Le Queux William
The Red Room
Chapter One
Three Inquisitive Men
The fifteenth of January, 1907, fell on a Tuesday. I have good cause to remember it.
In this narrative of startling fact there is little that concerns myself. It is mostly of the doings of others strange doings though they were, and stranger still, perhaps, that I should be their chronicler.
On that Tuesday morning, just after eleven oclock, I was busy taking down the engine of one of the cars at my garage in the High Road, Chiswick. Dick, one of my men, had had trouble with the forty-eight while bringing home two young gentlemen from Oxford on the previous night, and I was trying to locate the fault.
Suddenly, as I looked up, I saw standing at my side a man who lived a few doors from me in Bath Road, Bedford Park a man who was a mystery.
He greeted me pleasantly, standing with his hands thrust into the pockets of his shabby black overcoat, while, returning his salutation, I straightened myself, wondering what had brought him there, and whether he wished to hire a car.
I had known him by sight for a couple of years or more as he passed up and down before my house, but we had not often spoken. Truth to tell, his movements seemed rather erratic and his shabbiness very marked, yet at times he appeared quite spruce and smart, and his absences were so frequent that my wife and I had grown to regard him with considerable suspicion. In the suburbs of London one doesnt mix easily with ones neighbours.
Can I speak to you privately, Mr Holford? he asked, with a slight hesitancy and a glance at my chauffeur Dick, who at that moment had his hand in the gear-box.
Certainly, I said. Will you step into my office? And I led the way through the long garage to my private room beyond, through the glass windows of which I could see all the work in progress.
My visitor was, I judged, about fifty, or perhaps fifty-five, an anxious, slight, intellectual-looking man, with hair and moustache turning grey, a pair of keen, dark, troubled eyes, a protruding, well-shaven chin, an aquiline face, sniffing dimly the uncertain future, a complexion somewhat sallow, yet a sinewy, athletic person whose vocation I had on many occasions tried to guess in vain.
Sometimes he dressed quite smartly in clothes undoubtedly cut by a West-End tailor. At others, he slouched along shabby and apparently hard up, as he now was.
My wife for I had married three years before, just after I had entered the motor business had from the first put him down as an adventurer, and a person to be avoided. Her womans instinct generally led to correct conclusions. Indeed, one night, when out with her sister, she had seen him in evening dress, seated in a box at a theatre with a lady, in pale blue and diamonds, and another man; and on a second occasion she had witnessed him at Charing Cross Station registering luggage to the Continent. He had with him two smartly-dressed men, who were seeing him off.
I myself had more than once seen him arrive in a hansom with well-worn suit-cases and travelling kit, and on several occasions, when driving a car through the London traffic, I had caught sight of him in silk hat and frock-coat walking in the West End with his smart friends.
Women are generally inquisitive regarding their neighbours, and my wife was no exception. She had discovered that this Mr Kershaw Kirk was a bachelor, whose home was kept by an unmarried sister, Miss Judith, about nine years his junior. They employed a charwoman every Friday, but, as Miss Kirks brother was absent so frequently, they preferred not to employ a general servant.
Now, I was rather suspicious of this fact. The man Kirk was a mystery, and servants are always prone to pry into their masters affairs.
My visitor was silent for a few moments after he had taken the chair I had offered. His dark eyes were fixed upon me with a strange, intense look, until, with some hesitation, he at last said:
I believe, Mr Holford, you are agent for a new German tyre the Eckhardt it is called, is it not?
I am, I replied. I am sole agent in London.
Well, I want to examine one, he exclaimed, but in strict confidence. Other persons will probably come to you and beg to see this particular tyre, but I wish you to regard the fact that I have seen it as entirely between ourselves. Will you do so? A very serious issue depends upon your discretion how serious you will one day realise.
I looked at him in surprise. His request for secrecy struck me as distinctly peculiar.
Well, of course, if you wish, I replied, Ill regard the fact that you have seen the Eckhardt non-skid as confidential. Is it in connection with any new invention? I asked suspiciously.
Not at all, he laughed. I have nothing whatever to do with motor-cars or the motor trade. I merely wish to satisfy myself by looking at one of the new tyres.
So I went upstairs, and brought down one of the German covers for his inspection.
