“Hands up!” he shouted.
At the words, Jeffrey Legge spun round. There was a boom of sound, something whistled past Gray’s face, and he fired twice. But now the man was running, zigzagging to left and right, and Johnny hesitated to fire. He disappeared through the door at the farther end of the hall, shutting it behind him, and Johnny raced after him.
He was in the courtyard now, facing the grille-covered archway. As he came into view, Jeffrey disappeared through the lodge-keeper’s door. Johnny tried the grille, but in vain, for a pass-key operates on all locks save the lock of the entrance gate of a prison. That alone is distinct, and may not be opened save by the key that was cut for it.
Covering the lodge-keeper’s door with his gun, Johnny waited, and, waiting, heard a rumbling sound. Something was coming down the centre of the archway. The straight line of it came lower and lower. A hanging gate! He had forgotten that most old country prisons were so equipped. Under the cover of this ancient portcullis, Legge could escape, for it masked the entrance of the lodge.
He turned back to the girl.
“Keep out of sight. He’s got away,” he warned her. “This fellow isn’t finished yet.”
The gate was down. Jeffrey put on the overcoat he had left in the lodge, slipped his pistol into his pocket and opened the great gates. He had at least a dozen hours’ start, he thought, as he stepped into the open.
“Please do not put your hand in your pocket, Mr Jeffrey,” said a plaintive voice. “I should so hate to shoot a fellow creature. It would be a deed utterly repugnant to my finest feelings.”
Jeffrey raised his hands to their fullest extent, for Mr Reeder was not alone. Behind him were four armed policemen, a cordon of mounted constabulary, spread in a semicircle, cutting off all avenues of escape. And, most ominous of all, was the deadly scrutiny of Peter Kane, who stood at Reeder’s right hand.
33
For the first time Jeffrey Legge felt the cold contact of handcuffs. He was led back to the porter’s lodge, whilst two of the policemen worked at the windlass that raised the hanging gate.
“It’s a cop, Craig,” he said, for the inspector in charge was that redoubtable thief-catcher. “But I’m going to squeak all I know. Johnny Gray is in this. He’s been working my slush for years. You’ll find the presses in the second hall, but the other birds have done some quick flying.”
“They’ve all flown into the police station at Oxford,” said Craig, “and they’re singing their pretty little songs merrily. The Oxford police took a whole carload of them about eleven o’clock last night. Unfortunately, they weren’t so ready to squeak as you.”
“Johnny Gray’s in it, I tell you.”
“Oh, how can you say such a thing?” said the shocked Mr Reeder. “I’m perfectly sure Mr Gray is quite innocent.”
Jeffrey regarded him with a sneer of contempt.
“You’re a pretty funny ‘busy’. I suppose Craig brought you here?”
“No,” murmured Mr Reeder, “I brought myself here.”
“The only thing I can say about you,” said Jeffrey Legge, “is that you’re smarter than old Golden – and that’s not saying much.”
“Not very much,” murmured Mr Reeder.
“But you’re not smart enough to know that Johnny Gray has been in this business for years.”
“Even while he was in prison?” suggested Mr Reeder innocently. “The opportunities are rather restricted, don’t you think? But don’t let us quarrel, Mr Jeffrey.”
The portcullis was raised now, and in a few minutes the girl was in her father’s arms.
“Johnny, you’ve had a narrow squeak,” said Craig, as he shook the man’s hand, “and there’s some talk about you being in this slush business, but I’ll not believe it till I get proof.”
“Who killed old Legge?” asked Johnny.
The detective shook his head.
“We don’t know. But Stevens has disappeared, and Stevens was Fenner’s brother. I got it from Mr Reeder, who seems to have remarkable sources of information.”
“Not at all,” disclaimed the apologetic Reeder. “I certainly have a remarkable source of information, and to that all credit must go. But I think you will confirm my statement, John, that Stevens is Fenner’s brother?”
To Peter’s surprise, Johnny nodded.
