_Office_: Blakely Bros. & Co., 47 Wall St.
_Town house_: No. 9 East -- St. (Dec. 1st to May 1st.)
_Country home_: Scarborough-on-Hudson. (Goes up week-ends all year.)
_Income_: $200,000. (Principally stocks and bonds.)
_Personal description_: 41 years old; short, fat all over, bald, rosy;
known as "Kewpie Blakely." Brown hair and eyes. Wears large,
square-cut emerald on left hand pinky. Agent C.D. reports: Blakely is
one of the _bon vivants_ of the Millionaires' Club, a jolly,
open-handed, good-natured fellow, enormously popular. Is a well-known
collector of Persian faience. Is happily married and has four
children, but is reputed to be somewhat gay. N.B. Reports from female
agents do not bear this out. Q. reports Blakely employs a body-guard
to ride beside him in his car. Says Blakely never walks in the street.
Has a watchman in the corridors of his house at night.
On the other side of the card was a series of chronological entries,
some of which were obscure, though the main story was clear enough.
April 17th 19-- Sent form AA.
18th Instructed Anderson to follow up.
19th Anderson reports nothing doing.
23rd Sent form AB.
25th Anderson reports his solicitor
thrown out of Blakely's office.
26th Instructed Anderson let B. alone for
present. Sent G. M. to Mrs. Cleaver's
with orders to get next to Blakely.
May 3rd G. M. reports nothing doing.
Blakely's in love with his wife.
4th Tried a man instead. Instructed J. L. to
win Blakely's friendship
through his love of art.
June 11th J. L. reports success. Is on intimate
footing with Blakely. Sent
J. L. capsule with instructions for
administering.
15th J. L. reports success. Blakely apparently
very ill.
16th Wrote Blakely that he had been
poisoned, and next time he'd get a
fatal dose.
17th Blakely sent his secretary to Eureka
Agency to subscribe.
The story told by this card was typical. Some of the victims had
required more pressure; some had given in easier. Some had fallen
behind in their payments, and had required to be "persuaded" anew. Two
of the cards Jack turned over, those of Ames Benton and Silas Gyde,
were significantly underlined: "_Account closed._" Jack shuddered.
From the card index he turned to the litter of papers on the desk. On
top lay a typewritten communication which bore neither address nor
signature, but from the contents was unmistakably to be identified as a
report from one of "Mr. B's" agents. It read as follows:
"I cannot give you any definite data as to X's movements around his
country place, because his habits are very irregular. He comes out
from town sometimes by motor, sometimes by train, and at any hour.
Sometimes he stays up in the country for several days at a time,
transacting his business over a private telephone wire.
"I understand he laughs at the idea of danger to himself, and is averse
to taking any special precautions. I have learned though, that Mrs. X
on her own responsibility has engaged guards to patrol their place very
thoroughly. It is well known that the Green Hollow Club where he plays
golf has long been guarded by a small army under the guise of
'gardeners,' 'green-keepers,' etc.
"I have not been able to win the confidence of any of the servants in
the country. They're a crabby lot. It seems Mrs. X has taken them
into her confidence regarding a 'danger threatening their master' and
they're all making a great brag of their loyalty, etc. I don't think
anything can be successfully pulled off up there.
"But here's a plan. Mr. X sleeps in his town house whenever he is
detained late in town. The house is closed of course, and is under the
care of two old servants, Tom Monahan and his wife. I learned that Tom
was a member of the -- district Democratic Club, and I scraped
acquaintance with him there. We are now good friends. I have the
entrée to the X house (when the master is not there) and can describe
it to you fully.
"Yesterday I was sitting in the kitchen with the Monahans, when I
noticed that the house in the next street which backs up against the X
house is in the hands of painters and decorators. That gave me my
idea. It would be useless to try to enter the X house from the front.
Monahan has orders not to admit any one whatsoever while Mr. X is
there. But there is a door from the kitchen into the back yard which
is never locked except at night. I suppose they think that the high
board fence around the yard is sufficient protection.
"When X spends the night in town, Mrs. Monahan cooks his breakfast for
him, and at half past nine (she is very methodical) carries it up to
the dining-room and puts it on the steam table. She does not call her
master. He comes down when he is ready. Another thing, Mrs. Monahan
does not allow her husband in the kitchen while she is cooking. At
this hour he will be in the servants' hall in the front of the
basement, reading the paper.
"Here's my plan. Let your man go to the house where the painters are
at work--it is No. -- East 65th Street, and let him ask the boss
painter for a job. The painters are working on the fourth and fifth
floors now. He'll be turned down of course, or referred to the office.
Now when he comes down-stairs instead of leaving the house, let him go
into the dining-room to get the lay of things. The dining-room is the
first floor rear. The windows overlook the kitchen and dining-room of
the X house.
"When he sees Mrs. Monahan go up to the dining-room with X's breakfast,
let him slip down-stairs and out through the yard of the vacant house.
He will have a good five minutes or more while Mrs. M is arranging the
things, etc. He will find plenty of ladders. Let him plant a short
ladder against the back fence and drop into the X's yard. He cannot be
seen from the X house unless Mrs. M just happens to be at the
dining-room window, which is very unlikely.
"I will enclose a little plan of the X house. Your man enters from the
yard by door A, crosses kitchen and goes out by door Z into passage;
opens door C into housemaid's closet, where he conceals himself until
Mrs. M returns to kitchen. He then goes up the stairs D which brings
him to the pantry above. There is a swing door into the dining-room.
In front of this door is a tall leather screen. If he waits behind
this screen until X gets fairly inside the room, he will be between him
and the only exit. If X is already in the room he will have him dead
to rights.
"After the accident the chances of your man making a getaway are slim.
The entrance hall to the house lies just in front of the dining-room.
There are two stairs from the basement. If Monahan runs up through the
pantry your man may get out by the front door, if he can open it in
time, but if M comes up the front stairs he will meet him in the hall.
However, I understood from you that the matter of the getaway was not
of the first importance.
"P.S. I have opened this to add that I have just learned X is booked
to speak at the A.B.A. dinner at the Astor on Tuesday night. He will
stay in town. If you think my plan is good enough you'll have to pull
the trick Wednesday morning. The next time X stays in town the
painters in the vacant house will be finished."
Jack sat scowling at this document. Another ghastly assassination
scheduled! His skin crawled with horror. How to discover the identity
of the victim and warn him in time was the problem. It was planned for
Wednesday morning----
Suddenly Jack sprang to his feet electrified. This was Wednesday
morning. And it must be about nine-thirty now! He pulled out his
watch with trembling fingers. The hands pointed to twenty minutes past
nine. He had ten minutes! And he had yet to find out whom they
planned to kill!
He searched frantically among the other papers on the desk for a
possible clue. He uncovered a card which had been removed from the
index temporarily. A glance at it was sufficient.