CHAPTER XIX
THE WINGED MESSENGER OF DEATH
That Lennard did go at considerable speed was very evident, for it wasunder two hours when the limousine, gray with dust, raced once more intoGrays High Street, and pulled up in front of the solitary inn, the RoyalArms. Here Mr. George Headland, after giving some directions to a weedyyouth of dejected mien, who had sat beside him in the car, flashed thedoor open and shut again, and vanished up the village street.
He crossed the road and struck into the woods, his face relaxed from itstenseness, and swung across country in the direction of the Manor House.There was still one link missing in his chain, and he wanted it quitefinished before he met Mr. Narkom.
Reaching the house through the trees, he searched carefully along theground on the side on which gave the window of the gallery, and in avery few moments leaned forward with a little cry of satisfaction. Hiscase was complete.
He turned swiftly back, but as he passed silently through the heavyundergrowth, the sound of snapping twigs brought him up short. Then hemoved on with indrawn breath. Someone was shadowing him without a doubt.Well, if necessary, he could make a run for it, but the path wasindistinct---- And just then came a snarl and a spring from somewherebehind him. A thick cloth was thrown rapidly over his head, two armslike vises closed about his struggling shoulders, and he was carried,fighting for dear life, away from the Manor House and the scene of themurder. He was conscious of being forced inside some building and here avoice greeted him the sound of which sent a little dagger of fearstabbing its way into his heart.
"The Cracksman at last!" shrilled the voice, excitedly, and Cleek knew,for the time being, that the game was up. He was here in the shadow ofthese woods, and in the power of the accursed Apaches themselves--aloneand helpless! A door closed behind them, bolts were shot, the cloth tornfrom his head, and he saw before him, in the interior of a half-ruinedcottage, three of the best-known scoundrels in Paris, men he had knownonly too well in the past. "At last, _nom de Dieu_, we have you!" criedone as he seized a rope and bound Cleek's struggling hands and feet."Margot shall hear of this, I promise you! Margot, who thirsts for yourblood for your escape from her as we thirst for the money she will payus! Where is this precious 'Rose of Fire'? That is what we are after. Nofoolish priest shall have a jewel which _we_ are after. Where is it,pig of a cracksman, where, I say?"
"Where I have failed to find it, that I can promise you!" replied Cleekin as level a voice as he could muster under the circumstances. "It haswholly disappeared."
"You lie!" screamed Dubois, furiously. "You lie! You know well where itis concealed. Do you not always find the answers to the cases propoundedto you? But we shall see what we shall see. A touch of fire may loosenyour tongue, _cochon_! Come, _mes amis_!"
Turning, they swarmed into a tiny kitchen, and Cleek could see themthrowing paper and wood into the range. Luckily for him the wood wasdamp, and the chimney smoky from disuse. He writhed his hands to and froin their ropes. It was not for nothing that those old days in Paris hadbeen lived. He knew a thing or two about knots which would teach thesedevils something. A tug, a twist, and at last one hand was free. Theother followed in a jiffy. Quickly and soundlessly he worked upon therope about his feet, while the snarling Apaches cursed and swore at thefire which would not burn. In another moment he was free. But he stoodstill, awaiting his opportunity. Then of a sudden there came to his earsa sound that made his heart leap. He did not even know he was near aroad, and yet there sounded the soft purr of the Scotland Yardlimousine--he would have known it among a thousand! He did not stop tothink how his plight could have become known, he simply leapt for thewindow, and making a cup of his hands, shouted as loudly as his lungswould permit, "All right, boys! Well played! Get round to the back!They're in the kitchen!"
The trick worked like magic. He heard the car come to a grinding stop,saw the leaping figures of three Apaches dart like frightened ratsacross the little kitchen floor, and in the twinkling of an eye everyman of them had vanished into the wood beyond. With a bound Cleek wasout of the door, onto a road, into the limousine, with a very excitedDollops at his side, and death was once more behind him.
"How did you know?" he said, curiously, as the car went speeding downthe road under the guidance of Lennard.
Dollops heaved a heavy sigh.
"I saw some of the blighters up the road after you left me. I told you,sir, you should have took me along"--this very reproachfully--"and Itells Lennard here, we don't leave this neighbourhood till I sees yousafe and sound."
