CHAPTER XVIII
DOCTOR REID REMOVES A SOURCE OF INFORMATION
For a block or so I still felt a little queer and giddy; but air andmovement soon set all to rights; and after a walk back to the Club and acomfortable bath, I felt as well as ever, and rather wondered at mysudden upset. Evidently it had been only the heat and the nervousexcitement of the day; and I had been foolish to take Scotch with myluncheon in such weather. I remembered that I had been out of gear a bitsince the morning; Maclean's revelation must have shaken me more than Ihad admitted to myself; and it only wanted the startling coincidence ofa "spirit" called Miriam to cap the climax. Besides, if you sit for twohours in a dark and stuffy room waiting for something strange to happen,something usually will. At any rate I had had an interesting experience.For a moment, it occurred to me that the episode might have beenprearranged by Mac, with the idea of conveying to me in that waysomething which he did not wish to tell; but that was not like him, andwas absurdly far-fetched besides. If the name had been taken somehowfrom my own thoughts, it was a remarkable case of telepathy; but no, ithad been the professor, not the medium, who had named the voice; and byhis tone, this had been a familiar one often heard before. If the namehad any other than a chance connection with my affair, I could notfathom it.
There must be in all of us an instinct for the occult, an affinity forillicit short-cuts through difficulty that comes of mental and moralindolence--the instinct that causes the school-boy to look up the answerto his problem in the back of the book, and sends ignorance running tothe soothsayer. Here was I, an educated man with what I hoped was notless than ordinary intelligence, in the grip of a crushing question; andinstead of seeking certainty through rational search, I was mulling overa mummery which purported to be a communication from another world. Iwas no better than a kitchen-maid at her dream-book and fortune-teller.Carucci had said that Lady was secretly Reid's wife--or rather that hehad gone through a false form of marriage with her, having already awife or an entanglement abroad. It was too horrible and too ruinous toall that I most hoped for to be true; it was not like the peopleconcerned; but it was unbearably like all that I knew them to have saidand done. I must know what the truth was; and the more I shrank fromknowing, the more need for me to understand fully and at once. To sitstill and wonder was mere cowardice. I was here to watch Carucci on Mr.Tabor's account: before he should leave the country, I would make it mybusiness to question him on my own.
By the time I had shaken myself into so much common sense, the afternoonwas far gone; and after a very early meal, I set out again for the EastSide with the strained calmness of a man who walks into the jaws of acrisis to escape the devils that dance with their shadows behind him.There was a mockery of evening freshness in the air, though the heatstill poured upward relentlessly from the sun-baked uncleanlinessunderfoot. The streets were so crowded with the weary turmoil ofreleased workers, that I made my way against the stream with somedifficulty; and as I neared my destination the difficulty increased. Aneddying mass of humanity filled the narrow sidewalks and overflowed intothe street among rumbling drays and trampling, scrambling horses: gangsof workmen with their tools, nervous and preoccupied business men,pallid clerks and stenographers, and droves of factory hands, men andwomen together, clamoring in a very Babel of languages. I noticed butone other man going toward the waterside--a heavily built fellow with ared handkerchief about his neck, some yards in front of me; andpresently, as he turned sidewise to avoid being jostled into alamp-post, I saw that it was Carucci. There could be no mistake: it washe, in his best clothes apparently, and alone, a dozen blocks from hisown street. Sheila was nowhere in sight: however he had become separatedfrom her, with or against her will, it was my business to follow him.Here was my chance for a talk with him alone; and as he passed his owncorner and still kept on his way southward, it began to look as if Ishould be killing two birds with one stone.
I found it no very hard matter to keep him in sight; for the peculiarbrightness of the handkerchief at his neck marked him a block away.There were other Italians, to be sure, but none so gorgeously bedecked,nor whose gait was so wondrous a combination of a roll, a stagger, and astrut. To overtake him, however, among that crowd was not so easy; andI was afraid besides that coming suddenly upon him from behind mightspoil my whole opportunity by making him angrily suspicious. I followed,accordingly, as best I might, for some distance; and when at last, witha swagger of grimy magnificence, he pushed through a pair of swingingdoors, I thought that my chance had arrived. I waited a moment outside,that I might not seem too patently to have followed him; and as I stoodthere, a precocious small boy came up and looked me over.
"Yu're a fly cop, ain't yu?" he ventured, after a familiar inspection.
I smiled, and shook my head, somehow vaguely flattered.
"Aw come off, y'are too. I watched yu trailin' de guinea fer de las'four blocks."
"Shhh!" I whispered melodramatically.
"Sure t'ing. Yu can't fool me. Wot's de game, havin' yu're pal chasealong so far behind?"
"You can search me," I said, frankly puzzled. "Is some one elsefollowing?"
"Surest t'ing you know. He's right on de job."
I looked the youngster over; he seemed to be telling the truth. But thedetectives, I knew, were off the case; and besides them and Sheila, whocould have the slightest interest in Carucci? He might, to be sure, havecommitted crimes of which I knew nothing; but then, the police couldhave known nothing further against him at the time of our encounter inthe field, and he could hardly have done anything since. I glanced inthe direction in which I had come, and saw the unmistakable jerky figureof Doctor Reid coming around the corner.
