_ CHAPTER XVI. THE STRANGE AND SURPRISING WARREN
The volume was a loose-leaf diary, with each page dated, and of letter size. It covered more than the current year, however, running back for nearly eighteen months. It was as scrupulously edited as a lawyer's engagement book, and curiously enough it was entirely written in typewriting!
Most surprising of all, however, was the curious code in which the entire matter was transcribed,--the most unusual one which Shirley had ever read.
Here was the first page to which he opened, letter for letter and symbol for symbol:
"THURSDAY: JANUARY SEVENTH, 1915.
;rstmrfagtp,ansmlafrav;rudyrtaftreadocayjpi
dsmfaoma,ptmomha,pmlassdohmrfaypayscoae
ptlagptayrsadjomrasddohmrfagocahrmrsypta
,sthoragsotgscafsyraeoyjafrav;rudyrtasyagobra
djomrasmfalprajse;ruavobrtomhas,rakslras
smffanrmasddohmrfan;svlavstagpta,raqsofaqj
o;apmrajimftrfavpbrtomhadqrvos; aeptlakpn
agomodjrfatobrtdofraftobrasyarohjyoayjotfad ocadjstqafrqpdoyr
famohjyasmfaffuagpitayjpi dsmfadsgrafrqpdoyagogyrrmajimftrfa;
rmyaf p;;ua,stopmayepajimfrtgptaftrddagptaqstyua
eoyjabsmv;rgyamrcyasgyrtmppmasfbsmvrfad jomrapmrayjpidsm
daypavpbrtapqyopmapga usvjyadimnrs, aqsofaypantplrtayjsyamohjyapt
frfaqtpbodop,dayr;rqjpmragptausvjyayepa,p myjabtiodra,
pmlasddohmrdagptkpnamrcyafs uasfbs mvrfadjomragojimftrfapmasvvpimyae
ptlapmaer;;omhypmadrtts;a,syyrtatrqsitdan; svla,svjomra"
and so it ran on, baffling and inspiring a headache!
Shirley went over and over the lines of this bewildering phalanx of letters with no reward for his absorbed devotion to the puzzle.
"Let me see," he mused. "Thursday, January seventh, was the date upon which Washington Serral was murdered, according to Doctor MacDonald. Any man who will maintain a record of the days in such a difficult code as this must not only be extremely methodical, but is certain to have much to put upon that record worth the trouble. Here may lay the secret of the entire case."
At the end of the hour he had allowed himself, there was no more proximity to solution than at the inception of his effort. It was almost half-past eleven, and he knew that it was time to go to Warren's apartment. He sent a messenger with the book, carefully wrapped up, to his rooms at the club on Forty-fourth Street. It was too interesting a document to risk taking up to that apartment again, after Helene's exertions in obtaining it.
The Somerset was not dissimilar from the hundreds of highly embellished dwellings of the sort which abound in the region of the Park, causing out-of-town visitors to marvel justly at the source of the vast sums of money with which to pay the enormous rentals of them all.
The elevator operator smirked knowingly, when he asked for Warren's apartment. "You-all can go right up, boss. He's holdin' forth for another of dem high sassiety shindigs to-night. Dat gemman alluz has too many callin' to bother with the telephone when he has a party. You don't need no announcin'."
The man directed him to the door on the left. Closed as it was the sounds of merrymaking emanated into the corridor. Shirley's pressure on the bell was answered by Shine Taylor's startled face. Warren stood behind him. The surprise of the pair amused Shirley, but their composure bespoke trained self-control.
"I'm sorry to be late," was the criminologist's greeting. "But I came up to apologize for not being able to bring Miss Marigold. We missed connections somewhere, and I couldn't find her."
"I am so pleased to have you with us anyway. We'll try to get along without her--" but Warren was interrupted to his discomfiture.
A silvery laugh came from the hallway behind him. Helene Marigold waved a champagne glass at Shirley.
"There's my tardy escort now. I'm here, Shirley old top! Te, he! You see I played a little joke on you this afternoon and eloped with a handsomer man than you." She leaned unsteadily against the door post and waved a white hand at him as she coaxed. "Come on in, old dear, and don't be cross now with your little Bonbon Tootems!"
Taylor and Warren exchanged glances, for this was an unexpected sally. But they were prompt in their effusive cordiality, as they assisted Shirley in removing his overcoat, and hanging his hat with those of the other guests. He placed his cane against the hall tree, and followed his host into the jollified apartment. He did not overlook the swift glide of Shine's hand into each of his overcoat pockets in the brief interval. Here was a skilful "dip"--Shirley, however, had taken care that the pickpocket would find nothing to worry him in the overcoat.
