The Adventures of Ethel King, the Female Nick Carter

by Jean Petithuguenin

  As for Glensing and Parrish, they remained in the power of the authorities. Parrish had been grabbed by the police just as he jumped through the window, and Glensing had fallen back into the room, wounded by a shot in the leg. Most of the clients slipped away. The battle had cost the lives of six criminals. There were about ten wounded. The operation had only half succeeded. Johnny, the head of the gang, had slipped through the net with one of his accomplices. Even so, the inspector and Ethel King were nonetheless satisfied. Sweed very much admired the great detective’s idea. If the criminals hadn’t discharged their weapons before the fight, it would have been a great deal more deadly and might have cost the lives of several of his men.

  The next morning newspapers published long articles on what had happened in Will Thornton’s famous bar. The criminals who were arrested were stubbornly mute. They would say nothing of their criminal activities or of Johnny, their leader.

  Decisive Victory

  Three days had passed. Ethel King hadn’t stopped working on the case, but until then she hadn’t succeeded in tracing the two last members of the gang. She was aware that the most important capture was that of Johnny. So long as this miscreant remained free, he wouldn’t have any trouble finding other accomplices to continue his criminal activities. Ethel King’s and Charley Lux’s searches in Philadelphia saloons continued to be fruitless. It was necessary to wait until the scoundrels committed a crime which would furnish a clue.

  At noon on the fourth day, Inspector Sweed called the detective to the telephone.

  “Miss King, I would be obliged to you if you would come to see me immediately, at my private residence. I want to bring you up to date on a new, very important, incident, which has given me something to think about.”

  “Is it about our gang?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good! I’ll be at your house in an hour!”

  The great detective finished lunch quickly and an hour after the telephone conversation, Ethel King entered the inspector’s office.

  “I’m very relieved that you answered my call, Miss King. The audacity of this scum goes beyond anything anyone can imagine. It’s outrageous!”

  “You’re intriguing me.”

  Sweed took an open envelope from his desk and handed it to his visitor.

  “Read, Miss King.”

  The detective first considered the rough handwriting of the address: “His Excellency, the famous police inspector, Mr. Harry Sweed, Camden.”

  Then she tore open the letter, unfolded it and read:

  Very Honorable Mr. Sweed,

  You will be surprised when you see our signatures at the bottom of this letter. But we want to write to you to express our gratitude to Miss King and you. You let us escape from Will Thornton’s bar and we’re persuaded that you’re bitterly disappointed about that. But it won’t do you any harm. Disappointment is good for the health. Besides, we have to recognize that Miss King’s ruse was very clever.

  We’re using this letter to tell you goodbye, because we count on leaving Camden and Philadelphia very soon, never to return. However we want to send you a message which will certainly cheer you up. We have formed the project of carrying out, before we leave, a burglary which will make us rich to the end of our days. So, be on your guard, Mr. Sweed. You may succeed in pinching us. In order for you not to waste your time, we’re confiding to you that it’s in Camden itself that we intend to operate. Unfortunately, we can’t give you the exact address, but we don’t doubt that we’ll meet you on the premises. Thanks to your talent, you’ll discover, I’m sure, the house we intend to honor with our visit.

  So, then, au revoir. Please accept the expression of our devotion, of our gratitude, and of our highest regard,

  Johnny and Fred.”

  “What impudence!” exclaimed the inspector while Ethel King looked at the letter in silence.

  “Yes, it’s always that same stupidity that the cleverest criminals can’t help committing,” the young woman answered. “I think this is exactly what will let me nab our fellows.”

  Sweed shook his head.

  “But in the name of Heaven, how will you go about it?” he asked. “These scoundrels must have made their plan very well. Think of the size of our city! It would be useless for me to put all my police in service. I couldn’t watch all the streets. How can we know in what section of the city the thieves intend to operate? They are so sure of their facts that their making fun of me is an added insult.”

