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Ep. 5 - Phyllis Dodge - Smuggler Extraordinary · True Tales of The Secret Service

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Chapter five, Phyllis Dodge Smuggler Extraordinary. Bill Quinn tossed aside his evening paper
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and, cocking his feet upon a convenient chair, remarked that now that peace
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was finally signed, sealed, and delivered, there ought to be a big
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boom in the favorite pastime of the idle rich. Meaning what I inquired,
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smuggling, of course, said Quinn, who only retired from secret service when
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an injury received an action forced him to do so. Did you ever travel
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on a liner when four out of every five people on board didn't admit that
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they were trying to beat the customs officials one way or another, And the
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only reason the other one didn't follow suit was because he knew enough to keep
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his mouth shut. That's how Uncle Sam's detectives pick up a lot of clues.
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The amateur Kirk never realizes that silence is golden and that oftentimes speech leads
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to a heavy fine. Now that the freedom of the seas is an accomplished
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fact, the whole crew of would be smugglers will doubtless get to work again,
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only to be nabbed in port. Inasmuch as ocean travel has gone up
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with the rest of the cost of living. It'll probably be a sport confined
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to the comparatively rich for a couple of years. Anyhow, it was different
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in the old days. Every steamer that came in was loaded to the eyes,
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and you never knew when you are going to spot a hidden necklace or
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a packet of diamonds that wasn't destined to pay duty. There were thrills to
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the game too, believe me. Why just take the case of Phyllis Dodge.
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Missus Dodge, Quinn continued, after he had packed his pipe to a
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condition where it was reasonably sure remained lighted for some time, was theoretically at
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least a widow. Her full name, as it appeared on many passenger lists
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during the early part of nineteen thirteen, was Missus Mortimer C. Dodge of
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Cleveland, Ohio. When the customs officials came in to look into the matter,
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they weren't able to find anyone in Cleveland who knew her. But then
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it's no penal offense to give the purser a wrong address, or even a
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wrong name for that matter. While there may have been doubts about Missus Dodge's
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widowhood or whether she had ever been married, for that matter, there could
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be none about her beauty in the language of the classics. She was there,
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black hair, brown eyes, a peaches and cream complexion that came and
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went while you watched it, and a figure that would have made her fortune
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in the follies. Joe Gregory said toward the trailing her was one of the
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easiest things he had ever done to get the whole story of Phyllis and her
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extraordinary cleverness. Extraordinary because it was so perfectly obvious. We'll have to cut
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back a few months before she came on the scene. For some time,
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the Treasury Department had been well aware that a number of precious stones, principally
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pearl necklaces, were being smuggled into the country. Agents abroad the Department maintains
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a regular force in Paris, London, Rotterdam and other European points you know,
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had reported the sale of the jewels, and they had turned up a
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few weeks later in New York or Chicago. But the Custom Service never considers
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it wise to trace stones back from their owners. On this side, there
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are too many ramifications to any well planned smuggling scheme, and it is too
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easy for someone to claim that he had found them in a life forgotten chest
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in the attic, or some such story as that the burden of proof rests
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upon the government in a case of this kind, and except in the last
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extremity, it always tries to follow the chase from the other end to nab
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the smuggler in the act and thus build up a jury proof case. Reports
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of the smuggling cases had been filtered into the department half a dozen times in
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as many months, and the matter finally got on the chiefs nerves to such
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a degree that he determined to thrash it out if it took every man he
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had. In practically every case, the procedure was the same, though the
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only principles known were different each time. Rotterdam, for example, would report
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pearl necklace valued at forty thousand dollars sold today to man named Silverberg, have
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reason to believe it is destined for States, and then would follow a technical
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description of the necklace. Anywhere from six weeks to three months later, the
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necklace would turn up in the possession of a jeweler who bore a shady reputation.
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Sometimes the article wouldn't appear at all, which might have been due to
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the fact that they weren't brought into this country, or that the receivers had
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altered them beyond recognition. However, the European advices pointed to the latter supposition,
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which didn't soothe the Chief's nerves the least bit. Finally, along in
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the middle of the spring of nineteen thirteen, there came a cable from Paris
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announcing the sale of the famous Echium Emerald, a gorgeous stone that you couldn't
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help recognizing once you got the description. The purchaser was reported to be an
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American named Williamson. He paid cash for it, so his references and his
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antecedents were not investigated at the time. Sure Enough, it wasn't two months
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later when a report came in from Chicago that a pork made millionaire had added
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to his collection a stone which tallied to the description of the Echium Emerald.
