FIRST ATTEMPT ON THE SAFE
On the following morning I was awakened by the arrival of Bristol. I
hastened to admit him.
“Your visitor of yesterday,” he began, “has wasted no time!”
“What has happened?”
He tugged irritably at his moustache. “I don’t know!” he replied. “Of
course it was no surprise to find that there isn’t a Mohammedan who’ll
lay his little finger on Professor Deeping’s safe! There’s no doubt in
my mind that every lascar at the docks knows Hassan of Aleppo to be in
England. Some other arrangement will have to be arrived at, if the
thing is ever to be taken to the Antiquarian Museum. Meanwhile we stand
to lose it. Last night—”
He accepted a cigarette, and lighted it carefully.
“Last night,” he resumed, “a member of P Division was on point duty
outside the late Professor’s house, and two C.I.D. men were actually in
the room where the safe is. Result—someone has put in at least an
hour’s work on the lock, but it proved too tough a job!”
I stared at him amazedly.
“Someone has been at the lock!” I cried. “But that is impossible, with
two men in the room—unless—”
“They were both knocked on the head!”
“Both! But by whom! My God! They are not—”
“Oh, no! It was done artistically. They both came round about four
o’clock this morning.”
“And who attacked them?”
“They had no idea. Neither of them saw a thing!”
My amazement grew by leaps and bounds. “But, Bristol, one of them must
have seen the other succumb!”
“Both did! Their statements tally exactly!”
“I quite fail to follow you.”
“That’s not surprising. Listen: When I got on the scene about five
o’clock, Marden and West, the two C.I.D. men, had quite recovered their
senses, though they were badly shaken, and one had a cracked skull. The
constable was conscious again, too.”
“What! Was he attacked?”
“In exactly the same way! I’ll give you Marden’s story, as he gave it
to me a few minutes after the surgeon had done with him. He said that
they were sitting in the study, smoking, and with both windows wide
open. It was a fearfully hot night.”
“Did they have lights?”
“No. West sat in an armchair near the writing-table; Marden sat by the
window next to the door. I had arranged that every hour one of them
should go out to the gate and take the constable’s report. It was just
after Marden had been out at one o’clock that it happened.
“They were sitting as I tell you when Marden thought he heard a curious
sort of noise from the gate. West appeared to have heard nothing; but I
have no doubt that it was the sound of the constable’s fall. West’s
pipe had gone out, and he struck a match to relight it. As he did so,
Marden saw him drop the match, clench both fists, and with eyes glaring
in the moonlight and his teeth coming together with a snap, drop from
his chair.
“Marden says that he was half up from his seat when something struck
him on the back of the head with fearful force. He remembered nothing
more until he awoke, with the dawn creeping into the room, and heard
West groaning somewhere beside him. They both had badly damaged skulls
with great bruises behind the ear. It is instructive to note that their
wounds corresponded almost to a fraction of an inch. They had been
stunned by someone who thoroughly understood his business, and with
some heavy, blunt weapon. A few minutes later came the man to relieve
the constable; and the constable was found to have been treated in
exactly the same way!”
“But if Marden’s account is true—”
“West, as he lost consciousness, saw Marden go in exactly the same
way.”
“Marden was seated by the open window, but I cannot conjecture how any
one can have got at West, who sat by the table!”
“The case of Marden is little less than remarkable; he was some
distance from the window. No one could possibly have reached him from
outside.”
“And the constable?”
“The constable can give us no clue. He was suddenly struck down, as the
others were. I examined the safe, of course, but didn’t touch it,
according to instructions. Someone had been at work on the lock, but it
had defied their efforts. I’m fully expecting though that they’ll be
back to-night, with different tools!”
“The place is watched during the day, of course?”
“Of course. But it’s unlikely that anything will be attempted in
daylight. Tonight I am going down myself.”
“Could you arrange that I join you?”
“I could, but you can see the danger for yourself?”
“It is extraordinarily mysterious.”
“Mr. Cavanagh, it’s uncanny!” said Bristol. “I can understand that one
of these Hashishin could easily have got up behind the man on duty out
in the open. I know, and so do you, that they’re past masters of that
kind of thing; but unless they possess the power to render themselves
invisible, it’s not evident how they can have got behind West whilst he
sat at the table, with Marden actually watching him!”
“We must lay a trap for them to-night.”
“Rely upon me to do so. My only fear is that they may anticipate it and
change their tactics. Hassan of Aleppo apparently knows as much of our
plans as we do ourselves.”
Inspector Bristol, though a man of considerable culture, clearly was
infected with a species of supernatural dread.