The Master Detective by Percy James Brebner

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No. 3 Cedars Road was quite a small house--forty pounds a year perhaps,
and Miss Belford was a more attractive person than I expected to find. I
don't know why, but I had expected to see a typical old maid; instead of
which I was met by a young woman who had considerable claims to beauty.
She opened the door herself, her maid being out, and was astonished when
I said the Vicar of St. Ethelburga's had sent me.

She asked me in to a small but tastefully appointed dining-room, and when
I told her my news, seemed more concerned on her aunt's account than at
the loss of the chalice.

"Poor auntie!" she exclaimed. "Whilst she had the jewels she was always
afraid some one would steal them, and now--now some one has."

"Mr. Harding thought you would have a photograph of the chalice," I said.

"I am sorry, I haven't. There were two or three, but I don't know
what auntie did with them. She was a dear, but had funny little
secretive ways."

"Mr. Harding led me to suppose she was eccentric," I said. "It is often
the way with wealthy old ladies."

"Wealthy!" she laughed. "She left me all she had, and I shall not be able
to afford to go on living here."

"How came she to give the jewels to the church then?"

"I hardly know, and I will confess that I was a little disappointed when
she did so. Does that sound very ungrateful in view of the fact that she
left me everything else!"

"No. It is natural under the circumstances."

"She was very fond of me, but as I have said, she was secretive and she
certainly did not give me her entire confidence. I fancy the jewels were
connected with some romance in her past life, and for that reason she did
not wish any one else to possess them."

"You can't give me any idea of the nature of this romance, Miss Belford?"

"No."

"It might possibly help me."

"There is one thing I could do," she said. "My aunt had a very old
friend living in Yorkshire. She would be likely to know, and under the
circumstances might tell. If you think it would be any use I will
write to her."

"I wish you would."

"If a romance in my aunt's life had something to do with the robbery, it
seems strange that the jewels have been safe so long. They were always
kept in the house. I should have thought it would have been easier to
steal them from here than from the church."

"I do not think we can be sure of that," I said.

"Besides, the jewels have been quite safe at St. Ethelburga's for
eighteen months," she added.

"That is a point I admit. I understand that you work in Mr. Harding's
parish, so you know Mr. Hayes, of course."

"I have not been brought much in contact with him. I have sung once or
twice at his hooligan club entertainments. He has made a great success
of the club."

"Regenerating ruffians and drafting them into church work, eh?"

"I believe he has had great influence with them."

"I am going to visit that club to-night."

"You will find he is doing a great work. You will--surely you are not
thinking--"

"That reformation may be only skin deep? I am, Miss Belford. The daily
environment of these fellows makes it easy for them to slip back into
their old ways."

From Walham Green I went to Chelsea. I wanted to see Zena Quarles, and
there was nothing more to be done in the chalice case until I had visited
the hooligan club. Not for a moment would I appear to sneer at the
regenerating work which may be accomplished by such institutions, but
experience has taught me that it is often the cakes and ale, so to speak,
which attract, while character remains unchanged, or at the best very
thinly veneered. There are always exceptions, of course. It is difficult
for the uninitiated to realize that men go in for crime as a means of
livelihood, and are trained to become expert even as others are trained
to succeed in respectable professions. Many grades go to make up a
successful gang, and I had great hope of recognizing some youngster's
face at the club which would give me a clue to the gang which had worked
this robbery.

"You're the very man I was thinking about," said Quarles when I was shown
into the dining-room. "You have come to tell me that you are on these
hotel robberies. Sit down, Wigan. How goes the inquiry?"

"You are wrong, professor. I was on the job for a day and a half, but
I'm off it again. I am investigating the theft of a jeweled chalice."

"Left in a cheap safe in an insecure vestry, I suppose," he said
in a tone of disgust. "Serves them right. Such things should be
kept in a bank."

I explained that it was only kept in the vestry safe until it could be
returned to the bank, but the fact did not seem to impress him.

He made no suggestion that we should adjourn to that empty room, where we
had discussed so many cases. I told him the story, although I was not
seeking his help, and he was not interested enough to ask a single
question when I had finished. He only wanted to discuss the hotel
robberies.

"I am going to that club this evening," I went on.

