report, Yvonne, on her return home, went to her room, carrying her bag,
which she placed upon her dressing-table. Then, after removing her cloak
and hat, she went downstairs again and out on to the veranda. A few
minutes later the young man was announced. High words were heard by old
Cataldi, and then a shot.”
“And Yvonne’s bag?”
“It was found where she had left it. In it were three thousand eight
hundred francs, all in notes.”
“Yet Franklyn told me that he had heard how Yvonne won quite a large sum
that night.”
“She might have done so--and have lost the greater part of it,” The
Sparrow replied.
“On the other hand, what more feasible than that the old manservant,
watching her place it there, abstracted the bulk of the money--a large
sum, no doubt--and afterwards, in order to conceal his crime, shot his
mistress in such circumstances as to place the onus of the crime upon
her midnight visitor?”
“That the affair was very cleverly planned there is no doubt,” said The
Sparrow. “There is a distinct intention to fasten the guilt upon young
Henfrey, because he alone would have a motive for revenge for the death
of his father. Of that fact the man or woman who fired the shot was most
certainly aware. How could Cataldi have known of it?”
“I certainly believe the Italian robbed his mistress and afterwards
attempted to murder her,” Howell insisted.
“He might rob his mistress, certainly. He might even have robbed her of
considerable sums systematically,” The Sparrow assented. “The maids
told the police that Mademoiselle’s habit was to leave her bag with her
winnings upon the dressing-table while she went downstairs and took a
glass of wine.”
“Exactly. She did so every evening. Her habits were regular. Yet she
never knew the extent of her winnings at the tables before she counted
them. And she never did so until the following morning. That is what
Franklyn told me in Venice when we met a month afterwards.”
“He learnt that from me,” The Sparrow said with a smile. “No,” he went
on; “though old Cataldi could well have robbed his mistress, just as the
maids could have done, and Yvonne would have been none the wiser, yet
I do not think he would attempt to conceal his crime by shooting her,
because by so doing he cut off all future supplies. If he were a thief
he would not be such a fool. Therefore you may rest assured, Howell,
that the hand that fired the shot was that of some person who desired to
close Yvonne’s mouth.”
“She might have held some secret concerning old Cataldi. Or, on his
part, he might have cherished some grievance against her. Italians are
usually very vindictive,” replied the visitor. “On the other hand, it
would be to Benton’s advantage that the truth concerning old
Henfrey’s death was suppressed. Yvonne was about to tell the young man
something--perhaps confess the truth, who knows?--when the shot was
fired.”
“Well, my dear Howell, you have your opinion and I have mine,” laughed
The Sparrow. “The latter I shall keep to myself--until my theory is
disproved.”
Thereupon Howell took a cigar that his host offered him, and while he
slowly lit it, The Sparrow crossed to the telephone.
He quickly found Lady Ranscomb’s number in the directory, and a few
moments later was talking to the butler, of whom he inquired for Miss
Dorise.
“Tell her,” he added, “that a friend of Mr. Henfrey’s wishes to speak to
her.”
In a few moments The Sparrow heard the girl’s voice.
“Yes?” she inquired. “Who is speaking?”
“A friend of Mr. Henfrey,” was the reply of the man with the gloved
hand. “You will probably guess who it is.”
He heard a little nervous laugh, and then:
“Oh, yes. I--I have an idea, but I can’t talk to you over the ‘phone.
I’ve got somebody who’s just called. Mother is out--and----” Then
she lowered her voice, evidently not desirous of being heard in the
adjoining room. “Well, I don’t know what to do.”
“What do you mean? Does it concern Mr. Henfrey?”
“Yes. It does. There’s a man here to see me from Scotland Yard! What
shall I do?”
The Sparrow gasped at the girl’s announcement.
Next second he recovered himself.
“A man from Scotland Yard!” he echoed. “Why has he called?”
“He knows that Mr. Henfrey is living at Shapley, in Surrey. And he has
been asking whether I am acquainted with you.”
TWENTY-THIRD CHAPTER
WHAT LISETTE KNEW
A fortnight had gone by.
Ten o’clock in the morning in the Puerta del Sol, that great plaza in
Madrid--the fine square which, like the similarly-named gates at Toledo
and Segovia, commands a view of the rising sun, as does the ancient
Temple of Abu Simbel on the Nile.
