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Ep. 15 - The Man With Three Wives · True Tales of The Secret Service

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Chapter fifteen, The Man with Three Wives. One of the first things to
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strike the eye of the visitor who enters the library den of William J.
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Quinn, known to his friends and former associates in the United States he could
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service as bill, is a frame which stands upon the mantel and contains the
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photographs of three exceptionally pretty women. Anyone who doesn't know that this room is
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consecrated to relics of the exploits of the various governmental detective services might be pardoned
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for supposing that the three pictures in the single frame are photographs of relatives.
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Only closer inspection will reveal the fact that beneath them appears a transcript from several
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pages of a certain book of records, the original of which is kept at
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the New York City Hall. These pages state that, as we let Quinn
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tell the story just as he told it one cold November night, while the
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wind was whistling outside, and the cheery warmth of the fire made things extremely
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snug within, secret servicemen, said Quinn divide all of their cases into two
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classes, those which call for quick action and plenty of it, and those
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which demand a great deal of thought and only an hour or so of actual
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physical work. Your typical operative Allison, who was responsible for solving the poison
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pen puzzle, for example, or Hal Preston, who penetrated the mystery surrounding
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the murder of Montgomery. Marshal is essentially a man of action. He likes
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to tackle a job and get it over with. It doesn't make any difference
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if he has to round up a half dozen counterfeiters at the point of a
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single revolver, as Tommy Callahan once did, or break up a gang of
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train robbers who have sworn never to be taken alive. As long as he
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has plenty of thrills and excitement, as long as he is able to get
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some joy out of life. He doesn't give a hang for the risk.
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That's his business, and he loves it. But it's the long drawn out
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cases which he has to ponder over and consider from a score of angles,
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that, in the vernacular of Vaudeville, capture his angora. Give him an
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assignment where he can trail his man for a day or two, get the
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lay of the land, and then drop on the bunch like a ton of
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brick, and everything's fine. Give him one of the other kind, and
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well, he's just about as happy as Guy Randall was when they turned him
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loose with instructions to get something on Carl Cheney. Remember during the early days
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of the war, when the papers were full of stories from New York,
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Filladelphia, Boston, Milwaukee, and points west about gatherings of pro German sympathizers
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who were determined to aid the fatherland. Theoretically, we were neutral at that
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time, and these people had all the scope they wanted. They did not
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confine themselves to talk, however, but laid several plans which were destined to
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annoy the government and to keep several hundred operatives busy defeating them, for they
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were aimed directly at our policy of neutrality. As a campaign fund to assure
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the success of these operations, the German sympathizers raised not less than sixteen million
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dollars, a sum which naturally excited the cupidity not only of certain individuals within
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their own ranks, but also of persons on the outside, men who were
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accustomed to live by their wits, and who saw in this gigantic collection the
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opportunity of a lifetime. When you consider that you can hire a New York
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gangster to commit murder for a couple of hundred dollars, and the union scale
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has been known to be even lower. It's no wonder that the mere mention
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of sixteen million dollars caused many a crook of international reputation to figure how he
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could divert at least a part of this to his own bank account. That's
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the way, as it afterward turned out that Carl Cheney looked at it.
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Cheney had rubbed elbows with the police on several occasions prior to nineteen fourteen.
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It was suspected that he had been mixed up in a number of exceptionally clever
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smuggling schemes, and that he had had a finger in one or two operations
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which came perilously close to blackmail, but no one had ever been able to
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get anything on him. He was the original Finnegan in Again, Gone Again.
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By the time the plan came to a successful conclusion, all that remained
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of Count Carl's connection with it was a vague and distinctly nebulous shadow. And
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you simply can't arrest shadows, no matter how hard you try. The New
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York police were the first to tip Washington off to the fact that Cheney,
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who had dropped his aristocratic alias for the time being, was back in this
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country and had been seen in the company of a number of prominent members of
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a certain German American club, which wasn't in any too good repute with the
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Department of Justice by reason of the efforts of some of its members to destroy
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the neutral stand of the nation. Have no indications of what Cheney is doing,
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the report admitted, but it will be well to trail him. Apparently
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he has some connection officially or unofficially with Berlin. Advise what action you wish
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to take. Whereupon the Chief wired back operative assigned to Chainey case leaves tonight.
