CRIME BREAKS LOOSE
ONE month had passed since the first meeting of the Public Safety Committee of Seaview City. The season was in full blast. The resort was enjoying the greatest year of its history.
Yet pessimism governed the little group of men who were again assembled in the Green Room of the huge Hotel Pavilion. These men — the same ones who had met before — wore serious faces as they listened to the report of Police Chief George Yates.
The bulky, red-faced official was addressing his remarks to Mayor Rufus Cruikshank, who sat solemnly at the head of the conference table.
“They’re running away from us,” admitted Yates, in a reluctant tone. “There’s no use dodging the facts. Who the crooks are is beyond me. We’ve railroaded a lot of small-fry gunmen, and we’ve tried to break up the game, but it won’t work!”
“Be specific,” ordered Cruikshank, in a dignified voice. “You have talked of crime at each of our meetings, chief, and we have given you orders. Nevertheless, despite our cooperation, matters seem to have become worse. Give us a resume of recent events.”
“Dope, for one thing,” said Yates, shifting uneasily. “Seaview is loaded with it! The whole town is hounded by cokers. It seems like this is headquarters for all the hop shooters.”
“You have made arrests—”
“Yes, but all we seem to get is the addicts. We’ve had Federal men down here, but they can’t seem to get at the source of supply. We’ve watched the roads; we’ve watched the trains; we’ve put on a guard up at the harbor. No luck at all!”
“The airport?”
“Watching there, too. Fact is, your honor, I’ve made the force shorthanded, detailing so many men on that one line of work.”
“Where are the dope sales being made?” questioned Louis Helwig, the promoter.
“Everywhere,” retorted Yates. “Right here in this hotel, for one place.”
He looked toward Graham Hurley as he spoke, and the hotel proprietor seemed to imbibe some of the police chief’s uneasiness. Rufus Cruikshank became stern.
“What about it, Hurley?” he asked.
“I guess the chief is right,” answered Hurley. “I don’t like it, but what can I do to help it? If the dope peddlers weren’t in town, there wouldn’t be sales anywhere.”
“Correct,” agreed Cruikshank, looking toward Yates. “What have you done toward cleaning up the undesirable spots during the past week?”
“Plenty,” replied Yates. “But I’ve been taking them one by one. Have to, you know, because my force is scattered. But it seems like every time we shut up half a dozen, a flock of new joints bob up. It’s a big job, your honor!”
“Do you believe that your force is inadequate?”
“Yes! It wasn’t before” — the chief’s gaze hardened — “but now nearly a dozen of my men are out. About eight of them are in the hospital — battles have put them there. But there’s three — well—”
Cruikshank’s eyebrows arched questioningly as Chief Yates hesitated.
“Well?” queried the mayor.
“Well,” said Yates, “they’re unaccounted for — that’s all! Just gone out of the picture. Failed to report at the station house. No traces of them. What’s happened is something I can’t figure.”
“Who were they?”
“Two detectives, one patrolman. Both of the detectives were on duty at the Seaview Pier. Easy assignment, that. Make a check-up late at night, out to the end of the pier and back. They just haven’t turned up, since. The policeman was on regular patrol duty. He never came back.”
“You have investigated the pier?”
“Yes, sir. Sent down a detective sergeant. Nothing wrong with the place. He even looked into the old building on the end. It’s being used as a storehouse for boating supplies. Still has the tank that they used for submarine tests, but that’s no longer being used.”
“What else, chief?” questioned Cruikshank brusquely.
“Suicides,” asserted Yates. “Too many of them.”
“We had suicides here before,” put in Raymond Coates, the real-estate man.
“The rate is three to one, now,” responded Yates. “I had an idea people came to Seaview City to have a good time — not to jump off the ends of piers and out of hotel windows.”
GRAHAM HURLEY avoided the chief’s gaze. The others looked serious. It was a known fact that four persons had plunged from the upper stories of the Hotel Pavilion within the past twelve days.
“To what do you attribute these deaths?” asked Cruikshank.
“Dope — liquor — gambling — ” Yates detailed his statements “- and other things, perhaps, that we haven’t located. I’m telling you, gentlemen, matters are in a bad way here. I’m up against crime that’s so big it has me guessing!”
“Dope,” remarked Cruikshank. “You have covered that, Yates. Continue your present action. It will probably bring results. What about liquor?”
“That’s the one bright spot,” responded Yates. “It’s set me to thinking. We always have a lot of bootleggers, and we know how to handle them. There’s been less booze than before. That’s why I figure some big shots are playing the other games, and leaving liquor to the small fry.”
“Gambling?”
“Heavy. The biggest gambler in the country is located right here in Seaview City. Big Tom Bagshawe — the fellow that runs the Club Catalina.”
“The Club Catalina is being run respectably,” objected Raymond Coates. “I and other members of the Public Safety Committee have gone there frequently. It is a bright spot in Seaview City — an excellent attraction on the board walk. I feel that it should not be molested.”
“The club’s all right,” admitted Yates, “but I’m thinking about that gambling joint that is over it. Swell-looking place and all that — but it’s equipped for roulette and faro in a big way.”
“You have raided it?” asked Cruikshank.
“No,” returned Yates. “I’ve been watching it. Seems to be all right when I’ve got my eye on it, but at other times I’m doubtful.”
A laugh of disdain came from Coates. The mayor turned toward the real-estate man and spoke severely.
“Chief Yates is an efficient man,” he declared. “I shall tolerate no criticism of his work. I have faith and confidence in him. If necessary, I shall advise an increase of the force.”
“I’m not criticizing the chief,” protested Coates hastily. “I just don’t see why he should be worrying about places that he can’t find wrong. There’s too much real trouble in Seaview.”
