“I had reason for what I did, sir,” the detective said.
“No doubt,” the Prince agreed. “And now, tell me, when are you going to electrify us all? When is the great arrest to take place?”
The detective coughed discreetly.
“I am not yet in a position, sir,” he said, “to make any definite announcement.”
“Cautious, Mr. Jacks, cautious!” the Prince remarked smilingly. “It is a great quality,—a quality which I, too, have learned how to appreciate. And now for our five minutes’ talk. If I say to you, ‘Return home with me,’ I think you will remember that unpleasant room of mine, and you will recollect an important engagement at Scotland Yard. In the clubs one is always overheard. Walk with me a little way, Mr. Jacks, in St. James’ Park. We can speak there without fear of interruption. Come!”
He thrust his arm through the detective’s and led him across the street. Mr. Inspector Jacks was only human, and he yielded without protest. They passed St. James’ Palace and on to the broad promenade, where there were few passers-by and no listeners.
“You see, my dear Inspector,” the Prince said, “I am really a sojourner in your marvellous city not altogether for pleasure. My stay over here is more in the light of a mission. I have certain arrangements which I wish to effect for the good of my country. Amongst them is one concerning which I should like to speak to you.”
“To me, sir?” Inspector Jacks repeated.
The Prince twirled his cane and nodded his head.
“It is a very important matter, Mr. Jacks,” he said. “It is nothing less than a desire on the part of the city government of Tokio to perfect thoroughly their police system on the model of yours over here. We are a progressive nation, you know, Mr. Jacks, but we are also a young nation, and though I think that we advance all the time, we are still in many respects a long way behind you. We have no Scotland Yard in Tokio. To be frank with you, the necessity for such an institution has become a real thing with us only during the last few years. Do you read history, Mr. Jacks?”
The Inspector was doubtful.
“I can’t say, sir,” he admitted, “that I have done much reading since I left school, and that was many years ago.”
“Well,” the Prince said, “it is one of the axioms of history, Mr. Jacks, that as a country becomes civilized and consequently more prosperous, there is a corresponding growth in her criminal classes, a corresponding need for a different state of laws by which to judge them, a different machinery for checking their growth. We have arrived at that position in Japan, and in my latest despatches from home comes to me a request that I send them out a man who shall reorganize our entire police system. I am a judge of character, Mr. Jacks, and if I can get the man I want, I do not need to ask my friends at Downing Street to help me. I should like you to accept that post.”
The Inspector was scarcely prepared for this. He allowed himself to show some surprise.
“I am very much obliged to you, Prince, for the offer,” he said. “I am afraid, however, that I should not be competent.”
“That,” the Prince reminded him, “is a risk which we are willing to take.”
“I do not think, either,” the detective continued, “that at my time of life I should care to go so far from home to settle down in an altogether strange country.”
“It must be as you will, of course,” the Prince declared. “Only remember, Mr. Jacks, that a great nation like mine which wants a particular man for a particular purpose is not afraid to pay for him. Your work out there would certainly take you no more than three years. For that three years’ work you would receive the sum of thirty thousand pounds.”
The detective gasped.
“It is a great sum,” he said.
The Prince shrugged his shoulders.
“You could hardly call it that,” he said. “Still, it would enable you to live in comfort for the rest of your life.”
“And when should I be required to start, sir?” the Inspector asked.
“That, perhaps,” the Prince replied, “would seem the hardest part of all. You would be required to start tomorrow afternoon from Southampton at four o’clock.”
The Inspector started. Then a new light dawned suddenly in his face.
“Tomorrow afternoon,” he murmured.
The Prince assented.
“So far as regards your position at Scotland Yard,” he said, “I have influential friends in your Government who will put that right for you. You need not be afraid of any unpleasantness in that direction. Remember, Mr. Inspector, thirty thousand pounds, and a free hand while you are in my country. You are a man, I should judge, of fifty-two or fifty-three years of age. You can spend your fifty-sixth birthday in England, then, and be a man of means for the remainder of your days.”
“And this sum of money,” the detective said, “is for my services in building up the police force of Tokio?”
“Broadly speaking, yes!” the Prince answered.
“And incidentally,” the detective continued, glancing cautiously at his companion, “it is the price of my leaving unsuspected the murderer of two innocent men!”
The Prince walked on in silence. Every line in his face seemed slowly to have hardened. His brows had contracted. He was looking steadfastly forward at the great front of Buckingham Palace.
“I am disappointed in you, Mr. Jacks,” he said a little stiffly. “I do not understand your allusion. The money I have mentioned is to be paid to you for certain well-defined services. The other matter you speak of does not interest me. It is no concern of mine whether this man of whom you are in search is brought to justice or not. All that I wish to hear from you is whether or not you accept my offer.”
The Inspector shook his head.
“Prince,” he said, “there can be no question about that. I thank you very much for it, but I must decline.”
“Your mind is quite made up?” the Prince asked regretfully.
