Game is afoot, p.45
Game Is Afoot, page 45
“ ‘How could you do this, Barker!* said Lord Napier fiercely. ‘You were once worthy of my trust!’
“The old soldier cringed away from his master. ‘Forgive me, my Lord,’ he groaned. ‘It seemed to be the only means I had of repaying my debts, and at first he was satisfied with trivial gossip, but then he began to demand more, and when I heard the Duke reading the letter I knew that this was the sort of information that Ricoletti wanted—the sort that he could sell to the Spaniards, and I went to him that very evening. How could I know that the devil would dare to kidnap the Duke—?’
“ ‘Enough, Barker,’ interrupted Lord Napier sternly. ‘You returned to steal the document, did you not? You are still in the pay of the Queen’s enemies! Do not pretend remorse now.’
“ ‘He promised that it was the last favour which I would have to do to ;pay off my debt, and that then I would be free,’ said the old soldier desperately. ‘I told him that I would not do it, and he replied with a laugh that if I did not find the letter the Duke would die and my part in the matter would be revealed. When we had searched the room I found a half-burnt scrap of paper in the fireplace. I concealed it and examined it later, but all I could read were the words “—sar’s friend”. I racked my brains over it, but I could make nothing of it, until tonight I remembered the painting outside the Duke’s room—’
“ ‘You can help us now, and perhaps mitigate your punishment to some extent.’ I said. ‘Where can we find Ricoletti?’
“ ‘I do not know, sir,’ said Barker earnestly. ‘I believe he is a Gibraltarian, but he lives in Spain, I don’t know where, but I do know that he comes to Gibraltar after dark to visit taverns in the hope of picking up scraps of information which he can sell or use for blackmail. But I haven’t seen him since the day he threatened me and demanded that I bring him the letter.’
“ ‘He must have taken fright at the hue and cry after the Duke’s disappearance, and gone into hiding,’ Lord Napier said wearily. ‘We have no way of finding him. Take this man away.’
“ ‘If Ricoletti originally came from Gibraltar,’ said I thoughtfully, as Barker was led away, ‘then he must be known to some Gibraltarians. I should like to question the maid Conchita and the Duke’s groom. They may have some light to shed on this dark affair.’
“The groom Pepe Ansaldo and the serving maid stood nervously some distance from each other, but the frequent glances they exchanged showed that there was a bond between them. Conspiracy or affection? I wondered. I questioned the groom, a dark-haired, handsome fellow, first, and heard how he had left the Duke as usual near the house of Ana Pedroz. When he had returned as arranged the house was deserted and no trace of the Duke or the woman could be found.
“ ‘Do you have any idea where your master may be?’ I asked him. “His looked at me straight in the face and answered firmly, ‘No, sir; if I had, I would have said so already. The Duke was good to me, and I would do anything to see him and the lady safe.’
“Conchita looked admiringly at him for his bold words, and he flushed slighdy and smiled at her reassuringly.
“ ‘You must realise,’ I said, turning to her, ‘that as one of the persons who heard about the letter, you are suspected of having given away the secret to the Duke’s abductors.’
“Conchita’s clear brown eyes looked steadfastly at me, but she made no answer: she had no need to. Ansaldo came swiftly to her side, and taking her hand, said belligerently to me: ‘Mr. Holmes, my Conchita had no part in this matter, and neither did I. We are true Gibraltarians; we are British, and we have no love for Spain!’
“ ‘I say there, Ansaldo!’ began Napier, shocked at the groom’s boldness, but I motioned him to silence and said to the couple:
“ ‘I believe that you are both telling me the truth, and I know now that I can rely on your help to find the Duke; tell me now, do you know of a man called Ricoletti?’
“The reaction from both of them showed that they did. ‘He is a bad man, sir,’ bunt forth the maid, and Pepe nodded, adding, ‘He was born with a club foot, and this seems to have embittered him, as if he blames the world around him for his infirmity. He was notorious in Gibraltar as a thief and a scoundrel and had to leave before justice caught up with him. He swore then that he would revenge himself on us, the Gibraltarians, for our treatment of him—*
“ ‘He’s married to a Spanish woman, and she’s worse than he is!’ Conchita interrupted passionately. ‘She used to look after babies here in Gibraltar, and several of them died mysteriously. People said that she dosed them with laudanum to keep them quiet, and gave them so much that they died of it! Nothing could be proved, but she and her husband had to leave Gibraltar after that.’
