Part 8 (1/2)
No explanation that could be given by a young man of German name, even though he was American-born, or had an American birth certificate, could possibly account for his having a British uniform. It was prima facie evidence that Frederic Hoff was a spy. What puzzled Carter most was how Hoff managed to smuggle the uniform in and out of the apartment without being observed. For more than two weeks now every parcel that had arrived at the house of the Hoffs had been searched before it was delivered. The house had been constantly under the strictest surveillance. It was out of the question for him to have worn the uniform in or out as it could not be easily concealed under other clothing.
”There's somebody else in this place in league with the Hoffs,” he muttered to himself. ”I wonder who it can be.”
He looked at his watch. The old servant had been out now nearly half an hour. She was likely to return at any moment. He must work quickly. Swiftly he went through the dresser drawers but without satisfactory result. There was no time for him to do more. He hastened into the living room and summoned his aides.
”Find anything, Bob?” he asked.
”Not a thing.”
”Beat it up to the roof,” he directed. ”Have you those field gla.s.ses with you?”
”Sure,” replied the operative, ”and the handkerchiefs, too.”
”All right. Get up there before she starts down. Begin putting up handkerchiefs and appear to be watching the river. That will mix her up so she will not know what to do. She will not dare to leave the roof while you are there. When we're through I'll send the elevator man up for you with the message that we have found the short circuit.”
He turned to the other operative.
”Find anything, Williams?”
”Only this.”
Carter's face brightened as his a.s.sistant held out to him two copies of an afternoon newspaper. In each of them a square was missing where something had been cut out.
”I found them in the waste-paper basket by the old man's desk,” the man explained, ”and there was some ashes there--ashes of paper--as if he had burned up something. Maybe it was what he cut out of those papers. I could not tell.”
”We've got to get copies of those papers at once and see what it was. Come on, I'm going to take them to the Chief. We can get the papers on the way down.”
Calling the other operative from the roof, before he even had had time to attract the attention of Lena Kraus by his activities, they hastened back to the office, where Fleck and Carter together scanned the two papers from which the clippings had been taken.
”Why,” said Carter disappointedly, ”it is just a couple of advertis.e.m.e.nts he cut out--advertis.e.m.e.nts for a tooth paste. There's nothing in that.”
”Don't be too sure,” warned Fleck. ”If a man cuts out one tooth-paste advertis.e.m.e.nt, the natural presumption would be that he wished to remind himself to buy some. When he cuts out two, he must have some special interest in that particular tooth paste. We'll have to find out what his interest is.”
”Maybe he owns it,” suggested Carter.
”Perhaps,” said Fleck, as he began studying the advertis.e.m.e.nts, ”but it would not surprise me if these advertis.e.m.e.nts contained some sort of code messages.”
”Messages in advertis.e.m.e.nts,” exclaimed Carter incredulously.
”Why not? The Germans have hundreds of spies at work here in this city and all over the country. What would be an easier method of communicating orders to them than by code messages concealed in advertising. They have done it before. When the German armies got into France they found their way placarded in advance with much useful information in harmless looking posters advertising a certain brand of chocolate. I'd be willing to bet that every one of these advertis.e.m.e.nts carries a code message. I've noticed that these advertis.e.m.e.nts, all peculiarly worded, have been running for some time. I never thought of hooking them up with German propaganda, but, see, it is a German firm that inserts them.”
Carefully he cut out the two advertis.e.m.e.nts and laid them side by side on his desk. Turning to Carter he said: ”Go at once to see Mr. Sprague, the publisher of this paper. Get him to give you a copy of each paper that has contained an advertis.e.m.e.nt of this sort in the last six months. Find out what agency places the advertising. Tell him I want to know. He'll understand. We have worked together before.”
