Chapter 24

TAMAROO SPEAKS

"You did not expect to find me here?" said Frank, after he had shaken hands warmly with his friend.

"The very last place in which I should have looked for you. How did you come?" He glanced inquiringly at Tamaroo.

"I brought him," replied the old negro. "When you overturned the lamp I drew Mr. Frank away in the darkness. We went to the nearest railway station and came to town. Then did we seek this shelter. The Captain will never think to find us here. What of him?"

"He is furious, and quite at a loss to find you. But--" Eustace glanced at Balkis, where she stood with folded arms staring at Frank with no very pleasant expression.

"There is nothing to fear," she said, guessing Jarman's meaning. "As yet I am not sure if this man killed my Walter."

"I did not," interposed Frank. "I told you so before."

"And I also assured you of his innocence," said Tamaroo, uneasily.

Balkis still continued to glare. "As I say, I am not sure," she declared obstinately. "If you did not kill my Walter you will come to no harm. Here you can stay until I send you out of the place to foreign parts. But if you killed him"--she looked savage--"there will be no escape for you. Now you know!" And with this not very reassuring speech she passed through the door again, shutting it with a clang.

Eustace heard a key turn in the lock and recalled the warning of Mrs. Burl.

"Are we safe here?" he asked Tamaroo, who appeared quite easy in his mind. "I was told that these rooms were dangerous."

"Dangerous?" echoed the negro, looking round. "Why should they be dangerous?"

Jarman repeated the warning of Mrs. Burl and the boast of Balkis. But Tamaroo merely laughed. "There is no danger," he said decisively. "I am quite sure that. Balkis will do nothing to harm us."

"She does not seem to be very well disposed towards Frank."

"Because she will insist that I killed Starth," said Frank. "No doubt Berry has been poisoning her mind. However, Berry will not look for me here."

"Darrel might," hinted Eustace, uneasily.

"Nonsense! How can he find this place?"

"Oh, he knows it! My belief that he had the negro blood in his veins is true. He is a relative of Balkis, and sometimes comes here; but he is not proud of the relationship."

"But even if he does know this place he'll never think that I am here."

Eustace looked doubtful. "I had to pitch him out of the garden of Rose Cottage," he said. "He was impertinent to Mildred."

"To Mildred?" repeated Frank, with an angry flush.

"Yes," responded Jarman, keeping his eyes away from Frank's face. "He said--well, never mind what he said. I punished him for his insolence, and he went away, vowing that he would hunt you down."

Tamaroo laughed. "He will never come here," he said. "He must know that Balkis is on the side of the Berrys, and will believe that this is the last place I would bring my master to. The very danger of the refuge makes its safety."

"I am not sure that Balkis _is_ on the side of Captain Berry now," was the reply of Eustace. "She certainly will not help him, if only because she hates Fairy Fan," and Eustace related how he had made use of the letter Miss Berry had written.

Tamaroo nodded approvingly. "That is a good plan," he said. "If she thinks the white woman loved Starth, she will not help her plots. Balkis was madly in love with Mr. Starth."

"She says he would have married her," said Jarman.

Frank laughed. "I don't believe that. Starth was nice in his ideas of female beauty, and would not marry a black woman. Moreover, he was desperately in love with Fan."

"Balkis knows that, and hates Fan accordingly," said Eustace, grimly. "But Starth might have married Balkis for her money."

"She is certainly rich," put in Tamaroo, meditatively. "Already she has made up her mind to return to America. She goes next week."

"And what will you do with Frank then?"

"Take him abroad. I have arranged it all with Balkis. She knows many sailors, and can get some captain to give Mr. Frank and myself a passage--say to Spain. There we will wait till there is a chance of learning who killed Starth."

Jarman looked attentively at the negro. "You do not know who is the guilty person?" he asked meaningly.

"No." Tamaroo looked surprised. "Why should I?"

"Well," said Eustace, quietly, "I went to Sand Lane to examine Tilly, the servant. She said that the right-hand window of the house was open--"

"I remember that. I told you so," said Frank.

"Yes, and on your report I questioned Tilly. She admitted that she told a lie at the inquest. The window was open when she left the house. On her return"--here Eustace looked again at Tamaroo--"it was locked, which proves that the assassin entered by the window, and, after committing the murder, locked it so that no one should get into the house, and discover the crime. Then he left by the door."

"Why do you look at Tamaroo when you say that?" asked Frank.

