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Work For Gurther · The Three Just Men

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Chapter twenty nine of The Three Just Men by Edgar Wallace. This LibriVox recording
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is in the public domain. Work for Girther. Girther was sleeping when he
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was called for duty, but presented himself before his director as bright and alert,
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as though he had not spent a sleepless night, nor yet had endured
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the strain of a midnight train jump. Once more, my Girthur, I
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send you forth, Doctor Robajon was almost gay this time, to save us
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all from the judas treachery of one we thought was our friend. To night
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the snake must bite and bite hard, Girther, and out into the dark
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oes the so called trusted, And after that, my brave boy, there
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shall be nothing to fear. He paused for approval and got it in us
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snapped agreement. To night, we desire from you, as chauf d'eure,
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the supreme employment of your great art, girthr. The highest expression of genius.
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The gentleman club manner will not do. They may look for you and
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find you better. It should be this time that you her doctor. Will
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you graciously permit me to offer a humble suggestion, said girth eagerly. The
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doctor nodded his head slowly. You may speak, girthur, he said,
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you are a man of intelligence. I would not presume to dictate to an
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artist. Let me go for an hour, perhaps two hours, and I
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will return to you with a manner that is unique. It is graciously permitted,
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her doctor, March said the doctor graciously, waving his hand to the
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door. Nearly an hour and a half passed before the door opened, and
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a gentleman came in, who, for even a moment even the doctor thought
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was a stranger. The face had an unearthly ivory pallor, the black brows,
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the faint shadows beneath the eyes that suggest that her recent illness, the
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close cropped black beard in which Gray showed these might not have deceived him.
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But the man was obvious leave the victim of some appalling accident in the past.
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One shoulder was hunched, the hand that held the stick was distorted out
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of shape, and as he moved the clump of his club foot advertised his
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lameness. Sir, you desire to see me, began the doctor, and
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then stared at open mouth. It is not Girther, smiled her doctor,
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Are you condescendingly pleased colossal, murmured Aberjeanne, gazing in amazement of all accomplishments.
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This is supreme, Girther, you are an artist. Some day we
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shall buy a theater for you and unter den Linden, and you shall thrill
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large audiences. Her doctor, this is my own idea, as I have
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planned for many months. The boots I made myself, even the coat I
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altered. He patted his deformed shoulder proudly. An eyeglass, I have it,
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said Girthr, promptly, the cravat. Is it not too proper?
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Girthe fingered his tie for the grand habit, I respectfully claim that the proper
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tie is desirable. If you will graciously permit, the hair doctor nodded.
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You shall go with God, Girthr. He said, piously, took a
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golden cigarette case from his pocket, had handed it to the man. Sit
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down, my dear friend. He rose, and pointed to the chair he
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had vacated in my own chair. Girthur, nothing is too good for you.
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Now Here is the arrangement. Step by step he unfolded the timetable for
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chronology was almost as great a passion with this strange and wicked man as it
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was with Aunt Alma. So confident was Gerthur of his disguise that he had
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gone in the open to speak to Oberjon Chauffeur, and out of the tail
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of his eye he had seen Manfred of Gonzalez approaching. It was a supreme
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test and was passed with credit to himself. He did not dine at Marrows.
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Girthur never raded or drank when he was wearing in disguise, knowing just
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how fatal that occupation could be. Instead, he had called the taxi and
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had killed time by being driven slowly round and round the outer circle of Regent's
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Park. Gertha was doing a great deal of thinking in these days, and
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at the cost of much physical discomfort, had curtailed his pernicious practices that his
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head might be clear all the time, for if he were to live,
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that clear head of his was necessary. The prisoner in the cellar occupied his
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thoughts. She had an importance for two reasons. She was a friend of
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the men whom he hated with a cold and deadly malignity beyond description. She
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represented wealth untold, and her doctor had even gone to the length of planning
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a marriage with her. She was not to be killed not to be hurt.
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She was so important that the old man would take the risks attendant upon
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a marriage. There must be an excellent reason for that. Because doctor Auberjean
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had not a very delicate mind, he seemed to remember that by the English
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law, a wife could not give evidence against her husband. He was not
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sure, but he had a dim notion that Pfeiffer had told him this.
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Fifer was an educated man and had taken high honors at the gymnasium. Girther
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was not well read. His education had been of a scrappy character, and
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once upon a time he had been refused a leading part because of his provincial
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accent. That fault he had corrected in prison under the tuition of a professor
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who was serving a life sentence for killing two women. But by the time
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Girther had been released he was a marked man, and the stage was a
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career lost to him. Forever, Auberjon possessed advantages which were not his.
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He was the master, Girther was the servant. Auberjon could determine events by
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reason of his vast authority and the strings which he pulled in every part of
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the world. Even Girther had accepted disposition of blind obedient servant. But now
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his angle had shifted, even as Aberjon's had moved in relation to Montague Newton.
