THE POISONED NEEDLE
Over a still untasted grapefruit Garrick was considering what his next
move should be. As for me, even this temporary return to a normal life
caused me to view things in a different light.
There had been, as the Chief and the Boss had hinted at in their
conversation, a wave of hysteria which had swept over the city only a
short time before regarding what had come to be called the "poisoned
needle" cases. Personally I had doubted them and I had known many
doctors and scientists as well as vice and graft investigators who had
scouted them, too.
"Garrick," I said at length, "do you really think that we have to deal
with anything in this case but just plain attempted kidnapping of the
old style?"
He shook his head doubtfully. I knew him to be anything but an alarmist
and waited impatiently for him to speak.
"I wouldn't think so," he said at length slowly, "except for one thing."
"What's that?" I asked eagerly.
"His mention of the 'sleepmakers' and Paris," he replied briefly.
Garrick had risen and walked over to a cabinet in the corner of his
room. When he returned it was with something gleaming in the morning
sunshine as he rolled it back and forth on a piece of paper, just a
shining particle. He picked it up carefully.
I bent over to look at it more closely and there, in Garrick's hand,
was a tiny bit of steel, scarcely three-eighths of an inch long, a mere
speck. It was like nothing of which I had ever heard or read. Yet
Garrick himself seemed to regard the minute thing with a sort of awe.
As for me, I knew not what to make of it. I wondered whether it might
not be some new peril.
"What is it?" I asked at length, seeing that Garrick might be disposed
to talk, if I prompted him.
"Well," he answered laconically, holding it up to the light so that I
could see that it was in reality a very minute, pointed hollow tube,
"what would you say if I told you it was the point of a
new--er--poisoned needle?"
He said it in such a simple tone that I reacted from it toward my own
preconceived notions of the hysterical newspaper stories.
"I've heard about all the poisoned needle stories," I returned. "I've
investigated some of them and written about them for my paper, Guy. And
I must say still that I doubt them. Now in the first place, the mere
insertion of a hypodermic needle--of course, you've had it done,
Guy--is something so painful that anyone in his senses would cry aloud.
Then to administer a drug that way requires a great deal of skill and
knowledge of anatomy, if it is to be done with full and quick effect."
Garrick said nothing, but continued to regard the hollow point which he
had obtained somewhere, perhaps on a previous case.
"Why, such an injection," I continued, recalling the result of my
former careful investigations on the subject, "couldn't act
instantaneously anyhow, as it must if they are to get away with it.
After the needle is inserted, the plunger has to be pushed down, and
the whole thing would take at least thirty seconds. And then, the
action of the drug. That would take time, too. It seems to me that in
no case could it be done without the person's being instantly aware of
it and, before lapsing into unconsciousness, calling for help or--"
"On the contrary," interrupted Garrick quietly, "it is absurdly easy.
Waiving the question whether they might not be able to get Violet
Winslow in such a situation where even the old hypodermic method which
you know would serve as well as any other, why, Marshall, just the hint
that fellow dropped tells me that he could walk up to her on the street
or anywhere else, and--"
He did not finish the sentence, but left it to my imagination. It was
my turn, now, to remain silent.
"You are right, though, Tom, in one respect," he resumed a moment
later. "It is not easy by the old methods that everyone now knows. For
instance, take the use of chloral-knock-out drops, you know. That is
crude, too. Hypodermics and knock-out drops may answer well enough,
perhaps, for the criminals whose victims are found in cafes and dives
of a low order. But for the operations of an aristocratic criminal of
to-day--and our friend the Chief seems to belong to the aristocracy of
the underworld--far more subtle methods are required. Let me show you
something."
Carefully, from the back of a drawer in the cabinet, where it was
concealed in a false partition, he pulled out a little case. He opened
it, and in it displayed a number of tiny globes and tubes of thin
glass, each with a liquid in it, some lozenges, some bonbons, and
several cigars and cigarettes.
"I'm doing this," he remarked, "to show you, Tom, that I'm not unduly
magnifying the danger that surrounds Violet Winslow, after hearing what
I did over that detectaphone. Perhaps it didn't impress you, but I
think I know something of what we're up against."
From another part of the case he drew a peculiar looking affair and
handed to me without a word. It consisted of a glass syringe about two
inches long, fitted with a glass plunger and an asbestos washer. On the
other end of the tube was a hollow point, about three-eighths of an
inch long--just a shiny little bit of steel such as he had already
showed me.
