The Ribbon Clues

CHAPTER XIX. ENEMIES MEET

CAPTAIN JUND had unlocked the door of his strong room. He had turned on the light within; he was opening the grilled inner door while Dave Callard waited beside him.

The inner door came loose. Jund motioned Dave into the special cabin. They approached the safe; there the captain of the Xerxes paused. It was plain that he had something that must first be said.

“Young fellow,” announced the portly skipper, “I’m going to tell you how all this came about. I became the owner of this ship about the time that you were brigged in the Chinese yamen. No, come to think of it, I’d had the Xerxes before that. It wasn’t long after you were jugged that I dropped anchor in New York harbor. I was sick of the sea.”

Dave nodded. He could tell by Jund’s manner that the portly skipper was looking toward a life of leisure on shore.

“I had a sock saved up,” stated Jund, “but it wasn’t enough to suit me. I figgered that if I could sell the Xerxes, life would be sweet. But nobody seemed to want this old tub. I advertised the ship as good as I could. I offered it cheap; I told my story to newspaper reporters. Somehow, the buyers kept away.

“Until one day your uncle showed up. Came aboard and went with me to my cabin. Wanted to know if I had a strong room aboard. I showed him this place that I’d outfitted, just on account of the pirates in Chinese waters.

“He told me what he wanted to do. He was to buy the Xerxes at my price; but I was to keep the vessel. All I was to do was stay aboard ship. I was to tell shipping men that I thought the merchant marine was due for a comeback; that I was keeping the Xerxes.”

Jund paused to chuckle as he remembered the talk that his decision had created.

“They thought I’d gone dippy,” recalled the skipper. “Everybody did, that had ever heard of the Xerxes. When I brought the ship up here to the ghost fleet, they all thought that was to be the end of her. Well, they had it right. But they missed a guess when they figgered why I was staying aboard.

“I had this strong room to look out for. Your uncle put what he wanted in that safe. I was to keep it there until called for. He took an old sailor’s hat and cut up the ribbon. Sliced it into three pieces, two letters on each, and told me that friends of his would get them. I’d hear the rest through Mallikan.”

“One moment,” interposed Dave. “You say my uncle came aboard. Yet it must have been after he had talked with Mallikan, about my being jailed in Canton.”

“It was,” nodded Jund, pausing to fill his antique pipe with tobacco. “Your uncle mentioned something about your trouble over there.”

“But my uncle had been quite ill. He was confined to his home at the time he communicated with Mallikan.”

“He’d gotten better for a time. But he looked mighty white about the gills the day he came aboard the ship. Jessup and a couple of the men had to help him ashore.”

“My uncle visited you alone?”

“Yes, sir. And I was to tell nobody about it.”

“Basslett was not with him?”

“Basslett? Who was he?”

“My uncle’s secretary.”

JUND shook his head. Dave Callard repressed a grin. He did not mention that Basslett had been slain with Luther Ralgood. Jund had indicated previously that he had failed to read of the first murders.

“Now, young fellow,” assured Jund, as he completed the lighting of his pipe, “there’s a couple of things you’ve got to make straight. I’ve been waiting until after the fifth of December. I’d kind of expected to see Mallikan. But I’m still wondering why you’re early.”

“I’ve explained that, captain—”

“Yes. But you haven’t explained why your uncle picked December fifth. That was something that bothered me. I’m making no secret about what’s in that iron box.” Jund motioned with his pipe toward the strong-room safe. “There’s wealth in there and your uncle trusted me with it.”

Dave Callard nodded. A shrewd gleam had appeared upon his rugged face.

“Suppose, captain,” he suggested, “that I tell you why my uncle chose the fifth of December as the date for the delivery of the ribbons. Why he also chose Roger Mallikan as the intermediary. Would those facts satisfy you?”

“Let’s hear them,” responded Jund, bluntly.

“My uncle,” stated Dave, “unquestionably wanted me to be his heir. Moreover, he knew that his illness would sooner or later cause his death.”