Hugh Henfrey--a smart, lithe figure in blue serge--had been lounging for
ten minutes before the long facade of the Ministerio de la Gobernacion
(or Ministry of the Interior) smoking a cigarette and looking eagerly
across the great square. The two soldiers on sentry at the door,
suspicious of all foreigners in the days of Bolshevism and revolution,
had eyed him narrowly. But he appeared to be inoffensive, so they had
passed him by as a harmless lounger.
Five minutes later a smartly-dressed girl, with short skirt, silk
stockings, and a pretty hat, came along the pavement, and Hugh sprang
forward to greet her.
It was Lisette, the girl whom he had met when in hiding in that back
street in Genoa.
“Well?” he exclaimed. “So here we are! The Sparrow sent me to you.”
“Yes. I had a telegram from him four days ago ordering me to meet you.
Strange things are happening--it seems!”
“How?” asked the young Englishman, in ignorance of the great conspiracy
or of what was taking place. “Since I saw you last, mademoiselle, I have
been moving about rapidly, and always in danger of arrest.”
“So have I. But I am here at The Sparrow’s orders--on a little business
which I hope to bring off successfully on any evening. I have an English
friend with me--a Mr. Franklyn.”
“I left London suddenly. I saw The Sparrow in the evening, and next
morning, at eleven o’clock, without even a bag, I left London for Madrid
with a very useful passport.”
“You are here because Madrid is safer for you than London, I suppose?”
said the girl in broken English.
“That is so. A certain Mr. Howell, a friend of The Sparrow’s suggested
that I should come here,” Hugh explained. “Ever since we met in Italy
I have been in close hiding until, by some means, my whereabouts became
known, and I had to fly.”
The smartly-dressed girl walked slowly at his side and, for some
moments, remained silent.
“Ah! So you have met Hamilton Shaw--alias Howell?” she remarked at last
in a changed voice. “He certainly is not your friend.”
“Not my friend! Why? I’ve only met him lately.”
“You say that the police knew of your hiding-place,” said mademoiselle,
speaking in French, as it was easier for her. “Would you be surprised if
Howell had revealed your secret?”
“Howell!” gasped Hugh. “Yes, I certainly would. He is a close friend of
The Sparrow!”
“That may be. But that does not prove that he is any friend of yours. If
you came here at Howell’s suggestion--then, Mr. Henfrey, I should advise
you to leave Madrid at once. I say this because I have a suspicion that
he intends both of us to fall into a trap!”
“But why? I don’t understand.”
“I can give you no explanation,” said the girl. “Now I know that
Hamilton Shaw sent you here, I can, I think, discern his motive. I
myself will see Mr. Franklyn at once, and shall leave Madrid as soon as
possible. And I advise you, Mr. Henfrey, to do the same.”
“Surely you don’t suspect that it was this Mr. Howell who gave me away
to Scotland Yard!” exclaimed Hugh, surprised, but at the same time
recollecting that The Sparrow had been alarmed at the detective’s visit
to Dorise. He knew that Benton and Mrs. Bond had suddenly disappeared
from Shapley, but the reason he could only guess. He had, of course,
no proof that Benton and Molly were members of the great criminal
organization. He only knew that Benton had been his late father’s
closest friend.
He discussed the situation with the girl jewel-thief as they walked
along the busy Carrera de San Jeronimo wherein are the best shops in
Madrid, to the great Plaza de Canovas in the leafy Prado.
Again he tried to extract from her what she knew concerning his father’s
death. But she would tell him nothing.
“I am not permitted to say anything, Mr. Henfrey. I can only regret it,”
she said quietly. “Mr. Franklyn is at the Ritz opposite. I should like
you to meet him.”
And she took him across to the elegant hotel opposite the Neptune
fountain, where, in a private sitting-room on the second floor, she
introduced him to a rather elderly, aristocratic-looking Englishman,
whom none would take to be one of the most expert jewel-thieves in
Europe.
When the door was closed and they were alone, mademoiselle suddenly
revealed to her friend what Hugh had said concerning Howell’s suggestion
that he should travel to Madrid.
Franklyn’s face changed. He was instantly apprehensive.
“Then we certainly are not safe here any longer. Howell probably intends
to play us false! We shall know from The Sparrow the reason we are
here, and, for aught we know, the police are watching and will arrest
us red-handed. No,” he added, “we must leave this place--all three
of us--as soon as possible. You, Lisette, had better go to Paris and
explain matters to The Sparrow, while I shall fade away to Switzerland.
And you, Mr. Henfrey? Where will you go?”
“To France,” was Hugh’s reply, on the spur of the moment. “I can get to
Marseilles.”
