The Shadow Crook

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 573, 28 January 1929, Page 5

The Shadow Crook

By

Aidan de Brune

(Author of “Dr Night,” “The Carson Doan Mystery,” “The Dagger and the Cord,” etc.) (COPYRIGHT.) 1

CHAPTER Vl.—(Continued) It was not tlie work of a day or week, but we accomplished it. We were alike in build and colouring. We had only to learn to be alike each other, and with the things you obtained and passed to me, we accomplished that. He was dying, just as the end of his servitude approached. For the sake of our plan he kept his mortal illness from the prison doctors. At last the day dawned w'hen we were ready to act. We exchanged cells and with the cells our identities.. The next day he went to the infirmary and I answered to his name. A few days and they put me from the gates. Frederick Mayne had served the sentence of imprisonment imposed on hint. Stacey Carr lay in the prison infirmary, awaiting the last dread call.” “But, the jewels, dad: the jewels?” In the agony of expectation the girl wrung her hands. “The jewels!” Stacey Carr faced his daughter, a quiet smile on his lips. "Have patience, Nodma. But a few days more and I shall find them. Clear that man from the shop and let me be again amid the old, beloved surroundings and I shall remember. Yes, I shall remember.” For a minute there was silence. Through it rang the discordant "brrr” of the electric bell. Norma sprang to her feet, her body tense, the nails of her fingers biting deeply into her palms. “Who’s there? Father, go to your room! You must not be seen!” Until the door closed behind Stacey Carr Norma stood in the centre of the room facing (he door. Who had mng the bell? Who could have come to that flat? Who could know she

had rented that hiding-place for her father among the loose women of the city ? Yet, someone had rung the bell! Who had guessed her secret? What new danger threatened? Blindly, she remembered the feeling of someone following that had come over her when she entered the door of the building. She had waited and watched, but had discovered nothing. Now, the old feeling of «fi-ead returned, Vducing her fine courage to a trembling fear. A glance round the room and she picked up the wine glass her father had used and threw it into the wastepaper basket. Then, almost unable to control her trembling limbs she went into the hall. Through the darkness she could see., outlined on the glass of the outer door the figure of a man. Short, almost obese in figure, he seemed to block out all the faint light fluttering through the frosted glass, from the corridor. Instinct told the girl she was facing a grave danger a danger to herself as well as to the old man she had rescued from the living grave within the prison walls. For a few seconds she leaned

against the wall, her hand striving to still the rapid beating of her heart. Then, with sudden courage, she went quickly forward and flung open the door. The man on the threshold trned, hat in hand, light overcoat thrown open to reveal the ornate evening clothing beneath, and bowed, ironically. "Mr. Abel Mintos!” The girl’s lips blanched as she uttered the hated name. “Mrs. Etheringham.” Again the man bowed, irony concealed beneath an exaggerated humility. “Mrs. Norma Etheringham! Quite a—er —pleasure to meet you amid the —er —delights of Innesfail Mansions! May I ask if Mr. Etheringham is with you?” CHAPTER VII. “What do you want?” Norma's voice was cold and expressionless. She had drawn the door half-shut, Inclined to close it in the man’s leering face. Abel Mintos pushed forward until he stood squarely in the doorway, pressing firmly against the door the girl still held. A smile of sardonic triumph lurked on the cruel, sensual lips, hidden by the small waxed moustache, oddly out of place on the fleshy face. He looked at the girl as if he had won to some culminating point in a long-played game. “Would it not be wise, my dear Mrs. Etheringham, to ask me into your—-er —retreat. To discuss our—er—busi ness, if indeed it be business and cot pleasure, in the Corridors of Innesfail Mansions might be considered —er — shall I say. indiscreet.” Reluctantly the girl moved aside, allowing the man to walk into the hall. He looked around him, curiously, then without invitation moved on to the dining room. His small blank lyes swept over the table and furnishing, taking in every, feature. “Supper for two.” There was a significant laughter in his voice. “And only one to enjoy it. I wonder If I have —er —anticipated the second party? Or, perhaps the second cover is open to the decree of chance. Then indeed, my dear Norma. I am most lucky.” There was a suggestiveness in the man’s tones that sent a cold shiver over the girl. The flat belongs to a—a friend. 1 am waiting ” “For her?” The Jew interposed quickly. “My dear Norma you are terribly pale. A glass of wine to restore the bloom to your cheeks. Allow me.” As he walked to the table his restless eyes fell on the waste-paper basket. He stepped forward and lifted from it the wine glass, placing it carefully on the table. “Not broken! Wonderful how strong these frail-looking glasses really are.” For a minute he smiled meditatively at the glass, then picked up the decanter and poured the wine into two fresh glasses. “Please drink this, Norma, and —will you sit here? Ah, that is more comfortable. With your permission.” He dropped his hat and coat on to a lounge and seated himself opposite the girl. For some moments he held the filled glass before the light. “Women are strange about wines!” He spoke to himself. “They love tile sparkling and the .sweet. Whereas, to the educated palate, there is an en ticement, a bouquet, within the dry, the .....” “What do you want, Abel Mintos Suddenly the girl leaned forward. “Why have you traced me here?” “The dictates of fortune. I assure you, my dear Norma. I happened to be at the Cross when a lady passed mo I thought I recognised. Full of idle curiosity T followed —to the doors of Innesfail Mansions. There I received a great shock.” "Yes?” “I found I was not the only fellow er.” Mintos lowered his voice to an impressive whisper. “Before me walked one of the most distinguished members of the New South Wales Police Department.” *“A detective! Good God! •*As you say, a detective.” The smile on the' man’s lips grew cruel. “I left him in the hall below.” “How did you find your way here? (To be Continued)