Part 16 (1/2)
Out with it! Where did you meet 'em and where did you drive 'em?”
Realizing that escape was cut off and thoroughly cowed by the display of force, Murphy told the whole story--or as much of it as he knew.
”I was drivin' down Broadway round Twenty-eig't Street last night, 'bout ten o'clock,” he confessed. ”I'd taken that couple to the the-ayter, just as I told you, an' that man up to Harlem. Then one of these t'ree guys hailed me....”
”Three?” interrupted Whitney.
”That's what I said--t'ree! They said they wanted to borrow my machine until six o'clock in th' mornin' an' would give me two hunnerd dollars for it. I told 'em there was nothin' doin' an' they offered me two-fifty, swearin' that they'd have it back at th' same corner at six o'clock sharp. Two hunnerd an' fifty bones being a whole lot more than I could make in a night, I gambled with 'em an' let 'em have th' machine, makin' sure that I got the coin foist. They drove off, two of 'em inside, an' I put in th' rest of th' night shootin' pool. When I got to th' corner of Twenty-eig't at six o'clock this mornin', there wasn't any sign of 'em--but th' car was there, still hot from the hard ride they give her. That's all I know--'shelp me Gawd!”
”Did the men have any bags with them?”
”Bags? No, not one.”
”What did they look like?”
”The one that talked with me was 'bout my heig't an' dressed in a dark suit. He an' th' others had their hats pulled down over their eyes, so's I couldn't see their faces.”
”Did he talk with a German accent?”
”He sure did. I couldn't hardly make out what he was sayin'. But his money talked plain enough.”
”Yes, and it's very likely to talk loud enough to send you to the pen if you're not careful!” was Whitney's reply. ”If you don't want to land there, keep your mouth shut about this. D'you get me?”
”I do, boss, I do.”
”And you've told me all the truth--every bit of it?”
”Every little bit.”
”All right. Clear out!”
When Murphy left the room, Whitney turned to the manager and, with a wry smile, remarked: ”Well, we've discovered where the car came from and how they got it. But that's all. We're really as much in the dark as before.”
”No,” replied the manager, musingly. ”Not quite as much. Possibly you don't know it, but we have a device on every car that leaves this garage to take care of just such cases as this--to prevent drivers from running their machines all over town without pulling down the lever and then holding out the fares on us. Just a minute and I'll show you.
”Joe,” he called, ”bring me the record tape of Murphy's machine for last night and hold his car till you hear from me.”
”This tape,” he explained, a few minutes later, ”is operated something along the lines of a seismograph or any other instrument for detecting change in direction. An inked needle marks these straight lines and curves all the time the machine is moving, and when it is standing still it oscillates slightly. By glancing at these tapes we can tell when any chauffeur is holding out on us, for it forms a clear record--not only of the distance the machine has traveled, but of the route it followed.”
”Doesn't the speedometer give you the distance?” asked Whitney.
”Theoretically, yes. But it's a very simple matter to disconnect a speedometer, while this record is kept in a locked box and not one driver in ten even knows it's there. Now, let's see what Murphy's record tape tells us....
”Yes, here's the trip to the theater around eight-thirty. See the sharp turn from Fifth Avenue into Forty-second Street, the momentary stop in front of the Amsterdam, and the complete sweep as he turned around to get back to Broadway. Then there's the journey up to the Bronx or Harlem or wherever he went, another complete turn and an uninterrupted trip back down on Broadway.”
”Then this,” cut in Whitney, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice, ”is where he stopped to speak to the Germans?”
”Precisely,” agreed the other, ”and, as you'll note, that stop was evidently longer than either of the other two. They paid their fares, while Murphy's friends had to be relieved of two hundred and fifty dollars.”