well-known alienist of Lyons, has observed two patients who recovered.
But the majority of cases where orosin has been administered were
found incurable. The mind is blank, the memory completely destroyed,
and the general health so undermined that only the strongest persons
can withstand the strain."
At once I described Gabrielle's symptoms and general attitude,
whereupon the Professor said:
"What you tell me are the exact symptoms exhibited by a person to whom
a small dose of orosin has been administered. In most cases, however,
such a state of mind develops into actual insanity with a homicidal
tendency. Such a patient should be very carefully watched, for in
ninety per cent. the chance of a cure is, alas! beyond expectation."
CHAPTER THE EIGHTEENTH
MORE ABOUT THE MYSTERY-MAN
One very important fact I had established. Orosin was the obscure and
little-known drug that had been administered to Gabrielle Tennison, as
well as to myself, by the mystery-man of Europe at his palatial house
in Stretton Street. Gabrielle being the weaker, was still suffering
from its paralysing effects, while I, the stronger, had practically
recovered.
Yet it had been intended by the daring Despujol that a fatal
"accident" should now befall me! And could anything be plainer than
that the fellow for whom the police were searching so eagerly was a
hireling of the man De Gex who went in fear of me?
That most secret and most potent of all poisons might be known to
Moroni! Indeed, it apparently was known to him, and the endeavour had
been to introduce it into my system by means of an infected carpet
pin.
On leaving Professor Vega I at once sent a note round to Hambledon,
and awaited his arrival.
When he came I related all the professor had told me.
"Well, Hugh," he said, "we now know the truth, and it remains for us
to combat the fiends. If you are marked down--no doubt I am also. So
it behoves us both to be very wary."
"Why can't we tell the police the whole circumstances?" I suggested.
"My dear fellow, they wouldn't believe you, and they wouldn't arrest
such a powerful man as Oswald De Gex," was his serious reply. "Money
can buy immunity from arrest in every country in Europe, and
especially De Gex's money, for it can be distributed in secret by his
agents. No. If we are to be successful we must lay our plans just as
cleverly as he lays his. We must allow him to believe that we are
entirely unsuspicious of his plotting. That is our only way."
I realized that there was much truth in his argument. It remained with
us to pretend ignorance. Therefore we resolved to still watch and
wait.
A few hours later I told Señor Andrade, the Chief of Police, of the
professor's discovery that the points of the pins had been infected
with orosin, the newly discovered drug which in small doses produced
loss of memory and insanity, and in larger doses sudden death.
In reply, he informed me that though every effort had been made to
trace the elusive fugitive, all had been in vain, and that he was
still at large.
"But if he has this terrible drug in his possession he is more than
ever a danger to society," the Spanish official went on, speaking in
French. "I thank you, m'sieur, for all the information you have given
me, and you may rely upon me to take every possible step towards
securing his arrest. I was in telegraphic communication with the Paris
Sûreté only this morning concerning him. I will wire them again. They
have been stirred into activity by the message I sent them after your
call to see me."
I longed again to be frank with the affable Señor Andrade, yet I saw
that if I were I might negative all chance of solving the problem
which concerned the health and life of the girl whom I had grown to
love so fervently.
Upon a sudden impulse I remarked with affected carelessness:
"I hear that our English financier, Mr. De Gex, is at the Ritz."
"Yes," he replied. "He is here under an assumed name in connexion with
some big railway scheme in Estremadura--a line between Toledo and
Merida. It is badly wanted, and has been talked of for years. There is
a huge stretch of country south of the Tagus as far as Villa Nueva
without any railway communication. The King himself has been agitating
for the development of that rich agricultural region for the last ten
years. And now it seems as though your great financier, Monsieur De
Gex, is here to consult with the Ministry of Communications."
"Yes," I said, realizing in what high esteem that mystery-man of
millions was held.
"I do not think I would care to have such colossal wealth as his,"
remarked the Chief of Police. "As soon as he arrived from Paris I had
orders from the Ministry to place him under surveillance, because, it
seems, he goes in fear of some personal attack upon him."
"By whom?" I asked, instantly interested.
"The information is vague," was his reply. Then, taking up a large
yellow paper from his desk, he said: "It seems that he has applied to
the Ministry for personal protection, and for a daily report of anyone
who may be keeping observation upon him. There is a young Englishman
living at the Palace Hotel who seems unduly interested in the
gentleman's movements. We are watching him."