Warren's establishment was a gorgeous one. To Shirley it was hard to harmonize the character of the man as he had already deduced it with the evident passion for the beautiful. That such a connoisseur of art objects could harbor in so broad and cultured a mind the machinations of such infamy seemed almost incredible. The riddle was not new with Reginald Warren's case: for morals and "culture" have shown their sociological, economic and even diplomatic independence of each other from the time when the memory of man runneth not!
Shirley's admiration was shrewdly sensed by his host. So after a tactful introduction to the self-absorbed merrymakers, now in all stages of stimulated exuberance, he conducted his guest on a tour of inspection about his rooms.
"So, you like etchings? I want you to see my five Whistlers. Here is my Fritz Thaulow, and there is my Corot. This crayon by Von Lenbach is a favorite of mine." His black eyes sparkled with pride as he pointed out one gem after another in this veritable storehouse of artistic surprises. Few of the jolly throng gave evidence of appreciating them: the man was curiously superior to his associations in education as well as the patent evidence which Shirley now observed of being to the manor born. Helene Marigold, ensconced in a big library chair, her feet curled under her, pink fingers supporting the oval chin, dreamily watched Shirley's absorption. She seemed almost asleep, but her mind drank in each mood that fired the criminologist's face, as he thoroughly relaxed from his usual bland superiority of mien, to revel in the treasures.
Ivory masterpieces, Hindu carvings, bronzes, landscapes, rare wood-cuts, water colors--such a harmonious variety he had seldom seen in any private collection. The library was another thesaurus: rich bindings encased volumes worthy of their garb. The books, furthermore, showed the mellowing evidence of frequent use; here was no patron of the instalment editions-de-luxe!
"You like my things," and Warren's voice purred almost happily. There was a softening change in his attitude, which Shirley understood. The appreciation of a fellow worshiper warmed his heart. "My books--all bound privately, you know, for I hate shop bindings. Most of them from second-hand stalls, redolent with the personalities of half a hundred readers. Books are so much more worth reading when they have been read and read again. Don't you think so?"
"Yes. I see your tastes run to the modern school. Individualism, even morbidity: Spencer, Nietsche, Schopenhauer, Tolstoi, Kropotkin, Gorky--They express your thoughts collectively?"
"Yes, but not radically enough. My entire intellectual life has driven me forward--I am a disciple of the absolute freedom, the divinity of self, and--but there I invited you to a joy party, not a university seminar."
"But the party will grow riper with age," and Shirley was prone to continue the autopsy. "You are a university man. Where did you study?"
"Sipping here and there," and a forgivable vanity lightened Warren's face. "Gottingen, Warsaw, Jena, Oxford, Milan, The Sorbonne and even at Heidelberg, the jolly old place. You see my scar?" He pulled back a lock of his wavy black hair from the left temple to show a cut from a student duelist's sword. "But you Americans--I mean, we Americans--we have such opportunities to pick up the best things from the rest of the world."
"No, Warren," and Shirley shook his head, not overlooking the slight break which indicated that his host was a foreigner, despite the quick change. "I have been to busy wasting time to collect anything but fleeting memories. Too much polo, swimming, yachting, golfing--I have fallen into evil ways. I think your example may reform me. You must dine with me at my club some day, and give me some hints about making such wonderful purchases."
"I know the most wonderful antique shop," Warren began, and just then was interrupted by Shine Taylor and a dizzy blonde person with whom he maxixed through the Hindu draperies, each deftly balancing a champagne glass.
"Here, Reg, you neglect your other guests. Come on in!" Shine's companion held out a wine glass to Warren, but her eyes were fixed in a fascinated stare upon Montague Shirley.
"Why, what are you doing here?"
It was little Dolly Marion, Van Cleft's companion on the fatal automobile ride. She trembled: the glass fell to the floor with a tinkly crash. Shirley smiled indulgently. Taylor and Warren exchanged looks, but Monty knew that they must by this time be aware of his command to the girl to abstain from gay associations.
"You couldn't resist the call of the wild, could you, Miss Dolly?"
The girl sheepishly giggled, and danced out of the room, to sink into a chair, wondering what this visitation meant. Another masculine butterfly pressed more champagne upon her, and in a few moments she had forgotten to worry about anything more important than the laws of gravity. Warren had been rudely dragged away from his intellectual kinship with his guest. His manner changed, almost indefinably, but Shirley understood. He looked at Helene, a little bundle of sleepy sweetness in the big chair.
