CAUGHT!
The expression upon the faces of the three as they gazed at Ashton-Kirk
were of mingled amazement and fear. But the secret agent only smiled in
return; the twinkle in his eyes was altogether humorous.
"I know," said he, "that I am exceedingly annoying in happening
here--especially at such a time as this. But, you see, we all have our
tasks in life, and mine is to convince people that things are seldom
what they seem."
There was no reply; and the secret agent fixing his gaze upon the girl,
continued:
"That you think I am clever is a compliment for which I thank you. It is
hard," with a smile, "to be indebted to a person and be able to make
only a--so to speak--left handed return."
The girl was the first of the three to recover. She stared at the
speaker unflinchingly.
"And that is----?" she asked.
"Only that in saying that you have won you made a slight mistake."
"Don't be too sure that it _is_ one," she said. Then with a fierce,
bitter ring in her tone, she added: "There would have been no mistake
had I had my way a few nights ago."
The secret agent laughed.
"Ah, no," said he. "I can well believe that. You urged our friend here,"
nodding toward Drevenoff, "rather strongly, to be sure."
Drevenoff's face was waxen with increased fear; the wide open stare of
his eyes grew more marked. He was about to say something, but before he
could do so Karkowsky spoke.
"Who," asked the elder Pole, "is this gentleman?"
The girl laughed in a mocking sort of way.
"An amateur policeman," she said. "Perhaps you have heard of him. His
name is Ashton-Kirk."
Karkowsky seemed to ponder; but at length he shook his head.
"No," said he, "I do not recall the name." Then to the secret agent:
"Would you mind stating your business, sir?"
"You would make an excellent comedian, Mr. Karkowsky," said the other.
"I do not recall ever having seen that so well done before. And when one
considers how many times the device has been used, that is saying a
great deal."
Drevenoff took a step toward the speaker.
"What," demanded he, "did you mean a moment ago when you spoke of my
being strongly urged?"
"So!" Ashton-Kirk darted a keen look at him. "That attracted your
attention, did it?" He remained with his eyes upon the young man for a
moment, and then continued: "You seem to have a habit, when dispatched
upon messages, of seeing to your own affairs first I recall,"
reminiscently, "that upon the night of the murder of Dr. Morse I asked
you to go for the police."
"I did so," said the Pole.
"Oh, yes, to be sure. But you took occasion first to fasten a window
which had been previously neglected."
For an instant it seemed as though Drevenoff would cry out, but with a
great effort he held himself in check.
"I don't understand you," he said.
"I sympathize with you in that," said Ashton-Kirk, "because there are
many things I do not understand myself. For example," and he wrinkled
his brow as though in an attempt to recall something, "I do not
understand how you escaped the eye of the man I had at your heels the
other night when Miss Corbin sent you to the city. Was it by a leap from
the train while it was moving?" He shook his head in strong disapproval.
"That was dangerous."
A quick look passed between the three; but the secret agent proceeded:
"There are some, however, who are willing to take chances, no matter how
desperate. Then, again, there are others who dislike to risk anything.
You, for example," and he looked once more at the girl, "refuse to run
risks of a certain sort. You are one of those who believe in clearing
the way of obstacles as you come to them. That," and he nodded
appreciatively, "is an admirable method. But to be absolutely effective
it should contain a dash of imagination. For, then, if one were planning
a murder by illuminating gas, for instance, one would realize the result
of a raised blind. A grass plot is an excellent background for the
shadows cast by a strong light."
Again the quick glances were interchanged; and then Karkowsky spoke
briskly.
"We have listened to you, Mr. Ashton-Kirk, as you must admit, with a
great deal of patience. So you will pardon me if I insist upon your
stating the nature of your business without further loss of time."
Ashton-Kirk looked at the fresh-faced little man with his frank, well
opened eyes and well-fed figure; and a look of amusement came into his
face.
"As to that," said the secret agent, "I am entirely at one with you. I
desire to finish my business as quickly as I can. I am here upon much
the same errand as the two who just left," he continued. "But there is
this difference. _They_ were willing to pay for the paper contained in
the scapular; while I expect to have it handed to me for the asking."
Karkowsky sat down and crossed his legs much after the manner of a man
who is interested. The young man and the girl remained standing and were
silent.
