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Page 8
One who had blundered from Whitechapel into the Khan Khalil, who
had been transported upon a magic carpet from a tube station to
the Taj Mahal, or dropped suddenly upon Lebanon hills to find
himself looking down upon the pearly domes and jewelled gardens
of Damascus, could not well have been more surprised. This great
treasure-house of old Huang Chow was one of Chinatown's secrets--
a secret shared only by those whose commercial interests were
identical with the interests of Huang Chow.
The place was artificially lighted by lamps which themselves were
beautiful objects of art, and which swung from the massive beams
of the ceiling. The floor of the warehouse, which was partly of
stone, was covered with thick matting, and spread upon it were
rugs and carpets of Karadagh, Kermanshah, Sultan-abad, and
Khorassan, with lesser-known loomings of almost equal beauty.
Skins of rare beasts overlay the divans. Furniture of ivory, of
ebony and lemonwood, preciously inlaid, gave to the place an air
of cunning confusion. There were tall cabinets, there were
caskets and chests of exquisite lacquer and enamel, loot of an
emperor's palace; robes heavy with gold; slippers studded with
jewels; strange carven ivories; glittering weapons; pots, jars,
and bowls, as delicate and as fragile as the petals of a lily.
Last, but not least, sitting cross-legged upon a low couch, was
old Huang Chow, smoking a great curved pipe, and peering half
blindly across the place through large horn-rimmed spectacles.
This couch was set immediately beside a wide ascending staircase,
richly carpeted, and on the other side of the staircase, in a
corresponding recess, upon a gilded trestle carved to represent
the four claws of a dragon, rested perhaps the strangest exhibit
of that strange collection--a Chinese coffin of exquisite
workmanship.
The boy retired, and Mr. Hampden found himself alone with Huang
Chow. No word had been exchanged between master and servant,
but:
"Good morning, Mr. Hampden," said the Chinaman in a high, thin
voice. "Please be seated. It is from Mr. Isaacs you come?"
IV
PERSONAL REPORT OF DETECTIVE JOHN DURHAM TO
CHIEF INSPECTOR KERRY, OFFICER IN CHARGE OF
LIMEHOUSE INQUIRY
Dear Chief Inspector,--Following your instructions I returned and
interviewed the prisoner Poland in his cell. I took the line
which you had suggested, pointing out to him that he had nothing
to gain and everything to lose by keeping silent.
"Answer my questions," I said, "and you can walk straight out.
Otherwise, you'll be up before the magistrate, and on your record
alone it will mean a holiday which you probably don't want."
He was very truculent, but I got him in a good humour at last,
and he admitted that he had been cooperating with the dead man,
Cohen, in an attempt to burgle the house of Huang Chow. His
reluctance to go into details seemed to be due rather to fear of
Huang Chow than to fear of the law, and I presently gathered that
he regarded Huang as responsible for the death not only of Cohen,
but also of the Chinaman who was hauled out of the river about
three weeks ago, as you well remember. The post-mortem showed
that he had died of some kind of poisoning, and when we saw Cohen
in the mortuary, his swollen appearance struck me as being very
similar to that of the Chinaman. (See my report dated 31st
ultimo.)
He finally agreed to talk if I would promise that he should not
be charged and that his name should never be mentioned to anyone
in connection with what he might tell me. I promised him that
outside the ordinary official routine I would respect his
request, and he told me some very curious things, which no doubt
have a bearing on the case.
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