Elk 01 The Fellowship of the Frog Page 9

  “Frog, you’re a dead man,” said Elk in his most sepulchral voice. “Where did you live when you were alive?” The captive confessed that his home was in North London. “North Londoners don’t come to Wandsworth to walk on the Common,” said Elk.

  He had a conference with the chief warder, and, taking the prisoner into the courtyard, Elk spoke his mind.

  “What happens to you if you spill the beans, Frog?” he asked.

  The man showed his teeth in an unpleasant smile.

  “The beans aren’t grown that I can spill,” he said.

  Elk looked around. The courtyard was a small, stone-paved quadrangle, surrounded by high, discoloured walls. Against one of these was a little shed with grey sliding doors.

  “Come here,” said Elk.

  He took the key that the chief warder had given him, unlocked the doors and slid them back. They were looking into a bare, clean apartment with whitewashed walls. Across the ceiling ran two stout oak beams, and between them three stubby steel bars.

  The prisoner frowned as Elk walked to a long steel lever near one of the walls.

  “Watch, Frog!” he said.

  He pulled at the lever, and the centre of the floor divided and fell with a crash, revealing a deep, brick-lined pit.

  “See that trap…see that ‘T’ mark in chalk? That’s where a man puts his feet when the hangman straps his legs. The rope hangs from that beam, Frog!”

  The man’s face was livid as he shrank back.

  “You…can’t…hang—me,” he breathed. “I’ve done nothing!”

  “You’ve killed a man,” said Elk as he pulled the doors to and locked them. “You’re the only fellow we’ve got, and you’ll have to suffer for the lot. Are them beans growin’?”

  The prisoner raised his shaking hand to his lips.

  “I’ll tell you all I know,” he said huskily.

  Elk led him back to his cell.

  An hour later, Dick was speeding back to his headquarters with considerable information. His first act was to send for Joshua Broad, and the eagle-faced “tramp” came cheerfully.

  “Now, Mr. Broad, I’ll have your story,” said Dick, and motioned the other to be seated.

  Joshua seated himself slowly.

  “There’s nothing much to tell,” he said. “For a week I’ve been getting acquainted with the Frogs. I guessed that it was unlikely that the bulk of them would be unknown to one another, and I just froze on to the first I found. Met him in a Deptford lodging-house. Then I heard there was a hurry-up call for a big job to-day and joined. The Frogs knew that the real attack might be somewhere else, and on the way to Scotland Yard I heard that a party had been told off to watch for Litnov at Wandsworth.”

  “Did you see any of the big men?”

  Broad shook his head.

  “They looked all alike, but undoubtedly there were two or three section leaders in charge. There was never any question of rescuing. They were out to kill. They knew that Litnov had told all that he knew, and he was doomed—they got him, I suppose?”

  “Yes—they got him!” said Dick, and then: “What is your interest in the Frogs?”

  “Purely adventitious,” replied the other lazily. “I’m a rich man with a whole lot of time on my hands, and I have a big interest in criminology. A few years ago I heard about the Frogs, and they seized on my imagination. Since then I’ve been trailing them.”

  His gaze did not waver under Dick Gordon’s scrutiny.

  “Now will you tell me,” said Dick quietly, “how you became a rich man? In the latter days of the war you arrived in this country on a cattle boat—with about twenty dollars in your pocket. You told Elk you had arrived by that method, and you spoke the truth. I’ve been almost as much interested in you as you have been in the Frogs,” he said with a half smile, “and I have been putting through a few inquiries. You came to England 1917 and deserted your ship. In May, 1917, you negotiated for the hire of an old tumbledown shack near Eastleigh, Hampshire. There you lived, patching up this crazy cottage and living, so far as I can discover, on the few dollars you brought from the ship. Then suddenly you disappeared, and were next seen in Pans on Christmas Eve of that year. You were conspicuous in rescuing a family that had been buried in a house bombed in an air raid, and your name was taken by the police with the idea of giving you some reward. The French police report is that you were ‘very poorly dressed’—they thought you might be a deserter from the American Army. Yet in February you were staying at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo, with plenty of money and an extensive wardrobe—”

  Joshua Broad sat through the recital unmoved, except for the ghost of a smile which showed at the corner of his unshaven mouth.