  Ethel King kept all her calm.

  “This letter didn’t come through the mail?”

  “No, it was a rather well dressed man, clean-shaven, with reddish hair, who brought it. And you’ll see just how far the scoundrels will push their impudence. The individual asked to see me on an urgent matter concerning the thieves. My valet advised him to go see me at my office, at the Prefecture of Police, but the man insisted on my seeing him, at my private house. My valet went into an adjacent room to telephone me and tell me about the visit. I told him I would come immediately. But when the valet returned to my study, the man had disappeared and this letter had been left on the table.”

  Ethel looked around the room.

  “You have only one person in your employ, Mr. Sweed?”

  “Just one man, yes. I also have a housekeeper and a maid, but they weren’t there, neither of them, when the letter was delivered.”

  “It’s unusual that the criminal asked to talk to you. He could just have simply delivered his letter and gone away.”

  “Perhaps he believed that I was at home and proposed to assassinate me if I received him.”

  “That hypothesis is not unlikely, but I have another opinion about it.”

  The young woman looked at the sheet of blotting paper spread out on the desk. A smile played over her lips.

  “Well, Mr. Sweed, put everything in motion to thwart the scoundrels’ intentions.”

  “I’ll do it, Miss King. My agents will keep watch tonight. And you, Miss King, will you help me?”

  “I already have my own theory. I can’t tell you about it for the moment, Mr. Sweed, but if my conjectures are confirmed, I’ll turn the thieves over to you this very night. You must promise me, however, to spend the night at the Prefecture of Police and not take part personally in the investigation.”

  “That was my intention. I’ll hold myself ready at my office to receive my men’s reports and give the necessary instructions.”

  “Good. I will perhaps succeed. If I call you, Mr. Sweed, come running without losing a minute. I imagine you’ll be very surprised.”

  “I’ll come; I promise you,” the inspector declared, and saw Ethel King out.

  She returned to her house and told Charley Lux about the unusual discovery she had made at the inspector’s house.

  “The thieves intend to burglarize Sweed’s apartment,” she said. “I deduced that from several clues I turned up. We’ll prepare a surprise for the inspector. I want him to find the thieves in handcuffs tonight in his own house. We must proceed with caution, because Sweed’s servants will surely raise the alarm if they notice anything. I’ll get into the inspector’s house at 11 p.m. The thieves certainly won’t come before midnight.

  “You, you’ll stay down below, hidden across from the main door. It’s possible that the scum have found accomplices and placed lookouts. In that case, you’ll go immediately to get policemen to arrest them. If you see the scoundrels enter, follow them as far as the apartment. We’ll then catch them between two fires.”

  The bandits hadn’t indicated to Sweed in their letter that they would commit the burglary during the coming night, but it was easy to guess that they would take advantage of the inspector’s absence. Sweed, troubled by the letter, would take important precautions that night and would certainly not be at home. The burglars could work without being disturbed.

  Sweed was very rich. The study where he worked, which also served as a library, contained two small, well stocked safes. If the criminals managed
to break into them and steal the money and valuables, they would make a clean sweep of a very respectable fortune.

  Ethel King and Charley got on their way a little before 11 p.m. and soon arrived in Camden, in front of Inspector Sweed’s house. The highly placed official occupied the whole second floor. His apartment was richly furnished.

  Charley Lux hid on the other side of the street in a dark corner. Ethel King opened the door with a skeleton key. She entered, closed the door without any noise, and climbed the carpeted stairs. She stopped on the second floor in front of Sweed’s apartment. She doubled her precautions. It took her more than 15 minutes to pick the lock, finally the bolt moved silently.

  On entering the corridor, the young woman thought she heard a slight noise. She stopped to listen, holding her breath. Were the burglars already working? She placed her ear on the study door, but she no longer heard the noise. She turned the door knob cautiously, opened the door slightly and looked in. A feeble light was coming from the street through two big windows. Ethel King pushed the door a little further open and took two steps into the room; she intended to hide behind a tall writing stand to wait for the burglars.

