Get Wallace!

by Alexander Wilson

  ‘Quick! Through the window,’ he cried, at the same time dragging down Cousins behind the desk. ‘Crawl round to the side near the fireplace,’ he breathed urgently in the little man’s ear.

  Thalia, screaming for help, took three or four seconds to find the other switch. By the time the lights were on, Wallace and his companion were kneeling close together behind the far side of the desk, not exactly a hiding place, if any of the crooks glanced round the room, but Sir Leonard calculated on their making for the window. By now the place was in an uproar. Men came tearing down the stairs calling out to know what was wrong. Ictinos was the first on the scene, the others crowding behind him. Thalia met them at the door.

  ‘Cousins and the other man have escaped – through the window,’ she cried.

  The Greek proved himself a man of action. He did not stop then to ask who the other man was.

  ‘They may have guns, and shoot to keep us in,’ he snapped, promptly switching off the lights again. ‘Danson and Farrell, through the window after them. Hepburn and Ibsen, go out the front way. Search the grounds thoroughly; they must not escape. Paul, fetch torches. Quick, all of you!’

  His orders were obeyed immediately, and he and his daughter were left alone.

  ‘Who was this other man?’ demanded Ictinos, still speaking in English.

  ‘I do not know,’ she replied ‘it is the first time I have seen him. He was a man of middle height, with a strong thin face and, I think, grey eyes. I have never seen anyone so quick with a gun before. He wore a big overcoat.’

  ‘I do not care what he wore,’ he snarled, adding in a quieter voice, which was almost a whisper. ‘It sounds like that devil Wallace, but it cannot be; it cannot be. Thalia, you stay here. I must help in the search.’

  ‘I will get a coat and come too,’ she declared.

  Sir Leonard and Cousins rose cautiously to their feet.

  ‘Nice of him to switch off the lights,’ commented the former quietly. ‘It will enable us to get across the room without being spotted from outside.’

  They waited a few minutes; then, at a signal from Wallace, the little man followed his chief to the door. They stood there a short while, after which, hearing no sound in the house, they crossed the hall, and ran quietly up the stairs, entering one of the front bedrooms. The light had been left on, but the windows were closely covered by thick curtains, and there was no fear of their being seen from outside.

  ‘We’re safer up here than down below,’ observed Sir Leonard. ‘It’s a pity that girl came along when she did. Our chances of getting in touch with Cartright now are not very bright. Still, I can’t always expect to have the luck on my side.’

  Cousins cast an appreciative eye round the apartment. Obviously that of a woman, it was furnished most tastefully. Gold and enamelled toilet articles adorned the dressing table, delicately worked cushions lay everywhere, while silken curtains hung round the bed.

  ‘Must be her bedroom,’ remarked the little man. ‘She certainly believes in comfort, even in this out-of-the-way spot.’ He chuckled softly. ‘Those fellows will find it a bit draughty out there in that piercing wind. I daresay most of them are in pyjamas. “Except wind stands as never it stood, It is an ill-wind turns none to good.”’

  He was bubbling over with good spirits, probably due to the fact that he was no longer a prisoner. Neither he nor Sir Leonard were in any way perturbed by the fact that they were apparently in a hopeless position. Their chances of escaping from the house were certainly very slender. While the six men were outside searching the grounds, it was impossible for them to get away, especially when it meant attempting to open a barred and locked gate or scaling a high wall, and it was certain that, failing to discover his quarry outside, Ictinos would order every corner of the house to be examined. Wallace sank into an armchair, and considered the problem.

  ‘Go and have a look into the other rooms up here,’ he at length directed Cousins. ‘If any of them offer a fairly safe hiding place in the event of a search, come back and let me know at once. Be careful! If you hear anybody approaching, return to this room immediately.’

  Cousins departed on his errand. He was away for over ten minutes; then came back shaking his head.

  ‘There are cupboards and various other hiding places, of course,’ he informed his companion, ‘but not a place that is likely to be overlooked in a search.’

