by John Blaine
“Sure have,” the mate answered. He had an odd voice, as though his nasal passages were completely blocked with a bad cold. He looked at Rick. “Go ahead, kid, make your call.”
“After you, sir,” Rick said politely. “I’m in no hurry.”
“Thanks.” The mate walked to the booth and shut himself in.
Rick got up and wandered casually in that direction, his ears cocked for the mate’s words.
Unfortunately, the booth was tight. He could hear only a faint murmur. He went back to the counter and started sipping his coffee, keeping his eyes on the booth. He heard the dim tone of bells and his pulse quickened. Those were coins dropping into the slots. The mate was making an out-of-town call! If only he could hear.
The hot coffee was almost scalding, but he scarcely noticed. His mind was racing, searching for some way to overhear that conversation. There just wasn’t any way. If he walked over and put his ear to the booth, the men sitting at the tables and farther up the counter would see. No, he was sunk this time.
Within four minutes the mate was out of the booth. He came over and took a seat at the counter a few stools up and nodded at Rick. “Thanks, boy.”
“That’s all right,” Rick said. He had to make a pretense of phoning now. Well, he could call Spindrift and tell his mother they would be home for lunch. He hadn’t been sure how long the hearing would take when they left.
He went into the booth and closed the door. The phone had no dial. EvidentlySeaford , like Whiteside, had no dial system. He started to pick up the receiver and inspiration struck him.If he could imitate the mate . . .
He tried to imitate Chick’s nasal tone and thought he did pretty well. He tried again, and it sounded a little better. Anyway, he thought, there was nothing to lose by trying. IfSeaford had more than one operator on the town switchboard, which was unlikely because of the size of the town, it wouldn’t work, anyway. Or, if there were two and he got the wrong one it wouldn’t work.
His hand shook slightly as he lifted the receiver and dropped in his nickel.
“Number, please?” the operator said sweetly.
Rick struggled to imitate the mate’s voice. “Say, I have to talk to that number again. Something I forgot to say.”
“What number was that, sir?” the operator asked.
Rick took a chance, based on the number of bells he had heard.
“ThatNew York number,” he said. “Forget now what it is. Ain’t you got it written down there?”
“I’ll have to have the number, sir,” the operator said with firm sweetness.
Rick grew desperate. “Shucks, lady,” he whined nasally. “You ain’t goin ’ t’make me go through that business with that information gal again, are you?”
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There was a subdued tinkle of laughter. “All right I’ll find it.” There was a brief pause. “That number is Cornish 9-3834. Better write it down this time.”
“I sure will,” Rick said. He almost forgot and lapsed back into his own voice. But he didn’t have to write it down. He wasn’t forgetting it.
“What is your number, please?”
He gave it, then waited anxiously. In a moment a voice said, “Garden View Hotel.”
The operator spoke. “One moment, please. Please deposit thirty cents.”
Rick did so, and the bells clanged in his ear. When the ringing stopped, he said briskly, “Mr. James Killian, please.”
“Just a minute.”Then, “No one registered here by that name.”
“Isn’t this the Garden Arms Apartments?” Rick asked.
“No. This is the Garden View Hotel. You have the wrong number.”
“Oops, sorry,” Rick said jubilantly, and hung up.
He walked to the counter and gulped his coffee, put a dime on the counter and then hurried to the door.
The mate was eating a piece of pie.
On the street, Rick looked for Jerry’s car and spotted it at a corner two blocks away. He walked rapidly toward it, waving as he did so. The car pulled away from the curb and sped toward him, and he motioned to Jerry to turn the next corner. He hurried and got there just as the car did.
“Any luck?” Scotty asked.
“Luck?Touch me, somebody. Listen to this: Captain Killian is at the Garden View Hotel inNew York , registered under a phony name!” He told them quickly
whathad happened in the grill and finished, “I’ll bet the mate had orders to phone right after the hearing and let Killian know what had happened toTyler .”
“He was handed over to the constable after the insurance company issued a complaint,” Jerry said.
