At precisely a quarter past four, nothing having happened in the
meantime but a steady rush of business, Laverick ordered a taxicab to
be summoned. He then unlocked his safe, placed the pocket-book securely
in his breast pocket, walked through the office, and directed the man
to drive to Chancery Lane. Here at the headquarters of the Safe Deposit
Company he engaged a compartment, and down in the strong-room locked up
the pocket-book. There was only now the document left. Stepping once
more into the street, he found that his taxicab had vanished. He looked
up and down in vain. The man had not been paid and there seemed to be
no reason for his departure. A policeman who was standing by touched
his hat and addressed him.
“Were you looking for that taxi you stepped out of a few minutes ago,
sir?” he asked.
“I was,” Laverick answered. “I hadn’t paid him and I told him to wait.”
“I thought there was something queer about it,” the policeman remarked.
“Soon after you had gone inside, two gentlemen drove up in a hansom.
They got out here and one of them spoke to your driver, who shook his
head and pointed to his flag. The gent then said something else to
him—can’t say as I heard what it was, but it was probably offering him
double fare. Anyway, they both got in and off went your taxi, sir.”
“Thank you,” Laverick said thoughtfully. “It sounds a little
perplexing.”
He hesitated for a moment.
“Constable,” he continued, “I have just made a very valuable deposit in
there, and I had an idea that I might be followed. I have still in my
pocket a document of great importance. I have no doubt whatever but
that the object of the men who have taken my taxicab is to leave me in
the street here alone under circumstances which will render a quick
attack upon me likely to be successful.”
The policeman turned his head and looked at Laverick incredulously. He
was more than half inclined to believe that this was a practical joke.
Were they not standing on the pavement in Chancery Lane, and was not he
an able-bodied policeman of great bulk and immense muscle! Yet his
companion did not look by any means a man of the nervous order.
Laverick was broad-shouldered, his skin was tanned a wholesome color,
his bearing was the bearing of a man prepared to defend himself at any
time. The constable smiled in a non-committal manner.
“If you’ll excuse my saying so, sir,” he remarked, “I don’t think this
is exactly the spot any one would choose for an assault.”
“I agree with you,” Laverick answered, “but, on the other hand, you
must remember that these gentlemen have had no choice. I stepped from
my office direct into the taxi, and I proposed to drive straight from
here to the place where I shall probably leave the other document I am
carrying with me. Why I have taken you into my confidence is to ask you
this. Can you walk with me to the corner of the street, or until we
meet a taxicab? It sounds cowardly, but, as a matter of fact, I am not
afraid. I simply want to make sure of delivering this document to the
person to whom it belongs.”
The constable stood still, a little perplexed.
“My beat, sir,” he said, “only goes about twenty-five yards further on.
I will walk to the corner of Holborn with you, if you desire it. At the
same time, I may say that I am breaking regulations. How do I know that
it is not your scheme to get me away from this neighborhood for some
purpose of your own?”
“You don’t believe anything of the sort,” Laverick declared, with a
smile.
“I do not, sir,” the policeman admitted. “Keep by my side, and I think
that nothing will happen to you before we reach Holborn.”
Laverick was a man of more than medium height, but by the side of the
policeman he seemed short. Both scanned the faces of the passers-by
closely—the police-man with mild interest, Laverick with almost
feverish anxiety. It was a gray afternoon, pleasant but close. There
seemed to be nothing whatever to account for the feeling of nervousness
which had suddenly come over Laverick. He felt himself in danger—he had
no idea how, or in what way—but the conviction was there. He took every
step fully alert, absolutely on his guard.
They were almost within sight of Holborn when a cry from the bystanders
caused them to look away into the middle of the road. Laverick only
cast one glance there and abandoned every instinct of curiosity,
thinking once more only of himself and his own position. With the
constable, however, it was naturally different. He saw something which
called at once for his intervention, and he immediately forgot the
somewhat singular task upon which he was engaged. A man had fallen in
the middle of the street, either knocked down by the shaft of a passing
vehicle or in some sort of fit. There was a tangle of rearing horses,
an omnibus was making desperate efforts to avoid the prostrate body.
