RECOLLECTIONS OF A LONDON DETECTIVE (Continued.)

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 26 May 1891, Page 4

RECOLLECTIONS OF A LONDON DETECTIVE (Continued.)

...<■* to the m£n. Ther^ was no proof notmng. and W e had only, been-setoa £ ?a Sftn U him by sutpri& S uKfr Moulpied was a man of guilt about mm. x.. t if, /_-_ «i, v 1 who stood out prominent. V - f St to S and therefore had not been ;<lJ lcnlt *° *»«■ To trap him, however, as I ..knew.. d : t} *. no child's play. _ - . "What do you mean to do?" I said w, last to the young wife. " You might wait here all njght, and your husband not appear." ' ':■' ■'•%. <■*- ■,-. *>- bhehadno definite.plan f SK^j&i^ispme^ hazy idea of throwing her arms round her v husband and telling him how long she had waited there on the snaW-ctfvered: street^ and pleading with him t9,'le&.vp-thejiujnap.) demon who had got between., them kjkut^ soon showed her that' fhi's'" 'proceeding*' though no doubt very womanly and loving, was more likely to enrage than overcome a man badly smitten with the gambling mania*She admitted, indeed, that she had tried the same pleading before .and got- cruelly .repelled, and from her apologies' fof'her'nusj band's conduct I had a strong suspicion 1 thar the so-called repelling had nqtjbeen /cog? fined to words. But, like all loving wives, she could see no fault in the wretch who had thus brutally treated the woman heTESET vowed to love and protect. It was drink or his demon companiQif&fcat)had dpflffit a|L . "Oh, if I couldlbit iM}^qjfpags! would willingly give 'u'p every penny I possess !" she exclaimed. • •; »*»*| "No need for that, I hope," I haftesw cheerily to observe ; " and ifvpu arerwiUing to help me A think ' Tc'ari^nng^D^ftj&e' separation you desire." Then, after giving her my name and some particulars of-the case in hand, I added — " Do you think you could get me the private address of then^an who haunts your husbapfUtke &kQsfi&f i k& Perhaps he, has n^rCftHmMlJaSMll should need them 2M." TT?4< An astounding change came "^f^k^i pretty young face before me. Ti» onew* lost their paleness, the;eyes { bpghte.Sed,jand;, the whole expression '. beamed wifhinjiHation. It was tte rlvhl&WtiMb&tyU S M& ,pondency and despair to the life'aifd-ljgtft' lof blessed hope. A woman, too, has ally unbounded confidence in hersejf*-l.»^ female detective whom I have frequently had to assist me, never yet, .that jTemember of, expressed a dbubf of. her ''ability to a© jcomplish any task I have : put before aeir. ■ She did nof always succeed — no ene — jnan 'or woman does— buj; there; viass the- -confe idence to begin with, . It ,did np.Ljastonish 1 me, therefore, that' the'yduiig" "wife before' me promptly and confidently declared herself able to discover anything I should require in the trapping of her hated rival. ««-- .■« At this stage we were interrupted by the [arrival of the gentleman, a son of one of the, who had agreed to introduce' 'me! to the house. I could have gone inj '^without him, of course, but it suited m| [rather to go in as a gentleman and a novice, than as a detective. I therefore took down' the address of Mrs Warren, and had her escorted by an assistant from the end of the street to the nearest cab rank, whence she; easily reached her home. 7 io '*•'>£ *# y I was now free to enter the gamihg-nouse, i which, by a fiction got up to evade the law. was supposed to be tttlsresideaee oSbkQS&^jja gentleman, while we^yreil^u^pj^ii^jjjl friends of his, there "by speciallnvitation. A liveried footman took our hats and^coajts^ and we could even have b c'en a6c6mmpdate'd; with slippers had we been so disposed. The rooms were large and elegantly furnished, and the best was reserved for those^whb preferred to lose their money by means ol the roulette wheel or Trente et Quarante, for which games it was fitted up in the same style as the gaming-houses at Hamburg and other of the German Spas. RoundUthe table were gathered the usual crowd of excited, flushed, or pallid faces, and there was not wanting even the female element, though the faces of these showed plainly that before giving their souls up to the gambling passion they had cast everything else to the winds. There was nothing interesting in that to me, and I soon left these long tables and wandered through the other rooms, where at smaller tables were gathered smaller, quieter, and, if possible, more excited groups engaged at ecartc and laearat. Many of these were real gentlemen, and one of them, a barrister of high standing well known to me, looked up and recognised me with a friendly nod. There»ewere sharpers there too, of course^forwKer&er thecarno^ is there will the vulture^ bje— put, as far as I| could see, none .w.hq -kjieaLjril, Ther* bm prejudice against police officers in such places, and the guests, when heated with drink, and excited by their losses or gains; are apt, when they discover one in their midst, to do things .v!y.ch-they regret in their sober motr.entsV-W'etMse the detective suffers all the same. At length I came upon the group I wanted. Those gathered round weremgffltfc^sjippers ; the two players were Hawk'and Pigeon. It was difficult getting a good look at the Hawk, for the sharpers were closely wedged in a ring round the Stable, to keep off inquisitive eyes, I suppose, but at length I got ah opening above a little man's head, and could study J^e, lace .of.theHawW, leisure. It . answered^prettgi Jteut $$:des£ cription of Moulpied forwarded by the French police, but what delighted me more than the view of his face was ihe glimpse I got of the tiger;-^e>id"ed : |MM^,|^ich reposed between Bis'legsrwitlitne open mouth snarling in my direction, as if scenting danger, and anxious to bite nje in. de(ence of its owner. ; Not aigHiefiin jfny dfihe'nooms had I seen with a cane in possession; the great stand in the ball was full of umbrellas and canes, given up on entrance by the guests, but here was one solitary player with a cane which had been described to me in all its minutest peculiarities, and which, like a beloved fetish, he. had refused to part with« He even at intervals, ' hands for the cards, foimte^i&Mgfy*^th& ivory head, to make sure, as ft seemed to me, that the tiger did not runaway pr mysteriously evaporate! ,i'A^ ff r If any doubt r as .tathWidentityMflul lingered in my mind it would have been dispelled by him addressing his victim as " Alf," and occasionally as /'"^arren." They were playing for half sovereign' stakes, and it was as clear a case of robbery as any job that was ever put up. The young man was a perfect baby in his,hands, and in addition to the extraordinary skill of the Greek In manipulating the cards, there was a sharper behind his victim, who, with certain motions of his lips and. eyes, signalled every card that was in the pigeon's hands. Sometimes, just to put him in a mood for playing on, the Greek would lose' "a couple of half sovereigns running, but it was only to pick them up again as soon.asjhe %n&jss inclined.^ When that had gone on for more than half" an hour, Warren felt his pockets, pulled them out empty, and said' wiffi4ur oa'td— ' ' Cleaned out again ! " uA i f r ( L r t < V/" The owner of the . tigec-headed j-csyie laughed lightly, and said, with* a foreign accent— " It will be my turn to=nrorrow night. Let OS have something to drink — unless any one else of your friends. -wQ(Ud like tqaJake up your hand." ' ~ ' a ** *" • F " I don't mind having a turn with you," I said quietly and significahdyY' 1 ' provided no one stands behind us while I play." The Greek flashed -upp^nie rastfangK penetratingglance. He would have haughtily taken no notice of the .offer., but jfof.the delijcgte hint contained in 'the v last wohjs, and % (To be Continued.)