Corner House — Chapter XXII, Touch and Go; Chapter XXXIII, The Way Blocked; Chapter XXXIV, A Clever Move
CHAPTER XXXII. TOUCH AND GO.
Balmayne relaxed his grip of the old man's throat as the knocking was repeated.
Some accident might have happened, but on the other hand it was possible that there was some real and tangible danger here.
"I didn't mean to go quite so far," he muttered.
"Only this time you have made the grand mistake of your life.
Be silent now and you shall get your jewels back.
It is the only way."
Maitrank nodded breathlessly.
He did not lack pluck, but he was an old man and the rapidity of events dazed him.
All the glittering electrics in the room were whirling like a wheel.
"I'm not going away till I've got them," he said doggedly.
Balmayne hastened to the door.
He might want some ready lie; on the other hand, his diplomacy might be needed.
But he set his teeth a trifle closer as he saw Dr. Bruce standing there.
"I have been called," he said.
"In that case come this way," Balmayne replied.
He dared not ask a direct question.
He was racking his brains to know who had summoned the doctor, and why.
"There is nothing the matter."
"I did not gather that from Miss Lawrence's message," said Bruce uneasily.
Balmayne concealed a smile.
He had got it.
There was only one way in which Hetty could have summoned her lover, and that was by means of the telephone.
That there was such an instrument in the house he knew quite well.
And why did Hetty Lawrence do this thing?
Was she merely frightened, or had she learnt a great deal more than the conspirators imagined?
In the garden she might have seen a great deal.
She might have heard a great deal, too, as Balmayne was bound to admit.
But then when she had disclosed herself in the garden her face was quite tranquil, there had been nothing on it but a certain natural surprise.
It was impossible to suspect Hetty of being an actress.
The girl was too open and natural for that.
And in his queer way Balmayne admired the gentle womanliness of an innocent girl.
Still, it was just as well to be on the safe side.
There must be no suspicion that there had been any foul play here.
"Miss Lawrence meant well," Balmayne said, "but really there was no occasion to send for you at all.
A mere accident."
Bruce bowed.
He knew that he had done a foolish thing in betraying the fact that Hetty had sent for him.
And her message would not have been in the nature of a prayer had not the need been urgent.
"You shall see our friend presently," Balmayne went on.
"Herr Maitrank--I mean the Countess's friend--made a late call here.
I had occasion to go out after he had left and found him lying unconscious in the road.
Whilst there it seemed he was robbed of certain valuables.
He was so good as to suggest that it might have been here that he lost his gems--I mean his valuables."
The fellow was lying smoothly enough, but Bruce knew that he was lying.
There would be awkward explanations presently, when Hetty Lawrence came to speak; for instance, how would it tally with the pretty story that Balmayne was bringing the unconscious form of Maitrank by the garden gate when he was found in the street?
But already Balmayne was prepared for that.
His luminous cunning brain saw the whole way clear.
To save the situation a great sacrifice would have to be made.
A _coup de théâtre_ was necessary.
"Perhaps it was as well that Miss Lawrence took matters in her own hands and sent for you," he said thoughtfully.
"At any rate, your presence may get us out of a certain degree of responsibility.
The patient, if I may so call him, is quieter now, and you will have no difficulty with him.
Of course, that is if he will see you at all.
If not you will acquit us of any discourtesy."
Bruce bowed again.
He would have given a good deal to know what the other was driving at.
Was there any real meaning in the chatter, or was it all for the purpose of delay?
Bruce hinted that it was late.
"And you want to get home," Balmayne cried.
"Pardon me.
I will go and see if they are ready for you."
He passed out, closing the door behind him.
Then he sneezed loudly twice, and instantly Leona Lalage appeared at the head of the stairs.
He flew up to her silently on the thick carpet and laid his lips to her ear.
"Dr. Bruce is here," he whispered.
"That little fool of a governess of yours took it in her head to call him on the telephone.
Of course, she knows nothing, but if Bruce and our friend Maitrank meet, goodness knows what will happen."
"I see, I see," the Countess replied.
"If we could only scheme some plan----" "I have a plan already arranged.
It requires a great sacrifice, but you will have to make it.
Give me those diamonds."
"What, the diamonds that have caused all this trouble to get.
Never!"
"Give me the gems," Balmayne said doggedly.
"Everything depends upon you doing what I tell you now.
Besides, we shall get them back again.
By sheer force of circumstances the tables have been turned in Maitrank's favour.
Give me the gems!"
He spoke fiercely, with his eyes gleaming.
He saw the heave of Leona's magnificent white breast, the look of anger on her face.
And meanwhile the precious minutes were stealing on rapidly.
"Very well," he said, "then I shall wash my hands of the whole business.
Fool, do you want to stand in the dock?
And there are other dupes with not a tithe of the wit and brains of Maitrank.
The gems!"
The Countess turned on her heel, and disappeared.
A moment later, and she was back with the glittering stream of fire in her hand.
"There," she whispered.
"Take them.
It is the bitterest moment of my life for----" Balmayne stopped to hear no more, but hurried quickly down the stairs.