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Meanwhile, please watch. It wasn't until after the wire had been sent
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that Guy Randall was summoned to the inner sanctum of the Secret Service and informed
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that he had been elected to trail the elusive suspect and find out what he
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was up to. So far as our record show stated the Chief, no
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one has ever been able to catch this Chainey person in the act of departing
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from the straight and narrow path. However, that's a matter of the past.
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What we've got to find out is what he is planning now, why
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he is in New York, and why he has attached himself to the pro
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German element, which has all kinds of wild schemes of its sleeve. And
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I'm the one who's going to handle it, inquired guy with a precisely grinned
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the chief. Oh, I know, it doesn't look like much of a
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job, and I grant you that the thrill element will probably be lacking.
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But you can't draw a snap every time. All that's asked is that you
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get something on Cheney, something which will withstand the assaults of the lawyers.
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He will undoubtedly hire the minute we lay hands on him. Therefore, you've
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got to be mighty careful to have the right dope. If you're satisfied that
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he's doing nothing out of the way, don't hesitate to say so. But
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I don't expect that your report will clear him, for from what we already
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know of the gentleman, he's more likely to be implicated in some plan aimed
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directly at a violation of neutrality, and it's essential that we find out what
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that is before we take any radical step. What do you know about Cheney
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was Randal's next question, followed by an explanation from the chief that the Count
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had been suspected in a number of cases and had barely been able to escape
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in time. But added the head of the Secret Service, he did escape,
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and that's what we have to prevent this time. He's a fast worker
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and a clever one, which means that you've got to keep continually after him.
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Call in all the help you need. But if you take my advice
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you'll handle the case alone. You're apt to get a lot further that way.
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Agreeing that this was the best method to pursue, Randal caught the midnight
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train for New York and went at once to police headquarters, where he requested
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a full description of Cheney's previous activities. You're asking for something, what ain't,
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he was informed, ungrammatically, But truthfully, we've never been able to
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get a thing in the Count. Though we're dead certain that he had a
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finger in several crooked plays, the Latimer letters were never directly traced to him,
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but it's a cinch that he had something to do with their preparation,
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just as he had with the blackmailing of old Man Branchfield and the smuggling of
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Van Husen. Emeralds. You remember that case, don't you, The one
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where the stones were concealed in a life preserver and they staged a man overboard
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stunt just as the ship came into the harbor. Nobody ever got the stones
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or proved that they were actually smuggled. But the Count happened to be on
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the ship at the time, just as he happened to be in Paris when
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they were sold. We didn't even dare arrest him, which accounts for the
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fact that his photograph doesn't ornament the rogue's gallery. Well, what's the idea
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of trailing him then, just to find out what he is doing? What
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do you call those birds that fly around at sea just before a gale breaks,
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stormy petrels. That's the Count. He's a stormy petrel of crookedness.
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Something goes wrong every time he hits a town, or rather just after he
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leaves, for he's too clever to stick around too long. The question now
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is what's this particular storm and when is it going to break? Fine job
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to turn me loose on grumbled Randall. It is that, laughed the captain
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who was dispensing information. But you can never tell what you'll run into my
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boy, why I remember once. Randall, however, was out of the
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office before the official had gotten well started in his reminiscences. He figured that
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he had already had too much of a grouch to listen patiently to some long
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winded story dug out of the musty archives of police history, and he made
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his way at once to the hotel where Carl Cheney was registered, flaunting his
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own name in front of the police, whom he must have known were watching
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him. Neither the house detective nor the plainclothesman who had been delegated to trail
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Cheney could add anything of interest to the little that Randall already knew. The
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count, they said, had conducted himself in a most circumspect manner, and
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had not been actually seen in conference with any of the Germans with whom he
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was supposed to be in league. He's too slick for that, added the
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man from the Central Office. Whenever he's got a conference on, he goes
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up to the club, and you can't get in there with anything less than
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a battering ram and raiding squad. There's no chance to plant a dictaphone.
