camera, youknow--one of them fixed in the camera itself. These I opened, and exposedthe plates to ruination as before. I suppose nobody ever did so muchdevastation in a photographic studio in ten minutes as I managed.
"I had spoiled every plate I could find, and had the developed negativessafely in my pocket, when I happened to glance at a porcelain washing-wellunder the sink. There was one negative in that, and I took it up. It was_not_ a negative of a drawing of yours, but of a Russian twenty-rublenote!"
This _was_ a discovery. The only possible reason any man could have forphotographing a bank-note was the manufacture of an etched plate for theproduction of forged copies. I was almost as pleased as I had been at thediscovery of _your_ negatives. He might bring the police now as soon as heliked; I could turn the tables on him completely. I began to hunt aboutfor anything else relating to this negative.
"I found an inking-roller, some old pieces of blanket (used in printingfrom plates), and in a corner on the floor, heaped over with newspapersand rubbish, a small copying-press. There was also a dish of acid, but notan etched plate or a printed note to be seen. I was looking at the press,with the negative in one hand and the inking-roller in the other, when Ibecame conscious of a shadow across the window. I looked up quickly, andthere was Mirsky hanging over from some ledge or projection to the side ofthe window, and staring straight at me, with a look of unmistakable terrorand apprehension.
"The face vanished immediately. I had to move a table to get at thewindow, and by the time I had opened it there was no sign or sound of therightful tenant of the room. I had no doubt now of his reason for carryinga parcel down-stairs. He probably mistook me for another visitor he wasexpecting, and, knowing he must take this visitor into his room, threw thepapers and rubbish over the press, and put up his plates and papers in abundle and secreted them somewhere down-stairs, lest his occupation shouldbe observed.
"Plainly, my duty now was to communicate with the police. So, by the helpof my friend the barber down-stairs, a messenger was found and a note sentover to Scotland Yard. I awaited, of course, for the arrival of thepolice, and occupied the interval in another look round--finding nothingimportant, however. When the official detective arrived, he recognized atonce the importance of the case. A large number of forged Russian noteshave been put into circulation on the Continent lately, it seems, and itwas suspected that they came from London. The Russian Government have beensending urgent messages to the police here on the subject.
"Of course I said nothing about your business; but, while I was talkingwith the Scotland Yard man, a letter was left by a messenger, addressed toMirsky. The letter will be examined, of course, by the proper authorities,but I was not a little interested to perceive that the envelope bore theRussian imperial arms above the words 'Russian Embassy.' Now, why shouldMirsky communicate with the Russian Embassy? Certainly not to let theofficials know that he was carrying on a very extensive and lucrativebusiness in the manufacture of spurious Russian notes. I think it israther more than possible that he wrote--probably before he actually gotyour drawings--to say that he could sell information of the highestimportance, and that this letter was a reply. Further, I think it quitepossible that, when I asked for him by his Russian name and spoke of 'aconfidential letter,' he at once concluded that _I_ had come from theembassy in answer to his letter. That would account for his addressing mein Russian through the key-hole; and, of course, an official from theRussian Embassy would be the very last person in the world whom he wouldlike to observe any indications of his little etching experiments. But,anyhow, be that as it may," Hewitt concluded, "your drawings are safe now,and if once Mirsky is caught, and I think it likely, for a man in hisshirt-sleeves, with scarcely any start, and, perhaps, no money about him,hasn't a great chance to get away--if he is caught, I say, he willprobably get something handsome at St. Petersburg in the way ofimprisonment, or Siberia, or what not; so that you will be amply avenged."
"Yes, but I don't at all understand this business of the drawings evennow. How in the world were they taken out of the place, and how in theworld did you find it out?"
"Nothing could be simpler; and yet the plan was rather ingenious. I'lltell you exactly how the thing revealed itself to me. From your originaldescription of the case many people would consider that an impossibilityhad been performed. Nobody had gone out and nobody had come in, and yetthe drawings had been taken away. But an impossibility is animpossibility,
after all, and as drawings don't run away of themselves,plainly somebody had taken them, unaccountable as it might seem. Now, asthey were in your inner office, the only people who could have got at thembesides yourself were your assistants, so that it was pretty clear thatone of them, at least, had something to do with the business. You told methat Worsfold was an excellent and intelligent draughtsman. Well, if sucha man as that meditated treachery, he would probably be able to carry awaythe design in his head--at any rate, a little at a time--and would beunder no necessity to run the risk of stealing a set of the drawings. ButRitter, you remarked, was an inferior sort of man. 'Not particularlysmart,' I think, were your words--only a mechanical sort of tracer. _He_would be unlikely to be able to carry in his head the complicated detailsof such designs as yours, and, being in a subordinate position, andcontinually overlooked, he would find it impossible to make copies of theplans in the office. So that, to begin with, I thought I saw the mostprobable path to start on.
"When I looked round the rooms, I pushed open the glass door of thebarrier and left the door to the inner office ajar, in order to be able tosee any thing that _might_ happen in any part of the place, withoutactually expecting any definite development. While we were talking, as ithappened, our friend Mirsky (or Hunter--as you please) came into the outeroffice, and my attention was instantly called to him by the first thing hedid. Did you notice anything peculiar yourself?"
"No, really, I can't say I did. He seemed to behave much as any traveleror agent might."