“Forgot to tell you that. Well, we know where this missing captain is.Now what?”
“Now what!What do you think?” Rick asked indignantly. “Let’s go toNew York !”
CHAPTER XIII
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The Tracker
“We can drop your pictures off at the office, then I’ll drive you in toNew York , if that’s okay,” Jerry remarked, as the car sped up the road to Whiteside.
“That will be fine,” Rick said. “I’ll phone Spindrift, too, and let Mom know we won’t be home for lunch.
We can pick up a hamburger at a roadstand on the way in.”
Jerry slowed down to a more moderate pace and Rick looked at him, surprised.“Thought we were in a hurry.’
“Trying something,” Jerry said. His eyes were on the rearview mirror. After a moment he spoke. “The car behind us slowed down, too. I think he’s following us.”
Cap’n Mike started to look back, but Scotty said warningly, “ Don’tlIf they’re really following, we don’t want to let them know they’ve been spotted.”
“There’s a curve up ahead, Jerry,” Rick said. “Keep your eyes on that car as we round the curve and let me know when they’re out of sight.”
“Okay.”
The curve loomed. Jerry took it smoothly, then glanced up at the mirror. “Now,” he said.
Rick reached up and readjusted the mirror so he could see, then settled back. In a few seconds the other car was in sight, too far back for him to see the figures on the license plate, but not so far that he couldn’t see clearly that the plate was fromNew York , or that the car was the same make and model as the one they had seen in Kelso’s garage. Reflection of light on the windshield made the occupant hazy, but Rick had a good idea who it was.
“Looks like Kelso’s car,” he told the others. “Listen, Jerry, don’t go to the paper. Drop us in front of Dean’s Department Store, then go around the block. Go slowly to give us time to find out who this bird is. No, I’ve got a better idea. Park the car. He’ll have to park his if he intends to follow us.”
Jerry nodded agreement. “There’s a parking lot next to the store. I’ll swing in there.”
Cap’n Mike was grinning from ear to ear. “Illbe dadblamedif this ain’t just like something I read once,”
he said. “I knew if I got you two interested we’d have some excitement!”
Jerry chuckled. “What do you think I want to take them intoNew York for? I usually go swimming on Saturday afternoon.”
They were at the outskirts of Whiteside now. Jerry slowed speed again, and three minutes later he swung into the parking lot next to Dean’s, in the busiest part of the town. Through the rearview mirrow Rick saw the other car go by, heading for a vacant space at the curb, probably. He had noticed one a half block down.
The four got out of the car and Jerry took the parking check from the attendant. “Now what?” he asked.
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“We walk down the street,” Rick directed, “and if we haven’t spotted him by the time we get to Mark’s Supermarket, turn into the store. It has two entrances.”
“If we split up, he’d get confused and we’d lose him easy,” Jerry suggested. “Then we could meet somewhere.”
“Amateur,” Scotty scoffed. “We don’t want to lose him. We want to find out who he is.”
Rick and Scotty led the way
, Cap’n Mike and Jerry following. As they passed the parked car, Rick saw the license plate clearly. It was the one he had noticed at Kelso’s. Probably Carrots or Red, he thought.
Maybe both. Without seeming to look around, he noted every possible hiding place where the tracker might wait for them, and decided on the doorway of an office building. There werea half dozen pillars the tracker could use for cover. He waited until they were a half block down from the building, then he turned suddenly as though to speak to the two behind him. Scotty, whose mind worked much the some way, turned at about the same time.
Rick got a quick glimpse of a stocky youth with carrot hair dodging into a doorway. He stopped and said, “Don’t look back. I’ve got him spotted. Let’s go into Mark’s and we’ll figure out how to get rid of him.”
“Carrots,” Scotty said gleefully. “We’ll have to think of something really cute for that little friend.”
“Fiend,” Rick corrected.
They turned into the supermarket and mingled with the shoppers. Rick led the way behind a counter stacked high with cereals where they couldn’t be seen. “The meeting is open to suggestions,” he said.