  “Surely, Captain, Monte Carlo is the place where a man would have money?”

  “If he brought it there,” said Dick, and went on: “I’m not suggesting that you are a bad character, or that your money came in any other way than honestly. I merely state the facts that your sudden rise from poverty to riches was, to say the least, remarkable.”

  “It surely was,” agreed the other; “and, judging by appearances, my change from riches to poverty is as sudden.”

  Dick looked at the dirty-looking tramp who sat on the other side of the table and laughed silently.

  “You mean, if it is possible for you to masquerade now, it was possible then, and that, even though you were apparently broke in 5917, you might very well have been a rich man?”

  “Exactly,” said Mr. Joshua Broad.

  Gordon was serious again.

  “I would prefer that you remained your more presentable self,” he said. “I hate telling an American that I may have to deport him, because that sounds as if it is a punishment to return to the United States. But I may find myself with no other alternative.”

  Joshua Broad rose.

  “That, Captain Gordon, is too broad for a hint and too kindly for a threat—henceforth, Joshua Broad is a respectable member of society. Maybe I’ll take the Prince of Caux’s house and entertain bims and be a modern Harun al Raschid. I’ve got to meet them somehow.”

  At the mention of that show house that had cost a king’s ransom to build and a queen’s dowry to furnish, Dick smiled.

  “It isn’t necessary you should advertise your respectability that way,” he said. But Broad was not smiling.

  “The only thing I ask is that you do not advise the police to withdraw my permits,” he said.

  Dick’s eyebrows rose.

  “Permits?”

  “I carry two guns, and the time is coming when two won’t be enough,” said Mr. Broad. “And it is coming soon.”

  XII - THE EMBELLISHMENT OF MR. MAITLAND

  There was a concert that night at the Queen’s Hall, and the spacious auditorium was crowded to hear the summer recital of a great violinist. Dick Gordon, in the midst of an evening’s work, remembered that he had reserved a seat. He felt fagged, baffled, inclined to hopelessness. A note from Lord Farmley had come to him, urging instant action to recover the lost commercial treaty. It was such a letter as a man, himself worried, would write without realizing that in so doing he was passing on his panic to those who it was very necessary should not be stampeded into precipitate action. It was a human letter, but not statesmanlike. Dick decided upon the concert.

  He had finished dressing when he remembered that it was more than likely that the omniscient Frogs would know of his reservation. He must take the risk, if risk there was. He ‘phoned to the garage where his own machine was housed and hired a closed car, and in ten minutes was one of two thousand people who were listening, entranced, to the master. In the interval he strolled out to the lobby to smoke, and almost, the first person he saw was a Central Office man who avoided his eye. Another detective stood by the stairway leading to the bar, a third was smoking on the steps of the hall outside. But the sensation of the evening was not this evidence of Elk’s foresight. The warning bell had sounded, and Dick was in the act of throwing away his cigarette, when a
magnificent limousine drew up before the building, a smart footman alighted to open the door, and there stepped heavily to the pavement—Mr. Ezra Maitland.

  Dick heard a gasp behind him, and turned his head to see Elk in the one and only dress suit he had ever possessed.

  “Mother of Moses!” he said in an awed voice.

  And there was reason for his astonishment. Not only was Mr. Maitland’s equipage worthy of a reigning monarch, with its silver fittings, lacquered body and expensively uniformed servants, but the old man was wearing a dress suit of the latest fashion. His beard had been shortened a few inches, and across the spotless white waistcoat was stretched a heavy gold chain. On his hand many rings blazed and flashed in the light of the street standard. There was a camellia in his perfect lapel, and on his head the glossiest of silk hats. Leaning on a stick of ebony and ivory, he strutted across the pavement.

  “Silk socks…patent leather shoes. My God! Look at his rings,” hissed Elk.

  His profanity was almost excusable. The vision of splendour passed through the doors into the hall.