“Yes. Go by way of Barcelona. It is quickest,” said the Englishman. “The
express leaves just after three o’clock.”
Then, after he had thanked Hugh for his timely warning, the latter
walked out more than ever mystified at the attitude of The Sparrow’s
accomplices.
It did not seem possible that Howell should have told Scotland Yard
that he was hiding at Shapley; yet it was quite evident that both
mademoiselle and her companion were equally in fear of the man Howell,
whose real name was Hamilton Shaw. The theory seemed to him a thin one,
for Howell was The Sparrow’s intimate friend.
Yet, mademoiselle, while they had been discussing the situation, had
denounced him as their enemy, declaring that The Sparrow himself should
be warned of him.
That afternoon Hugh, having only been in Madrid twelve hours, left again
on the long, dusty railway journey across Spain to Zaragoza and down
the valley of the Ebro to the Mediterranean. After crossing the French
frontier, he broke the journey at the old-world town of Nimes for a
couple of days, and then went on to Marseilles, where he took up his
quarters in the big Louvre et Paix Hotel, still utterly mystified, and
still not daring to write to Dorise.
It was as well that he left Madrid, for, just as Lisette and Franklyn
had suspected, the police called at his hotel--an obscure one near the
station--only two hours after his departure. Then, finding him gone,
they sought both mademoiselle and Franklyn, only to find that they also
had fled.
_Someone had given away their secret!_
On arrival at Marseilles in the evening Hugh ate his dinner alone in the
hotel, and then strolled up the well-lit Cannebiere, with its many smart
shops and gay cafes--that street which, to many thousands on their way
to the Near or Far East, is their last glimpse of European life. He was
entirely at a loose end.
Unnoticed behind him there walked an undersized little Frenchman,
an alert, business-like man of about forty-five, who had awaited him
outside his hotel, and who leisurely followed him up the broad, main
street of that busy city.
He was well-dressed, possessing a pair of shrewd, searching eyes, and
a moustache carefully trimmed. His appearance was that of a prosperous
French tradesman--one of thousands one meets in the city of Marseilles.
As Hugh idled along, gazing into some of the shop windows as he lazily
smoked his cigarette, the under-sized stranger kept very careful watch
upon his movements. He evidently intended that he should not escape
observation. Hugh paused at a tobacconist’s and bought some stamps, but
as he came out of the shop, the watcher drew back suddenly and in such a
manner as to reveal to anyone who might have observed him that he was no
tyro in the art of surveillance.
Walking a little farther along, Hugh came to the corner of the broad
Rue de Rome, where he entered a crowded cafe in which an orchestra was
playing.
He had taken a corner seat in the window, had ordered his coffee,
and was glancing at the _Petit Parisien_, which he had taken from his
pocket, when another man entered, gazed around in search of a seat and,
noticing one at Hugh’s table, crossed, lifted his hat, and took the
vacant chair.
He was the stranger who had followed him from the Louvre et Paix.
The young Englishman, all unsuspecting, glanced at the newcomer, and
then resumed his paper, while the keen-eyed little man took a long, thin
cigar which the waiter brought, lit it carefully, and sipped his coffee,
his interest apparently centred in the music.
Suddenly a tall, dark-haired woman, who had been sitting near by with a
man who seemed to be her husband, rose and left. A moment before she had
exchanged glances with the watcher, who, apparently at her bidding, rose
and followed her.
All this seemed quite unnoticed by Hugh, immersed as he was in his
newspaper.
Outside the man and woman met. They held hurried consultation. The woman
told him something which evidently caused him sudden surprise.
“I will call on you at eleven to-morrow morning, madame,” he said.
“No. I will meet you at the Reserve. I will lunch there at twelve. You
will lunch with me?”
“Very well,” he answered. “_Au revoir_,” and he returned to his seat in
the cafe, while she disappeared without returning to her companion.
The mysterious watcher resumed his coffee, for he had only been absent
for a few moments, and the waiter had not cleared it away.
Hugh took out his cigarette-case and, suddenly finding himself without
a match, made the opportunity for which the mysterious stranger had been
waiting.
He struck one and handed it to his _vis-a-vis_, bowing with his foreign
grace.
Then they naturally dropped into conversation.
“Ah! m’sieur is English!” exclaimed the shrewd-eyed little man. “Here,
in Marseilles, we have many English who pass to and fro from the boats.
I suppose, m’sieur is going East?” he suggested affably.
