Mr. McEachern"s relief was overwhelming. If Lord Dreever"s statement was correct and Jimmy had really succeeded in winning Molly"s affection, this would indeed be a rescue at the eleventh hour. It was with a Nunc-Dimittis air that he felt for his cigar-case, and extended it toward the detective. A cigar from his own private case was with him a mark of supreme favor and good-will, a sort of accolade which he bestowed only upon the really meritorious few.
Usually, it was received with becoming deference; but on this occasion there was a somewhat startling deviation from routine; for, just as he was opening the case, something cold and hard pressed against each of his wrists, there was a snap and a click, and, looking up, dazed, he saw that the detective had sprung back, and was contemplating him with a grim smile over the barrel of an ugly-looking little revolver.
Guilty or innocent, the first thing a man does when, he finds handcuffs on his wrists is to try to get them off. The action is automatic. Mr. McEachern strained at the steel chain till the veins stood out on his forehead. His great body shook with rage.
The detective eyed these efforts with some satisfaction. The picture presented by the other as he heaved and tugged was that of a guilty man trapped.
"It"s no good, my friend," he said.
The voice brought McEachern back to his senses. In the first shock of the thing, the primitive man in him had led him beyond the confines of self-restraint. He had simply struggled unthinkingly.
Now, he came to himself again.
He shook his manacled hands furiously.
"What does this mean?" he shouted. "What the--?"
"Less noise," said the detective, sharply. "Get back!" he snapped, as the other took a step forward.
"Do you know who I am?" thundered McEachern.
"No," said the detective. "And that"s just why you"re wearing those bracelets. Come, now, don"t be a fool. The game"s up. Can"t you see that?"
McEachern leaned helplessly against the billiard-table. He felt weak. Everything was unreal. Had he gone mad? he wondered.
"That"s right," said the detective. "Stay there. You can"t do any harm there. It was a pretty little game, I"ll admit. You worked it well. Meeting your old friend from New York and all, and having him invited to the castle. Very pretty. New York, indeed! Seen about as much of New York as I have of Timbuctoo. I saw through him."
Some inkling of the truth began to penetrate McEachern"s consciousness. He had become obsessed with the idea that, as the captive was not Spike, it must be Jimmy. The possibility of Mr. Galer"s being the subject of discussion only dawned upon him now.
"What do you mean?" he cried. "Who is it that you have arrested?"
"Blest if I know. You can tell me that, I should think, seeing he"s an old Timbuctoo friend of yours. Galer"s the name he goes by here."
"Galer!"
"That"s the man. And do you know what he had the impudence, the gall, to tell me? That he was in my own line of business. A detective! He said you had sent for him to come here!"
The detective laughed amusedly at the recollection.
"And so he is, you fool. So I did."
"Oh, you did, did you? And what business had you bringing detectives into other people"s houses?"
Mr. McEachern started to answer, but checked himself. Never before had he appreciated to the full the depth and truth of the proverb relating to the frying-pan and the fire. To clear himself, he must mention his suspicions of Jimmy, and also his reasons for those suspicions. And to do that would mean revealing his past. It was Scylla and Charybdis.
A drop of perspiration trickled down his temple.
"What"s the good?" said the detective. "Mighty ingenious idea, that, only you hadn"t allowed for there being a real detective in the house. It was that chap pitching me that yarn that made me suspicious of you. I put two and two together. "Partners," I said to myself. I"d heard all about you, sc.r.a.ping acquaintance with Sir Thomas and all. Mighty ingenious. You become the old family friend, and then you let in your pal. He gets the stuff, and hands it over to you. n.o.body dreams of suspecting you, and there you are.
Honestly, now, wasn"t that the game?"
"It"s all a mistake--" McEachern was beginning, when the door-handle turned.
The detective looked over his shoulder. McEachern glared dumbly.
This was the crowning blow, that there should be spectators of his predicament.
Jimmy strolled into the room.
"Dreever told me you were in here," he said to McEachern. "Can you spare me a--Hullo!"
The detective had pocketed his revolver at the first sound of the handle. To be discreet was one of the chief articles in the creed of the young men from Wragge"s Detective Agency. But handcuffs are not easily concealed. Jimmy stood staring in amazement at McEachern"s wrists.
"Some sort of a round game?" he enquired with interest.
The detective became confidential.
"It"s this way, Mr. Pitt. There"s been some pretty deep work going on here. There"s a regular gang of burglars in the place. This chap here"s one of them."
"What, Mr. McEachern!"
"That"s what he calls himself."
It was all Jimmy could do to keep himself from asking Mr. McEachern whether he attributed his downfall to drink. He contented himself with a sorrowful shake of the head at the fermenting captive. Then, he took up the part of the prisoner"s attorney.
"I don"t believe it," he said. "What makes you think so?"
"Why, this afternoon, I caught this man"s pal, the fellow that calls himself Galer--"
"I know the man," said Jimmy. "He"s a detective, really. Mr.
McEachern brought him down here."
The sleuth"s jaw dropped limply, as if he had received a blow.
"What?" he said, in a feeble voice.
"Didn"t I tell you--?" began Mr. McEachern; but the sleuth was occupied with Jimmy. That sickening premonition of disaster was beginning to steal over him. Dimly, he began to perceive that he had blundered.
"Yes," said Jimmy. "Why, I can"t say; but Mr. McEachern was afraid someone might try to steal Lady Julia Blunt"s rope of diamonds. So, he wrote to London for this man, Galer. It was officious, perhaps, but not criminal. I doubt if, legally, you could handcuff a man for a thing like that. What have you done with good Mr. Galer?"
"I"ve locked him in the coal-cellar," said the detective, dismally.
The thought of the interview in prospect with the human bloodhound he had so mishandled was not exhilarating.
"Locked him in the cellar, did you?" said Jimmy. "Well, well, I daresay he"s very happy there. He"s probably busy detecting black-beetles. Still, perhaps you had better go and let him out. Possibly, if you were to apologize to him--? Eh? Just as you think. I only suggest. If you want somebody to vouch for Mr. McEachern"s non-burglariousness, I can do it. He is a gentleman of private means, and we knew each other out in New York--we are old acquaintances."
"I never thought--"
"That," said Jimmy, with sympathetic friendliness, "if you will allow me to say so, is the cardinal mistake you detectives make. You never do think."
"It never occurred to me--"
The detective looked uneasily at Mr. McEachern. There were indications in the policeman"s demeanor that the moment following release would be devoted exclusively to a carnival of violence, with a certain sleuth-hound playing a prominent role.