For a minute I stood absolutely still. It was one of the most eerie moments of my life. Above and about us the black night, beside us the two cars coughing and grunting as if anxious to be moving, and that silent figure sitting up erect upon his seat, utterly unconscious of the two persons standing watching him with horror-stricken faces.

Forrest's voice, clear, cool, incisive, brought me to myself.

"One of your lamps here, Sutgrove, if you can manage it."

I took a lamp from its socket, and held it while the detective made a brief inspection. It took him a very short time to a.s.sure him that his surmise was near the truth.

It was murder.

Right in the centre of the forehead of the silent figure was a small blue hole, so cleanly drilled that it scarcely marred the features of the dead man. One hand still grasped the lever, the other had dropped slightly. When the light fell upon it, I perceived the fingers to be tightly clasped about the b.u.t.t of a revolver.

Forrest lifted the hand and glanced at the weapon. "One cartridge discharged," he said. "Surely it cannot be a case of suicide?"

Just at that moment I caught sight of a piece of paper pinned to the dead man's coat. I pointed it out to Forrest. He unfolded it, glanced at it, and handed it to me without a word.

It was just a half sheet of ordinary paper used for typing, and upon it was typed the following sentence--

"This is the fate awaiting those who venture to resist the Motor Pirate."

"That would seem to settle the question as to whether this is a case of suicide or not," I said, handing back the paper to the inspector.

"H'm! At all events the inquest will," he replied. "I'm afraid in any case this ends our pursuit for the night," he continued. "I think I must ask you to run on to the nearest town for a.s.sistance. Have you any idea of our whereabouts?"

By calculating the time which had elapsed since leaving Stratford with the pace at which we had been travelling, I came to the conclusion we were not very far from Towcester, and I suggested I had better go there.

"All right; cut along then. Revolver handy?"

I replied in the affirmative as I mounted my car.

"Wait one moment," he called as I was starting; "and bring your light on a bit."

I did as I was directed. Forrest took one of the lamps and walked for five yards up the road, examining carefully every inch of the roadway.

At last he paused.

"Here is where the Pirate's motor stopped," he said; and, plumping down upon his knees, he examined the surface carefully. Then, taking a tape from his pocket, he made a series of measurements.

I inquired what he was doing. He grunted in reply. When he had finished he remarked--

"Nothing much to be got out of that. Judging from my measurements, our friend might be driving a Daimler."

Another thought struck him, and, before starting, he asked me to lend him a hand in getting the other car to the side of the road, in case any one else came along and fell upon the fate we had so narrowly escaped.

Then I was at liberty to proceed, and, getting once more into my own vehicle, I let the Mercedes drive ahead.

But my nerve had gone. Every moment I fancied weird shapes in the blackness before me. Every moment I heard in my ears the strange humming of the Pirate. Yet I dared not look round, lest I should in that instant come upon him unawares in the shadows in front.

Fortunately I had no long distance to traverse. Soon friendly lights broke the darkness. Slackening pace, I found myself in the well-ordered streets of a little town. The second person I met was a policeman, and, hailing him, I bade him jump on the car and direct me to the police-station. Nothing loth, he obeyed.

I have an idea that the story I told the sergeant in charge was more than a little incoherent, but he understood me sufficiently to become aware that his presence was required immediately at the scene of a crime, and he gave me to understand that he was ready to accompany me forthwith. Then I remembered Forrest asking me to see that the services of a medical man were obtained, in order that he might make an examination of the body before its removal, and I mentioned the matter to the sergeant. He at once gave instructions to the constable who had guided me to the station to knock up a doctor and follow us at once with him, so there was very little delay before I was once more driving my car at full speed towards the scene of the tragedy.

By this time my nerve had returned. One reason may have been that I had taken advantage of the slight delay, occasioned by the sergeant giving instructions to his subordinate, to brace myself with a stiff whisky-and-soda from the small supply I carried on the car for emergencies. Now, too, I had the companionship of another able-bodied man on the car with me. I felt that, even if the mysterious murderer were to make his appearance, I should have a better chance of tackling him.

We were not long in reaching our destination. In fact a very few minutes elapsed before we came to the spot where the motor-car stood, with the rigid figure of its owner still in the position I had left him. I pulled up beside the derelict.

"Hallo, Forrest!" I shouted.

There was no answer. The detective had disappeared.

CHAPTER IX

EXPLAINS A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE

I SPRANG to the ground by the side of the death-car. It was standing by the side of the road, just as I had left it, its silent owner sitting rigidly erect, still grasping the lever, and looking fixedly into the darkness.

"Forrest! Forrest!" I shouted again.

All was silent as the grave.

It was very strange. He had promised to await my return. I looked at my watch. Altogether half an hour had not elapsed since my departure. Yet many things might happen in half an hour with such a spirit of death abroad as I knew to be hovering around. I shivered.

The police sergeant was as much bewildered at Forrest's disappearance as myself. On our way, I had explained more fully the circ.u.mstances under which we had discovered the crime which had been committed. He knew my companion by name and reputation, and he was quite at a loss to explain his absence.

I scanned the road so far as it was revealed by our lights, half expecting yet dreading to see his prostrate form. But there was nothing visible. Each taking a lamp from my car, the sergeant and I set out to search the hedges and ditches on each side of the road. We did so conscientiously for a hundred yards up and down the road, and on each side, but found nothing.

When we got back to the car, the sergeant said to me--

"Perhaps Mr. Forrest has found a clue, and thought he would waste no time in following it up."

The suggestion seemed feasible enough, but just at that moment my glance fell on something at my feet which put the idea to flight. Lying on the road was a large b.u.t.ton. I picked it up. I saw at once that it had been torn violently away from the garment to which it had been attached, for a piece of the cloth had come away with it, I looked at it narrowly--the cloth was of the same material as the overcoat Forrest had been wearing.

The b.u.t.ton had been almost under the wheels of my car, so I backed the Mercedes a few yards, and looked about for further traces. In the s.p.a.ce thus laid bare there lay a lamp smashed to pieces. I picked up the frame, and saw that it was one of the lamps taken from the other motor.

Further search only revealed another b.u.t.ton similarly attached to a shred of cloth like the first one I had found. That was all.

The sergeant looked at me and I at him. One thought was in both our minds, and we gave utterance to it simultaneously.

"The Motor Pirate has been back again."

"You must have scared him away the first time, and on his return to complete the job he found the inspector here, and----"

The sergeant did not complete his sentence, but glanced apprehensively up and down the road.

"If he has returned, I don't see what he can have done with Forrest," I replied.

"Heaven knows!" the man replied, involuntarily lowering his voice. "I--I begin to believe that this Motor Pirate is--is the Devil."