The undercover man started to say something, then changed his mind, and marched to the door.

  “ Be sure to keep me posted, Beaver,” Sergeant Ackley warned. “This case is the most important one you’ve handled yet. We’ll catch Lester Leith redhanded. We’ll get enough proof to convict Mainwaring of smuggling, and if those two gems are equal to descriptions, we’ll pick up a nice reward.”

  The undercover man said: “You thought you had him before. If you’ll take my advice, you’ll figure out what he wants those two canes for and where those four counterfeit stones fit into the picture. Otherwise you’ll come another cropper.”

  “ That will do, Beaver,” Sergeant Ackley roared. “I’m running this case. You get back on the job and stay there!”

  “ Very well, sergeant,” the undercover man said with that synthetic humility which he had learned to assume until it had become almost second nature to him.

  He opened the door a few inches, oozed his huge bulk out into the corridor, then quietly closed the door behind him.

  The undercover man took from his pocket twelve twentydollar bills, and cleared his throat.

  Sergeant Ackley reached for the telephone.

  CHAPTER III GUM CHEWERS

  The undercover man surveyed the dozen young women who had gathered in response to Lester Leith’s summons. They sat grouped about the room in postures which were well calculated to show what Lester Leith’s memorandum had referred as to “shapely means of locomotion.” Each seemed vying with the other to attract attention to the fact that she was possessed of the necessary qualifications.

  As might have been expected, however, from the nature of the request which had been sent to the employment agency, only those young women who had seen enough of life to become slightly calloused to the treatment afforded a working girl had applied. The qualification of being a blatant and inveterate gum chewer had also tended to accomplish the same purpose. Had Lester Leith deliberately sought to acquire a young woman who knew her way around, who was willing to take chance, and was unusually selfreliant, he could not have thought of any means better designed to give him exactly what he wanted.

  Beaver, the undercover man, entered the room and surveyed the twelve waiting applicants, noted the rhythmic swing of the rapidly chewing jaws, heard unmistakable evidences of a proficiency in gum popping; and his black greedy eyes swept in eager appraisal the exposed lengths of sheer silk terminating in shapely, wellshod feet.

  Twelve pairs of eyes fastened on those twentydollar bills. The girls, with one accord and as though at some preconcerted signal, quit chewing, some of them holding their jaws poised, the wad of gum balanced precariously between upper and lower molars.

  The valet said: “You young ladies are all applicants for this position. Mr. Leith has instructed me to give to each applicant a twentydollar bill. This will be in addition to the three hundred dollars a month salary which is to be paid to the one who gets the job. Mr. Leith has asked me to state that he appreciates your courtesy in coming here, and he wanted me to tell you that he felt quite certain that each of you had… ‘the external qualifications’ were the words he used,” the spy said, letting his eyes once more slither along the row of shapely limbs. “In just a moment Mr. Leith will—”

  Lester Leith interrupted him by flinging open the door of his sitting room.

  “Good afternoon,” he said.

  Twelve pairs of eyes changed from cynical appraisal to interest.

  “Good afternoon,” the applicants chorused. Leith looked them over and said: “Obviously since there is only one position, eleven of you must necessarily be disappointed. I have tried to make some small contribution which will alleviate your disappointment somewhat, and, as you are all working girls, I believe that it is only fair to all concerned to pick a person to fill the position in the quickest manner possible. I will, therefore, look you over, and interview the person I consider the most talented first. I believe you understand that I am looking for young women with symmetrical limbs, and women who are inveterate gum chewers.”

  “All right,” she said. “What are the duties?”

  “Say,” one of them said, “what’s the idea about the gams?”

  “Just what do you mean?” Leith asked.

  “Is this a job or ain’t it?” the girl asked.

  “This,” Leith assured her gravely, “is a job.”

  “Well,” the girl said, “I didn’t want to have any misunderstandings, that’s all.”

  Lester Leith surveyed the girl with interest. “What,” he asked, “is your name?” “ Evelyn Rae,” she said, “and I think I’m speaking for most of the others as well as myself when I say that I came up here to look the proposition over. I’m not so certain I’m making an application for the job. I don’t like that crack about what you call shapely means of locomotion. I do my shorthand and my typewriting with my hands.”

