CHAPTER X
KIMBERLEY
Dessert was being placed upon the table when Bernard Megger went out tothe telephone, and a fairly general conversation upon the all-absorbingtopic had sprung up when he returned--pale, flabby--a stricken man!
"Vignoles!" he said hoarsely. "A word with you."
The host, who did not care for the society of Mr. Megger, rose in somesurprise and stepped aside with his wife's guest.
"I am a ruined man!" said Megger. "My chambers have been entered and mysafe rifled!"
"But----" began Vignoles, in bewilderment.
"You do not understand!" snapped the other, "and I cannot explain. It isSeverac Bablon who has robbed me!"
"Severac Bablon?"
"Yes! I must be off at once and learn exactly what has happened. I shallcall at Scotland Yard----"
"_Ssh!_" whispered Vignoles. "There is no need for that! The manspeaking to Miss Oppner there is Detective-Inspector Pepys!"
"Detective-Inspector Pepys! But what----"
"Never mind now, Megger; he is--that's the point. I'll bring him intothe billiard-room. No doubt he can arrange to accompany you."
Too perturbed in mind to wonder greatly at the presence of a policeofficer at Lord Vignoles' dinner-table, Bernard Megger strode hurriedlyinto the billiard-room, his obese body quivering with his suppressedemotions, and was almost immediately joined by his host, accompanied byPepys. The latter began at once:
"I understand that your chambers have been burgled by Severac Bablon? Bya curious instance of what literary critics term the long arm ofcoincidence I am in charge of the Severac Bablon case--I and InspectorSheffield."
"Before we go any further," said Megger rudely, "I don't share yourtomfool ideas about the rogue!"
"No?" replied Pepys blandly. "Well, never mind. You must not supposethat, because of them, I am any less anxious to apprehend my man. Tellme, when was the burglary committed?"
"While Simons, my servant, was out on an errand. He returned to find thesafe open--and empty. He immediately rang me up here."
"I believe you have already communicated with Scotland Yard in regard toSeverac Bablon?"
"Yes, I have. He has threatened me."
"In what form?"
"He endeavoured to extort money."
"By what means?"
Bernard Megger frowned, angrily. His flabby cheeks were twitchingsignificantly.
"The point is," he said sharply, "that he has rifled my safe."
"Did it contain valuables?"
"Certainly."
"Diamonds?"
"It contained valuable papers."
"Where is the safe situated?"
"It is concealed, I thought securely, at the back of a bookcase. No oneelse holds a key. No one--not even my man--knows of its location._Curse_ Severac Bablon! How, in Heaven's name, has he discovered it? Ithought it secure from the fiend himself!"
Detective-Inspector Pepys scratched his chin thoughtfully, and BernardMegger seemed to experience some difficulty in meeting the disconcertinggaze of his eyes.
"Possibly," said the inspector slowly, "an examination of your chambersmay afford a clue. With your permission, Lord Vignoles, we will start atonce."
"Certainly," said Vignoles. "I fear I have no car in readiness, sosomeone shall call a cab."
He moved to the bell.
"What's that, Jerry?" came a musical American voice. "Someone want alift?"
The three men looked towards the door and saw there Zoe Oppner, abewitching picture in her motor-furs.
"I was coming to say good-night," she explained. "I'm off to pick up Pa.But I've got time to run as far as Brighton and back, say. Nearly halfan hour anyway!"
"You will not be called upon to create that amazing record, Zoe,"responded Lord Vignoles. "Inspector Pepys and Mr. Megger are merelyproceeding to Victoria Street."
"Is it something exciting?" asked Zoe, her bright eyes glancing from oneto another of the three.
"Very!" replied the inspector. "A robbery at Mr. Megger's chambers!"
"Come right along!" said Zoe. "I'm glad I didn't miss this!" And the oddtrio departed forthwith.
"Can I come in?" she asked, with characteristic disregard of theconventional, as her luxuriously appointed car pulled up in VictoriaStreet.