  “He’s gone gay!” said Elk hollowly, and followed like a man in a dream.

  From where he was placed, Dick had a good view of the millionaire. He sat throughout the second part of the programme with closed eyes, and so slow was he to start applauding after each item, that Dick was certain that he had been asleep and the clapping had awakened him.

  Once he detected the old man stifling a yawn in the very midst of the second movement of Elgar’s violin concerto, which held the audience spellbound by its delicate beauty. With his big hands, now enshrined in white kid gloves, crossed on his stomach, the head of Mr. Maitland nodded and jerked.

  When at last the concert was over, he looked round fearfully, as though to make absolutely certain that it was over, then rose and made his way out of the hall, his silk hat held clumsily in his hand.

  A manager came in haste to meet him.

  “I hope, Mr. Maitland, you enjoyed yourself?” Dick heard him say.

  “Very pooty—very pooty,” replied Maitland hoarsely. “That fiddler ought to play a few toons, though—nothing like a hornpipe on a fiddle.”

  The manager looked after him open-mouthed, then hurried out to help the old man into his car.

  “Gay—he’s gay!” said Elk, as bewildered as the manager. “Jumping snakes! Who was that?”

  He addressed the unnecessary question to the manager, who had returned from his duty.

  “That is Maitland, the millionaire, Mr. Elk,” said the other. “First time we’ve had him here, but now that he’s come to live in town—”

  “Where is he living?” asked Elk.

  “He has taken the Prince of Caux’s house in Berkeley Square,” said the manager.

  Elk blinked at him.

  “Say that again?”

  “He has taken the Prince of Caux’s house,” said the manager. “And what is more, has bought it—the agent told me this afternoon.”

  Elk was incapable of comment, and the manager continued his surprising narrative.

  “I don’t think he knows much about music, but he has booked seats for every big musical event next season—his secretary came in this afternoon. He seemed a bit dazed.”

  Poor Johnson! thought Dick.

  “He wanted me to fix dancing lessons for the old boy—” Elk clapped his hand to his mouth—he had an insane desire to scream.

  “And as a matter of fact, I fixed them. He’s a bit old, but Socrates or somebody learnt Greek at eighty, and maybe Mr. Maitland’s regretting the wasted years of his life. I admit it is a bit late to start night clubs—”

  Elk laid a chiding hand upon the managerial shoulder.

  “You certainly deceived me, brother,” he said. “And here was I, drinking it all in, and you with a face as serious as the dial of a poorhouse clock! You’ve put it all over Elk, and I’m man enough to admit you fooled me.”

  “I don’t think our friend is trying to fool you,” said Dick quietly. “You really mean what you say—old Maitland has started dancing and night clubs?”

  “Certainly!” said the other. “He hasn’t started dancing, but that is where he has gone to-night—to the Heron’s. I heard him tell the chauffeur.”

  It was incredible, but a little amusing—most amusing of all to see Elk’s face.

  The detective was frankly dumbfounded by the news.

  “Heron’s is my idea of a good finish to a happy evening,” said Elk at last, drawing a long breath. He beckoned one of his escort. “How many man do you want to cover Heron’s Club?” he asked.

  “Six,” was the prompt reply. “Ten to raid it, and twenty for a rough house.”

  “Get thirty!” said Elk emphatically.

  Heron’s from the exterior was an unpretentious building. But once under the curtained doors, and the character of its exterior was forgotten. A luxurious lounge, softly lit and heavily carpeted, led to the large saloon, which was at once restaurant and dance-hall.

  Dick stood in the doorway awaiting the arrival of the manager, and admired the richness and subtle suggestion of cosiness which the room conveyed. The tables were set about an oblong square of polished flooring; from a gallery at the far end came the strain of a coloured orchestra; and on the floor itself a dozen couples swayed and glided in rhythm to the staccato melody.

  “Gilded vice,” said Elk disparagingly. “A regular haunt of sin and self-indulgence. I wonder what they charge for the food—there’s Mathusalem.”

