Latest / True Tales of The Secret Service / Ep. 21 - A Million Dollar Quarter

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Ep. 21 - A Million Dollar Quarter · True Tales of The Secret Service

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Chapter twenty one. A million dollars quarter. What's in the vial? I
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inquired one evening as Bill Quinn, formerly of the United States Secret Service,
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picked up a small brown bottle from the table in his den and slipped it
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into his pocket. Saccarin retorted Quinn laconically had to come to it in order
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to offset the sugar shortage. No telling how long it will continue. And
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meanwhile, we're conserving what we have on hand. So I carry my lump
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sugar in my vest pocket, and I'll keep on doing it until conditions improve.
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They say. The trouble lies at the importing end. Can't secure enough
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sugar at the place where the ships are, or enough ships at the place
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where the sugar is. This isn't the first time that sugar has caused trouble
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either. See that five cent piece up there in the wall. Apparently it's
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an ordinary everyday quarter, but it cost the government well over a million dollars
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money which should have been paid in as import duty on tons upon tons of
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sugar. Yes, back of that quarter lies a case which is absolutely unique
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in the annals of government detective work. The biggest and most far fetching smuggling
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plot ever discovered, and the one which took the longest to solve. Nine
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years seems like a mighty long time to work on a single assignment, But
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when you consider that the treasury collected more than two million dollars as a direct
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result of one man's labor during that time, you'll see that it was worthwhile.
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The whole thing really started when Dick Carr went to work as a regular
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sampler, continued Quinn, his eyes fixed meditation of lee upon the quarter on
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the wall. Someone had tipped the department off to the fact that phony sampling
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of some sort was being indulged in, and Dick managed to get a place
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as assistant of one of the docks where the big sugar ships unloaded. As
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you probably know, there's a big difference in the duty on the different grades
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of raw sugar, a difference based upon the tests made by expert chemists.
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As soon as the cargo is landed, sugar which is only ninety two percent
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pure, for example, comes in half a cent a pound cheaper than that
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which is ninety six percent pure. And the sampling is accomplished by inserting a
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thin glass tube through the wide meshes of the bag or basket. Which contains
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the sugar. It didn't take Car very long to find out that the majority
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of the samplers were slipping their tubes into the bags at an angle instead of
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shoving them straight in, and that a number of them made a practice of
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moistening the outside of the container before they made their tests. The idea,
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of course, was that the sugar which had absorbed moisture either during the voyage
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or after reaching the dock, would not essay as pure as would the dry
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material in the center of the package. A few experiments conducted under the cover
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of night showed a difference of ford to six percent in the grade of the
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samples taken from the inside of the bag and that taken from a point close
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to the surface, particularly if even a small amount of water had been judiciously
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applied. The difference, when translated into terms of half a cent a pound
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import duty, didn't take long to run up into hundreds of thousands of dollars,
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and Car's report, made after several months investigating, cost a number of
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sugar samplers their jobs and brought the wrath of the government down upon the companies
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which had been responsible for the practice. After such an exposure as this,
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you might think that the sugar people would have been content to take their legitimate
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profit and to pay the duty levied by law. But Carr had the idea
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that they would try to put into operation some other scheme for defrauding the treasury,
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and during years that followed he kept in close touch with the importing situation
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and the personnel of the men employed in the docks. The active part he
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had played in the sugar sampling exposure naturally prevented his active participation in any attempt
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to uncover the fraud from the inside. But it was the direct cause of
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his being summoned to Washington when a discharged official of one of the sugar compan
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pies filed a charge that the government was losing five hundred thousand dollars a year
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by the illicit operations at a single plant. Frankly, I haven't the slightest
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idea of how it's being done, confessed the official in question, but I
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am certain that some kind of a swindle is being perpetrated on a large scale.
