CHAPTER XXV
THE PRICELESS STATUE THAT VANISHED
It is strange what undue fascination exists for things belonging to theancient stories of the past, and curiously enough, Dollops had recentlydeveloped a deep interest in the British Museum. For days he would hauntthat classic building, poring religiously over guide books andcatalogues until it seemed as if he must have committed to memory theirentire contents. Strangely enough, too, by reason of his very energeticadmiration for the arts of the dead peoples of the earth, he was able tobring to Cleek's notice a remarkable case.
With puzzled brows and straining eyes, a day, some weeks later, Dollopssat in the dusk on top of the stairs in the house at Portman Squareanxiously awaiting the return of his master.
Since this development of affection for art galleries and museums, Cleekhad marked the auspicious event of Dollops' birthday with a copy of afamous classical dictionary. Henceforward the boy had diligently soughtout the known statues of every god and goddess mentioned therein, and itwas this queer hobby which led to the solution of one of the strangestriddles Cleek had ever been asked to solve.
Dollops had attached himself to the galleries of the Imperial Institutewhere was being held a special exhibition of sculpture. Pricelessstatues and examples of the sculptor's art had been gathered from almostevery museum and private gallery in the world. When it was learned thatthe Italian Government had consented to lend the actual statue of theCapitoline Venus, public excitement was raised to fever pitch, and halfLondon had crowded in to see the two-thousand-year-old figure.
Special precautions had been taken against fire or possible theft, formore than one millionaire would have risked a fortune to become even thesecret owner of the statue.
Having purchased a subscription ticket for Dollops, Cleek was devotinghis own time to Ailsa Lorne, and those exquisite days spent on the riverin her company were to remain in his memory for many months to come. Itwas close on ten o'clock of this certain night that he came quietly upthe stairs in Portman Square, nearly breaking his neck stumbling overthe recumbent and sleeping figure of Dollops, tired out with waiting andexcitement.
"What the deuce is the matter, you young monkey?" was his affectionategreeting, as he noted the excited look of his young protege.
"Matter enough, Mr. Cleek, sir," stammered forth the boy. "I'm orf mybloomin' nut, sir. That's wot it is. Got no eyes in my 'ead, I don'tthink, or they're going orf duty. Strike me, sir, but you could 'aveknocked me down wiv a piece of chalk. I tell you, I ain't 'ad a scrapinside me since for thinkin' of it."
Cleek hung up his hat and coat, and sat down to the supper which Dollopshastened to place before him. "Now, then, suppose you tell me what youare talking about," he said good-humouredly. "Where have you been allday?"
"At the Himperial Institute, sir," was the response, "and as merry as asandbag. Those statues are just immense, sir; and as for that Wenus--theCap--Cap--or something--she's gorgeous."
"Capitoline, eh?" interposed Cleek, smiling at the lad's enthusiasm."Well, so she is, Dollops."
"Well, sir, it's the last day, yer know, and I stayed till after thedoors were closed and people were all gone. I comes to 'ave one partinglook at 'er, but when I gets to the top of the gallery and lookeddown--Mr. Cleek, sir, she was gone."
"What!" Cleek's knife and fork dropped out of his fingers as he took inthe sense of the words. "Nonsense, Dollops! How could as large an objectas the Capitoline Venus disappear in broad daylight? Preposterous!"
"Yus, sir. I know that; so I turns and runs off for a policeman, or oneof those commissionaire chaps. There was one, Scott--not 'arf a badfellow, neither--an' he come back wiv me, and nearly larfed his 'eadoff, for there was that blessed statue on the pedestal again. He didn't'arf chaff me, and away I comes, leaving him on guard for the last time.It's all shut up to-day, but----"
Cleek gave a little laugh. "I should think he would laugh. You've gotstatues on the brain. A great fright you gave me, though it would be animpossibility to steal the Capitoline Venus. You must have beendreaming, my boy."
"I tell you, she wasn't there," said Dollops, stubbornly.
"She was there all right when you came away, wasn't she?" said Cleek."Well, then, it's indigestion, shall we say?"
But Dollops for the first time in their companionship was indignant atCleek's teasing, and retired to his own quarters in high dudgeon,leaving the detective to dreams of Ailsa Lorne and love and peace, andall things that make life desirable.
It was not until the following morning, when the whir of a hastilydriven motor was heard stopping outside, followed by the hurriedappearance of Mr. Narkom himself, that Cleek recalled the incident ofthe preceding night.
"Haven't come to tell me the Capitoline Venus has disappeared, haveyou?" he said, jokingly, as the puffing Superintendent strove to get hisbreath. "Dollops had a nightmare----"
He got no further, for the purple face of Mr. Narkom had turned almostwhite with the shock of what seemed to him quite supernatural knowledge,and he nodded feebly.
