Earl Derr Biggers

“ Following the faint whir of an expensive motor, again we were abroad in the fog-bound street.
The traffic so much in evidence at five o'clock was no more, the grumbling symphony was stilled, and only the doubtful honk-honk of an occasional automobile broke the silence. Inside the car the light was no longer on, and I sat in a most oppressive darkness. Almost immediately we began to ascend a very steep incline. Nob Hill, no doubt, famous in the history of this romantic, climbing town. Eagerly I pressed my face against the pane beside me, but the tule fog still blotted out the city of my dreams. ”

“ Now I had youth. “My boy, you don't know what you've got.” Oh, yes, I do. Youth—and Mary Will. She, too, must be mine. She had looked wonderful. Where was she? Was I to be left alone forever with the confounded clock?
Suddenly from across the hall came a cry, sharp, uncanny, terrible. I ran out in the direction from which it had come and stood on the threshold of the Drew dining room. Another room of many memories, of stern faces on the wall. A table was set with gleaming silver and white linen, and in its center stood a cake, on which fifty absurd pink candles flickered bravely. ”

“ The firelight glinted on the blade as, holding the handle in his two lean hands, he plunged the point toward his heart. He took one dazed uncertain step, then fell, his black hair close to the dying fire, while from her tarnished frame above, Henry Drew's first wife stared down at him. For an instant, held by this latest decree of the gods, no one moved.
Then without a sound Mah-li dropped to the dead man's side. It was Mark Drew who snatched the knife from her hand and left her there on her knees, gazing at the motionless figure on the hearth. ”

“ Twenty years later, toward the close of 1918, I stepped from the gangplank of a China boat and for the first time in my life set foot in San Francisco. If you have always thought of San Francisco as the bonny merry city, the gay light-hearted city, I advise you not to enter it first when it is wrapped in the gloom of a tule-fog. ”

“ The life of the Drew household appeared to be at the moment centered in the great hall into which we came. Carlotta Drew was lying back on a big sofa at the left, indulging in the luxury of mild hysterics, and Mary Will bent over her, a bottle of smelling-salts in her hand. A little old woman with a kindly face, evidently a servant, was weeping silently near the stairs, and at the moment of our entrance Hung Chin-chung emerged from the dining-room with no sign of emotion on his inscrutable face. ”

“ Thus inelegantly had old Drew been described to me in China, and there was some truth in it, surely. Where was my hatred of a moment ago? Confound it, there was something likable about him after all.
I stared at him no longer, for now outside the curtains I could see Mary Will coming down the stairs. Many beautiful women had come down those stairs in the days when social history was making in that old house on Nob Hill—women whose loveliness was now but a fast-fading memory on peeling canvas. But none, I felt quite certain, was fairer than Mary Will. ”

“ I asked his permission to marry. And why not? Could I not serve him as faithfully, even though Mah-li were also mine to care for? He did not speak. He was not pleased.
“Vanity! Vanity was the secret flame at which he warmed his hands, grown cold with many wicked deeds. He was vain of my loyalty to him; that cake with the candles is a symbol, a boast. Selfish, cruel, he would not share me with the woman—he must have all my time, all my care, all my devotion. He thought I did not know. He was often a fool. ”

“ But I was desperate—this was my last chance.
“Turn round, Mary Will.” I swung her about and pointed off into the fog. “Over there—don’t you see———”
“See what?” she gasped.
“How I love you,” I said in her ear, triumphing over the foghorn and the curiosity of the woman just beyond her. “With all my heart and soul, my dear. I’m an engineer—I say engineer—not up on sentimental stuff—can’t talk it—just feel it. Give me a chance to prove how much I care. Don’t you think that in time———”
She shook her head.
“What is it? Are you still fond of that other boy—the poor fellow in Shanghai?” ”

“ So there had been parties, and jokes, and tears, and Mary Will had sailed for Shanghai and her wedding.
It has happened to other girls, no doubt. Young Paige met her boat. He was very drunk, and there was in his face evidence of a fall to depths unspeakable. Poor Mary Will saw at the first frightened look that the boy she had known and loved was gone forever. Many of the other girls—helpless, without money, alone—marry the men and make the best of it. Not Mary Will. Helpless, without money, alone, she was still brave enough to hold her head high and refuse. ”

“ The injustice of the world lay heavy on my heart. For I was young, and I had been unfairly treated. Four years earlier, just graduated from the engineering department of a big technical institution in the East, I had set sail from Vancouver to take charge of a mine in China for Henry Drew. I met the old San Francisco millionaire in Shanghai—a little yellow-faced man with snapping black eyes and long thin hands that must have begun, even in the cradle, to reach and seize and hold. ”

