He laid his hat, cane5 and overall upon a chair, and from a pocket of his reefer jacket took out a big notebook.
“Good morning, sir,” he said.
“Good morning, Chief Inspector,” replied the Assistant Commissioner. “Pray be seated. No doubt”—he suppressed a weary sigh—“you have a long report to make. I observe that some of the papers have the news of Sir Lucien Pyne's death.”
“Twenty pressmen are sitting downstairs,” he said “waiting for particulars. One of them got into my room.” He opened his notebook. “He didn't stay long.”
The Assistant Commissioner gazed wearily at his blotting-pad, striking imaginary chords upon the table-edge with his large widely extended fingers. He cleared his throat.
“Er—Chief Inspector,” he said, “I fully7 recognize the difficulties which—you follow me? But the Press is the Press. Neither you nor I could hope to battle against such an institution even if we desired to do so. Where active resistance is useless, a little tact—you quite understand?”
“Quite, sir. Rely upon me,” replied Kerry. “But I didn't mean to open my mouth until I had reported to you. Now, sir, here is a precis of evidence, nearly complete, written out clearly by Sergeant8 Coombes. You would probably prefer to read it?”
“Yes, yes, I will read it. But has Sergeant Coombes been on duty all night?”
“He has, sir, and so have I. Sergeant Coombes went home an hour ago.”
“Ah,” murmured the Assistant Commissioner
He took the notebook from Kerry, and resting his head upon his hand began to read. Kerry sat very upright in his chair, chewing slowly and watching the profile of the reader with his unwavering steel-blue eyes. The reading was twice punctuated9 by telephone messages, but the Assistant Commissioner apparently10 possessed11 the Napoleonic faculty12 of doing two things at once, for his gaze travelled uninterruptedly along the lines of the report throughout the time that he issued telephonic instructions.
When he had arrived at the final page of Coombes' neat, schoolboy writing, he did not look up for a minute or more, continuing to rest his head in the palm of his hand. Then:
“So far you have not succeeded in establishing the identity of the missing man, Kazmah?” he said.
“Not so far, sir,” replied Kerry, enunciating the words with characteristic swift precision, each syllable13 distinct as the rap of a typewriter. “Inspector Whiteleaf, of Vine Street, has questioned all constables14 in the Piccadilly area, and we have seen members of the staffs of many shops and offices in the neighborhood, but no one is familiar with the appearance of the missing man.”
“Ah—now, the Egyptian servant?”
Inspector Kerry moved his shoulders restlessly.
“Rashid is his name. Many of the people in the neighborhood knew him by sight, and at five o'clock this morning one of my assistants had the good luck to find out, from an Arab coffee-house keeper named Abdulla, where Rashid lived. He paid a visit to the place—it's off the West India Dock Road—half an hour later. But Rashid had gone. I regret to report that all traces of him have been lost.”
“Ah—considering this circumstance side by side with the facts that no scrap16 of evidence has come to light in the Kazmah premises17 and that the late Sir Lucien's private books and papers cannot be found, what do you deduce, Chief Inspector?”
“My report indicates what I deduce, sir! An accomplice18 of Kazmah's must have been in Sir Lucien's household! Kazmah and Mrs. Irvin can only have left the premises by going up to the roof and across the leads to Sir Lucien's flat in Albemarle Street. I shall charge the man Juan Mareno.”
“What has he to say?” murmured the Assistant Commissioner, absently turning over the pages of the notebook. “Ah, yes. 'Claims to be a citizen of the United States but has produced no papers. Engaged by Sir Lucien Pyne in San Francisco. Professes19 to have no evidence to offer. Admitted Mrs. Monte Irvin to Sir Lucien's flat on night of murder. Sir Lucien and Mrs. Irvin went out together shortly afterwards, and Sir Lucien ordered him (Mareno) to go for the car to garage in South Audley Street and drive to club, where Sir Lucien proposed to dine. Mareno claims to have followed instructions. After waiting near club for an hour, learned from hall porter that Sir Lucien had not been there that evening. Drove car back to garage and returned to Albemarle Street shortly after eight o'clock.' H'm. Is this confirmed in any way?”
Kerry's teeth snapped together viciously.
“Up to a point it is, sir. The club porter remembers Mareno inquiring about Sir Lucien, and the people at the garage testify that he took out the car and returned it as stated.”
“No one has come forward who actually saw him waiting outside the club?”
