There is no person in London easier to find than a cab-driver whose
number is known, for the supervision of the Public Carriage Department
is exhaustive. Yet, even so, it was some hours before the man Foyle
sought was reported as being on his way to Scotland Yard.
He came at last, wonder and a little alarm in his face as he was brought
into the room where the superintendent and Green sat. There are many
rules the infringement of which will imperil a licence, and he was not
quite sure that he might not have broken one.
Foyle motioned for the door to be shut. "So you're the cab-driver we're
looking for, are you?" he said. "You're William White?"
"Yes, sir," answered the man. "That's my name."
"All right, White. There's nothing to be alarmed about. You picked up a
lady outside the Metropolitan and Provincial Bank this morning. Just sit
down and tell us where you took her."
"Oh, that is it?" said White, relieved to find that it was merely an
inquiry and not an offence that he was called upon to answer for. "Yes,
sir. I did pick up a lady there. I took her along to the General Post
Office, and waited while she went in. Then----"
"Wait a minute," interrupted Foyle. "How long was she in there?"
"Ten minutes as near as a touch, according to the way the taximeter
jumped while I was waiting. When she came out she asked me if I could
take her to Kingston. I said yes. And she told me to stop on the Surrey
side of Putney Bridge, because she expected to pick up a friend, sir.
Well, he was waiting there for us----"
"What kind of a looking man was he?"
"A tough sort of customer. Dressed like a labouring chap. I thought it
was a queer go, but it wasn't none of my business, and ladies take queer
fancies at times. She didn't say nothing to him that I could hear, but
just leaned out of the window and beckoned. He jumped in and off we
went. We stopped at a tailor's shop in Kingston, and the man went in
while the lady stayed in the cab."
"What was the name of the shop?"
"I didn't notice. I could show it to any one, though, if I went there
again."
"Very well. Go on," said Foyle curtly.
"Well, in a matter of a couple of minutes out comes the chap again and
spoke to the lady. She got out and paid me off. He went back into the
shop and she walked away down the street."
"And that's the last you saw of them, I suppose?" asked the
superintendent, with his left hand rubbing vigorously at his chin.
White shook his head. "No, sir. I went away and had a bit of grub before
coming back. As I passed Kingston railway station, I saw the lady
standing by a big motor-car, talking to the man seated at the wheel. I
thought at first it was the chap I had driven down, but I could see it
wasn't when I got a closer look at him. He was better dressed and held
himself straighter."
"Ah! Could you describe him? Did you notice the number of the car?"
The driver scratched his head. "A sort of ordinary-looking man, sir. I
didn't take much stock of him. The car was A 1245--a big brown thing
with an open body."
"Right you are, White," said Foyle with a nod of dismissal. "That will
do for now. You go down and wait in the yard with your cab, and we'll
get some one to go with you to Kingston. And keep your mouth shut about
what you've told us."
When the door closed behind the man, his eyes met those of the chief
detective-inspector. "You'll have to go to Kingston, Green. It's a hot
scent there. You've got the numbers of the notes that Maxwell got from
the bank. Find out if any of them were changed at the tailor's. They've
taken precautions to blind the trail. What I think happened is, that she
telephoned from the General Post Office to some motor-car firm to send a
car from London to Kingston railway station, under the impression that
it would be less risky. He went into the tailor's place to arrange for a
change of clothes, and she dismissed the taxi as a measure of
precaution. It was a piece of luck that the man noticed the motor-car,
but we can't be absolutely certain of the number he gave. He had no
particular reason to remember it. Anyway, I'll send it out to the county
police, and ask them to keep their eyes open. Meanwhile, I'll set some
men to work to see if any of the big garages have sent a car to
Kingston, and get the number verified. If you 'phone me when you get
down there, I'll let you know how things stand."
Green had his hand on the handle of the door, but suddenly something
occurred to him. "Do you think she's gone with him, sir?"
Heldon Foyle made a little gesture of dissent. "I don't think it likely.
It would double the danger of identification. But we can soon find if
she's gone back to her home. I told Taylor, who is watching in Berkeley
Square, to report when she returned." He touched a bell and put a
question to the man who entered.
"Yes, sir," was the reply. "He rang up half an hour ago. You told me I
wasn't to disturb you. He reported Lady Eileen Meredith had just gone
in."