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Perhaps because of this, the doctor, in curtailing one confidence, was
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enlarging another, and in the enlargement his prestige suffered. Gertha was now the
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confidant, therefore the equal, and logically, the equal could always become the
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superior. He had dreamed, dreams of a life of ease, a gratification
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of his sense of luxury, without the sobering thought that somewhere round the corner
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was waiting a man ready to tap him on the shoulder, a white palace
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in a flowery land, with blue swimming pools and supple girls who called him
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Master. Gerthur began to see the light. Until he had taken his seat
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in the theater, he had not so much as glimpsed the man and the
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woman in the end box. Joan was happy, happier than she remembered having
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been. Perhaps it was the reaction from her voluntary imprisonment. Certainly it was
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Monty's reluctant agreement to a change of plans which so exalted her. Monty had
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dropped the thin pretense of an accommodation marriage, and once he was persuaded to
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this, the last hindrance to enjoyment was dissipated. Let a Verjean take the
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girl if you wanted her take two such heavy responsibility, as followed, Montey
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Newton would get all he wanted without the risks. Having arrived at this decision,
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he had ordered another bottle of champagne to seal the bargain, and they
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left Merril's club a much happier couple than they had been when they entered.
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As soon as we've carved up this money, we'll get away out of England,
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he told her, as they were driving to the theater, what about
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Buenos Aires for the winter? Old girl, she did not know where Buenos
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Aires was, but she gurgled her delight at the suggestion, and Monty expatiated
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upon the joys of the South American summer, the beauties of b a its
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gaieties and amusements. I don't suppose there'll be any kick coming, he said,
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but it wouldn't be a bad scheme if we took a trip round the
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world and came back in about eighteen months time to settle down in London.
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My hectic past would have been forgotten by then. Why I might even get
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into parliament. How wonderful, she breathed. And then, what is this
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play about, Monty. It's a bit of a thrill, the very play
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for you, a detective story that will make your hair stand on end.
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She had all the game in his morbid interest in murder and crime, and
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she settled down in the box with a pleasant feeling of anticipation, and watched
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the development of the first act. The scene was laid in a club,
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a low down resort where the least desirable members of society met, and she
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drank in every word because she knew the life. Had seen that type of
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expensively dressed woman who swaggered on to the stage and was addressed familiarly by the
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club proprietor. She knew that steady eye detective when he made his embarrassing appearance.
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The woman was herself. She even knew the cadaverous wanderer who approached stealthily
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at the door, a human wolf that fled at the sight of the police
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officer, the three who sat in the front row of the stalls. How
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Leon Gonzalez secured these tickets was one of the minor mysteries of the day saw
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her, and one at least felt his heart ache. Monty beamed his geniality.
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He had taken sufficient wine to give him a rosy view of the world,
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and he was even mildly interested in the play, though his chief pleasure
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was in the girl's enchantment. He ordered isis for her after the first interval.
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You're getting quite a theater fan, kitty, he said, I must
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take you to some other shows. I had no idea you liked this sort
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of thing. She drew a long breath and smiled at him. I like
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anything when I am with you, she said, and they held hands foolishly
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till the house lights dimmed and the curtain rose upon a lawyer's office. The
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lawyer was of the underworld, a man everlastingly on the verge of being struck
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off the rolls. He had betrayed a client with whom he had had dealings,
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and the man had gone to prison for a long term, but had
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escaped. Now the news had come that he had left Australia and was in
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London waiting his opportunity to destroy the man whose treachery was responsible for his capture.
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Here was a note to which the heart of the girl responded. Even
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Monty found himself leaning forward as the old, familiar cant turns of his trade
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came across the footlights. It is quite all right, he said at the
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second interval, only he hesitated. Isn't it a bit too near the real
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thing? After all, one doesn't come to the theater to see He stopped,
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realizing that conditions and situations familiar to him were novel enough to a fashion
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of an audience which was learning for the first time that a busy was a
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detective and that a police informer went by the title of No's the lights up.
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He glanced round the house, and suddenly he started and caught her arm.
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Don't look for a moment, he said, averting his eyes. Then
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take a glance at the front row. Do you see anybody you know?
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Presently? She looked, Yes, that is the fellow you hate so much,
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isn't it Gonzales. They're all there, the three of them, said
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Monty. I wonder, he was troubled at the thought. I wonder if
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they're looking for you for me. They've nothing on me, Monty, he
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was silent. I'm glad you're not going back to that place to night,
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they'll trail you. Sure. Sure, He thought later that it was probably
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a coincidence that they were there at all. They seemed to show no interest
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in the box, but were chattering and talking and laughing to one another.
