June 27, 2023 • 28 mins
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Espionage adventures, Covert operations, Thrilling missions, International intrigue, Spy thriller, Government agents, Undercover work, Secret intelligence, Political espionage, Intriguing conspiracies, High-stakes espionage, Intelligence gathering, Hidden identities, Espionage secrets, Political thrillers, Spy network, Secret missions, Classified operations, Intrigue and suspense, Government secrets
Espionage adventures, Covert operations, Thrilling missions, International intrigue, Spy thriller, Government agents, Undercover work, Secret intelligence, Political espionage, Intriguing conspiracies, High-stakes espionage, Intelligence gathering, Hidden identities, Espionage secrets, Political thrillers, Spy network, Secret missions, Classified operations, Intrigue and suspense, Government secrets
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Chapter sixteen. After seven years,Bill Quinn was disgusted. Some one evidently
afflicted with an in growing sense ofhumor, had sent him the prospectus of
a school which professed to be ableto teach budding aspirants the art of becoming
a successful detective for the sum oftwenty five dollars. And Quinn couldn't appreciate
(00:25):
the humor. How to become adetective in ten lessons? He snorted,
It only takes one for the manwho's got the right stuff in him,
and the man that hasn't better stayout of the game altogether. Well,
I retorted, anxious to stir upany kind of an argument that might lead
(00:46):
to one of Quinn's tales about theexploits of Uncle Sam sleuths. Just what
does it take to make a detective? It was a moment or two before
Quinn replied, Then there are onlythree qualities necessary, he replied, common
sense, the power of observation,and perseverance. Given these three, with
(01:11):
possibly a dash of luck thrown infor good measure, and you'll have a
crime expert who could stand the heroesof fiction on their heads. Take Larry
Simmons, for example. No Onewould ever have accused him of having the
qualifications of a detective any more thanthey would have suspected him of being one.
(01:33):
But Larry drew a good sized salaryfrom the Bureau of Pensions because he
possessed the three qualities I mentioned.He had the common sense of a physician,
the observation of a trained newspaper reporter, and the perseverance of a bulldog.
Once he sunk his teeth in aproblem, he never let loose,
(01:55):
which was the reason that very fewpeople ever put anything over on the Engine
Bureau as long as Larry was onthe job. That cap up there,
and Quinn pointed to a stained anddilapidated bit of headgear which hung upon the
wall of his den is, amemento of one of Simmons's cases. The
man who bought it would tell youthat I'm dead right when I say that
(02:20):
Larry was persevering. That's putting itmildly. Quite a while back, continued
Quinn, picking up the thread ofhis story. There was a man out
in Saint Joseph, Missouri named DaveHolden. No one appeared to know where
he came from, and as heconducted himself quietly and didn't mix in with
(02:43):
his neighbor's affairs. No one caredvery much. Holden hadn't been in town
more than a couple of weeks whenone of the older inhabitants happened to inquire
if he were any kin to OldDave Holden, who had died only a
year or two before. No said, Holden, I don't believe I am.
(03:05):
My folks all came from Ohio,and I understand that this Holden was
a Missourian. That's right, agreedthe other. And a queer character too.
Guess he was pretty nigh the onlyman that fought on the Union side
in the Civil War that didn't stickthe government for a pension. Had it
(03:25):
coming to him too, because hewas a captain when the war ended,
But he always said he didn't considerthat Uncle Sam owed him anything for doing
his duty. Spite of the protestof his friends, Dave wouldn't ever sign
a pension blank either. A fewmore questions, carefully directed gave Holden the
(03:47):
history of his namesake, and thatnight he'd lay awake trying to figure out
whether the plan which had popped intohis head was safe. It promised some
easy money, but there was theelement of risk to be considered. After
all, he concluded, I won'tbe doing anything that isn't strictly within the
(04:09):
law. My name is David Holden, just as the old man's was.
The worst that they can do isturned down the application. I won't be
committing forgery or anything of the kind. And maybe it'll slip through, which
would mean a pile of money,because they'll kick in with all that accumulated
(04:30):
during the past fifty years. Soit was that, in the course of
time, an application was filed atthe Bureau of Pensions in Washington for a
pension due David Holden of Saint Joseph, Missouri, who had fought in the
Civil War with the rank of captain. But when the application had been sent
(04:51):
over to the War Department so thatit might be compared with the records on
file there, it came back withthe red ink notation that Captain David Holden
had died two years before, givingthe precise date of his demise as evidence.