  “Mathusalem” was sitting, a conspicuous figure, at the most prominent table in the room. His polished head glistened in the light from the crystal candelabras, and in the shadow that it cast, his patriarchal beard so melted into the white of his snowy shirt front that for a moment Dick did not recognize him.

  Before him was set a large glass mug filled with beer. “He’s human anyway,” said Elk.

  Hagn came at that moment, smiling, affable, willing to oblige.

  “This is an unexpected pleasure, Captain,” he said. “You want me to pass you in? Gentlemen, there is no necessity! Every police officer of rank is an honorary member of the club.”

  He bustled in, threading his way between the tables, and found them a vacant sofa in one of the alcoves. There were revellers whose faces showed alarm at the arrival of the new guests—one at least stole forth and did not come back.

  “We have many notable people here to-night,” said Hagn, rubbing his hands. “There are Lord and Lady Belfin “…he mentioned others; “and that gentleman with the beard is the great Maitland…his secretary is here somewhere. Poor gentleman, I fear he is not happy. But I invited him myself—it is sometimes desirable that we should elect the…what shall I say?…higher servants of important people?”

  “Johnson?” asked Dick in surprise. “Where?”

  Presently he saw that plump and philosophical man. He sat in a remote corner, looking awkward and miserable in his old-fashioned dress clothes. Before him was a glass which, Dick guessed, contained orange squash.

  A solemn, frightened figure he made, sitting on the edge of his chair, his big red hands resting on the table. Dick Gordon laughed softly and whispered to Elk:

  “Go and get him”

  Elk, who was never self-conscious, walked through the dancers and reached Mr. Johnson, who looked up startled and shook hands with the vigour of one rescued from a desert island.

  “It was good of you to ask me to come over,” said Johnson, as he greeted Dick. “This is new to me, and I’m feeling about as much at home as a chicken in a pie.”

  “Your first visit?”

  “And my last,” said Johnson emphatically. “This isn’t the kind of life that I care for. It interferes with my reading, and it—well, it’s sad.”

  His eyes were fixed on a noisy little party in the opposite alcove. Gordon had seen them almost as soon as he had sat down. Ray, in his most hectic mood, Lola Bassano, beautifully and daringly gowned, and the heavy-looking ex-pugilist, Lew Brady
.

  Presently, with a sigh, Johnson’s eyes roved toward the old man and remained fixed on him, fascinated.

  “Isn’t it a miracle?” he asked in a hushed voice. “He changes his habits in a day! Bought the house in Berkeley Square, called in an army of tailors, sent me rushing round to fix theatre seats, bought jewellery…”

  He shook his head.

  “I can’t understand it,” he confessed, “because it has made no difference to him in the office. He’s the same old hog. He wanted me to become his resident secretary, but I struck at that. I must have some sort of life worth living. What scares me is that he may fire me if I don’t agree. He’s been very unpleasant this week. I wonder if Ray has seen him? Ray Bennett had not seen his late employer. He was too completely engrossed in the joy of being with Lola, too, inspired and stimulated from more material sources, to take an interest in anything but himself and the immediate object of his affections.

  “You are making a fool of yourself, Ray. Everybody is looking at you,” warned Lola.

  He glanced round, and for the first time began to notice who was in the room. Presently his eyes fell upon the shining pate of Mr. Maitland, and his jaw dropped. He could not believe the evidence of his vision, and, rising, walked unsteadily across the floor, shouldering the other guests, stumbling against chairs and tables, until he stood by the table of his late employer.

  “Gosh!” he gasped. “It is you—”

  The old man raised his eyes slowly from the cloth which he had been contemplating steadily for ten minutes, and his steely eyes met the gaze steadily.

  “You hoary old sinner!” breathed Ray.

  “Go away,” snarled Mr. Maitland.

  “‘Go away,’ is it? I’m going to talk to you and give you a few words of advice and warning, Moses!”

  Ray sat down suddenly in a chair, and faced his glaring victim with drunken solemnity. His words of warning remained unuttered. Somebody gripped his arm and jerked him to his feet, and he looked into the dark face of Lew Brady.