Edgar Wallace

“ Those who are best able to judge the qualities of our friend—Indian officials, judges and political chiefs—speak of Annie's work in terms of the highest respect. It would seem, in fact, that in the very shortest space of time he placed himself on a level with the most astute chiefs of the Criminal Investigation Department in India, and, moreover, accomplished this, handicapped with very little knowledge of the languages of the great empire. ”

“ I confessed.
“The camera,” said Annie with that smiling face, “was a scheme to make them stand in one place—there on the carpet—”
“Yes,” I said as he paused.
“The carpet hid the weigh bridge— My boy, Barton and I weighed every one of 'em!”
“But—”
“Don't you see, Barton inside the house, took their weight yesterday and again to-day. Lord Knitborough was exactly nine pounds lighter to-day than he was on the previous day—and Lady Knitborough nine pounds heavier. Nine pounds is the weight of the belt. Simple, isn't it?” ”

“ Only those who have been bored by being piloted through a factory, in which they have no interest, by an enthusiast to whom every aspect of the business has some especial beauty, will realize how wearisome that journey was. ”

“ In his slow, hesitating way he told me story after story of modern police work. Some were amusing, some were horribly gruesome, not a few were unprintable.
“So you see,” said Annie with a yawn, “work on our side takes a bit of getting through. You have to be prepared for the very unlikely and grapple with the impossible. Here, all your crime is cut and dried; you know when it is coming along and you're prepared for it.”
“Motive is concentrated in England; in India it is different. ”

“ Annie took up the sham.
“Pretty easy, I should imagine,” he said. “The belt has been photographed and the picture has been in half a dozen illustrated papers, hasn't it, Sir Philip?” The director nodded his head. “It was easy enough to copy,” said Annie; “the design is simple. The densest amateur could have done it—I suppose there is no doubt whatever about your men?” ”

“ We had no difficulty in finding the place; we might, as a matter of fact, have ridden thither for there were a dozen carriages waiting at Lewisham Station to convey the members of the Guild of Science to the factory. We walked, however, and on the way Annie explained to me what I had not known, that the Guild was an odd mixture of genuine scientists and fashionable folk who affected scientific leanings. ”

“ Annie went on, “are promised, but in the meantime—”
He tapped his pocket again.
“It seems a simple matter,” I said; “they've only to get a few plain-clothes officers—”
He shook his head.
“That is impossible. The managing director—you probably know Sir Philip Gower—he says it is impossible, and I agree. If the members of the Guild weren't coming it would be simple, but their presence makes the plain-clothes man an absolute impossibility. You see,” he went on, “it might leak out—get into the papers: 'Guild of Science watched by detectives'—fine bill for the newspapers—what?” ”

“ They were, in Annie's expressive language, a scratch lot. Nine of the twenty were ladies, of the average smart-woman type; the rest were men, only two being what I would describe as typical scientists, the remainder being of that class which anarchistic orators refer to as the “idle rich.”
Lady Knitborough was a strikingly beautiful woman of thirty, but perhaps the most remarkable member of the party was Lord Knitborough himself. ”

“ There was a tedious little delay because one of the ladies of the party wanted the weigh bridge explained. I know of nothing so annoying as the ignorance of other people on the subjects with which one is familiar, and I chafed whilst the courteous guide explained that the steel platform flush with the ground was the “bridge” on which the metal was weighed, and that the weighing apparatus itself was inside the little house out of sight. ”

“ He turned abruptly from me to my companion.
“I'm sorry to bring you down on an errand like this,'” he said apologetically. “Of course nobody is going to steal anything, but we've got half a million pounds worth of old jewelry—most of which is only lent to us—and I'm afraid we've been very careless about it. It is going back to town to-morrow—we decided that at a meeting we had yesterday.”
“Seems a fairly intelligent scheme,” said Annie dryly, “and in the meantime—?”
“In the meantime,” said Sir Philip, “I want you to be here—in case. ”

“ A large room near the gate had been decorated with flags and bunting and a big red carpet spread and in this the managing director was receiving his guests.
We did not join the party, but, under the guidance of a clerk who had evidently been instructed to take charge of us, we made our way to the board-room and sat down to await Sir Philip Gower's coming.
In ten minutes he came bustling in, a short, stout, red-faced man with a ready smile, and shook hands energetically.
Annie introduced me.
“Ah,” he smiled, “all you famous detectives have a biographer handy, eh? Glad to meet you, Mr. ”