“We can shake him with no trouble, but that’s too good for him.Any ideas?”
“Lead him on a wild-goose chase,” Jerry offered.
Scotty had a grin on his face that boded ill for Carrots Kelso. “I’ve got one. I saw it pulled once. Jerry, do you suppose Mildred is at the office?”
Mildred Clark, the older sister of one of Barby Brant’s closest friends, was the newspaper’s bookkeeper. She had been a visitor at Spindrift several times, accompanying Jerry to picnics or swimming parties.
Jerry looked at his watch. “It’s Saturday afternoon, and she usually doesn’t work, but we’re getting out our monthly statements, so she’s probably there.”
“Swell. Now how well do you know the cop on this beat?”
“We’re good friends. I gave him a plug in the paper once. He deserved it, but he thinks I did it out of the goodness of my heart.”
Scotty’s grin widened. He lowered his voice and rapidly sketched the part each was to play. As he talked, Rick, too, began to grin.
When Scotty had finished, Rick and Cap’n Mike sauntered to the front of the store. Rick glanced through the big plate-glass windows, but he saw no sign of Carrots. That meant nothing, because Carrots would be a complete cabbagehead to lethimself be seen. Rick was sure he was watching. He and Cap’n Page 65
Mike stood talking for a moment, then Scotty appeared beside them, and said, “Well, here goes-Jerry’s on the phone now,” and faded into the crowd again.
Rick let five minutes elapse while he and the Captain stood in plain sight, then he glanced at his watch and motioned to the old seaman. The two of them went out the front of the store. Long before this, Scotty and Jerry had gone through the side entrance that opened on another street.
Rick waited in front of the store, glancing in now and then, and trying to act impatient. Then he and the Captain started upMain Street at a slow walk. If everything was working out, Carrots would have chosen to follow them rather than to wait at the store for Scotty and Jerry. That was what Rick would have done in his place. He had a hunch Carrots had picked them up inSeaford and had followed them largely because of Cap’n Mike’s presence. It was entirely possible that the Kelsos were equally anxious to know of Captain Killian’s whereabouts. Or perhaps they were just interested in seeing if Cap’n Mike knew where he was.
As they passed Dean’s Department Store, Rick glanced into the doorway and saw Mildred Clark. He breathed a little easier. The others had made it on time. And coming down the street toward him was the policeman who always patrolled this beat. Although he knew Rick well, he made no sign.
They neared the entrance of the parking lot and Jerry motioned from behind a car. He was peering down the street behind them. “Watch this” he said gleefully, and stepped into plain view.
Rick whirled just as Carrots Kelso came abreast of Dean’s doorway. Mildred stepped out ahead of him. She was a slender, attractive girl, and a good actress, as it proved. She was pulling on gloves, and as is usually the case while so doing, she had her purse tucked under her arm.
She and Carrots were only a yard apart when Scotty appeared from the doorway. He took a long step past Carrots, snatched Mildred’s purse from under her arm, whirled, and handed it to the astonished redhead. Carrots’ reaction was perfect. He took the purse stupidly and stood there with his mouth open.
Scotty vanished back into the doorway. Mildred screamed.
Carrots saw immediately that he was being framed. He turned to run, but forgot to let go of the purse.
Mildred screamed again and Carrots sprinted headlong into Duke Barrows. Duke held him for the moment it took for the policeman to arrive.
It was too good to miss. Rick, Jerry, and the Captain walked back down the street toward the confusion, trying hard to conceal their mirth.
Mildred pointed at the purse Carrots still clutched. “That,” she proclaimed dramatically, “is my purse”
“I didn’t take it,” Carrots yelled. “Someone handed it to me!”
The officer scowled. “A likely story,Unless you had a confederate. Where is he?”
Quite a crowd was gathering now. Mildred turned convincingly faint and Duke had to prop her up.
Rick’s face was scarlet from choking back laughter, because he was sure Carrots would burst from sheer anger at any moment.
