CHAPTER XXII. A BREATH FROM THE EAST
Inspector Jacks was a man who had succeeded in his profession chiefly onaccount of an average amount of natural astuteness, and also because hewas one of those favored persons whose nervous system was a whole andperfect thing. Yet, curiously enough, as he sat in this large, gloomyapartment into which he had been shown, a room filled with art treasureswhose appearance and significance were entirely strange to him, he felta certain uneasiness which he was absolutely unable to understand. Hewas somewhat instinctive in his likes and dislikes, and from the firsthe most heartily disliked the room itself,--its vague perfumes, itssubdued violet coloring, the faces of the grinning idols, whichseemed to meet his gaze in every direction, the pictures of thosefierce-looking warriors who brandished two-edged swords at him from thewalls. They belonged to the period when Japanese art was perhaps inits crudest state, and yet in this uncertain atmosphere they seemed topossess an extraordinary vitality, as though indeed they were preparedat a moment's notice to leap from their frames and annihilate thismysterious product of modern days, who in black clothes and silk hat,unarmed and without physical strength, yet wielded the powers of lifeand death as surely as they in their time had done.
The detective rose from his seat and walked around the room. He made ashow of examining the arms against the walls, the brocaded hangings withtheir wonderful design of faded gold, the ivory statuettes, the blackgod who sat on his haunches and into whose face seemed carved some dumbbut eternal power. Movement was in some respects a solace, but the soundof a hansom bell tinkling outside was a much greater relief. He crossedto the windows and looked out over the somewhat silent square. Ahurdy-gurdy was playing in the corner opposite the club, justvisible from where he stood. The members were passing in and out. Thecommissionaire stood stolidly in his place, raising every now andthen his cab whistle to his lips. A flickering sunlight fell upon thewind-shaken lilac trees in the square enclosure. Inspector Jacks foundhimself wishing that the perfume of those lilacs might reach even towhere he stood, and help him to forget for a moment that subtler and tohim curiously unpleasant odor which all the time became more and moreapparent. So overpowering did he feel it that he tried even to open thewindow, but found it an impossible task. The atmosphere seemed to him tobe becoming absolutely stifling.
He turned around and walked uneasily toward the door. He decidedthen that this was some sort of gruesome nightmare with which he wasafflicted. He was quite certain that in a few minutes he would wakein his little iron bedstead with the sweat upon his forehead and areproachful consciousness of having eaten an indiscreet supper. It couldnot possibly be a happening in real life! It could not be true that hisknees were sinking beneath the weight of his body, that the clanging ofiron hammers was really smiting the drums of his ears, that the purpleof the room was growing red, and that his veins were strained tobursting! He threw out his arms in a momentary instinct of fiercelystruggling consciousness. The idols on the walls jeered at him. Thosestrangely clad warriors seemed to him now to be looking down upon hisdiscomfiture with a satanic smile, mocking the pygmy who had dared toraise his hand against one so jealously guarded. Clang once more wentthe blacksmith's hammers, and then chaos!...
The end of the nightmare was not altogether according to InspectorJacks' expectations. He found himself in a small back room, stretchedupon a sofa before the open French-windows, through which came apleasant vision of waving green trees and a pleasanter stream of freshair. His first instinct was to sniff, and a sense of relief creptthrough him when he realized that this room, at any rate, was free fromabnormal odors. He sat up on the couch. A pale-faced Japanese servantstood by his side with a glass in his hand. A few feet away, the manwhom he had come to visit was looking down upon him with an expressionof grave concern in his kindly face.
"You are better, I trust, sir?" Prince Maiyo said.
"I am better," Inspector Jacks muttered. "I don't know--I can't imaginewhat happened to me."
"You were not feeling quite well, perhaps, this morning," the Princesaid soothingly. "A little run down, no doubt. Your profession--I gatherfrom your card that you come from Scotland Yard--is an arduous one.I came into the room and found you lying upon your back, gasping forbreath."