“No,” replied Hugh, speaking in French, “I have some business here--that
is all.” He was highly suspicious of all strangers, and the more so of
anyone who endeavoured to get into conversation with him.
“You know Marseilles--of course?” asked the stranger, sharply
scrutinizing him.
“I have been here several times before. I find the city always gay and
bright.”
“Not so bright as before the war,” declared the little man, smoking at
his ease. “There have been many changes lately.”
Hugh Henfrey could not make the fellow out. Yet many times before he had
been addressed by strangers who seemed to question him out of curiosity,
and for no apparent reason. This man was one of them, no doubt.
The man, who had accompanied the woman whom the stranger had followed
out, rose, exchanged a significant glance with the little man, and
walked out. That the three were in accord seemed quite apparent, though
Hugh was still unsuspicious.
He chatted merrily with the stranger for nearly half an hour, and then
rose and left the cafe. When quite close to the hotel the stranger
overtook him, and halting, asked in a low voice, in very good English:
“I believe you are Mr. Henfrey--are you not?”
“Why do you ask that?” inquired Hugh, much surprised. “My name is
Jordan--William Jordan.”
“Yes,” laughed the man. “That is, I know, the name you have given at the
hotel. But your real name is Henfrey.”
Hugh started. The stranger, noticing his alarm, hastened to reassure
him.
TWENTY-FOURTH CHAPTER
FRIEND OR ENEMY?
“You need not worry,” said the stranger to Hugh. “I am not your enemy,
but a friend. I warn you that Marseilles is unsafe for you. Get away
as soon as possible. The Spanish police have learnt that you have come
here,” he went on as he strolled at his side.
Hugh was amazed.
“How did you know my identity?” he asked eagerly.
“I was instructed to watch for your arrival--and to warn you.”
“Who instructed you?”
“A friend of yours--and mine--The Sparrow.”
“Has he been here?”
“No. He spoke to me on the telephone from Paris.”
“What were his instructions?”
“That you were to go at once--to-night--by car to the Hotel de Paris,
at Cette. A car and driver awaits you at the Garage Beauvau, in the Rue
Beauvau. I have arranged everything at The Sparrow’s orders. You are one
of Us, I understand,” and the man laughed lightly.
“But my bag?” exclaimed Hugh.
“Go to the hotel, pay your bill, and take your bag to the station
cloak-room. Then go and get the car, pick up your bag, and get out
on the road to Cette as soon as ever you can. Your driver will ask no
questions, and will remain silent. He has his orders from The Sparrow.”
“Does The Sparrow ever come to Marseilles?” Hugh asked.
“Yes, sometimes--when anything really big brings him here. I have,
however, only seen him once, five years ago. He was at your hotel,
and the police were so hot upon his track that only by dint of great
promptitude and courage he escaped by getting out of the window of his
room and descending by means of the rain-water pipe. It was one of the
narrowest escapes he has ever had.”
As the words left the man’s mouth, they were passing a well-lit
brasserie. A tall, cadaverous man passed them and Hugh had a suspicion
that they exchanged glances of recognition.
Was his pretended friend an agent of the police?
For a few seconds he debated within himself how he should act. To refuse
to do as he was bid might be to bring instant arrest upon himself.
If the stranger were actually a detective--which he certainly did not
appear to be--then the ruse was to get him on the road to Cette because
the legal formalities were not yet complete for his arrest as a British
subject.
Yet he knew all about The Sparrow, and his attitude was not in the least
hostile.
Hugh could not make up his mind whether the stranger was an associate of
the famous Sparrow, or whether he was very cleverly inveigling him into
the net.
It was only that exchange of glances with the passer-by which had
aroused Hugh’s suspicions.
But that significant look caused him to hesitate to accept the
mysterious stranger as his friend.
True, he had accepted as friends numbers of other unknown persons
since that fateful night at Monte Carlo. Yet in this case, he felt, by
intuition, that all was not plain sailing.
“Very well,” he said, at last. “I esteem it a very great favour that
you should have interested yourself on behalf of one who is an entire
stranger to you, and I heartily thank you for warning me of my danger.
When I see The Sparrow I shall tell him how cleverly you approached me,
and how perfect were your arrangements for my escape.”
“I require no thanks or reward, Mr. Henfrey,” replied the man politely.
“My one desire is to get you safely out of Marseilles.”
And with that the stranger lifted his hat and left him.
Hugh went about fifty yards farther along the broad, well-lit street
full of life and movement, for the main streets of Marseilles are alive
both day and night.
