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- Herausgeber: Booksell-Verlag
- Kategorie: Krimi
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
In "The Golden Bat," Fred M. White weaves a thrilling narrative steeped in the allure of adventure and mystery. This early 20th-century novel reflects the sensational literary style characteristic of the 'pulp fiction' genre, with its vivid characters and exotic settings. White artfully employs a fast-paced plot interspersed with elements of the supernatural, as readers are drawn into a world of intrigue involving masked villains, secret identities, and the ever-potent theme of justice. The work stands as a reflection of societal anxieties of its time, presenting a critique of moral ambiguities and the quest for redemption amidst chaos. Fred M. White, a prolific British author of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, amassed an extensive oeuvre that encompassed adventure and detective fiction. His background in literature, coupled with an interest in the emerging genre of crime fiction, heavily influenced his writing. White's experiences and exposure to the burgeoning world of cinema and escapism foreshadowed his innovative narrative techniques and fascination with the thematic elements of heroism and villainy, which are so prominent in "The Golden Bat." This captivating exploration of good versus evil, alongside White's flair for suspense, makes "The Golden Bat" a timeless recommendation for readers who appreciate genre-defining literature. Its blend of adventure, romance, and psychological complexity offers a rich reading experience that resonates with contemporary audiences and sheds light on the enduring values of courage and morality.
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The Golden Bat
Table of Contents
I - ONE OF THE SECRET SQUAD
The big clean-shaven man with the florid, humorous face and mobile lips would have passed anywhere for a barrister in prosperous practice, or perhaps, a cabinet minister, well-dressed, assured, and certain of himself, and it was his business to convey that impression, because Lytton Barle was head of the Secret Squad at New Scotland, a position not to be proclaimed on the house-tops. He was seated at a desk in his private room, with a big cigar in his mouth, like some gentleman of leisure, and his younger companion, in his neat, well-cut lounge suit, might have just stepped out of his club in search of a congenial way of passing an idle morning.
"Uncommonly glad to see you back in England again, Ray," Barle was saying. "And more pleased still to know that you are ready to take a hand at the old game. Tired of New Guinea, what?"
"Well, not exactly that, Harry," Ray smiled. "I'm looking for Edward Keen, the man who robbed me of something like £40,000, and, like the boy in the advertisement, I shan't be happy till I find him. But that's a long story of tropical adventure, and, as the last chapter is rather crude still, I don't propose to go into it now. A slender clue led me from New Guinea to London, and here I am. Been golfing most of the summer at Hunstanton, and came on here last Monday ready to take up the clue I spoke of in earnest. Then I thought of you and the early days here before the war claimed me. You know how one thing leads to another in criminal investigation. The man I am after is in London, unless I am all out, and if he isn't a master criminal, I never met one. And I don't even know him by sight. But for the last three years of the war I was in the military secret service, pottering about South America, thanks to my training here, and I thought if I came back and offered to take on the old job, you might give me an assignment, and in between I could perhaps drop on the thread missing from my tangled skein. Follow me?"
"Excellent," Lytton Barle cried. "You are the very man I want as second in command of my Secret Squad. Nobody knows you, at least nobody in the clever gang I am after, and you happen to be a gentleman, which is more important than it seems at first blush. The Secret Squad is a new development, not officially attached to the Yard, and yet acting under my instructions. All done by letter and telephone, no calling here, you understand. We are up against the cleverest gang of burglars I ever struck, with big brains behind the scheme, and they know me and my lot too well."
"What, the lot who cleaned out Lord Barlington's place at Larchester the other night?" Ray asked. "Got away with everything, and no trace behind. I read all about that."
"That's the firm," Barle said grimly. "Motor car robbery quite up to date. But not exactly in the general way. They haven't a car of their own, more or less disguised and carrying a sham number plate. They borrow a car from some private garage—old lady who never has her limousine out at night, and so forth—and return it before daylight. Possibly some chauffeur is in their pay and turns a blind eye on things. At any rate, we do know where the Larchester car was borrowed, because the thieves dropped a spare cover on their way back, and we traced it by the number stamped in the rubber. Elderly gentleman in Bolton Gardens, owner and driver under observation. But I am afraid that he is an innocent party."
