A week later, Stafford King came into the office of the First Commissioner1 of the Criminal Intelligence Department, and Sir Stanley looked up with a kindly2 but pitying look in his eye.
"Well, Stafford," he said gently, "sit down, won't you. What has happened?"
Stafford King shrugged3 his shoulders.
"Boundary is discharged," he said shortly.
Sir Stanley nodded.
"It was inevitable," he said, "I suppose there's no hope of connecting him and his gang with the death of Hanson?"
"Not a ghost of a hope, I am afraid," said Stafford, shaking his head. "Hanson was undoubtedly5 murdered, and the poison which killed him was in the glass of water which the usher6 brought. I've been examining the usher again to-day, and all he can remember is that he saw somebody pushing through the crowd at the back of the court, who handed the glass over the heads of the people. Nobody seems to have seen the man who passed it. That was the method by which the gang got rid of their traitor7."
"Clever," said Sir Stanley, putting his finger-tips together. "They knew just the condition of mind in which Hanson would be when he came into court. They had the dope ready, and they knew that the detectives would allow the usher to bring the man water, when they would not allow anybody else to approach him. This is a pretty bad business, Stafford."
"I realise that," said the young chief. "Of course, I shall resign. There's nothing else to do. I thought we had him this time, especially with the evidence we had in relation to the Spillsbury case."
"You mean the letter which Spillsbury wrote to the woman Marsh8? How did that come, by the way?"
"It reached Scotland Yard by post."
"Do you know who sent it?"
"There was no covering note at all," replied Stafford. "It was in a plain envelope with a typewritten address and was sent to me personally. The letter, of course, was valueless by itself."
"Have you made any search to discover the documents which Hanson spoke9 about?"
"We have searched everywhere," said the other a little wearily, "but it is a pretty hopeless business looking through London for a handful of documents. Anyway, friend Boundary is free."
The other was watching him closely.
"It is a bitter disappointment to you, my young friend," he said; "you've been working on the case for years. I fear you'll never have another such chance of putting Boundary in the dock. He's got a lot of public sympathy, too. Your thorough-paced rascal10 who escapes from the hands of the police has always a large following amongst the public, and I doubt whether the Home Secretary will sanction any further proceedings11, unless we have most convincing proof. What's this?"
Stafford had laid a letter on the table.
"My resignation," said that young man grimly.
The First Commissioner took up the envelope and tore it in four pieces.
"It is not accepted," he said cheerfully; "you did your best, and you're no more responsible than I am. If you resign, I ought to resign, and so ought every officer who has been on this game. A few years ago I took exactly the same step--offered my resignation over a purely12 private and personal matter, and it was not accepted. I have been glad since, and so will you be. Go on with your work and give Boundary a rest for awhile."
Stafford was looking down at him abstractedly.
"Do you think we shall ever catch the fellow, sir?"
Sir Stanley smiled.
"Frankly13, I don't," he admitted. "As I said before, the only danger I see to Boundary is this mysterious individual who apparently14 crops up now and again in his daily life, and who, I suspect, was the person who sent you the Spillsbury letter--the Jack15 o' Judgment16, doesn't he call himself? Do you know what I think?" he asked quietly. "I think that if you found the 'Jack,' if you ran him to earth, stripped him of his mystic guise17, you would discover somebody who has a greater grudge18 against Boundary than the police."
Stafford smiled.
"We can't run about after phantoms19, sir," he said, with a touch of asperity20 in his voice.
The chief looked at him curiously21.
"I hear you do quite a lot of running about," he said carelessly, as he began to arrange the papers on his table. "By the way, how is Miss White?"
Stafford flushed.
"She was very well when I saw her last night," he said stiffly; "she is leaving the stage."
"And her father?"
Stafford was silent for a second.
"He left his home a week before the case came into court and has not been seen since," he said.
The chief nodded.
"Whilst White is away and until he turns up I should keep a watchful22 eye on his daughter," he said.
"What do you mean, sir?" asked Stafford.
"I'm just making a suggestion," said the other. "Think it over."
Stafford thought it over on his way to meet the girl, who was waiting for him on a sunny seat in Temple Gardens, for the day was fine and even warm, and, two hours before luncheon23, the place was comparatively empty of people.
She saw the trouble in his face and rose to meet him, and for a moment forgot her own distress24 of mind, her doubts and fears. Evidently she knew the reason for his attendance at Scotland Yard, and something of the interview which he had had.