The moment that the document reached thedesk of the Supervisor of Pensions,
(05:15):
he pressed one of the little pearlbuttons in front of him and asked that
Larry Simmons be sent in. WhenLarry arrived, the chief handed him the
application without a word. Right,I'll look into this, said Larry,
folding the paper and slipping it intothe pocket of his coat. Look into
(05:36):
it, echoed the supervisor. You'lldo more than that. You'll locate this
man Holden or whatever his right nameis, and see that he gets all
that's coming to him. There've beentoo many of these cases lately. Apparently
people think that all they have todo is to file an application for a
(05:58):
pension and then go off and spendthe money, catch the first train for
Saint Joe and wire me. Whenyou've landed your man, the district attorney
will attend to the rest of thematter. The location of David Holden,
as Simmons found, was not thesimplest of jobs. The pension applicant,
(06:20):
being comparatively a newcomer, was notwell known in town, and Simmons finally
had to fall back upon the expedientof watching the post office box which Holden
had given as his address, framinga dummy letter so that the suspect might
not think that he was being watched. Holden, however, had rented the
(06:44):
box for the sole purpose of receivingmail from the pension Bureau. He had
given the number to no one else, and the fact that the box contained
what appeared to be an advertisement froma clothing store made him stop and wonder.
By that time, however, Simmonshad him well in sight and followed
(07:04):
him to the boarding house on theoutskirts of the town where he was staying
that evening. While he was stillwondering at the enterprise of a store that
could obtain a Post office box numberfrom a government bureau at Washington, the
solution of the mystery came to himin a decidedly unexpected manner. The house
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in which Holden was staying was oldfashioned, one of the kind that are
heated theoretically, at least by registersopen gratings in the wall. Holden's room
was directly over the parlor on thefirst floor, and the shaft which carried
the hot air made an excellent soundtransmitter. So it happened that Simmons,
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after having made a number of inquiriesaround town about the original Dave Holden,
called at the boarding house that nightto discover what the landlady knew about the
other man of the same name.Who was seated in the room above.
Suddenly, like a voice from nowhere, came the statement, in a high
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pitched feminine voice, I really don'tknow anything about him at all. Mister
Holden came here about six weeks agoand asked me to take him in to
board. He seemed to be avery nice, quiet gentleman who was willing
to pay his rent in advance,so I let him have one of the
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best rooms in the house. Atthe mention of his name, Holden listened
intently. Who was inquiring about him? And why there was only a confused
mumble apparently a man's reply, pitchedin a low tone, And then the
voice of the landlady again came clearlythrough the register. Oh, I'm sure
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he wouldn't do anything like that,mister Holden is. But that was all
that the pension applicant waited for.Moving with the rapidity of a frightened animal,
he secured one or two articles ofvalue from his dresser, crammed a
hat into his pocket, slipped ona raincoat, and vaulted out of the
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window, alighting on the sloping roofof a shed just below. Before he
had quitted the room, however,he had caught the words arrest on a
charge of attempting to obtain money underfalse pretenses. Some two minutes later there
was a knock on his door anda voice demanded admittance. There was no
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reply again, the demand followed bya rattling of the door knob and a
tentative shake of the door. Inall, it was probably less than five
minutes after Larry Simmons had entered theparlor. Before he had burst in the
door of Holden's room, but thebird had flown and the open window pointed
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to the direction of his flight.Unfortunately for the operative, the night was
dark and the fugitive was decidedly morefamiliar with the surrounding country than Larry was.
By the time he had secured theassistance of the police, half an
hour had elapsed, and there weren'teven any telltale footprints to show in which
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direction the missing man had gone.See that men are placed as to guard
the railroad station. Simmons directed,and pass the word up and down the
line that a medium sized man aboutthirty five years of age, with black
hair and a rather ruddy complexion,a man wanted by the government on a
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charge of false pretenses is trying tomake his escape. If anyone reports him,
let me know at once that underthe circumstances, was really all that
Larry could do. It ought tobe an easy matter to locate the fugitive,
he figured, and it would onlybe a question of a few days
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before he was safely in jail.Bright and early the next morning, the
operative was awakened by a bellboy whoinformed him that the Chief of Police would
like to see him. Show himin, said Larry, fully expecting to
see the chief enter with a handcuffedprisoner, But the head of the police
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force came in alone, carrying abundle, which he gravely presented to Simmons.
What's this, inquired the pension agent. All that's left of your friend
Holden, was the reply. Oneof my men reported late last night that
he had heard a splash in theriver, as though someone had jumped off
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the wharf, but he couldn't findout anything more. To tell the truth,
he didn't look very hard because wehad our hands full with a robbery
of Greene's clothing store. Someone brokein there. And yes, but what
about Holden, Simmons interrupted. Guessyou'll have to drag the river for him,
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answered the chief. We found hiscoat and vest and raincoat in the
dock this morning, and on topof them was this note addressed to you.
The note, as Larry found aninstant later, read, I'd rather
die in the river than go tojail. Tell your boss that he can
pay two pensions now, one foreach of the Dave Holden's. The signature,
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almost illegible, was that of DavidHolden number two. No doubt that
your man heard the splash when Holdenwent overboard last night inquired the operative.
Not the least in the world.He told me about it, but I
didn't connect it with the man youwere after. And besides, I was
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too busy right then to give itmuch thought. Any chance of recovering the
body mighty little. At this timeof the year, the currants good and
strong, and the chances are thathe won't turn up this side of the
Mississippi if then. It was onlyby accident that we found his cap.