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Not once did their eyes come up to his level, and after a while
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he gained in confidence, though he was glad enough when the play was resumed.
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There were two scenes in the act. The first was the police station,
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the second the lawyer's room. The man was drunk and the detective had
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come to warn him that the ringer was after him. And then suddenly the
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lights on the stage were extinguished, and the whole house was in the dark.
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He was part of the plot. In this darkness, and in the
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very presence of the police, the threatened man was to be murdered. They
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listened intense silence, the girl craning her head forward, trying to pierce the
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dark, listening to the lines of intense dialog that were coming from the blackness
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of the stage. Somebody was in the room, a woman, and they
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had found her. She slid from the stage detective's grasp and vanished, and
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when the lights went up, she was gone. What has happened? Monty
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she whispered. He did not answer. Do you think She looked round at
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him. His head was resting on the plush covered ledge of the box.
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His face turned towards her, was gray, The eyes were closed, and
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his teeth showed in a hideous grin. She screamed, Monty, Monty.
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She shook him again. Her scream rang to the house. At first the
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audience thought that it was a woman driven hysterical by the tenseness of the stage
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situation, and then one or two people rose from their stalls and looked up.
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Monty, speak to me, he's dead, He's dead. Three seats
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in the front row had emptied the screens of the hysterical girl, made it
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impossible for the scene to proceed, and the curtain came down quickly. The
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house was seething with excitement. Every face was turned towards the box, where
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she knelt by the side of the dead man, clasping him in her arms,
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and the shrill agony in her voice was unnerving. The door of the
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box swung open, and Manford dashed in one glance. He gave it Monte
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Newton, and he needed no other Get the girl out, he said curtly.
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Leon tried to draw her from the box, which she was a shrieking
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fury. You did it, You did it. Let me go to him.
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Leon lifted her from her feet, and clawing wildly at his face,
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she was carried from the box. The manager was running along the passage,
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and Leon sent him on with a jerk of his head. And then a
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woman in evening dress came from somewhere. May I take her, she said,
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and the exhausted girl collapsed into her arms. Gonzalez flew back to the
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box. The man was lying on the floor, and the manager, standing
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at the edge of the box, was addressing the audience. The gentleman is
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fainted, and I'm afraid his friend has become a little hysterical. I must
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apologize to you, ladies and gentlemen for this interruption. If you will allow
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us a minute to clear the box, the play will be resumed. If
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there was a doctor in the house, I should be glad if he would
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come. There were two doctors within reach and in the passage, which was
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now guarded by a commissionaire. A hasty examination was made. They examined the
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punctured wound at the back of the neck, and then looked at one another.
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This is the snake, said one. The house mustn't know, said
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Manford. He's dead, of course, the doctor nodded out. In the
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passage was a big emergency exit door in this the manager pushed open, and
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running out into the street, found a cab into which all that was mortal
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of Monty Newton was lifted. Whilst this was being done, Pocart returned.
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His car has just driven off, he said, I saw the number plate
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as it turned into Lyle Street. How long ago? Asked Gonzales quickly.
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At this very moment, Leon pinched his lip thoughtfully, why didn't he wait?
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A wonder? He went back through the emergency door, which was being
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closed, and passed up the passage towards the entrance. The box was on
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the dress circle level, and the end of a short passage brought him into
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the circle itself. And then the thought of the lame man occurred to him,
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and his eyes sought the first seat in the front row, which was
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also the seat nearest to the boxes the man had gone. As he made
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this discovery, George emerged from the passage. Gurtherther said Leon, what a
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fool I am? But how clever? Gurther said Manfred in amazement, do
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you mean the man with the club foot? Leon nodded. He was not
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alone, of course, said Gonzalez. There must have been too her.
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Three of the gang here, men and women. Hobershon works these schemes out
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with the care and thoroughness of a general. I wonder where the management have
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taken the girl. He found the manager discussing the tragedy with two other men,
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one of whom was obviously associated with the production, and he signaled him
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aside the lady. I suppose she's gone home. She's left the theater.
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Which way did she go? Asked Gonzales in a sudden panic. The manager
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called the linkman, who had seen a middle aged woman come out of the
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theater with a weeping girl, and they had gone down the side street towards
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the little square at the back of the playhouse. She may have taken her
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home to Chester Square, said Manford. His voice belied the assumption of confidence.
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Leon had not brought his own machine, and they drove to Chester Square
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in a taxi. Fred the footman, had neither heard nor seen the girl,
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and nearly fainted when he learned of the tragic ending to his master's career.
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Oh my god, he groaned, and he only left here this afternoon.
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Dan dead, you say, Gonzalez nodded. Not not. The snake
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faltered the man. What do you know about the snake, demanded Madford sternly.
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Nothing except well, the snake made him nervous. I know he told
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me to day that he hoped he get through the week without a snake bite.