I looked at it curiously and, in spite of my former assurance, began to
wonder whether, after all, the possibility of a girl being struck down
suddenly, without warning, in a public place and robbed--or
worse--might not take on the guise of ghastly reality.
"What do you make of it?" asked Garrick, evidently now enjoying the
puzzled look on my face.
I could merely shrug my shoulders.
"Well," he drawled, "that is a weapon they hinted at last night. The
possibilities of it are terrifying. Why, it could easily be plunged
through a fur coat, without breaking."
He took the needle and made an imaginary lunge at me.
"When people tell you that the hypodermic needle cannot be employed in
a case like this that they are planning," he continued, "they are
thinking of ordinary hypodermics. Those things wouldn't be very
successful usually, anyhow, under such circumstances. But this is
different. The very form of this needle makes it particularly effective
for anyone who wishes to use it for crime. For instance--take it on a
railroad or steamship or in a hotel. Draw back the plunger--so--one
quick jab--then drop it on the floor and grind it under your heel. The
glass is splintered into a thousand bits. All evidence of guilt is
destroyed, unless someone is looking for it practically with a
microscope."
"Yes," I persisted, "that is all right--but the pain and the moments
before the drug begins to work?"
With one hand Garrick reached into the case, selecting a little thin
glass tube, and with the other he pulled out his handkerchief.
"Smell that!" he exclaimed, bending over me so that I could see every
move and be prepared for it.
Yet it was done so quickly that I could not protect myself.
"Ugh!" I ejaculated in surprise, as Garrick manipulated the thing with
a legerdemain swiftness that quite baffled me, even though he had given
me warning to expect something.
Everyone has seen freak moving picture films where the actor suddenly
bobs up in another place, without visibly crossing the intervening
space. The next thing I knew, Garrick was standing across the room, in
just that way. The handkerchief was folded up and in his pocket.
It couldn't have been done possibly in less than a minute. What had
happened? Where had that minute or so gone? I felt a sickening
sensation.
"Smell it again?" Garrick laughed, taking a step toward me.
I put up my hand and shook my head negatively, slowly comprehending.
"You mean to tell me," I gasped, "that I was--out?"
"I could have jabbed a dozen needles into you and you would never have
known it," asserted Garrick with a quiet smile playing over his face.
"What is the stuff?" I asked, quite taken aback.
"Kelene--ethyl chloride. Whiff!--and you are off almost in a second. It
is an anaesthetic of nearly unbelievable volatility. It comes in little
hermetically sealed tubes, with a tiny capillary orifice, to prevent
its too rapid vaporising, even when opened for use. Such a tube may be
held in the palm of the hand and the end crushed off. The warmth of the
hand alone is sufficient to start a veritable spray. It acts violently
on the senses, too. But kelene anaesthesia lasts only a minute or so.
The fraction of time is long enough. Then comes the jab with the real
needle--perhaps another whiff of kelene to give the injection a chance.
In two or three minutes the injection itself is working and the victim
is unconscious, without a murmur--perhaps, as in your case, without any
clear idea of how it all happened--even without recollection of a
handkerchief, unable to recall any sharp pain of a needle or anything
else."
He was holding up a little bottle in which was a thick, colorless syrup.
"And what is that?" I asked, properly tamed and no longer disposed to
be disputatious.
"Hyoscine."
"Is it powerful?"
"One one-hundredth of a grain of this strength, perhaps less, will
render a person unconscious," replied Garrick. "The first symptom is
faintness; the pupils of the eyes dilate; speech is lost; vitality
seems to be floating away, and the victim lapses into unconsciousness.
It is derived from henbane, among ether things, and is a rapid,
energetic alkaloid, more rapid than chloral and morphine. And, preceded
by a whiff of kelene, not even the sensations I have described are
remembered."
I could only stare at the outfit before me, speechless.
"In Paris, where I got this," continued Garrick, "they call these
people who use it, 'endormeurs'--sleepmakers. That must have been what
the Chief meant when he used that word. I knew it."
"Sleepmakers," I repeated in horror at the very idea of such a thing
being attempted on a young girl like Violet Winslow.
"Yes. The standard equipment of such a criminal consists of these
little thin glass globes, a tiny glass hypodermic syringe with a sharp
steel point, doped cigars and cigarettes. They use various derivatives
of opium, like morphine and heroin, also codeine, dionin, narcein,
ethyl chloride and bromide, nitrite of amyl, amylin,--and the skill
that they have acquired in the manipulation of these powerful drugs
stamps them as the most dangerous coterie of criminals in existence.