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It had lodged under the dock,and we fished it out less than half
an hour ago. And the chiefpointed to a water soaked piece of cloth
which Simmons recognized as the one whichHolden had been wearing the evening before.
Well, I don't suppose there's anythingmore that we can do, admitted Larry.
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I'd like to have the river draggedas much as possible, though I
agree with you that the chances forrecovering the body are very slim. Will
you look after that? Sure?I will, and anything else you want
done. The chief was nothing ifnot obliging, a fact which Simmons incorporated
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in his official report, which hefiled a few days later, a report
which stated that David Holden, wantedon a charge of attempting to obtain money
under false pretenses, had committed suicideby drowning rather than submit to arrest.
The body has not been recovered,the report admitted, but this is not
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to be considered unusual at this timeof the year when the current is very
strong. The note left by thefugitive is attached back from Washington, came
the wire. Better luck next time, anyhow, Holden won't bother us again.
If this were a moving pitcher,Quinn continued, after a pause,
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there would be a subtitle here announcingthe fact that seven years are supposed to
elapse. There also probably would bea highly decorated explanatory title, in forming
the audience that Uncle Sam never forgetsnor forgives a fact that is so perfectly
true that it's a marvel that peoplepersist in trying to beat the government.
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Then the scene of the film wouldshift to Seattle, Washington. They would
have to cut back a little tomake it clear that Larry Simmons had,
in the meantime left the Pension Bureauand entered the employment of the Post Office
Department, being desirous of a littlemore excitement and a few more thrills than
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his former job afforded. But hewas still working for Uncle Sam, and
his memory, like that of hisemployer, was long and tenacious. One
of the minor cases would had beenbothering the department for some time past was
that of a ring of fortune tellers, who, securing information in devious ways,
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would pretend that it had come tothem from the spirit world and use
it for purposes which closely approximated blackmail. Simmons, being in San Francisco at
the time, was ordered to proceedto Seattle and look into the matter,
posing as a gentleman of leisure withplenty of money and but little care as
(16:32):
to the way in which he spended. It wasn't long before he was steered
into what appeared to be the verycenter of the ring, the residence of
Madame Ahara, who professed to beable to read the stars, commune with
spirits, and otherwise obtain information ofan occult type. There, Larry went
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through all the usual stages palmistry,spiritualism, and clear voyance, and chuckled
when he found, after his thirdvisit that his pocket had been picked of
a letter purporting to contain the factsabout an escapade in which he had been
mixed up a few years ago.The letter, of course, was a
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plant placed there for the sole purposeof providing a lead for Madame and her
associates to follow, and they weren'tlong in taking the tip. The very
next afternoon, the government agent receiveda telephone call notifying him that Madam had
some news of great importance which shedesired to impart, information which had come
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to her from the other world andin which she felt certain he would be
interested. Larry asked if he mightbring a friend with them, but the
request, as he had expected,was promptly refused. The would be blackmailers
were too clever to allow first handevidence to be deduced against them. They
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wished to deal only with the principles, or, as Madam informed him over
the phone, the message was ofsuch nature that only he should hear it.
Very well, replied Simmons, I'llbe there at eleven this evening.
It was not his purpose to forcethe issue at this time. In fact,
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he planned to submit to the firstdemand for money and trust to the
confidence which this would inspire to renderthe blackmailers less cautious in the future.
But something occurred which upset the entirescheme and for a time at least,
threatened disaster to the post office schemes. Thinking that it might be well to
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look the ground over before dark,Larry strolled out to Madame Ahara's about five
o'clock in the afternoon and took uphis post on the opposite side of the
street, studying the house from everyangle. While he was standing there,
a man came out, a manwho was dressed in the height of fashion,
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but whose face was somehow vaguely familiar. The tightly waxed mustache and the
iron gray goatee seemed out of place. For Simmons felt that the last time
he had seen the man. Hehad been clean shaven. Where was it,
he thought, as he kept theman in sight, though on the
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opposite side of the street. NewYork, No, Washington, hardly Saint
Louis. No, it was somewherewhere he was wearing a cap, a
cap that was water stained. AndI've got it in Saint Joseph, the
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man who committed suicide. Then Iwent to arrest him for attempting to defraud
the pension bureau. It's he sureis shooting. But just as Simmons started
across the street, the traffic copraised his arm, and when the apparently
interminable stream of machines had passed,the man with the mustache was nowhere to
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be seen. He had probably slippedinto one of the nearby office buildings.
But which that was a question whichworried Larry for a moment or two.
Then he came to the conclusion thatthere was no sense in trying to find
his man at this moment. Thevery fact that he was in Seattle was
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enough. The police could find himwith little difficulty. But what had Holden
been doing at the clairvoyance? Hadhe fallen into the power of the ring,
or was it possible that he wasone of the blackmailers himself. The
more Larry thought about the matter,the more he came to the conclusion that
here was an opportunity to kill twobirds with a single stone, to drive
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home at least the entering wedge ofthe campaign against the clairvoyance, and at
the same time to land the manwho had alluded him seven years before.