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Shall we go after it? From this end? Chief inquired one of the
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men on the job in Washington. We can make the man who bought it
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tell us where he got it, and then sweat the rest of the game
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out of the go betweens, Yes, snorted the Chief, and be laughed
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out of court. On some trumped up story framed by a well paid lawyer.
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Not a chance. I'm going to land those birds and land them with
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the goods. We can't afford to take any chances with this crowd. They've
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evidently got money and brains, a combination that you've got to stay awake nights
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to beat. No, we'll nail em in New York just as they're bringing
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the stones in. Send a wire to Gregory to get on the job at
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once and tell New York to turn loose every man they've got, though they've
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been working on this case long enough, heaven knows. The next morning,
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when Gregory and his society manner strolled into the custom House in New York,
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he found the place buzzing. Evidently, the instructions from Washington had been such
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as to make the entire force fear for their jobs unless the smuggling combination was
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broken up quickly. It didn't take Joe very long to get the details.
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They weren't many, and he immediately discarded the idea of possible collusion between the
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buyers of the stones abroad. It looked to be a certainty on the face
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of it, But once you had discovered that what good did it, do
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you? It wasn't possible to jail a man just because he bought some jewels
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in Europe. And besides, the orders from Washington were very clear that the
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case was to be handled strictly from this side. At least the final arrest
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was to be made on American soil to avoid extradition complications and the like.
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So when Joe got all the facts, they simply were that some valuable jewels
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had been purchased in Europe and had turned up in America without going through the
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formality of visiting the custom house anywhere from six weeks to three months later.
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Not much to work on, grumbled Gregory. And I suppose, as usual
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that the chief will be as peevish as hades if we don't nab the guilty
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party within the week. It's more than possible, admitted one of the men
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who had handled the case. Gregory studied the dates in which the jewels had
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been purchased and those on which they had been located in this country for a
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few moments in silence, then get me copies of the passenger lists of every
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steamer that has docked here in the past year, he directed. Of course,
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it's possible that these things might have been landed at Boston or Philadelphia,
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but New York's the most likely port. When the lists had been secured,
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Gregory stuffed them into his suit case and started for the door. Where are
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you going, inquired McMahon, the man in charge of the New York office
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up to the Adirondacks for a few days. Gregory replied, what's the idea?
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Think the stuff is being brought over by airplane and landed inland. Liners
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don't dock upstate, you know? No, said Gregory, but that's where
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I'm going to dock until I can digest this stuff. And he tapped his
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suit case. Somewhere in this bunch of booklets, there's a clue to this
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case, and it's up to me to spot it. Goodbye. Five days
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later, when he sauntered back into the New York office, the suit case
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was surprisingly light. Apparently every one of the passenger lists had vanished. As
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a matter of fact, they had been boiled down to three names, which
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were carefully inscribed in Joe's notebook. Did you pick up any jewels and the
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catskills? Was the question that greeted him when he entered. Wasn't in the
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cat's skills, he growled, went up to a camp in the Adirondacks,
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colder in blazes. Any more stuff turn up? No, but a wire
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came from Washington just after you left to watch out for a hundred thousand dollars
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string of pearls sold at a private auction in London last week to an American
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named I don't care what his name was. Gregory cut in. What was
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the date they were sold? The sixteenth? Gregory glanced at the calendar,
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and to day is the twenty second, he mused, What boats are due
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in the next three days? The Cretic docks this afternoon, and the Tasmania
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ought to get in tomorrow. That'll be all until the end of the week,
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right, snapped Gregory. Don't let a soul off the critic until I've
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had a look at her passenger list. It's too late to go down the
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harbor now, But not a person's to get off that ship until I've had
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a chance to look him over. Also cable for a copy of the Tasmanias
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passenger list, hurry it up. Less than ten minutes after he had slipped
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on board the critic, However, Gregory gave the signal, which permitted the
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gangplank to be lowered and the passengers to proceed as usual, except for the
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fact that the luggage of everyone and the person of not a few were searched
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with more than the average carefulness, but not a trace of the pearls was
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found, as Joe had anticipated a careful inspection of the passenger list, and
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a few moments with the purser had convinced him that none of his three suspects
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were on board. Shortly after he returned to the office, the list of