“Yes, I knew they were brothers; and it is unnecessary to say that their name was neither Stevens nor Fenner. It is pretty well established that the old man gave away Fenner – shopped him for the Berkeley Square job – and possibly Stevens got to know of this, and had been waiting his opportunity to settle accounts with Emanuel. Have you caught him?”
“Not yet,” said Craig.
“I hope you won’t,” said Johnny. “What are you going to do about me, Peter?”
He put his arm round the girl’s shoulder, and Peter smiled.
“I suppose I’ll have to let her marry you, Johnny, whether you’re a crook or honest. I want you to go straight, and I’ll make it worth while–”
“That I can promise you.” It was My. Reeder who spoke. “And may I offer an apology. I’m rather a wolf in sheep’s clothing, or a sheep in wolf’s clothing. The truth is, my name is Golden.”
“Golden!” gasped Craig. “But I thought Golden was out of this business?”
“He is out of it, and yet he is in it,” explained Mr Reeder carefully. “I am an excellent office man,” he confessed, in that mincing manner of his, staring owlishly over his glasses, “but a very indifferent seeker of information, and although, when Mr John Gray Reeder was appointed over me as chief inspector of my department–”
“Here, stop!” said the dazed Craig. “John Gray Reeder? Who is Inspector John Gray Reeder?”
Mr Golden’s hand went out in the direction of the smiling Johnny.
“Johnny! You a ‘busy’!” said the bewildered Peter. “But you went to jail sure enough?”
“I certainly went to jail,” said Johnny. “It was the only place I could get any news about the Big Printer, and I found out all I wanted to know. It was a trying two years, but well worth it, though I nearly lost the only thing in the world that made life worth living,” he said. “You’ve got to forgive me, Peter, because I spied on you – a good spy doesn’t play favourites. I’ve been watching you and every one of your pals, and I watched Marney most of all. And now I’m going to watch her for years and years!”
“You see,” said Mr Golden, who seemed most anxious to exculpate himself from any accusation of cleverness, “I was merely the listener-in, if I may use a new-fangled expression, to the information which John broadcasted. I knew all about this marriage, and I was the person who appointed a woman detective to look after her at the Charlton Hotel – but on Johnny’s instructions. That is why he was able to prove his alibi, because naturally, that section of the police which knows him, is always ready to prove alibis for other officers of the police who are mistakenly charged with being criminals.”
“How did you guess about the prison?”
“Fenner squeaked,” said Mr Golden with a gesture of deprecation. “‘Squeak’ is not a word I like, but it is rather expressive. Yes, Fenner squeaked.”
Two happy people drove home together in the car which had brought Marney to Keytown. The country between Oxford and Horsham is the most beautiful in the land. The road passes through great aisles of tall trees, into which a car may be turned and be hidden from the view of those who pass along the road. Johnny slowed the machine at an appropriate spot, and put it toward the thickest part of the wood. And Marney, who sat with folded hands by his side, did not seek any explanation for his eccentricity.
Endnotes
[1] £100.
[2] “Flogging”.
Series Information
Dates given are for year of first publication.