  “ Well,” Leith told her, “you will take a train out of the city which leaves the depot at seven twenty tonight. You will arrive in Beacon City at nine thirty. From there on, the train is a limited train, making no stops until after midnight. I’ll travel with you as far as Beacon City. We will have a drawing room.”

  “Oh, yeah?” she said. “That’s what you think.” “ At Beacon City,” Leith went on heedless of the interruption, “a suitcase will be placed aboard the train. You will not open that suitcase. Under no circumstances are you even to look in it. At approximately ten p.m. you will be arrested.”

  “Arrested for what?” she asked.

  “For being an accessory after the fact in the theft of two emeralds,” Leith said.

  “What’ll I be guilty of?”

  One or two of the others nodded. “Nothing.” A blond at the far end of the line shifted her gum, and said: “Speak for yourself, dearie. I’ll do my own talking.”

  “Then how can they arrest me?”

  “It’s a habit some of the more impulsive officers have,” Leith pointed out. Lester Leith smiled at Evelyn Rae. “I think,” he said, “you’re the young woman I want to interview first. Come in, please.” “Well, I don’t like it.”

  “Neither do I,” Leith told her. She followed him into his private sitting room, surveying him with frankly dubious eyes. “What else do I do?” “ You may think I’m the one you want to work for you,” she said, “but I’m not so sure you’re the person I want to be my boss.”

  “I understand,” Leith said. “I understood you the first time.” “ You will continue aboard the train in the custody of the officers until they make arrangements to stop and take you off and return you to the city. At that time, you will be released. The officers will apologize. You will retain counsel and threaten a suit for false arrest. The officers will be glad to compromise. I don’t think you’ll receive a very large sum by the way of a cash settlement, but you doubtless will wind up with sufficient pull to square any parking or speeding tickets you or your friends may get within the city limits for some time to come. There will be no other duties.”

  nodded her head, and said: “I don’t believe you’re on the level, but what’s the odds? It’s a go.”

  Leith handed her the three one hundreddollar bills.

  “Is this,” she asked, “a line of hooey?”

  Leith took three onehundreddollar bills from his pocket. “ And the first duty which you have,” he said, “will be to explain to the other applicants that the position is filled.”

  “ I am,” he said, “willing to show my good faith by paying you a month’s salary in advance. You look honest to me.”

  “ Honest but direct,” she said. “What’ll you be doing in that drawing room between Central Depot and Beacon City?”

  She said: “Well, I’ve got to talk fast to put that idea across, particularly with that blonde.” She moistened her fingers, slipped a wad of chewing gum from her mouth absent mindedly, and mechanically stuck it under the arm of the chair.

  Lester Leith nodded to himself, smiling his approval.

  “Reading.” As she reached for the doorknob, Leith “What’ll you be doing after the train leaves Beacon City?”

  said: “And you will start your duties at once. Lester Leith smiled, and said, “The less you know about that the better.” Evelyn Rae looked at the three hundred dollar bills speculatively. “That,” she said, “is a lot of money.”

  Please explain to Scuttle, my valet, that I do not wish to be disturbed for the next hour, and, in the meantime, arrange to pack your suitcase and get ready to travel. You will meet me at the Central Depot tonight, ready to board the seventwenty train.”

  Leith nodded.

  “And not much work,” she added.

  Again Leith nodded.

  “What else am I supposed to do?” she asked. “ Chew gum,” Leith said. “Chew large quantities of gum. The gum, incidentally, will be furnished as a part of the traveling expenses. You will not have to pay for it.”

  She studied him for several seconds with thoughtful worldlywise eyes, then she slowly When the door had closed behind her, Leith opened a drawer in his desk, and took from it a piece of clear green glass which had been ground into facets, giving it the general appearance of a huge gem. Tiptoeing across to the chair where the young woman had been sitting, he took the piece of glass and pushed it up into the wad of chewing gum, held it there by a firm steady pressure of thumb and forefinger for several seconds, then gradually released it.

