Detective Fiction Weekly. Vol. 36, No. 4, October 20, 1928

“You are right,” replied MacCray quietly. “They do, and they are both missing. I won’t trouble you any longer, and neither will Mr. Burke. However, he will remain here as a lodger, not to shadow you, but to be near in case you should need him.

“And all I ask of you two ladies is to remain as silent about this afternoon’s affairs as I shall be. Keep it strictly to yourselves! Forget that I have been here! Forget that Burke is a detective unless you need him! Is it a bargain?”

“It is, sir. What... what are you going to do with my... my uncle?”

“James Rindawn? Absolutely nothing at present. Rest easy on that score. And, while I may be mistaken, let me whisper a word of consolation. I do not suspect him of being a murderer. Good afternoon, ladies. Keep a stiff upper lip.”

In Burke’s room MacCray confronted the guilty-looking trio of officers with an air that boded them no good. Detective Grady sought to evade the brewing storm by conjuring up a windy outburst of his own.

“Chief, I’m sorry I disobeyed orders, but I thought I was following the proper lead. You know, you sent me here without very definite instructions. Anyway, it’s all my fault. Don’t blame Burke or Brill.

“But I guess you’re satisfied now about this Rindawn-Gorms bird. Are you ready for me to slap the bracelets on him? The idea of dragging a girl like that down in the mud! That guy is causing more trouble than prohibition. I never knew you to play cat and mouse so long with a murderer before.”

“Murderer?” ripped out MacCray in ugly tones. “Murderer! Aren’t you jumping at conclusions, Grady? Rindawn-Gorms, you call him? You did the same thing yesterday morning after we sweated Crawley. Grady, I thought you were a bright detective!

“How in hell can James Rindawn be at his post in John Duke’s home and admit his niece to make the telephone call and be on the job at the Avalon Arms Apartments as janitor at the came time? How in the name of all that’s holy can you persist in this silly idea that James Rindawn and Willis Gorms are the same man? No matter how guilty Rindawn may be, he is not twins.

“You’ve let a physical similarity confuse you. If you are going to insist on being so dumb, go take the manager of the Avalon Arms over to view Duke’s butler. As soon as young Lethrop comes back I’ll let him go out with you. I warned you before you ever saw Duke’s butler not to be surprised or alarmed at his appearance.

“My God! What sort of dumbbells do I have on my staff of detectives?”

Detective Grady collapsed utterly Burke stared foolishly. Sergeant Brill began whistling soundlessly and stood gazing out the window.

MacCray opened his mouth for a stronger and more scathing attack, but the abject condition of Grady halted him. The big fellow was actually on the verge of tears. The detective chief closed his lips silently.

“You’re right, chief,” murmured Grady leadenly. “I’m nothing but a big boob. If I hadn’t been so anxious I’d have stopped to think of anything as plain as that. I... I... well, I’ll resign from the force if you ask me to.”

“Just what were you so anxious about?” inquired MacCray in a milder voice.

Grady flushed and made a clean breast of it.

“I... I felt sorry for the Lethrop kid,” he muttered. “I believed his yarn, and I wanted to help him out.”

“How do you feel about Edna Boatwright now?”

“Her? Why... er... well, you know, I feel just as bad about her,” admitted Grady.

“Doesn’t it strike you as a poor policy for a detective to get sympathetic over each suspect he follows in turn?” inquired MacCray ironically. “I suppose you would break down after you put the bracelets on Rindawn and let him go free because of his heartbroken grandmother?”

“You are soft on Lethrop and this skirt yourself,” flung Grady defensively.

“My friend,” smiled MacCray, “your heart is, like mine, too big for you to be a perfect detective. I begin to have an idea that this case is going to break us both. If I resign and start a private agency, will you work for me?”

“For next to nothing,” declared Grady earnestly.

MacCray laughed in pleased tones. The storm was over.

“All right, men,” he said crisply. “Sergeant Brill, you’re relieved from further duty. Burke, you stay on as a sort of protective guard for Miss Boatwright and her aunt in this house.

“Grady, since you are so anxious to help young Lethrop, I’m going to put you on his end of the case. You’ve already surveyed the lay of things at Jefferson Park. Now you can go down to the Bon Ton Apartments near Cicero and join Huhan, who is on duty there watching over Lethrop. I promised the lad that I wouldn’t interfere with his own investigations, but, of course, I had to cover him.”

The three men saluted in relief.

“As for me,” went on MacCray briskly, “I think I shall have the privilege of scanning a page from the past of somebody else before the day is over. I hope to have better luck this time.”