"Make it seventy-five," said Mr. Gubb, "and as soon as I'm done with
it, you can have it."
"It's a bargain!" said Mr. Witzel happily. "It's my pistol. Now,
what's all this nonsense about shooting me?"
"_Nonsense_ is an insufficient word to use in relation to this here
case," said Philo Gubb grimly. "It won't be nonsense for you when you
get through with it. What did you do with the corpse?"
"With the--with the _what_?" cried Mr. Witzel.
"The remains," said Mr. Gubb. "What did you do with them?"
"The remains of what?" asked Mr. Witzel.
"Of Mister Custer Master," said Philo Gubb, easing himself a little by
shifting one waving foot. "There is no need to pretend to play
innocent. Where is the body?"
"My dear Mr. Detective Gubb!" exclaimed Mr. Witzel. "I know nothing
about any body. I am George Augustus Wetzler--"
"Maybe you are," said Philo Gubb. "Maybe so. But your clothes ain't.
Your clothes are the clothes of Mister Custer Master. The question is,
'Did you murder him alone, or did you and William Gribble murder him
together?'"
Mr. Witzel-Wetzel-Wetzler's mouth fell open.
"Murder him!" he exclaimed aghast. "But--but--"
"In the name of the law," said Philo Gubb, "I take you into custody
for the murder and disappearing bodyliness of Mister Custer Master.
Turn your back and keep your hands up until I get from behind this
trunk, and I'll put handcuffs on you in proper shape and manner.
Turn!"
Mr. Witzel turned--all but his head. He kept his face toward the
priceless (or, more properly) seventy-five-dollar Briggs & Bolton.
"Mr. Gubb," he said, "you are making a serious mistake. I am a
detective."
"You ain't!" said Philo Gubb. "I searched all your things and you
ain't got a silver badge nor a false mustache nowhere. I'm going to
turn you right over to the police to-morrow morning."
"To the police!" exclaimed Mr. Witzel. "Don't do that! Whatever you
do, don't do that!" And suddenly, like a nervous dyspeptic suddenly
overwrought, Mr. Witzel broke down and, falling on the cot, began to
sob. Philo Gubb looked at him a moment with amazement. Then he dug a
pair of handcuffs out of his trunk and, walking to where Mr. Witzel
lay, prodded him in the back with the muzzle of the pistol. Mr. Witzel
turned quickly, rolling over like an eel.
"Stop it! You're tickling me. I can't stand tickling!" he cried. "I--I
can't stand lots of things. I'm--I'm the most sensitive man in the
world. I--I can't stand cold water at all."
"Well, nobody is cold-watering you," said Philo Gubb. "Handcuffs ain't
cold water."
"But cold water is," said Mr. Witzel. "Cold water kills me! It makes
me shiver, and turn blue, and goose-fleshy, and gives me cramps in the
palms of my hands and the soles of my feet. I--listen: my doctor says
cold baths will kill me. The shock of 'em. Bad heart, you understand."
Philo Gubb's eyes blinked.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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