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Till the Clock Stops, a fiction by John Joy Bell |
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Chapter 22 |
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_ CHAPTER XXII As Bullard replaced the receiver, Flitch came slouching in. "Couldn't help bein' a bit late, mister," he remarked. "Fog's awful to-night. Got lost more'n once." "Fog that came out of a bottle, I suppose," said Bullard sarcastically. For an instant resentment flamed on the hairy countenance, but Flitch seemed to get it under control and answered nothing. There was a certain change in the man's appearance. His hair and beard were freshly trimmed, and he had a cleanlier look than we have hitherto noticed; moreover, his expression had lost a little of its habitual sullen truculence. "All right; sit down till I'm ready for you," said Bullard, and proceeded to clear his desk of a heap of newspapers. They were mostly Scottish journals of that and the previous day's dates. Earlier in the evening he had searched their news columns for a heading something like this: "Mysterious and Fatal Explosion in a Clydeside Mansion." Mrs. Lancaster's news had, of course, informed him that nothing of the kind had taken place, and had also raised doubts which he would have to examine later. Sufficient for the present that the Green Box plot had failed. Contrary to his calculations, the key had remained undiscovered; otherwise Alan Craig and Caw, who would surely have opened the box together, would have ceased to exist. Their destruction, however, was perhaps only postponed--unless he became fully persuaded that the new plan suggested by Alan's invitation to the Lancasters was a more feasible one. He turned sharply from the desk to his visitor, who was still standing. "Come for your second and final hundred--eh?" Flitch stared at the carpet, crushing his cloth cap in his hand, and uttered the most unexpected reply that had ever entered Bullard's ears. "No, mister." An appreciable time passed before Bullard's gape became modified to a grin. "I see! You want me to keep it till you sail. Wise man! But upon my word, you took me aback--refusing money!--you! When do you want it, then? You had better tell me where to send it, as next week I may--" Flitch, having moistened his lips, interrupted quietly with-- "I don't want yer money, mister,--now or ever." "What the devil do you mean?" "I've joined the army." Bullard burst out laughing. "Was the sergeant sober?" Flitch made an attempt, not very successful, to draw himself up and face the scoffer. "The Salvation Army, I was meanin'," he mumbled. Bullard stopped laughing. Flitch spoke again awkwardly and in jerks. "That night up yonder about finished me. I've turned over a new leaf. The Captain said it wasn't too late, if--if I repented of all my many sins." "It'll take you a while to do that, won't it?" said Bullard, sneering to cover his perplexity. "No doubt, mister." "And so you are above money! How beautiful! Going to pay me back that one hundred pounds you got from me the other day, I suppose!" "Haven't got it now, mister. Fifteen bob and coppers in me pocket--that's all." "Crazy gambler! How do you imagine you are going to get out of this country without my help?" "Goin' to stay and face any music that likes to play. That"--said Flitch, still quietly--"is what I'm going to do, mister." Bullard took to fiddling with the nugget on his chain. "Well," he said, "as it happens, I haven't got many hundreds just now to throw about, but I expect you'll change your mind when the first tune begins to play--only I warn you, it may be too late then. That's all! Now, what about your prisoner? How did you leave him?" Flitch hesitated before he said: "That's one o' things I'm goin' to tell ye about, mister ..." "Well, hurry up." Flitch took a long breath and faced his patron, fairly and squarely. "Mr. Marvel's gone," he said. "What?" "I was fearin' ye meant ill by him, and this mornin' I gave him back his money and let him go free." Grey and ugly was Bullard's face; his body was rigid; his jaw worked stiffly. "You--you damned fool!" The other drew his crumpled cap across his sweating forehead. "I was thinkin' ye wouldn't be extra pleased," he said, "but I'm for no more blood on me hands--no, nor other crimes, neither. Now," he went on, and his voice wavered, "now for the second thing. Mr. Alan Craig--" "Idiot of idiots, he's in London at this moment! You'd better clear--that is, after I'm done with you." "Ye give me good news, mister, for now I know for certain I've put meself right wi' Mr. Alan Craig--wait a moment!--and saved you from another dirty sin. I knows what ye had in the parcel that night, mister; I saw ye fixin' up the infernal--" "Curse you! what are you drivelling about?" Flitch, his face chalky, continued: "And so I sent Mr. Alan Craig a wire warnin' him that--oh! for God's sake don't look at me so! I didn't give you away!" His voice rose wildly as Bullard's hand stole to a drawer behind him. "No, no; ye shan't shoot me! I must ha' time to repent proper." He took a step forward. "I'm not goin' to hurt ye, but I'm not goin' to let ye kill me till--" From his desk Bullard whipped a long, heavy ruler, sprang to his feet and lashed out at the other's head. "You two-faced swine!" Flitch reeled backward, sobbing with pain and passion. "Ye devil's hound! ... But I'll go for ye now!" Recovering his balance, he plunged furiously at the striker. Bullard struck again--a fearful blow with a horrid sound. This time Flitch did not go back, but toppled forward, clawing at Bullard's waistcoat, and reached the floor with a thud and a single gasp. And there was a silence, a period of petrifaction, that might have lasted for one minute or ten: Bullard could not have gauged it. At last he came to himself. His teeth were chattering slightly. He examined the ruler, drew it through his fingers; it was quite clean, and he replaced it on the desk, softly, as though to avoid disturbing any one. Yet he wiped his hands on his handkerchief before he crossed the room to an antique ebony cabinet where he helped himself to a little brandy. Then he came back to the desk and for a while stood lax, staring at the blurs of white paper thereon. Stiffening himself, he turned and for the first time looked down on his handiwork.... Bullard had not meant to kill, though his heart had been murderous when he struck. It was without hope that he knelt to examine his victim. Flitch's time for repentance had been short indeed. He lay sprawled on his side, his hands clenched, yet his countenance was not so repulsive. Well, he had escaped human judgement, and worse men have lived longer. Bullard got upon his feet. His mental energies were working once more. He must act at once. The simplest way out was simply to 'phone for the police and give himself in charge for killing a man in self defence. But that would mean, among other things, a trial! ... Out of the question! There must be another and safer if less simple way out. He thought hard, and it was not so long before he found it. The fog!--if it were still there. He shut off the lights and passed to the window. The sill was low; the sash opened inwards. Outside was a narrow balcony, with a foot-high stone balustrade. Presently he was peering out into the bitter, filthy night. The fog was denser than ever; he had never seen it so thick. The presence of lamps in the deserted street below was betrayed by a mere glow. Across the way the dark buildings could scarce be distinguished. The sounds of human life seemed to come from a great distance. Leaving the window open, he gropingly moved back to his desk, struck a vesta and kneeling, went carefully through the dead man's pockets. A scrap or two of paper he took possession of. With the aid of another vesta he found his way to the cabinet for more brandy. Physically he required stimulant. Flitch had been a big heavy man ... he was no smaller nor lighter now. * * * * * And so, at long last, the ponderous, inert, uncanny thing lay balanced across the balustrade and sill, the legs sticking into the room. Breathing hard, Bullard grasped the ankles. A heave, a jerk, a twist, a push.... Hands pressed hard over his ears, Bullard waited for an age of thirty seconds. Then action once more. He closed the window, switched on the lights, and inspected the floor. Finally he rang up the police station. "I'm Bullard, Aasvogel Syndicate, Manchester House. A man attempting to enter by the window has fallen to the street. I'll remain here till you come." _ |
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