CHAPTER XXXIII. THE WAY BLOCKED.
Leona Lalage had scarcely returned to her own room when Hetty came out of hers.
She had heard the loud knocking at the door, and had instantly guessed who it was.
But the strange silence that followed the answering of that summons puzzled her.
The whole house was wonderfully still now, a silence that seemed to tell of dark mysteries.
She looked over into the hall below.
She could not remain here any longer.
She would go down into the library and wait there.
Those two people were quite capable of murdering her lover as well as Maitrank.
She opened the library door, and to her great surprise Bruce stood before her.
As she would have cried out he laid his hand on her lips.
He could feel that she was trembling from head to foot.
"My darling," he whispered, "what does it all mean?"
"I cannot tell you," Hetty said helplessly.
"But I have been seeing strange things all the evening.
I got frightened and sent for you."
"And I am afraid I betrayed the fact," Bruce admitted.
"I might have thought of some other way of accounting for my presence here.
Still, that rather piratical-looking young man seemed to think you had done right.
What's this about some man picked up in the garden?"
"What did Mr. Balmayne tell you?"
Hetty asked in reply.
Bruce explained shortly.
Hetty came closer to him.
"Lies, lies, lies!"
she whispered.
"There is not a word of truth in what he said.
That old man came here because the Countess had robbed him of a lot of money.
There were some diamonds that he was going to take in part payment.
He had the diamonds.
Then he was drugged and cleverly got out of the house.
They had so managed it that a policeman saw him leave.
A little further on the drug took effect.
Balmayne brought the body back and carried it down the garden to the motor car waiting at the back.
I saw all this; then I had an inspiration.
With my ornamental hairpin I slashed open two of the tyres of the car, so that it was impossible to take the old man away.
It was too risky to carry him back to the roadway where they left him, so they had to bring him back to the house and trust to luck for the rest."
"And you say you saw all this?"
Bruce asked.
"Every bit of it.
Gordon, put your ear down close to me.
They were going to murder that poor old man in the garden.
It took all my courage and all my nerve to appear at that moment, because they might have done me a mischief also."
Hetty ceased to speak for a moment.
The recollection of what she had gone through overcame her.
Bruce kissed her tenderly.
"But I managed it," Hetty went on.
"When the critical moment came I was astonished at my own calmness.
They suspected nothing.
I was merely out there because I had a headache and could not sleep.
So I saved that man's life.
It was some time after that I lost my nerve and telephoned for you."
"Are there more horrors to come, dearest?"
"No, for the time being the horrors are all over.
That old man came to himself again, and swears that he has been robbed.
He made an awful scene.
He woke Mamie up, and I had to get her mother to come and see her.
I believe Balmayne was nearly making an end of his victim when you knocked.
And, oh, my dear boy, I shall be so glad to get away from this awful house."
"You shall leave it tomorrow, never to return," Bruce declared.
"No; not yet.
The secret of the shadow that lies over you is bound up in this house.
Till it has passed away I stay here.
But it is dreadful.
The silence of it frightens me.
How still it all is now!"
It was very silent then.
To the casual eye here was everything that the heart could desire.
It seemed hard to associate vulgar crime with all this artistic beauty, with the pictures and statues and flowers.
Suddenly the silence was broken by a laugh.
It was the croaking kind of laugh that could only have proceeded from the lips of an old man.
But there was pleasure in it.
It came strangely after the note of tragedy that had dominated the evening.
A door opened somewhere, and the laugh came once more.
Then there was the voice of Balmayne in a key of mirth.
The front door was opened, the call of a cab whistle thrilled down the street.
It was almost as if there were two sets of people in the house, one family given over to the dark and gloomy, the other all comedy and smiles.
On the impulse of the moment Bruce opened the library door and looked out.
It was hard after what Hetty had told him to believe the evidence of his senses.
There was the man who twice within the last hour had been in danger of his life chatting quietly with the man who had robbed him.
The two were evidently on the best of terms, for Maitrank was laughing heartily, and Balmayne stood opposite smoking a cigarette like a host who speeds a parting guest.
Outside was the clatter of hoofs and the jingle of harness.
The hall door stood open; Balmayne politely helped Maitrank on with his heavy coat.
Hetty, standing in the background, began to wonder if she was dreaming.
"What can it all mean?"
she whispered.
Bruce could say nothing.
At every turn of this mystery it seemed to grow more tangled and knotted.
He waited until the two had passed into the roadway; he heard the exchange of goodnights, and then the cab rattled away.
Balmayne came back and looked quite carelessly into the library.
Hetty had already stepped out of the side door and had gone up to her room.
She had no desire for Balmayne to know that she had been with Bruce.
"You see our patient has gone," Balmayne said smoothly.
"As a matter of fact, the whole thing was a ridiculous mistake.
But you must not blame us.
The blame is due to the charming young lady who sent for you.
But that is one of the drawbacks of your noble profession.
Goodnight."
Bruce murmured something.
He was too dazed for the moment to speak coherently.
CHAPTER XXXIV. A CLEVER MOVE.