"And you want me to take this on, eh? Nothing I should like better. Any special features about the robbery? Odd little incidents that I attach much importance to? You know my peculiarities in that direction. If so, please put me wise."
"All right, Monsieur Dupuin," Barle laughed. "The Edgar Allan Poe model is not a bad one after all. Now, let me see. Um, yes. Do you know anything about tropical butterflies?"
"As it happens, I do," Ray explained. "It was in the last year of the war that I met the great authority on foreign entomology at San Salvador. Man named Moon—John Everard Moon. It was in the leading hotel there, and I was in disguise as a sort of prosperous peon farmer on the spree, regular Spanish-American dog. Moon was out there after a sort of mythical bug called the Golden Bat. Was searching the whole continent for it. Only one of the species ever captured, and thats in some private English home. Wonderful insect, as big as a hawk, and all powdered with gold dust and a peacock blue on the edges of the wings. I was told that the natives in the forest worshipped it, though none of them had ever seen the moth. Sort of fetish, you understand. Why are you asking?"
"Well," Barle said, drily, "the insect you mean was not quite unique because Lord Barlington had one in a glass case on the wall in his library. Not that he valued it in the least, sort of trophy brought home by some globe-trotting relative. But it was a Golden Bat all right, and it was stolen by those burglars, though why they wanted it beats me. Sheer curiosity, perhaps."
Ray drew a long, deep breath. His eyes gleamed oddly.
"Mr. Barle," he said, earnestly, "you have given me a clue worth its weight in diamonds. And some unthinking folk prate of what they call trifles! Trifles, by gad! With any luck, I am going to get my money back and lay your gang by the heels at the same time. All I ask is a free hand here. Give me an introduction to the superintendent of police at Shepperton or in that district and leave the rest to me. Call your men off, and let me have the run of my intellectual teeth for a month, and if I fail then count me out altogether."
Lytton Barle was wise in his generation, and knew whom to trust and the psychological time to trust him. Moreover, he had known Ray in the past, and had a profound respect for his methods.
"Then be it so," he agreed. "I'll get Shepperton on the phone and make that all right for you. Good luck."
Ray drifted out thoughtfully on to the Embankment. The product of Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, born with a fair competency, and possessed of the true adventurous mind plus a subtle intellect, he had drifted almost unconsciously into the paths of criminal diplomacy. To him languages came almost naturally, and two years' training at Scotland Yard gave him all the groundwork he asked to know. Then the war came, and with it his big chance. The South American Republics became his hunting ground, and there he remained during the years following Armageddon. And there in Brazil he stumbled on a fortune, and lost it again in circumstances which will be seen all in good time. And when the hour came for the thief who robbed him to render his account, Ray swore that the reckoning should be a stern one. Now fate was throwing a searchlight across the dim path.
But there had been another lure this perfect summer in the shape of a few months' golf at Hunstanton, which lure had not been altogether unconnected with the eternal feminine. But just as Ray began to regard his dreams, as not entirely visionary, the lady in the case had mysteriously vanished from the Norfolk coast without a sign, and Ray had been looking for her ever since. And three days before he had caught sight of her crossing Regent-street.
Had he been the average man, he would have spoken to her there and then. Being Harry Ray, diplomat and hunter of criminals, he did nothing of the sort. He followed the slim, graceful figure home, and saw her safely into Silverdale Mansions, which is not far from the Marble Arch, and a tip to the discreet porter in the vestibule did the rest. Ray strolled away in an exulting mood and a wild excitement which was not visible on his calmly immobile features.
"Well, I'm hanged," he murmured to himself. "Actually under the same roof as the man Keen, a member of his household! The plot thickens. And now to get in touch with the fellow."
A little later Ray turned into the United Universities Club, and proceeded to consult the telephone directory. He found the name of Edward Keen both in Silverdale Mansions and in a block of offices in a court leading off Lombard-street. In the telephone booth he took up the receiver and called up the latter number.
"That 0057?" he asked. "Mr. Keen? Quite so. May I speak to him for a moment? No, he doesn't know my name. It is not exactly a matter of business. I have a message for him."
"He's very busy just now," the voice at the other end of the wire said. "Hold on a moment, and I'll put you through."
