The Drums of Jeopardy - Page 142/202

Meantime, Cutty sat down before the telephone. He wanted Kitty out of

town during his absence. In her present excitable mood he was afraid

to trust her. She might surrender to any mad impulse that stirred her

fancy. So he called up Burlingame. Kitty's chief, and together they

manufactured an assignment that was always a pleasant recollection to

Kitty.

Next, Cutty summoned Professor Billy Ryan to the wire, argued and

cajoled for ten minutes, and won his point. He was always dealing in

futures--banking his favours here and there and drawing checks against

them when needed.

Then he tackled his men and issued orders suspending operations

temporarily. He was asked what they should do in case Karlov came out

into the open. He answered in such an event not to molest him but to

watch and take note of those with whom he associated. There were big

things in the air, and only he himself had hold of all the threads. He

relayed this information to the actual chief of the local service, from

whom he had borrowed his men. There was no protest. Green spectacles.

Quarter to nine he and Kitty entered a subway car and found a corner to

themselves, while Karlov's agent was content with a strap in the crowded

end of the car.

Karlov for once had outthought Cutty. He had withdrawn his watchers,

confident that after a day or so his unknown opponent would withdraw

his. During the lull Karlov matured his plans, then resumed operations,

calculating that he would have some forty-odd hours' leeway.

His agent was clever. He had followed Kitty from Eightieth Street to

the Knickerbocker Hotel. There he had lost her. He had loitered on

the sidewalk until midnight, and was then convinced that the girl had

slipped by. So he had returned to Eightieth Street; but as late as five

in the morning she had not returned.

This agent had followed the banker after his visit to Kitty. He had

watched the banker's house, seen Cutty arrive and depart. Taking a

chance shot in the dark, he had followed Cutty to the office building,

learned that Cutty was the owner and lived in the loft. As Kitty had not

returned home by five he proceeded to take a second chance shot in the

dark, stationing himself across the street from the entrance to the

office building, thereby solving the riddle uppermost in Karlov's mind.

He had found the man in the dress suit.

"Cutty, I'm sorry I was such a booby last night. But it was the best

thing that could have happened. The pentupness of it was simply killing

me. I hadn't any one to come to but you--any one who would understand.

I don't know of any man who has a better right to kiss me. I know. You

were just trying to buck me up."