Balmayne's move had been a clever one, and quite worthy of a mind like his.
He recognised at once that Bruce's presence there meant danger.
If Maitrank, in the excitement of the moment, chose to speak out, all the delicately-laid plans would be ruined.
He must have the diamonds back again.
The old man could never have proved that they had come back once more into Leona Lalage's possession by means of a clever plan, but he was in a position now to say and do a great deal of mischief.
But for the accident to the motor, things would have been different.
But there was nothing to be gained by going back.
With the diamonds stuffed in his pocket, Balmayne returned to the dining-room.
Maitrank sat on the sofa with his head between his hands moaning to himself.
He had slipped off his heavy sable-lined overcoat, for the atmosphere of the room was oppressive.
His keen intellect had not quite come back to him, he was still suffering from the effects of the drug.
He had been robbed just at the moment when everything seemed to be going in his favour.
His vanity was touched.
Balmayne picked up the coat and laid it on the table.
There was just a dexterous motion and a flash of his white hands, then he smiled with the air of one who is perfectly and wholly satisfied with something.
"Are you better now?"
he asked.
Maitrank looked up with a wolfish gleam in his eyes.
"I am getting to be myself again," he croaked.
"You have got the better of me this time, but it will never happen again.
Ah, you are keen and you are clever, but the old wolf is ever wiser than the young one.
I have been robbed."
"You are pleased to say so," Balmayne said smoothly.
"I have been robbed, I tell you.
What was the trick I know not yet, but I shall find out."
"You left this house all right with the diamonds in your possession," Balmayne went on; "you cannot deny that fact.
We can find a policeman who will be able to testify to the fact that you went unmolested."
Maitrank groaned.
He was still more or less childish over his loss.
"Where are the diamonds?"
he asked.
"Tell me that, rascal!"
"Taken from you by some prowling nightbird as you lay unconscious.
Which pocket did you place them in?"
"In the breast pocket of my inner coat.
Bah, why argue over it?"
"You would be prepared to swear that in a court of law?"
"Well, perhaps not," Maitrank admitted.
"But I had them in my possession."
"Then search once more--look everywhere.
You might have changed them from one pocket to the other quite unconsciously.
Be quick, because I have sent for a doctor to examine you."
"Keep the doctor to yourself," Maitrank snapped.
"I'm all right.
See, there is nothing in any of my pockets.
My overcoat could not----" He paused with a dazed expression as he produced from his big coat a handful of what looked like streaming fire.
He gave a glad cry, the cry of a mother who has found some child that she deemed to be lost.
He carried the stones to his lips and kissed them.
"I must have changed them," he sobbed.
"I changed them and forgot;
perhaps I had them in my hands looking at the beauties."
"Bah, you grow old, you get senile," Balmayne said contemptuously.
"You have had an experience tonight that should be a warning to you.
Now put it to yourself.
We try to rob you--you, above all men in the world, who hold us in the hollow of your hands.
Surely you pay us a very poor compliment!
Our cue is to conciliate you, to find other victims to pay what we owe you and keep you silent.
Once you are satisfied you will never tell--you will enjoy the sport of seeing others bitten too well.
But you keep a carriage in the future and have no more fits in the street."
Maitrank grinned in sinister fashion.
"You are a clever young man; without doubt you are a very clever young man," he said.
"And perhaps I have been mistaken.
And I am suspicious;
I have good cause to be.
One reads in books of honest men who are the souls of integrity.
Ah!
But then I have never met with such a one in business."
"And touching this doctor?"
Balmayne asked.
"Go along with your doctor," said Maitrank now, in great good humour.
"If you will have the goodness to call a cab I will get back to my hotel."
But Bruce knew nothing of this change of things.
He was utterly puzzled.
As he walked home he could make nothing of it.
Hetty's story was too circumstantial to be anything but absolutely true.
There must have been some strong reason for this change of part.
Perhaps Lawrence could throw some light on it.
He might even know the man Maitrank.
At any rate he was on very friendly terms with Isaac Isidore, who would be sure to have the names of all the European capitalists at his fingers' ends.
Bruce put the whole thing resolutely out of his mind, and went to bed.
It was not till after luncheon that he found time to see Lawrence, to whom he told Hetty's story and the strange scene he had witnessed the night before.
"This is a complication," Lawrence said, as he puffed at his cigarette thoughtfully.
"It has no part in the original scheme for your destruction, which was founded on my lost skeleton novel.
There is no doubt in my mind now that the Countess has made up her mind to get you under her thumb.
So far I can follow her--indeed, I have followed her in a fashion that would startle that lady if she knew everything.
But people of that kind have many irons in the fire, and what you tell me looks like one that has nearly burnt her fingers.
Our game is to sift the incident, and try and turn it to advantage.
I am going to show you some pretty sport presently connected with those diamonds.
Also I am going to use them so that we shall get Maitrank on our side."
"I wish I was as sanguine as you are," said Bruce.
"I'm more," said Lawrence.
"I'm certain I have gathered up pretty well all the cards by this time.
Now you put on your hat and come with me.
I'm going to have a few words with Isaac Isidore."