The plan which he finally evolved wasdaring, but he realized that the element
of time was essential. Holden mustnot be given another opportunity to slip through
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the net. That night, whenLarry kept his appointment at Madame's, he
saw to it that a cordon ofpolice was thrown around the entire block,
with instructions to allow no one toleave until after a prearranged signal. Don't
prevent anyone from coming into the house, Simmons directed, but see that not
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a soul gets away from it.Also, you might be on the lookout
for trouble. The crowd's apt toget nasty, and we can't afford to
take chances with them. A tall, dark skinned man attired in an Arabian
burnous and wearing a turban answered thering at the door, precisely as Larry
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anticipated, for the stage was alwaysset to impress visitors. Madam herself never
appeared in the richly decorated room wherethe crystal gazing seances were held, preferring
to remain in the background and toallow a girl who went by the name
of Yvette to handle visitors. Theexplanation being that Madame receives the spirit messages
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and transmits them to Yvette, herassistant. Simmons therefore knew that instead of
dealing with an older and presumably moreexperienced woman, he would only have to
handle a girl, and it wasupon this that he placed his principal reliance.
Everything went along strictly according to schedule. Yvette seated on the opposite side
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of a large crystal ball in whichshe read strange messages from the other world.
Visions transmitted from the cellar by meansof a cleverly constructed series of mirrors.
Told the operative everything that had beenoutlined in the letter taken from his
pocket on the preceding night, addingadditional touches founded on facts which Larry had
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been careless enough to let slip duringhis previous visits. Then she concluded with
a very thinly veiled thread of blackmailif the visitor did not care to kick
in with a certain sum of money. Larry listened to the whole pilaver in
silence, but his eyes were busytrying to pierce the dim light in which
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the room was shrouded. So faras he could see, the door through
which he had entered formed the onlymeans of getting into the room. But
there were a number of rugs anddraperies upon the walls, and of which
might easily mask a doorway. Whenthe girl had finished, the operative leaned
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forward and hitched his chair around sothat he could speak in a whisper.
If you know what's good for you, he cautioned, don't move. I've
got you covered in the first place, and secondly, there's a solid cordon
of police around this house. Careful, not a sound. I'm not after
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you. I want the people whoare behind you, Madame and her associates.
This blackmailing game has gone about farenough. But I'll see that you
get off with a suspended sentence ifyou do as I tell you. If
not, and the very abruptness withwhich he stopped made the threat all the
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more convincing. What what do youwant me to do, stammered the girl,
her voice barely audible. Turn state'sevidence and tip me off to everyone
who's in on this thing. WasLarry's reply, couched in the lowest of
tones. There's not a chance ofescape for any of you, so you
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might as well do it and getit over with. Besides that, I
want to know where I can finda man with a waxed mustache and iron
gray goatee who left this house atten minutes past five this afternoon, Madame,
exclaimed the girl. Davidson, Yes, Madame, and Davidson, if
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that's the name he goes by now, it was Holden the last time I
saw him. He and the girl'svoice was a mere breath. He is,
Madame, what, Yes, thereis no Madame Ahara. Davidson runs
the whole thing. He is.But at that moment, one of the
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rugs on the wall which Larry wasfacing, swung outward, and a man
sprang into the room, a manwhose face was purple with rage, and
who leaped sidewise as he saw Larry'shand snap an automatic into view above the
pedestal on which the crystal ball reposed. In a flash, Simmons recognized two
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things, his danger and the factthat the man who had just entered was
Holden alias Davidson, blackmailer and potentialthief. Before the government agent had time
to aim, the head of theclairvoyant ring fired, but his bullet,
instead of striking Larry, shattered thecrystal ball into fragments, and the room
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was plunged into total darkness. Inspite of the fact that he knew the
shot would bring speedy relief from outsidethe house, Simmons determined to capture his
man single handed and alive, halfleaping, half falling from the chair in
which he had been seated. Theoperatives sprang forward in an attempt to nail
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his man while the ladder was stilldazed by the darkness, but his foot
catching in one of the thick rugswhich carpeted the floor, tripped him and
he fell a bullet from the other'srevolver, plowing through the fleshy part of
his arm. The flash, however, showed him the position of his adversary,
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and it was the work of onlya moment to slip forward and seize
the blackmailer around the waist, hisright hand gripping the man's wrist and forcing
it upward so that he was powerlessto use his revolver. For a full
minute, they rustled in the inkydarkness, oblivious to the fact that the
sound of blows on the outer doorindicated the arrival of reinforcements. Then Larry
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let go of the blackmailer's arm,and whirling him rapidly around, secured a
half nelson that threatened to dislocate hisneck. Drop it, he snarled,
drop that gun before I wring yourhead off, and the muffled thud as
the revolver struck the floor was thesignal that Holden had surrendered. A moment
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later, the light in the centerof the room was snapped on, and
the police sergeant inquired if Larry neededany assistance. No, replied Simmons grimly,
but you might lend me a pairof bracelets. This bird got away
from me once, some seven yearsago, and I'm not taking any more
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chances. End of chapter sixteen.
