CHAPTER XI
IN WHICH THE PIRATE HOLDS UP THE BRIGHTON MAIL
ON joining Forrest at breakfast the following morning, I found he hadmapped out a programme for the day which promised to keep us prettybusily occupied.
"First," he said, "I must get into St. Albans, and see whether there isany fresh information to hand. If possible, I should like to run over toShefford, for I want to look at the place where I had my ducking, andrecover the piece of cord with which that almighty scoundrel secured me.Then there's the inquest at Towcester at twelve, and sometime to-day Imust put in an appearance at head-quarters to hand in my report. PerhapsI had better train from Towcester for that. It will be making too greatdemands on your time."
"Nonsense!" I replied; "I can run you up to town very nearly as quicklyas you could manage the journey by rail."
"I hope you won't have to return alone," he remarked. "I am hoping to beable to inflict myself upon you for a few more days; but it is on thecards I may be taken off the job since I have met with so littlesuccess."
"I hope not," I answered.
"I should be sorry, too," he said. "I am more convinced than ever thatour friend is living within a twenty-mile radius of this house."
"What grounds have you for thinking so?" I asked.
"The very slightest at present," he declared frankly; "and until I haveseen the police reports from other parts of the country, I will notcommit myself definitely to the opinion."
I could not get anything more out of him then, but after he had made anote of all the information to be obtained at St. Albans--we were on theroad by nine-thirty--he became more communicative. The information heobtained did not amount to much. On the previous evening, the MotorPirate had not made his appearance anywhere; while on the eveningbefore, the only outrage of which he had been guilty was the murderwhich we had discovered. On that night, however, his car had beenreported as having been seen on various roads in the midlands, oneappearance having been recorded as far north as Peterborough.
"That confirms my opinion," Forrest declared. "The Peterborough reportgives the time of his appearance as about 2.50. The sun rises at five,and it is beginning to be light an hour earlier. It must have been aboutfour when he dropped me into the water at Shefford. Hitherto he has notbeen seen by daylight at all. Clearly he must have delayed getting ridof me until he thought it was dangerous to carry me about any longer.He may even have been close to his own home, though he would probablyselect a spot twenty or thirty miles away at least."
"It seems likely," I agreed.
"Certain of it," said Forrest. "Now we will get along to Shefford."
We had a very pleasant run, and a mile from the village, Forrest stoppedme where a deep pool fringed with rushes skirted the road.
"This is the spot," he cried.
He left me in the car and scrambled through the hedge into an adjoiningfield. He came running back with a dilapidated overcoat sodden withwater in one hand, and a piece of rope in the other.
"Thought I could not be mistaken," he cried.
When he was again in the car he examined the rope carefully.
"Just an ordinary piece of half-inch cord," he remarked. "It's not ofmuch value as a clue, but as a piece of evidence--I have known a man'slife hang upon a slighter thread before now." He chuckled grimly at hisown pleasantry.
"Where next?" I inquired.
"Towcester," he replied; and I wheeled the car round, and we were soonmaking the dust fly again.
We were not detained very long at the inquest. Forrest had a few wordswith the coroner, so that after formal evidence of identification hadbeen given, and I had made my statement as to the finding of the body,the inquiry was adjourned. Thus plenty of time was left at our disposal,and we did not hurry on our way to town, even breaking our journey onthe way for lunch.
The weather remained delightfully fine. Clean roads, blue sky, softwinds, combined to make ideal weather for motoring. We reached townabout four, and went straight to Scotland Yard. Forrest went in while Iwaited for him. Then he returned for me, and, taking me up in the lift,he piloted me into the presence of the commissioner, whom I found to bean exceedingly courteous gentleman. He expressed himself indebted to mefor the assistance I had rendered the department. I did not see that myassistance had been of much practical value, and I said so; but I addedthat I was very keen on the Motor Pirate's capture, and I should be gladto render any service in my power which would tend to such an end.
