CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
THE DIAMOND NECKLACE
For the better part of a fortnight the sleuth-hounds of New ScotlandYard hunted for Mr. Mori Yada in all the likely and unlikely places inLondon and sent out their enquiries much further afield. They failed tofind him. One small clue they got, with little difficulty. After thehue-and-cry was fairly out, an Edgware Road pawnbroker came forward andinformed the police that at two o'clock, or thereabouts, on theafternoon of the day on which Yada had made his escape from the window,a young Japanese gentleman who gave his name as Mr. Motono and hisaddress at a small hotel close by and who volunteered the explanationthat he was temporarily short of cash until a remittance arrived, hadborrowed five pounds from him on a pearl tie-pin which he had drawnfrom his cravat. That was Yada, without a doubt--but from that pointYada vanished.
But hunger is the cleverest detective, and at the end of the fortnight,certain officials of the Japanese embassy in London found themselveslistening to a strange tale from the fugitive, who had come to the endof his loan, had nowhere to turn and no one but the representatives ofhis nation to whom he could appeal. Yada told a strange tale--and allthe stranger because, as the police officials who were called in tohear it anew recognized that there was probably some truth in it. Itamounted, when all was heard, to this--Yada was willing to confess thatfor a few days he had been a successful thief, but he stoutly deniedthat he was a murderer.
This was his story:--On the 18th November, in the evening, he was atthe club which housed itself in Pilmansey's attic. There he saw ChangLi, who, according to the other members who were there, was beginningone of his periodic fits of opium smoking, and had been in the innerroom, stupifying himself, since the previous day. Yada knew that it washighly necessary that Chang Li should be in attendance at certainclasses at the medical school during the next few days, and tried torouse him out of his debauch, with no result. Next day, the 19th, hewent to Pilmansey's again--Chang Li was still in the realms of blissand likely to stop there until he had had enough of them. For two daysnobody at the club nor at the school had seen Chen Li--and Chen Li wasthe only person who could do anything with Chang. So, late that nightof the 19th November, Yada went up to Maida Vale, taking Chang Li'skeys with him. He admitted himself to garden and house and found thehouse empty. But just as he was entering the front door he heard thevoice of Chen Li at the garden gate; he also heard the voice of anEnglishman. Also he caught something of what that Englishman said. Hewas telling Chen Li that he'd better take him, the Englishman, inside,and settle with him--or things would be all the worse. And at that, he,Yada, had slipped into the house, quietly closed the front door behindhim, gone into the front room, hidden himself behind a curtain andwaited.
Into that front room, Chen Li had presently conducted a man. He was,said Yada, a low-class Englishman--what is called a Cockney. He hadbegun to threaten Chen Li at once. He told his tale. He was, said thisfellow, next door neighbour to Mr. Daniel Multenius, in Praed Street,Chen Li's landlord: his name, if Chen Li wanted to know it, wasParslett, fruitier and green-grocer, and it was there, bold as brass,over his shop-door, for him or anybody to look at. He had a side-doorto his house: that side-door was exactly opposite a side-door in Mr.Multenius's house, opening into his back-parlour. Now, the previousafternoon, he, Parslett, had had a consignment of very fine mushroomssent in--rare things at that time of year--and knowing that the old manhad a great taste for them and didn't mind what price he paid, hestepped across with a dish of them to tempt him. He found Mr. Multeniusin his parlour--he was counting a lot of bank-notes--they must, saidParslett, have represented a large sum. The old man bade him leave themushrooms, said he'd send him the money across presently, and motionedhim out. Parslett put the dish of mushrooms aside on a chiffonier andwent away. Somewhat later, chancing to be at his front door and lookingout into the street, he saw Chen Li open the door of Multenius's shopand go swiftly away. Half-an-hour after that he heard that somethinghad happened at Multenius's--later in the evening he heard definitelythat the old man had been assaulted under circumstances which pointedto murder for the sake of robbery. And then he, Parslett, now put twoand two together--and had fixed on Chen Li as the culprit. And now--howmuch was Chen Li going to pay for silence?