Jund nodded. These facts sounded right.

“I was in China,” resumed Dave. “A prisoner in Canton, possibly slated — through my own stubbornness — to remain in a Chinese yamen. Technically, I belonged there, although I was temporarily removed to the custody of the International settlement. You have been in China, captain. You know what frequently happens to prisoners in the native jails.”

“Sometimes they’re kidnapped,” nodded Jund. “That is, if friends of theirs have money.”

“Friends or relations,” agreed Dave. “Well, captain, I didn’t want it known that my uncle was a millionaire. More than that, I wanted to protect myself and him even if the fact did become known. The Chinese have a cute way of getting information.”

“That’s a fact, young fellow.”

“It is also why I wrote to Roger Mallikan, asking him to acquaint my uncle with the urgent need for caution. My uncle saw the answer. He disinherited me.”

“But still thought well of you, eh?”

“Yes. He wanted to place wealth where I could get it in the event of his death. He must have seen that the Xerxes was for sale; visiting you, he decided that you were trustworthy. He placed his wealth — my wealth — in your strong room.”

JUND was showing plainly that Dave Callard’s words had impressed him. The young man added further statements.

“My uncle decided to send clues to certain friends,” explained Dave. “He used those bits of ribbon from a sailor’s hat. He told no one what they were — not even his secretary — Basslett. He chose Mallikan as intermediary because he knew that the shipping man would recognize the name Xerxes, once all the ribbons were in his possession, ready to be shifted about until they formed the right combination.

“He chose the fifth of December as the day for his friends to assemble because I was scheduled positively to be released by the first of December. He wanted to be sure that I was clear; that if danger still threatened in China, I would be on my way home.

“Most of this is speculation, captain. But every word fits the facts. As it chanced, I gained an early release. I came home from China, firm in the belief that wealth would be awaiting me. I came here tonight because of the emergency.”

Captain Jund’s nods ceased. His broad face furrowed. His gaze was a questioning one. Dave Callard decided to add a statement.

“Someone guessed facts,” he declared. “I think that Basslett may have been a traitor. I believe, captain, that someone suspected the circumstances and took steps accordingly.”

“Who could that have been?” demanded Jund.

“Roger Mallikan,” returned Dave, bluntly. “There were murders committed, captain. They could have been his work. Facts came to light in spite of him. He turned yellow in the pinch. He started for Bermuda today. That was his story, at least; but he may be intending to come here.

“I have only one ribbon.” Dave produced the one marked R X and handed it to Jund. “Mallikan must have the others. He saw this one today. He has learned the name of this ship. He may visit the Xerxes, to claim the wealth that you are holding. That is why I came as soon as possible.”

JUND eyed the ribbon. He studied Dave. His decision came. With a short grunt, the captain of the Xerxes went to the big safe and began to turn the dials. Dave Callard’s fists tightened. He could no longer repress his eagerness. Jund was swinging open the big door of the massive strong box. A stack of metal boxes stood in view.

“There may be a message in the top one,” announced the captain. “Your uncle was kind of vague about it; but he said that when his friends came to collect, they’d learn all that was to be known. I’m taking your word for this business, young fellow—”

The captain stopped short. His hand shot toward his coat pocket. Dave Callard had already started to grab for a gun, wheeling as he did so. The weapons, however, were not drawn. Instead, the two men raised their arms as they stared into the shining muzzle of a revolver.

An intruder had stepped into the doorway of the lighted cabin. He had picked his goal by following through darkened passages, guided by the light from the open strong room. Behind this invader were three others.

The man who covered Jund and Dave was Courtney Dolver. The dignified importer was standing with shoulders upright; but his face had become the visage of a gloating evildoer. Close to him was Lessing, also armed with a revolver. His other henchmen were Partridge and Cray, carrying rifles.

No words were needed to reveal Dolver’s purpose. His face told the story. Dave Callard had been wrong when he had expressed the belief that Roger Mallikan had dealt in treachery. The real man of murder was Courtney Dolver.