"Gray," said Knapp.
"Brown," said Kirkpatrick.
They all spoke in one breath. And as I despairingly laid down my pencil, the last man repeated firmly,
"Brown. But--they might be light brown--or hazel, y"know."
"But, after all, Boyne," Whipple appealed to me, "you"ve got a fairly accurate description of the man, one that fits him all right."
"Does it? Then he"s description proof. No moles, scars or visible marks?" I suggested desperately.
"None." There was a negative shaking of heads.
"No mannerisms? No little tricks, such as a twist of the mouth, a mincing step, or a head carried on one side?"
More shakes of negation from the men who knew Clayte.
"Well, at least you can tell me who are his friends--his intimates?"
n.o.body answered.
"He must have friends?" I urged.
"He hasn"t," maintained Whipple. "Knapp is as close to him as any man in San Francisco."
The cashier squirmed, but said nothing.
"But outside the bank. Who were his a.s.sociates?"
"Don"t think he had any," from Knapp.
"Relatives?"
"None--I know he hadn"t."
"Girls? Lord! Didn"t he have a girl?"
"Not a girl."
"No a.s.sociates--no girl? For the love of Mike, what could such a man intend to do with all that money?" I gasped. "Where did he spend his time when he wasn"t in the bank?"
Whipple looked at his cashier for an answer. But Knapp was sitting, head down, in a painful brown study, and the president himself began haltingly.
"Why, he was perhaps the one man in the bank that I knew least about.
The truth is he was so un.o.bjectionable in every way, personally un.o.btrusive, quite unimportant and uninteresting; really--er-- un-everything, such a--a--"
"Shadow," c.u.mmings suggested.
"That"s the word--shadow--I never thought to inquire where he went till he walked out of here this noon with the bank"s money crammed in that suitcase."
"Was the Sat.u.r.day suitcase a regular thing?" I asked, and Whipple looked bewildered. But Knapp woke up with,
"Oh, yes. For years. Studious fellow. Books to be exchanged at the public library, I think. No--" Knapp spoke heavily. "Come to think of it, guess that was special work. He told me once he was taking some sort of correspondence course."
"Special work!" chuckled Worth Gilbert. "I"ll tell the world!"
"Oh, well, give me a description of the suitcase," I hurried.
"Brown. Sole-leather. That"s all I ever noticed," from Whipple, a bit stiffly.
"Bra.s.s rings and lock, I suppose?"
"Bra.s.s or nickel; I don"t remember. What"d you say, Knapp?"
"I wouldn"t know now, if it was canvas and tin," replied the harried cashier.
"Gentlemen," I said, looking across at the clock, "since half-past two my men have been watching docks, ferries, railroad stations, every garage near the St. Dunstan, the main highways out of town. Seven of them on the job, and in the first hour they made ten arrests, on that description; and every time, sure they had their man. They thought, just as you seem to think, that the bunch of words described something. We"re getting nowhere, gentlemen, and time means money here."
CHAPTER II
SIGHT UNSEEN
In the squabble and s.n.a.t.c.h of argument, given dignity only because it concerned the recovery of near a million dollars, we seemed to have lost Worth Gilbert entirely. He kept his seat, that chair he had taken instantly when old d.y.k.eman seemed to wish to have it denied him; but he sat on it as though it were a lone rock by the sea. I didn"t suppose he was hearing what we said any more than he would have heard the mewing of a lot of gulls, when, on a sudden silence, he burst out,
"For heaven"s sake, if you men can"t decide on anything, sell me the suitcase! I"ll buy it, as it is, and clean up the job."
"Sell you--the suitcase--Clayte"s suitcase?" They sat up on the edge of their chairs; bewildered, incredulous, hostile. Such a bunch is very like a herd of cattle; anything they don"t understand scares them. Even the attorney studied young Gilbert with curious interest. I was mortal glad I hadn"t said what was the fact, that with the naming of the enormous sum lost I was certain this was a sizable conspiracy with long-laid plans. They were mistrustful enough as Whipple finally questioned,
"Is this a bona-fide offer, Captain Gilbert?" and d.y.k.eman came in after him.
"A gambler"s chance at stolen money--is that what you figure on buying, sir? Is that it?" And heavy-faced Anson asked bluntly,
"Who"s to set the price on it? You or us? There"s practically a million dollars in that suitcase. It belongs to the bank. If you"ve got an idea that you can buy up the chance of it for about fifty percent--you"re mistaken. We have too much faith in Mr. Boyne and his agency for that.
Why, at this moment, one of his men may have laid hands on Clayte, or found the man who planned--"
He stopped with his mouth open. I saw the same suspicion that had taken his breath away grip momentarily every man at the table. A hint of it was in Whipple"s voice as he asked, gravely:
"Do you bind yourself to pursue Clayte and bring him, if possible, to justice?"
"Bind myself to nothing. I"ll give eight hundred thousand dollars for that suitcase."
He fumbled in his pocket with an interrogative look at Whipple, and, "May I smoke in here?" and lit a cigarette without waiting a reply.
Banking inst.i.tutions take some pains to keep in their employ no young men who are known to play poker; but a poker face at that board would have acquired more than its share of dignity. As it was, you could see, almost as though written there, the agonizing doubt running riot in their faces as to whether Worth Gilbert was a young hero coming to the bank"s rescue, or a con man playing them for suckers. It was Knapp who said at last, huskily,