Chapter NINETEEN

From the unfathomed depths where lies the mythical locker of Davey Jones, the pirate came back to renew his depreciations over the clear expanse of the Pacific Ocean. His return was more than astonishing, it was cataclysmic. It took the world completely by surprise and left it aghast, helpless, but still infuriated.

What manner of man was this who could so easily flout the power of organized government and laugh at its efforts against him? What hidden powers did he possess that made him invincible in the struggle with a whole world risen in anger against him?

There was no doubt about the pirate possessing some remarkable secret. The unprecedented incidents in his meteoric career of crime amply proved this. How could he be dealt with and brought within the power of the law? That was the problem that had to be solved. It was evident that the steps had already been taken against him had proven woefully inadequate.

The new situation resulted in numerous conferences among the various leading government officers. It was complicated by the fact that most of the squadrons which had been established on the various Pacific islands to aid in hunting down the pirate had been disbanded and returned to their bases in the United States after Fitzgerald had reported the supposed death of the pirate. Now there were but two squadrons left in the Pacific waters that were at all adequate to cope with the murderer, and these lacked sufficient speed to make any impression against him.

It was about this time, however, when the problem appeared to be impossible of solution that something occurred which gave the government officers a new line to follow in their action against the pirate. It came as the result of part of the program adopted at the conference held in Washington immediately after the pirate had made his first appearance so memorable by destroying the airship Langley. At this conference George Cowl, Secretary of the Department of Air, had suggested that careful investigation should be made to discover whether any aircraft manufacturer had received orders to build the machine and also if possible to discover the mode of transportation to the Pacific. This, he thought, might help in the task of locating the pirate’s base.

The proposal had been adopted, and operatives were assigned to running down every available clue, under the command of Captain Charles J. Somers, chief of the Secret Service.

Now after many months of intensive work, the first fruits of the investigation became apparent, and Captain Somers was able to render a preliminary report. His men had been divided into two sections, the first detailed to make a thorough canvass of the aircraft manufacturing companies, and the other to trace the movements of the pirate in the Pacific prior to the establishment of his base.

The canvass of the aircraft companies had disclosed the fact that about eighteen months previous to the advent of the pirate over the Pacific Ocean, a series of orders had been placed with different manufacturers for airplane parts of special design. The specifications of each part were included with the order, and in each case instructions were given to make delivery to a warehouse in San Francisco upon completion. By careful reconstruction, based upon these reports, it was found that the parts fitted together into a flying boat that corresponded in a general way to the descriptions given by those officers who had encountered the pirate.

There was this important point, however, the theoretical machine constructed from the details thus gathered had several important parts missing. Also the closest inquiry failed to produce any knowledge or information regarding the engine. At that point the investigation came to an abrupt halt. An examination of the various parts and the specifications merely showed the pirate had constructed a cabin airplane of sheet tungsten-steel with retractible wings. The wings were so arranged that they folded closely up to the side of the fuselage, in collapsible style, when the machine was not in flight. A locking device kept them rigid in flight.

Moreover, the most peculiar thing about the theoretical machine was the fact that there was no apparent provision made for the emplacement of the engine or engines which the pirate used to give his actual machine its prodigious speed. In the trailing edge of the wings, however, there were two fairly large circular holes that could be used as housings for the propeller shafts.

The second detail of operatives had picked up the trail in San Francisco from the address to which the airplane parts had been delivered. Weeks of detailed investigation had followed. Then by carefully dovetailing together the facts obtained, the secret service men were enabled to construct the story of the pirate’s movements immediately preceding his advent over the Pacific airways. In outline the story was as follows:

In April, 1952, four men arrived at the warehouse in San Francisco and took charge of the large cases that had been delivered there. A tall, slim, dark man, was apparently the leader of the party, for it was he who gave all the instructions for delivering the cases which were addressed to him under the name of Joseph W. Devant. As soon as he had checked up the number of cases he had them re-labelled, then he told the warehousemen to have them shipped as freight in his name to Honolulu on the steamship Chosen Maru, which sailed the same week.

Carrying the investigation further, it was discovered that this man Devant and his three companions were passengers on the Pacific mail steamship Nippon which sailed for the East from San Francisco on the last Saturday of April. They took with them as baggage several large cases that were heavily insured. These cases were marked with complete instructions regarding the manner in which they were to be handled, and bore bigger labels upon which was inscribed in large letters: “Scientific apparatus. Handle with care.”

Picked up from this point the story showed that during the voyage of the Nippon Devant in casual conversation with the officers of the ship, had declared that he was on a scientific expedition that was about to engage in meteorological investigation in the various Pacific islands.

Upon arrival in Honolulu the cases from the two ships, the Chosen Maru having arrived a few days previously, were stored away, and Devant went around the port in search of a suitable schooner. A few days after his arrival he bought the 500 ton schooner Hilo and signed up the Kanaka crew that had been aboard her. The cases were then placed aboard from the storage warehouse, and the schooner sailed away with Devant and his white companions acting as navigators. They did not comply with the port regulations before leaving, and there was no record of their intended destination.

From this point all traces of the expedition vanished. It had already been listed as a total loss. The schooner Hilo had not put into any known port or island, nor had it been sighted by any other craft.

Such was the report of Captain Somers, which he delivered to Secretary Cowl shortly after the pirate had made his dramatic return to the Pacific airways. Cowl read it over very carefully several times and asked Somers a number of questions in connection with it. Then after further consideration he said:

“There is no doubt in my mind that Devant is the pirate. Did you get any line on him personally?”

“No”, replied Somers, “The name Devant is undoubtedly an alias, but we were unable to get any further information about him.”

“Well,” added Cowl, “your investigation is conclusive, to say the least. The cases undoubtedly contained his airplane, while the other cases then he took with him the Nippon probably contained the parts for his engines and other apparatus he had designed or needed.”

“That’s my opinion, too,” agreed Somers, “We tried to learn something about his ancestry, but so far have not met with any success. I have told our men in the Pacific to continue their investigation into the movements of the schooner Hilo, in the hope that we might get some trace of her. Meanwhile the men in this country are following up their investigation by making inquiries at the place from which Devant sent his orders to the aircraft manufacturers. In this way we hope to get a line on his antecedents. I have issued explicit instructions to my men not to pass up a single chance, no matter how unimportant it may seem to them.”