“ But after all, Henry Drew was my father, and I was bound to find out who killed him if I could. Then, too, you had tried to involve an innocent man. I'm all at sea. I thought you were loyal to my father—I spoke of your loyalty here to-night. There can be no question of your guilt, but that does not solve the mystery for me. It only increases it. What in heaven's name was the motive behind all this?”
We heard the front door open and the sound of footsteps in the hall. Riley, huge, red-faced, triumphant, came into the drawing-room. ”

“ And quicker than the tule-fog lifting from San Francisco all gloomy apprehension vanished from my heart.
Henry Drew’s party broke up in a sort of silent awed confusion. Under the flickering gaslight in the dim old hall Mary Will held out her hand.
“Good night,” she said.
“Good morning,” I answered, pointing to the clock. “Where do you imagine you’re going?”
“To bed, of course.”
“You could never sleep in this house. Go up and get your hat.” ”

“ Hung stepped to the side of Mah-li and laid a hand on her arm.
“Do not grieve, little disappointed one,” he said. “We are not to dwell together in the great house by the broad river in the village of Sun Chin. It is the decree of the gods. For you—after you have put off the white garb of your mourning—there may be another, and a younger, husband. For me———”
“Put out your hands,” growled Barnes, coming nearer.
“Once,” said Hung, “in Honolulu, the city of my birth, I stood in the foreigner’s court. It is a humiliation not to be endured a second time.” ”

“ Drew turned to me. “Ah, yes—the girls—the girls will be down in a minute. Bless them! That little Mary Will—like a breath of springtime from her own mountains. Ah, youth—youth! All I have gained, all that I have—I’d swap it to-night for youth. ”

“ I tell you flatly I do not believe this young man is guilty of my father's murder.”
“Thank you, Mr. Drew,” I said.
“It's an old saying and a true one,” Barnes remarked, “that there's a motive behind every killing. Find that motive and you've got your man. The motive in this case is clear—revenge.”
“But there's another one of us who may have had a motive,” said Drew. His eyes were on Parker.
“I can't arrest a man because his shoes are muddy,” replied Barnes peevishly. “You know that. No—everything points to this young fellow. ”

“ Henry Drew had heard of her plight and whatever his motive, had done a kind act for once. He engaged Mary Will as companion for his wife, and on the boat coming over the girl and Mrs. Drew had occupied a cabin with a frail little missionary woman. For husbands and wives were ruthlessly torn apart, that each stateroom might have its full quota of three. As I sat there with the fog dripping down upon me I pictured again our good-by on the deck, where we had been lined up to await the port doctor and be frisked, as a frivolous ship’s officer put it, for symptoms of yellow fever. ”

“ A short distance down an alley lamp made an odd shape in the fog. I hurried toward it. Just beyond I stepped out into the crossstreet, and paused. Left or right? Left, of course.
The clammy yellow fog stuck closer than a brother. On my feet I wore patent leather pumps, recently purchased on my return to human society in Shanghai. Their soles were almost as they had left the shop, and I slipped and skidded unmercifully on the damp sidewalk. A small matter—but one that somehow filled me with a feeling of helplessness and rage. What a spectacle I must present! ”

“ It was to Drew I spoke, but my gaze was on Mary Will’s scornful profile.
“That’s fine!” cried the old man. He peered out the window. “Where are we? Ah, yes—Post and Grant—there’s a shop near here.” He seized the speaking tube and ordered his Japanese chauffeur to stop. “I’ll be only a minute,” he said as the car drew up to the curb. “Must have candles—candles for my party.” And he hopped out. We stood there in the fog with the Wagnerian symphony fierce about us. It was after five now, and all San Francisco, to say nothing of Oakland and Berkeley, was stumbling home through the murk. ”

“ I had no lawyer; I had, in fact, no case against him.
“You’re quite right, my boy,” he said. “To-night is no time for.business. Let us eat, drink and be merry, for to-morrow—to-morrow I see your lawyer.”
He laughed outright now, an unkind sneering laugh, and once more hatred of him blazed in my heart. Why had I been such a fool as to come?
The door-bell rang, a loud peal, and Drew ran to the hall, where Hung Chin-chung was already opening the outer door. Through the curtains I saw a huge rosy-cheeked policeman outlined against the fog.
“Hello, Mr. Drew,” he said cheerily. ”