  ‘Then there’s nothing for it,’ decided Wallace, ‘but to stay here, and act as circumstances direct.’

  Half an hour went by before they heard the sound of voices. Sir Leonard and Cousins quickly withdrew behind the curtains at the farther side of the bed, both holding their weapons ready for action. They heard nothing further for several minutes; then, almost without warning, two people entered the room. One was Ictinos, the other his daughter. The former appeared very agitated to judge from the excitable manner in which he was speaking to her. She was much calmer and did her best to soothe his apparently ruffled feelings.

  ‘It is of no use behaving in this way,’ she protested. ‘It is a matter in which you can blame nobody. Whoever the man is who got in, he must have had a perfect knowledge of the house, and probably had been studying it for some days.’

  ‘If you are right, it cannot have been Wallace. He only reached England this morning, or rather yesterday morning.’

  ‘Does it matter whether it was Monsieur Wallace or somebody else? The fact remains that a man did get in and rescue Cousins.’

  ‘Yes; and they are probably far away by now. But how did he get in?’

  ‘How do I know? I only reached your study in time to see them about to get out. I wish I had shot them both at once. If Paul had not missed with his knife all would have been well. Afterwards, when I had them covered with my gun, I thought there would be no attempt to escape. I was not to know that the stranger was so clever. Never have I seen such rapidity of movement as when the light was shot out.’

  ‘That sounds as though he was Wallace,’ growled Ictinos. ‘He is known to be marvellously quick with a pistol. But it seems they have got away. We must go, too. It will be ruin to stop a moment longer than necessary now. Pack only what you require, my child, and hurry. The motorboat is fortunately always ready.’

  ‘Will you put to sea on a night like this?’

  ‘We must, there is no choice.’

  ‘But search the house first. They may have got in somehow when everyone was outside.’

  ‘That is absurd – they could not have done it. The doors and windows were watched. This man must have had a rope over the wall, and they escaped by that means. However, Hepburn and the others can search while I collect my papers.’

  ‘Perhaps they have been taken.’

  Ictinos laughed gruffly.

  ‘Impossible. Only I know where they are, and that is a place that could be tampered with by nobody. Be quick, Thalia, we must be away in half an hour. Most of us are ready to go. Are you?’

  ‘It will not take me long. How will you communicate with the caretakers? Some day we must recover possession of the furniture and other articles here. It would be very sad to lose them.’

  ‘We have more important things to think of than caretakers just now,’ he responded sharply. ‘There will be time tomorrow to send a telegram to them.’

  He left the room. The men hidden behind the curtain heard the girl moving about for some minutes, once she actually approached close to them, and Wallace made ready to spring out on her, but she walked away again directly afterwards, leaving the bedroom probably to get something from her boudoir. While she was away, Cousins rapidly, and in a whisper, gave his companion the gist of the conversation they had overheard. Sir Leonard had been able to gather what some of it was about, but his lack of knowledge of the Greek language made it impossible for him to understand much.

  He chuckled softly.

  ‘So his papers are hidden in a place that nobody could find, are they?’ he commented. ‘If I’m not mistaken, there’ll be more firework
s presently.’

  He had hardly finished speaking when a commotion broke out below. The deep voice of Ictinos could be heard raised in apparent anger, other voices forming a sort of chorus to it. Wallace and Cousins smiled at each other. Thalia re-entered the bedroom, dropped something on the floor that sounded like a suitcase, and ran out again, calling down to her father to know what was wrong. He shouted back something, and she descended rapidly to join him.

  ‘How about making an attempt to get away now, sir?’ suggested Cousins. ‘While their attention is occupied down below, we might be able to lower ourselves from the window, and escape.’

  Sir Leonard shook his head.

  ‘If possible,’ he returned, ‘I mean to find out their destination. I haven’t finished with Ictinos yet. There is something else I want from him, which it seems is hidden elsewhere.’

  Cousins eyed him curiously, but made no comment. The hubbub downstairs continued for some time; then could be heard the movement of several people on the upper floor. It was evidently a search party. A man actually came as far as the bedroom, but a voice from somewhere farther away told him it was no use searching Miss Ictinos’ room.

