Cad Metti, The Female Detective Strategist | Page 2

under cover. One thing is certain: they are the shrewdest rascals that ever defied the whole detective force of the United States, and I have great hopes that you can succeed where we have all failed. You can command me for all the money you need; and now get in and run down these rogues."
"You have no photographs?"
"No."
"You say there are women in with the gang?"
"Yes."
"Here in New York?"
"Yes."
"Are the women shoving the queer?"
"If they do they do it so well we cannot trace them; but there are women in the gang."
"Have they a workshop here?"
"I do not think they have. I believe the workshop is in some remote place, possibly in Mexican territory; but the leaders are here, and it is necessary to trail down the leaders and get the evidence against them. If we get the leaders we can knock out the whole gang. My men have located members of the gang, and we can close in on them any time, but none of them will squeal as long as the leaders go free. But once let us secure the leaders and there will follow a wholesale squeal, and we can break up the gang."
"All right, I am in with you. I will see Cad Metti and talk the matter over with you later on."
"I should like to meet your female pal."
During the time Wise, the great special, had been talking to Dunne a district messenger lad had been standing near munching on a cracker which he had taken from the free lunch table, and at the proper moment he stepped forward and handed our hero a note.
The latter glanced at the missive and said:
"All right, lad; there is no answer."
The boy stood around and finally Dunne handed him a nickel. The boy laughed, said "thank you," and walked away, and Dunne said:
"You have never seen Cad Metti?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Why, certainly, I'd know if I had ever seen her."
"You would?"
"Yes."
"Wise, your memory fails you."
"I've never been accused of loss of memory."
"You never have?"
"No."
"And yet you've seen Cad Metti."
"Never."
"You are sure."
"Certainly."
"You saw her once talking to me."
"Never."
"Come, come, I'll bet you a cigar."
"No use to bet; I tell you I've never seen the girl."
"Then bet."
"All right, I'll bet."
"And you've never seen her?"
"Never."
"But you did see her once, and as an old detective with his eyes always peeping I supposed you recognized her."
"I reckon I would have recognized her if I had ever seen her. You have some other officer in your mind whom you confound with me."
"No, you once saw her with me. She was under cover, but of course you would fall to that."
"But I've never seen her."
"Then it's a bet?"
"Yes."
"You saw Cad Metti within the last five minutes."
"I did?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"That you should know. I tell you that you have seen her."
"I say I never have."
"You think you would have recognized her?"
"Yes."
"Under any cover?"
"Yes."
"You have seen her all the same."
Wise was thoughtful a moment and then exclaimed:
"Great Scott! it is impossible."
"No, sir."
"Do you mean to tell me that----"
"Yes, I mean to tell you that the messenger lad was Cad Metti."
"Great C?sar! Oscar Dunne, that girl is a marvel."
"Well, she is."
"I've heard how you first met her."
"Yes, and I've been her instructor. She is, I will admit, the most wonderful girl I ever met. Did I say met? I will add I never read or heard of such a girl. She could make her living on the stage as a marvel. She is a great musical genius. She can sing or dance, she can fence or wrestle like a man. Her strength is extraordinary, and as a pistol shot she is the champion woman of the world; and when it comes to quickness, nerve, cunning, and courage she cannot be excelled."
"I reckon you are dead in love with your pal."
"You needn't do any guessing on that score. She is my detective aid and together we will perform wonders for you. I will talk the matter over with Cad. We will lay out a plan and I will report to you."
"Good enough; I feel hopeful. It will be a great thing to run down this gang, for, as I said, they are the most dangerous lot of criminals on earth, and their head-center is evidently a man of genius. Let us catch him and we will easily close down on the whole gang."
"Cad and I will locate him, you bet."
"And get the evidence?"
"I reckon when we get him we will get the evidence along with him. You know it will be a hunt for evidence that will lead up to the capture."
"Oscar, you are not slow at the business."
"Thank you; but it's business and not compliments."
"Good enough; I expect to hear from you."
"I'll report."
"Will you have your cigar?"
"Yes, I won; I'll take it."
Oscar Dunne was a young detective who had earned