Making the acquaintance of the Laidlaws proved an easy affair. Tommyand Tuppence, young, well-dressed, eager for life, and with apparentlymoney to burn, were soon made free of that particular coterie1 in whichthe Laidlaws had their being.
Major Laidlaw was a tall, fair man, typically English in appearance, witha hearty2 sportsmanlike manner, slightly belied3 by the hard lines round hiseyes and the occasional quick sideways glance that assorted4 oddly with hissupposed character.
He was a very dexterous5 card player, and Tommy noticed that when thestakes were high he seldom rose from the table a loser.
Marguerite Laidlaw was quite a different proposition. She was a charm-ing creature, with the slenderness of a wood nymph and the face of aGreuze picture. Her dainty broken English was fascinating, and Tommyfelt that it was no wonder most men were her slaves. She seemed to take agreat fancy to Tommy from the first, and playing his part, he allowed him-self to be swept into her train.
“My Tommee,” she would say; “but positively6 I cannot go without myTommee. His ’air, eet ees the colour of the sunset, ees eet not?”
Her father was a more sinister7 figure. Very correct, very upright, withhis little black beard and his watchful8 eyes.
Tuppence was the first to report progress. She came to Tommy with tenone pound notes.
“Have a look at these. They’re wrong ’uns, aren’t they?”
Tommy examined them and confirmed Tuppence’s diagnosis9.
“Where did you get them from?”
“That boy, Jimmy Faulkener. Marguerite Laidlaw gave them to him toput on a horse for her. I said I wanted small notes and gave him a tennerin exchange.”
“All new and crisp,” said Tommy thoughtfully. “They can’t have passedthrough many hands. I suppose young Faulkener is all right?”
“Jimmy? Oh, he’s a dear. He and I are becoming great friends.”
“So I have noticed,” said Tommy coldly. “Do you really think it is neces-sary?”
“Oh, it isn’t business,” said Tuppence cheerfully. “It’s pleasure. He’s sucha nice boy. I’m glad to get him out of that woman’s clutches. You’ve noidea of the amount of money she’s cost him.”
“It looks to me as though he were getting rather a pash for you, Tup-pence.”
“I’ve thought the same myself sometimes. It’s nice to know one’s stillyoung and attractive, isn’t it?”
“Your moral tone, Tuppence, is deplorably low. You look at these thingsfrom the wrong point of view.”
“I haven’t enjoyed myself so much for years,” declared Tuppenceshamelessly. “And anyway, what about you? Do I ever see you nowadays?
Aren’t you always living in Marguerite Laidlaw’s pocket?”
“Business,” said Tommy crisply.
“But she is attractive, isn’t she?”
“Not my type,” said Tommy. “I don’t admire her.”
“Liar,” laughed Tuppence. “But I always did think I’d rather marry a liarthan a fool.”
“I suppose,” said Tommy, “that there’s no absolute necessity for a hus-band to be either?”
But Tuppence merely threw him a pitying glance and withdrew.
Amongst Mrs. Laidlaw’s train of admirers was a simple but extremelywealthy gentleman of the name of Hank Ryder.
Mr. Ryder came from Alabama, and from the first he was disposed tomake a friend and confidant of Tommy.
“That’s a wonderful woman, sir,” said Mr. Ryder following the lovelyMarguerite with reverential eyes. “Plumb10 full of civilisation11. Can’t beat lagaie France, can you? When I’m near her, I feel as though I was one of theAlmighty’s earliest experiments. I guess he’d got to get his hand in beforehe attempted anything so lovely as that perfectly13 lovely woman.”
Tommy agreeing politely with these sentiments, Mr. Ryder unburdenedhimself still further.
“Seems kind of a shame a lovely creature like that should have moneyworries.”
“Has she?” asked Tommy.
“You betcha life she has. Queer fish, Laidlaw. She’s skeered of him. Toldme so. Daren’t tell him about her little bills.”
“Are they little bills?” asked Tommy.
“Well—when I say little! After all, a woman’s got to wear clothes, andthe less there are of them the more they cost, the way I figure it out. And apretty woman like that doesn’t want to go about in last season’s goods.
Cards too, the poor little thing’s been mighty12 unlucky at cards. Why, shelost fifty to me last night.”