  ‘She’s only just come out,’ he added, ‘and if there had been anyone there, she would have spotted him.’

  ‘It’s a waste of time, anyhow,’ returned the fellow at the door. ‘You can bet they’re well away by now. I’m going to put some clothes on. I don’t fancy a trip in that perishing motorboat in this get-up. I’m almost frozen stiff now.’

  He moved away, and the two men in the room breathed again.

  ‘Luck doesn’t seem to have deserted us after all,’ muttered Wallace.

  Thalia Ictinos came running up the stairs. She was apparently accompanied by the dwarf.

  ‘These two, Paul,’ she said, as she entered the room. There was a grunt, and the sound of unsteady retreating feet, suggesting that a heavy burden was being carried. Wallace, taking a chance, looked cautiously round the curtain. He saw her, dressed in a fur coat, pulling a waterproof over her shoulders. A sou’-wester covered her glorious hair, while her legs were encased in gum-boots. She turned in his direction, and he drew back out of sight. A minute later the light went out; they heard the door close, and all was quiet. Quickly Wallace was across the room, looking through the keyhole. He saw her descending the stairs. She was presently followed by two men who appeared from the other end of the passage; then Ictinos emerged from a room close by, a suitcase in either hand. He paused at the top of the stairs, and called out to someone. A voice answered from below and, apparently satisfied, he switched out the corridor light, and went down. Whispering to Cousins to follow carefully, Sir Leonard quietly opened the door. The two of them, treading cautiously, descended in the wake of the crooks, who were apparently gathered together some distance along the hall towards the back of the house. Ictinos, still in a great rage, was talking to them.

  ‘I do not care what you declare or swear,’ he was saying. ‘I am convinced that it was Sir Leonard Wallace and no other who was in this house tonight. He was never in the second car, and our belief that he was killed is nonsense. Somehow he tracked you here and got inside. He must have watched me at work in my study and, when I went to bed, stole the papers I have lost. After that he rescued the man Cousins, whom I should have killed, when he first came here. You are bunglers, all of you. Three times in one day Wallace has been allowed to escape death or capture. By whom am I served – men or suckling babes?’

  ‘You can’t blame us for tonight’s episode,’ retorted the voice of Hepburn harshly. ‘Miss Ictinos should have shot both of them when she caught them in the study. And none of us asked you to keep that little rat Cousins alive, did we? If we have bungled, so have you, and a great deal more. You’ve even lost plans worth hundreds of thousands which Danson and I got for you. What have you got to say to that? Nothing; except to blame us. I’d like to know where you’d be without me, anyhow.’

  ‘How dare you talk to me like you – you murderer,’ roared Ictinos.

  ‘Murderer!’ laughed the other sarcastically. ‘A case of the pot calling the kettle black, isn’t it? Why, almost lily-white compared with you.’

  ‘Perhaps you would like to stay behind, and face the music,’ came in tones that had altered to a soft, silky utterance. ‘You can if you like, my friend Hepburn. Now that it is known about your ability to impersonate people, you are not of much further use to me.’

  Hepburn again laughed.

  ‘I can see you agreeing that I should stop,’ he sneered. ‘I know too much for that.’

  ‘Ah! So you threaten me, eh?’

  ‘Not a bit of it. I’m willing to stay with you and be loyal to you, so long as you don’t push the blame for everything that goes wrong off your own shoulders on to mine or these fellows here.’

  ‘I put the blame where the blame should be, and I will not be dictated to by—’

  ‘You men are absurd,’ interrupted Thalia impatiently. ‘You stand here quarrelling when, at any moment, the house may be raided. What is past is past. Let us go!’

  ‘She is right, except for one thing,’ came from Ictinos, after a short pause, during which he had calmed down.

  ‘We will forget the blunders made, and have no further recriminations. I have perhaps been a little hasty. But what is past is not past where Wallace is concerned. Unless we kill him, I am convinced our endeavours will fail or suffer badly. He stands in the way. From now on we must resolve to spare no efforts to remove him. Remember always, when the opportunity arrives: get Wallace! Now no more talking. We will proceed.’