"Anything you can do to assist Inspector Forrest will be greatlyappreciated," he declared. "Of course, it is not our usual plan to makeuse of outside assistance, but we are not so bound up in red tape as torefuse such aid as that you offer."
We had ten minutes' further conversation, and then Forrest and I lefttogether. The detective was in high glee. He had obtained _carteblanche_ to do as he liked. His chief had expressed every confidence inhim, while urging him to spare no effort to obtain the Pirate's arrest.
"The fact is," he said, "the papers have been rubbing it into us forallowing such audacious crimes to be committed right under our noses,and the chief is wild to get the chap. Half of the detective force arealready engaged on the job. I fancy I should get him myself singlehandedsooner or later if he were a sane man; but, as it is, the cunning of amadman upsets every calculation."
"You still hold to the theory that he is mad?" I asked.
"Cannot explain his treatment of me in any other way," he repliedpromptly.
"Well, what's the next move?" I asked, when we had returned to our car."I suppose we may as well go for a prowl to-night, on the off-chance offinding him."
"We might try a new district," answered Forrest, "You may have noticedthat he breaks fresh ground every time he reappears."
"Where shall it be then?"
Forrest answered my question with another. "Supposing yourself to be inhis place, and the desire to attract notoriety a stronger motive thanmere plunder. What should you do?"
There flashed into my memory what Winter's guest had said about theBrighton Parcels Mail, and I said laughingly--
"I fancy I should hold up the Brighton Mail."
"As likely a feat as any for him to attempt," replied Forrest,thoughtfully.
I glanced up at the clock in the tower of St. Stephens; the handspointed to a quarter before five.
"Well," I said, "we may as well run down to Brighton by daylight and getacquainted with the road, since I have only driven over it once before.We can dine at the Metropole comfortably, spend a couple of hours on thefront after dinner, and have plenty of time to meet the mail on the roadafterwards."
"A most excellent suggestion," agreed the inspector, and his eyestwinkled at the thought of the programme I had mapped out.
We started forthwith. Reaching Brighton before sunset, I refilled mytanks with petrol before putting the car up at the Metropole andreserving a table for dinner. We had a wash, walked to the Hove end ofthe esplanade, and came back to our dinner with appetites equal toanything. We sat over our coffee a long while, Forrest making the timefly by spinning yarns about his experiences. Then we smoked a cigar onthe pier, and so whiled away the time until eleven. If we had startedthen we should possibly have reached town before the mail had started,but as we were both tired of dawdling about, I proposed that we shouldextend our tour.
Forrest was quite agreeable. "Really we are out on a fool's errand," heremarked. "We are just as likely to meet him on one road as another. YetI have a presentiment that we shall hear something further about himto-night. If we do meet him, remember one thing. One of us must get inthe first shot, and it must not miss."
"Don't wait for me to shoot, then," I replied.
We got our car, and after a glance at the map, I told my companion whereI proposed to go: a run along the coast to Worthing, there to strikeinland for Horsham, from Horsham to make for the Brighton road aboutCrawley, roughly about a forty-mile run in all, and I reckoned that ifwe kept to the legal speed limit we should just about meet the
mail.
Forrest made no objection to my suggestion, so we started at our slowestpace. I had very little to do, and the ride was one of the mostenjoyable I have ever experienced. The salt breath of the sea was in ourfaces, and the roar of it in our ears. I was quite sorry when onreaching Worthing it became necessary to leave the coast. Inland theroads were absolutely deserted. We did not meet a single person betweenWorthing and Horsham, and for the first time I realized how easily theMotor Pirate's movements could evade notice. At Horsham we looked in atthe police-station, and Forrest made a formal inquiry as to whetheranything had been heard of our quarry in the neighbourhood; but, as weexpected, without result. We remained there a little time to stretch ourlegs and to drink a cup of tea, which the officer in charge prepared forus, and on leaving we proceeded at the same steady pace, arriving inCrawley something after four. There we found that the mail had passedthrough a quarter of an hour before our arrival, and I questionedwhether it would be worth our while to remain any longer on the road.