“ Hung’s hand was pushing open the door.
“I want an answer!” shouted Barnes.
“For one word,” said Hung, “a man may be adjudged wise. And for one word he may be adjudged foolish. I have spoken enough.”
“Hold on there!” Barnes cried, for Hung was going out.
“Let him go,” said Mark Drew quickly, and the Chinaman disappeared.
Barnes threw up his hands.
“All right—if you’re handling the case,” he said angrily.
“I should like to, for a few moments,” said Drew, smiling. “Where the mind of an Oriental is concerned, one man’s efforts are as good as another’s.” ”

“ Carlotta Drew sat up at sight of Doctor Parker and abandoned her mechanical exhibition of grief. Perhaps she remembered the effect of tears on even the most careful make-up.
“Now, what's it all about?” boomed Riley. “Mrs. MacShane——” He turned to the old servant.
“The poor man!” wept Mrs. MacShane. “In there—in the dining room——”
“Has any wan called the station?”
“Sure, I called 'em,” said the old woman, evidently efficient even under stress.
“They'll be sendin' a detective over,” said Riley. “No wan leaves—that's understood.”
He passed on into the tragic room where the candles were burning. ”

“ Barnes held up the little pack of white cards. “I’ve got here the place cards for the party, which I gathered up from the table.” He began to read. “Mr. Winthrop—you’re not fifty. Miss Tellfair—I don’t need to ask. Doctor Parker—er—how about you?”
“Not guilty,” Parker said. “It’s not my birthday, and Mr. Drew wouldn’t have given me a party if it were.”
Barnes held up another card, and for a long moment gazed at the face of Carlotta Drew. He must have seen the lines and wrinkles that even the best of makeups could not completely hide. ”

“ The lock clicked shut on my wrists just as Hung came in from the kitchen, and I thought that he stared at me with unusual interest.
“My investigation is at an end,” said Barnes loudly. “You are free to go, you people. You’ll all be wanted as witnesses, of course.”
Mrs. MacShane went slowly up the stairs. Doctor Parker had found his overcoat and was putting it on. Hung stepped forward to assist him, when Mark Drew spoke.
“All right, Hung,” he said. “Go to your room. I’ll wait here to look after things. You’ve passed your fiftieth birthday—I’ve not forgotten—you are your own master now. ”

“ It establishes beyond question that Hung was under an obligation to your father, that he was always very devoted to him——”
“Yes,” said Mark Drew sharply. “But you forget that the obligation has been paid. To-day Hung was released from his promise—he was a free man again. What has been going on in his mind these twenty years? You and I don't know—we can't know. What white man could?”
“You mean to say,” Doctor Parker put in, with what seemed to me a quite hopeful look in his eyes, “that you think Hung's first act as a free man was to murder his benefactor?” ”

“ Drew gave me a check to-night—I can live on that until I get a job.”
“The cost of living is frightfully high.”
“But worth it—don’t you think?” she asked.
“With you—undoubtedly.”
“You just keep going round in circles,” she complained.
“You’ve got me going round in circles,” I laughed. I came close to her before the fire. “Mary Will—I’ve never been in San Francisco before. And I’ve never been married. Two new experiences. I’d like to tackle them together. To-morrow, after the fog lifts, and I’ve seen and rejected all the other girls, I’ll meet you with a license in my pocket.” ”

“ I’ve got you tagged, son, from the minute you left here to go to your room, just before dinner. Wanted to change your clothes, eh? To bring honor to your master, and your master’s house. Was that the reason? I don’t think so. Now listen to me—and correct me if I’m wrong: You went to your room. You put on these white man’s shoes in place of those velvet slippers. You took the knife you’d snitched from Mr. Winthrop’s luggage when you was in the stateroom packing Henry Drew’s bags. You let out the rope of the fire-escape and dropped down into the fog. ”

“ Mark Drew put in. “I was at her wedding ten years ago. She was only a child then—but there's no mistaking her. Her name is Mah-li, and she is the wife of Doctor Su Yen Hun.”
“Doctor Su's wife!” cried Barnes. “Now we are getting on! A Chinese triangle—by all the yellow gods! I didn't know they had 'em. It's all up, kid,” he said to the scared little figure. “Hung here has told us everything.”
“That is a lie,” said Hung in a voice like ice.
“Your husband's been murdered. You know that?” roared Barnes. ”

“ Wait here at the gate, holding my friend of the fog a prisoner inside? Useless, I reflected; there must be many ways of escape—a neighbor’s yard on either side. Before I had waited five minutes he would be well on his way to safety. No—I must get back to the house as quickly as I could. Since I could not return by way of the garden only one course remained—I must follow the alley until I came to a cross-street, then travel that until I came to the street where Henry Drew’s house stood. But what was the name of the street where it stood? ”