Herman Cyril McNeile

“ Drummond lay back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, with his head almost touching the heavy curtains behind him. Life was undoubtedly good. Except for the murder of Professor Goodman it would have been very good—very good indeed. And at that moment the telephone on the desk in front of him began to ring.
With a jerk Drummond sat up and looked at it—his mind recalled to the circumstances of the moment. Should he let it go on ringing till the operator gave up in despair, or should he take the call? One thing was obvious on the face of it: The call could not be for him. ”

“ Henceforward, Freyder, my life will be one of blameless virtue.” He drained the glass slowly.
The other shook his head doubtfully.
“You'll find it a bit monotonous, Chief,” he said.
Mr. Robinson smiled.
“Perhaps so—but I shall give it a trial. And whenever it becomes too monotonous I shall merely remove more money from the pockets of those two villainous men, Blantyre and Liebhaus. It almost makes one despair of human nature when one realize that such cold-blooded scoundrels exist!”
“And Drummond! Have you made up your mind yet as to how you intend to dispose of him?” ”

“ To his mind, Drummond was one of those unpleasant individuals who can be regarded as really safe only when they're dead. And once granted that he was going to be killed in the near future, Freyder would have wasted no further time about it. But he knew the absolute futility of arguing with his chief once the latter's mind was made up, so he resigned himself at once to the inevitable.
“You are certain that you were not followed here?” said Mr. Robinson.
“As certain as any one can ever be,” answered Freyder. ”

“ There was not one Scheidstrun, but two Scheidstruns and he had assaulted the wrong one. Of Mr. Edward Blackton he had never heard, but there was only one man living who could have suggested that unmistakable trick with his hand—the man he knew as Carl Peterson. Somehow or other, he had found out this mannerism of his and had deliberately used it to bluff Drummond, even as he had deliberately double-crossed the Metropolitan Diamond Syndicate. ”

“ IT cannot be said that Drummond found the process of explaining an easy one. The lady, having got her second wind, seemed only too ready to cut the cackle and get down to it again; and, as Drummond had to admit even to himself, the explanation sounded a bit lame. To assault unmercifully an elderly German savant in a lawyer's office merely because he was drumming with his left hand on his knee, was, as Mr. Tootem junior put it, a shade over the odds. And his excuse for so doing—his description of the inconceivable villainies of Carl Peterson in the past—was received coldly. ”

“ Should any one ask you a question about your doings in London which you find difficult to answer, just give your celebrated imitation of a windmill and say nothing. I may remark that if Freyder's telephone report to me is satisfactory this evening, I shall have no hesitation in doubling the amount I suggested as your fee.”
With a wave of his hand he was gone, and Professor Scheidstrun and his wife watched the big car drive away from the door.
“Gott in Himmel!” muttered the German. “But the man is a devil.” ”

“ THE short service was drawing to a close, and Algy, who had not heard a word, still stared thoughtfully at the back of the professor's head, two pews in front. He had noted the nods of greeting from several distinguished-looking old gentlemen as the German had entered the church. But five instead of two! Surely it was incredible that any man, however absent-minded and engrossed in other things, should have made such a mistake as that. Even poor old Goodman himself had not been as bad as that. Besides, he personally had spoken not once but several times to the German during the interview. ”

“ Robinson raised a deprecating hand.
“How coarse, my dear Freyder—how almost vulgar! My feelings against this young man are of a purely personal type. And I assure you they would not be gratified in the smallest degree by disposing of him when he was in the condition he is in now. One might just as well assault a carcass in a butcher's shop. No; no. It will be my earnest endeavor to restore Captain Drummond to perfect health before disposing of him. Or at any rate to such a condition that he realizes what is taking place. ”

“ As I say, I had assumed that the notes of the process had perished with the professor. You now tell us that he handed them to you. Well, I make no bones about it that though from a purely scientific point of view the process fails, yet—er—from a business point of view it is not one that any of us would care to have noised abroad. You will understand that if diamonds, which except to the eye of the most practical expert are real, can be made cheaply it will—er—not be a good thing for those who are interested in the diamond market. ”

“ There is nothing like dying convincingly to enable one to live in comfort,” he ended epigrammatically.
FREYDER grinned, as he watched Mr. Robinson help himself to a mild whisky and soda: undoubtedly the chief was in an excellent humor.
“We've run a pretty big risk this time, my dear fellow,” he went on thoughtfully. “And sometimes it almost staggers me when I think how wonderfully we've succeeded. But I am under no delusions as to the abilities of the English police. Once they get on to a thing they never let go—and sooner or later they are bound to get on to this. ”

“ As long as every one believes that it was you who was with Professor Goodman they are not likely to suspect very much. For foul play there must be a motive, and there could be no motive in your case. No, Heindrick, that devil has foreseen everything. No one was suspicious except the big man this morning, and now he is suspicious no longer. All that we have to do is just what we are told, and we shall be safe. ”

“ Blackton, disguised as Professor Scheidstrun, a German geologist, gains an entrance into the Goodman laboratory, kidnaps the professor, and blows up the place. But when he later interviews the professor, in the guise of Mr. William Robinson, a wealthy and eccentric man of science, he finds that there is an unforeseen hitch in the carrying out of his scheme. For Professor Goodman hasn't the notes of his process, and without them he can do nothing. And the man who has them now is—Hugh Drummond! ”