Without stopping for a second look, I plunged inside. It was one ofthese really enormous halls which are scattered through the lower EastSide, places half saloon, half music-hall, where tables fill a greatfloor space, where dusty, dyed palm trees vaunt a degraded splendorabout the walls, and upon a low stage at the far end of the room,rouge-smeared slatterns dance in dreary simulation of a long-departedyouth and mirth. A very fat and flabby woman was upon the stage as Ientered, and the smoky air quivered to her raucous singsong and thejangle of a battered piano. Carucci was seated near by, watching thestumbling fingers of the pianist with the greatest interest andamiability. It pleased me vaguely that the woman did not interest him.Even when she had finished her crime against harmony, and clamberedfrom the stage to beg for treats about the room and so swell the barreceipts of the house, she only received a grinning and good-naturednegative from Carucci. He seemed much pleased with the place, noddingand marking time to the music, and plainly puffed up at the grudgingattentions of the waiter.
I had seated myself in an obscure corner near the door, where a personentering would pass me by unnoticed and where Carucci must have turnedfull about to see me. If Reid had really been following me, he wouldhave appeared by this time; yet I could hardly imagine what other errandmight have brought him to this part of town. If he had been followingme, instead of Carucci--the very possibility made me angry. And justthen Doctor Reid walked in at the door. There was another man with him,a very large man with a broken nose and what is known among the sportingfraternity as a cauliflower ear. They stood together, looking about themfor a moment; and I bowed my head upon my folded arms. I did not want totalk to Doctor Reid in that place--or in any place, for that matter.When I looked up again, they were seated at Carucci's table, and thewaiter was bringing up drinks for all three. They seemed to be talkingwith the greatest good fellowship. Reid, I noticed, barely tasted hisdrink, and watched his chance to pour the rest with a certain medicalaccuracy into the cuspidor beneath the table. I smiled to see howpleased he was with the way he was carrying off a perfectly evidentpart. Every minute or so he would reach forth his hand and give theItalian a couple of staccato pats in the region of his shoulder, pullingback his hand as quickly, and beaming the while with a radiance of stagyfriendliness. The giant with him took things more as a matter of course.He wast
ed none of his drink, but drained each glass as soon as it wasset before him, leaning between whiles with mighty elbows upon thetable, his great disfigured hands cradling his brutal face. He seemedthe last person in the world that a man of Reid's type would sit attable with. Perhaps Reid had reason to be afraid of Carucci and hademployed this fellow as a sort of bodyguard.
Another human mockery was upon the stage; a tall, scrawny creature withsome remnant of good looks and a voice that retained a surprisingsweetness and charm. She sang unhappily, with an occasional scowl at thepiano, where the sot on the stool jangled his notes tirelessly. Carucciwas getting very drunk; he was commencing to wave his arms about, andnow and then the splutter of his words reached even my far corner. Asfor Reid, he was plainly embarrassed and somewhat frightened. His handrested beseechingly upon the Italian's arm, and he looked at his burlycompanion with evident appeal.
The big man grinned, and gave his order to the waiter with a leer thatended with thrown-back head and closed eyes. The waiter grinned in histurn and hurried off. I was getting more than a little interested.Carucci tossed off the fresh drink at a gulp, and pushed back his chair.
"I know," he shouted. "I knowa da troub' with all you. You can'ta foolAntonio, _non cio-e_?"
Reid had grown suddenly rigid in his seat. I got up from my table, andhurried across to them.
"Sit down," said the giant, and pushed Carucci back into his chair witha thud.
Carucci scowled sullenly. "Well, gimme da mon'. Gimme da mon'," hegrowled. "I needa da mon'," and he poured forth a torrent of Italian,threats for the most part about a secret he knew which he proposed toshout to the world unless somebody paid him well. The room was fairlyempty, but here and there people at the tables had begun to stare. Thewoman on the stage stumbled in her song, and paused wearily. Reidglanced again at his companion.
"Ah, give it to him, he's a good feller," laughed the giant. "Just playhe's a bank, an' make a deposit."
Reid drew a roll of bills from his pocket, and began slowly countingthem off. The giant grew impatient.
"Ah, hell," he said, "here, give 'em to me," and he snatched the rollfrom Reid's hand and gathered up the money from the table, crushing thewhole into a bulging wad. "Here, you; take it all. That'll hold you fora while."
Reid got up in protest.
"Sit down, you dope," the other growled, "let him have it for a while."
Carucci grinned drunkenly, and crammed the handful carelessly into adeep pocket, swaying to his feet.
"Graz'. Alia ri'." His mouth opened loosely, and he slumped to the floorin a heap.
The waiter had come up, and with the giant's help lifted Carucci; andbetween them they half carried him to a doorway at the side of the room.They moved for all the world like three boon companions, arm in arm. Thedoor closed behind them, and I glanced around. Nobody appeared to beconcerned in the least; and even Reid, almost dancing with nervousness,no longer attracted attention.
"See here," I said, "did you people drug that fellow, Reid?"
He whirled upon me. "You keep out of this, Crosby," he stuttered;"nothing to do with you, nothing whatever."
"Well," I answered, "Mr. Tabor asked me to keep an eye on him, that'sall. What am I to report? What are you going to do with him?"
"Um, humph! That's why you're here, then. Beg pardon, I'm sure, but youstartled me. Bad business. Bad business. But the man had to be made sureof. Getting dangerous. Man with me drugged him. Chloral, you know. Won'tharm him. Not at all."
The giant was coming back. "Here's your roll, mister," he said, with anunfriendly glance at me. "Count 'em. I took out my twenty."
"Is he all right?" Reid asked.
"Sure!" grinned the other. "He won't wake up till morning, and thenhe'll be out o' sight o' land. I got a nice ship picked out fer him."
The Professor's Mystery Page 18