The Poisoned Pen(Fiscle Part-3) - Arthur B. Reeve (best detective novels of all time TXT) 📗

Do Something Else,  And Do It Quickly."

 

He Was Looking About The Room In An Apparently Aimless Manner. On

The Side Wall Hung A Cheap Etching Of A Woodland Scene. Kennedy

Seemed Engrossed In It While The Rest Of Us Fidgeted At The Delay.

 

"Can You Get Me A Couple Of Old Telephone Instruments?" He Asked

At Length,  Turning To Us And Addressing The St. Cenis Detective.

 

The Detective Nodded And Disappeared Down The Hall. A Few Minutes

Later He Deposited The Instruments On A Table. Where He Got Them I

Do Not Know,  But I Suspect He Simply Lifted Them From Vacant

Rooms.

 

"Now Some Number 30 Copper Wire And A Couple Of Dry Cells,"

Ordered Kennedy,  Falling To Work Immediately On The Telephones.

The Detective Despatched A Bellboy Down To The Basement To Get The

Wire From The House Electrician.

 

Kennedy Removed The Transmitters Of The Telephones,  And Taking The

Carbon Capsules From Them Placed The Capsules On The Table

Carefully. Then He Lifted Down The Etching From The Wall And Laid

It Flat On Its Face Before Us. Quickly He Removed The Back Of The

Picture.

 

Pressing The Transmitter Fronts With The Carbon Capsules Against

The Paper And The Glass On The Picture He Mounted Them So That The

Paper And Glass Acted As A Large Diaphragm To Collect All The

Sounds In The Room.

 

"The Size Of This Glass Diaphragm," He Explained As We Gathered

Around In Intense Interest At What He Was Doing,  "Will Produce A

Strikingly Sensitive Microphone Action And The Merest Whisper Will

Be Reproduced With Startling Distinctness."

 

The Boy Brought The Wire Up And Also The News That The Couple In

Whose Room We Were Had Very Nearly Finished Luncheon And Might Be

Expected Back In A Few Minutes.

 

Kennedy Took The Tiny Wires,  And After Connecting Them Hung Up The

Picture Again And Ran Them Up Alongside The Picture Wires Leading

From The Huge Transmitter Up To The Picture Moulding. Along The

Top Of The Moulding And Out Through The Transom It Was Easy Enough

To Run The Wires And So Down The Hall To A Vacant Room,  Where

Craig Attached Them Quickly To One Of The Old Telephone Receivers.

 

Then We Sat Down In This Room To Await Developments From Our

Hastily Improvised Picture Frame Microphone Detective.

 

At Last We Could Hear The Elevator Door Close On Our Floor. A

Moment Later It Was Evident From The Expression Of Kennedy's Face

That Some One Had Entered The Room Which We Had Just Left. He Had

Finished Not A Moment Too Soon.

 

"It's A Good Thing That I Didn't Wait To Put A Dictograph There,"

He Remarked To Us. "I Thought I Wasn't Reckoning Without Reason.

The Couple,  Whoever They Are,  Are Talking In Undertones And

Looking About The Room To See If Anything Has Been Disturbed In

Their Absence."

 

Part 3 Chapter 9 (The Unofficial Spy) Pg 108

Kennedy Alone,  Of Course,  Could Follow Over His End Of The

Telephone What They Said. The Rest Of Us Could Do Nothing But

Wait,  But From Notes Which Craig Jotted Down As He Listened To The

Conversation I Shall Reproduce It As If We Had All Heard It. There

Were Some Anxious Moments Until At Last They Had Satisfied

Themselves That No One Was Listening And That No Dictograph Or

Other Mechanical Eavesdropper,  Such As They Had Heard Of,  Was

Concealed In The Furniture Or Back Of It.

 

"Why Are You So Particular,  Henri?" A Woman's Voice Was Saying.

 

"Louise,  I've Been Thinking For A Long Time That We Are Surrounded

By Spies In These Hotels. You Remember I Told You What Happened At

The Vanderveer The Night You And Madame Arrived? I'm Sure That

Waiter Overheard What Gonzales And I Were Talking About."

 

"Well,  We Are Safe Now Anyhow. What Was It That You Would Not Tell

Me Just Now At Luncheon?" Asked The Woman,  Whom Kennedy Recognised

As Madame De Nevers's Maid.

 

"I Have A Cipher From Washington. Wait Until I Translate It."

 

There Was A Pause. "What Does It Say?" Asked The Woman

Impatiently.

 

"It Says," Repeated The Man Slowly,  "That Miss Lovelace Has Gone

To Washington. She Insists On Knowing Whether The Death Of Marie

Was A Suicide Or Not. Worse Than That The Secret Service Must Have

Wind Of Some Part Of Our Scheme,  For They Are Acting Suspiciously.

I Must Go Down There Or The Whole Affair May Be Exposed And Fall

Through. Things Could Hardly Be Worse,  Especially This Sudden Move

On Her Part."

 

"Who Was That Detective Who Forced His Way To See Her The Night

They Discovered Marie's Body?" Asked The Woman. "I Hope That That

Wasn't The Secret Service Also. Do You Think They Could Have

Suspected Anything?"

 

"I Hardly Think So," The Man Replied. "Beyond The Death Of Madame

They Suspect Nothing Here In New York,  I Am Convinced. You Are

Sure That All Her Letters Were Secured,  That All Clues To Connect

Her With The Business In Hand Were Destroyed,  And Particularly

That The Package She Was To Deliver Is Safe?"

 

"The Package? You Mean The Plans For The Coaling Station On The

Pacific Near The Canal? You See,  Henri,  I Know."

 

"Ha,  Ha,--Yes," Replied The Man. "Louise,  Shall I Tell You A

Secret? Can You Keep It?"

