"Well," said Jimmie, "there isn't much more to it. A nice, gentle old lady it's she who you call Gwennie, I suppose opened the door to me. I was on the lookout for tricks, but she pretty well threw me off my guard when she denied that she knew Miss Olney although when I mentioned Miss Greye-Stratton's name she was as nice as pie and asked me right in into this very room.
"She asked me to sit down and went away as I supposed to fetch Miss Greye-Stratton. She was back in two or three minutes and she pitched me a little tale I suppose while things were being got good and ready for me. She told me that she was an old friend of Miss Greye-Stratton--"
"Didn't that strike you as curious, seeing she hadn't recognised the name of Olney?" asked Menzies.
"It didn't occur to me then," admitted Hallett. "I never gave it a thought. As I was saying, she declared that she was an old friend and that the girl had sought her advice in her difficulties. You can laugh, but I gulped it all down. Then there came a tap at the door. ' Peggy is ready to see you,' said she, and we got up. I held the door open for her and passed through close behind. The passage isn't well lighted, as you may have noticed, and as I half turned to close the door after me someone dropped a bag over my head and shoulders.
"I did my best but I didn't stand a dog's chance. If I'd had my arms free I might have done something, but that smothering bag prevented anything like an effective struggle. I had a gun but I couldn't get at it. There were three of them Gwennie and two men and I was dragged back into this room and handled.
"At last the two men managed to get hold of my wrists and held me while Gwennie drew the sack off. Then I was lashed and gagged as you found me.
"'Sorry to put you to this inconvenience, Mr. Hallett,' said Gwennie, ' but we just had to make sure of you.' I glared at her. Of course I couldn't answer. Laying as I was I couldn't see the faces of the two men they seemed to be purposely keeping out of my line of sight, but one of them struck in.
"'Think yourself lucky that we haven't put you right out.'
"'All right,' thinks I to myself, ' I know that voice.' It was that of the man who let me in at Linstone Terrace Gardens.
"'You keep quiet,' said Gwennie she seemed to be boss of the show. ' Now just listen to me, Mr. Hallett. You've been jolted into a business that is no concern of yours, and we're not the sort of people to allow our plans to be interfered with. It's up to us to keep your mouth shut about what you've seen or know, but you won't come to any harm unless our hands are forced. I'm afraid you'll have to put up with some discomfort for some hours, though, until we can make arrangements.'
"They lifted me up and carried me down that cellar and anything harder than the coal they laid me on I've never known. There was a clock I could hear striking somewhere, so I was able to keep track of time.
At about half-past ten last night Gwennie came down and loosened the gag and gave me something to eat and drink. She didn't forget to put it on again afterwards, though. After that I was left alone till I heard your voices above the trap-door though I never thought then that she'd diddle you as she has done."
"I've not finished yet, Mr. Hallett," said Menzies. "We're going to play this game out. It's one thing gained to know that Gwennie Lyne's in it Hello, there's a cab. That must be my constable back. Ah, and there's Congreve and a couple more men. It doesn't look as if we'd have stayed long in that cellar even if there hadn't been the coal-shoot. I'll have to decide what's to be done."
Chapter XIII
The only man who appeared at all hurried or excited was the constable. He had gained not only the number of the cab in which Gwennie and her companion had driven away, but the name of the driver and the location of his garage. He was visibly proud of his success, though perhaps a little disappointed that Menzies should accept it as a matter of course. Still there was the thrill not often encountered in street duty of feeling that he was at work side by side with one of the bestknown Scotland Yard detectives. It was none the less felt, although he had little idea of what was happening or what had happened.
His palpable excitement was in contrast to the imperturbable attitude of the detectives to whom the routine was familiar. They waited while Menzies swiftly scribbled a message to headquarters.
A definite stage had been reached in the investigation. The motive and identity of the murderer of the old man were still in doubt, but no longer was there any necessity for questing a trail. The law holds every person innocent until proved guilty, but common sense has at times to reverse the rule. No experienced police officer of any nationality would hesitate for a moment in forming an opinion even had the facts against Gwennie Lyne been much slighter than they were. Her mere reputation as an organiser of criminal coups was enough.
It might be difficult to bring home any proof of complicity in the murder, but there was now a legitimate reason for holding her (once she was caught) in the abduction of Hallett or even as a returned deportee. A suspect under lock and key has few opportunities of clouding a line of investigation. Menzies felt the elation of one who had viewed his quarry and could now run it down in the open. Once she and her friends were under arrest it would be easier to piece together the links connecting them with the murder.
He finished his despatch and folded and blotted it methodically. "Take that along to the station and have it wired off to the Yard at once," he ordered.
So he sent a warning that within an hour or less would reach each one of the six hundred odd detectives of London, to say nothing of the watchers of the ports. Not a single man of those six hundred going about his ordinary business but would shortly carry a photograph of Gwennie and be alert for any hint of her whereabouts. It was to that relentless, unceasing vigilance that Menzies pinned his faith rather than to the wearying task of following her up through the cabman who had driven her away. The cabman would only be able to say where he put her down, and she would have had ample time to cover her tracks.
"Did you get that search-warrant, Congreve? Right you are. You'd better start running over the house. I'll get some clothes and come back. What do you think about things, Mr. Hallett? Would you like to come along with me?"
Jimmie's lips were firm-pressed. "What are you doing about the girl?" he said. "She may be in danger. Isn't there something I can do?"
"You can't do anything but, keep cool," said Menzies. "It's no good over-running ourselves. That young lady's a lot more capable of taking care of herself than you seem to think. We're getting on as fast as we can. Something might turn up in searching the house that will give us a fresh start, seeing that Gwennie hustled out of it in such a hurry."
Even if Jimmie had been still resolved to chip in on a lone hand, he recognised that he was helpless. He could not act by himself. He had no organisation to back him and no means of following up the girl unless he stood in with the detectives. He nodded in token of his acquiescence in Menzies' dispositions and the latter led him to the taxi-cab outside.
They whirled away to Magersfontein Road, where Hallett gladly availed himself of an offer to eradicate most of the traces of the night's adventure. The chief inspector was waiting for him by the time he had finished a bath and a shave and made an energetic attack on his clothes with a brush. He also had changed. Flushed and cheerful, he looked more the churchwarden than ever by contrast with his late appearance.
"No need to hurry. Congreve won't have finished yet awhile and a bit of breakfast won't do any harm. Let me introduce Mrs. Menzies. And here's Bruin. Shake hands with Mr. Hallett, Bruin." He fondled the dog for a moment. "He's a rascal. Tried to spoil my garden yesterday, didn't you you wicked old sinner. Come and have a look at my patch, Mr. Hallett. It's not big, but I do fairly well with my roses."
"I never talk business when I'm at home and never think of it if I can help it. I do all my worrying on duty. Some men let a case get on their nerves. It never does any good," he said