Inspector Jacks was making a swift recovery. He noticed that the glasswhich the man-servant was holding was empty. He had a dim recollectionof something having been forced through his lips. Already he wasbeginning to feel himself again.
"I was absolutely and entirely well," he declared stoutly, "both when Ileft home this morning and when I entered that room to wait for you. Idon't know what it was that came over me," he continued doubtfully, "butthe atmosphere seemed suddenly to become unbearable."
Prince Maiyo nodded understandingly.
"People often complain," he admitted. "So many of my hangings in theroom have been wrapped in spices to preserve them, and my people burndead blossoms there occasionally. Some of us, too," he concluded, "arevery susceptible to strange odors. I should imagine, perhaps, that youare one of them."
Inspector Jacks shook his head.
"I call myself a strong man," he said, "and I couldn't have believedthat anything of the sort would have happened to me."
"I shouldn't worry about it," the Prince said gently. "Go and see yourdoctor, if you like, but I have known many people, perfectly healthy,affected in the same way. I understood that you wished to have a wordwith me. Do you feel well enough to enter upon your business now, orwould you prefer to make another appointment?"
"I am feeling quite well again, thank you," the Inspector said slowly."If you could spare me a few minutes, I should be glad to explain thematter which brought me here."
The Prince merely glanced at his servant, who bowed and glidednoiselessly from the room. Then he drew an easy chair to the side of thecouch where Mr. Jacks was still sitting.
"I am very much interested to meet you, Mr. Inspector Jacks," heremarked, with a glance at the card which he was still holding in hisfingers. "I have studied very many of your English institutions duringmy stay over here with much interest, but it has not been my goodfortune to have come into touch at all with your police system. SirGoreham Briggs--your chief, I believe--has invited me several times toScotland Yard, and I have always meant to avail myself of his kindness.You come to me, perhaps, from him?"
The Inspector shook his head.
"My business, Prince," he said, "is a little more personal."
Prince Maiyo raised his eyebrows.
"Indeed?" he said. "Well, whatever it is, let us hear it. I trust that Ihave not unconsciously transgressed against your laws?"
Inspector Jacks hesitated. After all, his was not so easy a task.
"Prince," he said, "my errand is not in any way a pleasant one, and Ishould be very sorry indeed to find myself in the position of bringingany annoyance upon a stranger and a gentleman who is so highly esteemed.At the same time there are certain duties in connection with myevery-day life which I cannot ignore. In England, as I dare say youknow, sir, the law is a great leveller. I have heard that it is notquite so in your country, but over here we all stand equal in itssight."
"That is excellent," the Prince said. "Please believe, Mr. InspectorJacks, that I do not wish to stand for a single moment between you andyour duty, whatever it may be. Let me hear just what you have to say,as though I were an ordinary dweller here. While I am in England, at anyrate," he added with a smile, "I am subject to your laws, and I do mybest to obey them."
"It has fallen to my lot," Inspector Jacks said, "to take charge of theinvestigations following upon the murder of a man named Hamilton Fynes,who was killed on his way from Liverpool to London about a fortnightago."
The Prince inclined his head.
"I believe," he said amiably, "that I remember hearing the matter spokenof. It was the foundation of a debate, I recollect, at a recent dinnerparty, as to the extraordinarily exaggerated value people in yourcountry seem to claim for human life, as compared to us Orient
als. Butpray proceed, Mr. Inspector Jacks," the Prince continued courteously."The investigation, I am sure, is in most able hands."
"You are very kind, sir," said the Inspector. "I do my best, but I mightadmit to you that I have never found a case so difficult to grasp.Our methods perhaps are slow, but they are, in a sense, sure. We arebuilding up our case, and we hope before long to secure the criminal,but it is not an easy task."
The Prince bowed. This time he made no remark.
"The evidence which I have collected from various sources," InspectorJacks continued, "leads me to believe that the person who committed thismurder was a foreigner."
"What you call an alien," the Prince suggested. "There is muchdiscussion, I gather, concerning their presence in this countrynowadays."
