"You are hunting for some pearls, are you not, Jim?"
"I are."
"Well--in all probability you have them. I am willing to explain, Jim,
that I never saw those pearls before--I'm as positive of that as I am
that I shall never see them again." He made a rueful little grimace.
"Business is pretty rotten these days."
Lathrop was getting a grip on himself. He rose unsteadily and addressed
the detective. "Who are you?"
The suggestion of a sneer wreathed Nelson's lips. "You're a pretty
good little staller yourself, Lathrop."
"What are you talking about?"
All sign of amusement departed from Teddy Nelson's face. He whirled
furiously upon Lathrop. "You know damn good and well what I'm talking
about. You trapped me into your apartment and brought a dick here--all
right, so much for that. You thought you'd have me with the goods and
you'd get the glory of having nabbed me. Why you poor fish, they've
been after me for six months for this little job. They've laid off
because they didn't know where the pearls were. They've got 'em
now--but by God! they didn't catch 'em on me. They're in your hands.
You've got the money. I'm broke. There ain't a piece of evidence
against me. And Jim Hanvey is square. I'm asking him to make you prove
that _you_ didn't steal those jewels."
Lathrop stammered. He stared first at Nelson, then at the lethargic
Hanvey. "A--a detective?" he muttered.
"Uh-huh." It was Jim who answered. "A regular, honest-to-Gawd
detective." He flashed his badge and strode over to the table. He
inspected the pearls briefly. "It's that Rawlings' stuff, ain't it,
Teddy?"
Nelson shook his head. "You can't prove anything by me, Jim. Say
listen--" he became very earnest. "Did this half-size imitation of a
cigar clerk double-cross me?"
Jim shook his head slowly. "No-o. Not hardly. Because when you stop
to consider things--that would have been a bum play for him. Y'see,
Teddy, we've been watchin' this bird a long time--he was sort of mixed
up in that Tim Lannigan affair and we figured he was worth lookin'
after. An' we knew you had the Rawlings' stuff. So when you and him
got together we figured that two and two was pullin' their usual act.
Y'see, we've got you, Teddy, for the Rawlings job--while all we send
Lathrop to jail for is receivin' stolen goods."
Lathrop tried to speak--and could not. His mouth opened and
closed--then opened and closed again. His Adam's-apple bobbed
alarmingly. His voice, when it did come, was shrill with hysteria--
"It's a lie--a lie! I don't know anything about this man. I don't know
anything about Lannigan. What he said I did was true--I was trying to
prove that he stole these jewels."
"The dirty liar...."
"Lay off, Teddy," advised Jim. Then, to Lathrop--"You might as well
come clear, buddy. I know how much money there is in that little pile
and I know what bank you drew it from and at what time this morning. I
know, too, that this ain't the first time you've pulled a stunt like
this--but I know it's gonna be the last. Now Teddy, if you come clean
I'll see that things are made light for you--light as I can have 'em
made. Give me the low-down on the job."