Read Elk 01 The Fellowship of the Frog for Free Online Page A

the doorway. In his hand was a long-barrelled Browning, and it covered the detective’s heart.
    “Put up your hands,” he said sharply. Then he stopped and stared at the detective.
    Elk returned the gaze, speechless; for the elegantly dressed man who stood there was the hawk-faced pedlar he had seen in Whitehall!
    The American was the first to recover. Not a muscle of his face moved, but Elk saw again that light of amusement in his eyes as he stepped back and opened the door still wider. “Come right in, Mr. Elk,” he said, and, to the amazed lift-man: “It’s all right, Worth. I was practising a little joke on Mr. Elk.”
    He closed the door behind him, and with a gesture beckoned the detective into a prettily furnished drawing-room. Elk went in, leaving the matter of the frog on the door for discussion later.
    “We’re quite alone, Mr. Elk, so you needn’t lower your voice when you talk of my indiscretions. Will you smoke a cigar?”
    Elk stretched out his fingers mechanically and selected a big Cabana.
    “Unless I’m greatly mistaken, I saw you this morning,” he began.
    “You weren’t mistaken at all,” interrupted the other coolly. “You saw me on Whitehall. I was peddling key-rings. My name is Joshua Broad. You haven’t anything on me for trading in a false name.”
    The detective lit his cigar before he spoke.
    “This apartment must cost you a whole lot to keep up,” he said slowly, “and I don’t blame you for trying to earn something on the side. But it seems to me that peddling key-rings is a very poor proposition for a first-class business man.”
    Joshua Broad nodded.
    “I haven’t made a million out of that business,” he said, “but it amuses me, Mr. Elk. I am something of a philosopher.”
    He lit a cigar and settled himself comfortably in a deep, chintz-covered armchair, his legs crossed, the picture of contentment.
    “As an American, I am interested in social problems, and I have found that the best way to understand the very poor of any country is to get right down amongst them.”
    His tone was easy, apologetic, but quite self-possessed.
    “I think I forestalled any question on your part as to whether I had a licence in my own name, by telling you that had.”
    Elk settled his glasses more firmly on his nose, and his eyes strayed to Mr. Broad’s pocket, whither the pistol had returned.
    “This is a pretty free country,” he said in his deliberate way, “and a man can peddle key-rings, even if he’s a member of the House of Lords. But one thing he mustn’t do, Mr. Broad, is to stick firearms under the noses of respectable policemen.”
    Broad chuckled.
    “I’m afraid I was a little rattled,” he said. “But the truth is, I’ve been waiting for the greater part of an hour, expecting somebody to come to my door, and when I heard your stealthy footsteps”—he shrugged—“it was a fool mistake for a grown man to make,” he said, “and I guess I’m feeling as badly about it as you would have me feel.”
    The unwavering eyes of Mr. Elk did not leave his face.
    “I won’t insult your intelligence by asking you if you were expecting a friend,” he said. “But I should like to know the name of the other guest.”
    “So should I,” said the other, “and so would a whole lot of people.”
    He reached out his hand to flick the ash from his cigar, looking at Elk thoughtfully the while.
    “I was expecting a man who has every reason to be very much afraid of me,” he said. “His name is—well, it doesn’t matter, and I’ve only met him once in my life, and then I didn’t see his face.”
    “And you beat him up?” suggested Elk.
    The other man laughed.
    “I didn’t even beat him up. In fact, I behaved most generously to him,” he said quietly. “I was not with him more than five minutes, in a darkened room, the only light being a lantern which was on the table. And I guess that’s about all I can tell you, Inspector.”
    “Sergeant,” murmured Elk.