“I don’t need to tell you, Mr. Blaine, how anxious I am to do anything I can to help you, for Miss Lawton’s sake,” Ramon Hamilton replied eagerly. “I should like to have looked into the matter long ago––indeed, 79 I felt that suspicion must have been aroused in the minds of Mallowe and his associates by the fact that I accepted the astounding news of the bankruptcy as unquestioningly as Miss Lawton herself, unless they thought me an addlepated fool––but I didn’t want to go ahead without direct instructions from you.”
“I did not so direct you, Mr. Hamilton, for a distinct purpose. I wished the men we believe to be responsible for the present conditions to be slightly puzzled by your attitude, so that when the time came for you to begin your investigation, they would be more completely reassured. In order to make your questioning absolutely bona fide, I want you to go first this morning to the office of Anderson & Wallace, the late Mr. Lawton’s attorneys, and question them as if having come with Miss Lawton’s authority. Don’t suggest any suspicion of there being any crookedness at work, but merely inquire as fully as possible into the details of Mr. Lawton’s business affairs. They will, in their replies, undoubtedly bring in Mr. Mallowe, Mr. Rockamore and Mr. Carlis, which will give you a cue to go quite openly and frankly to one of the three––preferably Mallowe––for corroboration. Knowing that you come direct from the late Mr. Lawton’s attorneys, he will be only too glad to give you whatever information he may possess or may have concocted––and so lay open to you his plan of defense.”
“Defense? You think, then, Mr. Blaine, that they anticipate possible trouble––exposure, even? Surely such astute, far-seeing men as Mallowe and Rockamore are, at least, would not have attempted such a gigantic fraud if they’d anticipated the possibility of being discovered! Carlis has weathered so many storms, so many attacks upon his reputation and civic honor, that 80 he may have felt cocksure of his position and gone into this thing without thought for the future, but the other two are men of different caliber, men with everything in the world to lose.”
“And colossal, unearned wealth to gain––don’t forget that, Mr. Hamilton. Men of different caliber, I grant you, but all three in the same whirlpool of crime, bound by thieves’ law to sink or swim together. It is because they are astute and far-seeing that they must inevitably have considered the possibility of exposure and safeguarded themselves against it with bogus corroborative proof. If that proof is in tangible form, and we can lay our hands on it, we shall have them where we want them. Now go back to your office, Mr. Hamilton, and dictate this letter to your stenographer, having it left open on your desk for your signature. Don’t wait for the letter to be typed, but proceed at once to the office of Anderson & Wallace. You, as a lawyer, will of course know the form of inquiry to use.”
The detective handed Ramon Hamilton a typewritten sheet of paper from his desk; and the young man, after hastily perusing it, gazed with a blank stare of amazement into Blaine’s eyes.
“I can’t make this out,” he objected. “Who on earth is Alexander Gibbs, and what has he to do with Miss Lawton’s case? This letter seems to inform one Alexander Gibbs that I have retained you to recover for us the last will and testament of his aunt, Mrs. Dorothea Gibbs. I have no such client, and I know no one in––what’s the address?––Ellenville, Sullivan County.”
Blaine smiled.
“Of course you don’t, Mr. Hamilton. Nevertheless, you will sign that letter and your secretary will mail it––that is, after it has lain open upon your desk for 81 casual inspection for a considerable length of time. One of my operatives will receive it in Ellenville.”
“But what has it to do with the matter in hand?” Ramon asked.
“Everything. I understand that you employ quite an office force, for an attorney who has so recently been admitted to the bar, and who has necessarily had little time yet to build up an extensive practice. There may be a spy in your office––remember that as Miss Lawton’s fiancé and her only protector in this crisis, you are the one whom they would safeguard themselves against primarily. When I called you up this morning, to ask you to come here, you very indiscreetly mentioned my name over the telephone. Your entire office force will know that you have been to consult me––this letter will throw them off the track should there be a spy among them, and will also give you a legitimate excuse to call upon me frequently in the immediate future. You realize that we also must safeguard ourselves, Mr. Hamilton.”