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And how else are you going to get the information? What does he do
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at other times, countered guy, preferring not to reply to the former question
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until he had gotten a better line on the case. Behaves himself was the
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laconic answer. Takes a drive in the park in the afternoon, dines here
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or at one of the other hotels, goes to the theater, and usually
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finishes up with a little supper somewhere among the white lights. Any women in
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sight, Yes, two, a blonde from the girl shell that's planted at
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the Knickerbocker, and a redhead. Don't know who she is, but they're
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both good lookers. No scandal, though. Everything appears to be on the
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level, even the women well mused the government of After a moment's silence,
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I guess I'd better get on the job. Probably means a long stretch of
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dull work. But the sooner I get at it, the sooner I'll get
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over it. Where is Cheney now up in his room? Hasn't come down
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to breakfast yet? Yes, there he is, now, just getting out
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of the elevator, headed toward the dining room, and the plainclothesman indicated the
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tall figure of a man about forty, a man dressed in the height of
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fashion, with spats a cane and a morning coat of the most correct cut.
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Want me for anything, not a thing, said Randall absently. I'll
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pick him up. Now. You might tell the Chief to watch out for
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a hurry call from me, though I'm afraid he won't get it. As
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events proved, Randall was dead right. The Central Office heard nothing from him
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for several months, and even Washington received only stereotype reports indicative of what Cheney
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was doing, which wasn't much. Shortly after the first of the year,
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Guy sent a wire to the Chief asking to be relieved for a day or
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two in order that he might be free to come to Washington. Sensing the
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fact that the operative had some plan which he wished to discuss personally, the
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Chief put another man on Cheney's trail and instructed Randall to report at the Treasury
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Department on the following morning. What's the matter, inquired the man at the
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head of the service, as Guy, a little thinner than formerly and showing
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by the wrinkles about his eyes the strain under which he was working, strolled
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into the office. Nothing's the matter, Chief, and that's where the trouble
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lies. You know, I've never kicked about work, no matter how much
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of it I've had, But this thing's beginning to get on my nerves.
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Cheney is planning some coup. I'm dead certain of that what it's all about,
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though I haven't the least idea. The plans are being late in the
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German American Club, and there's no chance of getting in there. How About
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bribing one of the employees to leave. Can't be done. I've tried it
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half a dozen times. They're all Germans and as such in the organization.
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However, I have a plan. Strictly speaking, it's outside the law,
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but that's why I wanted to talk things over with you. When Randall had
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finished outlining his plan, the Chief sat for a moment in thought. Then
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are you sure you can put it over? He inquired. Of course I
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can. It's done every other day anyhow, by the cops themselves. Why
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shouldn't we take a leaf out of their book? I know, but there's
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always the possibility of a diplomatic protest. Not in this case. Chief.
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The man's only a waiter, And besides, before the embassy has a chance
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to hear about it, I'll have found out what I want to know.
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Then, if they want to raise a row let em. The upshot of
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the matter was that about a week later, Franz Heilman, a waiter employed
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at the German American Club in New York, was arrested one night and hailed
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into night court on a charge of carrying concealed weapons, a serious offense under
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the Sullivan Act. In vain, he protested that he had never carried a
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pistol in his life. Patrolman Flaherty, who had made the arrest, produced
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the weapon, which he claimed to have found in Hylmann's possession, and the
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prisoner was held for trial bright and early the next morning, Randall, disguised
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by a mustache which he had trained for just such an occasion, and bearing
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a carefully falsified letter from a German brewer in Milwaukee, presented himself at the
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employee's entrance of the German American Club and asked for the steward to that individual.
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He told his story how he had tried to get back to the Fatherland
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and had failed, how he had been out of work for nearly a month,
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and how he would like to secure employment of some kind at the club,
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where he would at least be among friends. After a thorough examination of
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the credentials of the supposed German, who had explained his accent by the statement
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that he had been brought to the United States when very young and had been
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raised in Wisconsin. The steward informed him that there was a temporary vacancy in
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the club's staff which he could fill until Heilman returned. The duties, the
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steward added, are very light, and the pay, while not large,
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will enable you to lay by a little something toward your return trip to Germany.