"A paper," said Karkowsky, as he stroked his chin, thoughtfully. "Will
you kindly be more explicit?"
"Again I felicitate you upon your talent," said the secret agent; "you
were meant for the stage." He sat upon the edge of the table and nursed
one knee with his clasped hands. "But let me assure you that you are but
wasting your breath and your ability." He paused for a moment and then
went on: "If every one concerned in this matter had displayed a like
degree of talent, things might not have turned out as they have. Let me
suggest to you," to the girl, "that you make an effort to change your
style of handwriting; if you continue in your present trade, you can't
hope for success while possessing so noticeable a characteristic."
For the first time since his discovery of the secret agent's presence,
Karkowsky lost his presence of mind. He uttered an exclamation.
"The postman," smiled Ashton-Kirk, "told me of Mr. Kendreg of Lowe
Street, and it did not take a great deal of time to reason it out that
you and he were one, and that the second address was a ruse to throw the
police off the track should there be any need of it. The man who had you
in charge also had orders to keep an eye out for a woman, for the
handwriting which had so attracted the attention of the postman,
together with some other little things, had told me that a woman was
concerned. But, as a matter of fact, he never had a glimpse of her until
you went to meet her at the station and boarded the train for
Washington. On the journey here, he occupied a chair in the same car."
"He is a clever man," sneered the girl.
"Quite so. But there are things which are out of his line. For example,
he has not been able to find out how you obtained entrance to the Von
Stunnenberg house. But that you _did_ enter he knew, for he watched you
as you went in. And then he called me on the telephone and described
you. I knew that I could not mistake you," with a little bow, "for there
are not many of your marked type, and if that were not enough, your
costume is unique."
"Well?" said she.
"I did not see you take the paper from Miss Corbin," said Ashton-Kirk.
"But I was quite sure that you had it, for all that."
"And you allowed me to go!" The girl sneered once more; but Ashton-Kirk
shrugged his shoulders.
"It made no great difference," said he quietly. "The man who watched you
enter was watching you when you left. His arrangements were such that
only a miracle could have permitted your escape."
For a moment the three were silent; then young Drevenoff spoke.
"You heard what Okiu and the other said while they were here?"
"All that was essential, I think. I know that _you_ have the paper, and
this being the case, it is to you whom I now direct my attention."
"By that," said Drevenoff, "I suppose you mean that you expect me to
give it up."
The secret agent nodded.
"I credit you with some common sense," said he, "and therefore think
that you will do so."
The young man was about to answer, but Karkowsky stopped him. The elder
then bent toward Ashton-Kirk; his usually good-humored eyes wore an
entirely different expression, his round face was set and hard.
"I perceive," said he, in a cold, even voice, "that there is nothing to
be gained by further evasion. We _have_ the paper of which you speak--we
have it after several years of constant effort; and the reward that was
to follow the finding of it is all but in our hands." He rose, and his
small figure seemed to dilate as he proceeded: "Perhaps you heard this
reward mentioned a while ago. It is to be a large sum of money paid by
the Japanese government; but do not suppose that we," and he waved his
hand so as to include the other two, "hoped for personal profit."
Ashton-Kirk shook his head.
"I do not suppose so," said he. "Some few facts which I gathered as to
your reading at the public libraries gave me an idea as to your
purpose."
"Humanity," declared Karkowsky, "its development and progress!--that is
our creed. This money was to help fight tyranny as represented by
Russia. The Japanese whom we have dealt with know nothing of our
intentions; for they, too, are ruled by a tyrant, and we feared that
rather than advance our cause, if they knew the truth, they would forego
leveling at your own country a blow which they longed to strike.
"We have given ourselves to this thing," he went on, "have stopped at
nothing. No chance has been too desperate, no hope too small. And now
that, as I have said, the reward is all but in our hands, do you think
we will pause--that we will weaken in our purpose--that we will
surrender the paper to you because you come here and demand it?"
"If you do suppose so," said Drevenoff, "you do not know us. You are
only one; if we failed before, it does not follow that we will fail
again. You were right, Julia," to the girl; "I should have used the
revolver you offered me instead of the gas. It would have been sure, and
would have saved us further trouble."