“ ‘A charming couple!’ I remarked. ‘Do you know where I can find them, for I am sure that where they are, there the Duke will be too!’
“ ‘They bought a derelict house in Gaucín,’ said Pepe. ‘They tried to make it into an inn, perhaps hoping to attract customers away from my cousin Pedro Real, whose hostelry is famous throughout Andalucia, but few travellers had the stomach to stay there more than once. The woman is a slattern, the inn was filthy and the food uneatable, and any customers who braved the bedbugs and the poisonous wine were soon driven away by the surly manners of the Ricolettis. They still live there, I believe, but it’s no longer an inn.’
“ ‘But presumably it is large enough to conceal two prisoners!’ I said. Ansaldo nodded, and I continued: ‘I must go to Gaucín at once!’
“ ‘I will go with you! We’ll take a well-armed band of officers—’ said Robert Napier, but I shook my head firmly.
“ ‘The last thing we want is a hue and cry which will warn our quarry to flee, perhaps after murdering their prisoners.’
“ ‘Indeed not, and even were you successful, the news that an armed band of English soldiers had attacked a Spanish village would cause an international scandal which we certainly cannot afford,’ stated Lord Napier firmly. ‘But even if you are right and the Duke is in the power of this evil man, what can we do to free him, Mr. Holmes?’
“ ‘These people will not have any accomplices in this affair. They will want to keep their actions secret and also to avoid sharing out any reward they might hope to get. I think that two Spanish peasants arriving quietly in Gaucín at night could seek a night’s lodging chez Ricoletti and soon find the captives and free them. I will need a companion who can speak fluent Spanish—’
“ ‘I will go with you, Mr. Holmes,’ Pepe burst out. ‘I know Gaucín and its people well, and I will do anything to help save the Duke from these fiends.’
“A few hours later Pepe and I were riding along the rough track which led up the mountains towards Gaucín. Although it was November, the weather was warm and dry. We passed by groves of olive trees, and then the track led upwards into the mountains and was fined and in some places almost roofed over by cork oaks and carob trees, the latter heavy with dark brown pods. These soon gave way to pines, and the breeze in our faces took on a chilly bite.
“ ‘There’s Gaucín!’ called Pepe, who was riding just ahead.
“I spurred my patient steed until I caught up with him at the top of the rise. The white houses of Gaucín were strung along the next ridge ahead of us, ending with the stark ruined walls of the castle, which was built on the very edge of a sheer rocky precipice that overlooked the valley below. On the horizon in the far distance the faint outline of the Rock of Gibraltar could be seen.
“A few minutes later we were riding up the main and indeed the only street in Gaucín and shortly afterwards we were comfortably ensconced in the parlour of the ‘Hostal Ingles’ where we were royally entertained by Pepe’s cousin, Pedro Real, who was a colourful character with bristling moustachios and a tremendous paunch, and who kept pressing us repeatedly to drink the raw local brandy. Eventually I was able to get him on to the subject of Ricoletti.
“ ‘Ah, that scoundrel,’ he said scornfully, spitting into the roaring log fire in front of us. ‘He thought he could take my livelihood from me, with that miserable excuse for an inn that he opened! He failed, of course, but he still sits there dreaming of making his fortune and hatching plots with that harridan of a wife of his.’
“ ‘Are they there now?’ I asked quickly, as he paused for breath.
“ ‘They must be. I heard him coming up the road late one night, with two heavily laden donkeys—why, it must have been the night the Duke disappeared! Do you think—?’
“ ‘It seems very likely that the Duke and Senora Pedroz were rendered insensible by this evil couple and are now held somewhere in their house.’
“ ‘But that cannot be!’ Pepe burst out, ‘I went there with theguardia on the next morning and watched while he searched the place. Not even a mouse could have escaped his eye! The Ricolettis were not there and no captives were hidden there.’
“ ‘They must be there,’ protested Pedro Real. ‘I would surely have heard them if they had passed this way, and there is no other way out of Gaucín than the street which passes this house.’
“ ‘Perhaps a hidden cellar—’ I suggested.
