tantaliz (22 page)

Sergeant Ackley made a gesture of emphatic dismissal.

"Beaver," he said, "the man is simply stringing you along this time. He couldn't possibly use these things to connect up this crime. As a matter of fact, we have evidence now which indicates very strongly that the crime was actually committed by three Hindus. We've got a straight tip from a stool pigeon who is covering the Hindu section here."

The spy insisted: "It doesn't make any difference, Sergeant, whether or not Hindus committed the crime. I'm telling you that Lester Leith is serious about this, and that he's going to use these things to work out a solution that will leave
him
in possession of that ruby."

"No," went on Sergeant Ackley, "you have overplayed your hand, Beaver. You went too far trying to get him to take an interest in this crime."

"But," protested the harassed spy, What else could I do? Every time he pulls a job, you come down on him, triumphantly certain that you've cornered him at last, and every time he squirms out of the comer and leaves you holding the sack. As a result, he knows that you have some method of finding out what he is doing all the time. It's a wonder to me that he doesn't suspect me."

"Well," said Sergeant Ackley coldly, "you don't need to wonder any more, Beaver, because he does suspect you. He wouldn't have given you all this line of hooey unless he did."

"If it's hooey," snapped Beaver, "he's spending a lot of money."

"How do you mean?"

Beaver unfolded the morning paper which lay on the sergeant's desk.

"Take a look at the Classified Advertising Section,'' he said.

"Wanted: A young woman of pleasing personality and attractive looks, who has had at least three years experience on the stage in a chorus, preferably in a musical comedy or burlesque. She must have been out of work for at least eight months."

"And here's another one," said Beaver, and he pointed to another ad.

"Wanted: Ambitious young man to learn detective work at my expense. Must be a man who has had no previous experience and who knows nothing of routine police procedure. I want to train a detective who has a fresh outiook, entirely untrammeled by conventional ideas of police routine. All expenses will be paid, in addition to a generous salary. Preferably someone who has recently arrived from a rural community."

Sergeant Ackley sat back in his chair. I'll be—"

"Now, then," said the spy, "if he doesn't intend to do something about that Navin murder, what the devil does he want to go to all this trouble for?"

"It doesn't make sense, Beaver," Ackley said. "No matter how you look at it, it's crazy."

The spy shrugged his shoulders.

"Perhaps," he said, "that's why he's always so successful."

"How do you mean, Beaver?"

"Because his stuff doesn't make sense, Sergeant. It's unconventional and so absolutely unique, there's no precedent to help you."

Sergeant Ackley fished a cigar from his waistcoat pocket

"Beaver," he said, "the real standard of a good detective is his ability to separate the wheat from the chaff. Now, I'm willing to admit that Leith has done some crazy things before, and they've always worked out. But this is once it won't happen."

"Well," said the undercover man, getting to his feet, "you can have it your own way, but I'm willing to bet he's up to something. 111 bet you fifty dollars against that watch that you're so proud of."

Cupidity glittered in Sergeant Ackley's eyes. "Bet me what?"

"Bet you," said Beaver, "that he uses every one of these things to work out a scheme by which he lifts that Indian ruby, and does it all so cleverly that you can't pin anything on him."

Sergeant Ackley's broad hand smacked down on the top of the desk.

"Beaver," he said, "your language verges on insubordination. Just by way of disciplining you, I am going to take that bet. Fifty dollars against my watch.

"However, Beaver, if he is going to use other means to catch that murderer and hijack the ruby, the bet is off. He's got to do it by these particular means."

"That's the bet," said Beaver.

"And you've got to keep me posted as to everything that he's doing, so that if he should use all of the stuff as a smokescreen and try to get the ruby under cover of all this hooey, we can still catch him."

"Certainly," said the undercover man.

Lester Leith smiled urbanely at his valet. "Scuttle," he said, "this is Miss Dixie Dormley, and Mr. Harry Vare. Miss Dormley is a young woman who is doing some special work for me. She has had rather extensive stage experience, but has recently been out of work. In the position that I want her to fill, it will be necessary that she have some rather striking clothes, and I want you to go around with her to the various shops, let her pick out what clothing she desires, and see that it is charged to me."