"Because Tilly found a scrap of tartan ribbon on the kitchen floor similar to that worn by Balkis. I brought it with me, and Balkis acknowledged that it was a piece she gave to Tamaroo, when he decided to see Starth."

Frank wheeled round and looked anxiously at the negro. "Did you see Starth?" he demanded. "I thought you did not arrive in London till after the murder, and for that reason you could not find me."

Tamaroo considered for a few minutes. "I did say that," he admitted; "because I thought it wise for the moment to conceal that I had been in Starth's house. I thought you might mistrust me."

"I should never do that," replied Lancaster, patting the old man on the back. "But why did you visit Starth?"

"I should like to know that also," said Eustace, who was not so easily convinced of the negro's innocence.

The man gave him a reproachful glance. "I acted for the best, Mr. Jarman. You can trust me."

"I think I can," answered Eustace, cautiously. "And yet--why did you visit Starth?"

"To explain that, I must remind you of the murder of Anchor in San Francisco. It was Sakers who shot him. I was glad of it."

Eustace looked as surprised as Frank. "I thought Anchor was the executor of my father?" said the latter.

"He was, and he intended to betray his trust. He was so madly in love with his wife that he could not give her up. She threatened to leave him and go with her uncle if he did not let her share in the money of Mr. Lancaster. Anchor had the papers--some of them. But I had others which he wanted, so that he could dispose of the money. He intended to join his wife in Chicago, and, with Sakers, to arrange for the robbery. I do not know how he intended to manage it. But I do know," added Tamaroo, emphatically, "that it was his intention to return to his house, where I was waiting for him, to get the papers from me, and to leave me dead behind him."

Eustace could scarcely believe this, "If you heard how the man spoke to me--"

"I know. It was to throw dust in your eyes. You would report that Anchor was at enmity with Sakers and Mrs. Anchor, and thus no one would suspect him of the robbery. When he spoke to you, Mr. Jarman, he had the papers on him. Sakers--or rather Berry--knew this. He intended to kill Anchor, and to rob the body of the papers. However, he chose the wrong moment, as you were talking to the man. You chased Sakers, and he could not search the body. I did so."

"Ah! you were on the spot. You said something about it."

"I learnt--in a way that it is not necessary to explain--that the man intended to betray his trust. Mrs. Anchor gave the information."

"Was she at the house?"

"Yes, and I was waiting there for the return of Anchor. I left the house and went to your rooms, Mr. Jarman, where Mrs. Anchor said her husband had gone. I saw the shot fired, and saw also that Sakers fled, pursued by you. When the street was quiet I came to see the body, and got the papers from the breast-pocket."

"But what about the Chinaman, Lo Keong, who stabbed him?"

"It was not a Chinaman," said Tamaroo, quietly. "I stabbed him."

"You?" Jarman was beginning to see the connection between the San Francisco crime and the Sand Lane murder.

"Yes, I," said Tamaroo, perfectly calm and collected, while Frank shivered. "Anchor was a traitor. He was betraying a sacred trust. When I took the papers he opened his eyes. I saw that he was still alive, so I stabbed him."

Jarman jumped up, and even Frank recoiled from the negro. "You had no right to kill the man," said Eustace, hoarsely.

"I did not. The shot was a fatal one. I simply stabbed him to make sure. You need not rebuke me, Mr. Jarman. I did it then and I would do it again."

"Did you do it again?" asked Frank, remembering the death of Starth.

"You are thinking of Sand Lane. Yes, sir, it was I who stabbed Starth."

Eustace shuddered. "Was he alive?"

"No. He was quite dead. But I stabbed him in order to frighten Mr. Berry. When he saw that the man had died from wounds similar to those Anchor had died from, I fancied he would be afraid, and abandon his scheme to get the money."

"Did Berry know that you stabbed Anchor?"

"No. Nor does he know that I stabbed Starth. But, seeing that there was a shot wound and a knife wound in the two cases, he must have gathered that someone else was mixed up in the matter. Such a knowledge would make him careful."

"It didn't, however," said Frank.

The young man did not like the way in which Tamaroo had behaved, for, although he had not murdered either Anchor or Starth, still he had mutilated them. But then, in spite of his veneer of education, Tamaroo was a negro pure and simple, with the savage instincts of the African race. To rebuke him would be as futile as punishing a dog for barking. Tamaroo had only obeyed his nature. And Eustace, on his side, shrewdly suspected that Balkis--also an African--would act in the like barbaric fashion did she think it necessary. The race instinct held good, in spite of the fact that both these black people were educated.

