by Sax Rohmer
CHAPTER VIII. DR. FU-MANCHU STRIKES
Together we marched down the slope of the quiet, suburban avenue; totake pause before a small, detached house displaying the hatchet boardsof the Estate Agent. Here we found unkempt laurel bushes and acaciasrun riot, from which arboreal tangle protruded the notice--"To be Let orSold."
Smith, with an alert glance to right and left, pushed open the woodengate and drew me in upon the gravel path. Darkness mantled all; for thenearest street lamp was fully twenty yards beyond.
From the miniature jungle bordering the path, a soft whistle sounded.
"Is that Carter?" called Smith, sharply.
A shadowy figure uprose, and vaguely I made it out for that of a man inthe unobtrusive blue serge which is the undress uniform of the Force.
"Well?" rapped my companion.
"Mr. Slattin returned ten minutes ago, sir," reported the constable. "Hecame in a cab which he dismissed--"
"He has not left again?"
"A few minutes after his return," the man continued, "another cab cameup, and a lady alighted."
"A lady!"
"The same, sir, that has called upon him before."
"Smith!" I whispered, plucking at his arm--"is it--"
He half turned, nodding his head; and my heart began to throb foolishly.For now the manner of Slattin's campaign suddenly was revealed to me. Inour operations against the Chinese murder-group two years before, we hadhad an ally in the enemy's camp--Karamaneh the beautiful slave, whosepresence in those happenings of the past had colored the sometimessordid drama with the opulence of old Arabia; who had seemed a fittingfigure for the romances of Bagdad during the Caliphate--Karamaneh, whomI had thought sincere, whose inscrutable Eastern soul I had presumed,fatuously, to have laid bare and analyzed.
Now, once again she was plying her old trade of go-between; professingto reveal the secrets of Dr. Fu-Manchu, and all the time--I could notdoubt it--inveigling men into the net of this awful fisher.
Yesterday, I had been her dupe; yesterday, I had rejoiced in mycaptivity. To-day, I was not the favored one; to-day I had not beenselected recipient of her confidences--confidences sweet, seductive,deadly: but Abel Slattin, a plausible rogue, who, in justice, shouldbe immured in Sing Sing, was chosen out, was enslaved by those lovelymysterious eyes, was taking to his soul the lies which fell from thoseperfect lips, triumphant in a conquest that must end in his undoing;deeming, poor fool, that for love of him this pearl of the Orient wasabout to betray her master, to resign herself a prize to the victor!
Companioned by these bitter reflections, I had lost the remainder of theconversation between Nayland Smith and the police officer; now, castingoff the succubus memory which threatened to obsess me, I put forth agiant mental effort to purge my mind of this uncleanness, and becameagain an active participant in the campaign against the Master--thedirector of all things noxious.
Our plans being evidently complete, Smith seized my arm, and I foundmyself again out upon the avenue. He led me across the road and into thegate of a house almost opposite. From the fact that two upper windowswere illuminated, I adduced that the servants were retiring; the otherwindows were in darkness, except for one on the ground floor to theextreme left of the building, through the lowered venetian blindswhereof streaks of light shone out.
"Slattin's study!" whispered Smith. "He does not anticipatesurveillance, and you will note that the window is wide open!"
With that my friend crossed the strip of lawn, and careless of the factthat his silhouette must have been visible to any one passing the gate,climbed carefully up the artificial rockery intervening, and crouchedupon the window-ledge peering into the room.
A moment I hesitated, fearful that if I followed, I should stumble ordislodge some of the larva blocks of which the rockery was composed.
Then I heard that which summoned me to the attempt, whatever the cost.
Through the open window came the sound of a musical voice--a voicepossessing a haunting accent, possessing a quality which struck upon myheart and set it quivering as though it were a gong hung in my bosom.
Karamaneh was speaking.
Upon hands and knees, heedless of damage to my garments, I crawled upbeside Smith. One of the laths was slightly displaced and over this myfriend was peering in. Crouching close beside him, I peered in also.
