Purvis brooded. He realised he would be getting value for money, and this wasn’t the time to cut corners.
‘Wel , talk to her,’ he said final y. ‘Get her as cheaply as you can, and not a dime more than three hundred.’
Dallas said he’d see what he could do.
‘Let’s get this straightened out,’ Purvis went on. ‘Everyone of us has got to watch his step. You’ve got the toughest job, Ed, and you’ve got to handle it as if it were dynamite. We can’t afford to let them have the slightest idea we’re on to them. Our job is to find the jewels. We’re not employed by the police.
I want you to understand that. Whatever we find out, we keep to ourselves. If any of you find Baird you’re not to report him to the police. We want Baird to take us to the jewels, and he won’t do that if he’s in a cel .’
‘Isn’t that making us accessories after the fact?’ Dal as asked mildly.
‘We stand to pick up four hundred grand,’ Purvis pointed out. ‘I’l split one per cent of that among you operators. That’s a thousand bucks apiece. Would that make you forget such things as accessories after the fact?’
‘A thousand isn’t much,’ Dal as said, scarcely believing his ears, but quick to bargain. ‘As I’ve got the heaviest job, how about making it two for me and one for the rest of them?’
Purvis shook his head.
‘No, that wouldn’t be fair to the others, but I tel you what I’l do. I’l give a cheque for five thousand to the first one of you who walks into my office and tells me where the jewels are.’