Daredevil
"The extraordinary feature of the affair, however--
"That's three 'howevers.'
"--is the fact that in neither case--
"That's two cases.
"--was any attempt--
"That's four attempts, Teal. Beaver! ... Fifteen love.
"--made to abstract anything of value. The only things interfered
with were the safe and a number of drawers and filing cabinets in
which Mr. Raegenssen kept private papers concerning his business.
"Inspector Teal, who is working on the Triangle Mystery in
conjunction with Captain Arden, has been called in, and he is said to
have made an important discovery, which is at present being kept a
strict secret."
"How much did you lend this reporter, Teal?" asked Storm accusingly.
"It will be remembered that Mr. Raegenssen had already been the
recipient of one of the warnings of the Alpha Triangle.
"Good old Snooper!" said Storm cryptically. "I knew he'd get away
with it somehow!" He pitched the paper into a corner and swung
himself off the table. "And an inquiry. Well, I'll deal with the
inquiry! But I wish I knew who Oscar's second friend was."
"It wasn't you?" Inspector Teal was incredulous.
"It was not. If you're really interested, I can prove an alibi; I
was inhaling bacon and eggs at the Elysion, or beer _chez_
Mannering--where Miss Hawthorne's staying--at the time."
Teal wrinkled his brow.
"Didn't I hear you mention Snooper?" he prompted, and Storm nodded.
"Snooper was at Raegenssen's last night. And I let him go--you can
tell that to your Board of Inquiry! And now, if you don't mind,
we'll leave the subject until this afternoon."
The Board assembled in the Chief Commissioner's room at two o'clock,
and Storm took his place at one end of the table without a trace of
embarrassment. Teal, who sat on his right, was less self-confident,
for Inspector Teal was a conventional detective with a proper awe for
the majesty of Higher Command. Bill Kennedy, the Assistant
Commissioner, shook hands with Storm as he passed, although his usual
cheeriness was singularly half-hearted. The Chief, Sir Brodie
Smethurst, was the last to arrive, and with him came a man whom no
one present with the exception of Storm had expected to see.
"What's the Home Secretary doing in this picnic?" demanded Teal in a
hoarse whisper, and Storm shrugged.
"I asked him to come," he stated shortly.
The preliminary business was soon over, for in theory the Board had
assembled to make an inquiry into Storm's failure to prevent the
robbery at Moraine's; and then Storm rose to give an account of his
progress with the main problem.
"I have no excuses to make for the Moraine's affair," he said. "On
that score you may take what action you like. The second point is
the double burglary at Raegenssen's early this morning. I was the
first burglar, but I don't know who the second was--although I could
name the man, with certainty, in two guesses. And I'll make you a
prophecy: within the next forty-eight hours the man known as
Raegenssen will either have disappeared or been killed! ... I have no
excuses for the burglary either. It merely happened to be necessary.
By swearing information I might conceivably have got a search
warrant, but I decided that that course would be both risky and
futile, because the issue of the warrant would alarm the man I was
anxious to trap; futile, because it might have been necessary to
repeat the search without the man being aware that an official search
had been made. I was both lucky and unlucky. I found what I
expected, to a certain extent, but the arrival of the police gave me
no time to find out all that I wanted to. To this moment Raegenssen
does not know that his visitor was not a common thief, and therefore
he will be killed. If I had revealed my identity to the police, he
would have recognised me, and _I_ should have been killed. It was,
you see, a matter of my life or--his."
They listened without comprehending.
"You suspect Raegenssen of having some connection with the Alpha
Triangle?" suggested Smethurst.
"I _know_," said Storm carefully, "that the evidence I have secured
from Raegenssen, together with what I have obtained from another man,
will kill the Alpha Triangle. I could arrest the Apex to-day--but I
won't!"
He heard the suppressed gasp that went up, and smiled faintly at
Inspector Teal's muffled "Good God!"
"No one but myself," he went on simply, "has anything like the
evidence necessary to secure a conviction--I even doubt very much if
I could get one myself. You can be satisfied that it is a moral
certainty, even if it would fail to convince a Grand Jury. But, at
the instance of the late Lord Hannassay, and with the consent of Sir
John Marker, I was given carte blanche in this case, and you must
continue that support."
"_Must_ is a strong word, Captain Arden," said the Home Secretary
mildly.
"I am a strong man," said Storm.
He spoke quietly, not as a boaster, but as one who states a fact, and
his cool assurance staggered the Board. Whereas before they had been
scowling or incredulous, according to temperament, they were united
in indignation.
"P-please make yourself p-p-plain," stammered Smethurst harshly.
"It's rather obvious already," said Storm calmly. "The Alpha
Triangle is my father. You needn't think I'm giving away my secret,
because I'm not! If you took the trouble to trace my father, you'd
come up against a dead end. You'd laugh at the idea--just as you'd
laugh if I told you openly now. But, anyway, I don't want you to try
and trace him. I don't want this case messed up with a lot of
flat-footed half-wits trying to take my place! You're at my mercy.
