Anthony Cade’s infiltration of Hurstmere

Anthony Cade’s infiltration of Hurstmere is a covert reconnaissance that turns abruptly into a trap. Following a lead to a secluded house in Dover, he slips through its grounds, identifies a guard, and enters a room where a battered prisoner lies bound; before he can act, Hiram Fish appears in the doorway with a pistol and orders him to raise his hands. The reversal leaves the would-be intruder under arrest and places Fish, unexpectedly, inside the same dangerous operation.

The Route to Hurstmere

After reaching Dover by train, Anthony leaves the station quickly, then turns back as though he has just remembered something and asks directions to Hurstmere on Langly Road. His slight smile suggests that the destination is deliberate, not a chance detour. The house is at the end of the road, a fact that makes its position easy to locate and its isolation difficult to mistake.

Hurstmere stands well back from the road in overgrown grounds. Its iron gate swings rustily, and the name on the gatepost is nearly obliterated; Anthony judges that the property has been empty for years. The neglected exterior gives the place the appearance of abandonment, but that impression is deceptive. Anthony recognizes its usefulness as a hiding place precisely because it is lonely and screened from ordinary attention.

He checks the deserted road before slipping through the gate and into the drive. At first he pauses to listen. There is no human sound, only yellowing leaves rustling down from above, a small disturbance that briefly startles him. He dismisses the reaction as nerves, then continues. His unease does not make him turn back: the prospect of danger seems instead to bring a familiar elation to his manner.

Signs of a Guarded Headquarters

As the drive curves, Anthony leaves it for the shrubbery, keeping out of sight of the house. He hears a dog barking at a distance, then notices a short, thickset foreign-looking man walking steadily around the building. The man makes a circuit without stopping and disappears from view. Anthony identifies him as a sentry, evidence that Hurstmere is occupied and watched rather than truly deserted.

The sight of the guard changes the character of Anthony’s approach. The quiet grounds and ruined gate had offered concealment; the patrol shows that the house is operating as a defended base. Anthony nevertheless keeps observing from cover. The account establishes his nerve and alertness through practical actions—choosing the shrubbery, watching the circuit, and waiting—rather than through any claim that he knows exactly what lies inside.

The Prisoner in the Room

From somewhere above him, Anthony hears a stifled groan. He looks up and hears it again. With Carlo, the guard, not due to make another circuit immediately, Anthony seizes a heavy Virginia creeper and climbs to a window sill. The window is shut, but he uses a tool from his pocket to force the catch. The groan has turned reconnaissance into an urgent attempt to reach someone in distress.

After listening briefly, Anthony springs into the room. In the dimness he makes out a bed in the far corner and a man lying on it. His pocket torch reveals a pale, emaciated foreign face, the man’s head wrapped in heavy bandages. More decisively, the apparent patient is bound hand and foot. Anthony bends over him to inspect him, but a sound behind him makes him turn, his hand moving toward his coat pocket. The room’s immediate danger is no longer only the prisoner’s condition: Anthony himself has entered an occupied hideout and is exposed.

Fish’s Intervention and the Reversal

A sharp command interrupts Anthony before he can respond. Hiram Fish stands in the doorway, smiling and holding a large blue automatic. He tells Anthony to raise his hands and reveals that he caught the same train from Victoria. Fish’s arrival explains how he has reached Hurstmere at the same moment as Anthony, while his weapon makes plain who controls the room.

The encounter reverses the roles established by Anthony’s stealth. Anthony has crossed the grounds unseen, identified the sentry, and forced a way into the room; yet his entry has not given him control or freedom to help the bound man. Fish’s appearance converts the investigation into a confrontation and leaves Anthony at gunpoint. The episode ends at the arresting command rather than with the prisoner’s identity or fate resolved, carrying its suspense forward while demonstrating that the hidden headquarters has attracted more than one pursuer.