Chapter sixteen. After seven years,Bill Quinn was disgusted. Some one evidently
afflicted with an in growing sense ofhumor, had sent him the prospectus of
a school which professed to be ableto teach budding aspirants the art of becoming
a successful detective for the sum oftwenty five dollars. And Quinn couldn't appreciate
(00:25):
the humor. How to become adetective in ten lessons? He snorted,
It only takes one for the manwho's got the right stuff in him,
and the man that hasn't better stayout of the game altogether. Well,
I retorted, anxious to stir upany kind of an argument that might lead
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to one of Quinn's tales about theexploits of Uncle Sam sleuths. Just what
does it take to make a detective? It was a moment or two before
Quinn replied, Then there are onlythree qualities necessary, he replied, common
sense, the power of observation,and perseverance. Given these three, with
(01:11):
possibly a dash of luck thrown infor good measure, and you'll have a
crime expert who could stand the heroesof fiction on their heads. Take Larry
Simmons, for example. No Onewould ever have accused him of having the
qualifications of a detective any more thanthey would have suspected him of being one.
(01:33):
But Larry drew a good sized salaryfrom the Bureau of Pensions because he
possessed the three qualities I mentioned.He had the common sense of a physician,
the observation of a trained newspaper reporter, and the perseverance of a bulldog.
Once he sunk his teeth in aproblem, he never let loose,
(01:55):
which was the reason that very fewpeople ever put anything over on the Engine
Bureau as long as Larry was onthe job. That cap up there,
and Quinn pointed to a stained anddilapidated bit of headgear which hung upon the
wall of his den is, amemento of one of Simmons's cases. The
man who bought it would tell youthat I'm dead right when I say that
(02:20):
Larry was persevering. That's putting itmildly. Quite a while back, continued
Quinn, picking up the thread ofhis story. There was a man out
in Saint Joseph, Missouri named DaveHolden. No one appeared to know where
he came from, and as heconducted himself quietly and didn't mix in with
(02:43):
his neighbor's affairs. No one caredvery much. Holden hadn't been in town
more than a couple of weeks whenone of the older inhabitants happened to inquire
if he were any kin to OldDave Holden, who had died only a
year or two before. No said, Holden, I don't believe I am.
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My folks all came from Ohio,and I understand that this Holden was
a Missourian. That's right, agreedthe other. And a queer character too.
Guess he was pretty nigh the onlyman that fought on the Union side
in the Civil War that didn't stickthe government for a pension. Had it
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coming to him too, because hewas a captain when the war ended,
But he always said he didn't considerthat Uncle Sam owed him anything for doing
his duty. Spite of the protestof his friends, Dave wouldn't ever sign
a pension blank either. A fewmore questions, carefully directed gave Holden the
(03:47):
history of his namesake, and thatnight he'd lay awake trying to figure out
whether the plan which had popped intohis head was safe. It promised some
easy money, but there was theelement of risk to be considered. After
all, he concluded, I won'tbe doing anything that isn't strictly within the
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law. My name is David Holden, just as the old man's was.
The worst that they can do isturned down the application. I won't be
committing forgery or anything of the kind. And maybe it'll slip through, which
would mean a pile of money,because they'll kick in with all that accumulated
(04:30):
during the past fifty years. Soit was that, in the course of
time, an application was filed atthe Bureau of Pensions in Washington for a
pension due David Holden of Saint Joseph, Missouri, who had fought in the
Civil War with the rank of captain. But when the application had been sent
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over to the War Department so thatit might be compared with the records on
file there, it came back withthe red ink notation that Captain David Holden
had died two years before, givingthe precise date of his demise as evidence.
The moment that the document reached thedesk of the Supervisor of Pensions,
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he pressed one of the little pearlbuttons in front of him and asked that
Larry Simmons be sent in. WhenLarry arrived, the chief handed him the
application without a word. Right,I'll look into this, said Larry,
folding the paper and slipping it intothe pocket of his coat. Look into
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it, echoed the supervisor. You'lldo more than that. You'll locate this
man Holden or whatever his right nameis, and see that he gets all
that's coming to him. There've beentoo many of these cases lately. Apparently
people think that all they have todo is to file an application for a
(05:58):
pension and then go off and spendthe money, catch the first train for
Saint Joe and wire me. Whenyou've landed your man, the district attorney
will attend to the rest of thematter. The location of David Holden,
as Simmons found, was not thesimplest of jobs. The pension applicant,
(06:20):
being comparatively a newcomer, was notwell known in town, and Simmons finally
had to fall back upon the expedientof watching the post office box which Holden
had given as his address, framinga dummy letter so that the suspect might
not think that he was being watched. Holden, however, had rented the
(06:44):
box for the sole purpose of receivingmail from the pension Bureau. He had
given the number to no one else, and the fact that the box contained
what appeared to be an advertisement froma clothing store made him stop and wonder.
