“Bait,” the blind man said casually. “Sometimes you use cheese in a trap; sometimes you use printed words.” He settled into a chair and closed his eyes, and appeared to doze. The dog, ever watchful, lay at his feet.
Captain Tucker left the room, and presently, in another part of the police station, a typewriter began to click. The captain came back grumbling and out-of-sorts. The doctor’s devious, subtle methods always provoked him to a show of ill-humor. The telephone rang sharply—there had been an automobile crash near the bridge. A minute later a motor roared into life in the alley beside the station and a motorcycle patrolmen sped away. The blind man did not stir.
Joe Morrow squirmed restlessly and watched the clock. Mr. Pelle arrived in a chastened, subdued mood; a uniformed man brought Captain Tucker several typewritten sheets; the wall clock struck the hour, and Dr. Stone opened his eyes.
“Ready, Tucker?”
They drove to the bank in the police car. Bryan Smith let them in. Dusk had begun to gather in the corners farthest from the windows, a guardlight burned in front of the steel safe, and a burst of ceiling lights shone from the inner room. Captain Tucker and Mr. Pelle went on ahead while the bank president saw to it that the door was securely locked. The doctor lingered.
“Bryan,” he said softly, “are there pens and ink on your desk?”
“Certainly.”
“Remove them; Lady, forward.” And before the man could reply the doctor was on his way past the teller’s cages, one hand holding the harness-grip, his body bent a little toward the guiding dog.
Bryan Smith, saying that they might need room, cleared the desk. Mr. Pelle’s eyes shifted from side to side and missed nothing. Albert Wall seemed to wait patiently the outcome of this strange gathering. But what held Joe’s attention and sent the blood pounding in his veins was a something that lay behind the passive placidity of his uncle’s face.
“Captain Tucker,” Dr. Stone said, “has prepared statements for Pelle and Albert to sign. You have pens, gentlemen? Now, if you will sign them——”