By some intuition--why, he knew not--he suspected that affable little
man who had posed as his friend. Was it possible that, believing the
notorious Sparrow to be his friend, he had at haphazard invented the
story, and posed as one of The Sparrow’s gang?
If so, it was certainly a very clever and ingenious subterfuge.
He was undecided how to act. He did not wish to give offence to his
friend, the king of the underworld, and yet he felt a distinct suspicion
of the man who had so cleverly approached him, and who had openly
declared himself to be a crook.
That strange glance he had exchanged with the passer-by beneath the rays
of the street-lamp had been mysterious and significant. If the passer-by
had been a crook, like himself, the sign of recognition would be one of
salutation. But the expression upon his alleged friend’s face was one of
triumph. That made all the difference, and to Hugh, with his observation
quickened as it had been in those months of living with daily dread
of arrest, it had caused him to be seized with strong and distinct
suspicions.
He felt in his hip pocket and found that his revolver, an American
Smith-Wesson, was there. He had a dislike of automatic pistols, as he
had once had a very narrow escape. He had been teaching a girl to shoot
with a revolver, when, believing that she had discharged the whole
magazine, he was examining the weapon and pulled the trigger, narrowly
escaping shooting her dead.
For a few seconds he stood upon the broad pavement. Then he drew out his
cigarette-case. In it were four cigarettes, two of which The Sparrow had
given him when in London.
“Yes,” he muttered to himself. “Somebody must have given me away at
Shapley, and now they have followed me! I will act for myself, and take
the risks.”
Then he walked boldly on, crossed the road, and entered the big Hotel
de Louvre et Paix. To appear unconcerned he had a drink at the bar, and
ascending in the lift, called the floor-waiter, asked for his bill, and
packed his bag.
“Ah!” he said to himself. “If I could only get to know where The Sparrow
is and ask him the truth! He may be at that address in Paris which he
gave me.”
After a little delay the bill was brought and he paid it. Then in a taxi
he drove to the station where he deposited his bag in the cloak-room.
Close by the _consigne_ a woman was standing. He glanced at her, when,
to his surprise, he saw that she was the same woman who had been sitting
in the cafe with a male companion.
Was she, he wondered, in league with his so-called friend? And if so,
what was intended.
Sight of that woman lounging there, however, decided him. She was, no
doubt, awaiting his coming.
He walked out of the great railway terminus, and, inquiring the way to
the Rue Beauvau, soon found the garage where a powerful open car was
awaiting him in the roadway outside.
A smart driver in a dark overcoat came forward, and apparently
recognizing Hugh from a description that had been given to him, touched
his cap, and asked in French:
“Where does m’sieur wish to go?”
“To the station to fetch my coat and bag,” replied the young Englishman,
peering into the driver’s face. He was a clean-shaven man of about
forty, broad-shouldered and stalwart. Was it possible that the car had
been hired by the police, and the driver was himself a police agent?
“Very well, m’sieur,” the man answered politely. And Hugh having
entered, he drove up the Boulevard de la Liberte to the Gare St.
Charles.
As he approached the _consigne_, he looked along the platform, and
there, sure enough, was the same woman on the watch, though she
pretended to be without the slightest interest in his movements.
Hugh put on his coat, and, carrying his bag, placed it in the car.
“You have your orders?” asked Hugh.
“Yes, m’sieur. We are to go to Cette with all speed. Is not that so?”
“Yes,” was Hugh’s reply. “I will come up beside you. I prefer it. We
shall have a long, dark ride to-night.”
“Ah! but the roads are good,” was the man’s reply. “I came from Cette
yesterday,” he added, as he mounted to his seat and the passenger got up
beside him.
Hugh sat there very thoughtful as the car sped out of the city of noise
and bustle. The man’s remark that he had come from Cette on the previous
day gave colour to the idea that no net had been spread, but that the
stranger was acting at the orders of the ubiquitous Sparrow. Indeed,
were it not for the strange glance the undersized little man had given
to the passer-by, he would have been convinced that he was actually once
again under the protection of the all-powerful ruler of the criminal
underworld.
As it was, he remained suspicious. He did not like that woman who had
watched so patiently his coming and going at the station.
With strong headlights glaring--for the night was extremely dark and a
strong wind was blowing--they were soon out on the broad highway which
leads first across the plain and then beside the sea, and again across
the lowlands to old-world Arles.
It was midnight before they got to the village of Lancon, an obscure
little place in total darkness.