CHAPTER XXXIII
THE SMART MISS SLADE
In no city of the world is a crowd so quickly collected as in London; innone is one so easily satisfied and dispersed. Within five minutes thedetectives had hurried their three captives away towards the nearestcab-rank, and the people who had left their tea and their cakes to gatherround, to stare, and to listen had gone back to their tables to discussthis latest excitement. But the chief and Allerdyke, Fullaway andAppleyard, Miss Slade and Rayner stood in a little group on the grass andlooked at each other. Eventually, all looks except Rayner's centred onMiss Slade, who, somewhat out of breath from her tussle, was settling herhat and otherwise composing herself. And it was Miss Slade who spokefirst when the party, as a party, found itself capable of speech.
"I don't know who it was," observed Miss Slade, rather more than a littleacidly, "who came interfering in my business, but whoever he was henearly spoilt it."
She darted a much-displeased look at the chief, who hastened toexculpate himself.
"Not I!" he said with a smile. "So don't blame me, Miss Slade. I wasmerely a looker-on, a passive spectator--until the right momentarrived. Do I gather that the right moment had not actuallyarrived--for your purpose?"
"You do," answered Miss Slade. "It hadn't. If you had all waited a fewmoments you would have had all three men in conference round one of thosetables, and they could have been taken with far less fuss and bother--andfar less danger to me. It's the greatest wonder in the world that I'm notlying dead on that grass!"
"We are devoutly thankful that you are not," said the chief fervently."But--you're not! And the main thing is that the three men are incustody, and as for interference--"
"It was Chilverton," interrupted Fullaway, who had been staring at hismysterious secretary as if she were some rare object which he had neverseen before. "Chilverton!--all Chilverton's fault. As soon as he set eyeson Van Koon nothing would hold him. And what I want to know--"
"We all want to know a good deal," remarked the chief, glancinginvitingly at Miss Slade. "Miss Slade has no doubt a good deal to tell. Isuggest that we walk across to those very convenient chairs which I seeover there by the shrubbery--then perhaps--"
"I want to know a good deal, too," said Miss Slade.
"I don't know who you are, to start with, and I don't know why Mr.Appleyard happens to be here, to end with."
Appleyard answered these two questions readily.
"I'm here because I happen to be Mr. Allerdyke's London representative,"he said. "This gentleman is a very highly placed official of the CriminalInvestigation Department."
Miss Slade, having composed herself, favoured the chief with a deliberateinspection.
"Oh! in that case," she remarked, "in that case, I suppose I had bettersatisfy your curiosity. That is," she continued, turning to Rayner, "ifMr. Rayner thinks I may?"
"I was going to suggest it," answered Rayner. "Let's sit down and tellthem all about it."
The party of six went across to the quiet spot which the chief hadindicated, and Fullaway and Appleyard obligingly arranged the chairs ina group. Seated in the midst and quite conscious that she was thecentre of attraction in several ways, Miss Slade began her explanationof the events and mysteries which had culminated in the recentsensational event.
"I daresay," she said, looking round her, "that some of you know a greatdeal more about this affair than I do. What I do know, however, isthis--the three men who have just been removed are without doubt thearch-spirits of the combination which robbed Miss Lennard, attempted torob Mr. James Allerdyke, possibly murdered Mr. James Allerdyke, andcertainly murdered Lydenberg, Lisette Beaurepaire, and Ebers. Van Koon isan American crook, whose real name is Vankin; Merrifield, as you know, isMr. Delkin's secretary; the other man is one Otto Schmall, a Germanchemist, and a most remarkably clever person, who has a shop and achemical manufactory in Whitechapel. He's an expert in poison--and Ithink you will have some interesting matters to deal with when you cometo tackle his share. Well, that's plain fact; and now you want to knowhow I--and Mr. Rayner--found all this out."
"Chiefly you," murmured Rayner, "chiefly you!"
