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Great Diamond Syndicate

[260] <h2>CHAPTER XXII. THE STORY TOLD.</h2> The Booth Dramatic Club was holding rehearsal at its rooms on West Fourteenth Street. The rooms were on the top floor of an old-fashioned house, and were nicely fitted up with stage, dressing room, and scenery. The play long in rehearsal was to have been presented to the intimate friends of the members of the club that night, but the death of Townsend, the illness of Maynard, and the strange disappearance of two young men who held leading parts had made a postponement necessary. There was a stage entrance from a hall which ran along the east side of the house, and at eight o’clock Nick Carter, in the guise of Mantelle, passed through the hall and stepped out on the stage. He was accompanied by Patsy, who carried a large suit case. “I wonder which is my dressing room?” whispered Nick. [261] Patsy looked amused. The two detectives had run many risks in getting into the house and up to the rooms of the club, but the test now seemed at hand. “Well,” said the assistant, “you’ve got a leading rôle, according to the programme we found, and you must have a fine dressing room. Wait! I’ll just scout around and find a room with your stage costume in it. If I make a mistake no one will wonder at it, while they would suspect something at once if you got into the wrong room. “There,” said Patsy, returning in a moment. “I’ve located the place and the rig. I hope you’ll make a hit in your part to-night! You wear a wig and all that, so no one will suspect you. What luck! Sure I don’t play anything? Well, then, I’ll be your servant for the night, and sit in the dressing room and watch.” Nick dressed in the costume he wore in the play, and went out on the stage. Half a dozen of the members were there, and he nodded at them all, giving the sign with the left hand. They were all too busy with their own affairs to pay special attention to him. [262] Presently a dressing-room door opened, and a woman stepped out, clad in silks and blazing with diamonds. She approached Nick, who was glad that at the moment he stood in the shadow of a scene ready for adjustment. The girl was Bernice Bouvé. She looked more beautiful than ever in her costume. In a moment Anton Sawtelle stood at her side. “Where is Stella?” asked Bernice, laying a hand on Nick’s arm. “She should have been here long ago.” “Now, who is Stella?” wondered Nick. “She must be the clever woman who captured me this evening. I’ll take a chance. “She left me soon after leaving the Cumberland,” he said, “saying that she would be here on time. You look superb in those diamonds!” Bernice smiled and Anton grinned. “You always admired the Maynard collection,” she said. Here was another puzzle for the detective. Had the thieves the nerve to present the stolen diamonds at the rehearsal? Could it be possible[263] that no member of the club, outside those who belonged to the syndicate, knew of the true situation of affairs, of the murder of Townsend and the assault on Maynard? “It strikes me,” thought Nick, “that this dramatic club is composed principally of members of the Great Diamond Syndicate.” The detective shuddered as Bernice touched him, but he remained in conversation with her for a long time. “There comes the chief,” she said presently, pointing to a brisk-appearing man just stepping on the stage. He was accompanied by a young fellow Nick had no difficulty in recognizing as the alleged reporter who had led him to the syndicate headquarters. There was no doubt that the man referred to as the chief was the same one who had planned his death the previous evening. In looking over the members of the club, Nick saw that it was indeed composed mostly of members of the syndicate. The few outsiders who were there were the lambs of the organization. They had either diamonds, money, or social position to thank for their admission. Nick now saw[264] clearly what the club really was, an annex to the syndicate. While the others were at their parts, Nick went back to his dressing room. “What are you going to do when it comes time for you to go on?” asked Patsy. “You don’t know a word of the part.” “If Chick acts promptly,” said Nick, “the big scene will come off before I am called upon to speak my lines.” “It will be something of a surprise party,” said Patsy. “Still, there are not so many members of the syndicate here that we know about. You have Mantelle, Stella, the two waiters, the guard at the old headquarters, and the man who tried to burglarize your house already under arrest. How many more are there here?” “The chief,” replied Nick, “the alleged reporter, Bernice, Anton, and the members of that glee club. Oh, we’ll pick them all up if everything goes well.” “When does it come off?” “Very shortly, now.” At that moment there came a knock on the door[265] leading to the hall. One of the members of the club opened it, and six men, wearing the white uniforms of caterer’s men, walked in, bearing great baskets covered with white cloths. “A surprise!” cried half a dozen voices. “A feed!” said Bernice, with a laugh. “Who is responsible for this?” asked the chief. The baskets were placed in the centre of the stage, and the members of the company gathered about them. Nick and Patsy stood back where the men who had brought the baskets could see every move they made. Then, when the entire company was bending