CHAPTER XXXII
THE CHILVERTON ANTI-CLIMAX
The chief allowed himself to take a quick searching glance at the two menhe had indicated. He had already heard of Van Koon and of his suddendisappearance from the hotel after the chance encounter with Chilverton,and he now regarded him with professional interest.
"The tall man, you mean?" he asked.
"Just so," answered Allerdyke. "The other man I don't know. But that'sVan Koon. What's he here for, now? Is he in this, after all?"
The chief made no reply. He was furtively watching the two men, who haddropped into chairs at a vacant table beneath the shade of the trees andwere talking to a waitress. Having taken a good look at Van Koon, heturned his attention to Van Koon's companion, a little, dapper man,smartly dressed in bright blue serge, and finished off with great care inall his appointments. He seemed to be approaching middle age; there werefaint traces of grey in his pointed beard and upward-twisted moustaches;he carried his years, however, in very jaunty fashion, and his whiteHomburg hat, ornamented with a blue ribbon, was set at a rakish angle onthe side of his close-cropped head. In his right eye he wore agold-rimmed monocle; just then he was bringing it to bear an the waitresswho stood between himself and his companion.
"You don't know the other man, either of you?" asked the chief suddenly.
Allerdyke shook his head, but Appleyard nodded.
"I know that chap by sight," he said. "I've seen him in the City--aboutThreadneedle Street--two or three times of late. He's always very smartlydressed--I took him for a foreigner of some sort."
The chief turned to his coffee.
"Well--never mind him," he said. "Pay no attention--so long as that manis Van Koon, I'll watch him quietly. But you may be sure he has come hereon the same business that has brought us here. I--"
Allerdyke, whose sharp eyes were perpetually moving round the crowdedenclosure and the little groups which mingled outside it, suddenly nudgedthe chief's elbow.
"Miss Slade!" he whispered. "And--Rayner!"
Appleyard had caught sight of his two fellow inmates of the Pompadour atthe very moment in which Allerdyke espied them. He slightly turned awayand bent his head; Allerdyke followed his example.
"You can't mistake them," he said to the chief. "I've described the manto you--a hunchback. They're crossing through the crowd towards thetea-house door."
"And they've gone in there," replied the chief in another minute."Um!--this is getting more mysterious than ever. I wish I could get aword with some of our men who really know something! It seems to me--"
But at that moment Blindway came strolling along, his nose in the air,his eyes fixed on the roofs of the houses outside the park, and hequietly dropped a twisted scrap of paper at his superior's feet as hepassed. The chief picked it up, spread it out on the marble-topped table,and read its message aloud to his companions.
"City men say the informant is here and will indicate the men to bearrested in a few minutes."
The chief tore the scrap of paper into minute shreds and dropped them onthe grass.
"Things are almost at the crisis," he murmured with a smile. "It seemsthat we, gentlemen, are to play the part of spectators. The next thing toturn up--"
"Is Fullaway!" suddenly exclaimed Allerdyke, thrown off his guard andspeaking aloud. "And, by Gad!--he's got that man Chilverton with him.This--by the Lord Harry, he's caught sight of us, too!"
Fullaway was coming quickly up the lawn from the direction of theSerpentine; he looked unusually alert, vigorous, and bustling; by hisside, hurrying to keep pace with him, was the New York detective. AndFullaway's keen eyes, roving about, fell on Allerdyke and the chiefand he made through the crowd in their direction, beckoning Chilvertonto follow.
"Hullo--hullo!" he exclaimed, clapping a hand on Allerdyke's shoulder,nodding to the chief, and staring inquisitively at Appleyard. "So you'rehere, too, eh, Allerdyke? It wasn't you who sent me that mysteriousmessage, was it?"
"What message?" growled Allerdyke. "Be careful! Don't attractattention--there are things going on here, I promise you! Drop intothat chair, man--tell Chilverton to sit down. What message are youtalking about?"
Fullaway, quick to grasp the situation, sat down in a chair whichAppleyard pulled forward and motioned his companion to follow hisexample.
"I got a queer message--typewritten--on a sheet of notepaper which boreno address, about an hour ago," he said. "It told me that if I came here,to this Hyde Park tea-house, at two o'clock, I'd have this confoundedmystery explained. No signature--nothing to show who or where it camefrom. So I set out. And just as I was stepping into a taxi to come onhere, I met Chilverton, so he came along with me. What brings you, then?Similar message, eh? And what--"
"Hush!" whispered Appleyard. "Miss Slade's coming out of the tea-house!And who's the man that's with her?"
All five men glanced covertly over their shoulders at the open door ofthe tea-house, some twenty to thirty yards away. Down its steps came MissSlade, accompanied by a man whom none of them had ever seen before--awell-built, light-complexioned, fair-haired man, certainly not anEnglishman, but very evidently of Teutonic extraction, who was talkingvolubly to his companion and making free use of his hands to point orillustrate his conversation. And when he saw this man, the chief turnedquickly to Allerdyke and intercepted a look which Allerdyke was about togive him--the same thought occurred to both. Here was the man describedby the hotel-keeper of Eastbourne Terrace and the shabby establishmentaway in the Docks!
"Miss Slade!" exclaimed Fullaway. "What on earth are you talking about?That's my secretary, Mrs. Mar--"
"Sh!" interrupted the chief. "That's one of your surprises, Mr. Fullaway!Quiet, now, quiet. Our job is to watch. Something'll happen in a minute."
Miss Slade and her talkative companion edged their way through the crowdand passed out to an open patch of grass whereon a few children wereplaying. And as they went, two or three men also separated themselvesfrom the idlers around the tables and strolled quietly and casually inthe same direction. Also, Van Koon and the man with him left their table,and, as if they had no object in life but mere aimless chatter andsaunter, wandered away towards the couple who had first emerged from theenclosure. And thereupon, Fullaway, not to be repressed, burst out withanother exclamation.
"My God, Chilverton!" he cried. "There is Van Koon! And, by all that'swonderful, Merrifield with him. Now what--"
The New York detective, who was under no orders, and knew no reason whyhe should restrain himself, wasted no time in words. Like a flash, he hadleapt from his chair, threaded his way through the surrounding people,and was after his quarry. And with a muttered exclamation of anger, thechief rose and followed--and it seemed to Allerdyke that almost at thesame instant a score of men, up to that moment innocently idling andlounging, rose in company.
"Damn it!" he growled, as he and Appleyard got up. "That chap's going tospoil everything. What is he after? Confound you, Fullaway!--why couldn'tyou keep quiet for a minute? Look there!"
Van Koon had turned and seen Chilverton. So, too, had Van Koon'scompanion. So, also, had Miss Slade and the man she was walking with.That man, too, saw the apparent idlers closing in upon him. For a secondhe, and Van Koon, and the other man stared at each other across thegrass; then, as with a common instinct, each turned to flee--and at thatinstant Miss Slade, with a truly feminine cry, threw herself upon hercompanion and got an undeniably firm grip on his struggling arms.
"This is the Eastbourne Terrace man!" she panted as Allerdyke andhalf-a-dozen detectives relieved her. "Get the other two--Van Koon andMerrifield. Quick!"
But Van Koon was already in the secure grip of Chilverton, and the personin the light blue suit was being safely rounded up by a posse ofgrim-faced men.