"It was a narrow squeak this time, old man," said Cleek, softly, and putout his hand. "You are the best ever of a helper. Bless you."
Dollops' eyes gleamed with pleasure as the car swept on in the directionof Grays Village.
And this was why Mr. Narkom had begun to feel very uneasy about thewhereabouts of his colleague when he finally received a message from oneof his men that "Mr. George Headland" was having a meal at the RoyalArms and would be pleased if all the company from the Manor House wouldgive him the pleasure of joining him there.
There was an indignant murmur of dissent from the Parradines, but Mr.Narkom, knowing there must be a very good reason for this invitation,succeeded in persuading them to accompany him down to the inn, thoughthey expressed no faith in what "that fool of a policeman was doing."
In the old-fashioned inn, at the bar of which most of the villagers weresmoking and drinking, at one of the window tables they found Mr.Headland certainly busy in front of a meal though it was the youthbeside him who was eating it voraciously. As Mr. Narkom recognizedDollops, he beamed delightedly. The landlord of the inn was himself inattendance, but Mr. George Headland was evidently in a state ofindignation with the youth at the table and was pointing to a smallyellow object in his hand.
As the little party came up, he turned to Mr. Narkom.
"Look, sir, that's what that young varmint's done while I've been down'ere. Let my prize canary starve in the office. I wouldn't have partedwith that bird for a fortune, and what I'm to say to my missus. Lordonly knows."
Colonel Parradine gave a snort of disgust. "I suppose you haven't sentfor us to look at a dead canary when we are faced with such a tragedy,"he thundered.
"Sent for you, sir," said Mr. Headland, innocently. "Never thought ofsuch a thing. Lennard must have made a mistake. I asked for Mr. Narkomto come, as I can't find anything more out, and am giving up the job.But this canary fair beats me...."
"I suggest having it stuffed, sir," put in the landlord, thoughtfully."We've got the man here that'll do it, in a trice."
"Why, of course," said Bristol, patiently, turning in the direction ofthe bar. "Old Twells, the very man."
"The very thing," said Cleek, and switching round on his heel lookedinterestedly at the old gray-haired man to whom the landlord wasevidently explaining the situation. Then, as he came over to them, Cleekturned to Mr. Narkom. "If you'd get the cage out of the locker in thecar, sir, we could stick it on its blessed perch and make a good job ofit. Here's the key; I think it's the right one."
Whether it was the right one or not Mr. Narkom looked down on the labelattached to it, and seeing the message that Cleek had scribbled on it,ran out of the place as fast as legs could carry him.
When he returned Mr. Headland was still directing the taxidermist as towhat he was to do and how and when to do it.
"Did you find it, sir?" he asked as Mr. Narkom rushed in, his face redwith excitement.
"Yes, exactly where you said, Cleek," cried the Superintendent, blurtingout the name unconsciously in his agitation.
A little gasp of interest sounded, but Cleek took no heed. With shiningeyes and mouth set in a thin red line he switched round on his heel, hisvoice sounding clear and sharp:
"Game's up, my boy; stand aside, Bristol. It's no use trying to shieldyourself or your accomplice. I want you both."
With a little spring he threw himself forward, bearing down on the oldbent figure of Twells, still standing with
the dead canary in his hands,leaving Narkom and Dollops to keep an eye and hand on the younger man,who had collapsed into a chair.
"Richard Deverill, I arrest you for the murder of your cousin, AnthonyWinton," rang out Cleek's imperious voice.
"It's a lie! Who are you? How dare you?" shrieked the supposedly oldman, his voice no longer quavering, but full and shrill.
"No lie, my man." And Cleek, leaning forward, twitched off the gray wig,revealing a close-cropped head and sallow forehead. "Also for the theftof the 'Rose of Fire,' but in that I think we have forestalled you."
"Yes, here it is," said Narkom, as he held up the exquisite gem, and acry burst from the lips of the prisoner.
"Take him away, boys," said Cleek to Petrie and Hammond, who had enteredunnoticed in the general confusion. Then turning to Bristol he said:"You did a foolish thing, young man, in not telling the complete truthlast night. You knew Twells had something to do with it."
"Yes, I did. He asked me to get the lights switched off at exactly 10o'clock last night, saying he could stop the marriage of Winton and MissParradine without any harm if the lights were off in that house for twominutes, and I was so desperate that I yielded. While I was talking withmy engineer friend at the Power House I leant up against the switch.Afterward I went nearly mad thinking that I had helped to kill Winton,if I was not a murderer myself."