"Ah," said the secret agent, "so it was a revolver she offered you. I
recall your refusal of it very well. And I also recall," thoughtfully,
"that it was a pistol shot which ended the life of Dr. Morse. Perhaps
she also offered you the weapon in that instance."
"What!" cried the young Pole. "Do you mean to say----"
But Ashton-Kirk interrupted him.
"I mean to say," said he, "that I know you were in the library on the
night of the murder.
"Wait!" As Drevenoff seemed about to interrupt him. "Do you mean to say
that you were not in the library that night, secretly? Do you mean to
say that you did not steal down the front staircase, unfasten a rear
window, and admit a woman? And do you mean to say that you did not make
a search, and in doing so cut your hand upon a glass drawer knob?"
Drevenoff gasped, and a wild look came into his eyes; in a moment the
girl was at his side, whispering soothingly to him, all her defiance
gone, her manner soft and anxious.
"If I were to tell these things in a court of law," said Ashton-Kirk,
and he shrugged his shoulders, "and then followed them up by showing
your entire willingness to take human life, as demonstrated by your
venture with the illuminating gas, do you think there would be much
chance of your escaping conviction for the murder of Dr. Morse?"
Drevenoff shook himself free from the girl; his face was white, and he
trembled from head to foot; but the wild look of terror in his eyes had
given place to one of desperate resolution. Karkowsky seemed to read the
look; and what it told him, apparently, agreed well with his own
inclinations at the moment, for his hand stole to his pocket and he took
a forward step.
"You would have us into a law court, would you?" asked the younger Pole,
in a husky voice. "And you'd put a rope around _my_ neck! Well, maybe
you would, if you got the chance; but you have not yet done it, and you
_will_ not!"
With the last word he leaped upon Ashton-Kirk, his hands gripping at his
throat, and at the same moment Karkowsky drew a shining object from his
pocket. What would have happened would be difficult to say; but at the
first sign of violence, Fuller, Burgess and some others burst into the
room; Karkowsky was seized and the younger man was torn away from the
secret agent.
The latter readjusted his collar with one hand, and smiled quietly.
"To grip a man by the throat is a very primitive mode of attack, my dear
sir," said he. "The very best authorities have set their faces against
it, for while you are so engaged, you leave yourself open to more or
less deadly counter movements. But as it happened, this," and a scarlet
something showed in his hand, "is the only thing that happened to you. I
was too seriously engaged in picking your pockets to think of anything
else."
What reply Drevenoff made to this did not seem to interest the secret
agent a great deal, however; for he turned his back upon them all, and,
under a light, began making an examination of his find. They caught the
rustle of paper, and saw him place something carefully in his
pocketbook. When he finally turned, his aides were about leading the
prisoners from the room. At the door there was a halt; the girl turned
toward him.
"It's too late to deny anything in which we have had a hand," said she,
disregarding the muttered warnings of Karkowsky. "But the one thing
with which we had nothing to do I will deny. Neither he," pointing to
Drevenoff, "nor I killed Dr. Morse. I admit everything else; but that
one thing we did not do."
Ashton-Kirk said nothing; and the girl went on:
"Drevenoff _did_ admit me to the house on the night the doctor was
killed. He had searched for the paper everywhere; and knowing that I was
clever at such things, he asked me to help him. It was for the same
purpose that I was in the house on the night we tried to fix you with
the illuminating gas.
"But," and her hands went up dramatically, "we did not lay a hand upon
the doctor. He was seated in his chair, dead, when we went into the
library. If he was murdered," and her voice sank, "I can indicate the
guilty person."
"Who was it?" asked Burgess.
"It was his secretary--Warwick."
"You did not see him do it?" It was Fuller who asked the question.
"No; but after we had searched everywhere, we heard a sound; I was just
about to open a bag which I saw on the floor and Drevenoff whispered to
me to run. I did so, taking the bag with me. I had stepped out of the
window and was looking about, when Warwick leaped out after me and
seized the bag. I tried to tear it from him, but could not. Then I ran,
leaving it in his hands." There was a silence for a moment, then she
added, "What I have just said is the absolute truth. If you are even
half as clever a man as you are said to be," to Ashton-Kirk, "you will
find this to be so."
And with that she followed Karkowsky and Drevenoff from the room, each
guarded by a stout plain clothes man.