The constable sprang to the rescue. Laverick, instantly suspicious and
realizing that there was no one in front of him, turned swiftly around.
He was just in time to receive upon his left arm the blow which had
been meant for the back of his head. He was confronted by a man dressed
exactly as he himself was, in morning coat and silk hat, a man with
long, lean face and legal appearance, such a person as would have
passed anywhere without attracting a moment’s suspicion. Yet, in the
space of a few seconds he had whipped out from one pocket, with the
skill almost of a juggler, a vicious-looking life-preserver, and from
the other a pocket-handkerchief soaked with chloroform. Laverick, quick
and resourceful, feeling his left arm sink helpless, struck at the man
with his right and sent him staggering against the wall. The
handkerchief, with its load of sickening odor, fell to the pavement.
The man was obviously worsted. Laverick sprang at him. They were almost
unobserved, for the crowd was all intent upon the accident in the
roadway. With wonderful skill, his assailant eluded his attempt to
close, and tore at his coat. Laverick struck at him again but met only
the air. The man’s fingers now were upon his pocket, but this time
Laverick made no mistake. He struck downward so hard that with a fierce
cry of pain the man relaxed his hold. Before he could recover, Laverick
had struck him again. He reeled into the crowd that was fast gathering
around them, attracted by what seemed to be a fight between two men of
unexceptionable appearance. But there was to be no more fight. Through
the people, swift-footed, cunning, resourceful, his assailant seemed to
find some hidden way. Laverick glared fiercely around him, but the man
had gone. His left hand crept to his chest. The victory was with him;
the document was still there.
At the outside of the double crowd he perceived a taxi. Ignoring the
storm of questions with which he was assailed, and the advancing helmet
of his friend the policeman at the back of the crowd, Laverick hailed
it and stepped quickly inside.
“Back out of this and drive to Dover Street,” he directed. The man
obeyed him. People raced to look through the window at him. The other
commotion had died away,—the man in the road had got up and walked off.
A policeman came hurrying along but he was just too late. Very soon
they were on their way down Holborn. Once more Laverick had escaped.
A French man-servant, with the sad face and immaculate dress of a
High-Church cleric, took possession of him as soon as he had asked for
Mademoiselle Idiale. He was shown into one of the most delightful
little rooms he had ever even dreamed of. The walls were hung with that
peculiar shade of blue satin which Mademoiselle so often affected in
her clothes. Laverick, who was something of a connoisseur, saw nowhere
any object which was not, of its sort, priceless,—French furniture of
the best and choicest period, a statuette which made him, for a moment,
almost forget the scene from which he had just arrived. The air in the
room seemed as though it had passed through a grove of lemon trees,—it
was fresh and sweet yet curiously fragrant. Laverick sank down into one
of the luxurious blue-brocaded chairs, conscious for the first time
that he was out of breath. Then the door opened silently and there
entered not the woman whom he had been expecting, but Mr. Lassen.
Laverick rose to his feet half doubtfully. Lassen’s small,
queerly-shaped face seemed to have become one huge ingratiating smile.
“I am very glad to see you, Mr. Laverick,” he said,—“very glad indeed.”
“I have come to call upon Mademoiselle Idiale,” Laverick answered,
somewhat curtly. He had disliked this man from the first moment he had
seen him, and he saw no particular reason why he should conceal his
feelings.
“I am here to explain,” Mr. Lassen continued, seating himself opposite
to Laverick. “Mademoiselle Idiale is unfortunately prevented from
seeing you. She has a severe nervous headache, and her only chance of
appearing tonight is to remain perfectly undisturbed. Women of her
position, as you may understand, have to be exceptionally careful. It
would be a very serious matter indeed if she were unable to sing
to-night.”
“I am exceedingly sorry to hear it,” Laverick answered. “In that case,
I will call again when Mademoiselle Idiale has recovered.”
“By all means, my dear sir!” Mr. Lassen exclaimed. “Many times, let us
hope. But in the meantime, there is a little affair of a document which
you were going to deliver to Mademoiselle. She is most anxious that you
should hand it to me—most anxious. She will tender you her thanks
personally, tomorrow or the next day, if she is well enough to
receive.”
