Chapter LXII: Bullott’s Story

They dragged Clive Lowbridge to his feet, dazed and drunken with the drug. An ice-wet sponge applied to his face brought him at once to consciousness.

“Your name is Clive George Lowbridge; you are the ninth Baron Lowbridge. I am taking you into custody on the charge of wilfully murdering your cousin, Cyril Francis Lowbridge, by administering poison.”

“I think you’ll have some difficulty in proving that,” said Lowbridge, pale as death.

“Not so much as you would imagine. Sergeant Fanaby!”

A man came forward and, seeing him, the face of Clive Lowbridge became distorted with rage. It was Benson!

“You have been under suspicion since the death of your cousin, and under observation ever since you took this officer into your service,” said Inspector Bullott. “He has all the information necessary to convict you, and I need hardly tell you that I am not relying only on that charge.”

Heavily ironed, Lowbridge was carried from the deck and transferred immediately to the British cruiser.

“We have twelve hours to wait before the _Thomas Inland_ comes up to us, and we can take in enough oil to reach New York,” said Bullott, “and in the meantime, when it does arrive, the gentleman who spilt our own supply into the sea, and incidentally brought this ship to a halt, will not be found amongst the greasers.”

“You told me Toby Marsh was on board and in control of the ship?”

Bullott nodded.

“The man who knows where to find that safety valve, that could empty the oil tanks in ten minutes, may be said to be in control of any ship! He was so much in control that he stopped her!”

* * * * *

“The whole credit for this discovery will naturally come to me. It should go to Toby Marsh,” said Bullott, when they met that night in Stone’s chilly cabin, for although they had sufficient oil to run the dynamos, there was not yet enough to give them heat. “It is perfectly true that Toby Marsh quarrelled with the doctor, over a fake burglary which the old man fixed, and which resulted in Toby being sent down to hard labour. And Toby, being naturally of a secretive and somewhat romantic disposition, has given up his spare time all these years to the discovery of the doctor’s character. He knew he was a crook; he was anxious to know how much of a crook he was.

“Clive Lowbridge was brought up by the doctor, and taught by him to worship money. Do you remember some copy-book maxims that we discovered wrapped round the clasp of Isis? Those had been torn haphazard from an exercise book in which Clive had written, from the dictation of his tutor, these sentiments, which, at any rate, actuated Dr. Laffin in his dealings with the world. There was no chance of Lowbridge succeeding to the title, until the doctor suggested the removal of the two men who stood in his way. They believed then that the late Lord Lowbridge was a very rich man; he had been left a million, but unfortunately he was something of a gambler. The doctor should have known this, for he had seen him at play, had watched him squander money at Monte Carlo, and thoroughly knew his weakness. Probably Laffin thought that he had so much money that there would still be enough left after his death. As you know, the death of Lord Lowbridge revealed the truth, which was that he was on the verge of bankruptcy when death removed him.

“Then there was opened by accident a new prospect for the doctor. He was crossing Dartmoor one night, when he was held up by two of the Priors of the Sons of Ragousa, of whose existence he had never heard, though he was something of a mystic himself and dabbled in the occult. The news the Priors gave him was that their Head was ill, and he accompanied them to the Priory, where he found Mr. Leiff Stone, suffering from an attack of angina pectoris. In his delirium, or in a moment of confidence, poor Mr. Stone told him of a repeated vision he had had, that he had seen in a shop window a woman in a green dress with red hair, sitting before a desk on which was a green jade vase and one red rose. He must have then told Laffin that it had been revealed to him that this strange individual had a message for him. Laffin seized upon the idea and in this way worked round to make the greatest profit possible that came from his knowledge. The clasp of Isis, by-the-way, was given to him by Mr. Stone in payment of his services.

“His first step was, through the Prior, to gain a high office in the Twenty-Third Degree; and here it seems that he had already formed in the rough the plan which he had carried out on the _Escorial_, namely, to seize a ship on its voyage. At any rate, he began to fill the Twenty-Third Degree with the scum of the seaport towns.