"You had better let your minds go back to the morning of the 13th Maylast," continued Miss Slade, paying no apparent heed to thisinterruption. "On that morning I arrived at Mr. Fullaway's office at myusual time, ten o'clock, to find that Mr. Fullaway had departedsuddenly, earlier in the morning, for Hull. I at once guessed why he hadgone--I knew that Mr. James Allerdyke, in charge of the PrincessNastirsevitch's jewels, was to have landed at Hull the night before, andI concluded that Mr. Fullaway had set off to meet him. But Mr. Fullawayhas a bad habit of leaving letters and telegrams lying about, for any oneto see, and within a few minutes I found on his desk a telegram from Mr.Marshall Allerdyke, dispatched early that morning from Hull, saying thathis cousin had died suddenly during the night. That, of course,definitely explained Mr. Fullaway's departure, and it also made mewonder, knowing all I did know, if the jewels were safe.
"This, I repeat, was about ten to half-past ten o'clock. About twelveo'clock of that morning, the 13th, Mr. Van Koon, whom I knew as aresident in the hotel, and a frequent caller on Mr. Fullaway, came in. Hewanted Mr. Fullaway to cash a cheque for him. I told him that I could dothat, and I took his cheque, wrote out one of my own and went up town toParr's Bank, at the bottom of St. Martin's Lane, to get the cash for him.Mr. Van Koon stayed in the office, reading a bundle of Americannewspapers which had just been delivered. I was away from the officeperhaps forty minutes or so; when I returned he was still there. I gavehim the money; he thanked me, and went away.
"Towards the end of that afternoon, just before I was leaving the office,I got a wire from Mr. Fullaway, from Hull. It was quite short--it merelyinformed me that Mr. James Allerdyke was dead, under mysteriouscircumstances, and that the Nastirsevitch property was missing. Ofcourse, I knew what that meant, and I drew my own conclusions.
"Now I come to the 14th--a critical day, so far as I am concerned.During the morning a parcels-van boy came into the office. He said thaton the previous day, about half-past twelve o'clock, he had brought asmall parcel there, addressed to Mr. Fullaway, and had handed it to agentleman who was reading newspapers, and who had answered 'Yes' wheninquired of as Mr. Fullaway. This gentleman--who, of course, was VanKoon--had signed for the parcel by scribbling two initials 'F. F.' in theproper space. The boy, who said he was new to his job, told me that theclerk at the parcels office objected to this as not being a propersignature, and had told him to call next time he was passing and get thething put right. He accordingly handed me the sheet, and I, believingthat this was some small parcel which Van Koon had taken in, signed for,and placed somewhere in the office or in Mr. Fullaway's private room,signed my own name, for Franklin Fullaway, over the penciled initials.And as I did so I noticed that the parcel had been sent from Hull.
"When the boy had gone I looked for that parcel. I could not find itanywhere. It was certainly not in the office, nor in any of the rooms ofMr. Fullaway's suite. I was half minded to go to Mr. Van Koon and askabout it, but I decided that I wouldn't; I thought I would wait until Mr.Fullaway returned. But all the time I was wondering what parcel it couldbe that was sent from Hull, and certainly dispatched from there on thevery evening before Mr. Fullaway's hurried journey.
"Nothing happened until Mr. Fullaway came back. Then a lot of thingshappened all at once. There was the news he brought about the Hullaffair. Then there was the affair of the French maid. A great deal gotinto the newspapers. Mr. Rayner and I, who live at the sameboarding-house, began to discuss matters. I heard, through Mr. Fullaway,that there was likelihood of a big reward, and I determined to have a tryfor it--in conjunction with Mr. Rayner. And so I kept my own counsel--Isaid nothing about the affair of the parcel."
Fullaway, who had been manifesting signs of impatience and irritationduring the last few minutes, here snapped out a question.
"Why didn't you tell me at once about the parcel?" he demanded.
"It wasyour duty!"
Miss Slade gave her employer a cool glance.
"Possibly!" she retorted. "But you are much too careless to be entrustedwith secrets, Mr. Fullaway. I knew that if I told you about that parcelyou'd spoil everything at once. I wanted to do things my own way. I tookmy own way--and it's come out all right, for everybody. Now, don't you oranybody interrupt again--I'm telling it all in order."
Fullaway made an inarticulate growling protest, but Miss Slade took nonotice and continued in even, dispassionate tones, as if she had beenexplained a mathematical problem.