Laverick shook his head firmly.
“Under no circumstances,” he declared, “should I think of delivering
the document into any other hands save those of Mademoiselle Idiale. To
tell you the truth, I had not fully decided whether to part with it
even to her. I was simply prepared to hear what she had to say. But it
may save time if I assure you, Mr. Lassen, that nothing would induce me
to part with it to any one else.”
There was no trace left of that ingratiating smile upon Mr. Lassen’s
face. He had the appearance now of an ugly animal about to show its
teeth. Laverick was suddenly on his guard. More adventures, he thought,
casting a somewhat contemptuous glance at the physique of the other
man. He laid his fingers as though carelessly upon a small bronze
ornament which reposed amongst others on a table by his side. If Mr.
Lassen’s fat and ugly hand should steal toward his pocket, Laverick was
prepared to hurl the ornament at his head.
“I am very sorry to hear you say that, Mr. Laverick,” Lassen said
slowly. “I hope very much that you will see your way clear to change
your mind. I can assure you that I have as much right to the document
as Mademoiselle Idiale, and that it is her earnest wish that you should
hand it over to me. Further, I may inform you that the document itself
is a most incriminating one. Its possession upon your person, or upon
the person of any one who was not upon his guard, might be a very
serious matter indeed.”
Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
“As a matter of fact,” he declared, “I certainly have no idea of
carrying it about with me. On the other hand, I shall part with it to
no one. I might discuss the matter with Mademoiselle Idiale as soon as
she is recovered. I am not disposed—I mean no offence, sir—but I may
say frankly that I am not disposed even to do as much with you.”
Laverick rose to his feet with the obvious intention of leaving. Lassen
followed his example and confronted him.
“Mr. Laverick,” he said, “in your own interests you must not talk like
that,—in your own interests, I say.”
“At any rate,” Laverick remarked, “my interests are better looked after
by myself than by strangers. You must forgive my adding, Mr. Lassen,
that you are a stranger to me.”
“No more so than Mademoiselle Idiale!” the little man exclaimed.
“Mademoiselle Idiale has given me certain proof that she knew at least
of the existence of this document,” Laverick answered. “She has
established, therefore, a certain claim to my consideration. You
announce yourself as Mademoiselle Idiale’s deputy, but you bring me no
proof of the fact, nor, in any case, am I disposed to treat with you.
You must allow me to wish you good afternoon.”
Lassen shook his head.
“Mr. Laverick,” he declared, “you are too impetuous. You force me to
remind you that your own position as holder of that document is not a
very secure one. All the police in this capital are searching to-day
for the man who killed that unfortunate creature who was found murdered
in Crooked Friars’ Alley. If they could find the man who was in
possession of his pocket-book, who was in possession of twenty thousand
pounds taken from the dead man’s body and with it had saved his
business and his credit, how then, do you think? I say nothing of the
document.”
Laverick was silent for a moment. He realized, however, that to make
terms with this man was impossible. Besides, he did not trust him. He
did not even trust him so far as to believe him the accredited envoy of
Mademoiselle.
“My unfortunate position,” Laverick said, “has nothing whatever to do
with the matter. Where you got your information from I cannot say. I
neither accept nor deny it. But I can assure you that I am not to be
intimidated. This document will remain in my possession until some one
can show me a very good reason for parting with it.”
Lassen beat the back of the chair against which he was standing with
his clenched fist.
“A reason why you should part with it!” he exclaimed fiercely. “Man, it
stares you there in the face! If you do not part with it, you will be
arrested within twenty-four hours for the murder or complicity in the
murder of Rudolph Von Behrling! That I swear! That I shall see to
myself!”
“In which case,” Laverick remarked, “the document will fall into the
hands of the English police.”
The shot told. Laverick could have laughed as he watched its effect
upon his listener. Mr. Lassen’s face was black with unuttered curses.
He looked as though he would have fallen upon Laverick bodily.
“What do you know about its contents?” he hissed. “Why do you suppose
it would not suit my purpose to have it fall into the hands of the
English police?”