He took it in his hands, and, very careful that Dick should not observe him from the outside, closely examined the triangular steel studs with which the cover was fitted.
From his pocket he took a piece of paper, and, folding it, measured the width of the tyre, making a break in the edge of the folded paper. Then he felt the edges of the studs, and began to ask questions regarding the life of the new tyre.
The inventor, who lives at Cologne, was over here three months ago, and claimed for it that it lasted out three tyres of any of the present well-known makes, I replied. But, as a matter of fact, I must admit that Ive never tried it myself.
Youve sold some, of course?
Yes, several sets and I believe theyve given satisfaction.
You are, I take it, the only agent in this country?
No; Farmer and Payne, in Glasgow, have the agency for Scotland, I replied, greatly wondering why this tyre should attract him if he had no personal interest in cars.
A second time he examined the cover, again very closely; then, placing it aside, he thanked me, apologising for taking up my time.
Mind, he said, not a word to a soul that you have shown me this.
I have promised, Mr Kirk, to say nothing, I said; but your injunctions as to secrecy have, I must confess, somewhat aroused my curiosity.
Probably so. And a good-humoured smile overspread his thin, rather melancholy face. But our acquaintance is not very intimate, is it? Ive often been on the point of asking you to run in and have a smoke with me. Im a trifle lonely, and would be so delighted if youd spend an hour with me.
My natural curiosity to discover more about this man, who was such a mystery, prompted me to express a mutual desire for a chat.
So it was arranged that I should look in and see him after dinner that same evening.
I travel a good deal, he explained, in a careless way, therefore I never like to make engagements far ahead. I always believe in living for to-day and allowing to-morrow to take care of itself.
He spoke with refinement, and, though presenting such a shabby exterior, was undoubtedly a gentleman and well bred.
He looked around the garage, and I showed him the dozen or so cars which I let out on hire, as well as the number of private cars whose owners place them in my care. But by the manner he examined them I saw that, whatever ignorance he might feign regarding motors, he was no novice. He seemed to know almost as much about ignition, timing, and lubrication as I did.
And when I remarked upon it his face only relaxed into a smile that was sphinx-like.
Well, Mr Holford, he exclaimed at last, Im hindering you, no doubt, so Ill clear out. Remember, Ill expect you for a chat at nine this evening. And, buttoning his frayed overcoat, he left, and walked in the direction of Turnham Green.
Half an hour later I was called on the telephone to the other side of London, where I had a customer buying a new car, and it was not before six oclock that I was back again at the garage, where I found my manager, Pelham, who during the morning had been out trying a car on the Ripley road.
Funny thing happened this afternoon, sir, he said as I entered. Two men, both mysterious persons, have come in, one after the other, to see an Eckhardt non-skid. They had no idea of buying one merely wanted to see it. The second man wanted me to roll one along in the mud outside to show him the track it makes! Fancy me doing that with a new tyre!
His announcement puzzled me. These were the persons whose visit had been predicted by Kirk!
What could it mean?
Didnt they give any reason why they wanted to see the cover?
Said theyd heard about it that was all, my manager replied. Both men wanted to take all sorts of measurements, but I told them theyd better buy a set outright. I fancy its some inventors game. Somebody has got a scheme to improve on it, I expect, and bring it out as a British patent.
But I kept my counsel and said nothing. I was already convinced that behind these three visits there was something unusual, and I determined to endeavour to extract the truth from Kershaw Kirk.
Little did I dream the reason why the Eckhardt tyre was being so closely scrutinised by strangers. Little, likewise, did I dream of the curious events which were to follow, or the amazing whirl of adventure into which I was to be so suddenly launched.
But I will set it all down just as it happened, and try to present you with the complete and straightforward narrative a narrative which will show you what strange things can happen to a peaceful, steady-going, hard-working citizen in this Greater London of ours to-day.
Chapter Two
Some Strange Facts
Mr Kirk opened his front door himself that evening, and conducted me to a cosy study at the end of the hall, where a fire burned brightly.
In a black velvet lounge coat, a fancy vest, and bright, bead-embroidered slippers, he beamed a warm welcome upon me, and drew up a big saddle-bag arm-chair. From what I had seen of the house, I was surprised at its taste and elegance. There was certainly no sign of poverty there. The study was furnished with solid comfort, and the volumes that lined it were the books of a studious man.
