Poor Leucha was beside herself with grief, for she, alas! knew too well
the many serious charges upon which her father and her lover were
wanted. Both would receive long terms of penal servitude. Against them
stood a very ugly list of previous convictions, and for jewel robbery,
judges were never lenient.
Claire was in deadly fear that Roddy's daughter might also be arrested
for the part she had played in the various affairs, but it appeared that
the information received by the police did not extend to "the Ladybird."
The blow was complete. It had fallen and crushed them all.
That night Leucha lay awake, reflecting upon all that might be brought
against the pair--the Forbes affair, when the fine pearls of Mrs.
Stockton-Forbes, the wife of the American railroad king, were stolen
from the house in Park Lane; the matter of the Countess of Henham's
diamonds; the theft of Lady Maitland's emeralds, and a dozen other
clever jewel robberies that had from time to time startled readers of
the newspapers.
Claire, on her part, also lay wondering--wondering how best to act in
order to extricate the man who had so gallantly risked his life to save
hers, and the easygoing old thief who had showed her such great kindness
and consideration. Could she extricate them? No; she saw it was quite
impossible. The English police and judges could not be bribed, as she
had heard they could be in some countries. The outlook was hopeless--
utterly and absolutely hopeless. Somebody had betrayed them. Both men
had declared so, after their arrest. They had either been recognised
and watched, or else some enemy had pointed them out to the police. In
either case it was the same. A long term of imprisonment awaited both
of them.
Though they were thieves, and as such culpable, yet she felt that she
had now lost her only friends.
Next morning, rising early, she sent Leucha to the police station to
inquire when they would be brought before the magistrate. To her
surprise, however, "the Ladybird" brought back the reply that they had
been taken up to London by the six o'clock train that morning, in order
to be charged in the Extradition Court at Bow Street--the Court reserved
for prisoners whose extradition was demanded by foreign Governments.
Post-haste, leaving little Ignatia in charge of the landlady and the
parlour-maid, Madame Bernard and Leucha took the express to London, and
were present in the grim, sombre police court when the chief magistrate,
a pleasant-faced, white-headed old gentleman, took his seat, and the two
prisoners were placed in the dock.
Guy's dark eyes met Claire's, and he started, turning his face away with
shame at his position. She was a royal sovereign, and he, after all,
only a thief. He had been unworthy her regard. Roddy saw her also, but
made no sign. He feared lest his daughter might be recognised as the
ingenious woman who had so cleverly acted as their spy and accomplice,
and was annoyed that she should have risked coming there.
The men were formally charged--Redmayne with being concerned with two
other men, not in custody, in stealing a quantity of jewellery, the
property of the Baroness Ackermann, at Uhlenhorst, outside Hamburg.
The charge against Guy Bourne was "that he did, on June 16th, 1903,
steal certain jewellery belonging to one Joseph Hirsch of Eugendorf."
In dry, hard tones Mr. Gore-Palmer, barrister, who appeared on behalf of
the German Embassy, opened the case.
"Your Worship," counsel said, "I do not propose to go into great length
with the present case to-day. I appear on behalf of the German Imperial
Embassy in London to apply for the extradition of these men, Redmayne
and Bourne, for extensive thefts of jewels within the German Empire.
The police will furnish evidence to you that they are members of a
well-known, daring, and highly ingenious international gang, who operate
mainly at the large railway stations on the Continent, and have, it is
believed, various accomplices, who take places as domestic servants in
the houses of persons known to be in possession of valuable jewellery.
For the last two years active search has been made for them; but they
have always succeeded in eluding the vigilance of the police until last
night, when they were apprehended at Worthing, and brought to this
Court. The first case, that against Redmayne, is that one of the gang,
a woman unknown, entered the service of the Baroness Ackermann in
London, and after a few weeks accompanied her to Hamburg, where, on
discovering where this lady kept her jewels, she made an excuse that her
mother was dying, and returned to England. Eight months afterwards,
however, the prisoner Redmayne, _alias_ Ward, _alias_ Scott-Martin, made
a daring entry into the house while the family were at dinner, opened
the safe, and escaped with the whole of its precious contents, some of
which were afterwards disposed of in Leyden and in Amsterdam. The
charge against Bourne is that, on the date named, he was at the Cologne
railway station, awaiting the express from Berlin, and on its arrival
snatched the dressing-case from the Countess de Wallwitz's footman and
made off with it. The servant saw the man, and at the police office
afterwards identified a photograph which had been supplied to the German
police from Scotland Yard as that of a dangerous criminal. Against both
men are a number of charges for robbery in various parts of France and
Germany, one against Bourne being the daring theft, three years ago, of
a very valuable ruby pendant from the shop of a jeweller named Hirsch,
in the town of Eugendorf, in the Kingdom of Marburg. This latter
offence, as your Worship will see, has been added to the charge against
Bourne, and the Imperial German Government rely upon your Worship
granting the extradition sought for under the Acts of 1870 and 1873, and
the Treaty of 1876." Mention of the town of Eugendorf caused Claire to
start quickly. He had actually been guilty of theft in her own Kingdom!
For that reason, then, he had escaped from Treysa the instant he was
well enough to leave the hospital.
