The Place of Dragons: A Mystery

by William Le Queux

  CHAPTER XXI

  EXPLAINS LOLA'S FEARS

  After leaving the house in which I had so narrowly escaped death, Idropped the sergeant at Spring Place station and, with Rayner, droveover to Brentford, where, at the hospital, I stood beside Lola's bed.

  She looked a pale, frail, pathetic little figure, clad in a light bluedressing-jacket, and propped up among the pillows. When she recognizedme she put forth a slim white hand and smiled a glad welcome.

  "I have been so very anxious about you, Lola," I said after the nursehad gone. "You know, of course, what happened?"

  "Yes," she answered weakly in French. "I am so very sorry that youshould have fallen into the trap as well as myself, M'sieur Vidal. Theyinduced me to call there for one purpose--to kill me," she added inEnglish, with her pretty French accent.

  "I fear that is so," was my reply. "But did you not receive my warnings?The Paris _Surete_ are searching for you everywhere, and Jonet is mostanxious to find you."

  "Ah, I know!" she exclaimed with a slight laugh. "Yes, I got your kindletters, but I could not reply to them. There were reasons which, at thetime, prevented me."

  She looked very sweet, her fair, soft hair in two long plaits hangingover her shoulders, the ends being secured by big bows of turquoiseribbon.

  Yes, she was decidedly pretty; her big, blue, wide-open eyes turned uponme.

  "I wrote to Elise Leblanc at Versailles," I said, for want of somethingelse to say.

  "I got the letters. I was in Dresden at the time."

  "With your uncle?"

  "No. He has been in Vienna," was her brief response.

  "But he was at that house in Spring Grove."

  "Yes. It was a trap for me--a dastardly trap laid for me by oldGregory," she cried in anger. "He intended that I should die, but henever expected you to come so suddenly upon the scene."

  "How was it that Jeanjean arrived there also?" I asked.

  "He came there to consult the Master," she replied. "A huge affair wasbeing planned to take place at the offices of one of the best knowndiamond dealers in Hatton Garden. Gregory, being in the diamond trade,knows most of the secrets of the other dealers, and in this case hadlearned of the arrival of three very fine stones, among the most notablediamonds known to the world. For three months he had carefully laid hisplans of attack, and on the night in question had called hisconfederates together, as was his habit, in order to put his plansfinally before them, and to allocate each his work. Through my uncle,however, I knew of the proposed robbery, and the old man, fearing me,had decided that it would be in their interests if I died. Hence theattack upon me."

  "A most base and brutal one!" I cried. "But thank Heaven! Lola, you arerecovering. I overheard all that you said regarding myself."

  She flushed slightly, but did not reply.

  "To-day I have heard that you have made a statement to the police," Iwent on in a low voice so that I should not be overheard by the nursewho stood outside the door of the small two-bedded ward, the second bedbeing unoccupied.

  "Yes. An agent of police came and questioned me," was her reply, "but Idid not tell him much--at least, nothing which might give them anyclue--or which would jeopardize either of us. I had heard that you wererecovering, and therefore I thought you would prefer to unmask Gregoryand his associates yourself, rather than leave it to the London police.Besides, they have escaped and I have no idea where they may now be."

  "Quite right," I replied, much relieved at her words. "You acted wisely,for had you told them the truth they would in all probability havearrested you."

  She smiled faintly.

  "Yes. That was one of the reasons which caused me to exercisediscretion. I felt that we should soon meet again, M'sieur Vidal," sheadded. "They say that I shall be discharged from here in about a week."

  "I hope so," I declared earnestly. "You had a very narrow escape fromthose fiends."

  "I was quite unsuspicious when I went there," she said. "That house hasbeen our meeting-place for the past eighteen months or so. Sometimes wemet at Gregory's flat in Amsterdam, and sometimes at the tenantlesshouse in Spring Grove, or at one which has been to let at Cricklewood,and also at a house in West Hampstead."

  "The spot 'where the three C's meet' at Ealing is the usual rendezvous,I suppose?"

