The Devil Rides Out

CHAPTER VII

DE RICHLEAU PLANS A CAMPAIGN

‘Tanith,’ the Duke repeated; ‘but you don’t know where she is, do you?’

‘Sure.’ Rex laughed, for the first time in several hours. ‘Having got acquainted with her after all this while, I wouldn’t be such a fool as to quit that party without nailing her address.’

‘I must confess that I’m surprised she gave it to you.’

‘She hadn’t fallen to it that I wasn’t one of their bunch—then! She’s staying at Claridges.’

‘Do you think you can get hold of her?’

‘Don’t you worry—I meant to, anyhow.’

‘You must be careful, Rex. This woman is very lovely, I know —but she’s probably damnably dangerous.’

‘I’ve never been scared of a female yet, and surely these people can’t do me much harm in broad daylight?’

‘No, except for ordinary human trickery, they are almost powerless between sunrise and sunset.’

‘Fine. Then I’ll go right round to Claridges as soon as she is likely to be awake tomorrow—today, rather.’

‘You don’t know her real name though, do you?’

‘I should worry. There aren’t two girls like her staying at Claridges—there aren’t two like her in all London.’

De Richleau stood up and began to pace the floor like some huge cat. ‘What do you intend to say to her?’ he asked at length.

‘Why, that we’re just worried stiff about Simon—and that it’s absolutely imperative that she should help us out. I’ll give her a frank undertaking not to do anything against Mocata or any of her pals if she’ll come clean with me—though Heaven knows I can’t think she’s got any real friends in a crowd like that.’

‘Rex! Rex!’ The Duke smiled affectionately down into the honest, attractive, ugly face of the young giant stretched in the armchair. ‘And what, may I ask, do you intend to do should this lovely lady refuse to tell you anything?’

‘I can threaten to call in the cops, I suppose, though I’d just hate to do anything like that to her.’

De Richleau gave his eloquent expressive shrug. ‘My dear fellow, unless we can get some actual evidence of ordinary criminal activities against Mocata and his friends, the police are absolutely ruled out of this affair—and she would know it.’

‘I don’t see why,’ Rex protested stubbornly. ‘These people have kidnapped Simon, that’s what it boils down to, and that’s as much a crime as running a dope joint or white slaving.’

‘Perhaps, and if they had hit him on the head our problem would be easy. The difficulty is that to all outward appearances he has joined them willingly and in his right mind. Only we know that he is acting under some powerful and evil influence which has been brought to bear on him, and how in the world are you going to charge anyone with raising the devil—or its equivalent —in a modern police court?’

‘Well, what do you suggest?’

‘Listen.’ The Duke perched himself on the arm of Rex’s chair. ‘Even if this girl is an innocent party, like Simon, she will not tell you anything willingly—she will be too frightened. As a matter of fact, now that she knows you are not a member of their infernal circle it is doubtful if she will even see you, but if she does—well, you’ve got to get hold of her somehow.’

‘I’ll certainly have a try—-but it’s not all that easy to kidnap people in a city like London.’

‘I don’t mean that exactly, but rather that you should induce her, by fair means or foul, to accompany you to some place where I can talk to her at my leisure. If she is only a neophyte I know enough of this dangerous business to frighten her out of her wits. If she is something more there will be a mental tussle, and I may learn something from the cards which she is forced to throw on the table.’

‘O.K. I’ll pull every gun I know to persuade her into coming here with me for a cocktail.’

De Richleau shook his head. ‘No, I’m afraid that won’t do. Immediately she realised the reason she had been brought here she would insist on leaving, and we couldn’t stop her. If we tried she would break a window and yell Murder ! We have got to get her to a place where she will see at once the futility of trying to call for outside help. I have it! Do you think you could get her down to Pangbourne?’

‘What? To that river place of yours?’

‘Yes; I haven’t been down there yet this year, but I can send Max down first thing in the morning to open it up and give it an airing.’

‘You talk as though it were like falling off a log to get a girl to come boating on the Thames at what’s practically a first meeting — can’t you weigh in and lend a hand yourself?’

‘No. I shall be at the British Museum most of the day. It is so many years since I studied the occult that there are a thousand things I have forgotten. It is absolutely imperative that I should immerse myself in some of the old key works for a few hours and rub up my knowledge of protective measures. I must leave you to handle the girl, Rex, and remember, Simon’s safety will depend almost wholly on your success. Get her there somehow, and I’ll join you in the late afternoon—say about six.’

Rex grinned. ‘It’s about as stiff a proposition as sending me in your place to study the Cabbala, but I’ll do my best.’

‘Of course you will.’ The Duke began to pace hurriedly up and down again. ‘But go gently with her—I beg you. Avoid any questions about this horrible business as you would the plague. Play the lover. Be just the nice young man who has fallen in love with a beautiful girl. If she asks you about our having abducted Simon from the party, say you were completely in the dark about it. That you have known me for years—and that I sprung some story on you about his having fallen into the hands of a gang of blackmailers, so you just blindly followed my lead without a second thought. Not a word to her about the supernatural—you know nothing of that. You must be as incredulous as you were with me when I first talked to you of it. And, above all, if you can get her to Pangbourne, don’t let her know that I am coming down.’

‘Surely—I get the line you want me to play all right.’

‘Good. You see, if I can only squeeze some information out of her which will enable us to find out where Mocata is living, we will go down and keep the place under observation for a day or two. He is almost certain to have Simon with him. We will note the times that Mocata leaves the house and plan our raid accordingly. If we can get Simon into our hands again I swear Mocata shan’t get him back a second time.’

‘That’s certainly the idea.’

‘There is only one thing I am really frightened of.’

‘What’s that?’

De Richleau paused opposite Rex’s chair. ‘What I heard this evening of Simon’s approaching change of name—to Abraham, you remember. That, of course, would be after Abraham the Jew, a very famous and learned mystic of the early centuries. He wrote

a book which is said to be the most informative ever compiled concerning the Great Work. It was lost sight of for several hundred years, but early in the fifteenth century came into the possession of a Parisian bookseller named Nicolas Flamel who, by its aid, performed many curious rites. Flamel was buried in some magnificence, and a few years later certain persons who were anxious to obtain his secrets opened his grave to find the book which was supposed to have been buried with him. Neither Flamel nor the book was there, and there is even some evidence to show that he was still living a hundred years later in Turkey, which is by no means unbelievable to those who have any real knowledge of the strange powers acquired by the true initiate such as those in the higher orders of the Yoga sects. That is the last we know of the Book of Abraham the Jew, but it seems that Simon is about to take his name in the service of the Invisible.’