P.-C. Lee: Complete Series (ALL 24 Detective Stories in One Volume). Edgar Wallace

all that money?’

      “‘If you please, sir—’ she began in a quavering voice.

      “‘Don’t give us so much of it,’ warned Flynn. ‘Hand over the brass.’

      “‘You wouldn’t rob an old woman,’ said old Mrs. Pilking.

      “‘Wouldn’t I?’ says Flynn. ‘That shows what a fat lot you know. Hand over!’

      “With that Flynn made to catch hold of her an’ then a curious thing happened, for she struck out in a wild way an’ caught Flynn under the jaw, an’ down he went.

      “‘Oh dear, oh dear!’ says the poor old lady, ‘I do hope I haven’t hurt you, sir.’

      “‘Hurt me!’ growls Flynn, pickin’ himself up. ‘I’ll kill you for that.’

      “‘Help!’ screams the old lady, weakly startin’ to run, an’ along comes Flynn after her. In the darkest part of the mews she turns again.

      “‘Don’t hurt me,’ she begs.

      “‘I’ll break every bone in your body,’ roars Flynn, and came at her.

      “It must have been the most remarkable accident in the world, for just as Flynn reached her she threw out her hands to ward off his blow an’ caught him another terrible whack — an’ down he went again. He got up this time a bit dazed.

      “‘Please, sir, have I hurt you?’ she says anxiously, but Flynn wasn’t in a mood for conversation. He contented himself with cursin’ her an’ sayin’ what he would do to her an’ the old lady, after holdin’ her hands to her ears as if to shut out Mr. Flynn’s horrid conversation, started amblin’ away as fast as she could.

      “Flynn didn’t follow her. He’d been hurt. This was the first time he’d ever handled a woman as awkward as oh Mrs. Pilking. Other ladies he had hit hadn’t put up their hands to protect themselves, an’ old Mrs. Pilking’s carelessness had nearly dislocated his jaw.

      “Although he was frightened that she might get nervous an’ avoid that locality in the future, he took the risk of waitin’ for her another night. They brought me the news but I took no notice. Curiously enough, I was quite confident that old Mrs. Pilking could look after herself. Not even when I got the tip that Flynn was gatherin’ two of his brightest pals to assist in the ceremony. I’m a great believer in lettin’ certain kinds of trouble work themselves out their own way.

      “I knew that they were watchin’ for the old lady an’ that Jack ‘Snippy’ was in it, an’’Pig’ Rawsons. I mentioned the matter in a confidential way to P.C. Sankey, an’ he was a bit alarmed.

      “‘They’ll kill the poor old woman,’ he said, but I told him all that I knew about her, an’ that quietened him down.

      “That night it rained, an’ was the very kind of evening for such a job as Flynn set out upon. Him an’ his pals spotted the old lady in Ladbroke Grove an’ followed her. She went under the railway arch, turned round in the direction of the Scrubs, an’ they followed. They themselves didn’t dare to hope that she’d go on to the Scrubs but to their delight she did, goin’ up by the pathway an’ striking across to the loneliest part. Just before she left the main road she was joined by another old lady.

      “‘There’s two of ‘em,’ says Flynn to his pals. ‘I’ll bet they’ve both got money — we’re in luck, Pig!’

      “Even Flynn could see what a mad thing the old woman was doing crossing that patch of deserted land — an’ Wormwood Scrubs are deserted on such a night as this. The men let them get well away out of earshot of anybody who happened to be on the road.

      “‘We’ll get ’em before they reach the jug,’ says Flynn, for he knew that outside the prison wall is a constable on point duty. At a word from Flynn the three broke into a run, an’ the two old women turned an’ huddled together.

      “‘Ah!’ says Flynn, very jubilant. ‘Here we are! Now then, turn over that money.’

      “‘Have mercy on two poor old women,’ whined Mrs. Pilking.

      “‘I’ll mercy you.’ says Flynn between his teeth. ‘At ‘em, boys!’

      “The three jumped forward together. Pig Rawsons went down with a punch on the jaw, an’ Snippy went over all of a heap, an ‘then Mrs. Pilking reached out an’ aught Flynn by the throat. ‘Don’t hurt me,’ she says, shakin’ him like a rat. ‘Don’t harm a poor old woman, you wife-beatin’ thief!’

      “‘Let go,’ gasped Flynn.

      “‘Don’t injure an unprotected female,’ says old Mrs. Pilking, throwin’ him down an’ bangin’ his head on the muddy ground, ‘who’s over eighty,’ she says, smackin’ his head till his teeth rattled.

      “‘For the Lord’s sake, missus, let me get up,’ begged Flynn.

      “‘Let you get up,’ says Mrs. Pilking, ‘an’ me in terror of my life. Not me,’ she says, kneeling on his chest, ‘I’m afraid to.’

      “Just then Snippy came back to life with a groan, an’ the other old lady kicked him to his feet.

      “‘Get out of this!’ she says, an’ Snippy got up.

      “Then Pig got up, a bit shaky, an’ was turned loose with a belt on his head that didn’t do him any good at all.

      “Suddenly Flynn looked up at Mrs. Pilking with a gasp. Her grey wig had got a bit crooked, an’ in the faint light, such as it was, he could see her face.

      “‘Let me get up,’ he says sulkily. ‘It’s a fair cop, P.C. Lee — I ought to have known you didn’t shave off your dashed beard for nothin’. Who’s the other blighter — Sankey?’

      “‘That’s me,’ says P.C. Sankey, taking off his skirt.”