“We discussed the matter of an increased force,” interposed Louis Helwig. “I don’t think that we should bring up that matter again — for the present at least. I think that when Chief Yates locates the real sources of evil, he will be able to cope with them. If he needs men then, let him have them.”
Nods of approval were the response of the other members. Rufus Cruikshank summed up the opinion by giving an approving nod, and announced that the meeting was adjourned.
AS Mayor Cruikshank walked from the Green Room, Police Chief Yates accompanied him. The mayor received his silk hat and donned it. He was the personification of dignity as he strolled toward the board walk, carrying his gold-headed cane.
Cruikshank noted that Yates was about to head in the other direction. He stopped the chief with a gesture. Yates followed him down an incline, and they stopped by the mayor’s parked limousine.
“Come with me,” suggested Cruikshank in a low voice.
Yates entered the car, and the two were driven to the mayor’s residence. Here they entered a small office. Cruikshank invited the chief to sit down, and offered him a cigar.
“Yates,” said Rufus Cruikshank sternly, “there is something on your mind. Tell me about it.”
“You’re right, your honor,” declared Yates, in a relieved tone. “I’m glad to get alone with you. I’m tired of these committee meetings.”
“You may come to me any time that you need advice.”
“I’ll do it in the future. I didn’t want to show lack of confidence in the committee, but—”
“But what?”
“They’ve got the strings on me,” responded Yates. “That’s what’s the matter. I saw it tonight. When I talked about suicides, Hurley squawked. Worried about his hotel. When I knocked the Club Catalina, Coates put up a holler. That’s because he owns the place, and leases it to Big Tom Bagshawe.”
“I understand all that,” said Cruikshank. “We must make allowance for enterprise in Seaview City. These men are only human, you know.”
“Yes” — Yates spoke in a slow and reluctant tone — “but that’s just where the trouble may be. They’re human — perhaps they’re too human!”
“How?”
“Well, I don’t want to make any accusations,” declared Yates, “but I can’t help thinking certain things. You know how I’m handicapped. All this battle against dope and gambling — it’s all discussed in the committee meetings before I make a move. Now, let’s suppose—”
Cruikshank’s gaze was severe as the police chief paused. Yates caught the mayor’s glance and moved uneasily.
“Go ahead, Yates,” said Cruikshank firmly.
“Suppose,” resumed Yates slowly, “that some one in that committee outfit is giving a tip-off. Watch here — watch there — lay low — and what not. It would help the crooks, wouldn’t it?”
RUFUS CRUIKSHANK nodded as he drummed upon the table. He seemed to be giving weighty consideration to the police chief’s words. Yates felt more and more uneasy. He realized that he had made indirect charges against certain men whom Cruikshank held in high esteem.
For a few moments, Yates felt that his job was hanging in the balance. Then he gained relief as Cruikshank replied.
“You may be right, Yates,” said the mayor. “Yes, you may be right. Tell me” — his tone became thoughtful — “is there any one whom you suspect?”
“No,” admitted Yates. “No one definite. But” — his tone became blunt — “there are some who might find it nice to have a finger in the pie.”
“Who are they?”
“Helwig, Coates, and Hurley, and maybe a few others who have pulled a lot of money into Seaview City.”
“All the more reason why they should desire to protect it.”
“I admit that; but at the same time one of them may be out for a clean-up — trying to get from under.”
“Your suggestion is a dangerous one,” declared Cruikshank. “Be careful about repeating it. It might cause you trouble—”
“I’ve only said it to you,” interrupted Yates hastily. “I thought I ought to tell you, your honor—”
“It was wise for you to do so. Chief, I am going to keep what you have said constantly in mind. If there is treachery in our midst, we must prepare for it. Have you any suggestions?”
“Yes,” replied Yates frankly. “I’d like to work with you, away from the committee, your honor. Let them know what we’ve done — not what we’re going to do.”
“Very good,” responded the mayor, nodding. “Very, very good, Yates. Suppose we start that plan tonight. Closer contact between you and myself, and less dependence upon the committee.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that, your honor,” Yates said. “You saw how Coates flared up when I talked about the gambling hall over the Club Catalina. That club may be his pet — just the same, I figure that Big Tom Bagshawe isn’t here just for his health.”
“That is probably true, Yates, if the man is the big gambling figure that you say. Why don’t you watch the place more closely?”
“I’ve got men down there, but they’re known. Tonight” — Yates had a flash of inspiration — “I’ll stop in there and look things over myself! Sort of a surprise visit. How about it?”
“A very good idea.”
“And after that, I’ll do a round of the dives. See if my men have landed any hop sellers.”
Mayor Cruikshank arose and shook hands warmly with Police Chief Yates. The bulky officer left the residence and started back toward the board walk. Cruikshank stood watching him from the door, nodding in approval.
The room which the two had left was empty. Only a long shadow rested upon the floor — a strange streak of black that came from the direction of the open window. Now, that shadow moved. It glided toward the window and disappeared.
Some one had been listening!
On the street in front of the house, the same shadowy shape reappeared, yet there was no sign of the personage whose presence it betokened.
Moving swiftly along the sidewalk, the shape of black followed the direction which the chief of police had taken. Half a block from Mayor Cruikshank’s home, it overtook the striding officer.
Chief Yates did not see the mysterious shadow. Neither did Mayor Cruikshank, standing at his door. Yet that shape followed on, accompanying the police chief in the direction of the Club Catalina.
That weird splotch of darkness meant the presence of a living personage. Some unknown being was taking a serious interest in the affairs of Seaview City.
Only one figure could move so silently and invisibly through the dark. That was the same one whose warning against crime had passed unheeded. The Shadow was here, in Seaview City!