“No one. But unfortunately it was a dark, misty20 night, and cars waiting for club members stand in a narrow side turning. Mareno is a surly brute21, and he might have waited an hour without speaking to a soul. Unless another chauffeur22 happened to notice and recognize the car nobody would be any wiser.”
The Assistant Commissioner sighed, glancing up for the first time.
“You don't think he waited outside the club at all?” he said.
“I don't, sir!” rapped Kerry.
The Assistant Commissioner rested his head upon his hand again.
“It doesn't seem to be germane23 to your case, Chief Inspector, in any event. There is no question of an alibi24. Sir Lucien's wrist-watch was broken at seven-fifteen—evidently at the time of his death; and this man Mareno does not claim to have left the flat until after that hour.”
“I know it, sir,” said Kerry. “He took out the car at half-past seven. What I want to know is where he went to!”
The Assistant Commissioner glanced rapidly into the speaker's fierce eyes.
“From what you have gathered respecting the appearance of Kazmah, does it seem possible that Mareno may be Kazmah?”
“It does not, sir. Kazmah has been described to me, at first hand and at second hand. All descriptions tally25 in one respect: Kazmah has remarkably26 large eyes. In Miss Halley's evidence you will note that she refers to them as 'larger than any human eyes I have ever seen.' Now, Mareno has eyes like a pig!”
“Then I take it you are charging him as accessory?”
“Exactly, sir. Somebody got Kazmah and Mrs. Irvin away, and it can only have been Mareno. Sir Lucien had no other resident servant; he was a man who lived almost entirely27 at restaurants and clubs. Again, somebody cleaned up his papers, and it was somebody who knew where to look for them.”
“Quite so—quite so,” murmured the Assistant Commissioner. “Of course, we shall learn today something of his affairs from his banker. He must have banked somewhere. But surely, Chief Inspector, there is a safe or private bureau in his flat?”
“There is, sir,” said Kerry grimly; “a safe. I had it opened at six o'clock this morning. It had been hastily cleaned out; not a doubt of it. I expect Sir Lucien carried the keys on his person. You will remember, sir, that his pockets had been emptied?”
“Dummy goods!” rapped Kerry. “A blind. Just a back entrance to Kazmah's office. Premises were leased on behalf of an agent. This agent—a reputable man of business—paid the rent quarterly. I've seen him.”
“And who was his client?” asked the Assistant Commissioner, displaying a faint trace of interest.
“A certain Mr. Isaacs!”
“Who can be traced?”
“Who can't be traced!”
“His checks?”
Chief Inspector Kerry smiled, so that his large white teeth gleamed savagely.
“Mr. Isaacs represented himself as a dealer29 in Covent Garden who was leasing the office for a lady friend, and who desired, for domestic reasons, to cover his tracks. As ready money in large amounts changes hands in the market, Mr. Isaacs paid ready money to the agent. Beyond doubt the real source of the ready money was Kazmah's.”
“But his address?”
“A hotel in Covent Garden.”
“Where he lives?”
“Where he is known to the booking-clerk, a girl who allowed him to have letters addressed there. A man of smoke, sir, acting30 on behalf of someone in the background.”
“Ah! and these Bond Street premises have been occupied by Kazmah for the past eight years?”
“So I am told. I have yet to see representatives of the landlord. I may add that Sir Lucien Pyne had lived in Albemarle Street for about the same time.”
Wearily raising his head:
“The point is certainly significant,” said the Assistant Commissioner. “Now we come to the drug traffic, Chief Inspector. You have found no trace of drugs on the premises?”
“Not a grain, sir!”
“In the office of the cigarette firm?”
“No.”
“By the way, was there no staff attached to the latter concern?”
Kerry chewed viciously.
“No business of any kind seems to have been done there,” he replied. “An office-boy employed by the solicitor31 on the same floor as Kazmah has seen a man and also a woman, go up to the third floor on several occasions, and he seems to think they went to the Cubanis office. But he's not sure, and he can give no useful description of the parties, anyway. Nobody in the building has ever seen the door open before this morning.”
The Assistant Commissioner sighed yet more wearily.
“Apart from the suspicions of Miss Margaret Halley, you have no sound basis for supposing that Kazmah dealt in prohibited drugs?” he inquired.
“The evidence of Miss Halley, the letter left for her by Mrs. Irvin, and the fact that Mrs. Irvin said, in the presence of Mr. Quentin Gray, that she had 'a particular reason' for seeing Kazmah, point to it unmistakably, sir. Then, I have seen Mrs. Irvin's maid. (Mr. Monte Irvin is still too unwell to be interrogated32.) The girl was very frightened, but she admitted outright33 that she had been in the habit of going regularly to Kazmah for certain perfumes. She wouldn't admit that she knew the flasks34 contained cocaine35 or veronal, but she did admit that her mistress had been addicted36 to the drug habit for several years. It began when she was on the stage.”