  "Yes, the place is easy of access, quiet, and entirely unsuspicious. Ihave met my uncle there sometimes when in London, and sometimes Gregoryor the others. The conference usually took place there, and then we wenttogether in a taxi to one or other of the meeting-places which Gregoryhad established."

  "As soon as you have quite recovered we will lay a trap and secure thewhole gang," I whispered confidently.

  "Ah! I fear that will not be easy," she exclaimed, slowly shaking herhead. "We shall be too well watched."

  "And we can watch also," I remarked. "I know that from to-day I shall bekept under close supervision because they will fear me more than ever.But I shall manage to evade them, never fear. As soon as you leavehospital we must join forces and exterminate this gang of assassins."

  She drew a long breath, bent her fair brows and looked straight acrossat the pale-green wall. I could see that she was not at all confident ofescape. She knew how clever, designing and unscrupulous was the old manGregory; how cheaply her uncle, Jules Jeanjean, held human life.

  "Where is Gregory now, I wonder?" I exclaimed.

  "Who knows? They are all in France or Belgium, I expect. They may be inAmsterdam, but I do not think so, as they might suspect me of making astatement to the police."

  "What did you tell the police?"

  For a moment she hesitated.

  "Simply that I was enticed there by a young man whom I knew in Paris,and found myself in the company of several men who were undoubtedlythieves. These men I described. I stated that I was pressed to act astheir decoy, and on refusal was struck down."

  "Then they will be already searching for the men!" I exclaimed,remembering that Warton had that morning gone up to consult his chief atScotland Yard.

  "They will be searching for men whose descriptions do not tally withthose of my uncle and his friends," she whispered frankly, with amischievous smile.

  "Tell me, Lola," I asked, after complimenting her upon her astuteness,"do you recognize the names of Lavelle, Kunzle, Geering, or Hodrickx?"

  She started, staring at me.

  "Why? What do you know of them?" she inquired quickly, an apprehensivelook upon her pretty face.

  "They are associates of your uncle, are they not--in fact, members ofthe gang?"

  "Yes. But how did you discover their true names?"

  Then I explained how, after poor Craig's death, I had found the paperwith the elaborate calculations, and the list of names withcorresponding numbers.

  "They are code-numbers, so that mention of them can be made in telegramsor letters, and their identity still concealed."

  "And what were the columns of figures?" I asked, describing them.

  "Probably either the calculations of weights and values of preciousstones, or calculations of wave-lengths of wireless telegraphy in whichGregory experiments," she replied. "After a _coup_ Gregory always valuedthe stolen gems very carefully before they were sent to Antwerp orAmsterdam to be re-cut and altered out of recognition. At one _coup_, ayear ago, when at Klein's, the principal jeweller in Vienna, thenight-watchman was killed and the safe opened with the acetylene jet. Wegot clear away with jewels valued at three-quarters of a million francs.Afterwards, I motored from Vienna to Antwerp, carrying most of the unsetstones and pearls in the radiator of my car. The prying _douaniers_ atthe frontiers never suspect anything there, nor in the inner tube of aspare wheel. Besides, I was the daughter of the Baronne de Lericourt,travelling with her maid, therefore nobody suspected, and Kunzle, ayoung Dane, acted as my chauffeur."

  "In which direction did your uncle travel?"

  "To Algiers, by way of Trieste, and home to his hobby, wirelesstelegraphy. He has high aerial wires across the grounds of h
is villa,and can receive on his delicate apparatus messages from Clifden inIreland, Trieste, Paris, Madrid, London, Port Said, and stations allover Europe."

  "Can he transmit messages?" I asked.

  She sighed slightly, her wound was giving her pain.

  "Oh, yes. His transmitter is very powerful, and sometimes, at night, hecan reach Poldhu in Cornwall."

  "Then your uncle is, apparently, a skilled scientist, as well as adaring criminal!" I said, surprised.

  "_Oui_, M'sieur. He is just now experimenting with a wireless telephone,and has already heard from Algiers, across the Mediterranean, to Genoa,where his friend, the man Hodrickx, has established a similar station.It was Hodrickx you saw at Spring Grove."