I saw the study of a business man, with its files, neatly arranged worksof reference, roll-top desk, and Milner safe. Before the desk, in arevolving chair, sat Slattin. He sat half turned toward the window,leaning back and smiling; so that I could note the gold crown whichpreserved the lower left molar. In an armchair by the window, close,very close, and sitting with her back to me, was Karamaneh!
She, who, in my dreams, I always saw, was ever seeing, in an Easterndress, with gold bands about her white ankles, with jewel-laden fingers,with jewels in her hair, wore now a fashionable costume and a hat thatcould only have been produced in Paris. Karamaneh was the one Orientalwoman I had ever known who could wear European clothes; and as I watchedthat exquisite profile, I thought that Delilah must have been just suchanother as this, that, excepting the Empress Poppaea, history has recordof no woman, who, looking so innocent, was yet so utterly vile.
"Yes, my dear," Slattin was saying, and through his monocle ogling hisbeautiful visitor, "I shall be ready for you to-morrow night."
I felt Smith start at the words.
"There will be a sufficient number of men?"
Karamaneh put the question in a strangely listless way.
"My dear little girl," replied Slattin, rising and standing looking downat her, with his gold tooth twinkling in the lamplight, "there will be awhole division, if a whole division is necessary."
He sought to take her white gloved hand, which rested upon the chairarm; but she evaded the attempt with seeming artlessness, and stood up.Slattin fixed his bold gaze upon her.
"So now, give me my orders," he said.
"I am not prepared to do so, yet," replied the girl, composedly; "butnow that I know you are ready, I can make my plans."
She glided past him to the door, avoiding his outstretched arm with anartless art which made me writhe; for once I had been the willing victimof all these wiles.
"But--" began Slattin.
"I will ring you up in less than half an hour," said Karamaneh andwithout further ceremony, she opened the door.
I still had my eyes glued to the aperture in the blind, when Smith begantugging at my arm.
"Down! you fool!" he hissed harshly--"if she sees us, all is lost!"
Realizing this, and none too soon, I turned, and rather clumsilyfollowed my friend. I dislodged a piece of granite in my descent; but,fortunately, Slattin had gone out into the hall and could not well haveheard it.
We were crouching around an angle of the house, when a flood of lightpoured down the steps, and Karamaneh rapidly descended. I had a glimpseof a dark-faced man who evidently had opened the door for her, then allmy thoughts were centered upon that graceful figure receding from mein the direction of the avenue. She wore a loose cloak, and I saw thisfluttering for a moment against the white gate posts; then she was gone.
Yet Smith did not move. Detaining me with his hand he crouched thereagainst a quick-set hedge; until, from a spot lower down the hill,we heard the start of the cab which had been waiting. Twenty secondselapsed, and from some other distant spot a second cab started.
"That's Weymouth!" snapped Smith. "With decent luck, we should knowFu-Manchu's hiding-place before Slattin tells us!"
"But--"
"Oh! as it happens, he's apparently playing the game."--In thehalf-light, Smith stared at me significantly--"Which makes it all themore important," he concluded, "that we should not rely upon his aid!"
Those grim words were prophetic.
My companion made no attempt to communicate with the detective (ordetectives) who shared our vigil; we took up a position close under thelighted study window and waited--waited.
Once, a ta
xi-cab labored hideously up the steep gradient of the avenue... It was gone. The lights at the upper windows above us becameextinguished. A policeman tramped past the gateway, casually flashinghis lamp in at the opening. One by one the illuminated windows in otherhouses visible to us became dull; then lived again as mirrors for thepallid moon. In the silence, words spoken within the study were clearlyaudible; and we heard someone--presumably the man who had opened thedoor--inquire if his services would be wanted again that night.
Smith inclined his head and hung over me in a tense attitude, in orderto catch Slattin's reply.
"Yes, Burke," it came--"I want you to sit up until I return; I shall begoing out shortly."
Evidently the man withdrew at that; for a complete silence followedwhich prevailed for fully half an hour. I sought cautiously to move mycramped limbs, unlike Smith, who seeming to have sinews of piano-wire,crouched beside me immovable, untiringly. Then loud upon the stillness,broke the strident note of the telephone bell.
I started, nervously, clutching at Smith's arm. It felt hard as iron tomy grip.