  CHAPTER IV

  PLANTED CLUE

  The valet quietly opened the door of Leith’s private sitting room, thrust in a cautious hand, and then eased himself through the narrow opening.

  Lester Leith, watching him with eyes that were lazylidded in amusement, said: “Scuttle, it doesn’t cost any more to open the door wide enough to walk through, instead of opening it a few inches and squeezing through sideways.”

  “ Yes, sir. I know, sir,” the spy said. “You mentioned it to me before. It’s just a habit I have, sir.”

  Leith stared at him with wide startled eves.

  could solve the mystery of the murdered monkey. But I told you not to get the canes.”

  “ I’m sorry, sir. I must have misunderstood you. I thought you wanted to solve it.”

  “No, no!” Lester Leith exclaimed. “I was merely outlining an academic solution.”

  “But you’ve hired the secretary.” “ I know I have,” Leith said. “That’s an entirely different matter. I hired her on general principles.”

  “ I’m sorry, sir. I’m frightfully sorry, but I thought you wanted me to get the canes. Now that I have them, sir… well—”

  “Scuttle, what the devil are you carrying under your arm?” Leith said: “Oh, well, now that you have them, I may as well take a look at them. Pass them over, Scuttle.”

  “The canes, sir.”

  “The canes, Scuttle?” The spy handed over the canes. Leith regarded them with pursed lips and narrowed eyes.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good heavens, what canes?” “ Don’t you remember, sir, those that you ordered, the ones that have hollow handles, and one of them has an adjustable ferrule so it can be telescoped and locked in position?”

  “ It’s rather a neat job,” the spy said. “You see, they’re canes with just a knob for a handle, and that knob unscrews. The joint is rather cleverly concealed, don’t you think so?”

  Leith nodded, twisted the head of one of the canes. It promptly unscrewed. Leith looked inside and gave a sudden start of surprise.

  “Scuttle,” Lester Leith said, “I didn’t want those canes.”

  “Why, Scuttle,” he said, “there are emeralds in here!”

  “You didn’t, sir? I thought you told me to get them.”

  “No, sir, not emeralds, sir. Just the imitations which you ordered.” “ Why no,” Leith said, “I merely mentioned that I thought a person who had two canes such as that and an attractive secretary who was addicted to promiscuous gum chewing “Ordered, Scuttle?”

  “ Well, you mentioned them as being things which would enable you to solve the mystery of the murdered monkey.”

  Leith said reprovingly: “Scuttle, I don’t like this. I was outlining merely an academic solution. Why the devil would I want to solve the mystery of the murdered monkey?”

  “ I’m sure I don’t know, sir, except that it would be a source of great gratification for you to know that your reasoning had proved correct.”

  “ Chewing gum, sir. I don’t think I ever had quite so disagreeable a job in my life. It was stuck to the underside of the chair arms, the chair buttons, under the table. It was in the most unlikely places and the most annoying places, sir. You’d drop your hand to the arm of the chair, and a wad of moist chewing gum would stick to your fingers.”

  Leith said irritably: “I don’t need to go to all that trouble to demonstrate the correctness of my reasoning, Scuttle. It’s selfevident when you consider the basic facts of the case.”

  The spy wet his thick lips with the tip of an anxious tongue. “ Yes, sir,” he said eagerly. And then after a moment, “You were about to mention what you consider the basic facts, sir?”

  Leith yawned, and stifled the yawn with four polite fingers. “Doubtless, Scuttle,” he said, “you’ll remember in the call which I sent out for secretaries, I asked for gum chewers who were careless with their parking, inclined to be promiscuous with their leftovers. Doubtless, Scuttle, the young ladies were merely attempting to show that they were properly qualified for the position. After all, Scuttle, you know jobs aren’t easily obtained these days, so one can hardly blame the young ladies for being anxious to secure one which pays a good salary.”

  Lester Leith eyed him coldly. “I was not, Scuttle.”

  “Oh,” the spy said. The spy said: “That’s one of the things I couldn’t understand… if you don’t think I’m presumptuous, sir.”