I held my breath. This was an unexpected revelation. De Gex was in
fear of us, and had resorted to that ruse in order to keep himself
posted upon Hambledon's movements! Truly the situation was daily
growing more complicated!
"Surely such a well-known man as Mr. De Gex--a man who is noted not
only for his immense wealth, but for his generous contributions to
charity--could not have enemies?" I remarked.
"Everyone has enemies, my dear m'sieur," was the police official's
suave reply. "Señor De Gex was here in Madrid a year ago when he made
a similar application to the Ministry for personal surveillance. He
was here in connexion with the foundation of the new Madrid and
Southern Spain Banking Corporation, which is guaranteed by a group of
French and Dutch financiers of whom Señor De Gex is the head."
He paused, and then continued:
"He seems highly strung and nervous. All men who are in the public eye
seem to be the same. Well-known foreigners visiting Madrid often apply
for surveillance, yet there is certainly no need of it. And I confess
to you that my staff is, after all, unduly worked."
"I can quite imagine that," I said. "But is a strict watch kept upon
Mr. De Gex?"
"Yes, and upon his agent, Monsieur Suzor, also."
"Has Monsieur Suzor been in Madrid before?"
"He was here two years ago when Señor De Gex had some big financial
deal with the Count Chamartin, who was head of the Miramar Shipping
Company of Barcelona. They say he bought the whole fleet of steamers
from Count Chamartin."
"Was Count Chamartin wealthy?"
"Yes. A millionaire, without a doubt. But it is said that shortly
before his death he quarrelled with his wife. Why, nobody knows. She
lives at Segovia, and their house here in the capital has just been
sold."
"Was any attempt made upon Mr. De Gex?" I asked.
"Well, a mysterious young Frenchman called one night at the Ritz and
demanded to see him. He was very excited, and when he was refused
admission upstairs, he flourished a revolver. My agent on duty
arrested the stranger, who was, after examination, deported. For that
Señor De Gex sent me a letter of thanks, and the scarf-pin which you
see I wear."
The pin he indicated consisted of a single black pearl with the base
surrounded by diamonds, an expensive piece of jewellery. That, in
itself, was sufficient to show that Oswald De Gex was a past-master in
the art of bribery, and that he had established in the minds of the
authorities of the Spanish capital that when he came there he came in
the interests of the Government, and hence he could do no wrong.
Ah! How I longed to be able to tell my story to that charming
official. But I saw that if I did so he would not only disbelieve me,
but put me down as an exaggerating fool. So I held my tongue.
I further questioned him concerning De Gex and his friend Suzor.
"Monsieur Suzor has been in Madrid before," he said. "He is agent of
Señor De Gex. But how wealthy the latter must be! During the war he
made a big loan to our Government. The real extent of it is not known,
but some say that he can pull the strings of the Cabinet in any way he
wishes, though the King disapproved of the whole transaction. At least
that is the rumour. Yet, after all, Señor De Gex is a true friend of
Spain, even though he, like all financiers, obtains huge percentages
upon his loans."
"True," I laughed. "Men of wealth are seldom philanthropists. One
finds more true philanthropy among the poor, and in the artistic
circles of lower Bohemia, than in the circles of the ultra-rich.
Philanthropy is not written in the dictionary of the war-rich--those
blatant profiteers with their motors and their places in the country,
who, having fattened upon the lives of the brave fellows who fought
and died to save Europe from the unholy Hun, are now enjoying their
lives, while the widows and orphans of heroes starve."
"Ah, M'sieur Garfield, with that I entirely agree," sighed the astute
man seated at his writing-table with the three telephones at his
elbow. "In my official career as head of the police department of
Madrid, I have watched recent events, and I have seen how men who were
little removed from the category of the worst criminals, have suddenly
jumped into wealth, with its consequent notoriety, and the power which
is inseparable from the possessor of money."
"The international financier Oswald De Gex is one of those," I said.
"You cannot close your eyes to that fact!"
"You appear to entertain some antipathy towards him," he remarked, a
little surprised it seemed.
"No, not at all," I assured him, smiling. "I only speak broadly. All
these great financiers fatten upon the ruin of honest folk."
"I hardly think that such is the case with Señor De Gex," he remarked.