The cigar he offered me was an exquisite one, though he himself preferred his well-coloured meerschaum, which he filled from an old German tobacco bowl. In one corner of the room stood his pet, a large grey parrot in a cage, which he now and then addressed in the course of his conversation.
One of his eccentricities was to think audibly and address his thoughts to his queer companion, whose name was Joseph.
We must have been chatting for fully half an hour when I mentioned to him that two other persons had called that afternoon to inspect the new Eckhardt tyre, whereupon he suddenly started forward in his chair and exclaimed:
One of the men wore a dark beard and was slightly bald, while the other was a fair man, much younger eh?
I explained that my manager, Pelham, had seen them, whereupon he breathed more freely; yet my announcement seemed to have created within him undue consternation and alarm.
He pressed the tobacco very carefully and deliberately into his pipe, but made no further comment.
At last, raising his head and looking straight across at me, he said:
I may as well explain, Mr Holford, that I had an ulterior motive in asking you in this evening. The fact is, I am sorely in want of a friend one in whom I can trust. I suppose, he added I suppose I ought to tell you something concerning myself. Well, Im a man with many acquaintances, but very few friends. My profession? Well, that is surely my own affair. It often takes me far afield, and sometimes causes me to keep queer company. The fact is, he said, after a moments hesitation, Im a dealer in secrets.
A dealer in secrets! I echoed. I dont quite follow you.
The secrets sometimes confided to my keeping would, if I betrayed them, create a worldwide sensation, he said slowly, looking straight into the fire. At times I am in possession of ugly facts concerning my fellow-men which would eclipse any of the scandals of the past twenty years. And at this moment, as I tell you, I am in sad need of a friend.
He was quick to notice the expression upon my face.
I want no financial aid, he hastened to assure me. On the contrary, if at any time I can be of any little assistance to you, I generally have a few pounds lying idle.
I thanked him, my curiosity growing greater. He was seated in a big, high-backed grandfathers chair, his head leaning against the padded side, his gaze, a trifle melancholy, fixed upon the dancing flames. At his back was an open roll-top writing-table, very tidy, with a clean blotting-pad, and everything in its place, spick and span.
To be quite frank with you, Mr Holford, he said, I may as well tell you that an incident has occurred which has rendered it necessary that I should come to you, a comparative stranger, for friendship and assistance. Ah, he added, with a sharp and curious glance at me, I see that you dont trust me! You should never judge a man by his clothes.
I never do, I protested. But you havent explained the reason why you are so anxious for my friendship!
For a few minutes he was silent. Then, of a sudden, he turned to the big grey parrot and asked in a shrill, squeaky tone, almost a croak: Shall I tell him, Joseph? Shall I tell him?
Good night! answered the loquacious bird. Good night! Good night! Josef!
Well, my host said slowly, knocking the ashes from his pipe into the fender, it is a matter, a serious and very curious affair, of which as yet the public have no knowledge. Some things are not allowed to leak out to the papers. This is one of them. I wonder, he went on thoughtfully, after a pause I wonder if I told you whether you would keep the secret?
Certainly, I said, full of curiosity, for I could not see Kirks motive in asking my assistance, and my natural caution now asserted itself.
By the way, he echoed suddenly, do you know any other language besides English?
I know French fairly well, I replied, and a smattering of Italian.
Nothing else? German, for instance?
I replied in the negative.
He rose, and relit his pipe with a spill. Then he chatted for some minutes with Joseph, all the time, it seemed, reflecting upon what he should say to me. At last, reseating himself in his old-fashioned chair, he again looked me straight in the face and said:
You have given me your promise of silence, Mr Holford. I accept it from one whom I have watched closely for a long time, and whom I know to be a gentleman. Now I am going to tell you something which will probably alarm you. A crime, a very serious crime, has been committed in London during the past forty-eight hours, and I, Kershaw Kirk, am implicated in it or, rather, suspected of it!
I sat staring at the man before me, too surprised to reply. He had always been an enigma, and the mystery about him was increasing.
Tell me more, I urged at last, looking into the face of the suspected criminal. Who is the victim?