> 'Lieutenant Bones' Series
These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels
1. Bones 1915
2. The Keepers of the King's Peace 1917
3. Bones in London 1921
4. Bones of the River 1923
Refer also to the 'Sanders' Series
'Educated Evans' Series
These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels
1. Educated Evans 1924
2. More Educated Evans 1926
3. Good Evans Also: 'The Educated Man' 1921
'The Four Just Men' Series
These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels
1. The Four Just Men 1905
2. The Council of Justice 1908
3. The Just Men of Cordova 1917
4. The Law of the Four Just Men 1921
5. The Three Just Men 1926
6. Again, the Three Just Men Also: 'The Law of the Three Just Men' 1977
'Mr. J.G. Reeder' Series
These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels
1. Room 13 1924
2. The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder Also: 'The Murder Book of Mr. J.G. Reeder' 1925
3. Terror Keeper 1927
4. Red Aces 1929
5. Mr. J.G. Reeder Returns 1932
'Mr. Commissioner Sanders' Series
These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels
1. Sanders of the River 1911
2. The People of the River 1912
3. The River of Stars 1913
4. Bosambo of the River 1914
5. The Keepers of the King's Peace 1917
6. Sandi the Kingmaker 1922
5. Sanders Also: 'Mr. Commissioner Sanders' 1926
5. Again Sanders 1928
Synopses - All Titles
Published by House of Stratus
Admiral Carfew
Gregory Carfew is ‘an unparalleled master of descriptive’. Felix Carfew ‘writes a vile hand’. There is a new boy on the desk at The Megaphone and it is Felix who is handed the envelope. Finding himself on Ambassador Greishen’s special train, then on a steamer to Ostend, Felix recklessly exploits the opportunity. At 3.00 a.m. Gregory gets an urgent telegram. On the quay at Ostend Felix flees and Gregory steps forward to introduce himself…
Angel of Terror
Jack Glover of Rennet, Glover and Simpson does not believe his cousin Meredith killed Bulford. Meredith’s father was an eccentric and unless Meredith is married by the age of thirty his sister inherits everything. She is dead and Meredith, now in prison, is thirty next Monday. Meanwhile Lydia Beale is struggling to pay her dead father’s creditors. When Glover offers her money she is shocked. However, despite the strange conditions attached, it is a proposal she cannot afford to ignore.
Avenger
Francis Elmer has vanished, and all that is found is a typed note signed ‘The Head Hunter’. Elmer’s niece Adele Leamington is an extra at the Knebworth Film Corporation. The actress Stella Mendoza keeps the whole set waiting to shoot, in the best Hollywood tradition, but her starring role is given to Adéle. Surprised by Mike Brixan as she is learning her lines, Adele drops the typed script. The ‘v’ letters are blurred and the ‘g’ is indistinct. Mike turns white…
Barbara On Her Own
A thrilling tale of commerce and intrigue starring Barbara, god-daughter and Private Secretary to Mr Maber. Unlike the old-fashioned Maber & Maber department store, the modern Atterman’s store is a successful, profitable business. At a take-over meeting Barbara gives Messers Atterman and Minkey a piece of her mind. On the evening before the deal is to be finalised something happens to Mr Maber…the police summon Barbara – now she is on her own!
Big Foot
Footprints and a dead woman bring together Superintendent Minton and the amateur sleuth Mr Cardew. Who is the man in the shrubbery? Who is the singer of the haunting Moorish tune? Why is Hannah Shaw so determined to go to Pawsy, ‘a dog lonely place’ she had previously detested? Death lurks in the dark and someone must solve the mystery before BIG FOOT strikes again, in a yet more fiendish manner.
Black Abbott
They say the ghost of the Black Abbot has been seen near the old abbey, and Cartwright the grocer claims to have seen it too. Meanwhile Harry Alford, eighteenth Earl of Chelford is engaged to Leslie Gine, sister of Arthur, solicitor and gambler with the family fortune. The Earl had originally asked his secretary Mary Wenner to be his bride, but his half brother Richard intervened to stop the marriage. Plotting revenge, Mary proposes she and Arthur marry. Her dowry, she insists, will be fifteen tons of Spanish gold – the missing Chelford treasure.
Bones
It is a time when the major world powers are vying for colonial honours, a time of ju-ju, witch doctors and an uneasy peace with Bosambo, impressive chief of the Ochori. When Commissioner Sanders goes on leave, the trusty Lieutenant Hamilton takes over administration of the African territories. However, yet again, the trouble-prone Bones, while meaning to assist, only manages to spread his own unique style of innocent and endearing mischief.
Bones in London
The new Managing Director of Schemes Ltd has an elegant London office and a theatrically dressed assistant – however Bones, as he is better known, is bored. Luckily there is a slump in the shipping market and it is not long before Joe and Fred Pole pay Bones a visit. They are totally unprepared for Bones’ unnerving style of doing business, unprepared for his unique style of innocent and endearing mischief.