Ray waited for quite a little time. Then a response came in a cold, metallic tone, a suggestion of something like suspicion.
"Yes, I am Mr. Keen. What can I do for you?"
"My name is Ray, Harry Ray, speaking from the United Universities Club. I am deeply interested in tropical butterflies, especially Brazilian ones. Only as an amateur, please understand. I was in Brazil for two years, and know something about the subject. Also I have made a close study of all Mr. John Everard Moon's works on the science. Is he not an intimate friend of yours?"
There was quite a pause before any response came.
"I certainly look after his affairs when he is on his frequent travels," the voice said. "As a matter of fact, Mr. Moon is in Brazil at the present moment, collecting matter for his next book. I am also an enthusiast on butterflies, and my exhibits are only second to those of my distinguished friend. Almost complete."
"With the exception of a Golden Bat," Ray murmured.
He paused, for an exclamation of surprise came from the other end of the wire, and it came sharp, staccato, and rather hoarse.
"What, do you mean to say you are on the track of one?"
"I believe so. I shouldn't have troubled you but for the fact that your name is so frequently mentioned in Mr. Moon's works as an Anglo-Brazilian, whose assistance was most valuable, but when I heard yesterday that a friend was shortly arriving home from Brazil with what sounded like a Golden Bat for me, I ventured to ring you up. Perhaps one of these early days we might meet and have a chat over the matter, I could call at Silverdale Mansions, and—"
"Yes, yes, Mr. Ray. I am leaving for Manchester shortly, and shall not be back before Friday evening at about half-past 7. Suppose you look round at about that hour, and have a mouthful of dinner with me? I may be a bit late, but you won't mind waiting?"
"Excellent!" Ray cried, and he meant it in a way that the man at the other end of the wire little realised. "I'll be there. Good-bye."
So far everything had fallen out splendidly. Moreover, Ray had two valuable days in which to lay the train which he hoped and believed would lead to the exposing of a great conspiracy and a set of daring robberies which for months had baffled the shrewdest brains in Scotland Yard. By the merest accident Ray had lighted on a clue which possessed a double thread—to get even with the mysterious individual who had robbed him of those Brazilian diamonds and force him to disgorge, and to link the scoundrel in question with the alarming burglaries which were setting the police by the ears. Moreover, there was nobody in London who knew more of the secret past of Mr. Edward Keen than himself. And now they were going to meet, face to face, in circumstances that should be utterly disarming, so far as any suspicions on Keen's part were concerned.
It was, therefore, with an easy mind that Ray set out on Friday night to keep his appointment. He was nearly half an hour early for Keen's little dinner, but that was all part of the programme. He would be at Silverdale Mansions before Keen's cab left Euston station. He did not give his name to the manservant who admitted him, but merely stated that he was expected. As he entered the drawing-room a girl seated before the fire rose and came forward.
"Harry!" she gasped, "Harry! Really you?"
Ray took both her hands in his and held them fast.
"Yes, Angela," he said. "Darling, tell me all about it."
II - THE ONLY GIRL IN THE WORLD
They were alone together in the warm intimacy of that perfectly-appointed room, and alone in the world, so far as they two were concerned. Ray placed the girl's hands on his shoulders, and smiled down masterfully into her eyes. Then he took the white face in his grip, and kissed her lingeringly on the trembling lips.
"There," he murmured, "now you understand. You belonged to me from the first, Angela, and I think you knew it. And so you really thought that you could run away from me like that!"
"But you don't understand," the girl murmured. "When I was staying with those friends in Hunstanton, and you came into my life——"
"And we fell in love with one another, darling."
"I did not think, I was too happy to think, Harry. Of course I knew—a girl always knows. And then suddenly, as I realised everything one night, I had to go. I told my friends I had had a telegram calling me back, and I hoped you would be too proud to ask them for my address. And—and that was the end of it."
"And, that was the end of the first chapter," Ray laughed. "I did not ask for your address because I knew I could find you, which I did in the end, quite by accident and followed you here. Then I managed, by a polite fiction, to get invited here this evening. It will be just as well to let Mr. Keen think, when he comes in, that we have just been making ourselves acquainted; in fact, I have powerful reasons for not taking him into our confidence. Angela, you will trust me in this matter? It will not be for long."