"Well, Miss! Where did you go when I left you on my call of condolence to Howard Van Cleft? He leaves town to-night for a trip on his yacht, and it was my last chance to say good-bye."
"Where is he going?" was Warren's lapsus linguae, at this bit of news.
"Down to the Gulf, I believe. Do you know him, Warren? Nice chap. Too bad about his father's sudden death from heart failure, wasn't it? He told me they were putting in supplies for a two months' cruise and would not be able to sail before three in the morning."
"I don't know Van Cleft," was Warren's guarded reply. "Of course, I read of his sad loss. But he is so rich now that he can wipe out his grief with a change of scene and part of the inheritance. It's being done in society, these days."
"Poor Van Cleft! He's besieged by blackmailers, who threaten to lay bare his father's extravagant innuendos, unless he pays fifty thousand dollars. He can afford it, but as he says, it's war times and money is scarce as brunette chorus girls. He has put the matter before the District Attorney and is going to sail for Far Cathay until they round up the gang. These criminals are so clumsy nowadays, I imagine it will be an easy task, don't you, Warren?"
The other man's eyes narrowed to black slits as he studied the childlike expression of Shirley's face. He wondered if there could be a covert threat in this innocent confidence. He answered laconically: "Oh, I suppose so. We read about crooks in the magazines and then see their capers in the motion picture thrillers, but down in real life, we find them a sordid, unimaginative lot of rogues."
He proffered Shirley a cigarette from his jeweled case. As he leaned toward the table to draw a match from the small bronze holder, Helene observed Shirley deftly substitute it for one of his own, secreting the first.
"Yes," continued Shirley, "the criminal who is caught generally loses his game because he is mechanical and ungifted with talent. But think of the criminals who have yet to be captured--the brilliant, the inspired ones, the chess-players of wickedness who love their game and play it with the finesse of experts."
Shirley smoothed away the ripple of suspicion which he had mischievously aroused with, "So, that is why fellows like us would not bother with the life. The same physical and intellectual effort expended by a criminal genius would bring him money and power with no clutching legal hand to fear. But there, we're getting morbid. What I really want to do is to satisfy my vanity. Where did Miss Marigold disappear?"
"Talking about me?" and Helene opened her eyes languorously. "I was so tired waiting for you that when Mr. Warren came along in his wonderful new car I yielded to his invitation, so we enjoyed that tea-room trip which you had promised. Such a lark! Then we came up here where I had the most wonderful dinner with him and three girls. I was tired and sleepy, so I dozed away on that library davenport until the party began--and there you are and here I are, and so, forgive me, Monty?"
She slipped nimbly to the floor, with a maddening display of a silken ankle, advancing to the criminologist with a wistful playfulness which brought a flush of sudden feeling, to the face of Reginald Warren. Helene was carrying out his directions to the letter, Shirley observed.
They lingered at Warren's festivities until a wee sma' hour, Helene pretending to share the conviviality, while actually maintaining a hawk-like watch upon the two conspirators as she now felt them to be. She was amused by the frequency with which Shine Taylor and Reginald Warren plied their guest with cigarettes: Shirley's legerdemain in substituting them was worthy of the vaudeville stage.
"The wine and my smoking have made me drowsy," he told her, with no effort at concealment. "We must get home or I'll fall asleep myself."
A covert smile flitted across Warren's pale face, as Shirley unconventionally indulged in several semi-polite yawns, nodding a bit, as well. Helene accepted glass after glass of wine, thoughtfully poured out by her host. And as thoughtfully, did she pour it into the flower vases when his back was turned: she matched the other girls' acute transports of vinous joy without an error. Shirley walked to the window, asking if he might open it for a little fresh air. Warren nodded smiling.
"You are well on the way to heaven in this altitude of eight stories," volunteered Shirley, with a sleepy laugh.
"Yes. The eighth and top floor. A burglar could make a good haul of my collection, except that I have the window to the fire escape barred from the inside, around the corner facing to the north. Here, I am safe from molestation."
"A great view of the Park--what a fine library for real reading; and I see you have a typewriter--the same make I used to thump, when I did newspaper work--a Remwood. Let me see some of your literary work, sometime--"
Warren waved a deprecating hand. "Very little--editors do not like it. I do better with an adding machine down on Wall Street than a typewriter. But let us join the others." There was a noticeable reluctance about dwelling upon the typewriter subject. Warren hurried into the drawing-room, as Shirley followed with a perceptible stagger.