The valet blinked his eyes.

"Very good, sir," he said. "What is the limit in regard to price, sir?"

"No limit, Scuttle. Also, I have arranged for Miss Dormley to have the apartment next to us, temporarily," said Lester Leith. "She will live there—the one on the left"

"Yes, sir," said the valet.

"And Mr. Harry Vare," said Lester Leith, "is the fortunate young man who has won the free scholarship in my school of deductive reasoning."

The valet stared at Harry Vare.

Vare met that stare with eyes that were hard and appraising. He narrowed the lids and scrutinized the undercover operative as though he were trying to hypnotize the man.

"Harry Vare," said Lester Leith suavely, "is a young man from the country who has recently come to the city in search of some employment which would be worthy of his talents. He felt that he had outgrown the small town in which he lived. He is possessed of that first essential for detective work—an imagination which makes him see an ulterior motive in every action, a crime in every set of circumstances."

The undercover operative was dignified.

"I beg your pardon, sir," he said, "but as I understand it, sir, most of the real detectives are somewhat the other way. They regard it as a business, sir."

Lester Leith shook his head.

"No, Scuttle," he said. "Sergeant Ackley is one of the shrewdest detectives that I know, and you must admit, Scuttle, that he has one of those imaginations which makes him see a crime in everything."

The girl looked from face to face with a twinkle in her eyes. She was a beautiful woman.

"Mr. Vare," said Lester Leith, "will have the apartment on the right—the one adjoining us. He will be domiciled there temporarily, Scuttle."

"Yes, sir," said the valet "May I ask, what are the duties of these persons?"

"Mr. Vare is going to be a detective," said Lester Leith gravely. "He will detect"

"What will he detect?"

"That is the interesting part of having a professional detective about, Scuttle. One never knows what he is going to detect There is Sergeant Ackley, for instance. He detects so many things which seem utterly unreasonable at the time, and then, after mature investigation and reflection, they seem to have an entirely different complexion."

The spy cleared his throat

"And the young lady, sir?"

"Miss Dormley," said Lester Leith, "will engage in dramatic acting upon the stage which was so well described by Shakespeare."

"What stage is that?" asked the undercover man.

"The world," said Lester Leith.

"Very good, sir," the valet said. "And when do I start on this shopping tour?"

"Immediately," said Lester Leith. "And by the way, Scuttle, did you get me the money and the diamond stick-pin?"

The valet opened a box which he took from his pocket

"Yes, sir," he said. "You wanted rather a large diamond with something of a fault in it, something that wasn't too expensive, I believe you said."

"Yes," said Lester Leith. "That's right Scuttle."

"This is sent on approval," said the valet. "The price tag is on the pin, sir."

Lester Leith looked at the diamond pin, and whistled. "Rather a low price, Scuttle," he said.

"Yes, sir," said the valet. "There's quite a flaw in the diamond, although it doesn't appear until you examine it closely."

"And the money?"

"Yes, sir," said the valet, and took from his pocket a sheaf of bank notes.

Lester Leith gravely arranged them so that the fifties were on the outside. Then he rolled them and snapped the roll with an elastic.

Lester Leith turned to Vare.

"Vare," he said, "are you ready to start detecting?"

"I thought I was going to be given a course of instruction," he said.

"You are," said Lester Leith, "but you are going to learn by a new method. You know, they used to teach law by reading out of law books, and then they decided that that wasn't the proper way to give the pupils instruction. They switched to what is known as the case method—that is, Vare, they read cases to them and let the students delve into the reported cases until they found the legal principles which had been applied to the facts."

"Yes, sir," said Vare.

"That is the way you are going to learn detective work," said Lester Leith. "By the case method. Are you ready to start?" Vare nodded.

Lester Leith removed the tiepin from his tie, placed it on the table, and inserted the diamond stick-pin.

"Very well, Vare," he said. "Get your hat and come with me. You are about to receive the first lesson."