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Here's the proof with that, He produced two documents, one the Bill
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of lading of the Steamer Mirbar, showing the amount of sugar on board when
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she cleared Java, and the other the official receipt signed by a representative of
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the sugar company for her cargo when she reached New York. As you will
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see, continued the informant, the bill of lading clearly shows that the mirbar
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carried eleven million, seven hundred thirty four thousand, six hundred eighty seven pounds
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of raw sugar. Yet when she weighed under the supervision of the custom house
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officials a few weeks later, the cargo consisted of only eleven million, thirty
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two thousand and sixteen pounds, a shrinkage of seven hundred two thousand, six
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hundred seventy one pounds, about six percent of the material shipment, and at
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the present import duty that would amount to about in the neighborhood of twelve thousand
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dollars loss on this ship alone, stated the former sugar official. Allowing for
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the arrival of anywhere from fifty to a hundred ships a year, you can
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figure the annual deficit for yourself. Carr whistled he had rather prided himself upon
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uncovering the sampling frauds a few years previously, but this bade fair to be
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a far bigger case, one which would tax every atom of his ingenuity to
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uncover. How long has this been going on, inquired the Acting Secretary of
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the Treasury. I can't say, admitted the informant. Neither do I care
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to state how I came into possession of these documents. But as you will
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find when you look into the matter, they are entirely authoritative and do not
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refer to an isolated case. The myrbar is the rule, not the exception.
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It's now up to you people to find out how the fraud was worked.
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He's right at That was the comment from the Acting Secretary when the former
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sugar official had departed. The information is undoubtedly the result of a personal desire
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to get even for our friend recently lost his place with a company in question.
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However, that hasn't the slightest bearing upon the truth of his charges.
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Car It's up to you to find out what there is in em. That's
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a man sized order, mister Secretary, smiled Dick, especially as the work
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I did some time ago on the sampling frauds made me about as popular as
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the plague with the sugar people. If I ever poked my nose on the
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docks at night you'd be out the price of a big bunch of white roses
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the next day, which means that you don't care to handle the case.
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Not so that you could notice it snapped, Carr. I merely wanted you
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to realize the handicaps under which I'll be working, so that there won't be
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any demand for instant developments. This case is worth a million dollars if it's
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worth a cent, and because it is so big, it will take a
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whole lot longer to round up the details than if we were working on a
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matter that concerned only a single individual. If you remember, it took Joe
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Gregory nearly six months to land Phyllis Dodge, and therefore therefore a data take
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about sixty years to get to bottom of this case. Eh, hardly that
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long, but I would like an assurance that I can dig into this in
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my own way, and that there won't be any hurry up message sent from
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this end every week or two. That's fair enough, agreed the Assistant Secretary.
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You know the ins and outs of the sugar game better than any man
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in the service, so hop to it and take your time. We'll content
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ourselves with sitting back and awaiting developments. Armed with this assurance, Carr went
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back to New York and began carefully and methodically to lay his plans for the
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biggest game ever hunted by a government detective, a ring protected by millions of
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dollars in capital, and haunted by the fear that its operations might some day
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be discovered. In spite of the fact that it was necessary to work entirely
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in the dark, Dick succeeded in securing the manifests and bills of lading of
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three other sugar ships which had recently been unloaded, together with copies of the
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receipts of their cargoes. Every one of these indicated the same mysterious shrinkage en
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route, amounting to about six percent of the entire shipment, and as Car
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figured it, there were but two explanations which could cover the matter. Either
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a certain percentage of the sugar had been removed from the hold and smuggled into
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the country before the ship reached New York, or there was a conspiracy of
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some kind which involved a number of the weighers on the docks. The first
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supposition argued, Car is feasible, but hardly within the bounds of probability.
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If the shortage had occurred in a shipment of gold or something else which combines
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high value with small volume, that's where I'd look for the leak. But
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when it comes to hundreds of thousands of pounds of sugar, that's something else.
