The Riddle of the Spinning Wheel
Page 21
CHAPTER XXI
"A LUNNON GENTLEMAN"
"By all that's good!" he ejaculated, as Mr. Narkom jumped into the roomsomewhat heavily at sound of his hastily spoken ejaculation. "See thatmark there in the woodwork, above the spot where we dug the bullet outthis morning? Nearly shot me through the head, old friend, and made anend of your troublesome ally at last! Gad! the ingenuity of it! Thedevilish ingenuity! So _that's_ how it was done, eh? We'll look into thething a bit closer, but from what I have already seen I'd say there wasa pistol hidden inside that wheel, but the thing's so perfectly donethat it must have taken a master-hand to have done it. And where's themaster-hand here? Ross Duggan?--with his hobby for electricity? He's notgot the face of a man who could contrive a thing like that, and carry itout to such a pitch of perfection. And yet--it's a soundless pistol, allright, that did the deed. But the patience of the manipulator! thestraightness of vision, to be certain of the moment to operate it! Thatman would be a useful adjunct to Scotland Yard's force, Mr. Narkom, withknowledge such as that. It's the most diabolically clever thing I'veever encountered!"
"It is--by James! it is!" returned the Superintendent, mopping hisforehead in his excitement and going very red in the face. "Sure itisn't a woman, old chap? Women are pretty tricky people in affairs ofthis kind. And the contrivance of it, too!... So _that's_ how it isdone, is it?" as Cleek's agile fingers slid over the wheel and stoppedupon a faint line which showed how the thing had been cut out and thenstuck in again after the pistol had been lodged in its hiding-place."Here; use my knife and dig it out, won't you?"
"Never! The time for doing that will be after I have given ademonstration of its prowess before the assembled company. I'm no masterat intricate woodwork and mechanism such as that, Mr. Narkom, and I wantto keep it in perfect working order for the crucial moment. If Iextracted it now, ten chances to one I'd never get it back again. Thething to be discovered is to find out the man in this establishmentwhose fingers give him away as a delicate worker. And there's just oneI've noticed that----"
And it was just as the name formed itself upon his lips that CyrilDuggan burst hurriedly into the room, despite the detaining hands of theconstable on duty outside the door, and beckoned hastily to Cleek.
"Your man wants you, Mr. Deland," he said breathlessly. "Says it'sawfully important and must see you at once. He wouldn't come in, butasked me to tell you, would you come round to the servants' quarters assoon as you could? He's waiting in the outer courtyard. Ginger-headedchap by the name of Dollops. I'd only just gone out for a breath offresh air before Mother packed me off to bed--ten o'clock is the latesthour I'm permitted to sit up to. But he seemed so anxious to see youthat I promised to come along at once. It's gone ten now, I think, andMother will be after me if I'm not off--she's frightfully particular onlittle matters. But the policeman here said you and Mr. Narkom were busyand were not to be disturbed.... I say! What's the matter with the oldspinning wheel, eh? You seem to be frightfully interested in it!"
"I am--as you say--frightfully," returned Cleek with a smile. "Butnothing of any more consequence than an outsider's interest in somethinghe knows nothing about. Ever looked at the thing, my boy?"
"Yes--heaps of times. And experimented upon it, too! Tried all sorts ofways to make it go, until Mother put a stop to my touching it, and saidI should probably hurt myself with the spindle and break the thing."
"Oh, she did, did she? Well, perhaps you might. It's more harmful thanpeople give it credit for. All right, Cyril; many thanks for tellingme. I'll be along in a moment or two. You'd better get off to bed now,or Lady Paula will be on your track, I'll swear. Good-night."
"Good-night, Mr. Deland; good-night, Mr. Narkom."
He was off again like a shot, and Cleek could hear his light stepsrunning down the hallway and up the stairs, like the big child he was.
"Funny thing," he said to Mr. Narkom as the two left the room togetherand walked down the corridor toward the servants' quarters, "but thatyoung gentleman always seems to turn up in the most unforeseen moments.Notice _his_ fingers, did you, Mr. Narkom? No? Well, they are asdelicate as a woman's and as strong as a man's. Curiously strong for afifteen-year-old, I must say. Now, if I didn't know better, I'd lay aducat to a dollar that that lad is a good sight cleverer than either youor I give him credit for, and with his mother's blood in him and aportion of his rascally grandfather's, too, there's no telling justexactly where he will end up.... Hello! is that you, Jarvis? I'm told myman wants to see me very particularly. Know where he is by any chance?It's probably about that blue suit of mine. He worries more over myclothes than any woman. In the courtyard? Thanks, very much. You comingalong, too, Mr. Narkom?"
"Don't mind if I do," returned the Superintendent off-handedly, "seeingthat there is nothing more to be discovered to-night. My man's incharge, so we might go over to the Three Fishers and have a quiet smokein your rooms. That is, if you'd care about it?"
"Love to, my dear chap, love to. Through this door, eh, Jarvis? Nicesnug place you've got here, I must say. Family do you well, I suppose?"
"Yessir," Jarvis's voice bordered upon the confidential. "Tight-fistedwhere the money is, sir, but--that's Scotch, you know."
"And you're London, eh?--and naturally generous! I understand. Well,here's something to buy yourself a drink with." And Cleek droppedhalf-a-crown into the butler's hands.
As the two men disappeared through the kitchen door and out into thecourtyard, the highly elated Jarvis turned to his fellow servants with agenuine sigh of admiration.
"Amachoor detective or not," he apostrophized the absent gentleman, "an'queer in the top story though 'e may be, that's what I calls aright-down Lunnon gentleman!"