On Secret Service

by William Nelson Taft

  XXI

  A MILLION-DOLLAR QUARTER

  "What's in the phial?" I inquired one evening, as Bill Quinn, formerlyof the United States Secret Service, picked up a small brown bottle fromthe table in his den and slipped it into his pocket.

  "Saccharine," retorted Quinn, laconically. "Had to come to it in orderto offset the sugar shortage. No telling how long it will continue, and,meanwhile, we're conserving what we have on hand. So I carry my 'lumpsugar' in my vest pocket, and I'll keep on doing it until conditionsimprove. They say the trouble lies at the importing end. Can't secureenough sugar at the place where the ships are or enough ships at theplace where the sugar is.

  "This isn't the first time that sugar has caused trouble, either. Seethat twenty-five-cent piece up there on the wall? Apparently it's anordinary everyday quarter. But it cost the government well over amillion dollars, money which should have been paid in as import duty ontons upon tons of sugar.

  "Yes, back of that quarter lies a case which is absolutely unique in theannals of governmental detective work--the biggest and most far-reachingsmuggling plot ever discovered and the one which took the longest timeto solve.

  "Nine years seems like a mighty long time to work on a singleassignment, but when you consider that the Treasury collected more thantwo million dollars as a direct result of one man's labor during thattime, you'll see that it was worth while."

  * * * * *

  The whole thing really started when Dick Carr went to work as a sugarsampler [continued Quinn, his eyes fixed meditatively upon the quarteron the wall].

  Some one had tipped the department off to the fact that phony samplingof some sort was being indulged in and Dick managed to get a place asassistant on one of the docks where the big sugar ships unloaded. As youprobably know, there's a big difference in the duty on the differentgrades of raw sugar; a difference based upon the tests made by expertchemists as soon as the cargo is landed. Sugar which is only ninety-twoper cent pure, for example, comes in half-a-cent a pound cheaper thanthat which is ninety-six per cent pure, and the sampling is accomplishedby inserting a thin glass tube through the wide meshes of the bag orbasket which contains the sugar.

  It didn't take Carr very long to find out that the majority of thesamplers were slipping their tubes into the bags at an angle, instead ofshoving them straight in, and that a number of them made a practice ofmoistening the outside of the container before they made their tests.The idea, of course, was that the sugar which had absorbed moisture,either during the voyage or after reaching the dock--would not "assay"as pure as would the dry material in the center of the package. A fewexperiments, conducted under the cover of night, showed a difference offour to six per cent in the grade of the samples taken from the insideof the bag and that taken from a point close to the surface,particularly if even a small amount of water had been judiciouslyapplied.

  The difference, when translated into terms of a half-a-cent a poundimport duty, didn't take long to run up into hundreds of thousands ofdollars, and Carr's report, made after several months' investigating,cost a number of sugar samplers their jobs and brought the wrath of thegovernment down upon the companies which had been responsible for thepractice.

  After such an exposure as this, you might think that the sugar peoplewould have been content to take their legitimate profit and to pay theduty levied by law. But Carr had the idea that they would try to putinto operation some other scheme for defrauding the Treasury and duringyears that followed he kept in close touch with the importing situationand the personnel of the men employed on the docks.

  The active part he had played in the sugar-sampling exposure naturallyprevented his active participation in any attempt to uncover the fraudfrom the inside, but it was the direct cause of his being summoned toWashington when a discharged official of one of the sugar companiesfiled a charge that the government was losing five hundred thousanddollars a year by the illicit operations at a single plant.

  "Frankly, I haven't the slightest idea of how it's being done,"confessed the official in question. "But I am certain that some kind ofa swindle is being perpetrated on a large scale. Here's the proof!"

  With that he produced two documents--one the bill of lading of thesteamer _Murbar_, showing the amount of sugar on board when she clearedJava, and the other the official receipt, signed by a representative ofthe sugar company, for her cargo when she reached New York.

