CLEEK TO THE RESCUE
She stopped speaking suddenly and choked back a sob, covering her face
with her gloved hands, and for a moment Deland sat looking at her, eyes
narrowed, and the curious little one-sided smile so characteristic of
the man travelling up his face. Here was very evident distress indeed.
And real, too, if he knew anything of women. And yet--where was the
evidence, the intention to murder, as she had suggested? There was
absolutely nothing to go upon but a woman's intuition--and that,
strangely enough, very rarely went wrong. He'd bank a good deal upon a
woman's intuition every time, and feel he'd get good credit.
"Listen, Miss Duggan," he said, leaning forward in his seat and
surveying her with keen, critical eyes. "You are very grieved, I know,
but, as Mr. Narkom has just told me, you have nothing to go upon
but--_actually_--your own intuition. My friend here does not always bank
on that. I do. A woman's intuition is often a great deal safer than a
whole chain of circumstantial evidence. That is where Mr. Narkom and I
differ--eh, old friend? At any rate, as there is another case besides
yours up in Argyllshire awaiting my investigation, I'll tell you what
I'll do. I'll come up to Scotland to-morrow--to-night, in fact, by the
midnight train--and look into both cases at once. And if I can find
anything requiring my assistance I'll gladly give it. How will that do?"
Mr. Narkom stifled an exclamation of surprise. Here was an interest
which he had never dreamed of awakening. Cleek (for such was the
admirable gentleman in his admirably cut clothes) rarely, if ever,
showed such immediate interest unless there was more in the thing than
met the eye in the first place. And although this Miss Duggan was
obviously in earnest, he himself would be inclined to put the thing down
to a woman's natural jealousy for her rightful possessions, and a
natural love for the man who was beloved to her by all the ties of flesh
and blood and for whom she would fight, if necessary, to the bitter end.
He had seen this sort of thing before--and paid very little attention to
it. The poison story was weak--undeniably weak--though no doubt Miss
Duggan firmly believed in it. A thousand things might have been
contained in the phial other than the poison to which her jealous mind
had instantly leapt. Powdered aspirin, perhaps, or whatnot. And for
Cleek to take such an immediate interest--_Cleek_!
He sucked in his breath noiselessly.
"Gad!" thought he, "there _is_ more in this than meets the eye; of that
I'm sure, or he'd never take such an interest in it. Of course, there's
those illicit stills in the same county, but ... well, anyhow, I was
right in sending for him, by James! It was worth taking a chance over."
Then he turned his eyes to where Miss Duggan had leaned forward
suddenly, her wet eyes alight with gratitude and face instantly
transfigured.
"Oh, will you?--will you? How good of you, how very, very good!" she
ejaculated with a little half-sigh of utter relief. "That is all I ask,
Mr. Deland. Someone will come and _see_--see for themselves how things
stand at Aygon Castle. I tell you my intuition is very rarely wrong, and
if harm does not come to my poor father before this week is out, then I
have made the first mistake in all my life. But I'm not mistaken. Of
that I am positively, absolutely _sure_!"
"Well, let's hope you are, my dear young lady," said Mr. Narkom, in his
practical fashion, getting to his feet at a sign from Cleek, to show
that the interview was over at last. "You are lucky to have the help of
Mr. Deland, I must say. Personally I never thought for an instant that
your case would interest him, but as it _has_, you'll no doubt meet on
the midnight express--eh, Deland?--and travel up together? And now, as I
have a lot of business on hand, I'll wish you a very good morning and
good luck."
"Thank you." She got to her feet and put her gloved hand into his. "You
have been very, very kind. And I hope, too, that you are right
concerning my intuition. But I am afraid not. Thank you so much
for--everything. And you, too, Mr. Deland. Shall I expect you to-night,
then, by the midnight express, or would you prefer to travel alone?"
Cleek bowed.
"Certainly not. I shall be glad of your company, if you will permit me
to travel with you, Miss Duggan," he responded gallantly--feeling,
however that he would have preferred to travel alone, if politeness
permitted him to say so. "There will be a good deal of reading that I
shall have to do, but if you'll pardon that.... To-night, then, by the
midnight express. I shall look for you outside the Third booking-office,
at 11:40. And I shall already have secured two corner seats. Back to the
engine, or not?"