According to Yada, Chen Li had had little to say--his chief anxiety,indeed, had been to find out what the man wanted. Parslett was definiteenough about that. He wanted a thousand pounds--and he wanted it ingold, and as much of it as Chen Li could hand out there and then. Herefused to believe that Chen Li hadn't gold in considerable quantitysomewhere about--he must, said Parslett, have changed some of thosenotes since he had stolen them the previous day. Chen Li protested thathe had but some fifty or sixty pounds in gold available--but hepromised to have the rest of the thousand ready on the followingevening. Finally, he handed Parslett fifty pounds, arranged that heshould call the next night--and then invited him to take a drink.Parslett pocketed the money and accepted the invitation--and Yada, fromhis hiding-place, saw Chen Li go to the sideboard, mix whisky and sodaand pour into the mixture a few drops from a phial which he took fromhis waistcoat pocket. Parslett drank off the contents of the glass--andChen Li went down to the gate with him.
Yada followed to the front door and, through a slight opening, watched.The garden was fairly well lighted by the moon, which had recentlyrisen. He saw Chen Li let the man out. He saw him turn from the gateand slowly come back towards the house. And then he saw somethingelse--the sudden spring, from behind a big laurel bush, of a man--ashort-statured, slight-figured man, who leapt on Chen Li with theagility of a panther. He saw the flash of a knife in the moonlight--heheard a muffled cry, and startled groan--and saw Chen Li pitch forwardand lie evidently lifeless, where he fell. He saw the assailant stoop,seize his victim by the shoulders and drag him behind the shrubbery.Then, without further delay, the murderer hurried to the gate.Evidently assured himself that there was no one about, let himself out,and was gone.
By all the solemn oaths that he could think of, Yada swore that thiswas true. Of another thing he was certain--the murderer was a Chinese.
Now began his own career of crime. He was just then very hard up. Hehad spent much more than his allowance--he was in debt at his lodgingsand elsewhere. Somewhere, he felt sure, there was, in that house, themoney which Chen Li had evidently stolen from old Multenius. Heimmediately set to work to find it. But he had no difficulty--thebank-notes were in the drawer from which he had seen Chen Li take thegold which he had given to the blackmailer, Parslett. He hurriedlytransferred them to his own pocket, and got away from the house by thedoor at the back of the garden--and it was not until late that night,in the privacy of his own rooms, that he found he had nearly eightythousand pounds in his possession.
For some days, said Yada, he was at a loss what to do with his booty.He was afraid of attempting to change five hundred pound notes. He madecautious enquiries as to how that could be done--and he began to thinkthat the notes were so much waste paper to him. And then Ayscoughcalled on him--and for the first time, he heard the story of theorange-yellow diamond.
That gave him an idea. He had a very accurate knowledge of Chinesehabits and characteristics, and he felt sure that Chen Li would havehidden that diamond in his pig-tail. So he took advantage of hispossession of the detective's card to go to the mortuary, to get aminute or two alone with the body, and to slip his hand underneath thedead man's silk cap. There he found the diamond--and he knew thatwhether the bank-notes were to be of any value to him or not, thediamond would be if he could only escape to the Continent.
But--he wanted funds; wanted them badly. He thereupon conceived thebold idea of getting a reward for his knowledge. He went to thepolice-station with a merely modest motive in his mind--fifty poundswould carry him to Vienna, where he knew how to dispose of the diamondat once, with no questions asked. But when he found the owners of thediamond and the bank-notes present he decided to play for higherstakes. He got what he asked for--and, if it had not been for thatli
ttle Jew, he said malevolently, he would have got out of England thateventful afternoon. But--it was not so written--and the game was up.Only--what he had said was true. Now let them do what they could forhim--but let them search for Chen Li's murderer.
