The Rayner-Slade Amalgamation

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The Rayner-Slade Amalgamation
by J.S. Fletcher
1922

CONTENTS
I THE MIDNIGHT RIDE
II THE DEAD MAN
III THE SHOE BUCKLE
IV MR. FRANKLIN FULLAWAY
V THE NASTIRSEVITCH JEWELS
VI THE PRIMA DONNA'S PORTRAIT
VII THE FRANTIC IMPRESARIO
VIII THE JEWEL BOX
IX THE LADY'S MAID'S MOTHER
X THE SECOND MURDER
XI THE RUSSIAN BANK-NOTES
XII THE THIRD MURDER
XIII AMBLER APPLEYARD
XIV FIFTY THOUSAND POUNDS REWARD
XV THE BAYSWATER BOARDING-HOUSE
XVI MR. GERALD RAYNER
XVII THE PHOTOGRAPH
XVIII DEFINITE SUSPICION
XIX THE LATE CALL
XX NUMBER FIFTY-THREE
XXI THE YOUNG MAN WHO LED PUGS
XXII THICK FOG
XXIII THE POSSIBLE DEATH WARRANT
XXIV CONCERNING CARL FEDERMAN
XXV THE CARD ON THE DOOR
XXVI PARTICIPANTS IN THE SECRET
XXVII THE MILLIONAIRE, THE STRANGER, AND THE PRINCESS
XXVIII THE FIRST PURSUIT
XXIX THE PARCEL FROM HULL
XXX THE PACKET IN THE SAFE
XXXI THE HYDE PARK TEA-HOUSE
XXXII THE CHILVERTON ANTI-CLIMAX
XXXIII THE SMART MISS SLADE
XXXIV MERRIFIELD EXPLAINS
XXXV THE ALLERDYKE WAY
CHAPTER I
THE MIDNIGHT RIDE
About eleven o'clock on the night of Monday, May 12, 1914, Marshall Allerdyke, a bachelor of forty, a man of great mental and physical activity, well known in Bradford as a highly successful manufacturer of dress goods, alighted at the Central Station in that city from an express which had just arrived from Manchester, where he had spent the day on business. He had scarcely set foot on the platform when he was confronted by his chauffeur, a young man in a neat dark-green livery, who took his master's travelling rug in one hand, while with the other he held out an envelope.
"The housekeeper said I was to give you that as soon as you got in, sir," he announced. "There's a telegram in it that came at four o'clock this afternoon--she couldn't send it on, because she didn't know exactly where it would find you in Manchester."
Allerdyke took the envelope, tore it open, drew out the telegram, and stepped beneath the nearest lamp. He muttered the wording of the message--
"On board SS. Perisco
"63 miles N.N.E. Spurn Point, 2.15 p.m., May 12th.
"Expect to reach Hull this evening, and shall stop Station Hotel there for night on way to London. Will you come on at once and meet me? Want to see you on most important business--
"JAMES."
Allerdyke re-read this message, quietly and methodically folded it up, slipped it into his pocket, and with a swift glance at the station clock turned to his chauffeur.
"Gaffney," he said, "how long would it take us to run across to Hull?"
The chauffeur showed no surprise at this question; he had served Allerdyke for three years, and was well accustomed to his ways.
"Hull?" he replied. "Let's see, sir--that 'ud be by way of Leeds, Selby, and Howden. About sixty miles in a straight line, but there's a good bit of in-and-out work after you get past Selby, sir. I should say about four hours."
"Plenty of petrol in the car?" asked Allerdyke, turning down the platform. "There is? What time did you have your supper?"
"Ten o'clock, sir," answered Gaffney, with promptitude.
"Bring the car round to the hotel door in the station yard," commanded Allerdyke. "You'll find a couple of Thermos flasks in the locker--bring them into the hotel lounge bar."
The chauffeur went off down the platform. Allerdyke turned up the covered way to the Great Northern Hotel. When the chauffeur joined him there a few minutes later he was giving orders for a supply of freshly-cut beef sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs; the Thermos flasks he handed over to be filled with hot coffee.
"Better get something to eat now, Gaffney," he said. "Get some sandwiches, or some bread and cheese, or something--it's a longish spin."
He himself, waiting while the chauffeur ate and drank, and the provisions were made ready, took a whisky and soda to a chair by the fire, and once more pulled out and read the telegram. And as he read he wondered why his cousin, its sender, wished so particularly to see him at once. James Allerdyke, a man somewhat younger than himself, like himself a bachelor of ample means and of a similar temperament, had of late years concerned himself greatly with various business speculations in Northern Europe, and especially in Russia. He had just been over to St. Petersburg in order to look after certain of his affairs in and near that city, and he was returning home by way of Stockholm and Christiania, in each of which towns he had other ventures to inspect. But Marshall Allerdyke was quite sure that his cousin did not wish to see him about any of these matters--anything connected with them would have kept until they met in the ordinary way, which would have happened within a day or two. No, if James had taken the trouble to send him a message by wireless from the North Sea, it meant that James was really anxious to see him at the first available moment, and would already have landed in Hull, expecting to find him there. However, with a good car, smooth