By that time, however, Simmonshad him well in sight and followed
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him to the boarding house on theoutskirts of the town where he was staying
that evening. While he was stillwondering at the enterprise of a store that
could obtain a Post office box numberfrom a government bureau at Washington, the
solution of the mystery came to himin a decidedly unexpected manner. The house
(07:27):
in which Holden was staying was oldfashioned, one of the kind that are
heated theoretically, at least by registersopen gratings in the wall. Holden's room
was directly over the parlor on thefirst floor, and the shaft which carried
the hot air made an excellent soundtransmitter. So it happened that Simmons,
(07:51):
after having made a number of inquiriesaround town about the original Dave Holden,
called at the boarding house that nightto discover what the landlady knew about the
other man of the same name.Who was seated in the room above.
Suddenly, like a voice from nowhere, came the statement, in a high
(08:11):
pitched feminine voice, I really don'tknow anything about him at all. Mister
Holden came here about six weeks agoand asked me to take him in to
board. He seemed to be avery nice, quiet gentleman who was willing
to pay his rent in advance,so I let him have one of the
(08:33):
best rooms in the house. Atthe mention of his name, Holden listened
intently. Who was inquiring about him? And why there was only a confused
mumble apparently a man's reply, pitchedin a low tone, And then the
voice of the landlady again came clearlythrough the register. Oh, I'm sure
(08:58):
he wouldn't do anything like that,mister Holden is. But that was all
that the pension applicant waited for.Moving with the rapidity of a frightened animal,
he secured one or two articles ofvalue from his dresser, crammed a
hat into his pocket, slipped ona raincoat, and vaulted out of the
(09:20):
window, alighting on the sloping roofof a shed just below. Before he
had quitted the room, however,he had caught the words arrest on a
charge of attempting to obtain money underfalse pretenses. Some two minutes later there
was a knock on his door anda voice demanded admittance. There was no
(09:43):
reply again, the demand followed bya rattling of the door knob and a
tentative shake of the door. Inall, it was probably less than five
minutes after Larry Simmons had entered theparlor. Before he had burst in the
door of Holden's room, but thebird had flown and the open window pointed
(10:05):
to the direction of his flight.Unfortunately for the operative, the night was
dark and the fugitive was decidedly morefamiliar with the surrounding country than Larry was.
By the time he had secured theassistance of the police, half an
hour had elapsed, and there weren'teven any telltale footprints to show in which
(10:26):
direction the missing man had gone.See that men are placed as to guard
the railroad station. Simmons directed,and pass the word up and down the
line that a medium sized man aboutthirty five years of age, with black
hair and a rather ruddy complexion,a man wanted by the government on a
(10:48):
charge of false pretenses is trying tomake his escape. If anyone reports him,
let me know at once that underthe circumstances, was really all that
Larry could do. It ought tobe an easy matter to locate the fugitive,
he figured, and it would onlybe a question of a few days
(11:09):
before he was safely in jail.Bright and early the next morning, the
operative was awakened by a bellboy whoinformed him that the Chief of Police would
like to see him. Show himin, said Larry, fully expecting to
see the chief enter with a handcuffedprisoner, But the head of the police
(11:31):
force came in alone, carrying abundle, which he gravely presented to Simmons.
What's this, inquired the pension agent. All that's left of your friend
Holden, was the reply. Oneof my men reported late last night that
he had heard a splash in theriver, as though someone had jumped off
(11:54):
the wharf, but he couldn't findout anything more. To tell the truth,
he didn't look very hard because wehad our hands full with a robbery
of Greene's clothing store. Someone brokein there. And yes, but what
about Holden, Simmons interrupted. Guessyou'll have to drag the river for him,
(12:18):
answered the chief. We found hiscoat and vest and raincoat in the
dock this morning, and on topof them was this note addressed to you.
The note, as Larry found aninstant later, read, I'd rather
die in the river than go tojail. Tell your boss that he can
pay two pensions now, one foreach of the Dave Holden's. The signature,
(12:45):
almost illegible, was that of DavidHolden number two. No doubt that
your man heard the splash when Holdenwent overboard last night inquired the operative.
Not the least in the world.He told me about it, but I
didn't connect it with the man youwere after. And besides, I was
(13:07):
too busy right then to give itmuch thought. Any chance of recovering the
body mighty little. At this timeof the year, the currants good and
strong, and the chances are thathe won't turn up this side of the
Mississippi if then. It was onlyby accident that we found his cap.
(13:28):
It had lodged under the dock,and we fished it out less than half
an hour ago. And the chiefpointed to a water soaked piece of cloth
which Simmons recognized as the one whichHolden had been wearing the evening before.
Well, I don't suppose there's anythingmore that we can do, admitted Larry.
(13:50):
I'd like to have the river draggedas much as possible, though I
agree with you that the chances forrecovering the body are very slim. Will
you look after that? Sure?I will, and anything else you want
done. The chief was nothing ifnot obliging, a fact which Simmons incorporated
(14:11):
in his official report, which hefiled a few days later, a report
which stated that David Holden, wantedon a charge of attempting to obtain money
under false pretenses, had committed suicideby drowning rather than submit to arrest.