"Tell me exactly what occurred in the house," said Eustace, "and also explain why you went to see Starth?"

"When I came to England I stopped here for a time," said Tamaroo, "as I knew Balkis in San Francisco, and knew that she would not betray me to Berry."

"Why not, considering--"

"That is a secret of Obi," said the old man, with a savage look. "I was here in these rooms, which are not generally known to the outside world. Starth and Berry came here, and I knew them, but when they were here I always kept out of their way. From listening I became aware that there was a plot against you, Mr. Frank, to have you hanged. Starth and Berry were the movers, also Miss Berry. Starth was to receive his share on condition that he inveigled you to his house, and there you were to be saddled with the guilt of murder."

"But Starth did not expect to be killed himself?"

"Oh no! But Berry intended that he should be the victim. That was why Miss Berry made trouble and created rows between Starth and you, Mr. Frank. Berry, at the theatre on the previous night, brought about that quarrel so that you might be accused. Then the next day Starth wrote the letter asking you to visit him. How Starth fancied that the crime was to be brought about I don't know. He drugged you, and then waited for the arrival of Berry to carry on the rest of the plot."

"How did you come to know all this?"

"I gathered it at various times, and thought out the rest," said Tamaroo, nodding. "Of course, some of it is my own fancy."

"Theory," grunted Eustace, admitting, however, that the negro had pieced things together very cleverly. "Well, you went to Sand Lane?"

"Yes. As I thought that this trouble was coming, I pretended to Balkis that I wished to see Starth, and she gave me the tartan ribbon she wore as a sign that I could be trusted."

"In what way?" asked Frank.

Tamaroo shook his head. "I can't tell you that. There was something in Starth's life which Balkis knew, and which gave her a hold over him. He was always afraid of people of my colour. Unless I had taken the tartan ribbon he would not have spoken."

"Did he speak?"

"I never saw him," replied the negro, simply. "I did not get to the house till nearly seven. The window was open, and as I saw no one about, and could get no answer when I rang, I climbed in. I then locked the window, so that no one should enter in that way to interrupt between Starth and myself."

"There was no chance of that."

"I don't know, Mr. Jarman. I had entered that way, and, seeing what a plot was in progress, others might have come in. I then went down the stairs to see the servant, as Balkis had mentioned her."

"Balkis knew Tilly," murmured Eustace. "And then?"

"There was no one there. I went up the stairs, and found Starth dead. He lay in the middle of the room, and you, Mr. Frank, were unconscious on the sofa--drugged as I saw."

"Why did you not give the alarm?" asked Lancaster, angrily. "I could not, sir. I was a stranger and a man of colour. Also I had entered by the window. Had I given the alarm I should have been arrested and perhaps hanged. You can see my difficulty."

"Yes," admitted Frank. "I see it was an awkward position."

"I thought it best to go away and say nothing. I knew that Starth had been shot so as to inculpate you, and that you would be arrested. Had that happened I should have come forward. As you escaped I waited, hoping to trap Berry in the dark. I wished to find you, and to tell you what I knew. That was why I posted the Scarlet Bat over London. I knew that it was tattooed on your arm, and that if you became aware of the posters you would, out of curiosity, inquire for the sealed letter."

"That's exactly what happened," said Eustace. "But you say that Starth was waiting for Berry after he drugged Frank. Perhaps Berry came and shot Starth with Frank's pistol, and then departed."

"No," said Tamaroo, decisively, "I can't think that. Berry wanted to enjoy the money, and wouldn't have risked the murder."

"Then I can't say who shot the man if not Berry," said Jarman. "However, on what you say, we'll try and bluff Berry. And before you Berry," said Jarman. "However, on what you say, we'll try and bluff Berry. And before you left, you stabbed the body?"

"Yes, I did," rejoined Tamaroo, defiantly. "The man was dead and I thought to frighten Berry. There was much at stake. I then left the house, but I don't think anyone saw me going, as it was growing dark. That is all I know. What else is to be found out must be discovered by you, Mr. Jarman."

"I'll do my best," said Eustace. "But who am I to follow?"

Providence answered that question. There was the sound of the door opening. Balkis entered, and after her came Captain Berry, his niece, and Darrel. The Rhodesian, fulfilling his threat, had hunted Frank down, and was face to face with his prey.