"The fact doesn't interest me," he returned snappishly.

"Fortunately I didn't come for your help; I wanted to see Zena."

"She's out and won't be home until late."

"And your temper's gone out, too, eh, Professor?"

"What do you mean?"

"That you are simply lusting to be on the warpath," I laughed. "It might
do you good to come and see the hooligans with me to-night. Besides, if
we could settle the chalice case promptly we might be investigating the
hotel robberies before the end of the week."

This suggestion clinched the matter. He came, believing possibly that I
congratulated myself upon having drawn him into the affair, which was not
a fact. I was glad of his company, but I did not want his help.

Knowing something of such places, this hooligans' club astonished me. The
raw material was rough enough, but Mr. Hayes had worked wonders with it.
His personality had made no particular impression on me that morning, but
his achievement proved him a man of force and character. Quarles was
evidently interested in him and his work. If what the vicar had told me
about his curate had left even a faint speculation regarding his
integrity in my mind, it was dissipated.

Visitors to the club were not an infrequent occurrence, Mr. Hayes told
us. He was rather proud that the institution had served as a type on
which to form others.

"There mustn't be too much religion," he said. "The flotsam and jetsam of
life have to learn to be men and women first. Some of them are learning
to be men here."

While I listened to him I had been eagerly scanning the faces before me.
There was not one I recognized. I wandered about the room, feigning
interest in the game of bagatelle which was going forward with somewhat
noisy excitement, and stood by chess and draught players for a few
moments to study their faces closely. I looked keenly at each new
arrival, but my clue was yet to seek.

Suddenly a young fellow entered, rather smarter than most of them, and I
recognized him at once. Possibly the hooligans' club had been his
salvation, but he had been bred amongst thieves, thieves I knew and had
handled at times.

"I began to think you weren't coming to-night, Squires."

"Just looked in to say I can't come, sir," was the answer. "Got a chance
of a place, sir, and going to look after it."

"That's right. Good luck to you. You can refer to me, you know."

"Thank you, sir."

With a careless word to two or three of the youths as he passed down the
room, Squires sauntered out.

"That's our man," I whispered to Quarles, and without waiting to take
leave of Mr. Hayes, I hastened to the door. Squires was going slowly down
the street, no evidence of alarm about him, no desire apparently to lose
himself in the crowd. He had not got very far when Quarles joined me,
keen now there was a trail to follow.

"I know the gang he used to be friendly with," I said as we began to
follow, "although I've got nothing definite against this youngster. It
was this gang, I believe, that worked the series of frauds on jewelers
three years ago, although we never brought it home to them. Just the men
to deal with a jeweled chalice, eh, professor? I expect young Squires
recognized me and guesses I am after it."

Our object was to track young Squires to his destination. Since he was
connected with St. Ethelburga's through the hooligan club, it was quite
likely he had had a direct hand in the robbery, but it was certain others
were the prime movers, and I guessed he was on the way to warn them that
I was on the trail.

At the corner of a street he stopped to speak to a man and a woman, and
we were obliged to interest ourselves in a convenient shop door. He stood
at the corner talking for at least ten minutes. Quarles thought he was
having words with the woman, but it could not have been much of a quarrel
for none of the passersby took any particular notice of them. Presently
the man and woman crossed the street arm in arm, and Squires sauntered
round the corner. We were quickly at the corner, afraid of losing sight
of him. He was still in sight, still walking slowly. Once he turned to
light a cigarette, and after that he increased his pace a little.

"It's evident he lied when he said he was going to look for a job,"
I remarked.

"But it's not so evident that one of us ought not to have followed the
man and woman," said Quarles. "They may have gone to do the warning."

"I think not," I answered. "If you have noted our direction you will find
we have traveled a pretty circuitous route. He'll wait until he thinks he
is safe from pursuit, and then take a bee line for his destination."

As if he would prove my words Squires mended his pace, swinging down one
street and up another as if he had suddenly become definite. At corners
he gained on us, I think he must have run the moment he was out of sight,
and in one short street we were only just in time to see him disappear
round a corner.

"I'm going to give this up soon, Wigan," said Quarles as we hurried in
pursuit. "I don't care how many jewels the chalice had in it."

We were round the corner. Squires had disappeared, but we could hear
running feet in the distance.

