The Mystery of the Hidden Room

by Marion Harvey

  CHAPTER XXX

  THE CURIO SHOP

  I sat up and passed my hand dazedly across my brow and then suddenly Iwas broad awake and listening intently to the sound that had startledme, the sound of my door opening stealthily. I peered through thedarkness but could discern nothing.

  I waited a moment, but hearing no further sound reached under my pillowfor my revolver, for I knew I wasn't dreaming now, noticing by myradium-faced watch that it was close to midnight. Then as I becameconscious of another presence in the room, the light was switched onwithout warning, and I flung out my arm, covering the man who stoodthere before me.

  He was a rough-looking customer in an ugly, worn blue suit, and his capwas pulled low over his brow. His face was unshaved, his lips werecoarse, his nose was thick, his eyebrows bushy, and the eyes beneathwere sunken and dull, a dead black in color.

  "What are you doing here?" I demanded, holding the pistol in line withhis heart.

  But he did not reply except by a chuckle, and I flung down the pistolwith the cry, "McKelvie!"

  "I'm glad I pass muster," he said, chuckling again, but I could onlystare at him in genuine amazement. Except for that chuckle I shouldnever have known him!

  "Here," he said, flinging a bundle on my bed, "get into those things asfast as you can, and meet me in your library. We have no time to waste,but I knew you would never forgive me if I left you out of this."

  As soon as he was gone I attired myself in the battered old suit ofbrown which he had provided, and clapped a greasy cap upon my head. ThenI surveyed myself in the mirror and turned away disappointedly. I wasdisreputable enough in all conscience, but no one would have taken mefor anyone else but Carlton Davies, grown somewhat seedy in appearance.How did McKelvie do it?

  In the library I found McKelvie talking to Jenkins, the latter clad inbathrobe and slippers, as though he had just been dragged from his room.

  "Ready?" asked McKelvie, as I entered, and when I nodded he turned againto Jenkins. "Stay out in the hall beside the phone and don't go tosleep. If I do not phone you by one o'clock, call Headquarters and tellthem to rush some men to Hi Ling's curio shop. You understand?"

  "Yes, sir," answered Jenkins, blinking.

  "Don't fall asleep, as it may mean our lives," repeated McKelvieimpressively.

  "No, sir. I'll stay awake. You can depend on me, sir," said Jenkins in ahurt tone.

  "Yes, I know I can," returned McKelvie. "Come on, Mr. Davies."

  McKelvie swung toward me and then began to laugh. "You're far too clean.They'd spot you for a fake in a moment."

  He took what looked like a box of lampblack from his pocket and appliedit to my face. As we hurried down the hall I glanced at my reflection inthe mirror. My face was a dirty gray, sallow, unshaved. I smiled as Ifollowed McKelvie into the outer hall.

  "Ever read Gaboriau?" he asked as we crept stealthily down the stairs.

  "Yes."

  "Then you know the advice that Lecoq gave his men when they wanted todisguise themselves. 'Change the eye,' he said. 'The eye is theimportant factor in disguise.' He was right and I have spent some timepractising the maxim. Try to look stupid and your eyes will deaden. Notthat way," and he caught my arm as I made for the lobby. "The backentrance for ours unless we want to land in a cell at the policestation."

  We sneaked out into the back yard, around the building, and out into thestreet, where a motor car was waiting.

  "All right, Wilkins. Full speed ahead," said McKelvie as we got in. Witha jerk we were off toward the Park.

  "Now," I demanded, "what's it all about?"

  "You've got your pistol with you?" he asked, and when I answered in theaffirmative, he went on, "Don't use it unless I give you leave. The lessshooting the better for us, I expect."

  "Is it Lee?" I inquired.

  "Yes. My offer of reward hustled things up a bit." McKelvie leanedforward and called out, "Faster, Wilkins. We'll never make it at thisrate."

  "He's in danger, then," I said, as we tore around corners and down sidestreets to avoid the cops.

  "Yes. But let me begin at the beginning. Wilkins got onto the track of amysterious taxi that had been seen on Mott Street about four-fifteen theafternoon of October the eighth, and while he was hanging around one ofthose Chinese joints, he saw two toughs lounging down Pell Street, andevidently discussing the reward, since one of them was waving thehand-bill in the other's face. Wilkins followed them into aneating-house and by securing a table next to them, overheard theirconversation. It seemed that they had identified Lee as the young manthey had kidnapped and they were weighing the respective merits ofgiving their information to me or blackmailing the 'old man,' as theycalled whoever had hired them. The younger tough was for telling me, butthe older one seemed to think they could make more from the 'old man.'Whereupon the younger one declared that the old fellow was stingier thanhell and reminded his companion that Hi Ling had tipped them that theyoung man was to disappear that night, after the boss's visit at oneo'clock. When the men separated Wilkins followed the younger one and bymany judicious hints and the added compensation of some money andpromised immunity from the police, he got the rest of the story.