"We may as well make a night of it," said Forrest, in reply to myremark on the subject, so I turned the car in the direction of Brightonagain. We bowled along at about fifteen miles an hour, at which rate Ireckoned on catching the mail within half an hour. But we were destinedto overtake it in a considerably shorter time, for just after passingthe third milestone after leaving the village, our path was blocked bythe huge van standing in the middle of the road and all across it.
I pulled up at once. Apparently the vehicle was not much damaged, butthe door was broken open, while the parcels with which it had been ladenwere scattered all over the roadway. One horse lay on the roadwayperfectly still, the others had disappeared.
The moment we stopped Forrest leaped from the car; I followed hisexample. The first object which met our eyes was the form of a man. Helay perfectly still, and I thought he was dead, but my companion hadsharper eyes. Taking a knife from his pocket, he hacked at cords whichbound the man hand and foot.
"More work of the Motor Pirate," remarked Forrest grimly, as I came tohis assistance.
The man was not dead, but he had been so roughly gagged that had wearrived ten minutes later he probably would have been beyond human help.In the condition he was, it took us ten minutes working vigorously torestore his respiration; and after that it took the whole of thecontents of my pocket flask to restore him sufficiently to enable him togive us an account of the mishap which had befallen him.
Then we learned that the man was the driver of the mail, and thatForrest's surmise that we had happened once more upon the handiwork ofthe Motor Pirate was correct. He had, it appeared, been driving quietlyalong, when his attention had been arrested by the curious high-tonedhum which presaged the Pirate's approach. He was wondering what thecurious noise could be, when he suddenly realized that a long low carwas beside him. He did not anticipate any harm either to himself or tohis charge, for, though he fancied that the stranger was the notedcriminal, he shared the impression, pretty common until then, that thePirate confined his attentions to motorists. The stranger did not evencall upon him to pull up. He ran beside the coach, then slightlyincreasing his speed, he drew level with the wheelers of the team. Therewas the sound of a pistol shot, the off wheeler fell dead in his tracks,bringing down the other horses in his fall, and swinging the vehicleright across the road. The driver only escaped being pitched from hisseat by the strap which held him to it.
"Then," continued the man, "he ups with 'is pistol an' tells me to comedahn, an' dahn I toddles pretty quick. 'Sorry ter inconwenience yer, mygood feller,' ee says. 'Don't menshing it,' I says, as perlite as you'dbe with a pistol a pointing at yer 'ed. 'I want the keys er this 'erewaggin,' ee says. 'Sorry they don't trust 'em ter us drivers,' Ianswers. 'Don't matter worth a cent,' ee says. 'I've another w'y eropenin' thet strong box. Put yer 'ands be'ind yer an' turn rahnd,' eesays. I done it, an' ee trusses me up like a bloomin' chicken, an'sticks my own angkincher dahn me froat. With thet ee walks along ter thedoor and blows the bloomin' locks orf with 'is pistol. That did it. Eelooks inside, an' the w'y ee cleared them parcels aht was a sight--well,yer can see fer yerself wort it's like. The other 'orses were thet madthey kicks theirselves free. Ee goes froo the parcels cool as acowcumber until ee routs aht the registered parcels. Ee puts them in 'iscar. 'Tar, tar!' ee says, wiving 'is 'and, an' orf ee goes jest abahtfive minutes afore you gents comed along."
When Forrest realized how near we had been to coming to close quarterswith our quarry, he went aside, and for the first time since I had madehis acquaintance, I heard him swear. It was a successful effort. Hereturned to my side the next moment.
"The telegraph is our only chance," he said. "Drive like hell back toCrawley."
I did. There we set the wires throbbing, and begun to scour thecountryside for any traces of the Pirate. We did not give up our questuntil eleven o'clock in the morning. I think we inquired at every houseand cottage within a ten-mile radius of the scene of the outrage, butwithout finding a single person who had seen or heard of the MotorPirate.
Once more he had appeared and disappeared without leaving the faintestclue to his identity.