over the baskets, Nick gave a signal and seized the chief of the Great Diamond Syndicate! There were screams, calls for help, and frantic efforts at escape, but in a moment every member of the club who belonged to the villainous diamond syndicate was securely handcuffed. “How was that for a spread?” asked Chick, who had seized Anton. “What does it mean?” demanded the chief,[266] looking hard at Nick, still wearing the stage costume prepared for Mantelle. Nick threw off his rig and stood revealed. “I think,” said the chief coolly, “that we have met before.” “Right you are,” said Nick, “and under different circumstances. How do you like the change of positions?” “I should like to have you as a working partner,” said the chief. “You are courageous and resourceful, yet you sometimes make mistakes. You have made a scene here to-night and arrested practically all the members of this club. What charge can you make against us?” The members of the club who had not been arrested now gathered around. “What does this mean?” they asked. They were mostly the sons and daughters of wealthy people, and they would in time have fallen victims to the syndicate. “It means,” replied Nick, “that you have been associating with murderers and robbers ever since you joined this club.” [267] “That is strong talk,” said the chief. “Be careful what you say.” Bernice Bouvé, who had been standing by Nick’s side, now sprang away as if to make her escape by means of a window. “Would you commit suicide?” asked the detective, restraining her. “It would be death to leap from that window.” “And it is death to remain here!” cried the girl. The next moment she fell in a faint at the feet of the detective. As she sank to the floor her hair caught on a button of Nick’s coat, and came off, revealing a short under wig of red hair. “There!” said Patsy. “We have found the lady’s maid who made up in so many different ways. See! She wore long black hair, then a wig of red, then her own black hair, cut short.” “Cut short at the prison,” said Nick. The head of the syndicate stepped forward and looked down upon the girl. “I never supposed she lacked nerve,” he said. “The electric chair has terrors for all,” said Nick. [268] The chief remained silent. By this time the members of the club who were not under arrest were leaving the room, never to return. The prisoners were grouped on one corner of the stage, some of them in the costumes they had prepared for the play, which was now destined never to be presented by the club. Nick picked up jewels as they fell from the unconscious girl. “It seems,” he said, “that Bernice cannot prove true even to her associates in crime. All the larger stones here are paste. How the girl substituted them for the real diamonds in one day’s time is more than I can tell.” The chief of the syndicate and Anton stepped forward in angry wonder. The chief muttered a savage oath. “I have suspected the girl all along,” he said. “That is why she has always been followed.” “For all that,” said Nick, “she was your best assistant. She did her work cleverly and left no clue, as a rule. I can’t understand how she came to murder Townsend.” “She never did!” shouted Anton. [269] “Wait!” said the chief of the syndicate. “We can’t protect her in the crime which was not authorized by the syndicate. She murdered Townsend because he recognized her.” “And she and Mantelle, who is now in the Tombs, attempted the life of Maynard because he saw their faces and heard their talk? Is that it?” The chief was silent. “You can’t prove what you say,” said Anton, bending over the girl, who now showed signs of returning consciousness. “If that fool of a chief would only keep his mouth shut!” “Look here,” said Nick. “You say I have no proof. Let me tell you how the crimes were committed. When Anton and Bernice were released from prison, the Great Diamond Syndicate went after them, and they readily agreed to become members of that unlawful organization. They executed the four robberies I have named, Bernice playing the part of lady’s maid and Anton following her about as her lover. Then they came to the Maynard diamonds. “This dramatic club was formed, and a play which called for the display of a large number of[270] diamonds was selected. The conspirators, through Mantelle, induced people of wealth to join, Maynard and Townsend among others. Maynard foolishly promised the use of his diamonds, and other members agreed to bring minor collections. “At the dress rehearsal last night Maynard produced his gems. Then the game seemed ready to work. Mantelle made an appointment at the African fortune teller’s. By the way, Stella, the fortune teller is at present in the Tombs, charged with murder. While Mantelle and the gang were making things ready, Maynard and Townsend waited at a café. One member of the syndicate overheard what they said about getting rid of the diamonds. Bernice, having more nerve than the others, was appointed to get the stones. She was dressed in man’s clothes, because that disguise was believed to be perfect. While the officers were looking for a man who had committed the crime, the guilty one would be back in her own habiliments. “You all know how Townsend was followed and murdered. The chief undoubtedly told the[271] truth. Townsend recognized Bernice, even under her disguise, and so was killed. Then the syndicate, terribly frightened, turned its energies toward defense. It was