The Crime of the French Café and Other Stories — John Shaqi
The Crime of the French Café and Other StoriesCarter, Nicholas (House name)
General
The Crime of the French Café and Other Stories
Carter, Nicholas (House name)
Mystery fiction
That was absolutely all that Harrigan knew about the case.
"Would you recognize the man who hired your cab if you saw him again?"
asked Nick.
"Oh, sure," said Harrigan. "I wasn't so very full. I had me wits about
me. Say, you ain't going to do me dirt an' git me license taken away? I
was all right. I didn't do any harm."
Nick assured Harrigan that if he acted right in this case his license
would be safe, and then left the man to his slumbers.
"Not very promising, is it, my boy?" said Nick to Patsy, as they went
downstairs. "We've lost the trail as soon as we struck it."
"Do you think he's giving it to us straight?"
"Yes; he doesn't know where he took the men nor what became of them
after they left his cab."
"It's a pity he had such a jag. He'd have been the best witness in the
case."
Nick smiled.
"If he hadn't been drunk he wouldn't have had anything to do with the
case," he said.
"What do you mean?"
"Why, it's clear enough. This man that we want saw Harrigan on that cab
while the man was on his way to the restaurant with the woman. Then when
it became necessary to get Corbut out of the way, he remembered the
drunken cabman, and hired him."
"I don't see how you know that."
"A man would rather have a sober driver than a drunken one, wouldn't
he?"
"Yes."
"Well, the man who told you he saw Harrigan get the job was sober,
wasn't he?"
"Yes."
"Then why didn't the man take his cab? Because he wanted a drunken
driver, who wouldn't be sharp enough to get on to any queer business.
"But he wouldn't have tried to find a drunken cabman just by luck, and
he wouldn't have taken a sober one. Therefore he had seen Harrigan and
hoped to find him in the same place.
"That's part of the plot. Now, then, you go to Chick, who's watching the
body of the woman. I'm going to take Gaspard uptown and have a look at
that part of the city where Harrigan left his passengers."
Nick and Gaspard went to the Thirty-third street station of the Sixth
avenue elevated road.
They walked to the edge of the platform on the uptown end.
Suddenly Gaspard gave a violent start. He uttered an exclamation of
surprise and pointed across the tracks.
"What is it?" cried Nick.
"The man who was in room B!" exclaimed Gaspard. "I am sure of it!"
At that instant a downtown train rushed into the station, cutting off
Nick's view.
And a half-second later an uptown train pulled in on their side. Nick
pushed open a gate before the train had fairly stopped. He dragged
Gaspard after him.
The gateman tried to stop them, but Nick pushed the fellow in the car so
violently that he sat down on the floor.
Then the detective pulled the other gate open, and, still dragging
Gaspard, sprang down in the space between the tracks.
The other train was just starting. Nick leaped up and opened one of the
gates.
Gaspard stood trembling. Excitement and terror rendered him incapable of
action.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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