  At that moment she was aware of something like a man’s breath and muffled footsteps to her left. She raised the lantern that she already had in her hand, and put her finger on the trigger of her revolver. She told herself that the burglars, already in the apartment, had noticed her entry and had prepared to attack her. She had to prevent them. She pressed the switch on her lantern and a ray of light cleared away the shadows.

  Ethel King hadn’t been mistaken. A man was crawling in front of her, a knife in his hand. Before she could do anything to defend herself, she felt an iron hand strangle her neck from behind. She didn’t lose her head, however. She shot twice at the criminal crouching in front of her, in whom she had recognized Johnny. The scoundrel, who was going to launch himself upon her, rolled over, letting out a loud cry. Ethel King forced herself downward at the same time. The burglar who held her by the throat was seated on top of a stand of sorts. By throwing herself to the floor, the young woman pulled him down with her, forcing him to release his hold.

  Ethel King got up immediately. She brandished her revolver at her adversaries.

  “Don’t move or I’ll blow your brains out!”

  The scoundrels didn’t dare make a movement. The gunshot had awakened the servants. The women cried out in fright. The valet came running. He was no little surprised to see Ethel King and the two burglars. Charley Lux arrived in his turn and took charge of securing the prisoners. Johnny was wounded, but it was thought wise to handcuff him anyway.

  Ethel King went to the telephone and asked Inspector Sweed, who was still at the Prefecture, to return home. Sweed exclaimed in surprise and declared that he would come immediately. He was on the spot 15 minutes later. When he learned what had happened, he could hardly believe it. He shook Ethel King’s hand warmly.

  “But how did you do it, Miss King? How did you know that the burglars would come to my house tonight?”

  “That wasn’t hard to guess. Something at first seemed suspicious to me. The criminal who came to your house, and that your servant has just recognized as one of our two prisoners, instead of immediately presenting his letter, had himself taken into your work room, claiming to need to speak to you about an urgent matter. That individual simply wanted to find out the layout of the place. He quickly drew a sketch of your office. I noticed that while I was looking at a piece of blotting paper that was on your table. Having finished his sketch with pen and ink, the scoundrel dried it on your blotting pad, and the lines are reproduced there. That clue oriented my deductions, and I came tonight with my assistant to arrest the criminals. You can see that I had a lucky inspiration!”

  The burglars roared with rage, but their shouts and their oaths didn’t keep the police from taking them to the station. It was found that the criminals had broken into the apartment by leaning a ladder against the kitchen window that had been left open.

  Johnny Break—that was the name of the gang’s leader—pressed with questions, made a complete confession. Ethel King soon located his domicile, where they found a part of his stolen goods. The rogue admitted his guilt in the murder of Browning and in several other crimes which brought him the death penalty. His five accomplices were sent to prison for long years.

  7. THE BLOODY WHITE ROSES

  A Cry of Distress

  Ethel King was working at her desk in her pretty Philadelphia villa on Garden Street. It was near midnight and the wind was shaking the windows of the house. Charley Lux, the young cousin and assistant of Ethel King, had been in bed a long time, as had the housekeeper. But Pluto, the young woman’s faithful Great Dane, was stretched out at his mistress’ feet and raised his intelligent eyes to her from time to time.

  Ethel King had finally put down her pen and placed the report she had just finished into an envelope when the telephone rang. The detective picked up the receiver.

  “Hello, this is Ethel King. Who’s speaking?”

  A desperate voice, a woman’s voice, answered.

  “Miss King? Miss King? Is that you?”

  “Yes. What is it? Hello?”

  “Come quickly. Help me…Bring Harold, my husband…He’s at the Union Club.”

  “I’ll rush there now. What’s your name? Where do you live?”

  “I am…”

  The name wasn’t pronounced. A piercing cry rang through the telephone.

