Chapter XIII

IN WHICH A BRIGADIER-GENERAL DOES HIS BIT, AND M. PIIP IS MOST
COMMUNICATIVE, BUT THE POLICE ARE QUITE PROPERLY BAFFLED

The days of Arthur Wharton's absence from London were evil days for the political outcasts of that city. Inspector Blaikie, given a free hand by his superior, called in the aid of the Special Branch, and put its officers on the track of Rosenbaum, to the immense delight of Brigadier-General Sir Evan Bunker. Bunker was not an intelligent man--it was said that this defect of his had cost several thousand men their lives during the war--but he was immensely energetic. Things had been very slack of late at the Special Branch, and the chasing of Rosenbaum afforded a magnificent opportunity for the display of the General's qualities.

Bunker's methods lacked _finesse_. Under his direction, every known haunt of advanced opinion in or near the metropolis was raided and searched from top to bottom. A full-dress raid on the King Street headquarters of the Communist Party resulted only in the seizure of a quantity of "seditious" literature. The Liberty Club in Clerkenwell, haunt of a leading Anarchist group, was raided twice, despite the fact, unknown to the Special Branch, that its members looked on Bolsheviks as a shade worse than kings or capitalists. The East End of London was combed fine for suspicious characters, and quite an army of Rosenbaums was interrogated, and several detained for a few hours until they could prove their identity. None of them was the man. Even the Nineteen Seventeen Club was politely visited, while Mr. Ramsay MacDonald was delivering a lecture on the horrors of Bolshevism.

All in vain. Neither Radlett's dead body, nor Radlett himself in durance vile, was discovered; and Rosenbaum appeared to have vanished into thin air. Every failure stirred General Bunker to more colossal exertions.

Blaikie, meanwhile, pursued his inquiries in a less vigorous fashion. After some trouble, he succeeded in finding the driver of the taxi which had picked up Rosenbaum at Victoria. This was a step forward, but it did not greatly advance matters. Rosenbaum had driven from Victoria to London Bridge Station, where, as inquiries among the porters ultimately revealed, he had repeated almost without variation the procedure he had followed at Victoria. Asking a porter to take charge of his trunk for a few minutes, he had gone into the station. After studying the station indicator, he had returned to say that he had mistaken his train, and found he must drive to Charing Cross. Another taxi had been procured, and he had driven off again, still with his trunk. There, so far, the track ended, for Blaikie could neither find the taxi which had picked him up at London Bridge, nor discover any recollection of him among the porters at Charing Cross. Probably he had not gone there, but had directed the taxi to some other destination. Blaikie tried all the main line stations without success.

The Inspector had a further talk with Mr. Culpepper on the day following the discovery of the crime, journeying down to Enfield to find him. He was received in a stuffy Victorian sitting-room by Miss Culpepper, who informed him that her brother, prostrated by the shock of his experiences, had taken to his bed. Blaikie had some difficulty in persuading the lady to let him go up to see the invalid, for she maintained firmly that he was very "low," and must on no account be again upset. But finally Blaikie had his way, and was able to question the little man further. About the actual circumstances of the crime, Culpepper had nothing fresh to tell. He did not know Rosenbaum, apart from meeting him at the hotel, and he said he had no suspicion at all of his motives in killing Radlett. But he was able to throw a little fresh light on the case as a whole. Radlett, he said, had been in France several times of late, and had visited him both at his flat in Paris and in his little house on the coast of Normandy. The American millionaire, he told Blaikie, had been travelling a good deal about Europe, using the name "Restington," in order to avoid rousing curiosity. He had been engaged in perfecting his negotiations with the Soviet Government, and had paid several visits to Russia. Culpepper said he had known Radlett years ago in Russia, and the acquaintance had been renewed through John Pasquett, who was an old acquaintance of his own.

Blaikie asked him then about Pasquett. Culpepper said that he had known him, too, in Russia. Then he had lost sight of him until about a year ago, when they had met, quite accidentally, in the streets of Paris. Pasquett had introduced him to Radlett, who was with him at the time. He had found that Pasquett, though not short of money, which Radlett readily provided, was out of a job, and had nothing in particular to do until Radlett's Russian plans matured. Culpepper at the time was needing a commercial agent for his own firm at Reval, and, as Pasquett had been living there, he offered him the job. Since then, Pasquett had been his agent, residing at Reval, but making frequent journeys to Paris and to the principal markets of Central Europe.

"Then you know where he is now?" asked the Inspector eagerly.