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You can't carry that around in your pockets or even unloaded without causing comment
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and employing so many assistance that the risk would be extremely great. No,
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the answer must lie right here on the docks, just as it did in
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the sampling cases. So it was on the docks that he concentrated his efforts,
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working through the medium of a girl named Louise Wood, whom he planted
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as a file clerk and general assistant in the offices of the company which owned
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the myrbar and a number of the sugar ships. This, of course,
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wasn't accomplished in a day, nor yet in a month. As a matter
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of fact, it was February when Carr was first assigned to the case,
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and it was late in August when the Wood girl went to work. But
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as Dick figured it, this single success was worth all the time and trouble
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spent in preparing for it. It would be hard, therefore to give any
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adequate measure of his disappointment when the girl informed him that everything in her office
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appeared to be straight and above board. You know, Dick, reported Louise,
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after she had been at work for a couple of months. I'm not
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the kind that can have the wool pulled over my eyes. If there was
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anything crooked going on, i'd spot it before they'd more than laid their first
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plans. But I've had the opportunity of going over the files and the wrecker
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and it's all on the level. Then how are you to account for the
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discrepancies between the bills of leading and the final receipts? Queried Carr, almost
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stunned by the girl's assurance. That's what I don't know, she admitted,
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it certainly looks queer. But of course it is possible that the men who
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ship the sugar deliberately falsify the records in order to get more money, and
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that the company pays these statements as a sort of graft that I can't say.
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It doesn't come under my department, as you know, neither is it
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criminal. What I do know is that the people on the dock have nothing
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to do with faking the figures. Sure you haven't slipped up somewhere and given
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them a suspicion as to your real work. Absolutely certain. I've done my
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work and done it well. That's what I was employed for and that's what's
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given me access to the files. But as for suspicion, there hasn't been
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a trace of it. It was in vain that Carr questioned and cross questioned
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the girl. She was sure of herself and sure of her information, positive
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that no crooked work was being handled by the men who received the sugar when
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it was unloaded from the incoming ships. Puzzled by the girl's insistence, and
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stunned by the failure of the plan upon which he had banked so much,
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Carr gave the matter up as a bad job, telling Louise that she could
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stop her work whenever she wished, but finally agreeing to her suggestion that she
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continued to hold her place in the bare chance of uncovering a lead. Of
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course, concluded the girl. You may be right, after all, they
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may have covered their tracks so thoroughly that I haven't been able to pick up
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the scent. I really don't believe that they have, but it's worth the
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gamble to me if it is to you. More than a month passed before
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the significance of this speech dawned upon Dick, and then only when he chanced
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to be walking along Fifth Avenue one Saturday afternoon and saw Louise coming out of
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Tiffany's with a small cubicle package in her hand. Tiffany's, he muttered,
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I wonder. Then entering the store, he sought out the manager and stated
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that he would like to find out what a lady whom he described had just
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purchased. The flash of his badge, which accompanied this request turned the trick.
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Of course, it's entirely against our rules, explained the store official,
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but we are always glad to do anything in our power to assist the government.
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Just a moment, I'll call the clerk who waited on her. The
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lady, he reported a few minutes later, gave her name as Miss Louise
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Wood and her address. As I know where she lives, snapped Carr.
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What did she buy? A diamond and platinum ring? The price eight hundred
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and fifty dollars, thanks, said the operative, and was out of the
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office before the manager could frame any additional inquiries. When the Wood girl answered
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a rather imperative ring at the door of her apartment. She was distinctly surprised
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at the identity of her caller, for she and Carr had agreed that it
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would not be wise for them to meet except by appointment in some out of
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the way place. Dick, she exclaimed, what brings you here? Do
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you think it's safe? Safe? Or not? Replied the operative, entering
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and closing the door behind him. I'm here and here I'm going to stay
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until I find out something. Where did you get the money to pay for
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that ring you bought at Tiffany's today? Money ring? Echoed the girl.
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What are you talking about? You know well enough now, don't stall come
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through? Where'd you get it? And aunt died and left it to me?
