This last offer, accompanied by a movement of a hand to an inner pocket, was addressed to Bagley, who declined with the words, "That"s all right.
I"ve seen it before."
"He has these things all done up in heavy paper, so"s to make a dozen"r so big packages. Then he pays fur "em, an" leaves "em to be called fur.
It"s late in the afternoon by this time, and comin" on dark. Understand, he"s still got the "riginal brown paper package with him. The next thing he does is, he hires a cab, and has himself druv around to the department store he was at before. He gets the things he bought there, an" puts "em on the cab, an" has himself druv on to the grocer"s an" provision dealer"s, an" gets the packages he bought there, an" has them put _in_ the cab. The cab"s so full o" his parcels now, he"s only got just room fur himself on the back seat. An" then he has the hackman drive to a place away down-town."
Mr. Lafferty paused for a moment to wet his throat with brandy and water. Larcher, who had admired the professional mysteriousness shown in withholding the names of the stores for the mere sake of reserving something to secrecy, was now wondering how the detective knew that the man he had traced was Murray Davenport. He gave voice to his wonder.
"By the description, of course," replied Mr. Lafferty, with disgust at Larcher"s inferiority of intelligence. "D"yuh s"pose I"d foller a man"s trail as fur as that, if everything didn"t tally--face, eyes, nose, height, build, clo"es, hat, brown paper parcel, everything?"
"Then it"s simply marvellous," said Larcher, with genuine astonishment, "how you managed to get on his track, and to follow it from place to place."
"Oh, it"s my business to know how to do them things," replied Mr.
Lafferty, deprecatingly.
"Your business!" said Bagley. "Dumb luck, I tell you. Can"t you see how it was?" He had turned to Larcher. "The cabman read of Davenport"s disappearance, and putting together the day, and the description in the papers, and the queer load of parcels, goes and tells the police.
Lafferty is put on the case, pumps the cabman dry, then goes to the stores where the cab stopped to collect the goods, and finds out the rest. Only, when he comes to tell the story, he tells the facts not in their order as he found them out, but in their order as they occurred."
"You know all about it, Mr. Bagley," said Lafferty, taking refuge in jocular irony. "You"d ought "a" worked up the case yourself."
"You left Davenport being driven down-town," Larcher reminded the detective.
"Yes, an" that about lets me out. The cabman druv "im to somewhere on South Street, by the wharves. It was dark by that time, and the driver didn"t notice the exact spot--he just druv along the street till the man told him to stop, that was his orders,--an" then the man got out, took out his parcels, an" carried them across the sidewalk into a dark hallway. Then he paid the cabman, an" the cabman druv off. The last the cabman seen of "im, he was goin" into the hallway where his goods were, an" that"s the last any one seen of "im in New York, as fur as known.
Prob"ly you"ve got enough imagination to give a guess what became of him after that."
"No, I haven"t," said Larcher.
"Jes" think it over. You can put two and two together, can"t you? A new outfit o" clo"es, first of all. Then a stock o" provisions. To make it easier, I"ll tell yuh this much: they was the kind o" provisions people take on yachts, an" he even admitted to the salesman they was for that purpose. And then South Street--the wharves; does that mean ships? Does the whole business mean a voyage? But a man don"t have to stock up extry food if he"s goin" by any regular steamer line, does he? What fur, then?
And what kind o" ships lays off South Street? Sailin" ships; them that goes to South America, an" Asia, and the South Seas, and G.o.d knows where all. Now do you think you can guess?"
"But why would he put his things in a hallway?" queried Larcher.
"To wait fur the boat that was to take "em out to the vessel late at night. Why did he wait fur dark to be druv down there? You bet, he was makin" his flittin" as silent as possible. He"d prob"ly squared it with a skipper to take "im aboard on the dead quiet. That"s why there ain"t much use our knowin" what vessels sailed about that time. I _do_ know, but much good we"ll get out o" that. What port he gets off at, who"ll ever tell? It"ll be sure to be in a country where we ain"t got no extradition treaty. And when this particular captain shows up again at this port, innocent enough _he"ll_ be; _he_ never took no pa.s.senger aboard in the night, an" put "im off somewheres below the "quator. I guess Mr. Bagley can about consider his twenty thousand to the bad, unless his young friend takes a notion to return to his native land before he"s got it all spent."
"And that"s your belief?" said Larcher to Bagley, "--that he went to some other country with the money?"
