Jim yawned with his eyes. "Right the first time, Sis. You take the head
of the class."
"You knew?"
"Sure. An' I ain't the only dick which does. They've been watchin'
Teddy ever since them pearls were stolen. The only reason they didn't
nab him long ago was because they didn't know where he had 'em
cache'd--it wasn't gonna do 'em a bit of good to grab Teddy unless they
got the pearls, too."
She shook her head slowly--"I didn't know they suspected Teddy of that
job...."
"There ain't but a half dozen men in the country could of done it,"
explained Jim, "an' Teddy was the only one with a perfect alibi, so
they knew it was him. But it ain't Teddy they're after--it's the stuff."
"So-o ... and you think he's trying to sell 'em to Lathrop?"
"It's a cinch. He can't sell 'em nowhere's else. There ain't a fence
would dare handle 'em and the easiest way they could be put on the
market would be through a first class wholesale jewelry house. Yeh--I
reckon Mr. Noah Lathrop is just about aimin' to slip his head into a
noose."
The girl rose to her feet and paced the room. "It's the first thing
I've discovered ... I wish I thought he'd dare buy those things--I wish
we could catch him with the goods."
Jim's toneless voice came as though from another room. "You keep those
eyes of your'n peeled, Mary. If he's gone this far with the deal the
chances are he'll go through. An' if you can get wise to the hour when
they pull it I'll be on hand...."
"You think they'll do it at home?"
"Surest thing you know. A guy as keen as Lathrop ain't riskin' a deal
like that in his office; he wouldn't even let Teddy come there if he
knew what he was comin' for. Yeh, Sis, I reckon they'll put it through
at home. So all you got to do is watch an' keep me posted."
"And what will you do?"
"My durndest--that's all I can promise."
"That's more than enough, Jim--a heap more than enough."
Jim flushed slightly--"Don't you go countin' on me too strong. You can
remember at least one case where I fell down something awful an' there
ain't no certainty I won't flop this one."