"Oh, there can be no other way," Angela cried. "I hate this vile deception, but it must be. Harry, I am more or less a prisoner here. I go out, I attend concerts and have my own friends, but I am a prisoner all the same. I am the mouse, and my guardian, Mr. Keen, is the cat. I don't even know who I am, I have no name I can claim as my own. I am called Angela Nemo, but nemo means nothing. And Mr. Keen will tell me nothing as to my parentage. I have no parents, he says. And when I press him, he laughs, and says it would be wiser for me to remain in ignorance, and hints at dreadful things. How could I let you go on loving me in the face of what I am telling you?"
Ray listened gravely. There was something wrong here, he told himself, some rascality which would have to be fathomed. What was the connection between Keen and this lovely, helpless girl, and why did a man like that allow her to become a member of his household, and treat her lavishly like a daughter? And what devilish cunning prompted him to the fiction that there was something disgraceful and sinister surrounding her birth?
"Darling, I had no idea it was like this," he said. "Not that it makes the slightest difference to me. I could not love you any more if you were the daughter of a duchess."
"Oh, I know, I know," Angela murmured. "But it might be worse, even, than it seems. It might be that there is madness in my family. Or some inherent curse. Why did we ever meet, Harry?"
"So that we might be happy," Ray said smilingly. "So that I could take you out of this mysterious bondage that darkens your innocent life. Ah, I am going to show you presently. Yet I gather you are not being badly treated here."
"No, I am not," Angela agreed. "But I am treated as a child, I am watched and followed. It frightens me, boy."
Ray soothed her tenderly; he could see that her nerves were all awry. Yet she was happier than she had been for months, as if the mere unburdening of her heart had released some mental pressure.
"And so you know nothing about yourself?" Ray said presently. "No little treasures, no photographs or things of that kind. And you can't remember anything of your parents?"
"Nothing," Angela said sadly. "I have been here and in Brazil with Mr. Keen when on his travels sometimes, ever since I was five—15 years ago. I have a confused memory of a dreadful accident in a rocky country where there was machinery and mines, and of some strange man saying somebody was dead. I think it must be that my mother had died before then."
Ray turned it all over rapidly in his mind. The plot was thickening in a manner he had not expected. He looked thoughtfully around the luxurious apartment, and for the first time noticed the cases of tropical butterflies on the walls. With his more or less superficial knowledge of the subject he saw that there were few rarities though the collection was by no means a bad one. Evidently Keen shared his distinguished friend's love of these wonderful moths. That was probably the bond between him and the eccentric John Everard Moon. Perhaps there was some other bond between them, and if so Ray was not going to rest until he found it out. It was likely to be a long job, because Moon had been for a very long time in the wild forests of Brazil, and anyway it was hard to identify that savant with anything savouring of crime or dishonour. However.. ..
"We must get to the bottom of this," Ray said. "Angela, you will have to be brave and resolute. There is a time of danger and peril coming which involves our future happiness, and most likely you will be called upon to play your part. But if you are in the least afraid or if you think that your courage is not——"
She smiled up bravely into Ray's face. There was a steady resolution in her wide grey eyes. He read no fear there.
"Never when I have you," she murmured. "If you think that, Harry, you are mistaken. I would do anything to——"
She drew back hastily as a step was heard on the landing outside. Then the door opened and Edward Keen came in. He discovered the lovers on each side of the fireplace, seated, and apparently engaged in casual conversation. Ray rose and bowed.
"It is very good of you to ask me here in this informal way, Mr. Keen," he said easily. "I came, perhaps, a little too soon, but Miss, er, Nemo—is not that right?—was good enough to entertain me till you came. You had a pleasant journey?"
The other man inclined his head rather formally. Evidently on guard, Ray thought. His host was a man apparently about fifty years of age, though he did not look it until the infinitely fine lines round the eyes and mouth came under observation. He was dark enough to suggest foreign blood, with hair cropped close and shaven high up the back of the neck and over the ears, and on his upper lip was a small black moustache very fine and silky.