“ ‘Impossible!’ stated Pedro Real with finality. ‘I remember when that house was built. It sits firmly on the solid rock of the crag, just below the castle. There is no cellar underneath it. You would need gunpowder to blast a hole in that rock and the village would surely have noticed if that fool Ricoletti had tried!’ he added with a laugh.
” ‘Well, we must go and see this place,’ I said.
“ ‘I will come with you,’ said Pedro Real, wheezing slighdy as he heaved himself out of his chair.
“A few minutes later, the three of us crept up the unpaved street leading towards the Ricolettis’ house. It was pitch dark by now and only a few faint flickering lights from the windows of the houses we passed served to illuminate our way. But no light shone from the Ricolettis’ house when we arrived there. It lay there, squat and black, with the greater blackness of the ruined castle looming over it. Pedro Real stood well back as Pepe and I approached in our guise of travelling peasants and knocked at the door. We knocked and knocked again, but there was no answer, and nothing stirred within.
“Pepe and I put our shoulders to the door, but it would not budge. Then Pedro lumbered up and added his considerable weight to our efforts. The wood around the lock splintered and we were inside. Lighting lamps which we had brought with us, we looked around. The house was in disorder but it was the disorder of slatternly neglect rather than signs of a struggle. The only movement was of the cockroaches on the table, attracted by the mouldering remains of food which lay there. There was a general smell of decay but over it all a faint sweetish odour reached my nostrils. It came from a corner of the room we were in, where a dirty cloth lay, with a small botde by its side.
“Lifting these to my nose, I sniffed cautiously, and then exclaimed: ‘Chloroform! That’s how they overcame the Duke and the lady. Now we know that they were here; but where can they be now?’
“ ‘Perhaps they have been spirited away from Gaucín,’ Pepe suggested gloomily. ‘They may be miles away by now.’
“ ‘Never!’ Pedro Real insisted. ‘I’ve told you, I heard them go up the street that night, but I didn’t hear them return, and I miss nothing that passes my house by night or day. They must be here somewhere; there is no other way out of Gaucín.’
“ ‘If they did not go down the street, they must have gone up it,’ I remarked. ‘What lies beyond this house?’
“ ‘Only the castle,’ said Pedro Real, ‘But it is mined and uninhabited. No one could live there.’
“ ‘Nevertheless, since we have eliminated all other possibilities, the castle it must be,’ I told them. ‘We will go there now.’
“ ‘We left the house and continued up the street carrying our lanterns and were soon clambering over the loose stones which had fallen away from the crumbling ramparts of the castle. The autumn breeze had stiffened into an icy wind, and rain began to fall. No light was visible within the castle as we passed silently through the gate, and Pepe muttered, ‘Surely they can’t be in here!’
“I held up my hand for silence and listened. At first I could hear nothing except for the whispering of the wind in the trees and an occasional bark from a restless dog in the village below us. Then I became conscious of the murmuring of voices, which seemed to come from beneath our feet. I threw myself to the ground and pressed my ear to the cold flags, while my two companions gaped, evidently thinking that I had taken leave of my senses, but I was able to satisfy myself that the voices were coming from directly beneath our feet.
“ ‘What lies below here?’ I asked Pedro.
“ ‘Why, nothing,’ he answered in surprise, but then almost immediately added, ‘Wait! I remember now; there are some steps leading downwards just beyond this arch in front of us, but for as long as I can remember they have been blocked by stones which must have fallen from the walls many years ago.’
“We hurried through the arch and looked around. There, to the side, was a flight of stairs apparendy leading into the bowels of the earth. We stepped over a pile of stones and I cautiously shone my lantern down the stairwell to illuminate our descent. The stairs appeared to have been cleared recently; no doubt this explained the pile of stones at the stairhead. I signalled to my companions and we began to creep down silently. At the foot of the stairs was a wooden door which looked new; Ricoletti had evidently cleared away the rubble secretly and put in this door so that he could use this secret place for his evil purposes. I pushed gently against the door, which swung silently inwards, and drawing a pistol from my belt I stepped into the room.
