“Take it easy,” I said. “Sit down and reduce steam. Let’s have a drink and be reasonable.” He sat down, but I could see that he’d got a lot on his mind. “Make it a double Scotch,” he said. “I’ve done a full day’s work and I’m not feeling so good.”
When the drinks came, I hitched my chair close to his. “So the girl’s been found, eh?” I said. “And Maddox has had to fork up?”
“That’s it,” Juden said. “The poor old geyser didn’t stand a chance. I tell you parting with all that dough’s broken his heart.”
“He never had a heart,” I said grimly. “The thing that gets his blood circulating is a rock wrapped up in gristle. How did it happen?”
“Well, as far as I know,” Juden returned. “It seems this Shumway bird bounced into Maddox’s office with his daughter early this morning. His story is that she was rescued by a guy called Law Kelly. They brought Kelly with them.
“Maddox wouldn’t play at first, but Kelly seems to be a tough egg. He’d seen the story about the reward and he remembers seeing this Shumway girl with a greaser. He set off right away and didn’t have any difficulty in getting her away from the greaser. Then he grabbed a ‘plane and reached New York this morning. He took her to her father and the trio turned up to collect.
“As I say, Maddox was wild, but Kelly persuaded him to pert. So Maddox’s blaming you for the whole thing.”
“Who’s Kelly?” I asked.
“Why, I guess he’s one of those guys who’s always around when someone’s giving away 25 grand. You know how it is.”
“Meaning you don’t know?”