  "As you will note," continued the informant, "the bill of lading clearlyshows that the _Murbar_ carried eleven million seven hundred thirty-fourthousand six hundred eighty-seven pounds of raw sugar. Yet, whenweighed under the supervision of the customhouse officials a few weekslater, the cargo consisted of only eleven million thirty-two thousandand sixteen pounds--a 'shrinkage' of seven hundred two thousand sixhundred seventy-one pounds, about six per cent of the materialshipment."

  "And at the present import duty that would amount to about--"

  "In the neighborhood of twelve thousand dollars loss on this shipalone," stated the former sugar official. "Allowing for the arrival ofanywhere from fifty to a hundred ships a year, you can figure the annualdeficit for yourself."

  Carr whistled. He had rather prided himself upon uncovering the samplingfrauds a few years previously, but this bade fair to be a far biggercase--one which would tax every atom of his ingenuity to uncover.

  "How long has this been going on?" inquired the acting Secretary of theTreasury.

  "I can't say," admitted the informant. "Neither do I care to state how Icame into possession of these documents. But, as you will find when youlook into the matter, they are entirely authoritative and do not referto an isolated case. The _Murbar_ is the rule, not the exception. It'snow up to you people to find out how the fraud was worked."

  "He's right, at that," was the comment from the acting Secretary, whenthe former sugar official had departed. "The information is undoubtedlythe result of a personal desire to 'get even'--for our friend recentlylost his place with the company in question. However, that hasn't theslightest bearing upon the truth of his charges. Carr, it's up to you tofind out what there is in 'em!"

  "That's a man-sized order, Mr. Secretary," smiled Dick, "especially asthe work I did some time ago on the sampling frauds made me about aspopular as the plague with the sugar people. If I ever poked my nose onthe docks at night you'd be out the price of a big bunch of white rosesthe next day!"

  "Which means that you don't care to handle the case?"

  "Not so that you could notice it!" snapped Carr. "I merely wanted you torealize the handicaps under which I'll be working, so that there won'tbe any demand for instant developments. This case is worth a milliondollars if it's worth a cent. And, because it is so big, it will take awhole lot longer to round up the details than if we were working on amatter that concerned only a single individual. If you remember, it tookJoe Gregory nearly six months to land Phyllis Dodge, and therefore--"

  "Therefore it ought to take about sixty years to get to the bottom ofthis case, eh?"

  "Hardly that long. But I would like an assurance that I can dig intothis in my own way and that there won't be any 'Hurry up!' message sentfrom this end every week or two."

  "That's fair enough," agreed the Assistant Secretary. "You know the insand outs of the sugar game better than any man in the service. So hop toit and take your time. We'll content ourselves with sitting back andawaiting developments."

  Armed with this assurance, Carr went back to New York and begancarefully and methodically to lay his plans for the biggest game everhunted by a government detective--a ring protected by millions ofdollars in capital and haunted by the fear that its operations mightsome day be discovered.

  In spite of the fact that it was necessary to work entirely in the dark,Dick succeeded in securing the manifests and bills of lading of threeother sugar ships which had recently been unloaded, together with copiesof the receipts of their cargoes. Every one of these indicated the samemysterious shrinkage en route, amou
nting to about six per cent of theentire shipment, and, as Carr figured it, there were but twoexplanations which could cover the matter.

  Either a certain percentage of the sugar had been removed from the holdand smuggled into the country before the ship reached New York, or therewas a conspiracy of some kind which involved a number of the weighers onthe docks.

  "The first supposition," argued Carr, "is feasible but hardly within thebounds of probability. If the shortage had occurred in a shipment ofgold or something else which combines high value with small volume,that's where I'd look for the leak. But when it comes to hundreds ofthousands of pounds of sugar--that's something else. You can't carrythat around in your pockets or even unload it without causing commentand employing so many assistants that the risk would be extremely great.

  "No, the answer must lie right here on the docks--just as it did in thesampling cases."