"The affair prospered. The Princess came. The reward of fifty thousandpounds was offered. Then Mr. Rayner and I put our heads together moreseriously. Much, of course, depended upon me, as I was on the spot. Iwanted a chance to get into Van Koon's rooms, some time when he was out.Fortunately the chance came. One afternoon, when Van Koon was in ouroffice, he and Mr. Fullaway settled to dine out together and go to thetheatre afterwards. That gave me my opportunity. I made an excuse aboutstaying late at Mr. Fullaway's office and when both men were clear away Ilet myself into Van Koon's room--I'd already made preparations forthat--and proceeded to search. I found the parcel. It was a small, squareparcel, done up in brown paper and sealed with black wax; it had beenopened, the original wrapper put on again, and the seals resealed. I tookit into Mr. Fullaway's rooms and opened it, carefully. Inside I found asmall cigar-box, and in it the Princess's jewels. I took them out. Then Iput certain articles of corresponding weight into the box, did it upagain precisely as I had found it, smeared over the seals with more blackwax, went back to Van Koon's room with it, and placed it again where Ihad found it--in a small suit-case.
"I now knew, of course, that Mr. James Allerdyke had sent those jewelsdirect to Mr. Fullaway, immediately on his arrival in Hull, and that theyhad fallen by sheer accident into Van Koon's hands. But I wanted to knowmore. I wanted to know if Van Koon had any connection with this affair,and if, when he saw that the parcel was from Hull, he had immediatelyjumped to the conclusion that it might be from James Allerdyke, and mightcontain the actual valuables. Fortunately, Mr. Rayner had already madearrangements with a noted private inquiry agent to have Van Koon mostcarefully and closely watched. And the very day after I found and tookpossession of the jewels we received a report from this agent that VanKoon was in the habit of visiting the shop and manufactory of a Germanchemist named Schmall, in Whitechapel. Further, he had twice come awayfrom it, after lengthy visits, in company with a man whom the agent'semployees had tracked to the Hotel Cecil, and whom I knew, from theirdescription, to be Mr. Merrifield, Mr. Delkin's private secretary.
"Naturally, having discovered this, we gave instructions for a keenerwatch than ever to be kept on both these men. But the name of the Germanchemist gave me personally a new and most important clue. There had beenemployed at the Waldorf Hotel, for some weeks up to the end of the firstweek in May, a German-Swiss young man, who then called himself Ebers. Heacted as valet to several residents; amongst others, Mr. Fullaway. He wasoften in and out of Mr. Fullaway's rooms. Once, Mr. Fullaway being out,and I having nothing to do, I was cleaning up some photographic apparatuswhich I had there. This man Ebers came in with some clothes of Mr.Fullaway's. Seeing what I was doing, he got talking to me aboutphotography, saying that he himself was an amateur. He recommended to mecertain materials and things of that sort which he said he could get froma friend of his, a chemist, who was an enthusiastic photographer andmanufactured chemicals and things used in photography. I gave him somemoney to get me a supply of things, and he brought various packets andparcels to me two or three days later. Each packet bore the name of OttoSchmall, and an address in a street which runs off Mile End Road.
"Now, when the private inquiry agent made his reports to Mr. Rayner andmyself about Van Koon, and told us where he had been tracked to more thanonce, I, of course, remembered the name of Schmall, and Mr. Rayner and Ibegan to put certain facts together. They were these:
"_First._--Ebers had easy access to Mr. Fullaway's room at all hours, andwas often in them when both Mr. Fullaway and I were out. Mr. Fullaway isnotoriously careless in leaving papers and documents, letters andtelegrams lying around. Ebers had abundant opportunities of reading lotsof documents relating to (1) the Pinkie Pell pearls, and (2) theproposed Nastirsevitch deal.
"_Second._--Ebers was a friend of Schmall. Schmall was evidently a man ofgreat cleverness in chemistry.
"_Third._--All the circumstances of Mr. James Allerdyke's death, and ofLisette Beaurepaire's death, pointed to unusually skillful poisoning. Whowas better able to engineer that than a clever chemist?
"_Fourth._--The jewels belonging to the Princess Nastirsevitch hadundoubtedly fallen into Van Koon's hands. Van Koon was a friend ofSchmall. So also, evidently, was Merrifield. Now, Merrifield, as Delkin'ssecretary, knew of the proposed deal.