* * * * *
The folk who had been chiefly concerned about the orange-yellow diamondand the eighty thousand pounds' worth of Bank of England notes were notso much troubled about proving the truth of Yada's strange story asYada himself was--the main point to them was that they had recoveredtheir property. Naturally they felt remarkably grateful to MelkyRubinstein for his astuteness in circumventing Yada at what might havebeen the last moment. And one day, at that portion of it when businesswas slack and everybody was feeling comfortable after dinner, Melkycalled on Mrs. Goldmark and became confidentially closeted with her ina little parlour behind her establishment which she kept sacred toherself. Mrs. Goldmark, who had quick eyes, noticed that Melky waswearing his best clothes, and a new silk hat, and new gloves, and hadput his feet into patent-leather boots which she secretly andsympathizingly--felt to be at least a size too small for him. He sighedas he sat near her on the sofa--and Mrs. Goldmark looked at him withconcern.
"Such a time you have lately, Mr. Rubinstein, don't you?" she saidfeelingly. "Such worries--such troubles! And the risk you ran takingthat wicked young man all by yourself--so brave of you! You'd ought tohave one of these medals what they give to folks, so!"
"You think that?" responded Melky, brightening suspiciously. "Oh, Mrs.Goldmark, your words is like wine--all my life I been wishing somebeautiful woman would say them things to me! Now I feel like I was twofoot taller, Mrs. Goldmark! But I don't want no medals--not me. Mr.Levendale and Mr. Purvis, they came to me and say they must give me areward--handsome reward, you understand, for getting back their goods.So I say no--I won't have nothing for myself--nothing. But, I say, justso--there is one that should be rewarded. Mrs. Goldmark!--do you knowwhat? I think of you when I say that!"
Mrs. Goldmark uttered a feeble scream, clasped her hands, and stared atMelky out of her melting eyes.
"Me?" she exclaimed. "Why--I ain't done nothing, Mr. Rubinstein!"
"Listen to me," persisted Melky. "What I says to Mr. Levendale is thishere--if Mrs. Goldmark hadn't had her eating establishment, and if Mr.Purvis hadn't gone into it to eat a chop and to drop his platinumsolitaire on the table, and if Mrs. Goldmark hadn't taken care of thatplatinum solitaire, and if things hadn't sprung from it--eh, what then,I should like to know? So Mrs. Goldmark is entitled to whatever littlepresent there is!--that's how I put it, Mrs. Goldmark. And Mr.Levendale and Mr. Purvis, they agreed with me--and oh, Mrs. Goldmark,ain't you going to be nice and let me put this round your beautifulneck?"
Mrs. Goldmark screamed again as Melky produced a diamond necklace,lying in a blue velvet bed in a fine morocco case. The glitter of thediamonds turned both beholders hoarse with emotion.
"Do you know what, Mrs. Goldmark!" whispered Melky. "It cost a thousandguineas--and no error! Now you bend your lovely head, and I puts it onyou--oh, ain't you more beautiful than the Queen of Sheba! And ain'tyou Melky's queen, Mrs. Goldmark--say you was!"
"Lor', Mr. Rubinstein!" said Mrs. Goldmark, coyly. "It's as if you wasproposing to me!"
"Why, ain't I?" exclaimed Melky, gathering courage. "Don't you see I'min all my best clothes? Ain't it nothing but weddings, just now?There's Mr. Lauriston a-going to marry Zillah, and Mr. Purdie'sa-fixing it up with Levendale's governess, and--oh, Mrs. Goldmark,ain't I worshipped you every time I come to eat my dinner in youreating house? Ain't you the loveliest woman in all Paddington. Say theword, Mrs. Goldmark--don't you see I'm like as if I was that hungry Icould eat you?"
Then Mrs. Goldmark said the word--and presently escaped from Melky'sembrace to look at herself and her necklace in the mirror.
THE END
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