  "And the wireless is sometimes used for their nefarious purposes, Isuppose?"

  "Probably. But that is, of course, their own secret. I am told nothing,"was her reply, dropping into French. "Sometimes, when at home, my unclesits for hours with the telephones over his ears, listening--listeningattentively--and now and then, scribbling down the mysteriouscall-letters he hears, and referring to his registers to see whoseattention is being attracted. Every night, at twelve o'clock, hereceives the day's news sent out from Clifden in Ireland to ships in theAtlantic."

  "It must be an exceedingly interesting hobby," I remarked.

  "It is. If I were a man I should certainly go in for experimenting.There is something weirdly mysterious about it," she said with a sweetexpression.

  "If he can speak by telephone across the Mediterranean to Genoa, then,no doubt, such an instrument is of greatest use to him in the pursuitof his shameful profession," I said.

  "I expect it is," she answered rather grimly, regarding me withhalf-closed eyes. "But, oh! M'sieu', how can I bear the future? Whatwill happen now? I cannot tell. For me it must be either a violentdeath, at a moment when I least expect it, or--or----"

  "Leave it all to me, Lola," I interrupted. "I'll leave no stone unturnedto effect the arrest of the whole gang."

  "Do be careful of yourself," she urged, with apprehension. "Remember,they intend at all hazards to kill you! Gregory and my uncle fear youmore than they do the police. Ever since you unearthed that mystery inBrussels, they have held you in terror. The evidence you gave in theAssize Court against the man Lefranc showed them that you entertainedsuspicion of who killed the jeweller, Josse Vanderelst, in the AvenueLouise. And for that reason you have since been a marked man," sheadded, looking very earnestly into my face.

  "I assure you I have now no fear of them, Lola. I will extricate youfrom the guilty bonds in which they hold you, if you will only render meassistance."

  For a moment she remained thoughtful, a very serious expression upon herfair face.

  "_Bien!_ But if the men are arrested they will at once turn upon me,"she argued. "Then I too will stand in the criminal dock beside them!"

  "Not if you act as I direct," I assured her, placing my hand upon hers,which lay outside the coverlet.

  Then, after a brief pause, during which I again looked straight into hergreat blue eyes, I suddenly asked--

  "Where can I find trace of old Gregory? As soon as I am a little betterI shall resume my investigations, and run the whole gang to earth."

  "I do not know where he lives. My uncle once remarked that he was soevasive that he changed his abode as often as he did his collars. Hisoffice, however, is in Hatton Garden over a watchmaker's namedEtherington, on the second floor. You will find on a door, 'LoicqFreres, Diamond Dealers, Antwerp.' Mr. Gregory Vernon, not VernonGregory, poses as the London manager of the firm of 'Loicq Freres,' who,by reason of their wealth and the magnitude of their purchases andsales, are well known in the diamond trade. So, by carrying on a genuinebusiness, he very successfully conceals his illegitimate one ofre-cutting stones and re-placing them upon the market."

  "Good!" I said, enthusiastically, in English. "I shall endeavour totrace his hiding-place, for most certainly he is no longer in London,now that he knows that his attempt upon you was unsuccessful."

  "And the police are now looking for mythical persons!" she laughedmerrily, displaying her white, even teeth.

  Yes, the more I saw of my dainty little divinity, the greater I becameattracted by her, even though force of circumstances had, alas!compelled her, against her will, to become an expert jewel-thief, who byreason of her charm, her beauty, and her astuteness, had passed withoutsuspicion.

  What a strange and tragic career had been that of the frail littlecreature now smiling so sweetly at me! My heart went out in sympathytowards her, just as it had done ever since that memorable night when Ihad gripped her slim waist and captured her in my room.

  The nurse entered, so I rose from my chair, and clasping Lola's littlehand, bade her _au revoir_, promising to return again in two days' time,and also suggesting that when she became convalescent I should take herdown to some friends of mine at Boscombe to recuperate.

  My suggestion she adopted at once, and then I turned, and thanking thenurse for all her kindness, left the hospital.