The Motor Pirate Part 7

When I reached the presence of the officer in charge of the station I just managed to control my temper, though I fancy there must have been traces of my rage still visible in my voice as I demanded to know why a peaceable citizen should be subjected to such ignominy.

The inspector in reply merely asked me for my name and address.

Before meeting Miss Maitland I had cherished the hope that my ident.i.ty would not be disclosed, but now I had no further reason for desiring to conceal it, I gave both at once.

The inspector quietly made a note of them, while another man in plain clothes, who was standing gazing out of the window, suddenly turned on me with the inquiry--

"How comes it, Mr. Sutgrove, that living at St. Albans you should choose to spend the night at a little inn at King's Langley?"

"I suppose I am at liberty to sleep where I like?" I retorted.

"Perfectly so," replied the stranger. "You will have no difficulty, I presume, in proving your ident.i.ty?"

"Not the slightest," I said. "In fact I have already wired to a friend of mine--Mr. Winter, of Hails...o...b.., St. Albans--to come here for the purpose."

"I know Mr. Winter very well," said the inspector.

The stranger looked at me keenly, and when his scrutiny was completed he fell to whistling a bar of Chopin's _Marche Funebre_. Then he turned to his colleague in uniform.

"It's no go," he said. "This is not our man." Again he turned to me. "I am Inspector Forrest of Scotland Yard, detailed for special duty in connection with this Motor Pirate affair. Unfortunately I did not reach Watford until after arrangements had been made to bring you here, or---- I hope you will not take it amiss if we detain you until Mr. Winter's arrival."

This gave me the opening I had been wishing for, and I took it. I said a lot more than I can recall now, though I can remember a good deal. Most of it was to the effect that I would make somebody pay dearly for the annoyance to which I had been subjected.

Inspector Forrest listened patiently to me until I had finished.

"Come, come, Mr. Sutgrove!" he said then. "You must not bear any malice.

Surely you must admit that appearances were not altogether in your favour," and he detailed to me the information which had led to my arrest. "You see," he said in conclusion, "that practically we had no option in the matter."

I dissented from his view. He said a word to the inspector in uniform, who left us alone in the room. Then he came close to me and remarked in a confidential tone.

"The fact is, our friend, who has just left us, has been too precipitate. You can make things exceedingly unpleasant for him if you like; but frankly, is it worth while? Think it over a little, bearing in mind that if we are to get hold of the Motor Pirate, we must take the chance of capturing the wrong man, since there is no description of him obtainable. You will not be the only one, I'll swear."

Since I had relieved my mind I felt better. Besides I was rather attracted by the personality of the man who was speaking to me. He did not at all fulfil my idea of a detective. He was a tall, slight, stiffly built man, with a pleasant open face and an agreeable manner. I saw, too, that I had only my own folly to blame for the predicament in which I now found myself.

In another ten minutes he was smoking one of my cigars and we were chatting confidentially. Before twenty had elapsed, I had confided to him not only Winter's and my own experience with the Motor Pirate, but also the chain of events which had led to my spending the night at the inn. He was exceedingly sympathetic and quite grave throughout, though he appeared more interested in the encounter with the Pirate than in the account of my mental tortures. However, when I told him of my vow, he brightened up and asked me if I was still determined to keep it.

I had just a.s.sured him that I would willingly spend the rest of my life in the quest, when the other inspector entered the room and with him Winter. The latter came straight across to me and held out his hand, and never in my life was I so glad to see his honest face and beaming smile.

"What have you been up to now, Sutgrove?" he remarked. "Not emulating the deeds of the Motor Pirate?"

"The police have somehow arrived at the conclusion that I am that distinguished person himself," I replied ruefully.

He roared with laughter. It was infectious. There was no help for it.

The two inspectors joined in the merriment, and the last of my anger was borne away on the flood.

There was of course no question of my further detention. In a few minutes I was seated beside Winter in his car, and we were making the mud fly as we dashed towards St. Albans.

Inspector Forrest accompanied us. I had promised to find him some lunch if he would do so, and to drive him back afterwards, and he was glad of the opportunity of obtaining from us such particulars as we could furnish him with concerning the person of whom he was in search.

CHAPTER VII

I MAKE FRIENDS WITH INSPECTOR FORREST, C.I.D.

"THE telegraph," said Inspector Forrest, sententiously "is even more speedy than the Motor Pirate."

"Unless you want to send a message from Regent Street to the City," I remarked; "in which case one would save time by employing a sloth as messenger."

The inspector waved aside the objection as frivolous. He occupied an easy chair opposite me; he was smoking one of my best cigars with every sign of active enjoyment; he sipped his gla.s.s of claret--he rarely touched anything stronger, he informed me--with the air of a connoisseur.

"We shall beat him with the telegraph," said he. "Clearly he has one retreat where he can put up his car in safety. Probably he has more than one. It is not impossible for him to have several. There might even be a number of Motor Pirates, members of the same gang, but selecting different parts of the country upon which to prey. The telegraph will soon settle these points for us. When next he makes his appearance we shall be able to keep watch upon him, to note, if not the exact spot, at least in what part of the country he makes his appearance. Even if it should be found impossible to arrest him in his progress, he is bound to leave some traces behind him which will enable us to get upon his track."

"He does not seem to have left many behind him at present," I replied.

"No," said the inspector thoughtfully, as he rose and examined the map spread out upon the table. "Yet there are certainly grounds for believing that he has gone to earth somewhere in this neighbourhood. The Hertfordshire police may have been nearer the mark than you thought when they arrested you."

"You don't mean to say that you still suspect me?" I cried.

"Not for one instant," he answered promptly. "The meaning I meant to convey was that, quite unknown to you, the Motor Pirate may very well be your near neighbour. I suppose there is no one residing near whom you would consider a likely object of suspicion?"

There flashed across my mind the strange similarity between Mannering's voice and the Motor Pirate's. But the notion was so absurd I was ashamed to mention it. I a.s.sured the inspector I knew of no one.

"At all events, my belief is strong enough to keep me in this district until I hear something further," he declared, as he finished the contents of his gla.s.s and glanced at his watch.

Just then I caught sight of Mannering coming up the path through the garden towards my front door.

"You had better stay a little longer," I said to the inspector. "Here is another man coming who may be able to give you some more details of the Pirate. He has seen him, and as he has been a longer resident here than myself, he may be able to tell you more about the people round than I can."

"A motorist?" he asked.

"Yes, named Mannering," I replied. "He is the man I told you about, whom I consider to be my rival, you know."

The inspector's eyes twinkled. "I shouldn't let him drive me into any more adventures like last night's, Mr. Sutgrove," he advised. "If you were ten years older--my age, you know--you wouldn't need the warning, A bout of rheumatic fever would be small consolation for the loss of the lady."

I could not reply, for at that moment Mannering entered.

"Glad to see you home again, Sutgrove," he said heartily. "I'm not the only one either. Miss Maitland asked me to call, for after seeing you in such bad company this morning---- Hullo! I beg your pardon, I thought you were alone." He stopped suddenly on catching sight of Inspector Forrest.

I introduced my guest and Mannering acknowledged the introduction easily.

"Inspector Forrest will a.s.sure you that I have only been unfortunate enough to have been the object of our local constabulary's misplaced zeal. They took me for our mutual friend the Motor Pirate."

"Did they though? What an almighty spoof!" said Mannering. "First time I ever heard of a man being run in for robbing himself on the high-road.

Beats Gilbert!"