Do what you like. Sack me. Keep me on under supervision. It won't
help you, because in a few hours I shall be the only man who can hope
to catch the Alpha Triangle. In time, I mean. Of course, I suppose
there are plenty of other men who could mug along till they got
him--but by that time the Triangle will have cost the country
hundreds of thousands of pounds and many lives. You can take your
choice...."
He had them stymied. Their world was reeling about their ears.
Never within living memory had a man dared to address a Board of
Inquiry in such an arrogant manner. Storm set at naught their
authority, he was coldly indifferent to the fact that he laid himself
open to prosecution, he had given them an ultimatum with all the
casualness of a man to whom acceptance or rejection means nothing to
speak of--and the chilled insolence of it dazed them. And Storm,
while they strove to collect their wits, was leisurely lighting a
cigarette and smiling as affably as if he had merely made some
commonplace remark about the weather, instead of handing out to Their
Augustnesses the starkest slice of sheer frozen case-hardened nerve
in their experience....
The atmosphere was electric. It seemed to have temporarily
hypnotised all but two of them--Bill Kennedy--who was leaning back in
his chair with a grin of pure delight on his ugly face, and Sir John
Marker, who was tapping his teeth reflectively with a pencil and
apparently considering Storm's proposition as seriously as he would
have considered a question in the House.
"It is an extraordinary situation, Captain Arden," he admitted. "I
can see your point--up to a point. But if, as you say, your father
is involved, hadn't you better pass the case over to someone else?"
"No," said Storm steadily.
"Can't you be a little more explicit, then?"
"I can tell you this: I first suspected my man on a day when I had a
slight accident." Storm spoke slowly and evenly, ignoring the
stunned faces of the Board and addressing his remarks to the Home
Secretary. He was standing erect, with the tips of his fingers
resting on the table in front of him, completely at ease. "I was
driving down Cockspur Street, and my car skidded and knocked
Raegenssen down. There were present Mr. Blaythwayt, manager of the
Lombard Street City and Continental; Mattock, a convict on licence
employed by Raegenssen; and Miss Hawthorne, Lord Hannassay's
secretary. Of those people, two were in a position to note the same
thing as I did--the first piece of evidence against my father." He
smiled again at their perplexity. "Acting on this, I burgled
Raegenssen last night, and learnt something of the next coup planned
by the Triangle. I also acquired a fresh suspicion, which I hope to
verify soon. But that's all speculation. The solid fact," he said,
watching them with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes, "is that one
is always interested in a saw-mill which has recently received a
consignment of machinery and materials that have nothing whatever to
do with the sawing of wood!"
"Do we have to play at Sexton Blake when there aren't any reporters
with us?" drawled Bill Kennedy.
Storm grinned.
"I must have notice of that question," he murmured, and sat down.
Then the bottled-up feelings of the Police Chiefs had their vent, and
a hum of argument broke out like the snarl of numerous irritated
bees. Marker remained aloof, taking no part in the discussion, but
listening shrewdly to what his neighbours had to say. Bill Kennedy
waved a hand to Storm and lighted a cigar, seemingly bored with the
whole business.
Inspector Teal was shaking his head.
"Never," he muttered breathlessly, "never, never did I hope to see
this day.... Kent Road's nothin'--he's knocked 'em on the old
Embankment and he's got away with it...." His vast form vibrated
with Titanic ecstasy.... "'Flat-footed half-wits ... you can take
your choice!' ... Oh, Boy!... _Oh_, BOY!..."
"Teal!" whispered Storm reprovingly. "This mirth is nearly indecent!"
He himself was sublimely unconcerned, for he knew exactly where he
had the Great Ones of Scotland Yard. He had them right where he
wanted them, gently but firmly held down under his brogues, and he
wasn't of the type to indulge in gloating on that account. It had
simply been, in his opinion, necessary for him to stand on their
necks, and he had done it. That was all. It never occurred to him
to crow about it, any more than he gave a snide halfpenny for the
consequences.
He finished his cigarette and extinguished it, and selected a second.
The drone of dispute died away.
"Will you answer some questions?" asked Sir John Marker.
"Within limits--yes," Storm gave back without hesitation.
"Are you convinced that you know the Triangle?"
"Yes,"
"You based your conclusion entirely on two scraps of evidence?"
"Yes."
"Solely?"
"No. Only a born fool forms a theory on the basis of two scraps of
evidence without applying the known facts to that theory and finding
out how it wears."
"And you think your theory stands the test?"
"Beautifully."
"What chance would you give your theory in a court of law?"
"About as much chance as a very small icicle in a burning fiery
furnace," said Storm carefully--"depending, of course, on the precise
grade of imbeciles you chose your jury from."
The Home Secretary conferred in an undertone with Smethurst.
"Then you think," he said, his lips twitching at the corners, "that
if you are allowed to go on in your own way. without question, you
will be able to raise your theory to the standard of obviousness
demanded by a jury of average imbeciles?"
"It's possible."
"And what about the crimes which may be committed by the Triangle
while you are attempting to do this?"
"They will be fewer than if you took the case out of my hands."
"Then what are your immediate plans?"
"I'm going to confirm my theory to my own satisfaction, and--by way
of an impartial witness--to the satisfaction of Inspector Teal; and
then I shall find the Triangle, and----"
"And?"