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The Invisible Ink · The Adventuress

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  Chapter sixteen of The Adventuress by Arthur b Reeve. This LibriVox recording is in
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  the public domain. Read by Anne Fletcher, Chapter sixteen, The Invisible Ink.
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  We were awakened very early by the violent ringing of our room telephone.
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  Kennedy was at the receiver almost before I realized what was going on. Have
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  you a machine to follow her? I heard him ask, hurriedly, and
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  then add, all right, I'll leave the trailing to you. Don't let
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  her get away. We will go to the city on the train, and
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  then you can communicate with me at mister Hastings's office. I'll go there.
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  Who was it, I asked, as Craig hung up. What has happened?
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  Pakita has tried to steal her march on, as I imagine, he
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  replied, beginning to dress hastily. Riley must have been up all night,
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  or at least very early. He saw her come downstairs. It's scarcely five
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  o'clock now, and a moment later her car pulled up. She's off,
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  apparently, by the road to New York. It's strange too, except that
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  she got off so early. She made very little effort at concealment. You'd
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  think she must have known that she would be seen. I wonder if she
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  wanted us to know it, or was just taking a chance at getting away
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  while we were napping. Is Riley following her? I asked yes. As
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  soon as he saw her speedster at the door, he went out by another
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  door and a round to the garage. It just happened that the night man
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  was there, and Riley wheedled him into letting him have a car. It
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  isn't as fast as Paquita's, but then it isn't always the fast car that
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  gets away with it between here and New York. Sometimes, if you know
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  how to drive and where the bad spots in the road are, you can
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  make up what you lack in speed. Kennedy had pulled a time table out
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  of his pocket and was hurriedly consulting it. The service is very poor at
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  this hour, he remarked. It will be an hour before we can get
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  the next train. We've missed the first by a few minutes. What do
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  you suppose she's up to now, I speculated? Kennedy shrugged silently. We
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  had finished dressing, and for the moment there seemed to be nothing to do
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  but wait. By George Craig exclaimed, suddenly, starting for the door.
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  Just a chance, hardly anybody's about. We can get into her room while
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  she's gone. Come on. Pakita's room, or rather Sweet was on the
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  floor above, and in a tower at the corner. It was difficult to
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  get into, but from a porch at the end of the hall we found
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  that it was possible to step on a ledge and at some risk, reach
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  one window. Kennedy did not hesitate, and I followed as was to be
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  supposed. The room was topsy turvy, showing that she had been at some
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  paines to get away early and quick. We began a systematic search, pawing
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  with unhallow fingers all the dainty articles of feminine finery which might conceal some bit
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  of evidence that might assist us. Pretty clever, scowled Kennedy, as drawer
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  after drawer, trunk after trunk, closet after closet yielded nothing. She must
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  have destroyed everything, he paused by a dainty little wicker writing desk, which
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  was scrupulously clean. Even the blotters were clean, as though she'd feared some
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  one might by taking her hand mirror even read what she'd blotted. The scrap
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  basket had a pile of waste in it, including a couple of evening papers.
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  However, I turned it over and examined it while Craig watched. As
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  I did so, I fairly pounced on the sheet of paper, crumpled into
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  a ball, and eagerly straightened it out flat on the table. Oh,
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  I ejaculated in disgust. Blank might have known she wouldn't leave anything in writing
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  around. I suppose I was about to throw it back when Kennedy took it
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  from me. He held it up to the light. It was still just
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  a crumpled sheet of white paper. He looked about. On a dressing table
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  stood an electric curling iron. He heated it and passed it over the paper
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  until it curled with the heat. Still it was just a blank sheet of
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  paper. Was he pursuing a will o the wisp? For a moment,
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  he regarded it thoughtfully. HM, if I were in the laboratory, he
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  ruminated, I could tell pretty quick whether. Wait, that's foolish. She
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  hasn't any laboratory here. Walter filled that basin with warm water. In the
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  bottom of the basin, Craig laid the sheet of paper, and we bent
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  over it on nothing doing, I remarked, disappointed. Why not, he
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  returned, eagerly turning the wet paper. We had it wrong side up,
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  and there before our eyes under the water, characters of some sort were appearing.
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  You can make a perfectly good sympathetic ink from linseed, oil, liquor
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  of ammonia, and any of several other ingredients, he said, watching with
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  me. When writing with it dries, it is invisible. Only water will
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  bring it out, and then when it dries it is invisible again. Look,
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  I did, but could not yet make out what it was, except
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  that it seemed to be a hodgepodge of figures and a reader's footnote. There
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  follows two full lines of the numbers one to five in apparently random order,
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  end a footnote. It's a cipher, I exclaimed, with that usual acumen
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  that made Kennedy smile indulgently. Quite right, he agreed, studying the peculiar
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  scrawl of the figures. But if we are going to get to New York
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  at anything like the time she does, we must get that train. I
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  can't stop to decipher it now. We'll have plenty of time later in the
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  morning. There's no use staying here with the bird flown from the cage.