"Well, what I noticed was the fact that as soon as he entered the place heput his walking-stick into the umbrella-stand over there by the door,close by where he stood, a most unusual thing for a casual caller to do,before even knowing whether you were in. This made me watch him closely. Iperceived with increased interest that the stick was exactly of the samekind and pattern as one already standing there, also a curious thing. Ikept my eyes carefully on those sticks, and was all the more interestedand edified to see, when he left, that he took the _other_ stick--not theone he came with--from the stand, and carried it away, leaving his ownbehind. I might have followed him, but I decided that more could belearned by staying, as, in fact, proved to be the case. This, by the by,is the stick he carried away with him. I took the liberty of fetching itback from Westminster, because I conceive it to be Ritier's property."
Hewitt produced the stick. It was an ordinary, thick Malacca cane, with abuck-horn handle and a silver band. Hewitt bent it across his knee andlaid it on the table.
"Yes," Dixon answered, "that is Ritter's stick. I think I have often seenit in the stand. But what in the world----"
"One moment; I'll just fetch the stick Mirsky left behind." And Hewittstepped across the corridor.
He returned with another stick, apparently an exact fac-simile of theother, and placed it by the side of the other.
"When your assistants went into the inner room, I carried this stick offfor a minute or two. I knew it was not Worsfold's, because there was anumbrella there with his initial on the handle. Look at this."
Martin Hewitt gave the handle a twist and rapidly unscrewed it from thetop. Then it was seen that the stick was a mere tube of very thin metal,painted to appear like a Malacca cane.
"It was plain at once that this was no Malacca cane--it wouldn't bend.Inside it I found your tracings, rolled up tightly. You can get amarvelous quantity of thin tracing-paper into a small compass by tightrolling."
"And this--this was the way they were brought back!" the engineerexclaimed. "I see that clearly. But how did they get away? That's asmysterious as ever."
"Not a bit of it! See here. Mirsky gets hold of Ritter, and they agree toget your drawings and photograph them. Ritter is to let his confederatehave the drawings, and Mirsky is to bring them back as soon as possible,so that they sha'n't be missed for a moment. Ritter habitually carriesthis Malacca cane, and the cunning of Mirsky at once suggests that thistube should be made in outward fac-simile. This morning Mirsky keeps theactual stick, and Ritter comes to the office with the tube. He seizes thefirst opportunity--probably when you were in this private room, andWorsfold was talking to you from the corridor--to get at the tracings,roll them up tightly, and put them in the tube, putting the tube back intothe umbrella-stand. At half-past twelve, or whenever it was, Mirsky turnsup for the first time with the actual stick and exchanges them, just as heafterward did when he brought the drawings back."
"Yes, but Mirsky came half an hour after they were--Oh, yes, I see. What afool I was! I was forgetting. Of course, when I first missed the tracings,they were in this walking-stick, safe enough, and I was tearing my hairout within arm's reach of them!"
"Precisely. And Mirsky took them away before your very eyes. I expectRitter was in a rare funk when he found that the drawings were missed. Hecalculated, no doubt, on your not wanting them for the hour or two theywould be out of the office."
"How lucky that it struck me to jot a pencil-note on one of them! I mighteasily have made my note somewhere else, and then I should never haveknown that they had been away."
"Yes, they didn't give you any too much time to miss them. Well, I thinkthe rest pretty clear. I brought the tracings in here, screwed up the shamstick and put it back. You identified the tracings and found none missing,and then my course was pretty clear, though it looked difficult. I knewyou would be very naturally indignant with Ritter, so, as I wanted tomanage him myself, I told you nothing of what he had actually done, forfear that, in your agitated state, you might burst out with something thatwould spoil my game. To Ritter I pretended to know nothing of the returnof the drawings or _how_ they had been stolen--the only things I did knowwith certainty. But I _did_ pretend to know all about Mirsky--orHunter--when, as a matter of fact, I knew nothing at all, except that heprobably went under more than one name. That put Ritter into my handscompletely. When he found the game was up, he began with a lyingconfession. Believing that the tracings were still in the stick and thatwe knew nothing of their return, he said that they had not been away, andthat he would fetch them--as I had expected he would. I let him go forthem alone, and, when he returned, utterly broken up by the discovery thatthey were not there, I had him altogether at my mercy. You see, if he hadknown that the drawings were all the time behind your book-case, he mighthave brazened it out, sworn that the drawings had been there all the time,and we could have done nothing with him. We couldn't have sufficientlyfrightened him by a threat of prosecution for theft, because there thethings were in your possession, to his knowledge.
"As it was he answered the helm capitally: gave us Mirsky's address on theenvelope, and wrote the letter that was to have got him out of the waywhile I committed burglary, if that disgraceful expedient had not beenrendered unnecessary. On the whole, the case has gone very well."
"It has gone marvelously well, thanks to yourself. But what shall I dowith Ritter?"
"Here's his stick--knock him down-stairs with it, if you like. I shouldkeep the tube, if I were you, as a memento. I don't suppose therespectable Mirsky will ever call to ask for it. But I should certainlykick Ritter out of doors--or out of window, if you like--without delay."
Mirsky was caught, and, after two remands at the police-court, wasextradited on the charge of forging Russian notes. It came out that he hadwritten to the embassy, as Hewitt had surmised, stating that he hadcertain valuable information to offer, and the letter which Hewitt hadseen delivered was an acknowledgment, and a request for more definiteparticulars. This was what gave rise to the impression that Mirsky hadhimself informed the Russian authorities of his forgeries. His real intentwas very different, but was never guessed.
* * * * *
"I wonder," Hewitt has once or twice observed, "whether, after all, itwould not have paid the Russian authorities better on the whole if I hadnever investigated Mirsky's little note factory. The Dixon torpedo wasworth a good many twenty-ruble notes."