CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
SECRET WORK
The inner room of the police-station, at ten o'clock that morning, wasfull of men. Purdie, coming there with Lauriston at five minutes beforethe hour, found Melky Rubinstein hanging about the outer door, and hadonly just time to warn his companion to keep silence as to theirmidnight discovery before Guyler and John Purvis drove up in one caband Mr. Killick in another. Inside, Ayscough, refreshed by hisbreakfast and an hour's rest, was talking to the inspector and the manfrom New Scotland Yard--all these looked enquiringly at the group whichpresently crowded in on them.
"Any of you gentlemen got any fresh news?" demanded the inspector, ashe ran his eye over the expectant faces "No?--well, I suppose you'reall wanting to know if we have?" He glanced at Ayscough, who waspointing out certain paragraphs in one of the morning newspapers to theScotland Yard man. "The fact is," he continued, "there have been queerdevelopments since last night--and I don't exactly know where we are!My own opinion is that we'd better wait a few hours before sayinganything more definite--to my mind, these newspapers are getting holdof too much news--giving information to the enemy, as it were. I thinkyou'd all better leave things to us, gentlemen--for a while." There wasrather more than a polite intimation in this that the presence of somany visitors was not wanted--but John Purvis at once assumed adetermined attitude.
"I want to know exactly what's being done, and what's going to be done,about my brother!" he said. "I'm entitled to that! That's the job Icame about--myself--as for the rest--"
"Your brother's here!" said Purdie, who was standing by the window andkeeping an eye on the street outside. "And Mr. Levendale withhim--hadn't you better have them straight in?" he went on, turning tothe inspector. "They both look as if they'd things to tell."
But Ayscough had already made for the door and within a moment wasushering in the new arrivals. And Purdie was quick to note that theLevendale who entered, a sheaf of morning papers in his hand, was avastly different Levendale to the man he had seen nine hours before,dirty, unkempt, and worn out with weariness. The trim beard andmustache were hopelessly lost, and there were lines on Levendale's facewhich they concealed, but Levendale himself was now smartly groomed andcarefully dressed, and business-like, and it was with the air of a manwho means business that he strode into the room and threw a calm nod tothe officials.
"Now, Inspector," he said, going straight to the desk, while StephenPurvis turned to his brother. "I see from the papers that you've allbeen much exercised about Mr. Purvis and myself--it just shows how acouple of men can disappear and give some trouble before they're found.But here we are!--and why we're here is because we're beaten--we tookour own course in trying to find our own property--and we're done! Wecan do no more--and so we come to you."
"You should have come here at first, Mr. Levendale," said theInspector, a little sourly. "You'd have saved a lot of trouble--toyourselves as well as to us. But that's neither here nor there--Isuppose you've something to tell us, sir?"
"Before I tell you anything," replied Levendale, "I want to knowsomething." He pointed to the morning papers which he had brought in."These people," he said, "seem to have got hold of a lot ofinformation--all got from you, of course. Now, we know what we'reafter--let's put it in a nutshell. A diamond--an orange-yellowdiamond--worth eighty thousand pounds, the property of Mr. StephenPurvis there. That's item one! But there's another. Eighty thousandpounds in bank-notes!--my property. Now--have any of you the least ideawho's got the diamond and my money? Come!"
There was a moment's silence. Then Ayscough spoke.
"Not a definite idea, Mr. Levendale--as yet."
"Then I'll tell you," said Levendale. "A Chinese fellow--one Chang Li.He's got them--both! And Stephen Purvis and I have been after him forall the days and nights since we disappeared--and we're beaten! Nowyou'll have to take it up--and I'd better tell you the plain truthabout what's no doubt seemed a queer business from the first.Half-an-hour's talk now will save hours of explanation later on. Solisten to me, all of you--I already see two gentlemen here, Mr.Killick, and Mr. Guyler, who in a certain fashion, can corroborate someparticulars that I shall give you. Keep us free from interruption, ifyou please, while I tell you my story."
Ayscough answered this request by going to the door and leaning againstit, and Levendale took a chair by the side of the desk and looked roundat an expectant audience.
"It's a queer and, in some respects, an involved story," he said, "butI shall contrive to make matters plain to you before I've finished. Ishall have to go back a good many years--to a time when, as Mr. Killickthere knows, I was a partner with Daniel Molteno in a jewellerybusiness in the City. I left him, and went out to South Africa, where Iengaged in diamond trading. I did unusually well in my variousenterprises, and some years later I came back to London a verywell-to-do man. Not long after my return, I met my former partneragain. He had changed his name to Multenius, and was trading in PraedStreet as a jeweller and pawnbroker. Now, I had no objection tocarrying on a trade with certain business connections of mine at theCape--and after some conversation with Multenius he and I arranged tobuy and sell diamonds together here in London, and I at once paid overa sum of money to him as working capital. The transactions were carriedout in his name. It was he, chiefly, who conducted them--he was as goodand keen a judge of diamonds as any man I ever knew--and no one herewas aware that I was concerned in them. I never went to his shop inPraed Street but twice--if it was absolutely necessary for him to seeme, we met in the City, at a private office which I have there. Now youunderstand the exact relations between Daniel Multenius and myself. Wewere partners--in secret.
