The Red Triangle: Being Some Further Chronicles of Martin Hewitt, InvestigatorMorrison, Arthur
General
The Red Triangle: Being Some Further Chronicles of Martin Hewitt, Investigator
Morrison, Arthur
Detective and mystery stories, English; Private investigators -- Fiction
He stepped in briskly scarcely a minute after the manager had ceased
speaking, and I remembered having seen him waiting at the street corner
as I came along. He was a well-dressed, smart enough looking man, in
frock coat and tall hat. He took a letter-case from his pocket, picked
out a cheque from the rest of the papers in it, and passed it under the
wire grille of the counter.
The cashier took it, turned it over, and shifted mechanically to post
the amount in the book on his desk. As he did so his elbow touched the
heavy ledger which the manager had pointed out to us, and it fell with a
crash. The cashier calmly put his pen behind his ear, and stooped to
pick up the book, but even as he did it the two Scotland Yard men were
out before the counter, and had sidled up to the stranger, one on each
side.
"May we see that cheque, if you please?" asked one, and the cashier
turned its face toward him. "Ah, just so; a hundred pounds--Mayes. We
must just trouble you to come with us, if you please. There is some
explanation wanted about that cheque."
I had followed the two men from the manager's room, and now I saw that
while one had laid his hand on the stranger's shoulder the other had
taken him by the opposite arm. "Why," said the former, looking into his
face, "it's Broady Sims!"
"All right," the man growled resignedly. "It's a cop. I'll go quiet."
But as he spoke I saw the free hand steal out behind him and pitch away
a crumpled fragment of paper. One of the policemen saw it too, followed
it with his eyes, and saw me snatch it up.
"That's right, sir," he said, "take care of that; and we'll have a cab,
in case anything else drops accidentally. It's just a turning over,
Broady, that's what it is."
I spread out the piece of paper, and was astonished to find inscribed on
it just such another series of figures, in groups of eight, as was found
in the cypher message in the Case of the Lever Key.
Here was a great find--a secret message as clear to me as to Mayes
himself, and as likely as not the scrap of paper that would hang him! I
took one of the plain-clothes men aside while the other kept his hold of
Broady Sims.
"This is very important," I said. "It is a cypher message which Mr.
Hewitt can read--or I, myself, in fact, with a little time. Must you
take it with you? If so, I'll make a copy now."
"Well, sir, we're responsible, you see," the man said, "so I think we
must take it; so perhaps you'd better make a copy, as you suggest."
"Very well," I said, "that is done in a few seconds. You can take your
man off, and I will go direct to Mr. Hewitt and Inspector Plummer with
the copy." And with that I made the copy, which read thus:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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