“For a few seconds none of the occupants was aware of my intrusion, and I was able to look around. The room was barely and meanly furnished with two straw pallets and two chairs. On each of these a prisoner was bound—a pale and defiant young man, who in spite of the bruises and dried blood which covered his face and head was easily recognisable as the Duke, and on the second chair a young black-haired woman lay limply with her eyes closed. A knife was held to her neck by an evil-looking squint-eyed woman who laughed as the point pierced the skin, and a red trickle of blood ran down and began to drip onto the floor. Standing menacingly over the Duke was a villainous looking, heavily built man with a club foot who was saying:
“ ‘Very well, my little princeling, if we cannot get your secret by starving you or by beating you, perhaps we can find another way to make you sing: Tell me where you have hidden the letter, or my dear wife will cut the lady’s throat!’
“The Duke struggled vainly with his bonds, and cried out hoarsely ‘No!’, but whether this was a further refusal to cooperate, or an appeal to save his Ana, we never found out, for at that moment Ricoletti turned and saw me standing at the door. Growling angrily, he came at me with a lumbering, clumsy rush, but I clapped the muzzle of my pistol to his forehead, and he stopped and stood stock still, trembling with fear and rage.
“The woman turned, her face distorted with hate, and screeched in broken English: ‘Let him go, or I keel the girl!’
“I turned to her, and said, more coolly than I actually felt: ‘Madam, if another drop of the lady’s blood falls to the floor, I will blow your husband’s brains out. Drop the knife!’
“Behind that mask of evil some sort of love for her unsavoury spouse must have been hidden, for with a curse she let the knife fall to the ground, and I let out my breath in a sigh of relief. But the exchange had distracted my attention from Ricoletti, who flung me to the ground and leapt for the door. He did not get far, however, for at the foot of the steps he cannoned into Pedro Real’s enormous paunch, which almost filled the stairway, and fell back into the room. Pepe Ansaldo stepped forward and struck him sharply on the head with the butt of his pistol and he fell to the ground unconscious, while I recovered my own weapon before Mrs. Ricoletti could reach it. Pepe covered the evil couple with his gun while I freed the Duke and Sra. Pedroz, who was already recovering from her faint.
“Later, after our prisoners had been delivered to the guardia of Gaucín, my companions and I sat with the Duke in the parlour of the ‘Hostal Ingles’, while Pedro’s wife tended to Ana Pedroz, who was weak from hunger and ill-treatment, for the Ricolettis had tried to starve their prisoners into submission, before they had tortured the Duke in a vain attempt to force him to tell where he had hidden the letter.
“ ‘The letter! We must make sure that it has not been found by one of Ricoletti’s minions,’ said the Duke anxiously, and I hastened to reassure him.
“ ‘Do not fear, your Royal Highness, it is in Lord Napier’s safe in Gibraltar where I placed it after I had discovered it in the place where you had hidden it.’
“ ‘Mr. Holmes, you are a marvel!’ said the Duke. ‘I’m sure I left no clue to guide you. How did you find the letter?’
“ ‘I have my methods, Sir,’ I replied.’’
That was an amazing tale, Holmes!” I remarked when he had finished. “And the most surprising aspect of it is that no whisper of this affair has ever reached the newspapers, either in Spain or in England. Quite apart from the scandal which would have been caused to our Royal family if the Duke’s illicit affair had come to light, think of the political implications of that let-ter—”
“More than one person in Gibraltar must have known of the story,” said Sherlock Holmes quietly, “but the people of Gibraltar are above all loyal subjects of the British Crown. They would not dream of embarrassing our Queen by making the matter public, and even less would they consider doing anything which might weaken the links between England and the Rock to which they are so passionately attached/’
“I am still curious about one thing,” I said pensively. “You did not say what became of Señora Pedroz.”
“Ah, Watson, you were always an incurable romantic, and I did not want to disappoint you,” said my friend with a laugh. “Ana Pedroz had already told the Duke before they were abducted that she intended to marry an elderly banker from the town of Ronda, who knew of her liaison with the Duke but was prepared to forgive it because of his love for her. She was a practical lady, and realised that there was no future in continuing an affair with a Duke who would never be allowed to marry her, although he did love her, I believe. We took the Duke back with us to Gibraltar, and from there he travelled directly to England, carrying the letter with him. I sometimes wonder what he told his Royal mother about the whole affair. As far as I am aware he never set eyes on the lady again.”