“She won two hundred from Jimmy Faulkener the night before,” saidTommy drily.
“Did she indeed? That relieves my mind some. By the way, there seemsto be a lot of dud notes floating around in your country just now. I paid ina bunch at my bank this morning, and twenty-five of them were down-and-outers, so the polite gentleman behind the counter informed me.”
“That’s rather a large proportion. Were they new looking?”
“New and crisp as they make ’em. Why, they were the ones Mrs. Laid-law paid over to me, I reckon. Wonder where she got ’em from. One ofthese toughs on the racecourse as likely as not.”
“Yes,” said Tommy. “Very likely.”
“You know, Mr. Beresford, I’m new to this sort of high life. All theseswell dames15 and the rest of the outfit16. Only made my pile a short whileback. Came right over to Yurrop to see life.”
Tommy nodded. He made a mental note to the effect that with the aid ofMarguerite Laidlaw Mr. Ryder would probably see a good deal of life andthat the price charged would be heavy.
Meantime, for the second time, he had evidence that the forged noteswere being distributed pretty near at hand, and that in all probabilityMarguerite Laidlaw had a hand in their distribution.
On the following night he himself was given a proof.
It was at that small select meeting place mentioned by Inspector17 Mar-riot. There was dancing there, but the real attraction of the place lay be-hind a pair of imposing18 folding doors. There were two rooms there withgreen baize-covered tables, where vast sums changed hands nightly.
Marguerite Laidlaw, rising at last to go, thrust a quantity of small notesinto Tommy’s hands.
“They are so bulkee, Tommee—you will change them, yes? A beeg note.
See my so sweet leetle bag, it bulges19 him to distraction20.”
Tommy brought her the hundred pound note she asked for. Then in aquiet corner he examined the notes she had given him. At least a quarterof them were counterfeit21.
But where did she get her supplies from? To that he had as yet no an-swer. By means of Albert’s cooperation, he was almost sure that Laidlawwas not the man. His movements had been watched closely and had yiel-ded no result.
Tommy suspected her father, the saturnine22 M. Heroulade. He went toand fro to France fairly often. What could be simpler than to bring thenotes across with him? A false bottom to the trunk—something of thatkind.
Tommy strolled slowly out of the Club, absorbed in these thoughts, butwas suddenly recalled to immediate23 necessities. Outside in the street wasMr. Hank P. Ryder, and it was clear at once that Mr. Ryder was not strictlysober. At the moment he was trying to hang his hat on the radiator24 of acar, and missing it by some inches every time.
“This goddarned hatshtand, this goddarned hatshtand,” said Mr. Rydertearfully. “Not like that in the Shtates. Man can hang up his hat everynight—every night, sir. You’re wearing two hatshs. Never sheen a manwearing two hatshs before. Must be effect—climate.”
“Perhaps I’ve got two heads,” said Tommy gravely.
“Sho you have,” said Mr. Ryder. “Thatsh odd. Thatsh remarkable25 fac.”
Letsh have a cocktail26. Prohibition—probishun thatsh whatsh done me in. Iguess I’m drunk—constootionally drunk. Cocktailsh—mixed ’em—Angel’sKiss—that’s Marguerite—lovely creature, fon o’ me too. Horshes Neck, twoMartinis—three Road to Ruinsh—no, roadsh to roon—mixed ’em all—in abeer tankard. Bet me I wouldn’t—I shaid—to hell, I shaid—”
Tommy interrupted.
“That’s all right,” he said soothingly27. “Now what about getting home?”
“No home to go to,” said Mr. Ryder sadly, and wept.
“What hotel are you staying at?” asked Tommy.
“Can’t go home,” said Mr. Ryder. “Treasure hunt. Swell14 thing to do. Shedid it. Whitechapel—white heartsh, white headsn shorrow to the grave—”
But Mr. Ryder became suddenly dignified28. He drew himself erect29 and at-tained a sudden miraculous30 command over his speech.
“Young man, I’m telling you. Margee took me. In her car. Treasure hunt-ing. English aristocrashy all do it. Under the cobblestones. Five hundredpoundsh. Solemn thought, ’tis solemn thought. I’m telling you, young man.
You’ve been kind to me. I’ve got your welfare at heart, sir, at heart. WeAmericans—”
Tommy interrupted him this time with even less ceremony.