"That settles it," said Quarles, coming to halt a dozen yards from the
corner. "Go on if you like, Wigan, but--"

I heard no more. Something struck me, enveloped me, and there was an end.
I am not very sure when a new beginning happened. Perhaps it is only an
after consideration which makes me remember a whirring sound in my ears,
and a certain swinging motion, and a murmur which was soothing. I am
quite sure of the pain which subsequently came to me. My head was big
with it, my limbs twisted with it. I was conscious of nothing else for a
period to which I cannot place limits. Then there was fire in my throat.

I was sitting in the angle of a wall, on the floor; at a little distance
from me was a light which presently resolved itself into a candle stuck
in the neck of a bottle. There were moving shadows--I saw them, I think,
before I was conscious of the man and woman who made them. The man had
just poured brandy down my throat, the girl, with her arms akimbo,
watched him.

"He'll do now," said the man.

"Can't see why we take such trouble to keep death away," was the
woman's answer.

"Are you in love with the hangman?"

The girl laughed, caught up the bottle, making the shadows dance like a
delirium, then I slipped back into darkness again.

All kinds of things came into my mind after that, disordered dreams, and
then I heard my name.

"Wigan! Wigan!"

I was still sitting in an angle of a wall, trussed like a fowl, but I
was awake.

"Is that you, Professor?"

"No more hooligan clubs, Wigan."

"What happened?"

"I remember turning a corner," Quarles answered, "and I woke up here. We
were sandbagged, or something of the kind, and serves us right. If we
wanted to follow any one we ought to have followed the man and woman. Can
you drag yourself over to this corner? We can talk quietly then."

It was rather a painful and lengthy operation, but I fancy the effort did
me good. My brain was clearer, I began to grip things again.

"Where are we?" I said.

"Locked in a cellar, but where I do not know. We're lucky to be no worse
off, and probably I'm especially lucky in not having been sandbagged by
the man who dealt with you. He would probably have closed my account, for
he must have hit you a tremendous blow. I had come to myself before the
man and woman brought you brandy. I just moved to show I wasn't dead and
watched them."

"You'll know them again."

"They both wore masks. About this chalice, Wigan."

"No doubt we've hurried it into the melting pot," I returned.

"I've been half asleep since our friend left us, but I've done some
thinking, too. Reminded of my empty room by this cellar, I expect. There
are one or two curious points about this chalice."

"Are they worth considering--now?"

"I think so. It will serve to pass the time. I didn't take any interest
in your story at the time, but I think I remember the facts. You must
correct me if I go wrong. First, then, we may take it as certain that the
church was not broken into in an ordinary way. We assume, therefore, that
some one connected with the church had a hand in the robbery. You
satisfied yourself that an entry was not effected by the only possible
window, we therefore ask who had keys of the church. The answer would
appear to be the vicar, the verger, and possibly, even probably, Mr.
Hayes. Had keys been in the possession of any other person for any
purpose, either temporarily or otherwise, the vicar--I am assuming his
integrity--would have mentioned it. Now the vicar does not suggest that
he has any suspicion against the verger, nor do you appear to have
entertained any, but Mr. Harding does suggest a suspicion of his curate
by mentioning his debts and his dealings with money lenders."

"It was under pressure. I am convinced he has no real suspicion."

"At any rate his story influenced you. You made some inquiries
concerning Mr. Hayes. That is an important point. Had you not heard at
the same time of this hooligan club, you would probably have made further
inquiries about the curate. I think you missed something."

"Oh, nonsense. You've seen the man and must appreciate--"

"His worth," said Quarles. "I do, but he leads to speculation. Let us
consider the safe for a moment. There were marks from a blow of the
chisel on the wall, scratches on the safe door, and by the keyhole, but
you are satisfied that the safe was opened with a key, yet the vicar's
key will not turn the lock. Why should an expert thief trouble to make
these marks or to suggest that the safe had been broken open, even to
the extent of jamming the lock in some way? The only possible
explanation would be that the expert wished to leave the impression than
an amateur had been at work. I can see no reason why he should wish to
do so, and at any rate he failed. You were not deceived; you looked for
the expert at once."

"And the hunter has been trapped. We were hotter on the trail than I
imagined."