"I should greatly prefer that you did not, Miss Oppner!" said Pepysquietly.
"That's unkind! Why mayn't I?"
"I have a reason, believe me. If you will carry out your original planand go on to join Mr. Oppner, it will be better."
She met the gaze of his earnest eyes frankly.
"All right!" she agreed. "But will you come to the hotel to-morrow,Inspector, and tell me all about it?"
"If you will inform no one of the appointment and arrange to bealone--yes, at eleven o'clock!"
Zoe's big eyes opened widely.
"You are mysterious!" she said; "but I shall expect you at eleveno'clock!"
"I shall be punctual!"
With that he turned and passed quickly through the door behind BernardMegger. Up the stairs he ran and reached the first floor in time to seethe other entering his chambers.
"Simons!" cried Megger, loudly.
But there was no reply.
"He must have gone at once to Scotland Yard," said Pepys. "Where is thesafe?"
Megger switched on the light and unlocked a door on his immediate left.It gave access to a study. In the dim glow of the green shaded lamps theplace looked quiet and reposeful. Everything was neatly arranged, asbefits the sanctum of a business man. Nothing seemed out of place.
"There are no signs of burglars here!" said Pepys, in a surprisedmanner.
"Simons may have reclosed the safe door," replied Megger.
His voice trembled slightly.
Wheeling a chair across the thick carpet, he placed it by a tall,unglazed bookcase and mounted upon the seat.
"The safe is not open," he muttered excitedly.
And the man watching him saw that his puffy hand shook like a leaf inthe breeze.
Removing a small oil-painting from the wall adjoining, he tore at hiscollar and produced a key attached to a thin chain about his neck. Thishe inserted in the cunning lock which the picture served to conceal. Thenext moment a hoarse cry escaped him.
"It hasn't been opened at all!" he shouted.
Snatching at the cord of a hanging lamp, he wildly hurled books aboutthe floor and directed the light into a cavity that now had revealeditself. The other observed him keenly.
"Are you certain _nothing_ is gone?" he asked.
Megger plunged his hand inside and threw out several boxes and somebundles of legal-looking documents. Leaning yet farther forward, hetouched a hidden spring that operated with a sharp _click_.
"_That_ hasn't gone, Inspector!" he cried triumphantly, and held out alarge envelope, sealed in several places.
His eyes were feverish. His features worked.
"You are wrong, Isaac Jacobsen!" rapped Pepys, and snatched the packetin a flash. "It has!"
The man on the chair lurched. Every speck of colour fled from hisnaturally florid face, leaving it a dull, neutral grey. He threw out onehand to steady himself, and with the other plunged to his hip.
"Both up!" ordered Pepys crisply.
And Mr. Bernard Megger found himself looking down a revolver barrel thatpointed accurately between his twitching eyebrows, nor wavered onehair's breadth!
Unsteadily he raised his arms--staring, with dilated pupils, at thismaster of consummate craft.
"It is by such acts of fatuity as your careful preservation of theseproofs of identity," came in ironic tones, "that all rogues are bowledout, Jacobsen! I will admit that you had them well hidden. It was goodof you to find them. I had despaired of doing so myself!" With that thespeaker backed towards the open door.
"Inspector Pepys!" gasped Bernard Megger, swallowing between the words,"I shall remember you!"
"You will be wasting grey matter!" replied the man addressed, and wa
sgone.
Megger, dropping heavily into the chair, saw that the departing visitorhad thrown a slip of pasteboard upon the carpet.
As the key turned in the lock, and the dim footsteps sounded upon thestair, he lurched unsteadily to his feet, and, stooping, picked up thecard.
Simons, his man, returned half an hour later, having been detained inhis favourite saloon by a chance acquaintance who had conceived adelirious passion for his society. He found his master locked in thestudy--with the key on the wrong side--and, furthermore, in the grip ofapoplexy, with a crumpled visiting-card crushed in his clenched righthand.