Now," he concluded, "doubt it or not, we have to deal with a man who is
a proficient student of these sleepmakers. Who is he, where is he, and
when will he strike?"
Garrick was now pacing excitedly up and down the room.
"You see," he added, "the police of Europe by their new scientific
methods are driving such criminals out of the various countries. Thank
heaven, I am now prepared to meet them if they come to America."
"Then you think this is a foreigner?" I asked meekly.
"I didn't say so," Garrick replied. "No. I think this is a criminal
exceptionally wide awake, one who studies and adopts what he sees
whenever he wants it. If you recall, I warned you to have a wholesome
respect for this man at the very start, when we were looking at that
empty cartridge."
I could restrain my admiration of him no longer. "Guy," I exclaimed,
heartily, astounded by what I had seen, "you--you are a wonder!"
"No," he laughed, "not wonderful, Tom,--only very ordinary. I've had a
chance to learn some things abroad, fortunately. I've taken the time to
show you all this because I want you to appreciate what it is we are up
against in this case of Violet Winslow. You can understand now why I
was so particular about instructing Warrington not to let her go
anywhere unattended by friends. There's nothing inherently impossible
in these poisoned needle stories--given the right conjunction of
circumstances. What we have to guard against principally is letting her
get into any situation where the circumstances make such a thing
possible. I've almost a notion to let the New York end of this case go
altogether for a while and take a run up to Tuxedo to warn her and Mrs.
de Lancey personally. Still, I think I put it strongly enough with
Warrington so that--"
Our telephone tinkled insistently.
"Hello," answered Garrick. "Yes, this is Garrick. Who is this?
Warrington? In Tuxedo? Why, my dear boy, you needn't have gone
personally. Are you sure you're strong enough for such exertion?
What--what's that? Warrington--it--it isn't--not to New York?"
Garrick's face was actually pale as he fairly started back from the
telephone and caught my eye.
"Tom," he exclaimed huskily to me, "Violet Winslow left for New York on
the early train this morning!"
I felt my heart skip a beat, then pound away like a sledge-hammer at my
ribs as the terrible possibilities of the situation were seared into my
brain.
"Yes, Warrington--a letter to her? Read it--quick," I heard Garrick's
tense voice repeating. "I see. Her maid Lucille was taken very ill a
few days ago and she allowed her to go to her brother who lives on
Ninth Street. I understand. Now--the letter."
I could not hear what was said over the telephone, but later Garrick
repeated it to me and I afterwards saw the letter itself which I may as
well reproduce here. It said:
"Since I left you, mademoiselle, I am very ill here at the home of my
brother. I have a nice room in the back of the house on the first floor
and now that I am getting better I can sit up and look out of the
window.
"I am very ill yet, but the worst is past and some time when you are in
New York I wish I could see you. You have always been so good to me,
mademoiselle, that I hope I may soon be back again, if you have not a
maid better than your poor Lucille.
"Your faithful servant,
"LUCILLE DE VEAU."
"And she's already in the city?" asked Garrick of Warrington as he
finished reading the letter. "Mrs. de Lancey has gone with her--to do
some shopping. I see. That will take all day, she said? She is going to
call on Lucille--to-night--that's what she told her new maid there?
To-night? That's all right, my boy. I just wanted to be sure. Don't
worry. We'll look out for her here, all right. Now, Warrington, you
just keep perfectly quiet. No relapses, you know, old fellow. We can
take care of everything. I'm glad you told me. Good-bye."
Garrick had finished up his conversation with Warrington in a confident
and reassuring tone, quite the opposite to that with which he had
started and even more in contrast with the expression on his face as he
talked.
"I didn't want to alarm the boy unnecessarily," he explained to me, as
he hung up the receiver. "I could tell that he was very weak yet and
that the trip up to Tuxedo had almost done him up. It seems that she
thought a good deal of Lucille--there's the address--99 Ninth. You can
never tell about these maids, though. Lucille may be all right--or the
other maid may be all bad, or vice versa. There's no telling. The worst
of it is that she and her aunt are somewhere in the city, perhaps
shopping. It only needs that they become separated for something,
anything, to happen. There's been no time to warn her, either, and
she's just as likely to visit that Lucille to-night alone as not.
Gad--I'm glad I didn't fly off up there to Tuxedo, after all. She'll
need someone here to protect her."
Garrick was considering hastily what was to be done. Quickly he mapped
out his course of action.
"Come, Tom," he said hurriedly to me, as he wrapped up a little cedar
box which he took from the cabinet where he kept the endormeur outfit.
"Come--let's investigate that Ninth Street address while we have time."