by Sax Rohmer
CHAPTER XLII. A YEAR LATER
Beneath an awning spread above the balcony of one of those modernelegant flats, which today characterize Heliopolis, the City of the Sun,site of perhaps the most ancient seat of learning in the known world,a party of four was gathered, awaiting the unique spectacle which isafforded when the sun's dying rays fade from the Libyan sands and theviolet wonder of the afterglow conjures up old magical Egypt from theashes of the desert.
"Yes," Monte Irvin was saying, "only a year ago; but, thank God, itseems more like ten! Merciful time effaces sadness but spares joy."
He turned to his wife, whose flower-like face peeped out from a nest ofwhite fur. Covertly he squeezed her hand, and was rewarded with a swift,half coquettish glance, in which he read trust and contentment. Thedreadful ordeal through which she had passed had accomplished that whichno physician in Europe could have hoped for, since no physician wouldhave dared to adopt such drastic measures. Actuated by deliberatecruelty, and with the design of bringing about her death from apparentlynatural causes, the Kazmah group had deprived her of cocaine for so longa period that sanity, life itself, had barely survived; but for so longa period that, surviving, she had outlived the drug craving. Kazmah hadcured her!
Monte Irvin turned to the tall fair girl who sat upon the arm of a canerest-chair beside Rita.
"But nothing can ever efface the memory of all you have done for Rita,and for me," he said, "nothing, Mrs. Seton."
"Oh," said Margaret, "my mind was away back, and that sounded--so odd."
Seton Pasha, who occupied the lounge-chair upon the broad arm of whichhis wife was seated, looked up, smiling into the suddenly flushed face.They were but newly returned from their honeymoon, and had just takenpossession of their home, for Seton was now stationed in Cairo. Heflicked a cone of ash from his cheroot.
"It seems to me that we are all more or less indebted to one another,"he declared. "For instance, I might never have met you, Margaret, if Ihad not run into your cousin that eventful night at Princes; and Graywould not have been gazing abstractedly out of the doorway if Mrs.Irvin had joined him for dinner as arranged. One can trace almost everyepisode in life right back, and ultimately come--"
"To Kismet!" cried his wife, laughing merrily. "So before we begindinner tonight--which is a night of reunion--I am going to propose atoast to Kismet!"
"Good!" said Seton, "we shall all drink it gladly. Eh, Irvin?"
"Gladly, indeed," agreed Monte Irvin. "You know, Seton," he continued,"we have been wandering, Rita and I; and ever since your wife handed herpatient over to me as cured we have covered some territory. I don'tknow if you or Chief Inspector Kerry has been responsible, but the pressaccounts of the Kazmah affair have been scanty to baldness. One straybit of news reached us--in Colorado, I think."
"What was that, Mr. Irvin?" asked Margaret, leaning towards the speaker.
"It was about Mollie Gretna. Someone wrote and told me that she hadeloped with a billiard marker--a married man with five children!"
Seton laughed heartily, and so did Margaret and Rita.
"Right!" cried Seton. "She did. When last heard of she was acting asbarmaid in a Portsmouth tavern!"
But Monte Irvin did not laugh.
"Poor, foolish girl!" he said gravely. "Her life might have been sodifferent--so useful and happy."
"I agree," replied Seton, "if she had had a husband like Kerry."
"Oh, please don't!" said Margaret. "I almost fell in love with ChiefInspector Kerry myself."
"A grand fellow!" declared her husband warmly. "The Kazmah inquiry wasthe triumph of his career."
Monte Irvin turned to him.
"You did your bit, Seton," he said quietly. "The last words InspectorKerry spoke to me before I left England were in the nature of a splendidtribute to yourself, but I will spare your blushes."
"Kerry is as white as they're made," replied Seton, "but we should neverhave known for certain who killed Sir Lucien if he had not risked hislife in that filthy cellar as he did."
Rita Irvin shuddered slightly and drew her furs more closely about hershoulders.
"Shall we change the conversation, dear?" whispered Margaret.
"No, please," said Rita. "You cannot imagine how curious I am to learnthe true details--for, as Monte says, we have been out of touch withthings, and although we were so intimately concerned, neither of usreally knows the inner history of the affair to this day. Of course, weknow that Kazmah was a dummy figure, posed in the big ebony chair. Henever moved, except to raise his hand, and this was done by someoneseated in the inner room behind the figure. But who was seated there?"
Seton glanced inquiringly at his wife, and she nodded, smiling.
"Right-o!" he said. "If you will excuse me for a moment I will get mynotes. Hello, here's Gray!"