"Hullo!" I heard Slattin call--"who is speaking?... Yes, yes! This isMr. A. S.... I am to come at once?... I know where--yes I ... youwill meet me there?... Good!--I shall be with you in half an hour....Good-by!"
Distinctly I heard the creak of the revolving office-chair as Slattinrose; then Smith had me by the arm, and we were flying swiftly away fromthe door to take up our former post around the angle of the building.This gained:
"He's going to his death!" rapped Smith beside me; "but Carter has a cabfrom the Yard waiting in the nearest rank. We shall follow to see wherehe goes--for it is possible that Weymouth may have been thrown off thescent; then, when we are sure of his destination, we can take a hand inthe game! We..."
The end of the sentence was lost to me--drowned in such a frightful waveof sound as I despair to describe. It began with a high, thin scream,which was choked off staccato fashion; upon it followed a loud anddreadful cry uttered with all the strength of Slattin's lungs--
"Oh, God!" he cried, and again--"Oh, God!"
This in turn merged into a sort of hysterical sobbing.
I was on my feet now, and automatically making for the door. I had avague impression of Nayland Smith's face beside me, the eyes glassy witha fearful apprehension. Then the door was flung open, and, in the brightlight of the hall-way, I saw Slattin standing--swaying and seeminglyfighting with the empty air.
"What is it? For God's sake, what has happened!" reached my earsdimly--and the man Burke showed behind his master. White-faced I saw himto be; for now Smith and I were racing up the steps.
Ere we could reach him, Slattin, uttering another choking cry, pitchedforward and lay half across the threshold.
We burst into the hall, where Burke stood with both his hands raiseddazedly to his head. I could hear the sound of running feet upon thegravel, and knew that Carter was coming to join us.
Burke, a heavy man with a lowering, bull-dog type of face, collapsedonto his knees beside Slattin, and began softly to laugh in littlerising peals.
"Drop that!" snapped Smith, and grasping him by the shoulders, he senthim spinning along the hallway, where he sank upon the bottom step ofthe stairs, to sit with his outstretched fingers extended before hisface, and peering at us grotesquely through the crevices.
There were rustlings and subdued cries from the upper part of thehouse. Carter came in out of the darkness, carefully stepping over therecumbent figure; and the three of us stood there in the lighted halllooking down at Slattin.
"Help us to move him back," directed Smith, tensely; "far enough toclose the door."
Between us we accomplished this, and Carter fastened the door. We werealone with the shadow of Fu-Manchu's vengeance; for as I knelt besidethe body on the floor, a look and a touch sufficed to tell me that thiswas but clay from which the spirit had fled!
Smith met my glance as I raised my head, and his teeth came togetherwith a loud snap; the jaw muscles stood out prominently beneath thedark skin; and his face was grimly set in that odd, half-despairfulexpression which I knew so well but which boded so ill for whomsoeveroccasioned it.
"Dead, Petrie!--already?"
"Lightning could have done the work no better. Can I turn him over?"
Smith nodded.
Together we stooped and rolled the heavy body on its back. A flood ofwhispers came sibilantly from the stairway. Smith spun around rapidly,and glared upon the group of half-dressed servants.
"Return to your rooms!" he rapped, imperiously; "let no one come intothe hall without my orders."
The masterful voice had its usual result; there was a hurried retreatto the upper landing. Burke, shaking like a man with an ague, sat on thelower step, pathetically drumming his palms upon his uplifted knees.
"I warned him, I warned him!" he mumbled monotonously, "I warned him,oh, I warned him!"
"Stand up!" shouted Smith--"stand up and come here!"
The man, with his frightened eyes turning to right and left, and seemingto search for something in the shadows about him, advanced obediently.
"Have you a flask?" demanded Smith of Carter.
The detective silently administered to Burke a stiff restorative.
"Now," continued Smith, "you, Petrie, will want to examine him, Isuppose?" He pointed to the body. "And in the meantime I have somequestions to put to you, my man."
He clapped his hand upon Burke's shoulder.
"My God!" Burke broke out, "I was ten yards from him when it happened!"
"No one is accusing you," said Smith, less harshly; "but since you werethe only witness, it is by your aid that we hope to clear the matterup."