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  I wonder whether Hastings is up yet. The lawyer, who was not as
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  young as he used to be, was not awake, and it took some
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  pounding on his door to wake him. As he opened it sleepily, he
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  was prepared to give some one a piece of his mind, until he saw
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  that it was Kennedy and myself. Hello, he suppressed, surly growl.
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  What's the trouble? Quickly Craig told him of the strange departure of Pequita.
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  Hmmm, up to something, again, muttered Hastings, finding some one at
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  least on whom he could vent his spleen, although by this time he was
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  fully awake. But man, I can't get away for that early train.
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  Oh that's all right, reassured Kennedy. I think it will be enough if
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  you come down on the express. But I wanted to tell you that when
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  Riley called up and said he was off after Piquita, I couldn't think of
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  a place in the city that was more central in your office, and I
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  took the liberty of telling him to call me up there, without thinking how
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  early it would be. I'll let you have the key returned, hastings,
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  taking one from a ring. I'll join you as soon as I can get
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  away. Just what I wanted, commented Kennedy as we left the lawyer and
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  hurried down to the dining room for the few remaining minutes before the hotel bus
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  left for the station. Besides, I wanted to get there when no one
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  was around so that I could have a chance to look at that confounded detective
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  phone again. Whoever it was who installed it was clever. Might not that
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  be the purpose of Paquita's trip to New York, I queried, I was
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  thinking of that. Between us, Riley and ourselves. Ought to be able
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  to find that out. There was just time for a hasty bite of breakfast,
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  and we went into the dining room, where Burke was evidently looking for
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  us for he came over and sat down. No one else was about,
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  and he felt free to talk. If you are going, he decided,
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  after telling us of Riley's report to him, also of Pequita, I think
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  I had better stay. We ought not to let any of them remain here
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  unobserved, not after last night, he added, Quite right, agreed Kennedy,
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  Have you heard anything more about the attack on Winnifred. Burke negatived.
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  He was still sore at Sanchez, who seemed to have come out of the
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  affair with credit. I fancied that if ever the sallow faced man ran afoul
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  of Burke, it would go hard with him. I didn't get that business
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  straight last night, mused the detective. Why should any one have wanted a
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  kidnaped Winnifred. It wouldn't have been to hurt her, for there was plenty
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  of opportunity to do that. It must have been a holder somewhere and force
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  someone to do something. What do you think o that, Kennedy, Your
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  reasoning is very logical, agreed Craig. There is only one thing missing.
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  Who was it? And what was it? For? Pretty large questions,
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  agreed Burke, good humoredly. Now there must have been some big reason for
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  it. Well, I hope this trip of Pakeida's proofs to be the keyed
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  a something. I almost wish I'd told Riley to stay. I'd like to
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  go with you, No, reassured Craig. It's better that you should be
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  here. We must not leave any loopholes. You'll communicate with me if anything
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  happens. Burke nodded, and glanced hastily at his watch as a hint to
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  us to hurry. With a parting assurance from him, we made the dash
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  for the train in the hotel bus. The crisp morning air as we spun
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  up to the station was a tonic to Kennedy. He seemed to enjoy the
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  excitement of the chase keenly, and I must admit that I too felt the
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  pleasing uncertainty of our errand I had found by this time that there was an
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  entirely different crowd that regularly took each train. None of those whom we had
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  seen the previous day on the Express were on this train, although I felt
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  sure that some of them at least would take their regular trip to the city
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  later, especially Shelby. Whatever happened, at least we were ahead of them,
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  although I doubted whether we would be ahead of Paquita unless she had some
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  trouble on the road. Nothing was to be gained by the study of the
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  other passengers, and there was not even a chair car on the accommodation.
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  The papers had not arrived from New York, in spite of the fact that
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  Westport was not very far out, and the time consumed in stopping at every
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  station on the road seemed to hang heavy. Kennedy, however, was never
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  at a loss for something to do. We had no more than settled ourselves
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  in the smoker with its seats of hot, dirty, worn, antiquated railroad
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  plush, when he pulled from his pocket a copy he had made of the
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  figures that had appeared on the wet paper. In a moment, he was
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  deeply engaged in a study of them, trying all manner of tricks, combining
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  them, adding them, setting figures opposite the letters of the alphabet, everything
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  that could occur to him on the spur of the moment. Although I knew
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  that he had worked out a scientific manner of reading any cipher, still his
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  system of deciphering would take time, and in the brief interval of the railroad
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  journey, it was his intention to see whether he might not save the labor
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  and perhaps stumble on some simple key. Evidently the cipher was not so simple.
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  One after another he used up sheets from his loose leaf note book,
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  tearing up the scrawls and throwing them out the window, but never seeming to
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  become discouraged or to lose his temper At each fresh failure. I can't say
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  I'm making much progress, he admitted, finally closing his notebook and taking from
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  his wallet carefully the original crumpled sheet I had found in the scrap basket.