Alone in his office, Fleck bent with wrinkled brow over the first of the two advertis.e.m.e.nts, which read: REMEMBER Please, that our new paste, DENTO, will stop decay of your teeth. Sound teeth are pa.s.sports to good health and comfort. Now, no business man can risk ill health. It is closely allied with failure. The teeth if not watched are quickly gone.
USE DENTO A genuine, safe, pleasing paste for the teeth, prepared and sold only by the Auer Dental Company, New York.
He tried all the methods of solving cipher letters that he thought of. He drew diagonals this way and that across the advertis.e.m.e.nt. He tried reading it backward. He tried reading every other word, every third word, both backward and forward. Nothing that he did revealed any combination of words that made sense.
”Pa.s.sports,” he muttered to himself, ”that's it. If there is a message there it must be something about pa.s.sports.”
In despair he turned to the other advertis.e.m.e.nt. It read: DON'T Forget it is imperative for one and all to use cleansing agents on teeth that leave no bad results.
”s.h.i.+p more of that wonder-working paste immediately. Workers, employers, wives, all ready to commend it. Friday's supply gone,” writes a druggist to whom a big s.h.i.+pment was made last week.
USE DENTO A genuine, safe, pleasing paste for the teeth, prepared and sold only by the Auer Dental Company, New York.
Fleck's eyes gleamed with satisfaction as he read this advertis.e.m.e.nt and caught the phrase ”wonder-working.” He felt sure now that he was on the right track. He recalled that Jane Strong over the dictograph had heard old Hoff speak of something that he called the ”wonder-worker.” As soon as Carter returned with the other advertis.e.m.e.nts that had been appearing he felt positive that he would be able to unravel the cipher. Two words he was sure of--”pa.s.sports” and ”wonder-working.” One footprint does not lead anywhere, but two do, and given three footprints, a pathway is indicated.
His telephone rang sharply. He turned to answer it, suspecting it must be Carter with some message about the papers he had sent for.
”h.e.l.lo,” he called.
”h.e.l.lo,” came a faint voice, as if the speaker were using long distance, and had a bad connection, ”is this Fleck?”
”Yes, Fleck,” he answered, ”who is this?”
”Dean speaking,” came the voice faintly.
”Dean,” cried Fleck, excitedly, ”yes, yes. What is it, Dean?”
He had not expected to hear any results from the expedition that Dean and Jane Strong had undertaken until late in the afternoon after the Hoffs returned. The fact that Dean was calling him up now would seem to indicate that something of importance had happened.
”I'm telephoning from a doctor's house near Nyack,” said Dean.
”What's that? Speak louder.”
”I'm here in Doctor Spencer's office near Nyack with a broken arm,” Dean continued. ”We've had an accident. Somebody's auto smashed into us, I guess.”
”Miss Strong? Where is she? Is she hurt?” asked the chief anxiously.
”I don't know. She has vanished.”
Jane Strong vanished! The chief's figure became suddenly tensed. That it was more than a mere automobile accident he felt certain now. Shadowing the Hoffs was an occupation that seemed unusually perilous. There flashed into his mind the fate of K-19--murdered almost at the Hoffs' door. And now two more of his operatives, one disabled and the other mysteriously missing.
”Quick,” he said over the 'phone. ”Tell me briefly just what happened. Speak as loudly as you can.”
”We got half an hour behind at the West Point Ferry,” Dean's voice went on, still weak and low as if he were speaking with difficulty. ”We had some trouble getting started on the trail again but finally succeeded. We were das.h.i.+ng along about ten or twelve miles south of West Point when an automobile coming out of a cross road crashed right into us. It must have knocked me unconscious. I didn't remember anything more till I found myself here. I came to as the doctor was setting my arm. I 'phoned as soon as they would let me.”
”Who brought you there?”
”I don't know. All they know here was that some couple in an automobile left me here. They said they pa.s.sed just after an auto hit my motorcycle. They said the auto didn't stop.”
”And Miss Strong--did they say anything about her?”
”Not a word. The people here were under the impression I was riding alone.”