  So it was on the docks that he concentrated his efforts, working throughthe medium of a girl named Louise Wood, whom he planted as a file clerkand general assistant in the offices of the company which owned the_Murbar_ and a number of other sugar ships.

  This, of course, wasn't accomplished in a day, nor yet in a month. As amatter of fact, it was February when Carr was first assigned to the caseand it was late in August when the Wood girl went to work. But, as Dickfigured it, this single success was worth all the time and trouble spentin preparing for it.

  It would be hard, therefore, to give any adequate measure of hisdisappointment when the girl informed him that everything in her officeappeared to be straight and aboveboard.

  "You know, Dick," reported Louise, after she had been at work for acouple of months, "I'm not the kind that can have the wool pulled overmy eyes. If there was anything crooked going on, I'd spot it beforethey'd more than laid their first plans. But I've had the opportunity ofgoing over the files and the records and it's all on the level."

  "Then how are you to account for the discrepancies between the bills oflading and the final receipts?" queried Carr, almost stunned by thegirl's assurance.

  "That's what I don't know," she admitted. "It certainly looks queer, butof course it is possible that the men who ship the sugar deliberatelyfalsify the records in order to get more money and that the company paysthese statements as a sort of graft. That I can't say. It doesn't comeunder my department, as you know. Neither is it criminal. What I do knowis that the people on the dock have nothing to do with faking thefigures."

  "Sure you haven't slipped up anywhere and given them a suspicion as toyour real work?"

  "Absolutely certain. I've done my work and done it well. That's what Iwas employed for and that's what's given me access to the files. But, asfor suspicion--there hasn't been a trace of it!"

  It was in vain that Carr questioned and cross-questioned the girl. Shewas sure of herself and sure of her information, positive that nocrooked work was being handled by the men who received the sugar when itwas unloaded from the incoming ships.

  Puzzled by the girl's insistence and stunned by the failure of the planupon which he had banked so much, Carr gave the matter up as a badjob--telling Louise that she could stop her work whenever she wished,but finally agreeing to her suggestion that she continue to hold herplace on the bare chance of uncovering a lead.

  "Of course," concluded the girl, "you may be right, after all. They mayhave covered their tracks so thoroughly that I haven't been able to pickup the scent. I really don't believe that they have--but it's worth thegamble to me if it is to you."

  More than a month passed before the significance of this speech dawnedupon Dick, and then only when he chanced to be walking along FifthAvenue one Saturday afternoon and saw Louise coming out of Tiffany'swith a small cubical package in her hand.

  "Tiffany's--" he muttered. "I wonder--"

  Then, entering the store, he sought out the manager and stated that hewould like to find out what a lady, whom he described, had justpurchased. The flash of his badge which accompanied this request turnedthe trick.

  "Of course, it's entirely against our rules," explained the storeofficial, "but we are always glad to do anything in our power to assistthe government. Just a moment. I'll call the clerk who waited on her."

  "The lady," he reported a few minutes later, "gave her name as MissLouise Wood and her address as--"

  "I know where she lives," snapped Carr. "What did she buy?"

  "A diamond and platinum ring."

  "The price?"

  "Eight hundred and fifty dollars."

  "Thanks," said the operative and was out of the office before themanager could frame any additional inquiries.

  When the Wood girl answered a rather imperative ring at the door of herapartment she was distinctly surprised at the identity of her caller,for she and Carr had agreed that it would not be wise for them to meetexcept by appointment in some out-of-the-way place.

  "Dick!" she exclaimed. "What brings you here? Do you think it's safe?"

  "Safe or not," replied the operative, entering and closing the doorbehind him. "I'm here and here I'm going to stay until I find outsomething. Where did you get the money to pay for that ring you boughtat Tiffany's to-day?"

  "Money? Ring?" echoed the girl. "What are you talking about?"

  "You know well enough! Now don't stall. Come through! Where'd you getit?"

  "An--an aunt died and left it to me," but the girl's pale face andhalting speech belied her words.

  "Try another one," sneered Carr. "Where did you get that eight hundredand fifty dollars?"