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  There's just one thing I'd like to try. Not to decipher it, for
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  that will take time, I see, but to see if there is anything
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  else that I missed as I looked at it so hastily up there in that
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  room, at the ice water cooler, which never had any ice in it,
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  nor cups about it. He held the sheet of paper for a moment
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  under the tepid running water. Since he had first wet it, it had
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  dried out and the figures were again invisible. Then he returned to our seat,
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  and soon was deep in the study of the original. This time,
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  I can say one thing, he remarked, folding the cipher carefully so as
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  not to tear the weakened fibers as we rolled into the New York terminus.
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  The person who wrote that thing is a crook, as the instincts of a
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  spy and a traitor. How do you know that, I inquired, how,
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  he repeated, quietly, glancing up sharply from a final look at the
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  thing. Did you ever hear of the science of graphology, the study of
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  character in handwriting? Much the same applies to figures. It's all there in
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  the way those figures are made, just as plain as the nose on your
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  face. Even if the meaning of the cipher is still hidden. We have
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  a crook to deal with, and a very clever one too, even if
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  we don't know yet who it is. It's possible to hide a good deal,
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  but not everything. Not everything. From the station, Kennedy and I
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  went immediately down to the office of Hastings. It was still very early and
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  few offices were occupied. Kennedy opened the door, and, as I anticipated,
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  went directly to the spot in the office where he had unearthed, or
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  rather unwalled, the detectiphone transmitter. There was not a chance that any one
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  would be listening at the other end, yet he proceeded cautiously. The transmitter
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  had been placed close to the plaster, which had not been disturbed in Hastings's
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  office. So efficient was the little machine that even the plaster did not prevent
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  sound ways from effecting its sensitive diaphragm. But how could it have been put
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  in place? I asked, as Kennedy explored the hole he'd made in the
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  wall. That's new plaster back there, he pointed out, peering in.
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  Some one must have had access on a pretense to the next office and placed
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  this transmitter that way, plustering up the wall again and painting it over.
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  You see, Hastings wouldn't know about that. Still, I objected, any
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  one going in and out of the next office would be likely to be seen.
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  Who has the office? It's no use to look, replied Kennedy,
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  as I started for the hall. They are as ignorant as we are.
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  See, the wire doesn't go there. It goes horizontally to that box or
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  casing in the corner which carries steam pipes. Then it goes down. It's
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  not likely it goes down very many floors. Let's see what's under us.
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  The office beneath bore on its doors the name of a well known brokerage firm.
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  There was no reason to suspect them, and Kennedy and I walked down
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  another floor. There, in a little office directly under that occupied by Hastings,
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  guilt letters announced simply public stenographer exchange. Without a doubt. That was
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  the other end of the eavesdropper. There's no one in yet, Sir,
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  informed a cleaning woman who happened to see us trying the door. Kennedy was
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  ready with the story. Oh that's too bad, he hastened, with a
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  glance at his watch. They want to sublet it to me, and I'd
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  like to look at it before I decide on another office at nine o'clock.
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  I can let you see it, hinted the woman, rattling a string of
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  keys, Can you encouraged Kennedy, and slipping a silver coin into her hand.
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  Oh, thank you, It will save me another trip. She opened
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  the door, and we saw at once why Kennedy's chant's story had seemed so
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  plausible. Whatever furniture had been there had been moved out except a single plane
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  chair and a very small table. But on the table stood a box the
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  receiving end of the detective phone. It was the eavesdropper's station, all right.
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  The woman left us a moment, and we made the best of the
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  opportunity. Not even a scrap of paper had been left except for what greeted
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  us on our first entrance. There was nothing. Who had rented the place,
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  who had listened in, had heard and anticipated even our careful frame up
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  could it have been that this was the objective of the hasty visit of Piquita,
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  That it had been she who was so eager to destroy the evidence of
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  the eavesdropping on Hastings. It was galling to have to stand here in inaction
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  at a time when we felt we might be learning much if we had only
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  so much as a hint where else to look? The easiest way of finding
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  out is to watch, concluded Kennedy. We can't just stand about in the
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  hall that in itself will look suspicious. You wait here a few minutes while
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  I see if I can find the agent of the building around a bend in
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  the hall. I waited, trying to seem interested more in some other office
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  down the hall. No one appeared, however, looking for any of the
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  offices, and it was only a few minutes before Kennedy returned. I found
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  him. He announced, of course, he could tell me next to nothing.
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  It was, as I had supposed, just some one who was an
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  emissary of our criminal. I doubt if it would do as much good to
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  catch the person now. Anyway, Still, it's worth while taking a chance
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  on a girl who said she was a typewriter and stenographer hired the place and
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  paid for it in cash. In advance. I managed to persuade the agent
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  to let me have the key to this vacant office opposite. We can watch
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  better from that. We ourselves into the opposite office, which was bare,
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  and I could see that I was in for a tiresome weight. No one
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  had arrived yet in Hastings office, and Kennedy was eager to receive some word
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  from Rileigh as well as watched the eavesdropping plant. Accordingly, he left me
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  to watch while he returned to the lawyer's office. Every footfall in the hall
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  raised my hopes, only to dash them again as the newcomer entered some other
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  office than the one I was watching. End of Chapter sixteen.