  “By the way,” Leith observed, “I’ve given Evelyn Rae a month’s wages in advance.” “What is that, Scuttle?” “ Yes, sir. So Miss Rae told me, sir. She said that you didn’t wish to be disturbed for an hour so I waited to give you the canes. You were, perhaps, busy?”

  “ Why you wanted a young woman who was such an inveterate gum chewer and what you were pleased to describe as such a promiscuous parker.”

  Leith nodded. “I dare say, Scuttle.” Leith said, “Perhaps, Scuttle.” “Dare say what, sir?” said. “I’ve just had the devil of a time, sir, if you don’t mind my saying so,” the spy complained.

  “That you couldn’t understand it,” Leith

  red. “How come?” Leith inquired. The spy’s face flushed an angry brick

  “Cleaning up after those young women.” “And now,” Leith said, “I have some “ Were they untidy?” Leith asked. preparations to make. By the way, Scuttle, did you notice in the newspaper that Mr. Mainwaring was to address the Explorers’ Club tonight on ‘Changes in the Psychology of Native Religions’?”

  and when I do, I’ll give you something to think of! You’re quite sure I don’t, eh? You and your chewing gum. Bah!”

  “Yes, sir,” the spy said.

  “Probably it will be a most interesting lecture,” Leith observed.

  “Did you intend to be present?” Beaver asked. The spy sat down in the big chair, mopped his perspiring forehead, then pocketing his handkerchief, wrapped his thick fingers around the arm of the chair. With an exclamation of annoyance, he jumped up and scrubbed at his fingers with the handkerchief.

  “ I?” Leith inquired. “Good heavens, no, Scuttle! I’d be bored to death, but I merely commented that the lecture would probably be interesting… to those who have a taste for that sort of thing. By the way, Scuttle, you’d better pack my bag, and get me a drawing room on the seventwenty train tonight.”

  “A drawing room, sir?”

  “Yes, Scuttle.” “ Very good, sir. Where to?” “Another wad of gum!” he exclaimed irritably. Wearily, he opened the blade of a huge pocketknife, dropped down to his knees, and prepared to scrape off the moist wad of chewing gum.

  Something green caught his eye. He tapped it experimentally with the blade of his knife. Then, with sudden interest showing in his eyes, he cut off the wad of gum, and stared at the piece of green glass which had been embedded in it.

  “ Oh, clean through,” Leith said airily. “As far as the train goes. I don’t believe in halfway measures, Scuttle.”

  The valet said, “I thought perhaps you wanted it only as far as Beacon City, sir.” For several seconds, the spy stared with wide, startled eyes. Then, with the wad of chewing gum and the glass gem still smeared on the blade of his knife, he stretched his long legs to the limit as he dashed for the telephone to call Sergeant Ackley.

  “Beacon City?” Leith inquired. “Why the devil should I want to go to Beacon City?” “ I’m sure I don’t know, sir,” the spy said. “Hello, hello, hello, sergeant,” Beaver called as soon as he heard the sergeant’s voice on the line. “This is Beaver talking. I’ve got the whole thing doped out.”

  “ And I’m quite sure you don’t,” Leith observed in a tone offinalitv as he terminated the interview.

  “What thing?” Sergeant Ackley asked.

  “That monkey murder.” After Leith had left the room, the big spy, his face twisted with rage, shook clenched fists at the door.

  “ Damn you,” he said. “Damn your sneering, supercilious hide! One of these days I’ll have the pleasure of watching you in a cell,

  “Go ahead,” Sergeant Ackley ordered. “Spill it.” “ The murder of the monkey was just a blind,” Beaver said. “The chewing gum is the significant thing about the whole business. Remember that the nurse sat on a table and chewed gum all the time the customs officials were searching Mainwaring, and then, of course, the customs officials searched her.”

  “Yes, of course I’m here,” Sergeant Ackley said. “What else, Beaver?” “ Well, what about it?” Sergeant Ackley asked in his most discouraging tone. “What the devil does gum chewing have to do with it?”