Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 19, 1924 — page 92: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

- 962 some rich woman, get a line on her jewels - and how and when they could be got at, and then leave. “* Days, sometimes weeks, would pass be- fore anything was pulled off and then she’d - have an alibi that couldn’t be shaken. But ~ the bulls were watching when she went to work for Almadora, the opera singer. They watched after she left and they caught Regner turning the trick. He tried to run for it, then lost his head and fired, and they shot him full of holes. You’ve heard of the Dobson gang he worked with?” “Top notchers—international jewel thieves!”” Phil’s tone was one of awed re- spect. “ Biggest in the game, weren’t they?” “They were, but not any more!”” Wicks laughed shortly. ‘I helped break ’em up when they tackled a client of mine, and -the ringleaders are up the river or dead. None of ’em left but a few of the rough workers and they don’t hang together or go after any big stuff. Lucy got out from under in time, but if there had been any ladies in Monckton’s family who were kind of careless with their jewelry, ’'d say she was up to her old tricks again.” Wicks laughed once more, dismissing the subject. ‘I guess the coast is clear now and I'll beat it. Drop in at the agency any time you want a little help and I’ll be glad to see you.” | “Fair enough! Same with us, but if you don’t see us any quicker than you saw Lucy last summer, you wouldn’t be much help!” Phil commented, adding suddenly: “ Say, she knows you, don’t she?”’ “Not to my knowledge. When I broke up that gang she’d already quit them.” Wicks eyed him curiously. “ What do you mean about last summer? She wasn’t work- ing the steamers or pulling off jobs on the other side, was she?’’ ‘“‘ Nothing like that. She was right here ~~ at the Manor the three times you called, ~put I guess you had other fish to fry,” Phil explained blandly. ‘She saw you, but didn’t know who you were. It looks as though you had the right dope; she must be running straight, to stay on the job in a place like that where there was nothing doing in her line for more than a year.” ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY, ‘Why did you grab her if you didn’t want her?” George asked, quick to grasp the mental reservation hinted at in his con- frere’s tone. ‘Running into her like that and recog- nizing her, I thought I’d get a little explana- tion of what she was doing there after two in the morning.” Wicks shook his head. “ It does look suspicious, but that’s not my pigeon.” ‘IT can explain that myself!” Phil light- ed a cigarette and flipped the match out into the road. ‘‘She slipped out to meet a sweetheart and was trying to get in late when she bumped into you. Wonder whether she’s beaten it for fear you’ll hand her record to the housekeeper?” “You said she didn’t know what I was, and nothing was ever proved on her,” Wicks responded. ‘ Before her husband got killed she’d left him. There were a dozen reliable characters, neighbors, ready to swear to that. If you’re still interested in her I guess you'll find that she’s asleep, or pretending to be, in her room at the Manor. Don’t forget to look in on me, boys; glad to meet new members of the same club.” George returned the polite invitation and the other left them and swung off down the road in the direction of the village. For a little time there was silence between the two by the roadside as Phil smoked reflec- tively and George ruminated on the unex- pected turn of events. Then the latter spoke. “What was Wicks doing at the Manor last year? He didn’t deny it.” ‘Too clever to; he knew we’d find that out if we hadn’t already,” Phil replied. ‘He came to see the old man.” * Not Monckton!” “Sure. Had three conferences with him, and if Lucy told me the truth he must have been hired to protect the father from the son.” He repeated what Lucy had told him and added: ‘“ When I sprung it on him it was just a wild guess on my part from a kind of a slim description she gave me, but she didn’t recognize him, that’s certain. George, I’m beginning to think that maybe old Cliff might be right after all! Lucy put it over me good and plenty about being a Freaxch girl and all that, but I found out oO Connicl@olkks: (S@)