"On the contrary, it was very good of you to come," he said. "As you can see by looking round, I am also an enthusiastic collector, and share my friend, Moon's, hobby. Not, of course, that I compare myself with him. But being a Brazilian produce merchant, and having spent half my life in that country, I have had some humble part in those wonderful books of his, and he has been so kind as to acknowledge the fact in print. So you know the country, too?"
"I was there for over eighteen months," Ray explained. "For the benefit of my health. Crocked up in the war, and managed to get out there in a destroyer by a little influence. Having much time on my hands and wanting some recreation, I took up butterfly hunting none too successfully. I have never met the great man, but I was in the same drawing-room with him one night after a big dinner in San Salvador. A fine old gentleman with grey hair and long beard and spectacles. I had no opportunity of an introduction, which was very disappointing, as I wanted to talk about that unique Golden Bat to him. I don't think even he had a specimen."
"Nobody has," Keen replied. "There is a legend to the effect that one was brought to England twenty years ago by some diplomatic individual, but it has yet to be proved. And you really think that you are in touch with one, Mr. Ray?"
"Well, I am sanguine," Ray smiled. "Novices' luck, you understand. A friend of mine up in the mines. He wrote me that he had secured a Golden Bat and was bringing it home for me. He may be back this month or by the end of the year for certain. That's why I took the liberty of ringing you up, seeing that you are an enthusiast and more or less a partner of Mr. Moon's. And if I might venture to ask you to put me in touch with him——"
"Dinner is served, Miss," the butler announced.
It was a pleasant meal well served and cooked, and the wines were all that the most fastidious could desire. It was not until Angela had gone and the two men were alone over their liqueurs and cigars that the subject of the Golden Bat cropped up again.
"My friend Moon will he delighted to meet you," Keen said. "He is very exclusive, at a rule, but any one who is really interested in entomology has his ear. Quite a recluse, you understand, and a bit eccentric. Where he is exactly at the present moment I know no more than the dead. Been away in South America for ages. But liable to reappear at any moment with material for another of those priceless books of his. When this happens he stays at home till the book is ready for the press; buries himself away in his cottage until it is finished; a cottage in the heart of the country with only a dour old man to do everything for him. Even I have to write for an appointment when I wish to visit the Thatched House at Shepperton."
"That's a very strange thing," Ray cried. "Thatched House at Shepperton. Closed for years at a time and nobody allowed to go inside. Kind of mystery in the neighbourhood—what?"
With narrowing eyes Keen looked up uneasily.
"It is as you say," he muttered. "Nobody down there knows that Moon is the great Moon. When he goes away the place is closed. But why does the fact surprise you?"
"Because the Thatched House at Shepperton was burgled last night. By the merest chance I read the meagre details in the 'Evening Mail' just before I came out. There was quite a lot about the lonely house, and the newspaper man had made the most of it—what they call a 'story' in Fleet-street. Wonderful how those chaps get hold of things. And that is where Moon lives when he is in England. Funny I should read that paragraph when I was practically on my way here. I hope no valuables were kept there."
Ray spoke slowly and with his eyes on the man on the other side of the table. Keen half rose to his feet with a strangled cry, and then dropped back again as if suddenly deprived of his strength. He struggled up and rang the bell violently.
"Go out and get me a copy of the 'Evening Mail'," he said hoarsely, as the butler entered. "Get it quick!"
III - THE THATCHED HOUSE
Keen was badly frightened, there could be no sort of doubt about that. It was not alarm or surprise or uneasiness that Ray could read in those darkly glittering eyes of his, but real fear. For the moment he had forgotten all about his dinner companion; then slowly he managed to get himself in hand. As he glanced uneasily at Ray he grew assured, for Ray's face bore an expression of curious innocence that was almost childish in its mute inquiry.
"Has something upset you?" the latter asked ingenuously.
"Well, just for the moment, just for the moment," Keen responded casually. "You see, I am more or less responsible for the custody of the house at Shepperton, and my conscience is uneasy, mainly because I haven't been near the place for over a year. It isn't as if there were any valuables on the premises. But you know what these people are, if they can't find what they expect, they think nothing of turning a house inside out and destroying valuable stuff for the mere sake of doing it. And if they have wrecked their vengeance upon the poor old chap's butterflies——"