“Remember this, that he had for Lowbridge a genuine affection. He told him everything, and Lowbridge knew, not only about his adventures at the Priory and the dream of Leiff Stone, but knew also that Laffin intended utilising the Twenty-Third Degree for his purpose. Miss Carew--or as we know her, Miss Stone--was, with the approval of Lowbridge, chosen to act the part of the Messenger, Laffin’s object being to obtain possession of the book which held all the secrets of the Order, the particulars of initiation services, passwords, but, more especially, the method by which the half-annual argosies were distributed. That he succeeded, we know. That night, after the book was in Laffin’s possession, Mr. Stone was killed.”

Bill’s hand tightened on the girl’s, but she did not flinch.

“The method I do not know. We shall probably discover that aconitine was the agent employed. Now there was one man in whom the Grand Prior reposed implicit confidence--that was Brother John Flanagan, and he was evidently worried over his friend’s delusion about the woman in the green dress, for when he learnt from the Grand Prior that the messenger had been seen and the message received, he came to London to pursue his investigations. Lowbridge shadowed him, and shot him down in the street, because he thought that Miss Stone had told him much more than she really had. After the Grand Prior’s death, Lowbridge took his place.”

“Not Laffin?” interrupted the astounded Holbrook.

Bullott shook his head.

“No, sir, the new Grand Prior was Lowbridge. The rest of that story you know. The unsuccessful attempt of these scoundrels to induce Mr. Pawter to make a fake draw was nearly followed by Clive Lowbridge’s arrest. He escaped, however, with Laffin, his assistant, and was dropped by Laffin at Taunton.

“Toby Marsh had followed Laffin to Bath, whence he took a car to Devonshire and missed him. He was out in the morning early, watching the Bath-Bristol road, when he saw the doctor’s car approaching, and with his customary impertinence, held it up. The doctor was furious; he would have made Harvey Hale, who was driving the machine, give our burglar friend a very unpleasant time, but Toby was well armed, and at last prevailed upon the doctor to let him travel with him to Bath, as he had something important to say.

“Toby suspected Lowbridge. The discovery that Lowbridge was not in the car was something of a shock to him. His object in travelling at all was to trap the doctor into an admission that Lowbridge had just left him, and in this he succeeded, for, like most super-clever men, Laffin was childlike in some respects.

“Toby already knew a great deal, having installed a microphone in Laffin’s private room, and gradually there came into his possession an almost complete story of what was going to happen on the steamship _Escorial_. But he wasn’t satisfied that he was right, and in his furtive way he decided upon securing a job in the engine-room of the ship. He told me about this later--in fact, a few days before I sailed he revealed as much of the story as he thought it was wise for me to know.

“The point I would make is this, that the leader of the gang, the prime mover, the brain behind every new development, was Clive Lowbridge. He had doomed Laffin from the moment he learnt that the doctor had married his ward, and the fact that it was a mere act of precaution on the part of Laffin made no difference. It was humanly impossible that that vain, half-mad old man should ever come through this voyage alive.

“Scotland Yard suspected Lowbridge, and at a very early stage had put one of their most capable officers in his service. The man called Benson, is, as you know, a detective, who will probably be promoted for the part he has played, before he reaches England.

“After the book was secured, it became again necessary to remove Miss Stone. She had remembered her journey to Devonshire and the transference of the book to her, and that was fatal to their schemes. The mere possibility that she would tell the story to the detective filled them with apprehension, and they determined to remove her without delay. She called at Lowbridge’s flat for tea. Lowbridge distracted her attention and put a very quickly acting dope into the cup and was observed by Benson, who changed the cups when his back was turned, with the result that it was Lowbridge who found himself under the influence of the drug.

“I forget the circumstances now,” said Bullott, “but I am under the impression that he sent Benson out to get some newspapers, believing that the action of the drug was so quick that the girl would be unconscious and smuggled away into his room before the servant returned, when he would find a further excuse for keeping him out of the way for the rest of the evening.

“The greatest shock that Lowbridge had was to learn that a warrant had been issued for Laffin’s arrest on a charge of murdering his uncle. Then, indeed, he knew that the game was nearly up, and that unless he silenced the doctor he could not escape arrest and the scaffold. Mr. Stone offered him the opportunity of going to America on the _Escorial_. I need hardly say that he would have been on the _Escorial_ in any circumstances, for the gang had decided, after the narrow squeak which they had at the hands of Tinker Lane, that no time should be lost. They were, however, in some doubt as to when the British Treasury would ship the interest on the American debt, and this they learnt through La Florette, the dancer. Had it not been shipped by the _Escorial_ you may be certain they would have found some reason for postponing, not only their own departure, but the departure of Mr. and Miss Stone.