"I have here," continued counsel, "a quantity of evidence taken on
commission before British Consuls in Germany, which I will put in, and I
propose also to call a servant of the Baroness Ackermann and the
jeweller Hirsch, both of whom are now in the precincts of the Court. I
may add that the Imperial German Government have, through their
Ambassador, made diplomatic representations to the Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs, as they attach the greatest importance to this
case. The men, if my instructions are correct, will be found to be the
leaders of a very dangerous and daring gang, who operate mostly in
Germany, and seek refuge here, in their own country. I therefore hope
that your Worship, after reading the depositions and hearing the
evidence, will make the order for them to be handed over to the German
authorities to be dealt with."
"I must have direct evidence," remarked the magistrate. "Evidence on
commission is not sufficient. They are both British subjects,
remember."
"I have direct evidence of identification against each prisoner,"
counsel replied. "I take it that your Worship will be obliged to
adjourn the case for seven days, as usual; and if further evidence is
required from Germany, it will be forthcoming."
"Very well," said the magistrate, taking the mass of documents handed to
him, and proceeding to hear the formal evidence of arrest, as given by
the inspector and sergeant from New Scotland Yard.
Afterwards the interpreter of the Court was sworn, and following him a
tall, clean-shaven, yellow-haired German entered the witness-box, and
gave his name as Max Wolff, in the employ of the Baroness Ackermann, of
Uhlenhorst, near Hamburg. The instant "the Ladybird" saw him she made
an excuse to Claire, and rising, escaped from the Court. They had been
in service together, and he might recognise her!
The man's evidence, being translated into English, showed that suspicion
fell upon an English maid the Baroness had engaged in London, and who, a
few days after arriving in Hamburg, suddenly returned. Indeed, she had
one day been seen examining the lock of the safe; and it was believed
that she had taken an impression of the key, for when the robbery was
committed, some months later, the safe was evidently opened by means of
a duplicate key.
"And do you identify either of the prisoners?" inquired the magistrate.
"I identify the elder one. I came face to face with him coming down the
principal staircase with a bag in his hand. I was about to give the
alarm; but he drew a revolver, and threatened to blow out my brains if I
uttered a word."
The accused man's face relaxed into a sickly smile.
"And you were silent?"
"For the moment, yes. Next second he was out into the road, and took to
the open country. I am quite certain he is the man; I would know him
among ten thousand."
"And you have heard nothing of this English lady's maid since?" asked
the magistrate.
"No; she disappeared after, as we suppose, taking the impression of the
key."
The next witness was a short, stout, dark-faced man with a shiny bald
head, evidently a Jew. He was Joseph Hirsch, jeweller, of the
Sternstrasse, Eugendorf, and he described how, on a certain evening, the
prisoner Bourne--whom he identified--had entered his shop. He took him
to be a wealthy Englishman travelling for pleasure, and showed him some
of his best goods, including a ruby pendant worth about fifty thousand
marks. The prisoner examined it well, but saying that the light was not
good, and that he preferred to return next morning and examine it in the
daylight, he put it down and went out. A quarter of an hour later,
however, he had discovered, to his utter dismay, that the pendant had
been cleverly palmed, and in its place in the case was left a cheap
ornament, almost a replica, but of brass and pieces of red glass. He at
once took train to Treysa and informed the chief of police, who showed
him a photograph of the prisoner--a copy of one circulated by Scotland
Yard.
"And do you see in Court the man who stole the pendant?" asked the
magistrate.
"Yes; he is there," the Jew replied in German--"the younger of the two."
"You have not recovered your property?"
"No, sir."
The court was not crowded. The London public take little or no interest
in the Extradition Court. The magistrate glanced across at the
well-dressed lady in dark grey who sat alone upon one of the benches,
and wondered who she might be. Afterwards one of the detectives
informed him privately that she had been with the men at Worthing when
they were arrested.
"I do not know, your Worship, if you require any further evidence,"
exclaimed Mr. Gore-Palmer, again rising. "Perhaps you will glance at
the evidence taken on commission before the British Consul-General at
Treysa, the British Consul in Hamburg, and the British Vice-Consul at
Cologne. I venture to think that in face of the evidence of
identification you have just heard, you will be convinced that the
German Government have a just right to apply for the extradition of
these two persons."
He then resumed his seat, while the white-headed old gentleman on the
bench carefully went through folio after folio of the signed and stamped
documents, each with its certified English translation and green
Consular stamps.
Presently, when about half-way through the documents, he removed his
gold pince-nez, and looking across at counsel, asked,--
"Mr. Gore-Palmer, I am not quite clear upon one point. For whom do you
appear to prosecute--for the Imperial German Government, or for the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Marburg?"
"I appear for both, your Worship, but I am instructed by the latter."
"By the Minister Stuhlmann himself, on behalf of the Government--not by
Herr Hirsch?"
"Yes, your Worship, by the Minister himself, who is determined to crush
out the continually increasing crimes committed by foreign criminals who
enter the Kingdom in the guise of tourists, as in the case of the
present prisoners."
Claire, when counsel's explanation fell upon her ears, sat upright, pale
and rigid.
She recollected Steinbach's warning, and in an instant the vile,
dastardly plot of Hinckeldeym and his creatures became revealed to her.
They would condemn this man to whom she owed her life as a low-bred
thief, and at the same time declare that he was her latest lover!
For her it was the end of all things--the very end!