Culpepper did not positively know, but he thought Pasquett was probably in Warsaw. He knew he had business to do there and in one or two other Polish towns before coming to London. He (Culpepper) was expecting him in London in about a week's time, and had intended to stay and see him before returning to his home in Paris.

"You do not live here, then? This is not your house?"

It was not, Culpepper replied; it was his sister's. But he usually stayed with her when he was in London. His own flat was in the Place Geneviève in Paris; but during the summer he spent a good deal of time at his bungalow at Paramé, where his wife and daughter were actually staying at that moment. He had now been in London for about a week, and was proposing to return as soon as he had seen Pasquett.

"You were not concerned in this Russian concession of Mr. Radlett's?"

"Not directly," said Culpepper, although he had hoped, with Radlett's help, to work up a certain amount of exporting trade of his own to Russia, especially Siberia. It was important to him, he made plain, that the concession should go through. Radlett's death had been a very severe blow, especially as Pasquett had no resources of his own, and Culpepper could not see how the affair was to be carried through without the help of Radlett's money.

"You know Lord Ealing. You knew, I suppose, that the Anglo-Asiatic were to become partners in it?"

"Not from Lord Ealing." Culpepper's dealings with the Anglo-Asiatic had been on commercial business of his own, and in the matter of the concession he had only acted as bearer of certain of Radlett's letters, which he had not seen. It was Pasquett who had told him that Lord Ealing was coming in.

"He told you nothing else?"

"Yes." Pasquett had told Culpepper that he did not much like the proposed participation of the Anglo-Asiatic, and that he thought he could work the thing better in co-operation with a French financial syndicate. But Radlett had been set on bringing in Lord Ealing. Culpepper said he wondered what Pasquett would do now.

"Well, that's not my business," said Blaikie. And, a few minutes later, he bade his visitor good-bye.

Partly as a matter of routine, Blaikie set about verifying the account which Culpepper had given of himself and his affairs. Inquiries of the French police showed that he had spoken the exact truth. He was well known in business circles in Paris, his firm was in quite a comfortable way, and its reputation as good as most. He had a flat in the Place Geneviève, and a small villa at Paramé, where his wife and daughter were at present residing. Pasquett was known to the Paris police as one of his business agents, but his present whereabouts were not known. He was believed to be abroad. Of Radlett and Rosenbaum, the Paris police knew nothing at all.

All this was no more and no less than Blaikie had expected, but it did not help him in the least in getting on Rosenbaum's trail, which, after all, was the only matter that really concerned him. There remained but one other way of tracking Rosenbaum, so far as he could see. This was to follow his course backwards, in the hope of finding some clue to his present whereabouts. Radlett and his secretary had arrived at Sugden's Hotel on the day preceding the murder. They were believed to have come straight from somewhere on the Continent, but it was not known whence or how they had come. Radlett's last known location had been at Reval, and they might, of course, have come thence all the way by sea. A ship had arrived from Reval on the day before the crime, but the passenger list was small, and it did not take Blaikie long to assure himself that neither Radlett nor his secretary had been on board. This eliminated, numerous possibilities were left. They might have travelled by any of the Continental routes, sailing from any of the ports in Germany or Holland or Belgium or France, or even from Sweden.

In fact, however, the search was not a long one. Examination of the steamship records showed that "Restington" and Rosenbaum had crossed from Ostend to Dover by the regular night service on the night preceding their arrival at Sugden's Hotel. Blaikie went down to Dover and made careful inquiries among the crew of the boat. But none of them had noticed either of the two men--there had been numerous passengers, they said. The passport and customs officers, who had had a very busy time, were also quite unhelpful. They remembered "Restington's" luggage, because of the mineral specimens which it had contained, but they had not noticed Rosenbaum, though they said that Restington had been in company with another man, and had passed his luggage through with his own.

These inquiries threw no fresh light on the case, and Blaikie reported to his superior that he had done all he could. Wilson had a message sent to the Ostend police, asking them to find out, if they could, whence the two men had travelled to Ostend; but it was unlikely that this could be discovered, or that the knowledge, if secured, would be of much help. Wilson further took steps to follow up all the other passengers who had been on the boat, in order to discover if any of them had spoken to Rosenbaum, or could throw any light on his probable movements. These inquiries were placed in the hands of the local police in the districts in which these passengers lived.

Quick results were not to be expected from such a procedure, and any result was most unlikely. The case seemed to have reached a dead end.

At this point came at last an answer to Scotland Yard's telegram from the police authorities at Reval. Wilson had asked for all available information about all the persons connected with the case, under every name by which he knew them--about Hugh Radlett and John Pasquett, and about any persons passing under the names of "Restington," "Rosenbaum," or "Robertson." The reply was long, and conveyed a good deal of information, which seemed to confirm the conclusions already drawn by the police. It was written in French, but is here presented in Scotland Yard's official translation.