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But the girl's pale face and halting speech belied her words. Try another
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one, sneered Carr. Where did you get that eight hundred and fifty dollars?
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What business is it of yours? Can't I spend my own money in
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my own way without being trailed and hounded all over the city. You can
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spend your own money, the money that you earn by working, and the
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money I pay you for keeping your eyes open? On the docks as you
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please. But and here Carr reached forward and grasped the girl's wrist, drawing
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her slowly toward him so that her eyes looked straight into his. When it
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comes to spending other money, money that you got for keeping your mouth shut
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and putting it over on me, that's another story. I didn't, Dick,
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I didn't. Can you look me straight in the eyes and say that
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they haven't paid you for being blind, that they didn't suspect what you came
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to the dock for and declared you in on the split. No, I
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didn't think you could with that. He flung her on a couch and moved
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toward the door. Just as his hand the knob, he heard a voice
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behind him, half sob and half plea cry Dick. Reluctantly, he turned,
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Dick, as there's a god in heaven. I didn't mean to double
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cross you, but they were on to me from the first. They planted
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some stamps in my pocket during the first week I was there, and then
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gave me my choice of being pulled for thieving or staying there at double pay.
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I didn't want to do it, but they had the goods on me,
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and I had to, they said. All I had to do was
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to tell you that nothing crooked was going on, and they'll pay me well
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for it. While you were also drawing money from me. Eh, sure
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I was, Dick. I couldn't ask you to stop my pay you'd have
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suspected. Besides, as soon as you were done with me, they or
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two. That's where the eight hundred and fifty dollars came from. Yes,
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and a lot more. Oh, they pay well, all right. For
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fully a minute there was silence in the little apartment, broken only by the
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sobs of the girl and the couch. Finally, Carr broke the strain.
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There's only one way for you to square yourself, he announced. Tell me
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everything you know, the truth, and every word of it. That's just
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it, Dick. I don't know anything. For sure. There's something going
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on, no doubt of that, But what it is I don't know.
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They keep it under cover in the scale house. In the scale house,
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yes, they don't allow anyone in there without a permit. Somebody uptown tips
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him off whenever a special agent it's coming down, so they can fix things.
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But none of the staff knows, though nearly all of them are drawn
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extra money for keeping their mouth shut. Who are the men who appear to
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be implicated? Mahoney the checker for the company, and derwent the government.
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Weigher derwent, Yes, he's in on it too. I tell you,
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Dick, the thing's bigger than you ever dreamed. It's like an octopus with
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tentacles that are fastened on everyone connected with the place. But no clue as
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to the location of the body of the beast. Can't you guess? You
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know the number of their office uptown. But there's no use hoping to nab
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them. They're too well protected. I doubt if you can even get at
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the bottom of the affair on the dock, I don't doubt it. Carr's
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chin had settled itself determinedly, and his mouth was a thin red line.
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I'm going to give you a chance to redeem yourself. Go back to work
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as usual on Monday. Don't let on by word or gesture that anything has
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changed. Just await developments. If you'll do that, i'll see that you're
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not implicated. More than that, I'll acknowledge you as the proper time as
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my agent planted there to double cross the fraud gang. You'll have your money
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and your glory and your satisfaction of having done the right thing, even though
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you didn't intend to do it. Are you on? I am Dick.
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I won't say a word. I promise good. You'll probably see me before
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long, but don't recognize me. You'll be just one of the girls,
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and it'll probably be necessary to include you in the round up. I'll fix
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that later. Good Bye, and with that he was off, not expecting
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the car would be able to complete his plans for at least a week.
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Louise was startled when the operative arrived at the dock on the following Monday morning.