"Absconded," replied the ready-money man. "Yes; there"s nothing else to believe. At first I thought you might have some notion where he was; that"s what made me send for you. But I see he left you out of his confidence. So I thought you might as well know his real character.
Lafferty"s going to give the result of his investigation to the newspaper men, anyhow. The only satisfaction I can get is to show the fellow up."
When Larcher left the presence of Bagley, he carried away no definite conclusion except that Bagley was an even more detestable animal than he had before supposed. If the man whom Lafferty had traced was really Davenport, then indeed the theory of suicide was shaken. There remained the possibility of murder or flight. The purchases indeed seemed to indicate flight, especially when viewed in a.s.sociation with South Street.
South Street? Why, that was Mr. Bud"s street. And a hallway? Mr. Bud"s room was approached through a hallway. Mr. Bud had left town the day before that Wednesday; but if Davenport had made frequent visits there for sketching, was it not certain that he had had access to the room in Mr. Bud"s absence? Larcher had knocked at that room two days after the Wednesday, and had got no answer, but this was no evidence that Davenport might not have made some use of the room in the meanwhile. If he had made use of it, he might have left some trace, some possible clew to his subsequent movements. Larcher, thinking thus on his way from Bagley"s apartment-house, resolved to pay another visit to Mr. Bud"s quarters before saying anything about Bagley"s theory to any one.
He was busy the next day until the afternoon was well advanced. As soon as he got free, he took himself to South Street; ascended the dark stairs from the hallway, and knocked loudly at Mr. Bud"s door. There was no more answer than there had been six weeks before; nothing to do but repair to the saloon below. The same bartender was on duty.
"Is Mr. Bud in town, do you know?" inquired Larcher, having observed the usual preliminaries to interrogation.
"Not to my knowledge."
"When was he here last?"
"Not for a long time. "Most two months, I guess."
"But I was here five or six weeks ago, and he"d been gone only three days then."
"Then you know more about it than I do; so don"t ast me."
"He hasn"t been here since I was?"
"He hasn"t."
"And my friend who was here with me the first time--has he been here since?"
"Not while I"ve been."
"When is Mr. Bud likely to be here again?"
"Give it up. I ain"t his private secretary."
Just as Larcher was turning away, the street door opened, and in walked a man with a large hand-bag, who proved to be none other than Mr. Bud himself.
"I was just looking for you," cried Larcher.
"That so?" replied Mr. Bud, cheerily, grasping Larcher"s hand. "I just got into town. It"s blame cold out." He set his hand-bag on the bar, saying to the bartender, "Keep my gripsack back there awhile, Mick, will yuh? I got to git somethin" into me "fore I go up-stairs. Gimme a plate o" soup on that table, an" the whisky bottle. Will you join me, sir? Two plates o" soup, an" two gla.s.ses with the whisky bottle. Set down, set down, sir. Make yourself at home."
Larcher obeyed, and as soon as the old man"s overcoat was off, and the old man ready for conversation, plunged into his subject.
"Do you know what"s become of my friend Davenport?" he asked, in a low tone.
"No. Hope he"s well and all right. What makes you ask like that?"
"Haven"t you read of his disappearance?"
"Disappearance? The devil! Not a word! I been too busy to read the papers. When was it?"
"Several weeks ago." Larcher recited the main facts, and finished thus: "So if there isn"t a mistake, he was last seen going into your hallway.
Did he have a key to your room?"
"Yes, so"s he could draw pictures while I was away. My hallway? Let"s go and see."
In some excitement, without waiting for partiallars, the farmer rose and led the way out. It was already quite dark.
"Oh, I don"t expect to find him in your room," said Larcher, at his heels. "But he may have left some trace there."
Mr. Bud turned into the hallway, of which the door was never locked till late at night. The hallway was not lighted, save as far as the rays of a street-lamp went across the threshold. Plunging into the darkness with haste, closely followed by Larcher, the old man suddenly brushed against some one coming from the stairs.
"Excuse _me_" said Mr. Bud. "I didn"t see anybody. It"s all-fired dark in here."
"It _is_ dark," replied the stranger, and pa.s.sed out to the street.
Larcher, at the words of the other two, had stepped back into a corner to make way. Mr. Bud turned to look at the stranger; and the stranger, just outside the doorway, turned to look at Mr. Bud. Then both went their different directions, Mr. Bud"s direction being up the stairs.