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the Tasmanias passengers began to come over the cables. Less than half a page
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had been received when Gregory uttered a sudden exclamation, reached for his note book,
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compared a name in it with one which appeared on the cabled report,
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and indulged in the luxury of a deep throated chuckle. Gregg's got a nibble
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somewhere, commented one of the bystanders. Yes, admitted his companion, but
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land in the fish is a different matter whoever's on the other end of that
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line. As a mighty cagy individual. But though he undoubtedly overheard the remark,
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Gregory didn't seem to be the least bit worried. In fact, his
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hat was at a more rakish angle than usual, and his cane fairly whistled
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through the air as he wandered at the avenue half an hour later. The
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next the customs Force heard of him was when he boarded the quarantine boat the
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next morning. Clambering on the liner a little later, with all the skill
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of a pilot. You have a passenger on board by the name of Dodge,
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he informed the purser, after he had shown his badge. Missus Mortimer
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c. Dodge. What do you know about her? Not a thing in
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the world, said the purser, except that she is a most beautiful and
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apparently attractive woman. Crossed with us once before twice. Corrected, Gregory came
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over in January and went right back. That's right, said the purser,
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So she did. I'd forgotten that, But beyond that fact, there isn't
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anything that I can add. Seemed to be familiar with anyone on board,
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not particularly mixes with the younger married set, and I've noticed her on Dick
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with the Mortons quite frequently, pop being met them on her return trip last
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winter. They were along then, if I remember rightly, thanks, said
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the customs operative. You needn't mention anything about my inquiries, of course,
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and he mixed with the throng of newspaper reporters who were picking up news in
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various sections of the big vessel. When the Tasmania docked, Gregory was the
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first one off search Missus Mortimer c Dodge to the skin. He directed the
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matron take down her hair, tap the heels of her shoes, and go
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through all the usual stunts. But be as gentle as you can about it.
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Say that we've received word that some uncut diamonds, not pearls, mind
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you, are concealed on the Tasmania, and that orders have been given to
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go over everybody thoroughly pass the word along the line to give out the same
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information so she won't be suspicious. I don't think you'll find anything, but
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you never can tell. At that Joe was right. The matron didn't locate
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a blessed thing out of the way. Missus Dodge had brought in a few
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dutiable trinkets, but they were all down on her declaration, and within the
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hour she was headed uptown in a taxi, accompanied by a maid who had
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met her as she stepped out of the Custom's office. Not far behind them
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trailed another taxi top up, and Gregory's eyes glued to the window behind the
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chauffeur. The first machine finally drew up at the aster and Missus Dodge and
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the maid went in, followed by a pile of luggage which had been searched
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until it was moral certainty that not a needle would have been concealed in it.
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Gregory waited until they were out of sight, and then followed. In
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answer to his inquiries at the desk, he learned that Missus Dodge had stopped
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at the hotel several times before, and the house detective assured him that there
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was nothing suspicious about her conduct. How about the maid, inquired Gregory.
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Don't know a thing about her either, except that she is the same one
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she had before. Pretty little thing too, though not as good looking as
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her mistress. For the next three days, Joe hung around the hotel or
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followed the lady from the Tasmania wherever she went. Something in the back of
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his head. Call it intuition or a hunch, or whatever you please,
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but it's the feeling that a good operative gets when he's on the right trail
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told him that he was warm, as the kids say. Appearances seemed to
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deny that fact. Missus Dodge went only to the most natural places, a
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few visits to the stores, a couple too fashionable modesties and milliners, and
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some drives through the park, always accompanied by her maid, and always in
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the most sedate and open manner. But on the evening of the third day,
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the house detective tipped Joe off that his prey was leaving in the morning.
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Guess she's gone back to Europe, reported The houseman gave orders to have
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a taxi ready at nine, and her trunks taken down to the docks before
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them. Better get busy if you want to land her. I'm not ready
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for that just yet, Gregory admitted with a scowl. When missus Dodge's taxi
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drove off the following morning, Joe wasn't far away, and, acting on
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orders which he had delivered over the phone, no less than half a dozen
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operatives watched the lady and the maid very closely. When they reached the dock,
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not a thing came of it, however, Both of them went to
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the stateroom, which had been reserved, and the maid remained to help with
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the unpacking. Until the all ashore that's going ashore was bellowed through the boat.