"It is a warning to me to keep out of cases in which I feel no interest,"
said Quarles. "Still, circumstances have aroused my interest now. There
is no doubt, Wigan, that there was every reason to look for an amateur in
this business, and in spite of the hooligan club, you seem to have been
half conscious of this fact. You would have been glad to know what the
romance connected with the jewels was. Not idle curiosity, I take it, but
a grasping for a clue in that direction. Miss Belford cannot help you
beyond writing to her aunt's old friend in Yorkshire, yet had it not been
for the hooligans' club, I fancy you would have followed this trail more
keenly. According to Miss Belford, apart from the jewels, her aunt had
not left sufficient to enable the niece to go on living in Cedars Road,
yet while Miss Morrison was alive it was sufficient, apparently. Of
course the niece may have more expensive tastes, but under the
circumstances it was rather a curious statement. She believes that a past
romance was the reason why the jewels were left to the church, and she
admits that she was disappointed they were not left to her. It seems
possible, doesn't it, that at one time she hoped to have them after her
aunt's death? That would mean there was no valid reason why she
shouldn't, and I think you might reasonably have speculated that she knew
more of the romance than she admitted."

"You wouldn't have thought so if you had talked with her."

"Possibly not," returned Quarles. "I started handicapped in this case, I
was not interested in it; Zena was not at hand to ask one of her absurd
questions, which have so often put me on the right road. The road we have
traveled has landed us here, and I have been thinking of another road we
might have traveled. We will forget the hooligans' club. We start with
the assumption that the robbery was the work of an amateur, we have ample
reasons for thinking so. We do not suspect the vicar, we are inclined to
exonerate the verger, and we finally decide that Mr. Hayes is innocent.
We are met with a difficulty at once. How was the church entered? We may
assume that some person in the Sunday evening congregation remained
hidden in the church, committed the burglary, opening the safe with a
duplicate key, marking the wall and the door, and giving a wrench to the
lock to suggest ordinary thieves. Had it not been for the hooligan club,
these efforts to mislead would not have been very successful, I fancy.
They show that the amateur had small knowledge of the ways of experts.
The thief, having secured the chalice, is still locked in the church. How
to escape? It is a case of an all night vigil. When the verger arrives on
Monday morning and passes through the church towards the vestry, the
thief slips out. Now it is obvious that to make this possible the thief
must have known a great deal about the church and its working, must have
come in contact with the vicar constantly, or it would have been
impossible to get an impression of the safe key. We therefore look
amongst the church workers for the thief."

"Your deductions would be more interesting were we not lying trussed in
this cellar," I said. "I am trying to wriggle some of these knots loose."

"That's right," said Quarles, "When you are free you can undo me. My dear
Wigan, it is the fact that we are in this cellar which makes these
deductions so interesting. The chalice was stolen for the sake of the
jewels, that is evident, or the thief would have taken the gold paten as
well; and the jewels have a romance attached to them. We don't know what
that romance is, but we have an eccentric old lady the possessor of the
jewels; we have reason to suppose that she was not otherwise rich, and we
have a niece apparently ignorant of her aunt's past. She admits
disappointment that the jewels were left to the church; she complains
that her own circumstances are straitened. In spite of the fact that she
lives in Walham Green, she becomes, after her aunt's death, a worker in
St. Ethelburga's parish in Bloomsbury. We have in Miss Belford one who
knows the general working of the church, one who has been brought in
contact with the vicar--Mr. Harding said he knew her very well,
remember; and moreover she is closely connected with the jewels. It is
possible, even, that she knows the romance behind the jewels and feels
that they are hers by right and ought never to have been given to the
church. This would account entirely for such a woman turning thief."

"The fact remains we are in this cellar," I said.

"It is a very interesting fact," said Quarles. "Of course I cannot be
sure that the man and woman who were in this cellar were the same young
Squires met, but I believe they were. The woman stood with her arms
akimbo in each case, the position was identical. They learnt from young
Squires that we were following and went off to warn some of their fellows
who waited for us, Squires leading us into the trap by arrangement. The
gang has beaten us, Wigan."

"And the chalice is in the melting pot," I remarked.

"I don't believe the gang knows anything about the chalice," said the
professor quietly.