“ LURED by the prospect of incalculable wealth for himself, Edward Blackton, international criminal, returns to England at the request of Sir Raymond Blantyre, who represents vast diamond interests, in jeopardy at the moment. Blackton's plan is to gain possession of the secret process by which a well-known chemist, Professor Goodman, has been able to produce flawless diamonds by artificial means and at a cost of less than six pounds. ”

“ I'm convinced that the man today in Tootem's office is the genuine article. And if he is it's almost impossible to believe that poor old Goodman's death was anything but an accident. Then where's the catch? That's what I've been trying to puzzle out for the last three hours, and I'm just where I was when I started.”
“You think that German is going to do what he said? Go back and carry on with Goodman's discovery?”
“I don't know what else to think.”
“Then I'll tell you one thing, Hugh,” said Algy thoughtfully. “You'd have a death from heat apoplexy if old Blantyre knew it. ”

“ The next moment he jumps upon me like a madman.”
“I thought he probably would,” said the old gentleman. “A very amusing little experiment in psychology. You might make a note of it, professor. The surest way of allaying suspicions is to arouse them thoroughly, and then prove that they are groundless. Hence your somewhat sudden summons by airplane from Germany. I have arranged that you should return in the same manner tomorrow after the funeral, which you will attend this afternoon.” ”

“ And then when they find that the Gadfly left England and has never been heard of again, with true British phlegm they will assume that she has sunk with all hands. And Sir Raymond Blantyre will breathe again—unless they've put the scoundrel in prison for having suggested such an abominable crime to me. In fact, every one will breathe again except Drummond and our friend upstairs. Oh! And Mr. Lewisham. Did you attend the obsequies on Mr. Lewisham, Freyder?”
“I did not,” laughed Freyder, and Mr. Robinson, contrary to his usual custom, helped himself to another whisky and soda. ”

“ And a second is a long time under certain conditions.”
Moaning pitifully, Professor Goodman lay back in his chair with his eyes closed.
“I won't,” he muttered again and again through clenched teeth, while the heat from the furnace grew greater and greater, and the dull red changed to white.
“Foolish fellow,” sighed Mr. Robinson. “However,” he added hopefully, “it's only half a second this time. And as a special concession I'll let you off with only 1000°. Now, Freyder—we are quite ready.”
Freyder took a step forward, and gave one agonized shout of terror. ”

“ The one vital thing was to prevent him from getting on to it again. And since there was no way of telling what Drummond would find when he went around to the house, it was imperative that he should be there himself. For if there was one person whom Sir Raymond did not expect to meet there, it was Professor Scheidstrun. And in that event he must be on hand to see what happened.
“Shall we go at once? My car is here.”
“By all means,” said Drummond. “And if there's room we might take Algy as well. He gets into mischief if he's left lying about.” ”

“ Mr. Robinson turned the unconscious man over with his foot.
“Have him carried upstairs,” he ordered, “and put in one of the bedrooms. And have some one look after him.” He paused by the door as a thought struck him. “And by the way—let me know the instant he recovers consciousness. I'd hate to postpone my first interview with the gentleman for one instant longer than necessary.”
“Well, if”m any judge of such matters, Chief, you'll have to postpone it till tomorrow.” ”

“ I think you remarked before you told me the truth that it was possibly the fault of the electric furnace. A naughty fib, dear brother and naughty fibs should always be punished. One presses this switch, I think, to start it. Yes, why I feel the warmth already. And I see that the maximum temperature registered this evening was 2000° Centigrade. Is that you, Freyder?” he continued, without turning his head; as some one entered the room.
“It is, Chief. What's the trouble?”
“The trouble, Freyder, is that this incredibly stupid old man refuses to carry out his process for me. ”

“ But where he was or what he was doing, he knew no more than Sir Raymond. He had left that morning with the notes in his possession, and that was all he could tell his infuriated questioner.
Illustration: “Puff—puff!” he cried happily. “Naughty man kicked train!” And the train which he was busily pushing along the floor consisted of his own shoes
AND then a sudden silence had fallen while Drummond still craned out of the window listening—a silence which endured so long that finally he stepped back into the room, only to discover that he was locked in. ”

“ He passed the sheets of paper across the desk to Mr. Tootem senior.
Illustration: As Drummond leaned forward to take the receiver from the hook, the curtain behind him was pulled back, inch by inch, by a man who held in his right hand a villainous-looking iron bar
“If I don't get outside a pint of beer soon,” he continued, reaching for his hat, “there will be a double event in the funeral line.” ”

“ Such a performance does not call for conversation, and so it will not be necessary for me to prime you with anything more than you know already. Your brother scientists, who will doubtless be there in force, you will know how to deal with far better than I, seeing that I should undoubtedly fail to recognize any of them. ”

“ All his suspicions are allayed: he merely thinks he's made a profound ass of himself. Which is just as it should be. Moreover, with the mark in its present depreciated state, I think the check I propose to hand to your husband for the trouble he has taken will ease matters in the housekeeping line.”
The old gentleman rose from his chair, chuckling again at the thought of Drummond's plight.
“Well, I think that is all. As I said before, you will attend the funeral this afternoon. ”