“I can see no reason whatever,” Laverick answered, “why I should take
you into my confidence as to how much I know and how much I do not
know. I wish you good afternoon, Mr. Lassen! I shall be ready to wait
upon Mademoiselle Idiale at any time she sends for me. But in case it
should interest you to be made aware of the fact,” he added, with a
little bow, “I am not going round with this terrible document in my
possession.”
He moved to the door. Already his hand was upon the knob when he saw
the movement for which he had watched. Laverick, with a single bound,
was upon his would-be assailant. The hand which had already closed upon
the butt of the small revolver was gripped as though in a vice. With a
scream of pain Lassen dropped the weapon upon the floor. Laverick
picked it up, thrust it into his coat pocket and, taking the man’s
collar with both hands, he shook him till the eyes seemed starting from
his head and his shrieks of fear were changed into moans. Then he flung
him into a corner of the room.
[Illustration]
“You cowardly brute!” he exclaimed. “You come of the breed of men who
shoot from behind. If ever I lay my hands upon you again, you’ll be
lucky if you live to whimper about it.”
He left the room and rang for the lift. He saw no trace of any servants
in the hall, nor heard any sound of any one moving. From Dover Street
he drove straight to Zoe’s house. Keeping the cab waiting, he knocked
at the door. She opened it herself at once, and her eyes glowed with
pleasure.
“How delightful!” she cried. “Please come in. Have you come to take me
to the theatre?”
He followed her into the parlor and closed the door behind them.
“Zoe,” he said, “I am going to ask you a favor.”
“Me a favor?” she repeated. “I think you know how happy it will make me
if there is anything—anything at all in the world that I could do.”
“A week ago,” Laverick continued, “I was an honest but not very
successful stockbroker, with a natural longing for adventures which
never came my way. Since then things have altered. I have stumbled in
upon the most curious little chain of happenings which ever became
entwined with the life of a commonplace being like myself. The net
result, for the moment, is this. Every one is trying to steal from me a
certain document which I have in my pocket. I want to hide it for the
night. I cannot go to the police, it is too late to go back to Chancery
Lane, and I have an instinctive feeling that my flat is absolutely at
the mercy of my enemies. May I hide my document in your room? I do not
believe for a moment that any one would think of searching here.”
“Of course you may,” she answered. “But listen. Can you see out into
the street without moving very much?”
He turned his head. He had been standing with his back to the window,
and Zoe had been facing it.
“Yes, I can see into the street,” he assented.
“Tell me—you see that taxi on the other side of the way?” she asked.
He nodded.
“It wasn’t there when I drove up,” he remarked.
“I was at the window, looking out, when you came,” she said. “It
followed you out from the Square into this street. Directly you
stopped, I saw the man put on the brake and pull up his cab. It seemed
to me so strange, just as though some one were watching you all the
time.”
Laverick stood still, looking out of the window.
“Who lives in the house opposite?” he asked.
“I am afraid,” she answered, “that there are no very nice people who
live round here. The people whom I see coming in and out of that house
are not nice people at all.”
“I understand,” he said. “Thank you, Zoe. You are right. Whatever I do
with my precious document, I will not leave it here. To tell you the
truth, I thought, for certain reasons, that after I had paid my last
call this afternoon I should not be followed any more. Come back with
me and I will give you some dinner before you go to the theatre.”
She clapped her hands.
“I shall love it,” she declared. “But what shall you do with the
document?”
“I shall take a room at the Milan Hotel,” he said, “and give it to the
cashier. They have a wonderful safe there. It is the best thing I can
think of. Can you suggest anything?”
She considered for a moment.
“Do you know what is inside?” she asked.
He shook his head.
“I have no idea. It is the most mysterious document in the world, so
far as I am concerned.”
“Why not open it and read it?” she suggested; “then you will know
exactly what it is all about. You can learn it by heart and tear it
up.”
“I must think that over,” he said. “One second before we go out.”
He took from his pocket the revolver which Lassen had dropped. It was a
perfect little weapon, and fully charged. He replaced it in his pocket,
keeping his finger upon the trigger.
“Now, Zoe, if you are ready,” he said, “come along.”
They stepped out and entered the taxi, unmolested, and Laverick
ordered:
“To the Milan Hotel.”