JOLLY & CO.
Phillips slipped out of the club by and by, and for a while walked up
and down opposite, studying the building in which the Post Club was
situated. It was a large block of offices on five or six floors, mostly
given over to merchants and dealers whose business was in connexion with
Covent Garden Market. Moving up and down as if waiting for a friend,
Phillips was making an exceedingly careful scrutiny of the building.
"It isn't as easy as I thought it was at first," he said. "I've got a
pretty shrewd idea, for which I have in the main to thank that
snowstorm. It is evident that Rickerby is perfectly right, and that
there is some cunning plot afoot to rob this Selwyn. I wonder whether
Rickerby was alluding to Raymond Copley. It can't be anybody else. Now
it is clear the gang cannot make late bets during a snowstorm or thick
mist or anything of that kind. I should like to know how they manage to
get the name of the winner into the club before the horse is past the
post. But that I must leave for the present. The point I have to find
out now is how the man upstairs who comes to do the betting gets his
information. If there was another block of buildings opposite the club I
could understand it, because it would be easy to signal from one window
to another. But there's nothing opposite except the Market with a lot of
porters hanging about, and I don't suppose they have anything to do with
it. The puzzle beats me for the moment. Still, having got so far, it is
hard if I can't get to the bottom of it. The signal must come from
somewhere in the block of buildings where the club is situated. Well,
that gives me something to go on with anyhow, and I haven't much time to
spare, especially as I must meet Fielden to-morrow at Mirst Park. I
suppose there is only one thing to do, and that is to find out the name
and occupation of every firm which has an office under the roof. The
first thing I need is a Post Office Directory."
With the aid of this book he managed to winnow down the doubtful firms
to five or six. The rest he found were established houses engaged in
legitimate trade, the others being more or less new-comers whose
callings were rather nondescript. By a stroke of good fortune, just
before five o'clock Phillips obtained the assistance of a clerk in a
fruit concern, whose firm was in the block of buildings in which the
club was housed, and the doubtful firms were reduced to two. Standing
outside looking up at the club, the windows of which were now in
darkness, Phillips saw that next door were a couple of windows bearing
on their wire blinds the legend, Jolly & Co. There was a light behind
the blinds, so that the lettering stood out clear and distinct.
"I think I am getting on," Phillips commented. "Now, how am I going to
find out about Jolly & Co.? It is a bit too dangerous to ask casually
for Mr. Jolly. But, stop. Most of the people have left, and it is any
odds the light has been used by the charwoman who is cleaning out the
offices. It won't do any harm to go up and see."
Phillips put his plan into execution. He came at length to the second
floor, and stopped at a door at the end of the passage which led to the
rooms occupied by the Post Club. On the door the name of Jolly & Co. was
painted in white letters. From behind it came the sound of scrubbing.
Phillips entered boldly. The room was furnished as an office. There were
a table and a chair or two, and in a corner an American roll-top desk.
Beside the desk was a telephone which, from its glittering newness, had
not been long erected. Attached to the receiver in the place of the
usual short flex was a cord at least eight or nine feet long. It was a
small matter in itself, but it did not escape Phillips' keen glance. He
wondered what it was for. It was certain that it was not attached to
the receiver by accident.
In one part of the room an old woman was kneeling down scrubbing the
floorcloth.
"Is Mr. Jolly here?" Phillips asked.
"No, sir," was the reply. "He went away early. I saw the key of the
office hanging up soon after half-past three."
Phillips smiled. He was beginning to understand now. There had been
snowstorms most of the afternoon at intervals, and this, no doubt, had
interfered with the campaign against the bookmakers.
"That is very annoying," Phillips said. "I particularly want to see Mr.
Jolly. I have some very important business with him. Can you tell me
where he lives?"
The old woman shook her head emphatically.
"No, I can't, sir," she said. "I haven't any idea where he lives. And,
besides, he is mostly a stranger to me."
"He hasn't been here long, then?"
"No, sir. He came last autumn and, of course, I does for him like I do
for the other gentlemen. He stayed till about the end of November, then
he told me he had to go abroad for the winter. He has only been back
about a week."
Phillips thought his time was not being wasted. Everything appeared to
be going his way.
"I am very sorry," he said, "but, really, I must find him. It is most
awkward, seeing that he is a stranger to me. Would you mind telling me
what he is like? If you can give me a description of him I might make
inquiries in the neighbourhood. It is possible he may be in one of the
hotels close by playing billiards or something of that sort."
"Well, that's possible," the old woman said. "I know Mr. Jolly is fond
of a game of billiards, because my little boy has had to fetch him once
or twice. He is young and clean-shaven, looks like a boy almost till you
get close to him, and then you can see what a lot of wrinkles he has
round his eyes. He might easily be mistaken for an actor. Dresses very
well, he does, except he wears a steel watch-chain."
Phillips gave the old woman a shilling and departed. He had found out
all he was likely to discover. He had already moved towards the door
when a sudden thought struck him.
"Oh, by the way," he said, "I wish you would let me have the number of
your telephone. If I can't come here again I shall telephone Mr. Jolly
in the morning."
The old woman intimated that the number was on the top of the telephone,
and Phillips made a note of it. Then he went away, on the whole very
well satisfied with his afternoon's work. He had yet, however, to verify
a certain suspicion, and this he could not accomplish till late in the
evening. It was eight o'clock or more before he turned into a public
telephone call-office and rang up the number which he had copied in
Jolly's office. He was not surprised to find that he received no reply,
but it was not a reply he was after. What he really wanted was to get in
connexion with the Exchange. He managed this presently. It was growing
late, and there was no great pressure upon the office.
"I am sorry to trouble you," he said, "but I can't get anything from
this number. Can you tell me if Mr. Jolly has a wire between the office
and his house?"
The assistant amiably replied she would ascertain. In a few moments she
spoke again.
"No wonder you couldn't get a reply," she said. "Jolly & Co. are not
connected with the Exchange at all. We switch them on by arrangement for
business purposes, but their wire is a private one. It has only been
recently erected."
Phillips drew a sharp breath. He was expecting sensational developments,
but this information fairly staggered him.
"I am much obliged to you," he said. "But I am very anxious to get on to
Mr. Jolly. You say the wire is a private one. I suppose it goes from the
office to Mr. Jolly's own house. Where is that?"
"His place is called The Nook, Mirst Park."
Once more Phillips was taken aback. The whole plot was opening up before
his eyes. Many important matters remained to be cleared up, but he felt
he was getting on with a vengeance.
"I didn't know where he lived," he said, "but many thanks for this
information and all the trouble you have taken. Would you mind putting
me in connexion with the Nook?"
The assistant was still obliging. For the best part of five minutes
Phillips stood there with the receiver at his ear, and the longer he had
to wait the more satisfied he appeared to be. Then, presently, the thin
voice at the other end of the wire began to speak to him again.
"I am very sorry," she said. "But I have rung half a dozen times and
can't make anybody hear. Probably they have left the receiver off the
instrument. I can try again presently."
"A thousand thanks," Phillips said. "But I won't trouble you. I'll call
round at the office in the morning. What a stroke of luck! Now for Mirst
Park."