“Quite,” the Inspector said firmly.
“Japan,” the Prince said thoughtfully, “is a pleasant country.”
“London suits me moderately well,” Inspector Jacks declared.
“Under certain conditions,” the Prince continued, “I should have imagined that the climate here might prove most unhealthy for you. You must remember that I was a witness of your slight indisposition the other day.”
“In my profession, sir,” the detective said, “we must take our risks.”
The Prince came to a standstill. They were at the parting of the ways.
“I am very sorry,” he said simply. “It was a great post, and it was one which you would have filled well. It is not for me, however, to press the matter.”
“It would make no difference, sir,” the detective answered.
The Prince was on the point of moving away.
“I shall not seek in any case to persuade you,” he said. “My offer remains open if you should change your mind. Think, too, over what I have said about our climate. At your time of life, Mr. Inspector Jacks, and particularly at this season of the year, one should be careful. A sea voyage now would, I am convinced, be the very thing for you. Good day, Mr. Jacks!”
The Prince turned towards Buckingham Palace, and the Inspector slowly retraced his steps.
“It is a bribe!” he muttered to himself slowly,—“a cleverly offered bribe! Thirty thousand pounds to forget the little I have learned! Thirty thousand pounds for silence!”
XXV. HOBSON’S CHOICE
Table of Contents
There were some days when the absence of patients seemed to Dr. Spencer Whiles a thing almost insupportable. Too late he began to realize that he had set up in the wrong neighborhood. In years to come, he reflected gloomily, when the great building estate which was to have been developed more than a year ago was really opened up, there might be an opportunity where he was, a very excellent opportunity, too, for a young doctor of ability. Just now, however, the outlook was almost hopeless. He found himself even look
ing eagerly forward every day for another visit from Mr. Inspector Jacks. Another trip to town would mean a peep into the world of luxury, whose doors were so closely barred against him, and, what was more important still, it would mean a fee which would keep the wolf from the door for another week. It had come to that with Dr. Whiles. His little stock of savings was exhausted. Unless something turned up within the course of the next few weeks, he knew very well that there was nothing left for him to do but to slip away quietly into the embrace of the more shady parts of the great city, to find a situation somewhere, somehow, beyond the ken of the disappointed creditors whom he would leave behind.
Mr. Inspector Jacks, however, had apparently no further use, for the present at any rate, for his medical friend. On the other hand, Dr. Spencer Whiles was not left wholly to himself. On the fourth day after his visit to London a motor car drew up outside his modest surgery door, and with an excitement which he found it almost impossible to conceal, he saw a plainly dressed young man, evidently a foreigner and, he believed, a Japanese, descend and ring the patients’ bell. The doctor had dismissed his boy a week ago, from sheer inability to pay his modest wages, and he did not hesitate for a moment about opening the door himself. The man outside raised his hat and made him a sweeping bow.
“It is Dr. Spencer Whiles?” he asked.
The doctor admitted the fact and invited his visitor to enter.
“It is here, perhaps,” the latter continued, “that a gentleman who was riding a bicycle and was run into by a motor car, was brought after the accident and treated so skilfully?”
“That is so,” Dr. Whiles admitted. “There was nothing much the matter with him. He had rather a narrow escape.”
“I am that gentleman’s servant,” the visitor continued with a bland smile. “He has sent me down here to see you. The leg which was injured is perfectly well, but there was a pain in the side of which he spoke to you, which has not disappeared. This morning, in fact, it is worse,—much worse. My master, therefore, has sent me to you. He begs that if it is not inconvenient you will return with me at once and examine him.”
The doctor drew a little breath. This might mean another week or so of respite!
“Where does your master live?” he asked the man.
“In the West end of London, sir,” was the reply. “The Square of St. James it is called.”
Dr. Whiles glanced at his watch.
“It will take me some time to go there with you,” he said, “and I shall have to arrange with a friend to treat any other patients. Do you think your master will understand that I shall need an increased fee?”
“My master desired me to say,” the other answered, “that he would be prepared to pay any fee you cared to mention. Money is not of account with him. He has not had occasion to seek medical advice in London, and as he is leaving very soon, he did not wish to send for a strange physician. He remembered with gratitude your care of him, and he sends for you.”
“That’s all right,” Dr. Whiles declared, “so long as it’s understood. You’ll excuse me for a moment while I write a note, and I’ll come along.”
Dr. Whiles had no note to write, but he made a few changes in his toilet which somewhat improved his appearance. In due course he reappeared and was rapidly whirled up to London, the sole passenger in the magnificent car. The man who had brought him the message from his quondam patient was sitting in front, next the chauffeur, so Dr. Whiles had no opportunity of asking him for any information concerning his master. Nor did the car itself slacken speed until it drew up before the door of the large corner house in St. James’ Square. A footman in dark livery came running out; a butler bowed upon the steps. Dr. Spencer Whiles was immensely impressed. The servants were all Japanese, but their livery and manners were faultless. He made his way into the hall and followed the butler up the broad stairs.