Bones of the River
‘Taking the little paper from the pigeon’s leg, Hamilton saw it was from Sanders and marked URGENT.
Send Bones instantly to Lujamalababa… Arrest and bring to head-quarters the witch doctor.’
It is a time when the world’s most powerful nations are vying for colonial honour, a time of trading steamers and tribal chiefs. In the mysterious African territories administered by Commissioner Sanders, Bones persistently manages to create his own unique style of innocent and endearing mischief.
Clue of the New Pin
Jesse Trasmere is a miser with a deep distrust of the bank. He has made a fortune in China, but keeps it hoarded in his prison-like house. Although his nephew, Rex Lander, receives a generous allowance from his uncle, it is not enough for his extravagant lifestyle. One day Trasmere breaks with routine and informs his valet, Walters, that he is going out of town for a while to avoid an acquaintance from his past. So how does this explain Trasmere’s body later found in a locked vault?
Clue of the Silver Key
This thrilling murder mystery features some veritable characters: inventor and heir-at-law Dick Allenby, and banker and speculator Leo Moran. Add Dornford, Hennessey and the actress Mary Lane, and Washington Wirth who gives parties and loves flattery. Hervey Lyne, Binny and the indomitable Surefoot Smith. Of them all only Tickler is innocent. Leaving gala night at the Litigation Club, Dick and Surefoot are discussing guns…but there before them a cab has been left in the middle of the road. The man inside has been shot.
Clue of the Twisted Candle
Kara hates candles. He also believes that there is a great criminal lost in John Lexman, the detective-story writer involved in a plot more fantastic than any of his own ingenious mysteries. It is no secret that Kara had hoped to marry the beautiful Grace, but she is now Lexman’s wife. But Lexman owes Vassalaro, the Greek moneylender, and Vassalaro has threatened to kill him. A tense and powerful tale that moves dramatically between London and the Balkans.
Coat of Arms
It is a small world and the possibility of old criminal acquaintances meeting at a Surrey roadhouse is by no means remote. Sketchley, where the Coat of Arms roadhouse stands, is a place of strange happenings. There are thefts of valuable gold plate, a suspicious old man, seen but not caught, a burglar who returns stolen valuables. When the local manor burns down the owner and guests move to the roadhouse, old vendettas
intensify. Interests clash. Murder is committed.
Council of Justice
There are crimes for which no punishment is adequate, offences that the written law cannot efface. Herein lies the justification for The Council of Justice – a meeting of great and passionless intellects. These men are indifferent to world opinion. They relentlessly wage their wits and cunning against powerful underworld organisations, against past masters of villainy and against minds equally astute. To breakers of the unwritten laws they deal death.
Crimson Circle
When James Beardmore receives a letter demanding £100,000 he refuses to pay – even though it is his last warning. It is his son Jack who finds him dead. Can the amazing powers of Derrick Yale, combined with the methodical patience of Inspector Parr, discover the secret of the Crimson Circle? Who is its all-powerful head and who is the stranger who lies in wait? Twice in a lifetime a ruthless criminal faces the executioner.
Daffodil Mystery
When Mr Thomas Lyne, poet, poseur and owner of Lyne’s Emporium insults a cashier, Odette Rider, she resigns. Having summoned detective Jack Tarling to investigate another employee, Mr Milburgh, Lyne now changes his plans. Tarling and his Chinese companion refuse to become involved. They pay a visit to Odette’s flat. In the hall Tarling meets Sam, convicted felon and protégé of Lyne. Next morning Tarling discovers a body. The hands are crossed on the breast, adorned with a handful of daffodils.
Dark Eyes of London
Inspector Holt is enjoying the Café de la Paix and the Boulevard des Italiens. He and his valet Sunny are planning a visit to Monte Carlo when an urgent telegram arrives from the Chief Commissioner of Scotland Yard. Mr Gordon Stuart has been found drowned in suspicious circumstances. Holt returns on the same boat as Flash Fred Grogan, continental crook and gambler. Attempting to solve the mystery leads Holt into a string of exciting adventures – including romance.
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