From Place to PlaceCobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury)
General
From Place to Place
Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury)
Fiction; Short stories
"A big international crook, posing as a mining engineer and ostensibly
in this country to finance some important Korean concessions--that's
what he is. His real name is Geltmann. Here's his pedigree in a
nutshell: Born in Russia of mixed German and Swiss parentage. Educated
in England, where he acquired his accent and the monocle habit.
Perfected himself in scoundrelism in the competent finishing schools of
the Far East. Speaks half a dozen languages, including Chinese and
Japanese. Carries gilt-edged credentials made in the Orient. That,
briefly, is your Hon. Mr. Sidney Bertram Goldsborough, when you undress
him. He was officially suspected of being something other than what he
claimed to be, even before Westerfeltner divulged his name. In fact, he
fell under suspicion shortly after he turned up in Paris in January of
this year, he having obtained a passport for France on the strength of
his credentials and on the representation that he wanted to go abroad to
interest European financiers in that high-sounding Korean development
scheme of his--which, by the way, is purely imaginary. He hung about
Paris for three months. How he found out about the document which the
army officer was bringing home, and how he found out that the
officer--in order to save time--would travel on a French liner instead
of on a transport, are details that are yet to be cleared up by our
people on the other side. There has been no time yet of course to take
up the chase over there in Paris. But obviously there must have been a
leak somewhere. Either some one abroad was in collusion with him or
perhaps indiscreetness rather than guilty connivance was responsible for
his learning what he did learn. As to that, I can't say.
"But the point remains that Geltmann sailed on the same ship that
brought the army officer. Evidently he hoped to get possession of the
paper the officer carried on the way over. Failing there, he tried other
means. He followed the officer down to Washington, seduced Westerfeltner
by the promise of a fat bribe, and then, just when his scheme was about
to succeed, became frightened and returned to New York, trusting to a
woman confederate to deliver the paper to him here. And now he's here,
awaiting her arrival, and from all the evidence available he expects to
get it from her to-morrow night at your cousin's party."
"Then the woman is to be there too?" Miss Smith's eyes were stretched
wide.
"She certainly is."
"And who is she--or, rather, who do you think she is?"
"Miss Smith, prepare for a shock. Either that woman is Mme. Josephine
Ybanca, the wife of the famous South American diplomat, or else she is
Miss Evelyn Ballister, sister of United States Senator Hector Ballister.
And I am pretty sure that you must know both of them."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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