  ‘Are we really going to try to reach the yacht?’ asked Danson.

  ‘Not only try, but succeed, my friend.’

  ‘But it is still blowing hard, and I doubt if the motorboat will live in that sea.’

  ‘She would live in a hurricane. It will be wet, but not too dangerous. Our friend Hepburn is the best of pilots.’ The light in the hall was extinguished.

  ‘I thought I was not of much further use,’ retorted Hepburn, who was apparently still nursing his grievance.

  Ictinos made some reply as they were moving away, which the listeners did not catch. The latter’s curiosity was aroused by the fact that the gang did not make for the front door, but went on towards the back of the house. Followed closely by Cousins, Wallace quickly ran down the remainder of the stairs. At the bottom he craned his neck over the banister, but could not see where they had gone, the green baize door having closed behind them. Softly he tiptoed along the passage, pushed open the door a few inches, and looked through the gap. He found that the corridor continued, a lighted apartment at the end throwing out sufficient illumination to enable him to see that two or three more rooms, probably kitchens and a pantry, opened into it. But he was not interested in these. From the sound of voices he gathered that Ictinos and his followers were in the rear, probably about to go through the back door. Bidding Cousins stay and keep watch in case all were not there, and holding his revolver ready, he crept along the passage; found himself peeping into a large scullery. A trapdoor in the centre of the room had been raised, and, through it, the conspirators were descending one by one. Ictinos was the last to go, and Wallace succeeded in obtaining a good view of him, marvelling once again at his extraordinary breadth of shoulder, and noticing, for the first time, how short he was in comparison to his width. The watcher dodged back as the Greek gave a glance round the scullery before switching off the light, and following the others through the trap. Then Wallace hurried back to Cousins; told him where they had gone.

  ‘There is probably a cave underneath this house where the motorboat is kept,’ he added. ‘I’m going after them. If possible I want to find out the name of the yacht they spoke about, otherwise it’s going to be a devil of a job to find them again. I’ll leave the trapdoor open, and you keep watch. If you hear a shot, come down to my assistance, but don’t show a light; the reflection might be seen.’

  He went back to the
scullery, found the handle of the trapdoor without much difficulty, and lifted it. Pushing the revolver within easy reach in his breast pocket, he felt round, discovered the steps, and began to descend gingerly. There were far more than he expected, and he seemed to be going down an interminable time. As far as he could ascertain he was in a narrow shaft dropping almost perpendicularly, and the steps were rungs of an iron ladder or ladders riveted to the rock. He was wondering how much farther he would have to descend, when something struck his head and shoulders with tremendous force, tearing his hand from its grip, and hurling him downwards. Fortunately he had been near the bottom, but even so the impact with the rock shook most of the breath from his body. In a daze at first, he felt something on top of him, clawing at his throat, and uttering low snarling cries like a savage animal. He began struggling desperately to tear away the hold but, with one hand, was at a disadvantage, while the creature mauling him seemed to be possessed of considerable strength. The clutch on his windpipe increasing, he had a difficulty in breathing, flames began to dance before his eyes. Abruptly he changed his tactics; his hand dropped away from the claws of the creature on him; he lay inert. His assailant relaxed its grip, probably thinking it had rendered its victim unconscious, the pressure on his chest was relieved, and Wallace was able to slide his hand to his breast pocket. Taking hold of his revolver by the muzzle, he suddenly threw himself on one side. Caught unaware, the creature was for the moment at his mercy. He felt for, found its head; then, just as the clawing fingers reached him again, brought down his weapon with sickening force. There was a grunt, the body fell back, and lay still.

  Sir Leonard rose somewhat shakily to his feet. There was not a glimmer of light anywhere; an impenetrable blackness seemed to cloak him on all sides. He felt, therefore, that he could risk a light for a moment. Presently a ray of brilliant illumination stabbed the darkness and was focused on the body lying at his feet then was switched off again.