"No, but you let the murderer escape, my friend. If you had told me, itwould have saved me a lot of trouble."
"But how and by what was Winton killed? How could the murderer escapethrough closed doors and window and in the dark? Nothing human could doit----"
"I never said it was human," flung in Cleek, a little one-sided smilecreeping up his face. "It was as Mr. Winton said--the Death's Head.What's that, Miss Parradine, the skeleton? Oh, dear no; something farmore deadly, though not as dead as that. Here it is!"
Diving into his pocket he pulled out a large match-box, and opening itturned out onto the table a splendid moth.
"The Death's Head," he said. "See the skull and crossbones?"
"Twells or Deverill was a ruined man and desperate. I soon found out bycabling from headquarters that he had left Buenos Ayres for London sometwo months ago. Being already known to the police over another shadytransaction, they had kept watch and there was no doubt he was in leaguewith the Burmese priests to try and recover the 'Rose of Fire' for them.You may be sure that he knew from gossip that the jewels had been willedto Miss Parradine, so he settled down here to await his chance and gotit, last night."
"But how?" said Bristol.
"Through the open window," was the reply. "From his post in that big oaktree opposite the gallery he let loose this moth, knowing the brightelectric light right in front of Winton's face would attract it. Itswings were heavily laden with that deadly poison dust the natives useboth in South America and Burmah for their blow-pipes. The heat of thelamp would make it more deadly. I take it that Winton knew his dangerwhen he got the first whiff of the poison dust, and tried to drive theintruder out, but could not manage both, dying as he was.... Yes, both,Colonel--Deverill had not played the part of naturalist for nothing andhe had ready a natural thief. In the magpie, or raven, was it, Mr.Narkom?"
"Magpie, Cleek."
"Yes, as I thought. Trained to pick up a red rose probably, it respondednobly to its training, and picked up the brilliant red 'Rose of Fire'."
"But why did he want the light off?" asked Bristol.
"Because he knew that just as the light had attracted them in, the darkwould send them out into the moonlight. Winton probably exhausted hislast strength driving them away and pulling down the window, which soundCalvert heard.
"All Twells had to do was to see that his pet came home safely, and leftthe jewel I expect where the bird itself took it, to his cage. Was Iright, Mr. Narkom?"
"Right as a trivet, Cleek--hidden under the straw."
"I recognized the yellow feathery dust, and had it analyzed in town tomake sure," continued Cleek. "The trace of bird-lime, or some stickysubstance in the shape of a bird's claw, gave me the first clue as tothe actual thief, and a black feather under the table confirmed it. Thedead moth I found outside the window, so I knew the whole thing. Thefact that coming back from finding the moth, I nearly met my own deathis another story. If I hadn't brought Dollops back with me, this casemight have ended very differently. All I wanted to find out in town waswhether Richard Deverill was still in South America, of which I had mydoubts."
"What's that, Mr. Narkom? Why did I suspect old Twells? Well, it wasrather suspicious that he should be hanging about at that hour, anddiscovering that he was so keenly interested in natural history made methink a whole lot. As I found the number of that motor-car that knockedyou down, Colonel, I knew you were out of suspicion. Besides, I had agood look at 'Old Twells,' and though his voice and face were well keptup, his hands were full-blooded and strong. All I had to do was to findan excuse to get him into my clutches, without losing the 'Rose ofFire,' and my canary did the trick. I was only just in time, for to-dayold Twells would have vanished forever. The 'Rose of Fire' would havebeen sold to return to Mandalay and the new heir would have come homewith a flourish of woe and mourning. He gambled that Mr. Bristol wouldbe afraid to mention the light business, even if he ever connected itwith the murder. And now I think as Dollops here has demolished my mealand his own too, I propose we get back to town. Miss Parradine, take myadvice, either bank that jewel, ill-fated as it is, or strike a bargainwith the envoys of Buddha, for they will not hesitate to strike again,and the next time they may be even more successful."
With a little bow, and with Narkom and Dollops in the rear, Cleek passedout, and soon the soft whirr of the departing limousine was heard. Onlya gilt cage, with a dead canary in it, was left to remind them of theriddle that had so quickly been solved.