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Then she left and stood in the pier until the ship had cleared the
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dock. It beats me, muttered Gregory, but I'm willing to gamble my
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job that I'm right. And that night he wired to Washington to keep a
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close lookout for the London pearls, adding that he felt certain they would turn
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up before long. In that case, muttered the chief at the other end
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of the wire, Why in Heaven's name didn't he get them when they came
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in? Sure enough, not a fortn I had passed before Saint Louis reported
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that a string of pearls perfectly matched answering to the description of the missing jewels,
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had been offered for sale there through private channels. The first reaction was
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a telegram to Gregory that fairly burned the wires short. But to the point
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either the man who smuggled that necklace or your job in ten days, it
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read, and Gregory replied, give me three weeks and you'll have one or
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the other. Meanwhile, he had been far from inactive, still playing his
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hunch that Phyllis Dodge had something to do with a smuggling game. He had
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put in time cultivating the only person on this side that appeared to know her,
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the maid. It was far from a thankless task for Alice. She
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spelled it with a y, was pretty and knew it. Furthermore, she
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appeared to be entirely out of her element in a cheap room on twenty fourth
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Street. Most of the time she spent in wandering up the avenue, and
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it was there that Gregory made her acquaintance through the expedient of bumping her bag
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out of her hands and restoring it with one of his courtly bows. The
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next minute he was strolling alongside remarking in the beauty of the weather. But
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although he soon got to know Alice well enough to take her to the theater
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and to the cabaret, it didn't seem to get him anywhere. She was
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perfectly frank about her position. Said she was a hairdresser by trade, and
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that she acted as lady's maid to a Missus Dodge, who spent the better
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part of her time abroad. In fact, she said, Missus Dodge is
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only here three or four days every two months or so, and she pays
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you for your time in between. Oh yes, Alice replied, she's more
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than generous. I should say she was, Gregory thought to himself, but
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he considered it best to change the subject. During the days that followed,
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Joe exerted every ounce of his personality in order to make the best possible impression.
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Posing as a man who had made money in the West, he took
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Alice everywhere and treated her royally. Finally, when he considered the time ripe,
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he injected a little love into the equation and hinted that he thought it
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was about time to settle down, and that he appeared to have found the
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proper person to settle with. But there for the first time, Alice balked.
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She didn't refuse him, but she stated in so many words that she
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had a place that suited her for the time being, and that until the
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fall at least, she preferred to keep on with it. That suits me
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all right, declared Gregory. Take your time about it. Meanwhile, we'll
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continue to be good friends and trail around together. Eh certainly, said Alice,
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that is until Tuesday. Tuesday, inquired Joe. What's coming off Tuesday?
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Missus Dodge will arrive on the Atlantic, was the reply. And I'll
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have to be with her for three days. At least three days, commenced
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to Gregory and halted himself. It wasn't wise to show too much interest.
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But that night he called the chief on long distance and inquired if there had
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been any recent reports of suspicious jewel sale abroad. Yes, came the voice
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from Washington. Pearls again, loose ones this time, and your three weeks
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grace is up at noon Saturday. The click that followed as the receiver hung
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up was finality itself. The same procedure, altered in a few minor details,
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was followed. When missus Dodge landed again. She was searched to the
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skin again, her luggage was gone over with microscopic care, and again nothing
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was found. This time she stayed at the Knickerbocker, but Alice was with
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her as usual. Deprived of his usual company and left to his own devices,
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Gregory took a long walk up the drive and tried to thrash out.
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The problem comes over on a different boat most every trip, he thought,
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so that eliminates collusion with any of the crew. Doesn't stay at the same
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hotel two times running, so there's nothing there, has the same maid and
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always returns then it was that motorists on Riverside Drive were treated to the sight
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of a young and extremely prepossessing man, dressed in the height of fashion,
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throwing his hat in the air and uttering a yell that could be heard for
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blocks, after which he disappeared hurriedly in the direction of the nearest drug store.