  "What business is it of yours? Can't I spend my own money in my own waywithout being trailed and hounded all over the city?"

  "You can spend your own money--the money you earn by working and themoney I pay you for keeping your eyes open on the dock as you please.But--" and here Carr reached forward and grasped the girl's wrist,drawing her slowly toward him, so that her eyes looked straight intohis, "when it comes to spending other money--money that you got forkeeping your mouth shut and putting it over on me--that's anotherstory."

  "I didn't, Dick; I didn't!"

  "Can you look me straight in the eyes and say that they haven't paid youfor being blind? That they didn't suspect what you came to the dockfor, and declared you in on the split? No! I didn't think you could!"

  With that he flung her on a couch and moved toward the door. Just as hishand touched the knob he heard a voice behind him, half sob and halfplea, cry, "Dick!"

  Reluctantly he turned.

  "Dick, as there's a God in heaven I didn't mean to double cross you. Butthey were on to me from the first. They planted some stamps in my pocketduring the first week I was there and then gave me my choice of bein'pulled for thieving or staying there at double pay. I didn't want to doit, but they had the goods on me and I had to. They said all I had to dowas to tell you that nothing crooked was goin' on--and they'll pay mewell for it."

  "While you were also drawing money from me, eh?"

  "Sure I was, Dick. I couldn't ask you to stop my pay. You'd havesuspected. Besides, as soon as you were done with me, they were, too."

  "That's where the eight hundred and fifty dollars came from?"

  "Yes, and a lot more. Oh, they pay well, all right!"

  For fully a minute there was silence in the little apartment, brokenonly by the sobs of the girl on the couch. Finally Carr broke thestrain.

  "There's only one way for you to square yourself," he announced. "Tellme everything you know--the truth and every word of it!"

  "That's just it, Dick. I don't know anything--for sure. There'ssomething goin' on. No doubt of that. But what it is I don't know. Theykeep it under cover in the scale house."

  "In the scale house?"

  "Yes; they don't allow anyone in there without a permit. Somebodyuptown tips 'em off whenever a special agent is coming down, so they canfix things. But none of the staff knows, though nearly all of them aredrawin' extra money for keeping their mouths shut."

  "Who are the men who appear to be implicat
ed?"

  "Mahoney, the checker for the company, and Derwent, the governmentweigher."

  "Derwent!"

  "Yes, he's in on it, too. I tell you, Dick, the thing's bigger than youever dreamed. It's like an octopus, with tentacles that are fastened oneveryone connected with the place."

  "But no clue as to the location of the body of the beast?"

  "Can't you guess? You know the number of their office uptown. Butthere's no use hoping to nab them. They're too well protected. I doubtif you can even get at the bottom of the affair on the dock."

  "I don't doubt it!" Carr's chin had settled itself determinedly and hismouth was a thin red line. "I'm going to give you a chance to redeemyourself. Go back to work as usual on Monday. Don't let on, by word orgesture, that anything has changed. Just await developments. If you'lldo that, I'll see that you're not implicated. More than that, I'llacknowledge you at the proper time as my agent--planted there to doublecross the fraud gang. You'll have your money and your glory and yoursatisfaction of having done the right thing, even though you didn'tintend to do it. Are you on?"

  "I am, Dick. I won't say a word. I promise!"

  "Good! You'll probably see me before long. But don't recognize me.You'll be just one of the girls and it'll probably be necessary toinclude you in the round-up. I'll fix that later. Good-by," and withthat he was off.

  Not expecting that Carr would be able to complete his plans for at leasta week, Louise was startled when the operative arrived at the dock onthe following Monday morning. He had spent the previous day inWashington, arranging details, and his appearance at the company'soffice--while apparently casual--was part of the program mapped out inadvance. What was more, Carr had come to the dock from the station, soas to prevent the "inside man" from flashing a warning of his arrival.

  Straight through the office he strode, his right hand swinging at hisside, his left thrust nonchalantly in the pocket of his topcoat.