"Obviously, then, Schmall, Van Koon, and Merrifield were inleague--whether Ebers was also in league, or was a catspaw, we did nottrouble to decide. But there was another fact which seemed to have somebearing, though it is one which I have never yet worked out--perhaps someof you know something of it. It was this: Just before he went to Russia,Mr. James Allerdyke, being in town, gave me a photograph of himself whichMr. Marshall Allerdyke had recently taken. I kept that photo lying on mydesk at Mr. Fullaway's for some time. One day I missed it. It is such anunusual thing for me to misplace anything that I turned over every paperon my desk in searching for it. It was not to be found. Four days later Ifound it, exactly where it ought to have been. Now, you can draw your ownconclusions from that--mine are that Ebers stole it, so that he couldreproduce it in order to give his reproduction to some person who wantedto identify James Allerdyke at sight.
"However, to go forward to the discovery which we made about Schmall,Van Koon, and Merrifield. As soon as we made that discovery, Mr. Raynerwas for going to the police at once, but I thought not--there was stillcertain evidence which I wanted, so that the case could be presentedwithout a flaw. However, all of a sudden I saw that we should have toact. Ebers was found dead in a small hotel near the Docks, and at aconference in which Mr. Fullaway insisted I should join, in his rooms,and at which Van Koon, who had been playing a bluff game, was present,there was enough said to convince me that Van Koon and his associateswould take alarm and be off with what they believed themselves topossess--the jewels in that parcel. So then Mr. Rayner and I determinedon big measures. And they were risky ones--for me.
"I had already been down, more than once, into Whitechapel, and hadbought things at Schmall's shop, and I was convinced that he was the manwho accompanied Lisette Beaurepaire to that little hotel in EastbourneTerrace. Now that the critical moment came, after the Ebers-Federmanaffair, I went there again. I got Schmall outside his premises. I took abold step. I told him that I was a woman detective, who, for purposes ofmy own, had been working this case, and that I was in full possession ofthe facts. If I had not taken the precaution to tell him this in thethick of a crowded street, he would have killed me on the spot! Then Iwent on to tell him more. I said that his accomplice had led him tobelieve that he had the Nastirsevitch jewels in a parcel in hispossession. I said that Van Koon was wrong--I had them myself--I told himhow I got them. He nearly collapsed at that--I restored him by sayingthat the real object of my visit to him was to do a deal with him. I saidthat it did not matter two pins to me what he and his accomplices haddone--what I was out for was money, nothing but money. How much would heand the others put up for the jewels and my silence? I reminded him ofthe fifty thousand pound reward. He glared at me like the devil he is,and said that he'd a mind to kill me there and then, whatever happened.Whereupon I told him that I had a revolver in my jacket pocket, that itwas trained on him, and that if he moved, my finger would move just asquick, and I invited him to be sensible. It was nothing but a question ofmoney, I said---how much would they give? Finally, we settled it at sixtythousand pounds. He was to meet me here--to-day at two--the other twowere to be about--the money w
as to be paid to me on production of thejewels, for which purpose one of them was to go with me to myboarding-house. And--you know the rest."
Miss Slade came to a sudden stop. She glanced at Rayner, who had beenwatching the effect of her story on the other men.
"At least," she added suddenly, "you know all that's really important.As Ebers' affair was in the City, we warned the City police and leftthings with them. I think that's all. Except, of course, Mr. MarshallAllerdyke, that we formally claim the reward for which you'reresponsible. And--equally of course--that Mr. Rayner and I will handover her jewels in the course of this afternoon to the Princess. MissLennard's property, I should say, you'll find hidden away on Schmall'spremises. Yes--that's all."
"Except this," said the chief quietly. He unwrapped the newspaper inwhich he had carried his small parcel and revealed its contents to MissSlade. "The jewels, you see, Miss Slade, are here. It has been my painfulduty to visit your hotel, and to possess myself of them. Sorry but--"
Miss Slade gave one glance of astonishment at the chief and his exhibit;then she laughed in his face.
"Don't apologize, and don't trouble yourself!" she said suavely. "Butyou're a bit off it, all the same. Those are some paste things which Mr.Rayner got together for me in case it came to being obliged to exhibitsome to the crooks. You don't think, really, that I was going to run anyrisks with the genuine articles? Sakes--they're all right! They'redeposited, snug and safe, at my bankers, and if you'll get a cab, we'lldrive there and get them!"