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A hasty search through the phone book gave him the number he wanted,
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the offices of the Black Star Line. Is mister McPherson, the purser of
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the Atlantic there, he inquired. Then, Hello, mister McPherson, this
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is Gregory Customs Division. You remember me, don't you worked on the Maitland
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diamond case with you two years ago. Wonder if you could tell me something
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I want to know? Is missus Mortimer c Dodge book to go back with
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you tomorrow? She is? What's the number of her stateroom? And ah,
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what was the number of the room she had? Coming over? I
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thank you. If the motorists whom Gregory had startled on the drive had seen
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him emerge from the phone booth, they would have marveled at the look of
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keen, satisfaction and relief that was spread over his face. The cat that
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swallowed the canary was tired of life compared with Joe at that moment. Next
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morning, the customs operatives were rather surprised to see Gregory stroll down to the
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Atlantic Doc about ten o'clock. Thought you were somewhere uptown in the chief's at
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case, said one of them. So I was, answered Joe, but
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that's practically cleaned up. With that, he went aboard and no one saw
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him until just before the all ashore call. Then he took up his place
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beside the gang plank, with three other men placed near by in case of
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accident. Follow my lead, he directed, I'll speak to the girl.
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Two of you stick here to make certain that she doesn't get away, and
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you bill beat it on board. Then and tell the captain that the boat's
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not to clear until we give the word. We won't delay him more than
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ten minutes at the outside. When Alice came down the gang plank a few
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minutes later, in the midst of people who had been saying goodbye to friends
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and relatives, she spotted Joe waiting for her and started to move hurriedly away.
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Gregory caught up with her before she had gone a dozen feet. Good
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morning, Alice, he said, thought i'd come down to meet you.
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What have you got in the bag there, indicating her maid's handbag. Not
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not a thing, said the girl, flushing. Just then the matron joined
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the party as previously arranged, and Joe's tone took on its official hardness.
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Hurry up and search her. We don't want to keep the boat any longer
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than we have to. Less than a minute later, the matron thrust her
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head out of the door long enough to report, we found him. The
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pearls She had him in the front of her dress. Gregory was up the
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gangplank in a single bound. A moment later he was knocking at the door
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of missus dodges stateroom. The instant the knob turned, he was inside,
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informing Phyllis that she was under arrest on a charge of bringing jewels into the
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United States without the formality of paying duty. Of course, the lady protested,
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but the Atlantic sailed less than ten minutes behind scheduled time without her Promptly.
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At twelve, the phone on the desk of the chief of the Custom's
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Division in Washington buzzed noisily. Gregory speaking, came through the receiver. My
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time's up, and I've got the party you want, claims to be from
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Cleveland and sails under the name of Missus Mortimer C. Dodge. First name
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Phyllis. She's confessed and promises to turn state's evidence if we'll go light with
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her. That, added Quinn, was the finish of Missus Dodge so far
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as the government was concerned. In order to land the whole crew, the
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people who were handling the stuff on this side, as well as the ones
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who are mixed up in the scheme abroad, they let her go scot free,
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with the proviso that she's to be rushed to Atlanta if she ever pokes
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her nose into the United States again. The last I heard of her,
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she was in Monaco, tangled up in a blackmail case there. Gregory told
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me all about it some time later, said that the first hunch had come
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to him when he studied the passengers lists in the wilds of the Adirondacks.
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Went there to be alone and concentrate. He found that of all the people
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listed, only three, two men, and a Missus Dodge had made the
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trip frequently in the past six months. The frequency of Missus Dodges travel evidently
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made it impracticable for her to use different aliases, some one would be sure
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to spot her. But it wasn't until that night on Riverside Drive that the
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significance of the data struck him. Each time she took the same boat on
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which he had come over, did she have the same stateroom? The phone
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called to McPherson established the fact that she did. This time, at least,
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the rest was almost as obvious as the original plan. The jewels were
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brought aboard, passed on to Phyllis, and she tucked them away somewhere in
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her stateroom. Her bags and her person could of course be searched with perfect
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safety. Then what was more natural than that her maid should accompany her on
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board when she was leaving. Nobody ever pays any attention to people who board
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the boat at this end, so Alice was able to walk off with the
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stuff under the very eyes of the customs authority, and they found later that
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she had the nerve to place it in the hands of the government for the
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next twenty four hours. She sent it by registered mail to Pittsburgh and it
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was passed along through an underground fence channel until the prospective purchaser appeared perfectly obvious
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and perfectly simple. That's why the plan succeeded. Until Gregory began to make
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love to Alice and got the idea that missus Dodge was going right back to
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Europe hammered into his head. It had occurred to him before, but he
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hadn't placed much value on it. Oh yawned, Quinn, I'm getting dry.
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Trot out some grape juice and put on that Chrysler record Drigger's serenade.
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I love to hear it makes me think of the time when they landed that
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scoundrel Wimer. End of Chapter five