There was the usual crowd in front of the ticket windows of the big railroad station. Everywhere there was noise, bustle, and confusion.

"Now," said Lester Leith to Harry Vare, "keep about twenty feet behind me and watch sharply. See if you can find anyone who looks like a crook."

Vare cocked a professional eye at the crowd.

"They all look like crooks," he said.

Lester Leith nodded gravely.

"Vare," he said, "you are showing the true detective instincts. But I want you to pick out someone who looks like a crook we can pin something definite on."

"I don't see exactly what you mean," said Vare.

"You will," said Lester Leith. "Just follow me."

Lester Leith pushed his way through the crowd, with Vare tagging along behind him. From time to time Lester Leith pulled out the roll of bills and counted them, apparently anxious to see that they were safe. Then he snapped the elastic back on the roll and pushed it back in his pocket.

Leith kept in the most congested portions of the big depot.

Twice he was bumped into, and each time by a sad-faced individual with mournful eyes and a drooping mouth.

The man was garbed in a dark suit, and his tie was conservative. Everything about him blended into a single drab personality which would attract no attention.

Finally, Lester Leith walked to a closed ticket window, where there was a little elbow room.

"Well, Vare," he said, "did you see anyone?"

Vare said: "Well, I saw several that looked like crooks, but I couldn't see anyone that I could pick out as being a certain particular crook. That is, I couldn't find any proof."

Lester Leith put his hand in his pocket, and then suddenly jumped backwards.

"Robbed!" he said.

Vare stared at him with sagging jaw.

"Robbed?" he asked.

"Robbed," said Lester Leith. "My money—it's gone!"

He pulled his hand from his trousers pocket, and disclosed a slit which had been cut in the cloth so that the contents of the pocket could be reached from the outside.

"Pickpockets," said Harry Vare.

"And you didn't discover them," Leith said.

Vare fidgeted uneasily.

"There was quite a crowd," he said, "and of course I couldn't see everything." Lester Leith shook his head sadly.

"I can't give you a high mark on the first lesson, Vare," he said. "Now let's take a cab and go home."

"Your tie pin is safe, anyway," said Vare.

Lester Leith gave a sudden start, reached his hand to his tie, and pulled out the diamond scarf-pin.

He looked at the diamond and nodded, then suddenly pointed to the pin.

"Look," he said, "the man tried to take it off with nippers. You can see where they left their mark on the pin. I must have pulled away just as he was doing it, so that he didn't get a chance to get the diamond."

Vare's eyes were large; his face showed consternation.

"Really," said Lester Leith, "you have had two lessons in one, and I can't give you a high mark on either. You should have detected the person who was putting nippers on my pin."

Vare looked crestfallen.

Leith said: "Oh, well, you can't expect to become a first-class detective overnight. That's one of the things that training is for. But we'll go back to the apartment and I'll change my clothes, and you can sit back and concentrate for an hour or two on what you saw, and see if you can remember anything significant"

But a little later Lester Leith returned to the depot—alone. Once more he mingled with the crowd, moving aimlessly about, but this time his eyes were busy scanning the faces of the stream of people.

He noticed the man in the dark suit with the mournful countenance, moving aimlessly about, a newspaper in his hands, his manner that of one who is waiting patiently for a wife who was to have met him an hour ago.

Lester Leith walked behind this man, keeping him in sight.

After some fifteen minutes, Leith shortened the distance between them and tapped the man sharply on the shoulder.

"I want to talk with you," he said.

The man's face changed expression. The look of mournful listlessness vanished, and the eyes became hard and wary. "You ain't got nothing on me." Lester Leith laughed.

"On the contrary," he said, "you have got something of mine on you—a roll of bills with some fifties on the outside and dollar bills in between. Also, you have the scarf-pin which you just nipped from that fat gentleman with the scarlet tie."

The man backed away, and turned as though getting ready to run,

Lester Leith said: Tm not a detective. I just want to talk with you. In fact, I want to employ you."

The pickpocket looked at him with eyes that were wide with surprise.