A little two-seater came bowling along the road from Cairo, and drew upbeneath the balcony. It was the car which had belonged to Margaret whenin practice in Dover Street. Quentin Gray jumped out, waving his handcheerily to the quartette above, and went in at the doorway. Setonwalked through the flat and admitted him.
"Sorry I'm late!" cried Gray, impetuous and boyish as ever, although helooked older and had grown very bronzed. "The chief detained me."
"Go through to them," said Seton informally. "I'm getting my notes;we're going to read the thrilling story of the Kazmah mystery beforedinner."
"Good enough!" cried Gray. "I'm in the dark on many points."
He had outlived his youthful infatuation, although it was probableenough that had Rita been free he would have presented himself as asuitor without delay. But the old relationship he had no desire torenew. A generous self-effacing regard had supplanted the madness of hisearlier passion. Rita had changed too; she had learned to know herselfand to know her husband.
So that when Seton Pasha presently rejoined his guests, he foundthe most complete harmony to prevail among them. He carried a bulkynotebook, and, tapping his teeth with his monocle:
"Ladies and gentlemen," he began whimsically, "I will bore you with abrief account of the extraordinary facts concerning the Kazmah case."
Margaret was seated in the rest-chair which her husband had vacated, andSeton took up a position upon the ledge formed by one of the wide arms.Everyone prepared to listen, with interest undisguised.
"There were three outstanding personalities dominating what we may termthe Kazmah group," continued Seton. "In order of importance they were:Sin Sin Wa, Sir Lucien Pyne and Mrs. Sin."
Rita Irvin inhaled deeply, but did not interrupt the speaker.
"I shall begin with Sir Lucien," Seton went on. "For some years beforehis father's death he seems to have lived a very shady life in manyparts of the world. He was a confirmed gambler, and was also somewhatunduly fond of the ladies' society. In Buenos Ayres--the exact date doesnot matter--he made the acquaintance of a variety artiste known as LaBelle Lola, a Cuban-Jewess, good-looking and unscrupulous. I cannot sayif Sir Lucien was aware from the outset of his affair with La Belle thatshe was a married woman. But it is certain that her husband, Sin Sin Wa,very early learned of the intrigue, and condoned it.
"How Sir Lucien came to get into the clutches of the pair I do notknow. But that he did so we have ascertained beyond doubt. I think,personally, that his third vice--opium--was probably responsible. ForSin Sin Wa appears throughout in the character of a drug dealer.
"These three people really become interesting from the time that LaBelle Lola quitted the stage and joined her husband in the conducting ofa concern in Buenos Ayres, which was the parent, if I may use theterm, of the Kazmah business later established in Bond Street. From amusic-hall illusionist, who came to grief during a South American tour,they acquired the oriental waxwork figure which subsequently mystifiedso many thousands of dupes. It was the work of a famous French artist inwax, and had originally been made to represent the Pharaoh, Rameses II.,for a Paris exhibition. Attired in Eastern robes, and worked by a simpledevice which raised and lowered the right han
d, it was used, firstly,in a stage performance, and secondly, in the character of 'Kazmah theDream-reader.'
"Even at this time Sir Lucien had access to good society, or to the bestsociety which Buenos Ayres could offer, and he was the source of thesurprising revelations made to patrons by the 'dream-reader.' At first,apparently, the drug business was conducted independently of the Kazmahconcern, but the facilities offered by the latter for masking the formersoon became apparent to the wily Sin Sin Wa. Thereupon the affair wasreorganized on the lines later adopted in Bond Street. Kazmah's becamea secret dope-shop, and annexed to it was an elaborate chandu-khan,conducted by the Chinaman. Mrs. Sin was the go-between.
"You are all waiting to hear--or, to be exact, two are waiting to hear,Gray and Margaret already know--who spoke as Kazmah through the littlewindow behind the chair. The deep-voiced speaker was Juan Mareno, Mrs.Sin's brother! Mrs. Sin's maiden name was Lola Mareno.
"Many of these details were provided by Mareno, who, after the death ofhis sister, to whom he was deeply attached, volunteered to give crownevidence. Most of them we have confirmed from other sources.
"Behold 'Kazmah the dream-reader,' then, established in Buenos Ayres.The partners in the enterprise speedily acquired considerable wealth.Sir Lucien--at this time plain Mr. Pyne--several times came home andlived in London and elsewhere like a millionaire. There is no doubt, Ithink, that he was seeking a suitable opportunity to establish a Londonbranch of the business."
"My God!" said Monte Irvin. "How horrible it seems!"
"Horrible, indeed!" agreed Seton. "But there are two features of thecase which, in justice to Sir Lucien, we should not overlook. He, whohad been a poor man, had become a wealthy one and had tasted the sweetsof wealth; also he was now hopelessly in the toils of the woman Lola.
