it was a weary walk back to maldon grange, but russell finished it at length. the chase had carried him farther than he thought, and he was worn out with his exertions and shaken with the horrors of the night. the house appeared to have regained its normal peace, the dining-room lights had been switched on, and uzali impatiently waited russell's return.
"you have been a long time," he said. "so they managed to escape you. i thought they would. man alive, what is the matter? you look as if you had seen a ghost."
"i have seen two," russell said huskily. "for heaven's sake, give me some brandy and not too much water. you needn't trouble about your countrymen any more, for they will do no further harm this side of the grave. and they didn't escape me, either. i was within a couple of yards of them when they met with their death; indeed, i was exceedingly lucky not to share the same fate. i will never forget the horror of it."
uzali asked no questions. he saw how white and shaky russell was and discreetly contented himself with pouring out the brandy, after which he sat down and waited till the generous spirit had begun to do its work.
"it was an express train," russell said jerkily. "i was close to them. i had challenged them to stop in fact, when they swerved and climbed on to the line. they must have lost their heads, for they ran full tilt into the engine, and the rest you can imagine. they were cut to pieces and, i should say, are unrecognizable. i had them removed to the nearest station where, of course, i had to give my name and address. i don't know what you think about it, but, upon my word, i don't see how i am going to explain when i come to give my evidence before the coroner."
"oh, that will be easy," uzali replied. "you happened to be a guest of mr. samuel flower and disturbed two burglars to whom you subsequently gave chase. there will be no occasion to say more than that. the thing will excite a nine days' wonder. people will ask what these foreigners were doing at maldon grange and then it will all be forgotten. you must admit the necessity of keeping this scandal as quiet as possible. the men are dead, and even if the story were told, ninety-nine people out of a hundred would refuse to believe it. but if you are feeling better, there is much to be done before daylight. but you need not come unless you feel up to it. for my own part i mean to finish my investigation of the vault where we found those unfortunate men. we haven't finished with tragedy even yet. we have still to find jansen."
russell rose with more or less alacrity to his feet.
"come and get it over," he said. "i thought my nerves were strong enough for anything, but i shall want a rest after this."
once more they turned into the garden and thence into the vault. uzali had taken a candle off the dining-room mantel-piece, so that they did not lack light, neither was there any reason for extra precautions. they mounted a flight of steps leading to one of the doors in which uzali's sharp eye saw that a key had been left. he flung the door open and strode inside. the place was dark and musty. there were no windows in front and no ventilation, so that the two intruders at first found some difficulty in breathing. on the top of a packing-case uzali placed his candle while he made a swift survey of the vault. the place appeared to be empty save for a score or so of packing-cases, all clamped with iron and heavily nailed. but, apparently, uzali was not troubling much about the cases; he seemed to be looking for something quite different. then he gave a sudden exclamation as he bent over an object lying between one of the cases and the wall. the object was dragged out into the centre of the floor and, taking the candle, uzali bent coolly and critically over it.
"the last of the tragedies," he said.
"jansen!" russell exclaimed. "and stone dead beyond a doubt. but what is that strange bandage around his head?"
jansen lay stiff and stark with his bloated face turned up to the light. around his forehead was a white bandage so stiff and tight that it might have been made of solid metal. it was hard and hollow to the touch as uzali's fingers drummed upon it.
"here is the mystery of the five knots," he said. "don't you see what has happened? jansen attempted to make a dupe of my fellow-countrymen, but they were too cunning for him. they were not drugged when he left his lodgings; they were only shamming. they followed him here, must have travelled by the same train, and they tracked him to these vaults where i dare say they have been before. directly he saw them he must have known his end was come; let him turn and twist as he liked, there was a finish to jansen. whilst one held him at bay the other lighted that scent you know of, and, as soon as the wretched man's senses failed, they bound that cloth about his forehead and the five deadly knots did their work. the thing is put on wet, but dries in a few moments with a tremendous pressure that gives the brain no chance whatever. it is practically impossible even for the cleverest surgeon to guess it is concussion of the brain, since there are no signs of violence. and yet, after the application of those terrible knots for an hour or so, no victim could recover. by pure good luck mercer twice saved the life of samuel flower, for each time my fellow-countrymen were interrupted by him and managed to get away, leaving no trace of their secret. in jansen's case it was different. we had cut off their avenue of escape and they had only themselves to think of. and they met their fate, too."
"but this is really worse than the other," russell said with a shudder. "the whole story is bound to come out now. we cannot take this wretched man outside and throw him into a ditch."
"that is true," uzali said grimly. "but we can remove all signs of the mischief. i know we are running a risk. i know we are placing ourselves within reach of the law, but i am going to take the chance all the same. go to the dining-room and fetch me a decanter of water so that i can damp this bandage off. besides, since no one knows jansen or anything about him, it will be reasonable to assume that he was one of the burglars and that they had quarrelled with fatal results."
russell was too upset by the events of the night to make any protest. he seemed to have hardly strength enough to attend to himself. in a dazed way he crept back from the dining-room with a decanter of water with which uzali proceeded to remove the bandage until the remotest trace of the cause of death had disappeared.
"it is amazing," russell murmured. "no wonder a doctor would be puzzled to give a certificate. he looks now as if he had died peacefully in his sleep."
"that is so," uzali said coolly. "and now let us be convinced that he came here for some felonious purpose. i am certain i shall find housebreaker's tools in his possession. ah, i told you so!"
from the breast-pocket of jansen's coat uzali produced a small but powerful jimmy along with a neat case of instruments which left no doubt of the purpose for which they were used. with the jimmy in his hand uzali crossed the floor and made a deliberate attack on one of the big cases. presently the lid came off with a resounding crash and a quantity of sacks were exposed to view. under the sacking lay a number of wash-leather bags evidently of considerable weight, for uzali had to exert all his strength to release two of them and lay them on the floor. he untied the knots which bound the sacks and plunged his hand inside. his fingers came out sparkling and shimmering in the candle-light.
"as i expected," he said. "with all your care and cunning flower has been too many for you. the only man who guessed the truth was jansen, and that is why he came down to-night. take one of these bags in your hand and feel its weight. isn't it heavy? it's so heavy that it can only be one metal. and see how it sparkles in your fingers."
"you mean it is gold dust," russell cried.
"nothing more nor less, my friend. this case is full of it, and when we come to open other cases i shall not be surprised to find treasures even more valuable. flower must have brought them here by some extraordinary means and baffled all his party. we shall probably never know how he managed it. but we have yet to decide upon our plan of campaign. there is much to be done still."