"There you are, then, Green," said Foyle. "That point's settled. You get
along. I wish I could come with you, but it won't do for me to leave
London just now, and goodness knows where you may have to finish up.
Good-bye and good luck."
When Green had gone, Foyle gave a few instructions to cover the points
that had arisen, and walked to Sir Hilary Thornton's room. The Assistant
Commissioner looked up and proffered a cigar. "Think of the angels," he
said. "I was just wondering how things were going."
"Things are straightening out a bit," said the superintendent. "It's
been a busy day, and it's not over yet." And, puffing a ring of smoke
into the air, he told in bare, unadorned fashion the events of the day.
"It has been a narrow thing for Grell," he concluded. "Even now, I fancy
we shall get him. Green's as tenacious as a bull-dog when he's got
something to take hold of."
With his hands thrust deep in his trousers pockets, Sir Hilary strode to
and fro across the room. "It's time we got a bit forward," he said. "The
adjourned inquest will come on again soon, and we shan't be able to keep
the question of identity up our sleeves any longer."
"There's a week yet," answered Foyle. "I don't think it will much matter
what is revealed then."
The Assistant Commissioner came to a halt. "You're not a man to be
over-confident, Foyle," he explained. "Do you feel pretty certain of
having Grell under arrest by that time? I've not interfered with you
hitherto, but for heaven's sake be careful. It won't do to make a
mistake--especially with a man of Grell's standing."
Heldon Foyle lifted his shoulders deprecatingly. "It all depends upon an
idea I have, sir. I am willing to take all responsibility."
"You're still convinced that Grell is guilty?"
"I am convinced that he knows all about the murder," answered Foyle
ambiguously. "With the help of Pinkerton's, I've traced his history back
for the last twenty-five years. He's had his hands in some queer
episodes in his time before he became a millionaire. There are gaps
which we can't fill up, of course, but we're pretty complete. There was
one thing in his favour. Although he's known toughs in all corners of
the world, he's never been mixed up in any dirty business. And as he's
carried out one or two political missions for the United States, I
suppose he's had to know some of these people. To-morrow or the next
day, I expect to have the records of both Ivan Abramovitch and Condit.
It will all help, though the bearing on the murder is perhaps indirect."
"You're talking in parables, like a detective out of a book," said
Thornton, with a peevishness that his covering smile could not entirely
conceal. "But I know you'll have your own way when you don't want to be
too precise. How do you regard the burnt paper? Is it important?"
"It would have been if I could have saved it," said the detective
regretfully. "As it is, it's of no use as evidence in a court, for it
only rests on my word. I keep pegging away at it, but I'm not certain
that I can fill it out as it should be. But you never know your luck in
our trade. I remember a case of forgery once. The counterfoil of a
tradesman's paying-in book showed £100 with which he was not credited in
the books of the bank. The cashier was confident that his initials in
blue pencil on the counterfoil were genuine. Yet he was equally certain
that he had not received the money. The tradesman was certain that he
had sent the money. There it was. I was at a dead end. One day, I
noticed a little stationer's store near the tradesman's office. In the
window were some blue pencils. I walked in and bought something, and
casually remarked that I shouldn't have thought there was much demand
for those pencils. 'Oh, schoolboys buy 'em,' said the old woman who
served me. 'There's old ----s' son over the way. He buys half a dozen at
a time.' Well, off I went to the grammar school that the boy was
attending, and had a talk with one of the masters. He admitted that the
lad was exceptionally clever at drawing. I was beginning to see my way,
so had the boy called out of his class into a private room. 'Now, tell
me, my boy,' I said, 'what did you do with the money you stole from your
father on such and such a date?' The bluff worked. He turned pale, and
then admitted that he had forged the initials, taken the money, and gone
on a joy-jaunt for a week while he was supposed to be staying with an
aunt. There was the luck of the idea coming in my head through looking
at those pencils."
"Have you been looking at blue pencils to-day?" asked Thornton with
interest.
"Something of the kind," admitted Foyle with a smile, and before he
could be questioned further had vanished.
He had said nothing of the blotting-paper incident, for there were times
when he wished to keep his own counsel even within the precincts of
Scotland Yard itself. He did not wish to pin himself down until he was
sure. In his own room, he unlocked the big safe that stood between the
two windows, and taking out the roll he had abstracted from Lady
Eileen's desk, surveyed it with a whimsical smile playing about the
corners of his mouth. Once he held it to the mirror, and the word
"Burghley" was plainly reflected.