"With the ingenious financial details of the concern, which wereconducted in the style of the 'Jose Santos Company,' I need not troubleyou now. We come to the second period, when the flat in Albemarle Streetand the two offices in old Bond Street became vacant and were promptlyleased by Mareno, acting on Sir Lucien's behalf, and calling himselfsometimes Mr. Isaacs, sometimes Mr. Jacobs, and at other times merelyposing as a representative of the Jose Santos Company in some othername.
"All went well. The concern had ample capital, and was organized byclever people. Sin Sin Wa took up new quarters in Limehouse; they hadactually bought half the houses in one entire street as well as awharf! And Sin Sin Wa brought with him the good-will of an illicit drugbusiness which already had almost assumed the dimensions of a control.
"Sir Lucien's household was a mere bluff. He rarely entertained athome, and lived himself entirely at restaurants and clubs. The privateentrance to the Kazmah house of business was the back window of theCubanis Cigarette Company's office. From thence down the back stair toKazmah's door it was a simple matter for Mareno to pass unobserved. SirLucien resumed his role of private inquiry agent, and Mareno recited the'revelations' from notes supplied to him.
"But the 'dream reading' part of the business was merely carried on tomask the really profitable side of the concern. We have recently learnedthat drugs were distributed from that one office alone to the amount ofthirty thousand pounds' worth annually! This is excluding the profitsof the House of a Hundred Raptures and of the private chandu orgiesorganized by Mrs. Sin.
"The Kazmah group gradually acquired control of the entire market, andwe know for a fact that at one period during the war they were actuallysupplying smuggled cocaine, indirectly, to no fewer than twelve R.A.M.C.hospitals! The complete ramifications of the system we shall never know.
"I come, now, to the tragedy, or series of tragedies, which broughtabout the collapse of the most ingenious criminal organization which hasever flourished, probably, in any community. I will dare to be frank.Sir Lucien was the victim of a woman's jealousy. Am I to proceed?"
Seton paused, glancing at his audience; and:
"If you please," whispered Rita. "Monte knows and I know--why--shekilled him. But we don't know--"
"The nasty details," said Quentin Gray. "Carry on, Seton. Are youagreeable, Irvin?"
"I am anxious to know," replied Irvin, "for I believe Sir Luciendeserved well of me, bad as he was."
Seton clapped his hands, and an Egyptian servant appeared, silently andmysteriously as is the way of his class.
"Cocktails, Mahmoud!"
The Egyptian disappeared.
"There's just time," declared Margaret, gazing out across the prospect,"before sunset."
CHAPTER XLIII. THE STORY OF THE CRIME
"You are all aware," Seton continued, "that Sir Lucien Pyne was anadmirer of Mrs. Irvin. God knows, I hold no brief for the man, but thislove of his was the one redeeming feature of a bad life. How and when itbegan I don't profess to know, but it became the only pure thing whichhe possessed. That he was instrumental in introducing you, Mrs. Irvin,to the unfortunately prevalent drug habit, you will not deny; but thathe afterwards tried sincerely to redeem you from it I can positivelyaffirm. In seeking your redemption he found his own, for I know thathe was engaged at the time of his death in extricating himself from thegroup. You may say that he had made a fortune, and was satisfied; thatis your view, Gray. I prefer to think that he was anxious to begin a newlife and to make himself more worthy of the respect of those he loved.
"There was one obstacle which proved too great for him--Mrs. Sin.Although Juan Mareno was the spokesman of the group, Lola Mareno was theprompter. All Sir Lucien's plans for weaning Mrs. Irvin from the habitswhich she had acquired were deliberately and malignantly foiled by thiswoman. She endeavored to inveigle Mrs. Irvin into indebtedness to you,Gray, as you know now. Failing in this, she endeavored to kill herby depriving her of that which had at the time become practicallyindispensable. A venomous jealousy led her to almost suicidal measures.She risked exposure and ruin in her endeavors to dispose of one whom shelooked upon as a rival.
"During Sir Lucien's several absences from London she was particularlyactive, and this brings me to the closing scene of the drama. On thenight that you determined, in desperation, Mrs. Irvin, to see Kazmahpersonally, you will recall that Sir Lucien went out to telephone tohim?"
Rita nodded but did not speak.
"Actually," Seton explained, "he instructed Mareno to go across theleads to Kazmah's directly you had left the flat, and to give you acertain message as 'Kazmah.' He also instructed Mareno to telephonecertain orders to Rashid, the Egyptian attendant. In spite of theunforeseen meeting with Gray, all would have gone well, no doubt, ifMrs. Sin had not chanced to be on the Kazmah premises at the time thatthe message was received!
