The Man They Couldn't Arrest

Delbury was still in a bit of a mental fog, but he fastened on to that fact like a leech. There was some personal connection between the sender of those intimations and this murder.

Shaughnessy went out and got the system busy. In five minutes the organization had slid into motion. The whole of the internknit workings of the Yard were proceeding swiftly and smoothly about their job of blocking up the exits of the country and notifying the police forces of every town throughout the kingdom.

"The car ready?" asked Delbury, stricken his head out of the door.

"Waiting outside," said Shaughnessy, coming back.

"Right, out you go. I'm starting in five minutes. Must go along and see the chief. He knows all about it, I suppose?"

"Sure; I phoned him at his house. He came straight down.

Wants to see you about it before you go."

Delbury hurried round to the great office on the first floor.

The chief was in and waiting for him.

"H'm!" he said, when Delbury had stated the facts of the case. "Looks fairly clear against Dain, doesn't it?. Have you circulated his description?"

"All the routine precautions have been taken, chief. But Dain is a pretty big man. The motive might be connected with love. He was seen about a good deal with the dead man's daughter. But until I've been out to Hendon I'd prefer to hang my opinion up. The whole job is a bit complicated. I'll give you a detailed report as soon as I get back."

The chief grunted again and nodded.

Delbury hurried out and joined Shaughnessy in the car. They drove swiftly out to Hendon, Delbury checking over his notes to Shaughnessy on the way.

On their arrival at Dain's house they were met in the hall by Harper and minter, the two men sent on ahead.

Delbury was soon into his stride, taking notes if essential facts with a cold, methodical skill born of years of experience at scores of similar jobs.

He motioned to Harper, the senior of the two plain clothes men.

"Well, anything doing?" he asked.

"Not yet, chief. everything is all ready for you. Not a thing has been touched. Not a servant has left the house. They have all given their oath not to say anything to anybody until you give them permission."

"Good. How many servants are there?"

"Five. Two men and three women."

"How do they impress you?"

"Very good indeed. Quite the best type. Reliable as you could want, and as sensible as you would expect in people in Valmon Dain's employ."

"Who found the body?"

"Frederick G. manders, the valet. He was Mr. Dain's special body servant, a sort of cross between a private secretary and personal Butler.

"He's available, I suppose?"

"Oh yes."

"I'll see him first. Have him waiting outside when I call for him. But first I want to go through and see the actual room where the alleged shooting took place. That will be the workshop, I believe where the body was found?"

"Yes. through this way. That's the room down there at the end of the passage--- you can see the door. Funny about that door too. It's steel outside. plates of thin steel inlaid over the wood and painted. I wouldn't have noticed it only my ring knocked against it while I was opening it. A bit queer, isn't it?"

Delbury grunted. "Some soundproof idea of his, is it?" he asked.

"Can't be. I've tried it with minter from both sides. it doesn't stop a sound from coming out and it doesn't prevent a sound from going in. There's a lot of rummy things in that workshop----something uncanny about it. Come along down and have a look.

Harper went down the passage with Delbury and Shaughnessy at his heels.

The junior man pushed the door open. Delbury ignored the mystery door and went straight in to where the body lay, a tragically crumpled heap by the desk.

He carefully examined the fearful wound, a great cavity where the bullet had flattened on the bone and torn a mass of flesh away.

The eyebrows and eyelashes and some of the front hairs were singed..

"Close range work, that," said Delbury. "Not much more than a foot away when the gun went off---if that."

"Suicide, d'ye think?"

Delbury dis not answer. He was carefully going through the victim's pockets. Gold cigarette-case, wallet, gold watch with the initials W.L. in beautiful little diamonds inside the lid and the pathetic inscription underneath, "From Mumsy, after twenty-five years of married happiness" ; a silk handkerchief, visiting card case, fountain pen, a handful of small silver, several bank notes and Treasury notes---- he brought them all out one by one and entered them in an inventory.

Then from the waistcoat pocket he produced a small leaden box. He push it open cautiously. Inside were four white capsules, reposing in a little nest of cotton wool. They were about the size of Shilling and nearly half an inch thick..

"What the D.i.c.kens do you make of these?" he demanded, c.o.c.king an inquiring eye up at Shaughnessy.

"I haven't the smallest idea -----and I'm not likely to," said the Irishman bluntly. "But it's one of those pestiferous drugs, you can lay your boots to it. Most likely he was going to kill Valmon Dain with one of those little murderous things."

Delbury weighed one experimentally on his hand.

"It's a gas of some sort," he said critically. "Harper, send your man with these to the Yard immediately. Tell him to go right through to the chief himself and ask for an analysis to be made."

The rest of the pockets yielded a ciger-cutter, a toothpick, a leather ciger-case, and an instrument like a very bulky pocket-knife.

Delbury smiled when he fished out the latter.

"Up-to-date house breaker's holdall," he muttered. "Lock slips, skeleton keys, gauges, and bolt pushers all in one. very neat ; haven't seen one as dainty as that before, have you Mick?"

Shaughnessy called over the other man.

"How did Lyall get in last night?" he inquired.

"Nobody knows in the house. None of the servants let him in. None of them even heard a bell ring."

"Any marks on any of the windows or doors?"

"Not a scratch. But almost any of the back windows of this house could be forced by a careful man without leaving a trace. They're almost wide open."

Shaughnessy nodded. He indicated the workshop window.

"Has that window been touched since the body was found?" he inquired.

"No. It was open like that when the valet entered this morning."