Shine Taylor scrutinized his condition, as he asked for another cigarette. As he yielded to an apparent craving for sleep, the others danced and chatted, while Taylor disappeared through the hall door. After a few minutes he returned to grimace slightly at Warren. Shirley roused himself from his stupor.
"Bonbon, let us be going. Good-night, everybody."
He walked unsteadily to the door, amid a chorus of noisy farewells, with Helene unsteady and hilarious behind him. Warren and Shine seemed satisfied with their hospitable endeavors, as they bade good-night. The elevator brought up two belated guests, the roseate Pinkie and a colorless youth.
"Oh, are you going, Mr. Shirley? What a blooming shame. I just left the most wonderful supper-party at the Claridge to see you."
"Too bad: I hope for better luck next time."
"The elevator is waiting," and Helene's gaze was scornful. Shirley restrained his smile at the girl's covert hatred of the redhaired charmer. Then he asked maliciously: "Isn't she interesting? Too bad she associates with her inferiors."
"You put it mildly."
"Here, boy, call a taxicab," he ordered the attendant, as they reached the lower level.
"Sorry, boss, but I dassent leave the elevator at this time of night. I'm the only one in the place jest now."
Shirley insisted, with a duty soother of silver, but the negro returned in a few minutes, shaking his head. Shirley ordered him to telephone the nearest hacking-stand. Then followed another delay, without result.
"Come, Miss Helene, there is method in this. Let us walk, as it seems to have been planned we should."
"Is it wise? Why put yourself in their net?"
For reply, he placed in her hand the walking stick which he had so carefully guarded when they entered the apartment. It was heavier than a policeman's nightstick. As he retook it, she observed the straightening line of his lips.
"As the French say, 'We shall see what we shall see.' Please walk a little behind me, so that my right arm may be free."
It was after two, and the street was dark. Shirley had noted an arc-light on the corner when he had entered the building--now it was extinguished. A man lurched forward as they turned into Sixth Avenue, his eyes covered by a dark cap.
"Say gent! Give a guy that's down an' out the price of a beef stew? I got three pennies an' two more'll fix me."
"No!"
"Aw, gent, have a heart!" The man was persistent, drawing closer, as Shirley walked an with his companion, into the increasing darkness, away from the corner. Another figure appeared from a dark doorway.
"I'm broke too, Mister. Kin yer help a poor war refugee on a night like this?"
Shirley slipped his left hand inside his coat pocket and drew out a handkerchief to the surprise of the men. He suddenly drew Helene back against the wall, and stood between her and the two men.
"What do you thugs want?" snapped the criminologist, as he clenched the cane tightly and held the handkerchief in his left hand. There was no reply. The men realized that he knew their purpose--one dropped to a knee position as the other sprang forward. The famous football toe shot forward with more at stake than ever in the days when the grandstands screeched for a field goal. At the same instant he swung the loaded cane upon the shoulders of the upright man, missing his head.
The second man swung a blackjack.
The first, with a bleeding face staggered to his feet.
The handkerchief went up to the mouth of the active assailant, and to Helene's astonishment, he sank back with a moan. Shirley pounced upon his mate, and after a slight tussle, applied the handkerchief with the same benumbing effect. Then he rolled it up and tossed it far from him.
He took a police whistle from his pocket and blew it three times. His assailants lay quietly on the ground, so that when the officer arrived he found an immaculately garbed gentleman dusting off his coat shoulder, and looking at his watch.
"What is it, sir?" he cried.
"A couple of drunks attacked me, after I wouldn't give them a handout. Then they passed away. You won't need my complaint--look at them--"
The policeman shook the men, but they seemed helpless except to groan and hold their heads in mute agony, dull and apparently unaware of what was going on about them.
"Well, if you don't want to press the charge of assault?"
"No. I may have it looked up by my attorney. Tonight I do not care to take my wife to the stationhouse with me. They ought to get thirty days, at that."
Shirley took Helene's arm, and the officer nodded.
"I'll send for the wagon, sir. They're some pickled. Good-night."
As they walked up to the nearest car crossing, Helene turned to him with her surprise unabated.
"What did you do to them, Mr. Shirley?"
"Merely crushed a small vial of Amyl nitrite which I thoughtfully put in my handkerchief this afternoon. It is a chemical whose fumes are used for restoring people afflicted with heart failure: with men like these, and the amount of the liquid which I gave them for perfume, the result was the same as complete unconsciousness from drunkenness.--Science is a glorious thing, Miss Helene." _