“My master,” the latter explained, “will receive you very shortly. He is but partly dressed at present.”
Dr. Spencer Whiles came of a family of successful tradespeople, and he was not used to such quiet magnificence as was everywhere displayed. Yet, with it all, there seemed to him to be an air of gloom about the place, something almost mysterious in the silence of the thick carpets, the subdued voices, and the absence of maidservants. The house itself was apparently an old one. He noticed that the doors were very heavy and thick, the corridors roomy, the absence of light almost remarkable. The apartment into which he was shown, however, came as a pleasant surprise. It was small, but delightfully furnished in the most modern fashion. Its only drawback was that it looked out upon a blank wall.
“My master will come to you in a few minutes,” the butler announced. “What refreshments may I have the honor of serving?”
Dr. Whiles waved aside the invitation,—he would at any rate remain professional. The man withdrew, and almost immediately afterwards Prince Maiyo entered the room. The doctor rose to his feet with a little thrill of excitement. The Prince held out his hand.
“I am very pleased to see you again, doctor,” he said. “You looked after me so well last time that I was afraid I should have no excuse for sending for you.”
“I am glad to find that you are not suffering,” the doctor answered. “I understood from your servant that you were feeling a good deal of pain in the side.”
“It troubles me at times,” the Prince admitted, drawing a chair up towards his visitor,—“just sufficiently, perhaps, to give me the excuse of seeking a little conversation with you. You must let me offer you something after your ride.”
“You are very good,” the doctor answered. “Perhaps I had better examine you first.”
The Prince rang the bell and waved aside the suggestion.
“That,” he said, “can wait. In my country, you know, we do not consider that a guest is properly treated unless he partakes of our hospitality the moment he crosses the threshold. The whiskey and soda water,” he ordered of the butler who appeared at the door. “We will talk of my ailments,” the Prince continued, “in a moment or two. Tell me what you thought of that marvellous restaurant where I saw you the other morning?”
The doctor drew a little breath.
“It was you, then!” he exclaimed.
“But naturally,” the Prince murmured. “I took it for granted that you would recognize me.”
The doctor found some difficulty in proceeding. He was trying to imagine the cousin of an Emperor riding a bicycle along a country road, staggering into his surgery at midnight, covered with dust, inarticulate, pointing only to the wounds beneath his cheap clothes!
“Nothing,” the Prince continued easily, “has impressed me more in your country than the splendor of your restaurants. You see, that side of your life represents something we are altogether ignorant of in Japan.”
“It is a very wonderful place,” the doctor admitted. “We had luncheon, my friend and I, in the grillroom, but we came for a few minutes into the foyer to watch the people from the restaurant.”
The Prince nodded genially.
“By the bye,” he remarked, “it is strange that my very good friend—Mr. Inspector Jacks—should also be a friend of yours.”
“He is scarcely that,” the doctor objected. “I have known him for a very short time.”
The Prince raised his eyebrows. The whiskey and soda were brought, and the doctor helped himself. How curiously deficient these Westerners were, the Prince thought, in every instinct of duplicity! As clearly as possible the doctor had revealed the fact that his acquaintance with Inspector Jacks was of precisely that nature which might have been expected.
The Prince sighed. There was but one course open to him.
“Now, Dr. Whiles,” he said, “I will tell you something. You must listen to me very carefully, please. I sent for you not so much on account of any immediate pain but because my general health has been giving me a little trouble lately. I have come to the conclusion that I require the services of a medical attendant always at hand.”
> The doctor looked at his prospective patient skeptically.
“You have not the appearance,” he remarked, “of being in ill health.”
“Perhaps not,” the Prince answered. “Perhaps even, there is not for the moment very much the matter with me. One has humors, you know, my dear doctor. I have a somewhat large suite here with me in England, but I do not number amongst them a physician. I wanted to ask you to accept that position in my household for two months.”
“Do you mean come and live here?” the doctor asked.
“That is exactly what I do mean,” the Prince answered. “I am thankful to observe that your apprehensions are so acute. I warn you that I am going to make some very curious conditions. I do not know whether money is an object to you. If not, I am powerless. If it is, I propose to make it worth your while.”
The doctor did not hesitate.
“Money,” he said, “is the greatest object in life to me. I have none, and I want some very badly.”
The Prince smiled.
“I find your candor delightful,” he declared. “Now tell me, Dr. Whiles, how many patients have you in your neighborhood absolutely dependent upon your services?”
The doctor hesitated, opened his mouth and closed it again.
“Not one!” he declared.
Once more the Prince’s lips parted. His smile this time was definite, transfiguring.
“I find you, Dr. Whiles,” he announced, “a most charmingly reasonable person. I make you my offer, then, with every confidence, although I warn you that there will be some strange conditions attached to it. I ask you to accept the post of private physician to this household for the space of one—it may be two months, and I offer you also, as an honorarium, the fee of one thousand guineas.”
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