“What’s that you say? Mrs. Laidlaw took you in a car?”
The American nodded with a kind of owlish solemnity.
“To Whitechapel?” Again that owlish nod.
“And you found five hundred pounds there?”
Mr. Ryder struggled for words.
“S-she did,” he corrected his questioner. “Left me outside. Outside thedoor. Always left outside. It’s kinder sad. Outside—always outside.”
“Would you know your way there?”
“I guess so. Hank Ryder doesn’t lose his bearings—”
Tommy hauled him along unceremoniously. He found his own carwhere it was waiting, and presently they were bowling31 eastward32. The coolair revived Mr. Ryder. After slumping33 against Tommy’s shoulder in a kindof stupor34, he awoke clearheaded and refreshed.
“Say, boy, where are we?” he demanded.
“Whitechapel,” said Tommy crisply. “Is this where you came with Mrs.
Laidlaw tonight?”
“It looks kinder familiar,” admitted Mr. Ryder, looking round. “Seems tome we turned off to the left somewhere down here. That’s it—that streetthere.”
Tommy turned off obediently. Mr. Ryder issued directions.
“That’s it. Sure. And round to the right. Say, aren’t the smells awful. Yes,past that pub at the corner—sharp round, and stop at the mouth of thatlittle alley35. But what’s the big idea? Hand it to me. Some of the oof left be-hind? Are we going to put one over on them?”
“That’s exactly it,” said Tommy. “We’re going to put one over on them.
Rather a joke, isn’t it?”
“I’ll tell the world,” assented36 Mr. Ryder. “Though I’m just a mite37 hazedabout it all,” he ended wistfully.
Tommy got out and assisted Mr. Ryder to alight also. They advanced intothe alleyway. On the left were the backs of a row of dilapidated houses,most of which had doors opening into the alley. Mr. Ryder came to a stopbefore one of these doors.
“In here she went,” he declared. “It was this door—I’m plumb certain ofit.”
“They all look very alike,” said Tommy. “Reminds me of the story of thesoldier and the Princess. You remember, they made a cross on the door toshow which one it was. Shall we do the same?”
Laughing, he drew a piece of white chalk from his pocket and made arough cross low down on the door. Then he looked up at various dimshapes that prowled high on the walls of the alley, one of which was utter-ing a blood-curdling yawl.
“Lots of cats about,” he remarked cheerfully.
“What is the procedure?” asked Mr. Ryder. “Do we step inside?”
“Adopting due precautions, we do,” said Tommy.
He glanced up and down the alley way, then softly tried the door. It yiel-ded. He pushed it open and peered into a dim yard.
Noiselessly he passed through, Mr. Ryder on his heels.
“Gee,” said the latter, “there’s someone coming down the alley.”
He slipped outside again. Tommy stood still for a minute, then hearingnothing went on. He took a torch from his pocket and switched on thelight for a brief second. That momentary38 flash enabled him to see his wayahead. He pushed forward and tried the closed door ahead of him. Thattoo gave, and very softly he pushed it open and went in.
After standing39 still a second and listening, he again switched on thetorch, and at that flash, as though at a given signal, the place seemed torise round him. Two men were in front of him, two men were behind him.
They closed in on him and bore him down.
“Lights,” growled40 a voice.
An incandescent41 gas burner was lit. By its light Tommy saw a circle ofunpleasing faces. His eyes wandered gently round the room and notedsome of the objects in it.
“Ah!” he said pleasantly. “The headquarters of the counterfeiting42 in-dustry, if I am not mistaken.”
“Shut your jaw,” growled one of the men.
The door opened and shut behind Tommy, and a genial43 and well-knownvoice spoke44.
“Got him, boys. That’s right. Now, Mr. Busy, let me tell you you’re upagainst it.”
“That dear old word,” said Tommy. “How it thrills me. Yes. I am the Mys-tery Man of Scotland Yard. Why, it’s Mr. Hank Ryder. This is a surprise.”
“I guess you mean that too. I’ve been laughing fit to bust45 all this evening—leading you here like a little child. And you so pleased with your clever-ness. Why, sonny, I was on to you from the start. You weren’t in with thatcrowd for your health. I let you play about for a while, and when you gotreal suspicious of the lovely Marguerite, I said to myself: ‘Now’s the timeto lead him to it.’ I guess your friends won’t be hearing of you for sometime.”