“Ah, yes,” murmured the Assistant Commissioner; “she was Rita Dresden, was she not—'The Maid of the Masque' A very pretty and talented actress. A pity—a great pity. So the girl, characteristically, is trying to save herself?”
“She is,” said Kerry grimly. “But it cuts no ice. There is another point. After this report was made out, a message reached me from Miss Halley, as a result of which I visited Mr. Quentin Gray early this morning.”
“Dear, dear,” sighed the Assistant Commissioner, “your intense zeal37 and activity are admirable, Chief Inspector, but appalling38. And what did you learn?”
From an inside pocket Chief Inspector Kerry took out a plain brown paper packet containing several cigarettes and laid the packet on the table.
“I got these, sir,” he said grimly. “They were left at Mr. Gray's some weeks ago by the late Sir Lucien. They are doped.”
The Assistant Commissioner, his head resting upon his hand, gazed abstractedly at the packet. “If only you could trace the source of supply,” he murmured.
“That brings me to my last point, sir. From Mrs. Irvin's maid I learned that her mistress was acquainted with a certain Mrs. Sin.”
“Mrs. Sin? Incredible name.”
“She's a woman reputed to be married to a Chinaman. Inspector Whiteleaf, of Vine Street, knows her by sight as one of the night-club birds—a sort of mysterious fungus39, sir, flowering in the dark and fattening40 on gilded41 fools. Unless I'm greatly mistaken, Mrs. Sin is the link between the doped cigarettes and the missing Kazmah.”
“Does anyone know where she lives?”
“Lots of 'em know!” snapped Kerry. “But it's making them speak.”
“To whom do you more particularly refer, Chief Inspector?”
“To the moneyed asses42 and the brainless women belonging to a certain West End set, sir,” said Kerry savagely. “They go in for every monstrosity from Buenos Ayres, Port Said and Pekin. They get up dances that would make a wooden horse blush. They eat hashish and they smoke opium43. They inject morphine, and they would have their hair dyed blue if they heard it was 'being done.'”
“Ah,” sighed the Assistant Commissioner, “a very delicate and complex case, Chief Inspector. The agony of mind which Mr. Irvin must be suffering is too horrible for one to contemplate44. An admirable man, too; honorable and generous. I can conceive no theory to account for the disappearance45 of Mrs. Irvin other than that she was a party to the murder.”
“No, sir,” said Kerry guardedly. “But we have the dope clue to work on. That the Chinese receive stuff in the East End and that it's sold in the West End every constable15 in the force is well aware. Leman Street is getting busy, and every shady case in the Piccadilly area will be beaten up within the next twenty-four hours, too. It's purely46 departmental, sir, from now onwards, and merely a question of time. Therefore I don't doubt the issue.”
Kerry paused, cleared his throat, and produced a foolscap envelope which he laid upon the table before the Assistant Commissioner.
“With very deep regret, sir,” he said, “after a long and agreeable association with the Criminal Investigation47 Department, I have to tender you this.”
“Ah, yes, Chief Inspector,” he murmured. “Perhaps I fail entirely to follow you; I am somewhat over-worked, as you know. What does this envelope contain?”
“My resignation, sir,” replied Kerry.
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1
commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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8
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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punctuated
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| v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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constables
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| n.警察( constable的名词复数 ) | |
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constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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accomplice
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| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
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professes
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| 声称( profess的第三人称单数 )； 宣称； 公开表明； 信奉 | |
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misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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chauffeur
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| n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车 | |
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germane
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| adj.关系密切的，恰当的 | |
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alibi
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| n.某人当时不在犯罪现场的申辩或证明；借口 | |
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tally
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| n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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solicitor
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| n.初级律师，事务律师 | |
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interrogated
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| v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询 | |
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outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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flasks
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| n.瓶，长颈瓶， 烧瓶( flask的名词复数 ) | |
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cocaine
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| n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂） | |
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addicted
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| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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fungus
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| n.真菌，真菌类植物 | |
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fattening
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| adj.（食物）要使人发胖的v.喂肥( fatten的现在分词 )；养肥（牲畜）；使（钱）增多；使（公司）升值 | |
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gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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asses
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| n. 驴，愚蠢的人，臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人 | |
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opium
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| n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的 | |
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contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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45
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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46
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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