Observant, Carpenter noticed well-dressed folk ascending the stairway. He knew the significance. The gambling joint was opened again. Evidently it was running strong.
Carpenter smiled grimly. That meant that money would be available; yet he knew the risk of walking openly into the place upstairs. There he would be questioned; perhaps his identity would be discovered.
A waiter was standing near the table. Carpenter signaled to the fellow. The waiter came forward. Carpenter nudged his thumb toward the stairway.
“Wheels going again?” he asked, in a low tone.
The waiter grinned.
“Sure,” he said. “They opened up several weeks ago. No trouble any more.”
“How does that happen? I thought there had been a clean-up here in Seaview City.”
“That was early in the season, sir. Lots of crooks around here, then. After the clean-up, everything was nice and quiet. Too quiet for good business. So they eased up, sir. Leaving the first-class places alone—”
Carpenter understood. The crime kings were again operating, beginning as before, with profits from Big Tom Bagshawe as a starter.
Shifter Reeves was unquestionably through — dope had gone the voyage with blackmail. But Hooks Borglund still remained. He was the king whom Wheels Bryant was holding in reserve. His work would be the wind-up!