Exerting a gigantic effort to regain control of himself, Burke nodded,watching my friend with a childlike eagerness. During the ensuingconversation, I examined Slattin for marks of violence; and of what Ifound, more anon.
"In the first place," said Smith, "you say that you warned him. When didyou warn him and of what?"
"I warned him, sir, that it would come to this--"
"That what would come to this?"'
"His dealings with the Chinaman!"
"He had dealings with Chinamen?"
"He accidentally met a Chinaman at an East End gaming-house, a man hehad known in Frisco--a man called Singapore Charlie--"
"What! Singapore Charlie!"
"Yes, sir, the same man that had a dope-shop, two years ago, downRatcliffe way--"
"There was a fire--"
"But Singapore Charlie escaped, sir."
"And he is one of the gang?"
"He is one of what we used to call in New York, the Seven Group."
Smith began to tug at the lobe of his left ear, reflectively, as I sawout of the corner of my eye.
"The Seven Group!" he mused. "That is significant. I always suspectedthat Dr. Fu-Manchu and the notorious Seven Group were one and the same.Go on, Burke."
"Well, sir," the man continued, more calmly, "the lieutenant--"
"The lieutenant!" began Smith; then: "Oh! of course; Slattin used to bea police lieutenant!"
"Well, sir, he--Mr. Slattin--had a sort of hold on this SingaporeCharlie, and two years ago, when he first met him, he thought that withhis aid he was going to pull off the biggest thing of his life--"
"Forestall me, in fact?"
"Yes, sir; but you got in first, with the big raid and spoiled it."
Smith nodded grimly, glancing at the Scotland Yard man, who returned hisnod with equal grimness.
"A couple of months ago," resumed Burke, "he met Charlie again downEast, and the Chinaman introduced him to a girl--some sort of anEgyptian girl."
"Go on!" snapped Smith--"I know her."
"He saw her a good many times--and she came here once or twice. She madeout that she and Singapore Charlie were prepared to give away the bossof the Yellow gang--"
"For a price, of course?"
"I suppose so," said Burke; "but I don't know. I only know that I warnedhim."
"H'm!" muttered Smith. "And now, what took place to-night?"
"He had an appointment here with the girl," began Burke
"I know all that," interrupted Smith. "I merely want to know, what tookplace after the telephone call?"
"Well, he told me to wait up, and I was dozing in the next room to thestudy--the dining-room--when the 'phone bell aroused me. I heard thelieutenant--Mr. Slattin, coming out, and I ran out too, but only in timeto see him taking his hat from the rack--"
"But he wears no hat!"
"He never got it off the peg! Just as he reached up to take it, he gavea most frightful scream, and turned around like lightning as though someone had attacked him from behind!"
"There was no one else in the hall?"
"No one at all. I was standing down there outside the dining-room justby the stairs, but he didn't turn in my direction, he turned and lookedright behind him--where there was no one--nothing. His cries werefrightful." Burke's voice broke, and he shuddered feverishly. "Then hemade a rush for the front door. It seemed as though he had not seen me.He stood there screaming; but, before I could reach him, he fell...."
Nayland Smith fixed a piercing gaze upon Burke.
"Is that all you know?" he demanded slowly.
"As God is my judge, sir, that's all I know, and all I saw. There was noliving thing near him when he met his death."
"We shall see," muttered Smith. He turned to me--"What killed him?" heasked, shortly.
"Apparently, a minute wound on the left wrist," I replied, and,stooping, I raised the already cold hand in mine.
A tiny, inflamed wound showed on the wrist; and a certain puffiness wasbecoming observable in the injured hand and arm. Smith bent down anddrew a quick, sibilant breath.
"You know what this is, Petrie?" he cried.
"Certainly. It was too late to employ a ligature and useless to injectammonia. Death was practically instantaneous. His heart..."
There came a loud knocking and ringing.
"Carter!" cried Smith, turning to the detective, "open that door to noone--no one. Explain who I am--"
"But if it is the inspector?--"
"I said, open the door to no one!" snapped Smith.
"Burke, stand exactly where you are! Carter, you can speak to whoeverknocks, through the letter-box. Petrie, don't move for your life! It maybe here, in the hallway!--"