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He was questioned closely, but although it was clear that he knew something
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of his master's illicit transactions and that he was connected in business with Oberzon,
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the footman had no connection with the doctor's gang. He drew a large wage
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and percentage of profits on the gaming side of the business, and confessed that
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it was part of his duties to prepare stacks of cards and pass them to
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his master under cover of bringing in the drinks. But of anything more sinister,
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he knew nothing. The woman, of course, was a confederate who
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had been planted to take charge of the girl the moment the snake struck.
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I was in such a state of mind, confessed Leon, that I do
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not even remember what she looked like. I am a fool, a double
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dis stilled idiot. I think I must be getting old. There's only one
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thing for us to do, and that is to get back the Kurzon Street.
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Something may have turned up. Did you leave anybody in the house,
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Leon nodded yes. I left one of our men to take any phone messages
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that came through. They paid off the taxi before the house. Leon sprinted
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to the garage to get the car. The man who opened the door to
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them was he who had been tied up by the peddler at heavy Tree Farm,
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and his first words came as a shock to Manford. Digby's here,
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sir, Digby said the other in surprise. I thought he was on duty.
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He's been here since just after you left, Sir. If I'd known
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where you had gone, i'd have sent him to you. Digby came out
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of the waiting room at that moment, ready to apologize. I had to
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see you, sir, and I'm sorry him away from my post. You
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may not be missing much, said Manford, unsmilingly. Come upstairs and tell
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me all about it. Digby's story was a strange one. He had gone
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down that afternoon to the canal bank to make a reconnaissance of ground which was
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new to him. I'm glad I did too, because the walls have got
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broken glass on top. I went up into the old Kent Road and bought
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a garden hoe and prized the mortar loose so that if I wanted I could
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get over. And then I climbed round the water gate and had a look
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at that barge of his. There was nobody about, though I think they
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spotted me afterwards. It was a fairly big barge, and of course in
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a terrible state. But the hold is full of cargo. You know that,
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sir? Ye mean there is something in the barge? Digby nodded,
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Yes, it has a load of some kind. The after part where the
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barge's sleeping quarters are is full of rats and water, but the fore part
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of the vessel is water tight and it holds something heavy too. That is
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why the barge is down by its head and the mud. I was in
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the Thames Police and I know a lot about river craft. Is that what
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you came to tell? No, sir, it was something queerer than that.
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After I'd given the bar to look over and try to pull up some
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of the boards, which I didn't manage to do, I went along and
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had a look at the factory. It's not so easy to get in because
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the entrance faces the house, but to get to it you have to go
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half round the building, and that gives you a certain amount of cover.
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There was nothing I could see in the factory itself. He was in a
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terrible mess, full of old iron and burnt out boxes. I was coming
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round the back of the building. He went on impressively when I smelt a
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peculiar scent, a perfume, Yes, sir, it was perfume, but
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stronger, more like incense. I thought at first that might be an old
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bale of stuff that had been thrown out, or else I was deceiving myself.
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I began poking about in the rubbish heaps, but they didn't smell of
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scent. Then it went back into the building again, but there was no
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smell at all. It was very strong when I returned to the back of
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the factory, and then I saw a little waft the smoke come out of
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a ventilator close to the ground. My first idea was that the place was
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on fire, but when I knelt down, it was the scent Jowsticks,
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said Pochard quickly. That's what it was, said the detective. Like incense,
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yet not like it. I knelt down and listened at the grating,
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and I'd swear that I heard voices. They were very faint. Men's,
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No women's. Could you see anything, No, sir, it was a
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blind ventilator. There was probably a shaft there. In fact, I'm sure
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there was, because I pushed a stone through one of the holes and heard
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it drop some distance down. There may be an underground room there, said
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Pochard. And somebody's burnt jaw sticks to sweeten the atmosphere under the factory.
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It's not in the plans of the building. I've had them from the surveyor's
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office and examine them, said George. Although surveyor's plans aren't infallible, a
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man like Oberjehan would not hesitate to break so unimportant a thing as building law.
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Leon came in at that moment. Heard the story was in complete agreement
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with Wockhart's theory. I wondered, at the time we saw the plans,
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whether we ought to accept that is conclusive, he said. The store was
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built at the end of nineteen fourteen, when architects and builders took great liberties
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and pleaded the extingencies of the war. Digby went on with his story.
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I was going back to the barge to get past the water gate, but
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I saw the old man coming down the steps of the house, so I
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climbed the wall. And very glad I was that I'd shifted that broken glass,
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or I should never have got over. Manfred pulled his watch from his
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pocket with a frown. They had lost nearly an hour of precious time with
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their inquiries in Chester Square. I hope we're not too late, he said,
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ominously. Now Leon, But Leon had gone down the stairs in three
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strides. End of Chapter twenty nine.