"But you are English, and you probably know more than myself
concerning his career."
"Nobody in England knows much about him," was my reply. "We only know
that he is immensely wealthy, and that his riches are daily increased
by the various ventures which he finances."
"He is a great support to our Ministry of Finance," declared the Chief
of Police. "It was Count Chamartin who first interested him in Spain,
I believe. In any case, they combined to finance a number of
industrial enterprises, including the great Guadajoz Copper Mine
which must, in itself, have brought them both a fortune."
"You said that the count is dead," I remarked.
"Yes. He died quite suddenly last year. He was one of the most popular
men at Court, and his tragic death caused a great sensation. He was
taken ill in the Sud Express while travelling from Madrid to keep an
appointment with Señor De Gex in Paris, and though he was taken from
the train on its arrival at San Sebastian and conveyed to the
hospital, he died a few moments after reaching there. He had a weak
heart, and had consulted two doctors only a month previously. They had
ordered him a complete rest and change, but, contrary to their advice,
he continued attending to his affairs--with fatal result."
"And the countess?"
"Ah! Poor lady, she was beside herself with grief. She was his second
wife. His first was the daughter of an Englishman who lived in Madrid.
The present countess is the daughter of the Marquis Avellanosa of
Algeciras, and they were a most devoted pair. She now lives in Segovia
in comparative seclusion. The count's untimely end was a great loss to
Spain."
It was news to me that Oswald De Gex was in Madrid with his agent
Suzor in connexion with the new railway scheme. Indeed, what I had
just been told was all amazing, and showed De Gex to be a man of
outstanding genius. The mystery-man of Europe took good care to inform
himself of any person who watched his movements, or sought to inquire
into his business. It certainly was a master-stroke to pretend fear of
assassination, and compel the police to act as his personal guard. By
that means he had learnt that Hambledon and myself were in Madrid on
purpose to discover what we could, hence he had hired the assassin
Despujol to set that dastardly trap for me.
Again it was upon the tip of my tongue to reveal the suspicions I had
of the great financier, but I refrained, because I could see that my
companion held De Gex in high esteem as a friend and financial
mainstay of his country.
A few moments later I reverted to the possibility of the arrest of
Despujol, for if arrested he might betray De Gex as the person who had
paid him to place those infected pins in my room. In such case my
story would be heard and investigated.
But the Chief of Police shook his head dubiously.
"I fear that he has again gone into safe hiding--up in the mountains
somewhere, without a doubt," he replied. "It was an act of
considerable daring to come boldly to Madrid and stay at your hotel
when he knows full well the hue-and-cry for him is raised everywhere,
and that there is actually ten thousand pesetas offered as reward for
his capture."
"Someone may betray him," I suggested with a smile.
"Yes. We hope so. One of his friends, male or female, will no doubt do
so and come one day to us for the reward. Not till then shall we know
the truth of that strange attempt upon your life. The motive could not
have been robbery, as you had nothing worth taking save your watch. If
he had been found in De Gex's room at the Ritz one could have
understood it."
I smiled. The Chief of Police never suspected the true facts of the
case, facts within my own knowledge, which were of such an amazing and
startling character that I hesitated to relate them.
When I left my friend I again sought Hambledon and told him all I had
learnt.
"H'm!" he grunted. "Very wily of De Gex to get the police to keep an
eye upon me. If I'm not careful I shall suddenly find myself under
arrest as a suspicious person who is in the habit of loitering in the
vicinity of the great financier."
"Yes," I agreed. "This seems to put an end to our present
activity--does it not?"
"Well, he apparently knows that we are watching," Hambledon said.
"What a pity we cannot tell the police all we know."
"If we did we should not be believed, and, moreover, they wouldn't
hear a word against the great man who is such a friend to Spain. Money
buys reputation, remember. Nobody knows that better than De Gex."
Hambledon was standing at my bedroom window looking thoughtfully down
upon the Puerta del Sol with its crowd of hurrying foot-passengers.
"It seems a miserable ending to all our careful surveillance upon
Suzor--doesn't it?" he grumbled.
"True, it does. But now that the pair are on the alert I cannot see
that anything can be gained by remaining in Madrid longer," I pointed
out.
"Then you intend to give up the quest for the truth?"
