down to the ground. That bein’ the case, there’s one piece of evidence you’d better turn over to me right here and now.”
“What’s that? I’ve only been in town a few hours and I’ve told you everything I’ve picked up.”
“That letter Charles wrote you to Miami.”
“I haven’t got it with me.”
“Where is it?”
“In a safe place.”
“You can see how it is,” Chief Elwood said mildly. “Could be there’s something in it wouldn’t look good at Brand’s trial.”
“Could be,” Shayne agreed.
“Could be it’s just what we could use to clinch the case against him. If, f’rinstance, he happened to say in the letter he was afraid Brand or some of the other strikers might kill him on account of he’d decided not to deal with them. Or, if it was proof he knew Brand was chasin’ around after his wife. You can see how important that’d be as evidence.”
“That would be extremely important,” Shayne agreed.
“So you better turn it over to me,” Chief Elwood said in his rumbling monotone. “Just to make certain it don’t get into the wrong hands.”
Shayne shook his red head. “I always play a lone hand.”
Elwood emptied his glass and set it down on the floor beside the whiskey bottle. He placed a palm on each knee and considered Shayne with a level, protuberant gaze. He said, “You can figure what happened to Gantry.”
“I figured you staged that for my special benefit.” Shayne emptied his glass and added curtly, “I’m a lot tougher than Gantry.”
“No man is tougher than a lead slug,” Elwood said slowly.
“But you’ve got better sense than to use one on me.” He stood up suddenly. “That letter is in a safe place… as long as I stay alive. You hope you know what’s in it, but you’re not sure. Killing me might wreck your case against Brand.”
“What do you want, Shayne? You’ve been offered five grand if Brand is convicted.”
“Maybe,” said Shayne lightly, “I’ve got an idea it would be fun to be chief of police in Centerville.”
“Now, by God!” The chief moved swiftly for so big a man. He was beside the desk and had the. 38 revolver in his hand while his angry exclamation still vibrated in the room.
Shayne didn’t move. He watched him with a twisted smile on his angular face. “I’m not a punk like Gantry. You can’t dispose of my body by dumping it outside the city limits. That fuse never was as short as it is right now, Elwood.”
The chief’s thick body trembled violently. He breathed hard through set teeth and the mound of flesh on his chin wiggled. He forced his muscles to level the barrel of the gun on Shayne’s mid-section twice, and relaxed his grip both times. “Seth musta been right,” he grated. “He figured your signing up with AMOK was just a dodge.”
“It was Persona’s idea,” Shayne told him.
“Damn Persona. We don’t need his deputies messin’ into things here. Always got along okay in Centerville without outside help.”
“Until George Brand showed up,” Shayne suggested. “When you failed to handle him, Seth Gerald must have felt you were slipping.”
“That’s a lie. It was Seth’s idea from the first. Thought he could handle him and he wanted a strike back at the time it started. I’d of taken care of Brand right away if I’d had my way.” He looked down at the gun in his hand as though surprised and faintly embarrassed to see it there.
“That,” said Shayne, “doesn’t make sense. Why would any mine owner want a strike?”
“Prices were down and there was too much production. All the other mines were shutting down and the men grumbling, and Seth got the bright idea a strike would fix things up. Just a short one. That’d go bust when the men got hungry enough. Be a sort of lesson to all the other miners.” The chief seemed to have forgotten the lethal impulse that had moved him to pick up the gun. He turned it over and over in his hands, sighed, and sat down, resting the weapon on his lap.
“So Gerald actually imported Brand to foment a strike? Like getting hold of a tiger by the tail.”
“I don’t think he actually brought Brand in. But he didn’t mind having him around. Not at first.”
“And after that it was too late,” Shayne summed up thoughtfully. “Brand got such a hold on the men you were afraid to bump him off.”
“I never was afraid to,” said Elwood pugnaciously. “Seth got worried the men never would go back to work if somethin’ happened to Brand. He did have a way with the miners.”
Shayne was beginning to see a lot of things clearly now. Things that had been obscure before. Gerald’s defensive attitude toward Persona, for one thing. He chuckled inwardly as he reviewed the situation. How galling it must have been to Gerald to find himself outsmarted as the strike situation got out of hand. The other mine owners in the state certainly could not have viewed his experiment in labor relations with favor. He had become desperate, Shayne guessed, as the day of Charles Roche’s thirtieth birthday approached and it became more and more apparent that the new owner was preparing to settle with the striking miners on their own terms. Roche’s death… and the accusation of Brand… had become the only possible solution.
Shayne looked down at the seated police chief and said sardonically, “It was a bad spot for you to be in all the way along.”
“Wasn’t much I could do,” Elwood admitted sourly.
“Gerald sounds like a hard man to work with.”
“’Pinionated. ’Pinionated as hell. Dead-set he’s always right.”
“How would it be if you and I put our heads together,” said Shayne slowly, “and hang a murder rap around his neck?”
“’Stead of Brand? There’d be hell to pay. Brand would be a hero and we’d have strikes all over the country.”
“Maybe not. Why not make a deal with Brand?”
“What kind of deal?”
“Put it up to him straight. He’s in one hell of a spot right now and he knows it. Look at it this way.” Shayne sat down and poured himself another drink.
“I’m from the outside looking in,” he went on. “You’re bucking a losing proposition here in Centerville. Maybe you can pull this off. I’m not sure you can, but maybe.”
“No maybe about it,” rumbled Elwood. “Brand hasn’t got a chance.”
“Aren’t you forgetting the evidence that may have been in my letter from Roche?”
“Then there is somethin’…”
“I’m not saying whether there is or not. I’m admitting you may be able to ride this out. But it’s just one wave, Elwood. The tide is rising against you. There’ll be another man… and another… like Brand. You can’t arrange a murder every time and get a conviction every time. You may be able to sit on the bomb another year or so, but the fuse will keep getting shorter. You’ve got this chance to get in solid. Fix things so you’ll stay in the saddle and there’ll be labor peace in Centerville for years to come.”
“What’s your proposition?”
“That you and I throw in together. Jethro Home might be persuaded to come back to testify, and Dave Burroughs might repudiate that statement you got from him this evening if you suggested it. With what I’ve got, we can spring Brand and put a noose around Seth Gerald’s neck at the same time.”
“Why in hell would we do that?” he demanded. “I told you…”
“And I say we could make a compromise deal with Brand before we go through with it. Fix up some sort of settlement with the miners… give them certain concessions that’ll keep them happy for a long time. You’d be their friend… their benefactor. In solid with them.”
A slow grin spread Elwood’s thick lips. “Mr. Persona,” he said slowly, “would be fit to be tied. Any concessions the miners get here would spread all over the state… and fast.”
Shayne said, “To hell with Persona. You’ve got yourself to think of… and Centerville.”