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Knowing that his time was limited, Randall determined to let nothing stand in
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the way of his hearing all that went on in the room where Cheney and
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his associates held their conferences. It was the work of only a few moments
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to bore holes in the door which connected this room with an unused coat closet,
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plugging up the holes with corks stained to simulate the wood itself, and
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the instant the conference was on, the new waiter disappeared. An hour later.
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He slipped out of the side entrance to the club, and the steward
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is probably wondering to this day what became of him. Had he been able
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to listen him in the private wire which connected the new York Office of the
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Secret Service with headquarters at Washington. He would have had the key to the
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mystery. Chief reported Randall, I've got the whole thing. There's a plot
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on foot to raise one hundred and fifty thousand German reservists men already in this
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country, mobilizing them in four divisions with six sections. The first two divisions
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are to assemble at Silver Creek, Michigan, the first one seizing the welland
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Canal, and the second capturing Windmill Point, Ontario. The third is to
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meet at Wilson, New York, and will march on Port Hope. The
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fourth will go from Watertown, New York to Kingston, Ontario, while the
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fifth will assemble somewhere near Detroit and proceed toward Windsor. The sixth will stage
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an attack on Ottawa, operating from Cornwall. They've got their plans all laid
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for the coup, and Cheney reported today that he intends to purchase some eighty
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five boats to carry the invading force into the dominion. The only thing that's
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delaying the game is the question of provisions for the army. Cheney's holding out
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for another advance. From what I gathered, he's already received a lot and
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claims that he will be powerless until he gets it. I didn't stay to
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listen to the argument, for I figured that i'd better leave while the leaving
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was good. The reply that came back from Washington was rather startling to the
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operative, who expected only commendation and the statement that his task was completed.
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What evidence have you that this invasion is planned? None besides what I heard
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through holes which I boared in one of the doors of the German American Club
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this morning. That won't stand in court. We don't dare to arrest this
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man, chainey on that. You've got to get something on him, plant
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it no, get it straight. And we can't wait for this expedition to
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start either. That would be taking too much of a chance. It's up
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to you to do a little speedy work in the research line, dig back
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into the count's past and find something on which we can hold him for.
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He's very evidently the brains of the organization, in spite of the fact that
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he probably is working only for what he can get of that fund that the
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Germans have raised. I understand that at sixteen million dollars, and that's enough
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to tempt better men than Cheney. Now go to it, and remember you've
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got to work fast. Disappointed, chagrined by the air of finality with which
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the receiver at the Washington end of the line was hung up, Randal wandered
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out of the New York office with a scowl on his face and deep lines
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of thought between his eyes. If he hadn't been raised in the school which
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holds that a man's only irretrievable mistake is to quit under fire, he'd have
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thrown up his job right there and let some one else tackle the work of
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landing the Count. But he had to admit that the Chief was right.
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And besides, there was every reason to suppose that grave issues hung in the
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balance. The invasion of Canada meant the overthrow of a American neutrality, the
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failure of the plans which the President and the State Department had so carefully laid
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Cheney was the crux of the whole situation. Once held on a charge that
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could be proved in court, the plot would fall through for want of a
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capable leader. For the operative had learned enough during his hour in the cloakroom
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to know that the Count was the mainspring of the whole movement. Despite the
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fact that he undoubtedly expected to reap a rich financial harvest for himself, selecting
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a seat on the top of a fifth Avenue bus, Randall resigned himself to
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a consideration of the problem. The whole thing he figured simmers down to Cheney
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himself in its ramifications. Of course, it's a question of peace or war,
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But in reality it's a matter of landing a crook by lagitimate means I
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can't plan a gun on him like they did on Heilman, and there's mighty
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little chance of connecting him with a branch Field case or the Van Yusen Emeralds.
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At this late date, his conduct around town has certainly been blameless enough,
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not even any women to speak of. Wait a minute, though,
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there were two, the blonde from the Knickerbocker and that red haired dame.
