The Golden Scorpion
Page 21
AT THE HOUSE OF AH-FANG-FU
CHAPTER I
THE BRAIN-THIEVES
The Assistant Commissioner lighted a cigarette. "It would appear,then," he said, "that whilst some minor difficulties have been smoothedaway, we remain face to face with the major problem: who is'The Scorpion' and to what end are his activities directed?"
Gaston Max shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Dr. Stuart.
"Let us see," he suggested, "what we really know about this 'Scorpion'.Let us make a brief survey of our position in the matter. Let us takefirst what we have learned of him--if it is a 'him' with whom we haveto deal--from the strange experiences of Dr. Stuart. Without attachingtoo much importance to that episode five years ago on the Wu-MenBridge; perhaps he is not. We will talk about this one again presently.
"We come to the arrival on the scene of Zara el-Khala, also calledMlle. Dorian. She comes because of what _I_ have told to the scarredman from Paris, she comes to obtain that dangerous information whichis to be sent to Scotland Yard, she comes, in a word, from 'TheScorpion.' We have two links binding the poor one 'Le Balafre' to'The Scorpion': (1) his intimacy with Miguel and those others withwhom 'Scorpion' communicated by telephone; (2) his possession of thegolden ornament which lies there upon the table and which I tookfrom his pocket. What can we gather from the statement made to Dr.Stuart by Mlle. Dorian? Let us study this point for a moment.
"In the first place we can only accept her words with a certainskepticism. Her story may be nothing but a fabrication. However, it isinteresting because she claims to be the unwilling servant of adreaded master. She lays stress upon the fact that she is an Orientaland does not enjoy the same freedom as a European woman. This ispossible, up to a point. On the other hand she seems to enjoy notonly freedom but every luxury. Therefore it may equally well be a lie.Some slight colour is lent to her story by the extraordinary mode oflife which she followed in Paris. In the midst of Bohemianism sheremained secluded as an odalisque in some harem garden of Stambul,whether by her own will or by will of another we do not know. Onelittle point her existence seems to strengthen: that we are dealingwith Easterns; for Zara el-Khala is partly of Eastern blood and herfollower Chunda Lal is a Hindu. _Eh bien._
"Consider the cowled man whose shadow Dr. Stuart has seen on twooccasions: once behind the curtain of his window and once cast by themoonlight across the lawn of his house. The man himself he has neverseen. Now this hooded man cannot have been 'Le Balafre', for'Le Balafre' was already dead at the time of his first appearance.He may be 'The Scorpion'!"
Max paused impressively, looking around at those in the Commissioner'sroom.
"For a moment I return to the man of the Wu Men Bridge. The man ofthe Wu-Men Bridge was veiled and this one is hooded! The man of theWu-Men Bridge was known as 'The Scorpion,' and this one also isassociated with a scorpion. We will return yet again to this pointin a moment.
"Is there something else which we may learn from the experiences ofDr. Stuart? Yes! We learn that 'The Scorpion' suddenly decides thatDr. Stuart is dangerous, either because of his special knowledge(which would be interesting) or because the 'Scorpion' believes thathe has become acquainted with the contents of the sealed envelope--which is not so interesting although equally dangerous for Dr. Stuart.'The Scorpion' acts. He pays a second visit, again accompanied byChunda Lal, who seems to be a kind of watch-dog who not only guardsthe person of Zara el-Kahla but who also howls when danger threatensthe cowled man!
"And what is the weapon which the cowled man (who may be 'TheScorpion') uses to remove Dr. Stuart? It is a frightful weapon, myfriends; it is a novel and deadly weapon. It is a weapon of whichscience knows nothing--a blue ray of the colour produced by a MercuryVapour Lamp, according to Dr. Stuart who has seen it, and producingan odour like that of a blast furnace according to myself, who smelledit! Or this odour might have been caused by the fusing of the telephone;for the blue ray destroys such fragile things as telephones as easilyas it destroys wood and paper! There is even a large round hole burnedthrough the clay at the back of the study grate and through the brickwall behind it! Very well. 'The Scorpion' is a scientist and he is alsothe greatest menace to the world which the world has ever been calledupon to deal with. You agree with me?"
Inspector Dunbar heaved a great sigh, Stuart silently accepted acigarette from the Assistant Commissioner's box and the AssistantCommissioner spoke, slowly.
"I entirely agree with you, M. Max. Respecting this ray, as well assome one or two other _minutiae_, I have made a short note which wewill discuss when you have completed your admirably lucid survey ofthe case."
