Detective and mystery stories, English; Private investigators -- Fiction
I brought the four-wheeler up to the door of the stable and we thrust
the man into it, and Hewitt locked the stable door with its proper key.
Then we drove off to Tottenham Court Road police-station, and, by
Hewitt's order, straight into the yard.
In less than ten minutes from our departure from the stable our prisoner
was finally secured, and Hewitt was deep in consultation with police
officials. Messengers were sent and telegrams despatched, and presently
Hewitt came to me with information.
"The name of the helpless Frenchman the police found this morning," he
said, "appears to be Gérard--at least I am almost certain of it. Among
the papers found on the prisoner--whose full name doesn't appear, but
who seems to be spoken of as Luigi (he is Italian)--among the papers, I
say, is a sort of notice convening a meeting for this evening to decide
as to the 'final punishment' to be awarded the 'traitor Gérard, now in
charge of comrade Pingard.'
"The place of meeting is not mentioned, but it seems more than probable
that it will be at the Bakunin Club, not five minutes' walk from this
place. The police have all these places under quiet observation, of
course, and that is the club at which apparently important Anarchist
meetings have been held lately. It is the only club that has never been
raided as yet, and, it would seem, the only one they would feel at all
safe in using for anything important.
"Moreover, Luigi just now simply declined to open his mouth when asked
where the meeting was to be, and said nothing when the names of several
other places were suggested, but suddenly found his tongue at the
mention of the Bakunin Club, and denied vehemently that the meeting was
to be there--it was the only thing he uttered. So that it seems pretty
safe to assume that it _is_ to be there. Now, of course, the matter's
very serious. Men have been despatched to take charge of the stable very
quietly, and the club is to be taken possession of at once--also very
quietly. It must be done without a moment's delay, and as there is a
chance that the only detective officers within reach at the moment may
be known by sight, I have undertaken to get in first. Perhaps you'll
come? We may have to take the door with a rush."
Of course I meant to miss nothing if I could help it, and said so.
"Very well," replied Hewitt, "we'll get ourselves up a bit." He began
taking off his collar and tie. "It is getting dusk," he proceeded, "and
we shan't want old clothes to make ourselves look sufficiently shabby.
We're both wearing bowler hats, which is lucky. Make a dent in yours--if
you can do so without permanently damaging it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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