JEWELS OF MALICE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1033, 25 July 1930, Page 5

JEWELS OF MALICE

COPYRIGHT

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

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ELLIOT BAILEY

Author of " Th» Japanese Tarasnl ‘ ‘ The Girl m> VelJo» " ” Th* Spider." ett.. •««-

CHAPTER XXI (continued) This, then, was why Sam was watt ing outside when “Slippy” Thompson emerged from the Herringford Court grounds, and how he came to be striding down the hill in triumph toward the London train and wealth, unaware that he in his turn was being stalked by Mr. Joseph Gregory. The lattec, as has been pointed out, was by no means a courageous man and normally he would not have dreamed of tackling Sam Rugely. But now cupidity drove him on—that and the knowledge of what he carried in his hand. Thompson’s fate, although he, too, had been armed with the knife, only made him the more wary. The thought of leaving finger-marks on the haft of the knife, which he had retrieved from the gorse-bush into which Sam had kicked it, struck him as it had done the latter, and as he went along he took put his handkerchief and wiped it vigorously, taking care afterward to keep the handkerchief between his fingers and the handle. Normally, as has been said. Joseph Gregory was what is known as a lawabiding man. Guilty of sharp practice In his profession he might have been from time to time, but even then he had been careful to stay on the right side of the law, for which he had a wholesome respect. But now a startling change had come over him. Obsessed as he had been for days by the idea of gaining possession of the necklace, he had become a potential criminal. Ahead of him w'as a fortune, being carried away by an oaf. He ground his teeth and vowed that he would not let it escape him so easilv Sam, whose aim it was to get clear of the locality before "Slippy” Thompson recovered, set a sharp pace, and soon the lawyer realised that he would have to mend his own if he was to come up with him before he left the deserted downs. He broke into a .iog trot, and as he went along dark thoughts revolved in his brain. One stroke of the knife into Sam’s back, and the jewels would be his without the victim knowing who had struck him. One stroke pf the knife! He was only five yards behind Sam when, in spite of his attempt to move soundlessly on the turf, the latter heard him and swung round. He thought at first it was "Slippy” Thompson again, but gradually he recognised the taller figure of Joseph Gregory. His hands clenched. “What the devil do you want?” he asked truculently. The solicitor, the knife behind his back, resolved to try diplomacy. Probably, he thought, Sam had no conception of the necklace’s value —he recalled his estimate of ten shillings once before —and might be bluffed into handing it over on promise of reward. Then, if he could bribe Sam to keep silent and keep the stones a week, they would automatically become his under the terms of the will. A simple and satisfactory solution of the difficulty ! “Rugely,” he said suavely, “I saw what went on back there. Miss Hylton will be grateful to you for getting back her necklace from the thief who had just snatched it from her. So, if you will hand it over to me—l manage her affairs, you know—l will see you get some little reward, although, of course, it is not very valuable.” Sam glared in response. That halfhour’s eavesdropping in the wood had put him wise to a great deal he did not understand before, and he read the crafty lawyer’s purpose like a book. Moreover,,, the malign influence of the emeralds was upon him, too. A month ago he would have shied at the idea of killing anything above rabbits, but now to retain the fortune in his pocket he was prepared to tackle bigger game. A dull rage consumed him as he regarded this new stumb-ling-block between him and the consummation of his purpose. Even if he knocked Gregory out as he had done Thompson, the lawyer knew him and would set the police on his track. But —"dead men tell no tales.” The old tag flashed through his mind as he considered what to do. They were alone, the downs deseTted; who would know? With the coming of the idea, before his nerve and courage failed him, he acted. Without another word he flung himself straight at Gregory. But this time he did not strike. His stumpy, siuewy fingers closed round the lawyer’s throat in a grip he did not

mean to relax until he was no longer a menace. Anger had flamed into bitter hatred against the man who was trying to baulk him on the very threshold of his success. With starting eyes and gasping breath Joseph Gregory felt the growing construction of those remorseless hands, and realised that the death he had planned for the other was threatening him in his turn. There was a roaring in his ears .... the world turned black. , . . Then he remembered the knife.

Once, twice, he struck aud at the second stroke Sam Rugely’s grip relaxed. With a stifled, choking cry he sank to the ground, rolled half over, and lay still. Terror seized Joseph Gregory at what he had done. While his own breath came back painfully through his lungs, instinct told him that his asailant was dead, a fact he quickly verified. Staring round him in wild apprehension, he spotted another clump of gorse, this time of considerable size. Dragging the body into the very depths of it, he threw away the knife aud then stooped and drew from the dead man’s pocket the string of emeralds which had been the fundamental cause of what had happened and thrust it into his own. But he knew he must not be caught in the gorse. True, he might plead that what he had done he had done in self-defence, but in that case he would have to explain how and why he came to be in possession of the knife. Moreover, if he were to retain the emeralds he must not be connected with the affair In any way. Left where he had hidden it, the body might remain undiscovered for several days, by which time there would be no reason to couple him with Rugely’s death. As if it were a place accursed, he moved away from the patch of gorse and then once more came to a halt, debating on his further movements. A sudden thought overwhelmed him, striking fresh terror into his very soul. Was there blood on his clothes? Feverishly he padded with his hands all over his person and presently indeed encountered the tell-tale warm stickiness he had dreaded to find. It was only a small patch, apparently, and he scrubbed at it fiercely with the handkerchief he had not dared to throw away in case his name or laundry mark might be upon it, although he was aware that blood from the knife blade had transferred itself to the linen. Then once more he sought for further stains upon his clothes, and sighed with relief when they were not forthcoming. He doubled up the handkerchief into another of his pockets and again stood thinking. At length, as if his mind were made up, he commenced to move off, only to stop a second time and, as if he could not resist doing so, he pulled the necklace from his pocket and allowed the stones to run through his fingers with an almost sensuous enjoyment. Contemplating them, he became for the moment oblivious of all else. Therefore he neither saw nor heard the figure that detached itself from the darkness and came right up to him from behind. “Good heavens!” said an astonished voice. “Mr. Gregory—and how on earth did you get them?” Joseph Gregory swung round, completely flabbergasted in his turn. “Miss Hylton,” was all he could mutter feebly. “Miss Hylton!” Cold fear gripped his heart once more. How much had the girl seen?