"Not know! Why--"

"Wigan, you stopped to speak to a colleague engaged on the hotel
robberies this morning. You were seen, I believe. It was immediately
assumed that you were on that job, and when Squires saw you to-night at
the club he thought you were after the hotel robbers. Without being aware
of it we were probably hot on their track."

"It is impossible," I said.

"Why should it be?" Quarles asked. "Once get a fixed idea in the mind,
and it is exceedingly difficult to give opposing theories their due
weight. The hooligan club got into your mind. There were many reasons why
it should, especially with Mr. Hayes as the connecting link; you could
not believe him guilty so you fell back upon the club. One other point, a
very important one. The chalice was only used on great festivals and
certain Saints' days. There are several reasons why the robbery would be
difficult on a great festival. The church would not be in its normal
condition, owing to decorations or increased services, perhaps; besides,
the thief--a church worker we assume--might be missed from some function
connected with the church which would cause suspicion. On the other hand,
many Saints' days occur in the week when there is no late evening
service, perhaps, and if there is, only a small congregation. It would be
remembered who was present. The chalice was stolen on a Saints' day which
happened to fall on a Sunday, and must therefore remain in the church all
night. How many people do you suppose know which Saints' days were
specified by Miss Morrison? Very few. I warrant you were not far from the
chalice when you were talking to Miss Belford. How are you getting on
with your knots, Wigan?"

"I am not tied so tightly as I might be."

"Good. With luck you may yet be in time to prevent Miss Belford
getting away."

"I don't believe she has anything to do with the chalice," I answered.

"All the same, I should take another journey to Walham Green," said
Quarles. "When one is dealing with a woman it is well to remember that
she is more direct than a man, is inclined to use simpler methods, and is
often more thorough. Witness the man and woman in this cellar. The man
gave you brandy to revive you: the woman didn't see any reason why you
shouldn't die. She interested me. A woman like that is a source of
strength to a gang. I fancy there is a glimmer of daylight through a
grating yonder."

I got free from my bonds after a time, and I undid Quarles. The cellar
door was a flimsy affair, my shoulder against the lock burst it open at
once. No one rushed to prevent our escape. The house was as silent as
the grave.

"Our captors have decamped," said Quarles. "We must have been hot upon
the trail last night, Wigan."

The house was empty apparently, but we did not search it thoroughly then.
Escape was our first thought. I could give instructions to the first
constable we met to keep a watch on the house. We left by an area and
found ourselves at the end of a blind road in Hampstead. The house was
detached, and fifty yards or more from its nearest neighbor.

"Reserved for future investigation," Quarles remarked. "Our first
business is the jeweled chalice."

Only a dim light had found its way through the cellar grating, but the
day had begun. There was the rumble of an early milk cart. In spite of
aching head and stiff limbs, only one idea possessed us; and the first
taxi we found took us to Walham Green.

Miss Belford had gone. She must have left the house yesterday within half
an hour of my leaving it. Inquiry subsequently proved that her servant
had left on the Saturday, and that during the last week Miss Belford had
disposed of her furniture just as it stood.

Quarles was right, although we had no actual proof until some months
later, when we had almost forgotten the jeweled chalice.

Miss Belford wrote to Mr. Harding. The jewels were left to Miss Morrison,
she said, by an old lover. Why they had not married she could not say,
but from old letters it appeared there had been a quarrel, and the man
had married elsewhere. Miss Belford was the daughter of that marriage.
She was not really Miss Morrison's niece, although she had always called
her aunt. The jewels were left to Miss Morrison absolutely, to sell or do
as she liked with, but Miss Belford declared that, in a letter which was
with the jewels when Miss Morrison received them after Mr. Belford's
death, and which she afterwards found amongst her papers, her father
evidently expected that his daughter would ultimately benefit. The letter
went on to explain how the theft had been accomplished, and the letter
concluded:

"Had I known my aunt contemplated giving the jewels to the church, I
should have taken them before, because I had always expected them to come
to me. They were presented before I knew anything about it. I could do
nothing, I was dependent upon her. When I found my father's letter I knew
I had been robbed--that is the word, Mr. Harding, robbed. In taking the
chalice I have only taken what belongs to me. On reflection you will
probably consider that I was quite justified."

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