 

"You Know I Can,  Henri."

 

"Well,  Louise,  The Scheme Is Deeper Than Even You Think. We Are

Playing One Country Against Another,  America Against--You Know The

Government Our Friend Schmidt Works For In Paris. Now,  Listen.

Those Plans Of The Coaling Station Are A Fake--A Fake. It Is Just

A Commercial Venture. No Nation Would Be Foolish Enough To Attempt

Such A Thing,  Yet. We Know That They Are A Fake. But We Are Going

To Sell Them Through That Friend Of Ours In The United States War

Department. But That Is Only Part Of The Coup,  The Part That Will

Give Us The Money To Turn The Much Larger Coups We Have In The

Future. You Can Understand Why It Has All To Be Done So Secretly

And How Vexatious It Is That As Soon As One Obstacle Is Overcome A

Dozen New Ones Appear. Louise,  Here Is The Big Secret. By Using

Those Fake Plans As A Bait We Are Going To Obtain Something Which

When We All Return To Paris We Can Convert Into Thousands Of

Francs. There,  I Can Say No More. But I Have Told You So Much To

Impress Upon You The Extreme Need Of Caution."

 

"And How Much Does Miss Lovelace Know?"

 

Part 3 Chapter 9 (The Unofficial Spy) Pg 109

Very Little--I Hope. That Is Why I Must Go To Washington Myself.

She Must Know Nothing Of This Coup Nor Of The Real De Nevers,  Or

The Whole Scheme May Fall Through. It Would Have Fallen Through

Before,  Louise,  If You Had Failed Us And Had Let Any Of De

Nevers's Letters Slip Through To Miss Lovelace. She Richly

Deserved Her Fate For That Act Of Treachery. The Affair Would Have

Been So Simple,  Otherwise. Luck Was With Us Until Her Insane

Jealousy Led Her To Visit Miss Lovelace. It Was Fortunate The

Young Lady Was Out When Madame Called On Her Or All Would Have

Been Lost. Ah,  We Owe You A Great Deal,  Louise,  And We Shall Not

Forget It,  Never. You Will Be Very Careful While I Am Gone?"

 

"Absolutely. When Will You Return To Me,  Henri?"

 

"To-Morrow Morning At The Latest. This Afternoon The False Coaling

Station Plans Are To Be Turned Over To Our Accomplice In The War

Department And In Exchange He Is To Give Us Something Else--The

Secret Of Which I Spoke. You See The Trail Leads Up Into High

Circles. It Is Very Much More Important Than You Suppose And

Discovery Might Lead To A Dangerous International Complication

Just Now."

 

"Then You Are To Meet Your Friend In Washington To-Night? When Do

You Start,  Henri? Don't Let The Time Slip By. There Must Be No

Mistake This Time As There Was When We Were Working For Japan And

Almost Had The Blue Prints Of Corregidor At Manila Only To Lose

Them On The Streets Of Calcutta."

 

"Trust Me. We Are To Meet About Nine O'clock And Therefore I Leave

On The Limited At Three-Thirty,  In About An Hour. From The Station

I Am Going Straight To The House On Z Street--Let Me See,  The

Cipher Says The Number Is 101--And Ask For A Man Named Gonzales. I

Shall Use The Name Montez. He Is To Appear,  Hand Over The Package-

-That Thing I Have Told You About--Then I Am To Return Here By One

Of The Midnight Trains. At Any Cost We Must Allow Nothing To

Happen Which Will Reach The Ears Of Miss Lovelace. I'll See You

Early To-Morrow Morning,  Ma Cherie,  And Remember,  Be Ready,  For

The Aquitania Sails At Ten. The Division Of The Money Is To Be

Made In Paris. Then We Shall All Go Our Separate Ways."

 

Kennedy Was Telephoning Frantically Through The Regular Hotel

Service To Find Out How The Trains Ran For Washington. The Only

One That Would Get There Before Nine Was The Three-Thirty; The

Next,  Leaving An Hour Later,  Did Not Arrive Until Nearly Eleven.

He Had Evidently Had Some Idea Of Causing Some Delay That Would

Result In Our Friend Down The Hall Missing The Limited,  But

Abandoned It. Any Such Scheme Would Simply Result In A Message To

The Gang In Washington Putting Them On Their Guard And Defeating

His Purpose.

 

"At All Costs We Must Beat This Fellow To It," Exclaimed Craig,

Waiting To Hear No More Over His Improvised Dictograph. "Come,

Walter,  We Must Catch The Limited For Washington Immediately.

Mcbride,  I Leave You And The Regular House Man To Shadow This

Woman. Don't Let Her Get Out Of Your Sight For A Moment."

 

As We Rode Across The City To The New Railroad Terminus Craig

Hastily Informed Me Of What He Had Overheard. We Took Up Our Post

So That We Could See The Outgoing Travellers,  And A Few Minutes

Later Craig Spotted Our Man From Mcbride's Description,  And

Succeeded In Securing Chairs In The Same Car In Which He Was To

Ride.

 

Taken Altogether It Was An Uneventful Journey. For Five Mortal

Hours We Sat In The Pullman Or Toyed With Food In The Dining-Car,

Never Letting The Man Escape Our Sight,  Yet Never Letting Him Know

That We Were Watching Him. Nevertheless I Could Not Help Asking

Myself What Good It Did. Why Did Not Kennedy Hire A Special If The

Affair Was So Important As It Appeared? How Were We To Get Ahead

Of Him In Washington Better Than In New York? I Knew That Some

Plan Lurked Behind The Calm And Inscrutable Face Of Kennedy As I

Part 3 Chapter 9 (The Unofficial Spy) Pg 110