“That,” quoth Keller, frowning at the sheet, “is certainly a knock-out!
It’s the coolest thing I ever came across. Hello, there’s the phone
ringing.”
Gaylord took up the receiver. “Yes. Yes. This is Mr. Gaylord. You have
another code message. Read it off, please. Spell it out. Here, Keller,
take this down.”
There followed a jumble of words quite unintelligible to an outsider,
but when Keller had written them down and Gaylord had called them back
for verification, the two men bent again over the code book which
Gaylord produced from his pocket.
When the message had been translated the men looked at each other, and
Gaylord said: “I’d give ten times a million to have that bird here in
this room for just five minutes!”
The text of the radiogram was:
Neglected to state that failure to comply with our terms on the
date set will increase the amount to be paid at the rate of
fifty thousand dollars a day. So, really any delay will be all
in our favor.
X.
Gaylord flung the paper aside and resumed his pacing of the room.
Keller watched him thoughtfully, and finally said: “One thing is
certain, we are not dealing with pikers. It’s a syndicate, and
apparently has a perfect organization. There are plenty of groups that
operate like this—come out of retirement once in a blue moon with a neat
scheme, pull it off and live easy for a long time. And that stuff is the
hardest of all to balk.
“They are not ordinary, small-time criminals; you don’t find their
records in the courts, except, perhaps, in the cases of a few
underlings, and that seldom. Often a stunt like this will be pulled off
just after the release from prison of some very smooth criminal. But I
have been digging into that and can’t find that any very slick rogue has
been turned loose in the last six months. It beats hell! What is your
idea about this, Mr. Gaylord? You say you won’t pay.”
“I would drop something for them to pick up,” Gaylord snapped. “I would
drop a couple of packages of dynamite—if it wasn’t for Eve. See here,
Keller, I’m going to give these folks action—plenty of it. I don’t
believe they would hurt Eve, and I know if she had anything to say about
it she would say fight. If we can round up some of them, the others will
be ready enough to drop her. But, of course, I would not want to take
the slightest chance of harm coming to her. I have a plan.”
“Good, Mr. Gaylord. What’s the dope?”
“Well, I am going to get every detective and police officer in three
States on the job. I’ll see the Governors of Connecticut and
Massachusetts and get their coöperation. It will take an army of men,
but we will pack that route with so many cops that after our friends
pick up the dummy bundles we throw down to them they’ll think the circus
has come to town.
“I’ll have hundreds, thousands of men, if necessary, under secret orders
to report at certain points without knowing what they are there for
until it is too late for a leak. Then they will fairly choke every
damned road by which the crooks could make a getaway. How does the idea
strike you, Keller?”
“It can be done,” Keller answered, “if it is handled right. As you say,
there must be no chance of a leak. But it will cost a pile of money.
However, that will not bother you. You had best let me arrange the
details of having these officers report. I will see that they don’t know
what it’s all about until the time comes.”
“Then,” said Gaylord, “then, we will have it out of them. They will
carry on as if they had got the money or we will tear the hide off them.
They will take us to their headquarters or I miss my guess! See the
idea?”
“Sure. Force them to communicate with whoever is in charge of Miss
Gaylord—and all that. Sure. It’s a big order, but we can handle it.
Fortunately, we have the time.”
“We will get busy first thing in the morning, then.”