"Concerning the persons of whom you ask, we are able to present the
following particulars.

(1) Hugh Radlett. We have never heard of this person, nor can we
trace any record of his having been in this city.

(2) John Pasquett. Has lived in this city, intermittently, for more
than a year, in a furnished flat. He came here from Soviet Russia,
and registered as a British subject, and is known at the British
Consulate. He has engaged in certain commercial dealings in this
city, where he represented the Paris house of Culpepper, and is
supposed to have business interests in Russia. He is a tall, fair
man, over six feet in height, clean-shaven, and powerfully built.
We have been able to procure a photograph of him, which we enclose.
He was last seen here some three weeks ago, when he told his
friends he was leaving on a business trip for Warsaw, after which
he was going to England. We have no knowledge of his subsequent
movements, but we will at once advise you if he returns. He bears,
we understand, an excellent reputation in this city.

(3) Restington. A Hugh Restington has stayed for a short period
in this city, according to our registration, as the guest of John
Pasquett mentioned above. He was a tall, dark man, with graying
dark hair and a gray moustache. He was registered as an American
citizen. Nothing further seems to be known of him here, save that
Pasquett spoke of him as his partner. He appears not to have gone
out much during his stay. Our only information of him comes from
our police and from the United States Consulate. He left here a
month ago for Soviet Russia.

(4) Robertson. Alfred Robertson is a well-known merchant here, the
head of the Reval branch of a firm of coal and general traders,
whose head office is in Berlin. He is much respected in this
city. He is short and stout, with fairish hair and moustache, aged
41. He has recently left this city for good, departing about a
fortnight ago for Cracow, where we understand he is opening a new
branch of his firm. He was well acquainted with Pasquett, who has
apparently used his office as a place of call for letters, and has
had business dealings with him.

(5) Rosenbaum. This man, a most dangerous character, is an
important Bolshevik agent, who gave us some time ago much trouble.
He is employed by the Third International, situate in Russia,
and is principally engaged in missions of agitation to the
Communist Parties of the various European countries. He has not
been in this country of late, so far as we are aware, but he was
deported recently from Latvia back to Russia. He passes under many
names--Smerloff, Boris Braun, and Asczinski. His real name, we
believe, is Ivan Rosenbaum. His actual appearance is not known to
us, as he is believed to be an adept at disguise. He is, of course,
a Jew. If he is in your country, beware of him. He is a man capable
of everything.

"We trust this information will be of use to you, and assure
you of our perfect anxiety to serve you in this and all other
matters.--PIIP, _Chief of Police_."

Inspector Blaikie whistled softly as he read this message, handed to him by the Superintendent. "So that's our man, is it? How the devil did he get Radlett to take him on as secretary?"

"That is not what puzzles me, Inspector. What I want to know is why he killed Radlett, if he did. Or carried him off."

"Wouldn't a man like this be capable of any crime, sir?"

"Oh, quite. But, if the Soviet Government gave Radlett the concession, why should one of their agents murder him in order to take it away again? If they did want to take it away, why not simply cancel it?"

"Perhaps it wasn't the concession he was after at all."

"Then what was it? No. I don't think that will do."

"Didn't Radlett say something about it being some extreme group of Bolsheviks, more extreme than Lenin's lot, who were after him?"

"Yes, he did. And I expect that's the answer. This fellow isn't an agent of the Soviet Government, but of the extreme group, whoever they are."

"That makes it all the worse, if he's at large in England."

"Undoubtedly. It looks as if he is a most dangerous man. But this message isn't much help towards finding him."

"But it does clear up one point in the case, sir. It tells us who Robertson is, and puts him out of the way."

"Hm, yes. It looks as if Robertson was only a convenient postal address. But that's neither here nor there. The point is to find Rosenbaum."

"I've had the Special Branch hard at it, sir, all this week. But there's no trace so far."

"Well, Blaikie, you must keep them at it. And you must have another try to follow the chap up yourself. Until we get on his track, there is positively nothing else we can do."

There, perforce, the police had to leave the case, for the moment. It seemed plain enough--save for the unfortunate fact that they could not catch the criminal. And there was that little additional mystery about Lord Ealing and his anxiety to get hold of some paper that had been in Radlett's possession. All the time this element of mystery gave Superintendent Wilson an uneasy feeling that he had not really got to the bottom of the hidden motives underlying the crime. He kept wondering about Lord Ealing's connection with the case, but he could find no answer to his riddle.