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He's still chasing around with the blonde. But what's become of miss redhead?
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This train of thought had possibilities. If the girl had been cast aside,
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it was probable that she would have no objection to telling what she knew,
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particularly as the color of her hair hinted at the possession of what the owner
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would call temperament while the rest of the world forgets to add the last syllable.
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It didn't take long to locate the owner of the Fiery tresses. A
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quick round up of the head waiters at the cafes which Cheney frequented. A
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taxi tripped to Washington Square and another to the section above Columbus Circle, and
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Randal found that the red haired beauty was known as Olga Brainerd, an artist's
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model whose face had appeared upon the cover of practically every popular publication in the
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country. She had been out of town for the past two months, he
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learned, but had just returned and had taken an apartment in a section of
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the city which indicated the possession of considerable capital. Miss Brainard, said Randal.
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When he was face to face with the Titian beauty in the drawing room
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of her suite, I came with a message from your friend Carl Cheney.
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Here, he paused and watched her expression very closely. As he had hoped,
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the girl was unable to master her feelings. Rage and hate wrote themselves
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large across her face, and her voice fairly snapped as she started to reply.
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Randall, however, interrupted her with a smile and the statement that's enough.
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I'm going to lay my cards face up on the table. I am
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a secret service operative seeking information about Cheney. Here is my badge, merely
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to prove that I'm telling the truth. We have reason to believe that the
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Count, as he is called, is mixed up with a pro German plot,
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which, if successful, would imperil the peace of the country. Can
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you tell us anything about him? Can? I echoed the girl the beast
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He promised to marry me more than two months ago and then got infatuated with
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some blonde shit of a chorus girl just because I lost my head and showed
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him a letter I had received, a letter warning me against him. He
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flew into a rage and threatened, well, never mind what he did say.
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The upshot of the affair was that he sent me out of town and
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gave me enough money to last me some time. But he'll pay for his
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insults. Have you the letter you received? Asked Randall, casually, as
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if it meant little to him whether the girl produced it or not. Yes,
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I kept it. Wait a moment and I'll get it for you.
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A few seconds later, she was back with a note written in a feminine
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hand a note which read, if you are wise, you will ask the
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man who calls himself Carl Cheney what he knows of Paul Weiss, of George
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Winters, and Oscar Stanley. You might also inquire what has become of Florence
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and Rose, signed Amelia Randall looked up with a puzzled expression. What's all
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this about, he inquired. Sounds like Greek to me, To me too,
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agreed the girl. But it was enough to make Carl purple with rage,
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and what's more, to separate him from several thousand dollars wis Winters and
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Stanley mused, Guy, those might easily be Cheney's former aliases, Florence,
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Rose and Amelia. I wonder, Come on, girl, we're going to
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take a ride down to City Hall. I've got a hunch. Late that
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afternoon, when Carl Cheney arrived at his hotel, he was surprised to find
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a young man awaiting him in his apartment, a man who appeared to be
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perfectly at ease, and who slipped over and locked the door once the Count
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was safely within the room. What does this mean, demanded Cheney. By
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what right it means? Snapped Randal that the game's up. Then, raising
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his voice, he called Missus Weiss, and a tall woman parted the curtains.
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At the other end of the room, Missus Winters and another woman entered
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Missus Stanley, and a third came in with his fingers still caressing the butt
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of the automatic which nestled in his coat pocket. Randal continued, Cheney,
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or whatever your real name is, there won't be any invasion of Canada.
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We know all about your plans. In fact, the arsenal on Houston Street
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is in possession of the police at this moment. It was a good idea,
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and undoubtedly you would have cleaned up on it were it not for the
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fact that I am under the far from painful necessity of arresting you on a
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charge of bigamy or would you call it trigger me? The records at City
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Hall gave you away after one of these ladies had been kind enough to provide
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us with a clue to the three aliases under which you conducted your matrimonial operations.
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Come on, count The Germans may need you worse than we do,
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but we happen to have you. End of chapter fifteen.