"We come, then, to recent events. Early in this present autumn, weheard from Mr. Stephen Purvis, with whom I had had some transactions inSouth Africa, that he had become possessed of a rare and fineorange-yellow diamond and that he was sending it to us. It arrived atMultenius's--Multenius brought it to me at my city office and weexamined it, after which Multenius deposited it in his bank. We decidedto buy it ourselves--I finding the money. We knew, from our messagesfrom Stephen Purvis, that he would be in town on the 18th November, andwe arranged everything for that date. That date, then, becomes ofspecial importance--what happened at Multenius's shop in Praed Streeton the afternoon of November 18th, between half-past four and half-pastfive is, of course, the thing that really is of importance. Now, whatdid happen? I can tell you--save as regards one detail which is,perhaps, of more importance than the other details. Of that detail Ican't tell anything--but I can offer a good suggestion about it.
"Stephen Purvis was to call at Daniel Multenius's shop in Praed Streetbetween five o'clock and half-past on the afternoon of November18th--to complete the sale of his diamond. About noon on that day,Daniel Multenius went to the City. He went to his bank and took thediamond away. He then proceeded to my office, where I handed him eightythousand pounds in bank notes--notes of large amounts. With the diamondand these notes in his possession, Daniel Multenius went back to PraedStreet. I was to join him there shortly after five o'clock.
"Now we come to my movements. I lunched in the City, and afterwardswent to a certain well-known book-seller's in Holborn, who had writtento tell me that he had for sale a valuable book which he knew I wanted.I have been a collector of rare books ever since I came back toEngland. I spent an hour or so at the book-seller's shop. I bought thebook which I had gone to see--paying a very heavy price for it. Icarried it away in my hand, not wrapped up, and got into an omnibuswhich was going my way, and rode in it as far as the end of PraedStreet. There I got out. And--in spite of what I said in myadvertisement in the newspapers of the following morning,--I had thebook in my hand when I left the omnibus. Why I pretended to have lostit, why I inserted that advertisement in the papers, I shall tell youpresently--that was all part of a game which was forced upon me.
"It was, as near as I can remember, past five o'clock when I turnedalong Praed Street. The darkness was coming on, and there was a slightrain falling, and a te
ndency to fog. However, I noticed something--I amnaturally very quick of observation. As I passed the end of the streetwhich goes round the back of the Grand Junction Canal basin, the streetcalled Iron Gate Wharf, I saw turn into it, walking very quickly, aChinaman whom I knew to be one of the two Chinese medical students towhom Daniel Multenius had let a furnished house in Maida Vale. He hadhis back to me--I did not know which of the two he was. I thoughtnothing of the matter, and went on. In another minute I was at thepawn-shop. I opened the door, walked in, and went straight to thelittle parlour--I had been there just twice before when DanielMultenius was alone, and so I knew my way. I went, I say, straightthrough--and in the parlour doorway ran into Stephen Purvis.
"Purvis was excited--trembling, big fellow though he is, do you see? Hewill bear me out as to what was said--and done. Without a word, heturned and pointed to where Daniel Multenius was lying across thefloor--dead. 'I haven't been here a minute!' said Purvis. 'I camein--found him, like that! There's nobody here. For God's sake, where'smy diamond?'
"Now, I was quick to think. I formed an impression within five seconds.That Chinaman had called--found the old man lying in a fit, or possiblydead--had seen, as was likely, the diamond on the table in the parlour,the wad of bank-notes lying near, had grabbed the lot--and gone away.It was a theory--and I am confident yet that it was the correct one.And I tell you plainly that my concern from that instant was not withDaniel Multenius, but with the Chinaman! I thought and acted likelightning. First, I hastily examined Multenius, felt in his pockets,found that there was nothing there that I wanted and that he was dead.Then I remembered that on a previous visit of mine he had let me out ofhis house by a door at the rear which communicated with a narrowpassage running into Market Street, and without a second's delay, Iseized Purvis by the arm and hurried him out. It was dark enough inthat passage--there was not a soul about--we crossed Market Street,turned to the right, and were in Oxford and Cambridge Terrace before wepaused. My instinct told me that the right thing to do was to get awayfrom that parlour. And it was not until we were quite away from it thatI realized that I had left my book behind me!"