CHAPTER XXII. As a matter of fact she Hid seen nothing. Wandering doggedly on in the hope of coming up with the man who had robbed her, she had in due course found herself also at the gate in the wall, and had been just in time to see the shaken “Slippy” Thompson pick himself up from the turf and move, somewhat unsteadily, off into the darkness. She had tracked him for a time, hoping to find his eventual distination, but when he plunged into a small wood she was afraid to follow him farther, and had swerved off across the downs, meaning to work round to the front, of Herringford Court and report her loss. And then she had walked right up to Joseph Gregory—to find him-closely examining the jewels that had just beeu stolen from her. No wonder there was suspicion as well as sur-

prise in the question she had put to him. With a palpable effort Gregory pulled himself together. “This is amazing, Miss Hylton,” he went on. “Am I right in concluding that this is your necklace?” “You are,” was the somewhat dry response. “It was snatched from me back there in the grounds. I should be interested to know hew you came to have it —and how you came to be here at all.” The lawyer passed his tongue over his lips. “My dear young lady,” he said glibly, “that is easily explained. Not feeling well—Sir Malcolm will tell you that I had a touch of indisposition—l made my adieus just after you went out into the garden with Basil Courtney, and thinking that the fresh air on the downs w'ould revive me, . I crossed the grounds to the side gate in the wall back there. Just outside the gate I came upon a man who was examining something. “’Got them!’ I heard him mutter. ’What a piece of luck!’ “I suppose it was the glint of them or something furtive in his manner, but I was suspicious. I went up quite cloße to him, saw what it was he held, and felt suddenly quite certain that it was your necklace—there was hardly likely to be another so similar in the neighbourhood. I grasped him by the shoulder. “ ‘You scoundrel,’ 1 said, ‘where did you get that?’ “He certainly had a guilty conscience, that man. At the sound of my voice he dropped the stones as if they burnt him, and made off. I picked them up—it was no good following him at my time of life—and was about to take them to the house. I was in fact just making certain that they were yours when you came up. quite startling me at first for I thought you were the fellow on my track again.” Nancy nodded. The lawyer’* quickly invented tale was plausible enough on the surrace. “He’s still prowling about,” she told him. “I followed him myself for a time.” Whereat Joseph Gregory glanced round with apprehension. It began to appear to him as if the downs were distinctly over-populated that evening. “Suppose we get back to the house,” he suggested, “and as we go along you can tell me how you came to lose the jewels.” “And.” she added, still with a certain dry inflection in her voice, “if you will kindly hand them over I will wear them again.” Little did she guess the tumult that raged iu her companion’s heart at her words, or the volcano on whose brink she stood. He did, in fact, consider adding another crime to the killing of Sam Rugely, but fortunately for the girl that event had shattered his nerve for the time being. Therefore, he handed the necklace back to her with an assumption of readiness which masked a bitterness as great as Rugely’s had been w'hen he saw all his hopes shattered at the last moment. Blaming himself acridly for having taken the emeralds out of his pocket again, for if she had not caught sight of them he could have told a different story, he forced himself to listen to Nancy’s account of the robbery of which he already knew as many details as she. “And young Courtney?!’ he asked perfunctorily when she had finished. “What became of him?” Nancy's lip curled. Her impression. when Basil did not answer her call to him to assist her in chasing the man who stole her necklace, was that he had bolted. “We shall find him safe at home, I expect.” she said. “Under the bed, probably.” Privately, Gregory considered that she was doing the young man an injustice, but it was not for him to say so, and thereafter both of them were busy w’ith their thoughts until they reached the house. There the solicitor surprised her. “I will not go in,” he told her, “the close air indoors is likely to bring on my sickness again. I will wait for you out here, and when you have told the Courtneys what has happened I will see you home.” The fact was, of course, that he did no-t dare to go inside in case the light showed up blood-stains on his clothes that he had missed. The stain he had rubbed, too, would doubtless be noticeable. When Nancy entered the draw pingroom she found Courtney and his wife alone. The dull couple had left a few minutes before and Lady Courtney w p as becoming concerned at the prolonged absence of Basil and the girl. So w p as Courtney—for another reason. He was striding morosely up and down the floor W'hen Nancy came in. (To be Continued Tomorrow.)