"That ought to do," he murmured to himself, and, replacing it in the
safe, swung the heavy door to.
The jig-saw puzzle to which he had likened criminal investigations was
not so jumbled as it had been. One or two bits of the picture were
beginning to stick together, though there were others that did not seem
to have any points of junction. Foyle pulled out the dossier of the
case, and again went over the evidence that had been collected. He knew
it practically by heart, but one could never be too certain that nothing
had been overlooked. He was so engaged when Mr. Fred Trevelyan was
announced.
"Fred Trevelyan? Who is he?" he asked mechanically, his brain still
striving with the problem he wished to elucidate.
"That's the name he gave, sir," answered the clerk, who ranked as a
detective-sergeant. "I should call him Dutch Fred."
"Oh, I was wandering. Send him in."
There was nothing of the popular conception of the criminal about Freddy
as he swaggered into the room, bearing a glossy silk hat of the latest
fashionable shape on one arm. His morning coat was of faultless cut. His
trousers were creased with precision. Grey spats covered his well-shone
boots.
Foyle shook hands with him, and his blue eyes twinkled humorously. "On
the war-path, I see, Freddy. Sit down. What's the game? Going to the big
fight?"
The last remark was made with an object. Professional boxing attracts
perhaps a larger number of the criminal fraternity than any other sport,
except, possibly, horse-racing. In many cases, it is purely and simply
love of the game that attracts. There is no ulterior motive. But in the
case of Freddy, and men in his line, there was always the chance of
combining pleasure with profit. The hint was not lost on the
pick-pocket. A hurt expression crossed his face.
"No, Mr. Foyle," he declared earnestly. "I don't take any interest in
boxing. I just called in to put you wise to something as I was passing."
"That's very nice of you, Freddy. What was it?"
The pick-pocket dropped his voice. "It's about Harry Goldenburg," he
said. "I saw him to-day."
Foyle beat a tattoo on his desk with his fingers. "That so?" he said
listlessly. "Out on the Portsmouth Road, I suppose?"
Dutch Fred sat up with a start. "Yes," he agreed, "just outside
Kingston. How did you know?"
"Just a guess," laughed the superintendent. "Well, what about it? Did
you speak to him?"
"I didn't have a chance," retorted Freddy. "I was in a little run-about
with a pal when he came scooting by hell-for-leather. We only got a
glimpse of him, and if he noticed us he made no sign. I thought you'd
like to know, that's all. It was an open car, brown colour. I couldn't
see the number for dust; it was A something."
"Well, we know all that," said Foyle. "All the same, Freddy, I am glad
you dropped in: I won't forget it."
"Right oh, Mr. Foyle. Good evening." And the pick-pocket swaggered out,
while Foyle thoughtfully stowed away his papers.
Some one brought in a cup of tea and some biscuits, and his watch showed
him that it was a quarter to five. He had promised to call on Lady
Eileen about six o'clock, and his mind dwelt on the potentialities of
the interview as he lingered over his frugal meal. He had just poured
out his second cup, when the telephone buzzer behind him jarred.
"A call from Liverpool, sir," said the man in the private exchange. "Mr.
Blake wants you. Shall I put him through?"
A few minutes elapsed before Foyle heard the voice of the man who had
been outwitted by the Princess Petrovska. "Is that Mr. Foyle? This is
Blake speaking. We've got on the track of the lady again. She'd been
staying at a boarding-house pretending she was a member of a theatrical
company. A local man spotted her and came back to fetch me to make
certain of her identity. But she must have got wind of it somehow, for
she's hired a motor and slipped off. We're after her now. She's only got
half an hour's start, and we've wired to have the main roads watched. I
expect we'll have her in an hour or two."
The superintendent coughed. "Get along then, Blake. And don't smoke when
you're on the job this time. Good-bye."
He replaced the receiver and returned to his neglected cup of tea.
Things were evidently stirring. Was it altogether chance, he wondered,
that Petrovska had chosen the day to make a move? Strange coincidences
did happen at times, yet there was a possibility that her movements were
correlated to those of Grell. Had the two managed to communicate? Well,
at any rate he could rely on Blake and his assistants to find out
whether she had received letters or messages. The matter was out of his
hands, and it was not his habit to worry about affairs which he could
not influence.