Then it was Cleek's own turn to show amazement, and for a minute hestood transfixed.
"Nonsense, man!" he rapped out. "She was there last night. Here,Dollops----" He flung open the door, but the lad, scenting trouble fromthe early arrival of the Superintendent, was already tumbling into theroom.
"She _is_ all right, ain't she, sir?" he squealed, turning from one manto the other. "The Wenus, I mean. A fair beauty she was."
"That's just it, Dollops; though what you have got to do with it, Idon't know," said Narkom, slowly. "But your 'Wenus' has gone, vanishedin the night out of that gallery, steel-lined and steel-gated as it is,and with barred windows, Petrie and Hammond outside all night, too, as aspecial favour to the Italian Government. And there you have it." Helooked at Cleek, who stood staring through narrowed eyelids, his facepale and set, his mouth in a straight line. "But what do you know aboutit, youngster?"
Dollops told his tale of the preceding night with renewed gusto, but theSuperintendent only shook his head.
"Only makes matters worse," he said, "for it proves that the thing wassafe at closing time. How it's been done beats me! All your invisibledeaths and vanishing stones are nothing to it. I've had a good manymysterious cases to deal with, but this beats all. If it wasn't for theblessed lump of marble being so valuable----"
"Valuable?" echoed Cleek, a queer, little one-sided smile flickeringround his mouth. "I should just think it is valuable. Why, my dear chap,the Capitoline Venus is more than two thousand years old, and one of themost perfect and uninjured pieces of ancient art ever found. It wasdiscovered in the eighteenth century, carefully bricked up in a cell ofmasonry, and wonderfully preserved. It is of almost priceless value. Ionly wonder that it was ever allowed out of the museum at Rome."
"I wish to goodness it hadn't been," groaned Mr. Narkom, wiping hisheated brow.
"My dear Narkom," Cleek said, "for a heavy marble statue to melt intoair is so preposterous that you may well call it supernatural. Tell meall the details, please. When was the loss discovered, and how?"
"The dickens of it is, there doesn't seem to be much to tell," saidNarkom. "There hasn't been a sign of any suspicious character visitingthe Institute since the exhibition was opened, and the number ofplain-clothes men had been augmented. Not a door or window was touched,there was not the slightest sign of any struggle or upset, yet atnine-thirty this morning, when the secretary came to see about thedispatching of the statues to their respective owners, the Venus wasmissing. In front of the empty pedestal lay one of the commissionaires,Tom Scott--a member of the force really, only he was wearing theInstitute uniform. He had evidently died----"
"What's that?" rapped out Cleek, spinning round in the chair in which hehad just seated himself. "Do you mean he was murdered?"
"No," returned the Superintendent. "It was heart disease, so the doctorsaid. They fetched one in, and then made a quick tour round thebuilding, to see where the burglars had made an entry, or whether anyo
ther articles of value were missing. But, as I said before, there isn'ta hole or a crack big enough to let a mouse through."
"Hm! what about keys?" said Cleek. "This Scott--if he was out of theway, they could unbolt the doors and walk out."
"That's just it, Cleek. Every door save one has been screwed up, and onthe outside. Scott was invariably locked in at night, the keys of theone door remaining with the secretary. Petrie and Hammond remained onduty outside all night, and they swear there was neither suspicioussight nor sound."
"The first thing is to come and look at the place for myself," saidCleek, quietly. "Who is at the head of affairs, by the way?"
"The Marquis of Willingsley is the president of the Institute with awhole host of bigwigs," replied Narkom; "but the man in charge is thesecretary, Charles Belthouse, and he's nearly out of his mind over it."
For the second time that morning Cleek sprang up in astonishment.
"Gad, man! Charles Belthouse--Charles Galveston Belthouse?" he cried.
"Yes, I think it is," returned the bewildered Superintendent. "At leasthis note to me this morning is signed C. G. Belthouse; but what----?"
For Cleek had sunk down, his two hands planted on his knees, a ruefuland sarcastic look on his face.
"Oh! our national intelligence!" he cried. "Charles Galveston Belthouse!The man was kicked out of one of the biggest galleries in America forsmuggling in forgeries of well-known masterpieces. And that man, out ofall the millions in this city, is in charge of the Capitoline Venus!" Hejumped up. "Well, it's no use abusing the jockey after he has sold therace. I presume you have not mentioned my name in the matter?"
"Not a word," returned Mr. Narkom, promptly. "I didn't know whether youwere free."
"Ah, well, we'll see what that well-meaning and amiable individualGeorge Headland can do."