Word reached Labar at the end of the search that a suspicious yacht had been picked up by H.M. destroyer Hawk off Dungeness and had been escorted to Dover. Everything had been found in order aboard her, but that her owner’s name was given as Hughes. The crew were remaining on board under guard, until such time as someone from Scotland Yard should look them over. This was a business in which he promptly enlisted the services of Moreland, who departed with one of his sergeants in a motor car with a promise to return at the earliest possible moment. The news that the motor boat which had put out from Camber had broken down ere it reached its destination was now of trifling interest.
Satisfied, after a couple of hours, that the likelihood of picking up Larry immediately was remote, Labar returned to Mope’s Bottom with Malone and two or three more men from the Yard to make a systematic and complete rummage of the tunnel.
He was not altogether surprised to find that the Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department, and Winter the Chief Constable, were there to greet him. They had run down by car—a little too late for the fair as Winter expressed it.
They listened as he gave a short account of the events of the day, and Winter chuckled as Labar told how he had fallen into Larry’s trap and extricated himself.
“You came close to making a hash of it, young feller. You wouldn’t have any sympathy from me if you were a corpse right now. You’re too darned impetuous. I’ve told you so before. Besides, what business had you running things on your own? You’re an outsider in this district. You might have paid the local officers the compliment of consulting them before you dashed off on this stunt. You didn’t even have the excuse that Miss Noelson was still here.”
“I agree, sir,” said Labar with the complacency of a man who felt that results had justified him. “I was wrong.”
“Well, don’t let it happen again, that’s all. Running round bossing everybody just as if you were Home Secretary, instead of a chief detective inspector.”
Labar lifted his eyebrows. “I beg your pardon, sir.”
The Assistant Commissioner broke in. “That’s Winter’s way of keeping you humble, Mr. Labar. It’s quite true that you are promoted. It will be in orders this week.”
“Can’t trust you in a division,” snorted Winter. “Want to have you under my own eye at the Yard. I’ll see that you work.” He broke off abruptly with a comment on the escape of Larry Hughes and thus sidetracked any attempt at thanks on the part of Labar and brought him back to the business in hand.
The two Yard chiefs elected to take a hand in the search of the tunnel. “How did it come about that you thought of a back door?” asked the Assistant Commissioner.
“Just put two and two together. Miss Noelson told me that there were times when one or more of the gang would disappear from the house and she was sure that they had not gone out by the gate. Looked a possible explanation of many things, especially the way that stolen goods were got out of the country. So I made up my mind to look for a tunnel—particularly one that led from Larry’s private room.”
Inch by inch with the help of torches they went over the tunnel. It was clear that it had been enlarged and shored up since the old days of the smugglers. Once admitting the possibility of getting material, it was simple to understand that Larry would be in no difficulty in obtaining labour. He himself had a reputation as a craftsman, and there were several among those who were under his sway who were skilled in many directions. The steel sliding doors were examined by Winter with an expert eye. They were miracles of ingenuity, although they had failed in their evident purpose as a safeguard in cases of emergency.
The walls of the tunnel room were lined with strong steel boxes, the majority of which were unlocked. These had clearly been used for the temporary disposal of stolen property, until it could be embarked on Larry’s yacht. Suitcases and handbags of various types were standing about and an investigation of these showed that these had been packed with the most portable and valuable of the goods from the lockers.
The Assistant Commissioner applied a match to his pipe. “As a small boy one of my most determined dreams was to see an Aladdin’s cave some day. Now I know what it would look like.”
“There were forty thieves in that business,” said Winter. “Larry seems to have resurrected the whole gang.”
They carried the loot back into the house where a more precise examination of the contents of the bags could be made, and a detailed list written out. A very few minutes sufficed to show that they had retrieved, not only practically the whole of the stuff stolen from Streetly House, but articles which were part of the proceeds of many other robberies. The detectives had at hand no descriptions, but their memories aided them to identify many things with certainty. Here was thrown light on many affairs that had been brought off in Labar’s division, and which had caused him many uneasy moments.
“There’s pretty well all the evidence you want,” said Winter. “All that you need now is to lay hands on Larry. It’s an open-and-shut case against him and his people.”
Labar glanced at his watch. “We’ll need an expert with proper tools to open up the other locked steel boxes,” he said. “Apart from that Mr. Malone might take charge here now. I want to get away to Lydd to see about