"I offered my resignation," he replied, in answer to her unspoken question, "and Sir Stanley refused it."
"I think he was just," she said. "Why, it would be simply monstrous25 if your career were spoilt through no fault of your own."
He laughed.
"Don't let us talk about me," he said. "What have you done?"
"I've cancelled all my contracts; I have other work to do."
"How are----" He hesitated, but she knew just what he meant, and patted his arm gratefully.
"Thank you, I have all the money I want," she said. "Father left me quite a respectable balance. I am closing the house at Horsham and storing the furniture, and shall keep just sufficient to fill a little flat I have taken in Bloomsbury."
"But what are you going to do?" he asked curiously.
She shook her head.
"Oh, there are lots of things that a girl can do," she said vaguely26, "besides going on the stage."
"But isn't it a sacrifice? Didn't you love your work?"
She hesitated.
"I thought I did at first," she said. "You see, I was always a very good mimic27. When I was quite a little girl I could imitate the colonel. Listen!"
Suddenly to his amazement28 he heard the drawling growl29 of Dan Boundary. She laughed with glee at his amazement, but the smile vanished and she sighed.
"I want you to tell me one thing, Mr. King----"
"Stafford--you promised me," he began.
She reddened.
"I hardly like calling you by your christian30 name but it sounds so like a surname that perhaps it won't be so bad."
"What do you want to ask?" he demanded.
She was silent for a moment, then she said:
"How far was my father implicated31 in this terrible business?"
"In the gang?"
She nodded.
He was in a dilemma32. Solomon White was implicated as deeply as any save the colonel. In his younger days he had been the genius who was responsible for the organisation33 and had been for years the colonel's right-hand man until the more subtle villainy of Pinto Silva, that Portuguese34 adventurer, had ousted35 him, and, if the truth be told, until the sight of his girl growing to womanhood had brought qualms36 to the heart of this man, who, whatever his faults, loved the girl dearly.
"You don't answer me," she said, "but I think I am answered by your silence. Was my father--a bad man?"
"I would not judge your father," he said. "I can tell you this, that for the past few years he has played a very small part in the affairs of the gang. But what are you going to do?"
"How persistent37 you are!" she laughed. "Why, there are so many things I am going to do that I haven't time to tell you. For one thing, I am going to work to undo4 some of the mischief38 which the gang have wrought39. I am going to make such reparation as I can," she said, her lips trembling, "for the evil deeds my father has committed."
"You have a mission, eh?" he said with a little smile.
"Don't laugh at me," she pleaded. "I feel it here." She put her hand on her heart. "There's something which tells me that, even if my father built up this gang, as you told me once he did--ah! you had forgotten that."
Stafford King had indeed forgotten the statement.
"Yes?" he said. "You intend to pull it down?"
She nodded.
"I feel, too, that I am at bay. I am the daughter of Solomon White, and Solomon White is regarded by the colonel as a traitor. Do you think they will leave me alone? Don't you think they are going to watch me day and night and get me in their power just as soon as they can? Think of the lever that would be, the lever to force my father back to them!"
"Oh, you'll be watched all right," he said easily, and remembered the commissioner's warning. "In fact, you're being watched now. Do you mind?"
"Now?" she asked in surprise.
He nodded towards a lady who sat a dozen yards away and whose face was carefully shaded by a parasol.
"Who is she?" asked the girl curiously.
"A young person called Lollie Marsh," laughed Stafford. "At present she has a mission too, which is to entangle40 me into a compromising position."
The girl looked towards the spy with a new interest and a new resentment41.
"She has been trailing me for weeks," he went on, "and it would be embarrassing to tell you the number of times we have been literally42 thrown into one another's arms. Poor girl!" he said, with mock concern, "she must be bored with sitting there so long. Let us take a stroll."
If he expected Lollie to follow, he was to be disappointed She stayed on watching the disappearing figures, without attempting to rise, and waiting until they were out of sight, she walked out on to the Embankment and hailed a passing taxi. She seemed quite satisfied in her mind that the plan she had evolved for the trapping of Stafford King could not fail to succeed.
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commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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undo
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| vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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usher
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| n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员 | |
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traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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phantoms
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| n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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asperity
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| n.粗鲁，艰苦 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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24
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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mimic
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| v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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implicated
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| adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的 | |
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dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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ousted
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| 驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺 | |
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qualms
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| n.不安；内疚 | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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entangle
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| vt.缠住，套住；卷入，连累 | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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