Then Carrots saw him. “You” he screamed and jerked the policeman’s arm. “There he is! That’s one of them. His friend took my-I mean it was his friend who”
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The officer interrupted. “Do you know this boy?” he asked Rick.
Rick shook his head, his face solemn. “Never saw him before in my life,” he said calmly.
Jerry spoke in a stage whisper that could have been heard a block. “A perfect criminal type if I ever saw one.”
Cap’n Mike choked and had to turn away.
Rick nudged Jerry and they turned and walked rapidly back to the parking lot. It was time to get going.
Scotty was standing by the car, grinning broadly. Cap’n Mike was weak from laughing. “ Y’know,” he chortled, “I’ve heard the word ‘ham’ used for actors, but I never got the full meaning until now. Never saw such bad acting in my life, except for the girl. She was almost convincing.”
“On our way,” Rick said, and laughter bubbled up as they got into the car. As they pulled out into the traffic, they saw Carrots being marched up the street toward the police station, Duke and Mildred walking behind him and the policeman.
“Duke phoned the chief from the paper,” Jerry said. “They’ll go through all the motions of booking Carrots and taking his picture, then they’ll throw him in a cell for a while. When he quiets down, the chief will go in and talk to him like a father and point out that crime doesn’t pay, then he’ll let him go with a warning.”
Scotty sobered. “It worked like a charm,” he said. “But Rick, old egg, from now on you and I had better stay away from the front end of Carrots’ little air gun!”
CHAPTER XIV
Captain Killian
Jerry turned down the cross street and looked around him doubtfully. “I don’t know what a fancy hotel would be doing in this neighborhood, Rick.”
“We don’t know how fancy it is,” Rick returned. “It just has a fancy name. But keep going. We should get to it soon. See any numbers?”
They had stopped and found the address in a telephone book as soon as they crossed the river intoNew York through the Holland Tunnel. As Jerry pointed out, it wasn’t a likely neighborhood in which to find a hotel. It seemed to be mostly manufacturing plants engaged in making gloves and ladies clothes.
“Wonder how he happened to choose this location?” Scotty asked.
“Probably just came into the city and walked down this way and went into the first hotel he saw,” Cap’n Mike speculated. “Man gets used
to a fishing trawler, he’s not going to ask for anything fancy by way of Page 67
a hotel.”
Jerry and Rick had been scanning the numbers along the street. “It’s on your side,” Rick said. “Watch for it.”
Jerry applied the brakes and the car slowed. “That must be it,” he said, pointing across the street.
It wasn’t what Rick had expected. A tiny metal sign announced that this was the Garden View Hotel. It was set above a dingy doorway through which a flight of stairs could be seen.
“Where’s the garden it’s supposed to have a view of?” Scotty wanted to know.
Rick motioned in the general direction of uptown.“ProbablyMadisonSquareGarden. You could see it from here easily if there weren’t about two thousand buildings in the way including theEmpireState .” He was wondering if they had the right place. “This calls for a small change in plans,” he said.
On the way toNew York they had decided it would be easiest to give a bellhop a generous tip and have him locate Captain Killian fordiem . Bellhops usually knew about every guest in a small hotel, and they suspected the Garden View would be small simply because none of them had ever heard of it.
“You’re right,” Scotty agreed. “A place like that wouldn’t have a bellhop.”
Rick searched for an idea. “You wouldn’t know his signature on the register, would you. Cap’n?”
“Never seen him sign his name.”
“Why couldn’t one of us be a relative looking for him?” Jerry offered.
“Say, that’s an idea!” Scotty exclaimed. “We could pretend he’s a little cracked and describe him. The clerk would know who we meant, and he’d probably be glad to tell us, because hotels don’t like having people who might be a little bit off.”
“Cap’n Mike could do it,” Rick said. “Cap’n, couldn’t you pretend to be his brother?”
“Sure I could. Well, what are we waiting for? Do I go alone?”
“I’ll go with you,” Rick offered.
“Jerry and I had better wait, then,” Scotty said. “It might look funny if four of us came trooping in like a chowder-and-marching club.”