  "This fellow and his companion had been hired to kidnap a young chap andthey had deposited him in Hi Ling's back shop in an upstairs room. Therewas something the young man knew that the 'old man' wanted to learn somuch, he had gathered from the Chinaman who kept the shop. In otherwords, Lee knew something of the murder and the criminal wanted to findout just how much, or else he wanted to keep Lee from giving evidence.It doesn't matter which. The main fact remains, that he is holding theboy a prisoner.

  "Well, when he realized that through my efforts I was bound to learnwhere Lee was, since he did not trust the toughs, he gave orders thatwhen he had paid the boy his customary visit at one o'clock, they wereto get rid of Lee for him. One more murder wouldn't disturb hisconscience very much, I guess. Our only chance lies in getting thereahead of the criminal."

  "How do you know it's not a trap?" I asked.

  "I've provided for that by my orders to Jenkins. If it's a trap thepolice will have to rescue us, that's all. I feel conscience-stricken,lugging you into what may turn out to be a fight for life," he added.

  "You needn't. I wouldn't have missed it for anything," I returned. "Butwhy don't you surround the place with the police right away?"

  "Do you know where we are going?" he asked curiously.

  "To Chinatown, I should judge," I answered.

  "Exactly. They keep scouts on the watch at those places, which arerespectable without and--hells within. The moment they saw the sight ofa uniform Lee Darwin would disappear and no one would ever learn whathad become of him. Days later an unrecognizable corpse would be draggedfrom the river."

  I shuddered. What a horrible end for the boy if we should fail to reachhim in time!

  At this juncture the car stopped with a jerk at the corner of Mott andHester streets, and we piled out.

  "Wait here for us. If we do not come by one-thirty, you can go home,"said McKelvie.

  The man turned off his engine and settled himself to wait, and the nextmoment we were hurrying toward Pell Street. Then we turned anothercorner and modifying our pace, lounged carelessly toward the backentrance of Hi Ling's curio shop.

  Remembering Lecoq's advice I tried to look dull and stupid as McKelvieopened the door. We stepped inside the shop and faced the Chinamanseated behind a counter at the rear of the room. He was a fat oldChinaman and he gazed at us stolidly as he smoked his pipe.

  In a coarse voice McKelvie asked whether the "old man" had come, sayinghe had sent us to stay with the prisoner until his arrival.

  The Chinaman looked at us unblinkingly for five steady minutes, then hewaved his pipe toward a rear door. We shuffled toward it as fast as wedared, and I for one, expected that every minute he would call us backand question us more closely. But he did not move and we gained thedoorway and saw before us, in the flickering light of a gas-jet fromabove, a sta
ircase, steep, narrow, dirty. This we climbed and foundourselves in a small entry with a door at the back. Stealing to thisdoor, McKelvie listened intently for a moment, then drew his revolverand tried the door softly. It was locked. Shifting the gun to his lefthand he took out a long, narrow steel instrument, which he inserted inthe lock. As the door yielded silently, he stole into the room and Ifollowed him closely.

  I did not hear but I knew he had closed the door behind us, and then hisflash glowed and the disk of light darted here and there over the blackinterior of the room, or, rather, hole, in which we found ourselves. Itwas empty save for a narrow cot, on which lay an inert figure,apparently asleep. We moved closer to the cot and McKelvie let the diskof light rest upon the face of the man before us.

  It was Lee Darwin, I could not be mistaken, but he looked as though hewere in the last stages of some terrible disease. His form was quitewasted, his eyes were mere sunken hollows in his ghastly face, and hischeekbones stood out prominently where the flesh had fallen away. Icontemplated him in horrified silence, until a touch on my arm recalledme to action.

  "I'm afraid he's too far gone to walk," whispered McKelvie. "We'll haveto carry him. The main thing is to get him out before the criminalarrives. I don't think the old Chink will give us much trouble."

  Silently McKelvie bent over Lee and shook him into consciousness. Theboy opened his haggard eyes, stared at the flash, then shuddered awayfrom McKelvie's restraining hand.

  "Go away," he said feebly. "I have nothing to tell you. Nothing, I say."

  "Mr. Darwin," said McKelvie soothingly, "it's all right. We only want tohelp you get away."

  Lee turned toward the sound of the voice, a dawning wonder in his eyes,then as the sense of McKelvie's words penetrated his dulled brain andthe sound of McKelvie's rich voice fell like balm on his spirit, whichhad been harassed for days by harsh voices and coarse threats, he putout his hand and pushed aside the flash which McKelvie still keptfocused on his face.

  "Help me--get up," he said.

  In the darkness we helped him to his feet and got him out into thecorridor, where he collapsed again. So we lifted him by his head andfeet and carried him down the stairs.

  When we reached the bottom we looked across into the placid face of theold Chinaman contemplating us fixedly from the doorway!