The Five Knots

by Fred M. White

  *CHAPTER XLIV*

  *THE MEANING OF IT*

  It was a weary walk back to Maldon Grange, but Russell finished it atlength. The chase had carried him farther than he thought, and he wasworn out with his exertions and shaken with the horrors of the night.The house appeared to have regained its normal peace, the dining-roomlights had been switched on, and Uzali impatiently waited Russell'sreturn.

  "You have been a long time," he said. "So they managed to escape you.I thought they would. Man alive, what is the matter? You look as ifyou had seen a ghost."

  "I have seen two," Russell said huskily. "For Heaven's sake, give mesome brandy and not too much water. You needn't trouble about yourcountrymen any more, for they will do no further harm this side of thegrave. And they didn't escape me, either. I was within a couple ofyards of them when they met with their death; indeed, I was exceedinglylucky not to share the same fate. I will never forget the horror ofit."

  Uzali asked no questions. He saw how white and shaky Russell was anddiscreetly contented himself with pouring out the brandy, after which hesat down and waited till the generous spirit had begun to do its work.

  "It was an express train," Russell said jerkily. "I was close to them.I had challenged them to stop in fact, when they swerved and climbed onto the line. They must have lost their heads, for they ran full tiltinto the engine, and the rest you can imagine. They were cut to piecesand, I should say, are unrecognizable. I had them removed to thenearest station where, of course, I had to give my name and address. Idon't know what you think about it, but, upon my word, I don't see how Iam going to explain when I come to give my evidence before the coroner."

  "Oh, that will be easy," Uzali replied. "You happened to be a guest ofMr. Samuel Flower and disturbed two burglars to whom you subsequentlygave chase. There will be no occasion to say more than that. The thingwill excite a nine days' wonder. People will ask what these foreignerswere doing at Maldon Grange and then it will all be forgotten. You mustadmit the necessity of keeping this scandal as quiet as possible. Themen are dead, and even if the story were told, ninety-nine people out ofa hundred would refuse to believe it. But if you are feeling better,there is much to be done before daylight. But you need not come unlessyou feel up to it. For my own part I mean to finish my investigation ofthe vault where we found those unfortunate men. We haven't finishedwith tragedy even yet. We have still to find Jansen."

  Russell rose with more or less alacrity to his feet.

  "Come and get it over," he said. "I thought my nerves were strongenough for anything, but I shall want a rest after this."

  Once more they turned into the garden and thence into the vault. Uzalihad taken a candle off the dining-room mantel-piece, so that they didnot lack light, neither was there any reason for extra precautions.They mounted a flight of steps leading to one of the doors in whichUzali's sharp eye saw that a key had been left. He flung the door openand strode inside. The place was dark and musty. There were no windowsin front and no ventilation, so that the two intruders at first foundsome difficulty in breathing. On the top of a packing-case Uzali placedhis candle while he made a swift survey of the vault. The place appearedto be empty save for a score or so of packing-cases, all clamped withiron and heavily nailed. But, apparently, Uzali was not troubling muchabout the cases; he seemed to be looking for something quite different.Then he gave a sudden exclamation as he bent over an object lyingbetween one of the cases and the wall. The object was dragged out intothe centre of the floor and, taking the candle, Uzali bent coolly andcritically over it.

  "UZALI BENT COOLLY AND CRITICALLY OVER IT."]

  "The last of the tragedies," he said.

  "Jansen!" Russell exclaimed. "And stone dead beyond a doubt. But whatis that strange bandage around his head?"

  Jansen lay stiff and stark with his bloated face turned up to the light.Around his forehead was a white bandage so stiff and tight that it mighthave been made of solid metal. It was hard and hollow to the touch asUzali's fingers drummed upon it.

  "Here is the mystery of the five knots," he said. "Don't you see whathas happened? Jansen attempted to make a dupe of my fellow-countrymen,but they were too cunning for him. They were not drugged when he lefthis lodgings; they were only shamming. They followed him here, musthave travelled by the same train, and they tracked him to these vaultswhere I dare say they have been before. Directly he saw them he musthave known his end was come; let him turn and twist as he liked, therewas a finish to Jansen. Whilst one held him at bay the other lightedthat scent you know of, and, as soon as the wretched man's sensesfailed, they bound that cloth about his forehead and the five deadlyknots did their work. The thing is put on wet, but dries in a fewmoments with a tremendous pressure that gives the brain no chancewhatever. It is practically impossible even for the cleverest surgeon toguess it is concussion of the brain, since there are no signs ofviolence. And yet, after the application of those terrible knots for anhour or so, no victim could recover. By pure good luck Mercer twicesaved the life of Samuel Flower, for each time my fellow-countrymen wereinterrupted by him and managed to get away, leaving no trace of theirsecret. In Jansen's case it was different. We had cut off their avenueof escape and they had only themselves to think of. And they met theirfate, too."

  "But this is really worse than the other," Russell said with a shudder."The whole story is bound to come out now. We cannot take this wretchedman outside and throw him into a ditch."

  "That is true," Uzali said grimly. "But we can remove all signs of themischief. I know we are running a risk. I know we are placingourselves within reach of the law, but I am going to take the chance allthe same. Go to the dining-room and fetch me a decanter of water sothat I can damp this bandage off. Besides, since no one knows Jansen oranything about him, it will be reasonable to assume that he was one ofthe burglars and that they had quarrelled with fatal results."

  Russell was too upset by the events of the night to make any protest.He seemed to have hardly strength enough to attend to himself. In adazed way he crept back from the dining-room with a decanter of waterwith which Uzali proceeded to remove the bandage until the remotesttrace of the cause of death had disappeared.

  "It is amazing," Russell murmured. "No wonder a doctor would be puzzledto give a certificate. He looks now as if he had died peacefully in hissleep."

  "That is so," Uzali said coolly. "And now let us be convinced that hecame here for some felonious purpose. I am certain I shall findhousebreaker's tools in his possession. Ah, I told you so!"

  From the breast-pocket of Jansen's coat Uzali produced a small butpowerful jimmy along with a neat case of instruments which left no doubtof the purpose for which they were used. With the jimmy in his handUzali crossed the floor and made a deliberate attack on one of the bigcases. Presently the lid came off with a resounding crash and a quantityof sacks were exposed to view. Under the sacking lay a number ofwash-leather bags evidently of considerable weight, for Uzali had toexert all his strength to release two of them and lay them on the floor.He untied the knots which bound the sacks and plunged his hand inside.His fingers came out sparkling and shimmering in the candle-light.

  "As I expected," he said. "With all your care and cunning Flower hasbeen too many for you. The only man who guessed the truth was Jansen,and that is why he came down to-night. Take one of these bags in yourhand and feel its weight. Isn't it heavy? It's so heavy that it canonly be one metal. And see how it sparkles in your fingers."

  "You mean it is gold dust," Russell cried.

  "Nothing more nor less, my friend. This case is full of it, and when wecome to open other cases I shall not be surprised to find treasures evenmore valuable. Flower must have brought them here by some extraordinarymeans and baffled all his party. We shall probably never know how hemanaged it. But we have yet to decide upon our plan of campaign. Thereis much to be done still."