"These are the things, then, which we learn from the terribleexperiences of Dr. Stuart. Placing these experiences side by side withmy own in Paris and in London--which we have already discussed indetail--we find that we have to deal with an organisation--the objectof which is unknown--comprising among its members both Europeans('Le Balafre' was a Frenchman, I believe), cross-breeds such as Migueland Zara el-Khala" (Stuart winced), "one Algerian and a Hindu. It isthen an organisation having ramifications throughout Europe, the Eastand, _mon Dieu!_ where not? To continue. This little image"--he tookup from the Commissioner's table the golden scorpion, and the brokenfragment of tail--"is now definitely recognized by Dr. Stuart--who isfamiliar with the work of Oriental goldsmiths--to be of _Chinese_craftsmanship!"
"It may possibly be Tibetan," interrupted Stuart; "but it comes to thesame thing."
"Very well," continued Max. "It is Chinese. We hope, very shortly, toidentify a house situated somewhere within this red ink circle"--heplaced his finger on a map of London which lay open on the table--"andwhich I know to be used as a meeting-place by members of thismysterious group. That circle, my friends, surrounds what is now knownas 'Chinatown'! For the third time I return to the man of the Wu-MenBridge; for the man of the Wu-Men Bridge was, apparently, a_Chinaman!_ Do I make myself clear?"
"Remarkably so," declared the Assistant Commissioner, taking a freshcigarette. "Pray continue, M. Max."
"I will do so. One of my most important investigations, in which I hadthe honour and the pleasure to be associated with Inspector Dunbar, ledto the discovery of a dangerous group controlled by a certain'Mr. King'----"
"Ah!" cried Dunbar, his tawny eyes sparkling with excitement, "I waswaiting for that!"
"I knew you would be waiting for it, Inspector. Your powers ofdeductive reasoning more and more are earning my respect. You recallthat singular case? The elaborate network extending from London toBuenos Ayres, from Peking to Petrograd? Ah! a wonderful system. It wasan opium syndicate, you understand,"--turning again to the AssistantCommissioner.
"I recall the case," replied the Commissioner, "although I did nothold my present appointment at the time. I believe there wereunsatisfactory features?"
"There were," agreed Max. "We never solved the mystery of the identityof 'Mr. King,' and although we succeeded in destroying the enterpriseI have since thought that we acted with undue precipitation."
"Yes," said Dunbar rapidly; "but there was that poor girl to berescued, you will remember? We couldn't waste time."
"I agree entirely, Inspector. Our hands were forced. Yet, I repeat, Ihave since thought that we acted with undue precipitation. I will tellyou why. Do you recall the loss--not explained to this day--of theplans of the Haley torpedo?"
"Perfectly," replied the Commissioner; and Dunbar also noddedaffirmatively.
"Very well. A similar national loss was sustained about the same timeby my own Government. I am not at liberty to divulge its exact nature,as in the latter case the loss never became known to the public. Butthe only member of the French Chamber who had seen this document towhich I refer was a certain 'M. Blank,' shall we say? I believe alsothat I am correct in stating that the late Sir Brian Malpas was amember of the British Cabinet at the time that the Haley plans werelost?"
"That is correct," said the Assistant Commissioner, "but surely thehonour of the late Sir Brian was above suspicion?"
/> "Quite," agreed Max; "so also was that of 'M. Blank.' But my point isthis: Both 'M. Blank' and the late Sir Brian were clients of theopium syndicate!"
Dunbar nodded again eagerly.
"Hard work I had to hush it up," he said. "It would have finished hispolitical career."
The Assistant Commissioner looked politely puzzled.
"It was generally supposed that Sir Brian Malpas was addicted todrugs," he remarked; "and I am not surprised to learn that hepatronised this syndicate to which you refer. But----" he paused,smiling satanically. "Ah!" he added--"I see! I see!"
"You perceive the drift of my argument?" cried Max. "You grasp what Imean when I say that we were too hasty? This syndicate existed for amore terrible purpose than the promulgating of a Chinese vice; it hadin its clutches men entrusted with national secrets, men of genius butslaves of a horrible drug. Under the influence of that drug, myfriends, how many of those secrets may they not have divulged?"
His words were received in hushed silence.
"What became of those stolen plans?" he continued, speaking now in avery low voice. "In the stress of recent years has the Haley torpedomade its appearance so that we might learn to which Government theplans had been taken? No! the same mystery surrounds the fate of theinformation filched from the drugged brain of 'M. Blank.' In a word"--he raised a finger dramatically--"someone is hoarding up thoseinstruments of destruction! Who is it that collects such things andfor what purpose does he collect them?"
Following another tense moment of silence:
"Let us have your own theory, M. Max," said the Assistant Commissioner.
Gaston Max shrugged his shoulders.
"It is not worthy of the name of a theory," he replied, "the surmisewhich I have made. But recently I found myself considering the factthat 'The Scorpion' might just conceivably be a Chinaman. Now, 'Mr.King,' we believe was a Chinaman, and 'Mr. King,' as I am nowconvinced, operated not for a personal but for a deeper, politicalpurpose. He stole the brains of genius and _accumulated_ that genius.Is it not possible that these contrary operations may be part of acommon plan?"