thought best to watch and destroy the detective who took the case in hand. But they did not expect that work would begin so soon. They were expecting a police detective. I was led to the headquarters of the syndicate, you all know how, and escaped. “When the headquarters were burned for the purpose of destroying the records, Bernice was at the Wisconsin with Mantelle, trying to find a ring she had lost in the room where the murder was committed. She did not find it, because I picked it up on my first visit to the place. I knew then whose ring it was. I had seen her wear it at the Maynard home when she was a maid there. “On their way out of the hotel, the elevator boy gave them the suit of clothes she had worn and which I had committed to the charge of the clerk.” The girl opened her eyes and arose slowly to her feet. “You are telling a mess of lies!” she said. [272] “The suit you wore when you murdered Townsend,” said Nick, “is now at my office. I found it in the closet off Stella’s room on Houston Street. Anton bought it in Paris, and it was made over to fit you. The suit of Townsend’s, which you wore away, was found in the same place.” “If they were in Stella’s room, why don’t you accuse her of the murder?” demanded Anton. “Because the chief admits that Bernice committed the crime,” was the reply. “If she goes to the electric chair, he shall go with her,” said the young man significantly. “He is as guilty as any one.” The chief of the syndicate sprang forward. “You traitor!” he shouted. “You are telling lies!” “Lies!” echoed Anton; “who planned the murder of the elevator boy, after he had been bribed and used? You did, and Stella threw the jar from the window of her room when he passed along there, directed to that place by you!” “That is just the proof I have been looking for,” said Nick. “My friend, the chief, would[273] have made way with me last night. It gives me great pleasure to send him to the Tombs on charge of murder.” The chief of the diamond thieves, who had been so vain and so confident of his own ability only a short time before, now cringed with terror. “They all had a hand in the affair of the boy,” he shouted. “We passed upon the matter at a full meeting of the local branch of the syndicate. If I go to the electric chair, they go with me.” “I would go willingly,” said Bernice, “if I could take this devil of a detective with me. You thought yourselves able to outwit him! See what has come to you!” “At any rate,” said Chick, “the Great Diamond Syndicate tried its best, and at one time I thought we were up against a stiff game. You see,” he added, “all the clues in this case have been supplied by members of the syndicate!” “Bad management!” shouted Anton. “I knew it all along. I told you what Nick Carter could do, and yet you allowed him to live when you had him bound.” “I don’t believe that is Nick Carter,” said another.[274] “I waited under Stella’s window to-night and received from her a signal showing that he had been killed.” “You’re a fool!” shouted Anton. “That signal was given by Nick Carter himself to get rid of you. Your Stella is in the Tombs! Why he wasn’t killed in that room is more than I know!” “Because,” replied Nick, with a smile, “they waited for the arrival of a man who had the nerve to do the killing, and that man was in the Tombs.” “This ends the Great Diamond Syndicate,” said Chick. “You are mistaken,” cried the chief. “The syndicate will live on, and will train men to hate Nick Carter; to murder him.” The detective smiled and took a package of papers from his pocket. “You are wrong again,” he said. “Here are the records of the syndicate. Not two hours ago I filed a duplicate with the chief of police. By this time, every person in New York in any way connected with the syndicate is either under arrest or under surveillance. Your game is played out, gentlemen.” [275] The prisoners were now handcuffed together and marched off to police headquarters. “That closes the battle,” cried Chick. “Not just yet,” replied Nick quietly. “There are names here that need attention.” As he spoke, the detective waved the records of the syndicate in his hand. “They not only need attention, but they will get it at once. It has been an interesting game so far. Now let us push it through to the end. There was never much mystery concerning the murder. I could have named the murderer of Townsend within an hour after viewing his body, but the girl had to be found before a word was said. Then came the developments concerning the Great Diamond Syndicate, and that organization had to be cleaned up.” “Why were you so sure of Mantelle after the interview at the café?” asked Chick. “I know he rather overdid the thing there, but still I could see no proof.” “When I lay on the couch in the rooms of the syndicate,” replied Nick, “I saw some peculiar jewelry lying on the chief’s desk. Well, Mantelle[276] wore that identical jewelry at the café. I could not believe it at first, for I did not remember seeing the chief take the stuff away in the hurry of his departure.” “But it was the same?” “It certainly was. I saw that when I took the pin and the ring from Mantelle to-night. Well, you see how that connected him with the syndicate? And there never was any doubt that the syndicate was at the bottom of the murder.” <hr class="chap" /></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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