"The evidence which I possess," the detective proceeded, "points to themurderer belonging to the same nationality as Your Highness."
The Prince raised his eyebrows.
"A Japanese?" he asked.
The Inspector assented.
"I am sorry," the Prince said, with a touch of added gravity in hismanner, "that one of my race should have committed a misdemeanor inthis country, but if that is so, your way, of course, is clear. You mustarrest him and deal with him as an ordinary English criminal. He is hereto live your life, and he must obey your laws."
"In time, sir," Inspector Jacks said slowly, "we hope to do so, but overhere we may not arrest upon suspicion. We have to collect evidence, andbuild and build until we can satisfy any reasonable individual that theaccused person is guilty."
The Prince sighed sympathetically.
"It is not for me," he said, "to criticize your methods."
"I come now," Inspector Jacks said slowly, "to the object of my callupon Your Highness. Following upon what I have just told you, certainother information has come into my possession to this effect--that notonly was this murderer a Japanese, but we have evidence which seems tosuggest that he was attached in some way to your household."
"To my household!" the Prince repeated.
"To this household, Your Highness," the detective repeated.
The Prince shook his head slowly.
"Mr. Jacks," he said, "you are, I am sure, a very clever man. Let me askyou one question. Has it ever fallen to your lot to make a mistake?"
"Very often indeed," the Inspector admitted frankly.
"Then I am afraid," the Prince said, "that you are once more in thatposition. I have attached to my household fourteen Japanese servants, asecretary, a majordomo, and a butler. It may interest you, perhaps, toknow that during my residence in this country not one of my retinue,with the exception of my secretary, who has been in Paris for someweeks, has left this house."
The Inspector stared at the Prince incredulously.
"Never left the house?" he repeated. "Do you mean, sir, that they do notgo out for holidays, for exercise, to the theatre?"
The Prince shook his head.
"Such things are not the custom with us," he said. "They are myservants. The duty of their life is service. London is a world unknownto them--London and all these Western cities. They have no desire to bemade mock of in your streets. Their life is given to my interests. Theydo not need distractions."
Inspector Jacks was dumfounded. Such a state of affairs seemed to himimpossible.
"Do you mean that they do not take exercise," he asked, "that they neverbreathe the fresh air?"
The Prince smiled.
"Such fresh air as your city can afford them," he said, "is to be foundin the garden there, into which I never penetrate and which is for theiruse. I see that you look amazed, Mr. Inspector Jacks. This thing whichI have told you seems strange, no doubt, but you must not confuse theservants of my country with the servants of yours. I make no commentupon the latter. You know quite well what they are; so do I. With us,service is a religion,--service to country and service to master. Thesemen who perform the duties of my household would give their lives forme as cheerfully as they would for their country, should the occasionarise."
"But their health?" the Inspector protested. "It is not, surely, wellfor them to be herded together like this?"
The Prince smiled.
"I am not what is called a sportsman in this country, Mr. InspectorJacks," he said, "but you shall go to the house of any nobleman youchoose, and if you will bring me an equal number of your valets orfootmen or chefs, who can compete with mine in running or jumping orwrestling, then I will give you a prize what you will--a hundred pounds,or more. You see, my servants have learned the secret of diet. Theydrink nothing save water. Sickness is unknown to them."
The Inspector was silent for some time. Then he rose to his feet.
"Prince," he said, "what should you declare, then, if I told you that aman of obvious Japanese extraction was seen to enter your house onthe morning after the murder, and that he was a person to whom certaincircumstances pointed as being concerned in that deed?"
"Mr. Inspector Jacks," the Prince said calmly, "I was the only person ofmy race who entered my house that morning."
The Inspector moved toward the door.
"Your Highness," he said gravely, "I am exceedingly obliged to you foryour courteous attention, and for your kindness after my unfortunateindisposition."
The Prince smiled graciously.
"Mr. Inspector Jacks," he said, "your visit has been of great interestto me. If I can be of any further assistance, pray do not hesitate tocall upon me."