‘So that’s what’s the mat er with me. Maybe I’d bet er switch to gin.’
Purvis watched him light a cigarette.
‘You’ve been to the Frou-Frou Club tonight?’ he asked tentatively.
Yeah,’ Dal as said, ‘and I’m wil ing to bet my eye-teeth Kile’s get ing set to grab the Chit abad collection.’
‘What makes you think that?’ Purvis asked, sit ing forward.
‘He saw Rico tonight, but maybe I’d bet er start in at the beginning. Talk about a break! It fel into my lap,’ and he gave Purvis a detailed account of what he had seen and heard at the club, as wel as the conversation he had overheard between Eve and Gillis as they sat in the car.
Purvis was enthralled. He just sat still, staring at Dallas, drinking in every word, and not interrupting.
When Dallas had finished, he got up and began to pace up and down.
‘What a break!’ he said. ‘It’s unbelievable! I’ve worked on this goddamn case for fifteen years, and never thought I’d get anywhere with it, and then suddenly it’s handed to us on a plate.’
Dallas grinned.
‘I made it sound too easy,’ he said, stretching out his long legs. ‘If it hadn’t been for a hunch…’
‘Never mind that. These people must be after the collection,’ Purvis said, coming to stand over Dallas. ‘This morning Kile and the Gil is girl cal on the Rajah. In the evening Gil is talks in terms of half a million. The connection’s obvious. It looks as if the Rajah has offered Kile a half a million to get his jewels back, and Gillis plans to gyp him.’
‘The whole idea seems to have come from Gillis,’ Dal as pointed out. ‘Kile is being used as a stooge.
But how is Kile going to get the jewels? Think he knows where they are?’
‘I don’t know,’ Purvis said, sit ing down. ‘He must have some idea otherwise he wouldn’t have seen the Rajah this morning.’
‘Who’s this guy Baird, Gil is is so strung up about?’
‘If it’s Verne Baird,’ Purvis said, crossing his long, bony legs, ‘and I’d imagine it must be, he’s suspect number one for Jean Bruce’s kil ing.’
‘Is that right?’ Dal as said, startled. ‘Is he the guy Olin’s searching for?’
Purvis nodded.
‘A pretty dangerous character, according to Olin. I ran into Olin on my way home tonight. He’s had quite a night of it. As a routine precaution he put a couple of his men to watch Baird’s apartment house.
One of them spotted a big man watching the house and went after him. He cornered him in a drug store, but wasn’t fast enough with his gun. He and the girl in the store were shot to death, and the kil er escaped by way of the roof. Olin got some boys down there in double quick time, and one of them spotted the killer as he was crossing the roof. He winged him, but he got away somehow. They’ve cordoned off the area and they’re making a house-to- house search. Olin swears no one can get through the cordon, so with any luck, they’l catch him.’
‘Was it Baird?’
‘Olin thinks so, but no one has identified him. The cop who shot at him said the man was Baird’s build, but he couldn’t swear it was Baird. Olin says there’s no other hood in town who’d shoot it out with a cop, and then kill the girl so she couldn’t identify him. I think he’s right. We don’t run to types so ruthless as that.’
‘Well, if it is Baird and they catch him, Gillis’s plan may come unstuck.’
Purvis didn’t say anything. He was thinking, his hand covered his face. There was a long silence, then he looked up to say, ‘I’m going to put every man I have on this case, Ed. I don’t think we need bother with the Rajah for the time being. The people who matter now are Kile, Eve Gillis, Rico, Baird and Adam Gillis. They’re the ones who wil lead us to the jewels if anyone’s going to lead us to them.
You’ve already made contact with Gillis, who’s obviously the key-man of the set-up. Keep close to him, Ed. That’s your job from now on. Don’t lose sight of him. Get friendly with him. Get his confidence if you can.’
‘That guy’s as slippery as an eel,’ Dallas said, ‘and a first-class heel as well. The way he talked to his sister made me want to puke.’
‘Who’l I put on to Rico?’ Purvis said, frowning. ‘Burns must cover Kile. Ainsworth can go after Baird, unless the cops get him first, but what about Rico?’
‘There’s a girl at the club; her name’s Zoe Norton,’ Dal as said. ‘For some reason or other she seems to have taken a liking for me. I think I could persuade her to work for us. She would be in a much better position to report on Rico than anyone we could employ. That’s what we want more than anything at this stage of the game: someone inside and working for us.’
Purvis nodded.
‘That’s right. How do you persuade her?’
’I’d spread my charm before her and a purse of gold,’ Dal as’ said, grinning. ‘It’d cost you three or four hundred, but it’d pay dividends.’
Purvis winced.
‘Doesn’t say much for your charm,’ he said tartly. ‘I wouldn’t pay her more than a hundred. You seem to think I’ve money to burn.’
‘She wouldn’t do it for that,’ Dal as said. ‘It’l have to be three at least. But don’t let me persuade you to throw your money away – as if I could.’
Purvis brooded. He realised he would be getting value for money, and this wasn’t the time to cut corners.
‘Wel , talk to her,’ he said final y. ‘Get her as cheaply as you can, and not a dime more than three hundred.’