The body has not been recovered,the report admitted, but this is not
(14:35):
to be considered unusual at this timeof the year when the current is very
strong. The note left by thefugitive is attached back from Washington, came
the wire. Better luck next time, anyhow, Holden won't bother us again.
If this were a moving pitcher,Quinn continued, after a pause,
(14:58):
there would be a subtitle here announcingthe fact that seven years are supposed to
elapse. There also probably would bea highly decorated explanatory title, in forming
the audience that Uncle Sam never forgetsnor forgives a fact that is so perfectly
true that it's a marvel that peoplepersist in trying to beat the government.
(15:24):
Then the scene of the film wouldshift to Seattle, Washington. They would
have to cut back a little tomake it clear that Larry Simmons had,
in the meantime left the Pension Bureauand entered the employment of the Post Office
Department, being desirous of a littlemore excitement and a few more thrills than
(15:45):
his former job afforded. But hewas still working for Uncle Sam, and
his memory, like that of hisemployer, was long and tenacious. One
of the minor cases would had beenbothering the department for some time past was
that of a ring of fortune tellers, who, securing information in devious ways,
(16:08):
would pretend that it had come tothem from the spirit world and use
it for purposes which closely approximated blackmail. Simmons, being in San Francisco at
the time, was ordered to proceedto Seattle and look into the matter,
posing as a gentleman of leisure withplenty of money and but little care as
(16:32):
to the way in which he spended. It wasn't long before he was steered
into what appeared to be the verycenter of the ring, the residence of
Madame Ahara, who professed to beable to read the stars, commune with
spirits, and otherwise obtain information ofan occult type. There, Larry went
(16:53):
through all the usual stages palmistry,spiritualism, and clear voyance, and chuckled
when he found, after his thirdvisit that his pocket had been picked of
a letter purporting to contain the factsabout an escapade in which he had been
mixed up a few years ago.The letter, of course, was a
(17:15):
plant placed there for the sole purposeof providing a lead for Madame and her
associates to follow, and they weren'tlong in taking the tip. The very
next afternoon, the government agent receiveda telephone call notifying him that Madam had
some news of great importance which shedesired to impart, information which had come
(17:40):
to her from the other world andin which she felt certain he would be
interested. Larry asked if he mightbring a friend with them, but the
request, as he had expected,was promptly refused. The would be blackmailers
were too clever to allow first handevidence to be deduced against them. They
(18:02):
wished to deal only with the principles, or, as Madam informed him over
the phone, the message was ofsuch nature that only he should hear it.
Very well, replied Simmons, I'llbe there at eleven this evening.
It was not his purpose to forcethe issue at this time. In fact,
(18:23):
he planned to submit to the firstdemand for money and trust to the
confidence which this would inspire to renderthe blackmailers less cautious in the future.
But something occurred which upset the entirescheme and for a time at least,
threatened disaster to the post office schemes. Thinking that it might be well to
(18:47):
look the ground over before dark,Larry strolled out to Madame Ahara's about five
o'clock in the afternoon and took uphis post on the opposite side of the
street, studying the house from everyangle. While he was standing there,
a man came out, a manwho was dressed in the height of fashion,
(19:08):
but whose face was somehow vaguely familiar. The tightly waxed mustache and the
iron gray goatee seemed out of place. For Simmons felt that the last time
he had seen the man. Hehad been clean shaven. Where was it,
he thought, as he kept theman in sight, though on the
(19:30):
opposite side of the street. NewYork, No, Washington, hardly Saint
Louis. No, it was somewherewhere he was wearing a cap, a
cap that was water stained. AndI've got it in Saint Joseph, the
(19:52):
man who committed suicide. Then Iwent to arrest him for attempting to defraud
the pension bureau. It's he sureis shooting. But just as Simmons started
across the street, the traffic copraised his arm, and when the apparently
interminable stream of machines had passed,the man with the mustache was nowhere to
(20:15):
be seen. He had probably slippedinto one of the nearby office buildings.
But which that was a question whichworried Larry for a moment or two.
Then he came to the conclusion thatthere was no sense in trying to find
his man at this moment. Thevery fact that he was in Seattle was
(20:37):
enough. The police could find himwith little difficulty. But what had Holden
been doing at the clairvoyance? Hadhe fallen into the power of the ring,
or was it possible that he wasone of the blackmailers himself. The
more Larry thought about the matter,the more he came to the conclusion that
here was an opportunity to kill twobirds with a single stone, to drive
(21:03):
home at least the entering wedge ofthe campaign against the clairvoyance, and at
the same time to land the manwho had alluded him seven years before.