"Not by any means," I replied quickly. "I intend, at all hazards, and
at all costs, to still fathom the mystery. What we have learned since
we came to Spain puts quite a different complexion upon matters. We
are now in possession of certain facts concerning De Gex--facts of
which we had no suspicion. We had never dreamed that to further his
ends he did not hesitate to employ a notorious criminal to commit
murder with malice aforethought. Neither did we know anything of his
financial dealings with the Spanish Ministry of Finance, or his
partnership with the Conde de Chamartin, or that the drug he used
upon poor Gabrielle and myself was the obscure but most deadly and
dangerous orosin. All these are points which may in the near future be
of greatest advantage to us. Therefore we must not despair. Let us
take courage and continue to probe the mystery--for the sake of poor
Gabrielle Tennison," I urged. "Let us act as quietly and discreetly as
our enemy is acting, and we may yet attain success!"
CHAPTER THE NINETEENTH
THE TRACK OF DESPUJOL
Having decided to still remain in Madrid I deemed it advisable to
engage the services of a private inquiry agent to watch the movements
of De Gex and Suzor, who still remained at the Ritz. The mystery-man,
living under an assumed name, never went out in the daytime, though
Suzor often went forth, paying visits to certain banks and commercial
offices in connexion with the proposed new railway.
The man we engaged was an elderly ex-detective of the Seville police,
named Pardo, who very soon discovered the identity of the secret agent
employed to keep surveillance upon De Gex on behalf of the police so
that no harm should befall him.
In consequence, I took Pardo into my confidence, and calling him to my
hotel, explained that I desired to keep secret watch upon the
Frenchman Suzor, without the knowledge of the detective watching De
Gex.
"I particularly desire to know the addresses of any telegram which
Suzor may send. Probably he may send some message to Italy. If so,
please discover the address and the text of the message."
I believed that De Gex might communicate with Moroni, now that the
plot of Despujol had failed.
"I will watch, señor," was the grey-haired Spaniard's reply. "If Señor
Suzor sends any telegram I shall probably obtain a copy of it. They
know me well at the chief telegraph office. Señor Suzor appears to be
transacting a considerable amount of business in Madrid--a scheme for
a new railway, I understand."
"Yes, I know. All I want you to do is to find out who visits Mr. De
Gex, and whether any telegrams are sent by either him or Mr. Suzor."
"I quite understand, señor," was the detective's reply as he rose, and
a few minutes later withdrew.
Late in the evening two days afterwards I returned to the hotel to
find the man Pardo awaiting me. After I had taken him up to my room
and closed the door, he drew a piece of paper from his pocket, saying
in French:
"Señor Suzor sent a telegram at half-past eight this evening of which
this is a copy."
The message he handed me was in a pencilled scribble, and was in
English as follows:
"Charles Rabel, Rue de Lalande 163, Montauban.--
"Important that I should see you. Meet me at Hôtel
Luxembourg, Nîmes, without fail, next Monday at noon.--O."
The initial "O" stood for Oswald--Oswald De Gex! So the mystery-man of
Europe contemplated leaving Madrid!
I thanked the man Pardo, who said:
"Señor Suzor did not dispatch the telegram from the chief office in
the Calle del Correo, but from the branch office in the Plaza del
Progreso. He apparently wished to send it in secret."
"I wonder why?" I asked.
The Spaniard raised his shoulders.
The address conveyed nothing to me. But the message was proof that De
Gex intended to leave Spain, and further, it was a source of
satisfaction to know his destination in case he slipped away suddenly.
After Pardo had gone I sat and pondered. It struck me as very curious
that Suzor should have gone to a distant telegraph office in order to
send the message. It seemed that he feared to be recognized by the
counter-clerk at the chief telegraph office. For over an hour I smoked
reflectively. I confess that a curious ill-defined suspicion had
arisen in my mind, a suspicion that became so strong that just about
eleven o'clock I entered the Jefatura Superior de Policia in the Calle
de la Princesa, and again inquired for Señor Andrade.
Fortunately he had been detained in his office, and I was shown into
his presence.
He seemed surprised to see me, but at once he became interested when I
said:
"I have a distinct suspicion that I know the whereabouts of Despujol."
"Have you?" he exclaimed quickly. "What causes you to suspect?"
"A man whom I believe to be an acquaintance of his has to-day sent an
urgent telegram to Charles Rabel, Rue de Lalande, 163, in Montauban,
in France, making an appointment to meet him at the Hôtel Luxembourg
at Nîmes next Monday at noon."