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He had spent the previous day in Washington arranging details, and his appearance
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at the company's office, while apparently casual, was part of the program mapped
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out in advance. What was more, Carr had come to the dock from
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the station so as to prevent the inside man from flashing a warning of his
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arrival. Straight through the office, he strode his right hand swinging at his
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side, his left thrust nonchalantly in the pocket of his top coat. Before
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he had crossed halfway to the door of the scale room, he was interrupted
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by a burly individual who demanded his business I want to see mister Derwent or
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mister Mahoney, replied Carr. They're both engaged at present, was the answer.
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Wait here and I'll tell them. Get out of my road, growled
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the operative, pulling back the lapel of his coat sufficiently to afford a glimpse
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of his badge. I'll see them where they are, And before the guardian
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of the scale house door had recovered from his astonishment, Carr was well across
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the portals. The first thing that caught his eye was the figure of a
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man bending over the weight beam of one of the big scales, while another
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man was making some adjustments on the other side of the apparatus. Derwent,
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who was facing the door, was the first to se Car, but before
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he could warn his companion, the special agent was on top of them.
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Who are you? What business have you in here? Demanded the government.
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Were Car is my name? Replied Dick. Possibly you've heard of me.
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If so, you know my business catching sugar crooks. Derwent's face went white
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for a moment and then flushed a deep red. Mahoney, however, failed
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to alter his position. He remained bending over the weight beam, his fingernails
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scratching at something underneath. Straighten up there, ordered car you. Mahoney,
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I mean straighten up. I'll see you in hell first snapped the other.
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You'll be there soon enough if you don't get up, was Carr's reply,
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as his left hand emerged from his coat pocket, bringing to light the blue
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steel barrel of a forty five get. Just at that moment, from a
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point somewhere near the door of the scale room, came a shrill, high
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pitched cry. A woman's voice, Dick it called look out. Jump Instantly
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involuntarily, the operative leaped sidewise, and as he did so, a huge
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bag of raw sugar crashed to the floor, striking directly on the spot where
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he had stood. Thanks Lou, called Carr, without turning his head.
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You saved me that time. All right, now, gentlemen, before any
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more bags drop, suppose we adjourn uptown. We're less likely to be interrupted
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there. And he sounded a police whistle, which brought a dozen assistants on
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the run. Search Mahoney, he directed, I don't think Derwent has anything
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on him. What's that Mahoney has in his hand? Nothing but a quarter,
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sir, and what looks like an old wad a chewing gum. Puzzled,
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Carr examined the coin. Then the explanation of the whole affair flashed upon
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him as he investigated the weight beam and found fragments of gum adhering to the
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lower part near the free end. So that was the trick, eh He
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inquired quite a delicate bit of mechanism this scale. In spite of the fact
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that it was designed to weigh tons of material. Even a quarter gummed on
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the end of the beam would throw the whole thing out enough to make it
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well worth while. I think this coin and the wad of gum will make
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very interesting evidence exhibits A and B at the trial, after we've rounded up
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the rest of you, and that concluded, Quinn, is the story which
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lies behind that twenty five cent piece, probably the most valuable bit of money,
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judged from the standpoint of what it is accomplished in the world. Derwent
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and mahoney. I asked what happened to them? And did Carr succeed in
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landing the men higher up? Unfortunately, and Quinn smiled rather ruefully. There
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is such a thing as the power of money. The government brought suit against
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the sugar companies, implicated in the fraud and commenced criminal proceedings against the men
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directly responsible for the manipulation of the scales. It developed that they had another
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equally lucrative method of using a piece of thin corset steel to alter the weights,
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but the case was squashed upon the receipt of a check for more than
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two million dollars covering back duties uncollected, so the personal indictments were allowed to
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lapse. It remains, however, the only investigation I ever heard of in
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which success was so signal and the amount involved so large. Todd of the
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Department of Justice handled a big affair not long afterward, but while some of
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the details were even more unusual and exciting, the theft was only a paltry
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two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Which case was that the looting of the
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Central Trust Company? Replied the former operative, rising and stretching himself, get
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along with you. It's time for me to lock up. End of Chapter
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twenty one.