The plan which he finally evolved wasdaring, but he realized that the element
of time was essential. Holden mustnot be given another opportunity to slip through
(21:26):
the net. That night, whenLarry kept his appointment at Madame's, he
saw to it that a cordon ofpolice was thrown around the entire block,
with instructions to allow no one toleave until after a prearranged signal. Don't
prevent anyone from coming into the house, Simmons directed, but see that not
(21:49):
a soul gets away from it.Also, you might be on the lookout
for trouble. The crowd's apt toget nasty, and we can't afford to
take chances with them. A tall, dark skinned man attired in an Arabian
burnous and wearing a turban answered thering at the door, precisely as Larry
(22:11):
anticipated, for the stage was alwaysset to impress visitors. Madam herself never
appeared in the richly decorated room wherethe crystal gazing seances were held, preferring
to remain in the background and toallow a girl who went by the name
of Yvette to handle visitors. Theexplanation being that Madame receives the spirit messages
(22:36):
and transmits them to Yvette, herassistant. Simmons therefore knew that instead of
dealing with an older and presumably moreexperienced woman, he would only have to
handle a girl, and it wasupon this that he placed his principal reliance.
Everything went along strictly according to schedule. Yvette seated on the opposite side
(23:00):
of a large crystal ball in whichshe read strange messages from the other world.
Visions transmitted from the cellar by meansof a cleverly constructed series of mirrors.
Told the operative everything that had beenoutlined in the letter taken from his
pocket on the preceding night, addingadditional touches founded on facts which Larry had
(23:22):
been careless enough to let slip duringhis previous visits. Then she concluded with
a very thinly veiled thread of blackmailif the visitor did not care to kick
in with a certain sum of money. Larry listened to the whole pilaver in
silence, but his eyes were busytrying to pierce the dim light in which
(23:45):
the room was shrouded. So faras he could see, the door through
which he had entered formed the onlymeans of getting into the room. But
there were a number of rugs anddraperies upon the walls, and of which
might easily mask a doorway. Whenthe girl had finished, the operative leaned
(24:06):
forward and hitched his chair around sothat he could speak in a whisper.
If you know what's good for you, he cautioned, don't move. I've
got you covered in the first place, and secondly, there's a solid cordon
of police around this house. Careful, not a sound. I'm not after
(24:29):
you. I want the people whoare behind you, Madame and her associates.
This blackmailing game has gone about farenough. But I'll see that you
get off with a suspended sentence ifyou do as I tell you. If
not, and the very abruptness withwhich he stopped made the threat all the
(24:51):
more convincing. What what do youwant me to do, stammered the girl,
her voice barely audible. Turn state'sevidence and tip me off to everyone
who's in on this thing. WasLarry's reply, couched in the lowest of
tones. There's not a chance ofescape for any of you, so you
(25:14):
might as well do it and getit over with. Besides that, I
want to know where I can finda man with a waxed mustache and iron
gray goatee who left this house atten minutes past five this afternoon, Madame,
exclaimed the girl. Davidson, Yes, Madame, and Davidson, if
(25:37):
that's the name he goes by now, it was Holden the last time I
saw him. He and the girl'svoice was a mere breath. He is,
Madame, what, Yes, thereis no Madame Ahara. Davidson runs
the whole thing. He is.But at that moment, one of the
(26:00):
rugs on the wall which Larry wasfacing, swung outward, and a man
sprang into the room, a manwhose face was purple with rage, and
who leaped sidewise as he saw Larry'shand snap an automatic into view above the
pedestal on which the crystal ball reposed. In a flash, Simmons recognized two
(26:23):
things, his danger and the factthat the man who had just entered was
Holden alias Davidson, blackmailer and potentialthief. Before the government agent had time
to aim, the head of theclairvoyant ring fired, but his bullet,
instead of striking Larry, shattered thecrystal ball into fragments, and the room
(26:48):
was plunged into total darkness. Inspite of the fact that he knew the
shot would bring speedy relief from outsidethe house, Simmons determined to capture his
man single handed and alive, halfleaping, half falling from the chair in
which he had been seated. Theoperatives sprang forward in an attempt to nail
(27:10):
his man while the ladder was stilldazed by the darkness, but his foot
catching in one of the thick rugswhich carpeted the floor, tripped him and
he fell a bullet from the other'srevolver, plowing through the fleshy part of
his arm. The flash, however, showed him the position of his adversary,
(27:33):
and it was the work of onlya moment to slip forward and seize
the blackmailer around the waist, hisright hand gripping the man's wrist and forcing
it upward so that he was powerlessto use his revolver. For a full
minute, they rustled in the inkydarkness, oblivious to the fact that the
sound of blows on the outer doorindicated the arrival of reinforcements. Then Larry
(28:00):
let go of the blackmailer's arm,and whirling him rapidly around, secured a
half nelson that threatened to dislocate hisneck. Drop it, he snarled,
drop that gun before I wring yourhead off, and the muffled thud as
the revolver struck the floor was thesignal that Holden had surrendered. A moment
(28:25):
later, the light in the centerof the room was snapped on, and
the police sergeant inquired if Larry neededany assistance. No, replied Simmons grimly,
but you might lend me a pairof bracelets. This bird got away
from me once, some seven yearsago, and I'm not taking any more
(28:45):
chances. End of chapter sixteen.
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