“Going to do me in? That’s the correct expression, I believe. You havegot it in for me.”
“You’ve got a nerve all right. No, we shan’t attempt violence. Just keepyou under restraint, so to speak.”
“I’m afraid you’re backing the wrong horse,” said Tommy. “I’ve no in-tention of being ‘kept under restraint,’ as you call it.”
Mr. Ryder smiled genially46. From outside a cat uttered a melancholy47 cryto the moon.
“Banking on that cross you put on the door, eh, sonny?” said Mr. Ryder.
“I shouldn’t if I were you. Because I know that story you mentioned.
Heard it when I was a little boy. I stepped back into the alleyway to enactthe part of the dog with eyes as big as cartwheels. If you were in that alleynow, you would observe that every door in the alley is marked with anidentical cross.”
Tommy dropped his head despondently48.
“Thought you were mighty clever, didn’t you?” said Ryder.
As the words left his lips a sharp rapping sounded on the door.
“What’s that?” he cried, starting.
At the same time an assault began on the front of the house. The door atthe back was a flimsy affair. The lock gave almost immediately and In-spector Marriot showed in the doorway49.
“Well done, Marriot,” said Tommy. “You were quite right as to the dis-trict. I’d like you to make the acquaintance of Mr. Hank Ryder who knowsall the best fairy tales.
“You see, Mr. Ryder,” he added gently, “I’ve had my suspicions of you.
Albert (that important-looking boy with the big ears is Albert) had ordersto follow on his motorcycle if you and I went off joyriding at any time. Andwhilst I was ostentatiously marking a chalk cross on the door to engageyour attention, I also emptied a little bottle of valerian on the ground.
Nasty smell, but cats love it. All the cats in the neighbourhood were as-sembled outside to mark the right house when Albert and the police ar-rived.”
He looked at the dumbfounded Mr. Ryder with a smile, then rose to hisfeet.
“I said I would get you Crackler, and I have got you,” he observed.
“What the hell are you talking about?” asked Mr. Ryder. “What do youmean—Crackler?”
“You will find it in the glossary50 of the next criminal dictionary,” saidTommy. “Etymology doubtful.”
He looked round him with a happy smile.
“And all done without a nose,” he murmured brightly. “Good night, Mar-riot. I must go now to where the happy ending of the story awaits me. Noreward like the love of a good woman—and the love of a good womanawaits me at home — that is, I hope it does, but one never knowsnowadays. This has been a very dangerous job, Marriot. Do you know Cap-tain Jimmy Faulkener? His dancing is simply too marvellous, and as forhis taste in cocktails—! Yes, Marriot, it has been a very dangerous job.”
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1
coterie
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| n.(有共同兴趣的)小团体，小圈子 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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belied
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| v.掩饰( belie的过去式和过去分词 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎 | |
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assorted
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| adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的 | |
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dexterous
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| adj.灵敏的；灵巧的 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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diagnosis
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| n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断 | |
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plumb
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| adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深 | |
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civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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dames
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| n.（在英国）夫人（一种封号），夫人（爵士妻子的称号）( dame的名词复数 )；女人 | |
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outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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bulges
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| 膨胀( bulge的名词复数 )； 鼓起； （身体的）肥胖部位； 暂时的激增 | |
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distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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counterfeit
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| vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的 | |
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saturnine
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| adj.忧郁的，沉默寡言的，阴沉的，感染铅毒的 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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radiator
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| n.暖气片，散热器 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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cocktail
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| n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物 | |
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soothingly
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| adv.抚慰地，安慰地；镇痛地 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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miraculous
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bowling
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| n.保龄球运动 | |
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eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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slumping
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| 大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的现在分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下] | |
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stupor
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| v.昏迷；不省人事 | |
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alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mite
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| n.极小的东西；小铜币 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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incandescent
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| adj.遇热发光的， 白炽的，感情强烈的 | |
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counterfeiting
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| n.伪造v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的现在分词 ) | |
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genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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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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45
bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
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genially
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| adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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despondently
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| adv.沮丧地，意志消沉地 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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glossary
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| n.注释词表；术语汇编 | |
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