  Before he had crossed halfway to the door of the scale room he wasinterrupted by a burly individual, who demanded his business.

  "I want to see Mr. Derwent or Mr. Mahoney," replied Carr.

  "They're both engaged at present," was the answer. "Wait here, and I'lltell them."

  "Get out of my road!" growled the operative, pulling back the lapel ofhis coat sufficiently to afford a glimpse of his badge. "I'll see themwhere they are," and before the guardian of the scale house door hadrecovered from his astonishment Carr was well across the portals.

  The first thing that caught his eye was the figure of a man bending overthe weight beam of one of the big scales, while another man was makingsome adjustments on the other side of the apparatus.

  Derwent, who was facing the door, was the first to see Carr, but beforehe could warn his companion, the special agent was on top of them.

  "Who are you? What business have you in here?" demanded the governmentweigher.

  "Carr is my name," replied Dick. "Possibly you've heard of me. If so,you know my business. Catching sugar crooks!"

  Derwent's face went white for a moment and then flushed a deep red.Mahoney, however, failed to alter his position. He remained bending overthe weight beam, his finger nails scratching at something underneath.

  "Straighten up there!" ordered Carr. "You--Mahoney--I mean! Straightenup!"

  "I'll see you in hell first!" snapped the other.

  "You'll be there soon enough if you don't get up!" was Carr's reply, ashis left hand emerged from his coat pocket, bringing to light theblue-steel barrel of a forty-five. "Get--"

  Just at that moment, from a point somewhere near the door of the scaleroom, came a shrill, high-pitched cry--a woman's voice:

  "Dick!" it called. "Lookout! Jump!"

  Instantly, involuntarily, the operative leaped sidewise, and as he didso a huge bag of raw sugar crashed to the floor, striking directly onthe spot where he had stood.

  "Thanks, Lou," called Carr, without turning his head. "You saved me thattime all right! Now, gentlemen, before any more bags drop, suppose weadjourn uptown. We're less likely to be interrupted there," and hesounded a police whistle, which brought a dozen assistants on the run.

  "Search Mahoney," he directed. "I don't think Derwent has anything onhim. What's that Mahoney has in his hand?"

  "Nothin' but a quarter, sir, an' what looks like an old wad o' chewin'gum."

  Puzzled, Carr examined the coin. Then the explanation of the wholeaffair flashed upon him as he investigated the weight-beam and foundfragments of gum adhering to the lower part, near the free end.

  "So that was the trick, eh?" he inquired. "Quite a delicate bit ofmechanism, this scale--in spite of the fact that it was designed toweigh tons of material. Even a quarter, gummed on to the end of thebeam, would throw the whole thing out enough to make it well worthwhile. I think this coin and the wad of gum will make very interestingevidence--Exhibits A and B--at the trial, after we've rounded up therest of you."

  * * * * *

  "And that," concluded Quinn, "is the story which lies behind thattwenty-five-cent piece--probably the most valuable bit of money, judgedfrom the standpoint of what it has accomplished, in the world."

  "Derwent and Mahoney?" I asked. "What happened to them? And did Carrsucceed in landing the men higher up?"

  "Unfortunately," and Quinn smiled rather ruefully, "there is such athing as the power of money. The government brought suit against thesugar companies implicated in the fraud and commenced criminalproceedings against the men directly responsible for the manipulation ofthe scales. (It developed that they had another equally lucrative methodof using a piece of thin corset steel to alter the weights.) But thecase was quashed upon the receipt of a check for more than two milliondollars, covering back duties uncollected, so the personal indictmentswere allowed to lapse. It remains, however, the only investigation Iever heard of in which success was so signal and the amount involved solarge.

  "Todd, of the Department of Justice, handled a big affair not longafterward, but, while some of the details were even more unusual andexciting, the theft was only a paltry two hundred and fifty thousanddollars."

  "Which case was that?"

  "The looting of the Central Trust Company," replied the formeroperative, rising and stretching himself. "Get along with you. It's timefor me to lock up."