"I need not say that Mrs. Sin was a remarkable woman, possessing manyaccomplishments, among them that of mimicry. She had often amusedherself by taking Mareno's place at the table behind Kazmah,and, speaking in her brother's oracular voice, had delivered the'revelations.' Mareno was like wax in his sister's hands, and on thisfateful night, when he arrived at the place--which he did a few minutesbefore Mrs. Irvin, Gray and Sir Lucien--Mrs. Sin peremptorily orderedhim to wait upstairs in the Cubanis office, and she took her seat in theroom from which the Kazmah illusions were controlled.
"So carefully arranged was every detail of the business that Rashid,the Egyptian, was ignorant of Sir Lucien's official connection withthe Kazmah concern. He had been ordered--by Mareno speaking from SirLucien's flat--to admit Mrs. Irvin to the room of seance and then to gohome. He obeyed and departed, leaving Sir Lucien in the waiting-room.
"Driven to desperation by 'Kazmah's' taunting words, we know that Mrs.Irvin penetrated to the inner room. I must slur over the details ofthe scene which ensued. Hearing her cry out, Sir Lucien ran to herassistance. Mrs. Sin, enraged by his manner, lost all control of herinsane passion. She attempted Mrs. Irvin's life with a stiletto whichhabitually she carried--and Sir Lucien died like a gentleman who hadlived like a blackguard. He shielded her--"
Seton paused. Margaret was biting her lip hard, and Rita was lookingdown so that her
face could not be seen.
"The shock consequent upon the deed sobered the half crazy woman,"continued the speaker. "Her usual resourcefulness returned to her.Self-preservation had to be considered before remorse. Mrs. Irvin hadswooned, and"--he hesitated--"Mrs. Sin saw to it that she did not reviveprematurely. Mareno was summoned from the room above. The outer door waslocked.
"It affords evidence of this woman's callous coolness that she removedfrom the Kazmah premises, and--probably assisted by her brother,although he denies it--from the person and garments of the dead man,every scrap of evidence. They had not by any means finished the taskwhen you knocked at the door, Gray. But they completed it, faultlessly,after you had gone.
"Their unconscious victim, and the figure of Kazmah, as well as everypaper or other possible clue, they carried up to the Cubanis office, andfrom thence across the roof to Sir Lucien's study. Next, while Marenowent for the car, Mrs. Sin rifled the safe, bureaus and desks in SirLucien's flat, so that we had the devil's own work, as you know, to findout even the more simple facts of his everyday life.
"Not a soul ever came forward who noticed the big car being driven intoAlbemarle Street or who observed it outside the flat. The chances run bythe pair in conveying their several strange burdens from the top floor,down the stairs and out into the street were extraordinary. Yet theysucceeded unobserved. Of course, the street was imperfectly lighted, andis but little frequented after dusk.
"The journey to Limehouse was performed without discovery--aided, nodoubt, by the mistiness of the night; and Mareno, returning to the WestEnd, ingeniously inquired for Sir Lucien at his club. Learning, althoughhe knew it already, that Sir Lucien had not been to the club that night,he returned the car to the garage and calmly went back to the flat.
"His reason for taking this dangerous step is by no means clear.According to his own account, he did it to gain time for the fugitiveMrs. Sin. You see, there was really only one witness of the crime (Mrs.Irvin) and she could not have sworn to the identity of the assassin.Rashid was warned and presumably supplied with sufficient funds toenable him to leave the country.
"Well, the woman met her deserts, no doubt at the hands of Sin SinWa. Kerry is sure of this. And Sin Sin Wa escaped, taking with him anenormous sum of ready money. He was the true genius of the enterprise.No one, his wife and Mareno excepted--we know of no other--suspectedthat the real Sin Sin Wa was clean-shaven, possessed two eyes, and nopigtail! A wonderfully clever man!"
The native servant appeared to announce that dinner was served; Africandusk drew its swift curtain over the desert, and a gun spoke sharplyfrom the Citadel. In silence the party watched the deepening velvet ofthe sky, witnessing the birth of a million stars, and in silence theyentered the gaily lighted dining-room.
Seton Pasha moved one of the lights so as to illuminate a small oilpainting which hung above the sideboard. It represented the head andshoulders of a savage-looking red man, his hair close-cropped like thatof a pugilist, and his moustache trimmed in such a fashion that a row oflarge, fierce teeth were revealed in an expression which might have beenmeant for a smile. A pair of intolerant steel-blue eyes looked squarelyout at the spectator.
"What a time I had," said Seton, "to get him to sit for that! But Imanaged to secure his wife's support, and the trick was done. You aredown to toast Kismet, Margaret, but I am going to propose the health,long life and prosperity of Chief Inspector Kerry, of the CriminalInvestigation Department."