"Who is his friend?" he asked eagerly.
"I regret, Señor Andrade, that I am not in a position to answer that
question. The whole matter is only one of suspicion--very strong
suspicion."
The Chief of Police looked very straight at me.
"Ah! Then you are in possession of certain secret knowledge concerning
the man who made such a dastardly attempt upon your life!" he
remarked. "And you suspect this Charles Rabel at Montauban to be the
fugitive--eh?"
"Exactly," I replied.
He asked me to repeat the address, which he scribbled down, and then
looking up, said:
"Personally, Señor Garfield, I think your suspicions are unfounded.
Despujol, if he is ever found, will be discovered in hiding somewhere
in the mountains of the north."
"But why not in Montauban?" I asked. "He is apparently a well-educated
man, judging from his conversation with me. He speaks French well, and
perhaps passes as a French subject."
"He could pass for a Spaniard, an Italian, a Greek, or a Frenchman,"
Andrade remarked. "And as forged passports are so cheap nowadays, and
almost impossible to detect, the means of escape of such a daring
criminal are both numerous and easy. But," he added, "I am interested
in this person whom you believe to be a friend of the fugitive. Cannot
you tell me who he is?"
I shook my head, and smiling replied:
"I have only come here to tell you of a very distinct suspicion I
entertain that Despujol is at Montauban."
"Then his friend is your enemy--eh?" he suggested, his dark,
penetrating eyes fixed upon mine. "You know the motive of that trap
which Despujol set for you, and yet you will not reveal it to me!"
Again I shook my head and smiled.
"It would make my task much easier," he remarked.
"I am aware of that. But at present mine is only a suspicion. I have
no actual knowledge that Charles Rabel is the man you are so desirous
of arresting."
"And you really refuse to tell me who sent this message?" he asked in
a tone of disappointment.
"It was sent in secret," I answered. "Indeed, it was that fact which
caused me to suspect. You can, of course, obtain the original of the
telegram by applying for it from the authorities. But it is only
signed by an initial."
"How did you obtain knowledge of it?"
"Again I have no intention of disclosing the source of my information,
Señor Andrade," I replied as politely as I could, "I am, as a matter
of fact, here in Madrid attempting to solve a very remarkable mystery
which occurred in London a few months ago."
"This is most interesting! You never told me that before!" he
exclaimed. "I confess I wondered with what motive you and your friend
Señor Hambledon, living at separate hotels, had in remaining here. It
was regarded as suspicious by the detective force that being such
intimate friends you lived at separate hotels, and met only in secret.
Reports have reached me of your movements, and of your meetings," he
laughed. "More than once you have been regarded as suspected persons,"
he added.
"Well, I hope you do not regard me as a suspected person any longer,
Señor Andrade!" I exclaimed with a smile.
"No, no," he laughed. "But I confess you are something of a mystery.
Why should the notorious Despujol dare to put his foot into Madrid and
lay that deadly plot to kill you? You know the motive, and yet you
will not disclose it to me."
"Not at present," I said. "If it is found that Charles Rabel is really
Despujol, then I will come forward and state all that I know."
"You promise that?"
"I do."
"Very well--then I will give orders to have your suspicions
investigated," replied the patient, urbane official. "A detective
shall leave by the next train for Montauban with a request to the
Prefect of Police of the Department of Tarn-et-Garonne for the arrest
of the individual in question, if he should be identified."
"Then I will accompany him," I said.
"Excellent," he exclaimed. "It would be well if Señor Rivero, the head
of the Detective Department, whom you have met, went in person to
France. I will ring him up at his house."
He took up the telephone and a few minutes later spoke rapidly in
Spanish to the chief detective of Spain.
Presently after a rapid conversation he put down the receiver, and
said:
"Señor Rivero will meet you at the Delicias Station at two o'clock
to-morrow morning. The express for Barcelona leaves at two-fifteen.
From Barcelona you can get direct to Nîmes, and on to Montauban. And,"
he added, "I only hope you will be successful in arresting the
notorious Despujol."
I thanked him, and suggested that if we should be fortunate enough to
identify him, we should watch for the keeping of the appointment at
the Hôtel Luxembourg at Nîmes on the following Monday.