"Back, please," she made answer, giving his hand a grateful squeeze on
parting. "How kind you are! I feel hopeful already! Somehow, you inspire
me with confidence, Mr. Deland. In your hands I know things will not go
amiss. If we can only get there in time----"
She shrugged her shoulders, and let the rest of the sentence go by
default, and then, bowing slightly to each in turn, took her departure,
a graceful, elegant figure, bearing in every line and look the mark of
the noble ancestors of one of Scotland's noblest families.
As the door closed behind her, Cleek wheeled round, and striding over to
Mr. Narkom set a hand upon each of his podgy shoulders, and stood a
moment looking down into his face. Then he gave a short, sharp laugh,
and let his hands drop.
"A dollar to a ducat but there's more in that than meets the eye," he
said, with a lift of the shoulders and a twitch of the lip. "There's a
woman who has sincerity written upon her soul, but hasn't a jot or
tittle of actual evidence to offer us. Your method would be to send her
home again, until she brought you the poison bottle or the cork of it,
or the bread-and-milk into which the stuff had been poured--eh, old
chap?... And mine--what?" He spread out his hands, and shrugged his
shoulders, and swung upon his heel with a laugh for the rueful
expression upon Mr. Narkom's face.
"Oh, I say, old fellow----" began the Superintendent excitedly; but
Cleek's uplifted hand silenced him.
"Familiarity breeds--the best of comradeship!--my friend. And a little
dig in the ribs now and then should never be read amiss. I owe all I
have to you, Mr. Narkom. You know the deeps of my gratitude. And if I
am not permitted sometimes to tease.... Oh, you silly old booby! You'll
never be a policeman to the end of your days. There are too many
sensitive nerves running round underneath that plump and portly exterior
of yours. And your heart's too soft! But don't let us stray from our
business in this ridiculous fashion, for time slips by and the hour
isn't half long enough for what must be done in it. Tell me briefly what
she told _you_, and in as near her own words as you can remember, and
then I'll be off and away to make arrangements for to-night's journey.
If there's nothing in this thing, I'll send you a wire: 'Empty.'
"You'll understand. If there _is_, then the word 'Full' will answer
quite satisfactorily, without giving away our plans to any interested
persons. As for the whisky-still business, what more perfect harbour for
it than those craggy, heather-covered hills of Scotland? I'll have news
for you, my friend, never fear; and immediately I hit upon anything,
Dollops shall send it travelling over the wire in our own special code
to you."
"What a man you are, Cleek! What a fund of restlessness, untiring
interest and intelligence!" said Mr. Narkom, as he laid a fond hand upon
Cleek's sleeve and looked up into his smiling face. "Gad! The Yard would
go to pieces without you nowadays. You saved us from collapse in the old
days of that Maurevanian business, when the whole country seemed to
have run amuck--and blamed the police for it! And you're saving us every
time now. What we'd do without your brains and your pluck and your
wonderful birthright, which disguises you so successfully that even I,
your best friend, don't know you, when you choose--well, I can't say.
But my blessing with you, Cleek, and the best of luck! You'll find what
you're looking for, I haven't a doubt."
"Yes, I'll find what I'm looking for, Mr. Narkom; I'm certain of that,"
said Cleek quietly, the queer little one-sided smile travelling up his
cheek once more. "I don't wish to sound egotistical, but there are few
things can beat your humble when his mind's made up. Else how would I
have travelled back from the underworld into such a position of trust
and uniqueness as this? Only that a woman's eyes lit the way for me, and
a man's great heart opened the door--and the crook determined to become
the gentleman, and pitched into it forthwith all he was worth.
Cussed--that's me!"
"And _clean_! And with those two attributes Hercules was enabled to
clean out the Augean Stables and prove himself ready for anything that
came," supplemented Mr. Narkom, with a noisy sigh. "Cussed and clean!
That's your motto. I'll back it every time.... Now, then, to business.
We've thrown enough bouquets at each other to last for a lifetime!
There's a dickens of a cipher case which is tying me into knots at
present, so I need all my faculties to untie myself again! Here are the
facts, Cleek. Nothing much, but you will make more than I can of them;
so here goes."
And so it came about that when Cleek left the offices in Scotland Yard
that afternoon, and strolled leisurely down toward his diggings in
Clarges Street, he was in possession of the full story, just as Maud
Duggan had told it to Mr. Narkom, and had gleaned therewith one or two
incidental conclusions upon his own account.
The journey to Scotland was likely to prove a fruitful one. And he was
to see the gaunt crags of that most majestic and rugged country under
more interesting conditions than he had at first bargained for.
But _how_ interesting and how tragically enthralling, even Cleek himself
was not able to foresee.