“I saw my chief at Scotland Yard, put as many facts before him as I knew, and received permission to sail on this ship, although he thought that in all probability a very credulous and inexperienced police officer had heard and believed a fairy story.

“I don’t think there is very much more to be told. Toby Marsh was on the ship. I saw him the first day, I spent forty-eight hot hours in his company, and when the Twenty-Third Degree showed their hand, he was a tower of strength not only to me but to the law. Toby rigged up a signal lamp aft, which kept us in touch with the warship after the wireless was in the hands of Lowbridge and his men.”

“Who killed Hale?”

“Lowbridge. When Hale saw that the man he had double-crossed was free, he ran for his life. The taking prisoner of Lowbridge was camouflage to protect him if things went wrong. It was an excuse for his being on the bridge to direct operations at a critical moment, without appearing to be a member of the gang. But Hale, who was in fear of him, took advantage of his helplessness to secure him still further. The prisoner waited only long enough to give Hale a chance of settling with our young friend, then he chased both down to the cabin. It was he who struck down Holbrook. Afterwards, he decided that Holbrook alive was a danger and came down to finish him. His plan throughout had been in the event of failure, to end life pleasantly. The poison pastilles which were burning in the captain’s cabin when we broke in, would ordinarily have killed everybody in the room in a few minutes--Lowbridge’s luck was out to the last!”

* * * * * * *

Eight days later, escorted by a fleet of small craft, the much-travelled U.S.S. _Escorial_ came slowly into New York Harbour, and Betty Stone stood, a little overwhelmed by the most wonderful skyline in the world.

Bullott had gone back to England on the _Kent_, and with him his chief witness, Toby Marsh. Bill had sworn many solemn oaths that he would follow by the first available mail steamer.

“So this is America, Billy?” she said with a half-smile.

“It is New York,” said Bill, “which isn’t exactly the same thing, though there are many who share your illusion. It is of it, but not it!”

His arm was in hers as they leaned on the rail. Mr. Stone looked over his glasses at them for a moment and returned to a study of the early editions which had come out on the pilot boat.

“You must show me the sights, Billy, before we go up to Mr. Stone’s camp, and you must coach me in other things. What is the chief advantage of being an American citizen?”

“There are so many I can’t think of them,” said Bill, “but the first that occurs to me is the facility for rapid marriage. And if you’ll let me explain that system to you thoroughly, I’ll surely be the proudest son that the ships of Ragousa ever sent forth in search of treasure!”

THE END

ENDNOTES

[1] _Flattie_] London thieves’ _argot_ for uniformed policeman.

[2] _Putting the black_] Blackmail.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

The John Long, Ltd. edition (London, 1927) was consulted for some of the changes listed below.

Minor spelling inconsistencies (e.g. fog-belt/fog belt, stateroom/state-room, water-bottles/water bottles) have been preserved.

Alterations to the text:

Convert footnotes to endnotes.

Add chapter numbering.

Punctuation: fix some quotation mark pairings/nestings, etc.

Change four instances of _Bullot_ to _Bullott_.

[Chapter V]

Change “he is an American, born in _Drayton_, Ohio” to _Dayton_.

[Chapter XXVI]

“that her father was _Lieff_ Stone” to _Leiff_.

[Chapter XLI]

“She _noded_ vigorously” to _nodded_.

[Chapter XLIII]

“the purser himself sleeps in a _berch_ which covers the door” to _berth_.

[Chapter XLV]

“to comply with the wishes of the District _Atney_” to _Attorney_.

[Chapter XLVII]

“On the the opposite side was the door which opened into” delete the redundant _the_.

[Chapter XLVIII]

“if we keep these _pistol_ until we reach port” to _pistols_.

[Chapter LVIII]

“The Sussex was running on a parallel course, edging closer” italicize _Sussex_.

“They had long since left the Thomas _Island_ astern” to _Inland_.

[Chapter LIX]

“You can _practcially_ shake yourself free when you feel like it” to _practically_.

“he had stripped the moustache from his _lips_” to _lip_.

[End of text]