  “Hello!” the troubled detective cried out.

  No answer. Ethel King tried to get the operator, but it was more than a minute before the telephone operator deigned to communicate with her.

  “Please, Miss, tell me the name of the person I was just talking to.”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about that. I’ve had so many communications since then.”

  “Think back. It’s a matter of something serious…perhaps of a murder!”

  A soft exclamation of fright was followed by a short pause before the telephone operator declared:

  “I’m sorry, but I absolutely cannot give you that information.”

  Ethel King, understanding that she wouldn’t obtain anything from the employee, hung up the telephone.

  “There’s nothing more for me to do but look for this Harold who’s at the Union Club,” the detective resolved out loud. “That’s not the easiest thing, since there are a lot of societies in Philadelphia called the Union Club!”

  She got dressed to go out and hurried first to the police, where she obtained a list of Philadelphia clubs. Then she began to get into communication successively with the different “Union Clubs” that had a telephone. She succeeded at the fourth telephone call. It was a society of sportsmen, whose headquarters were on Vine Street.

  “Have all the members of the club left?” Ethel King asked.

  “No, Miss, there are still some gentlemen playing billiards.”

  “Do you know a member whose first name Harold?”

  “Harold? Oh, yes, Mr. Wallis, of course.”

  “Is he married?”

  “Yes, and not for very long. He gave a party at the club six months ago on the occasion of his marriage. He’s still here, playing a game of billiards.”

  “Good. I need to speak to him about an urgent matter.”

  “Should I call him to the telephone?”

  “No, but ask him to wait a moment. Tell him that a lady, who absolutely must see him will come to meet him at the club. I’ll be there in 15 minutes at the most.”

  “Good. I’ll deliver your message, Miss.”

  The club’s administrator, who had answered Ethel King, went into the billiard room and approached an elegant young man with an attractive appearance.

  “Mr. Wallis.”

  “What do you want with me, Mr. Miller?”

  “A lady has just telephoned. She says she absolutely must speak to you and that she will be here in a quarter of an hour.”

  “A
lady?” asked the young man. “Could that be my wife?”

  “Certainly not, since she asked if you were married.”

  “This is bizarre! Who could that woman be who wants to speak to me at such an hour?”

  “She’ll be here soon, and you’ll learn what it’s about.”

  “You’re right.”

  Harold Wallis went back to his game, but he was distracted. He, who ordinarily was so skillful, missed all his shots. He was worried. The presentiment of a misfortune was oppressing him.

  Finally the administrator called to him:

  “Mr. Wallis, the lady is here. She’s waiting for you in the reading room.”

  The young man passed into the library where he found himself in the presence of a slim young woman dressed simply and elegantly.

  “Mr. Wallis?”

  “I am Mr. Wallis,” the young man answered, bowing. “To whom do I have the honor?”

  “My name is Ethel King.”

  Wallis gasped in surprise.

  “Ethel King! Then you’re the famous detective?”

  “I am, in fact, a detective.”

  “And you come to see me? You need to see me about an urgent matter? My God! So what’s happened? Is it about my wife?”

  “Don’t get excited like this, Mr. Wallis. I was called on the telephone at midnight by a lady, but I can’t confirm that it was Mrs. Wallis. When she wanted to say her name, she was interrupted. I heard a loud cry; then there was silence. It’s quite possible that someone has harmed the person who called me. They at least kept her from finishing her conversation. Do you have a telephone in your apartment?”

  “Yes, in the bedroom.”

  Ethel King repeated what the unknown woman had said to her.

  Wallis, panic-stricken, shuddered. “It could very well be that it was Irma. Oh! I can guess…that odious letter! My poor wife has been the victim of an attack! Come, Miss King, come quickly. We may arrive in time to save her.”

  “Just a moment! Let’s be sure, first of all, that it really was Mrs. Wallis who called me to help her. What is your telephone number?”