Guy Garrick | Page 4

pretty far gone and even the air didn't revive her-- that is, assuming that
she had been celebrating not wisely but too well. Of course, the whole
thing is pure speculation yet, as far as Warrington's car is concerned.
Maybe it wasn't his car, after all. But I am repeating it only for what it
may be worth."
"Do you know the place?" asked Garrick, watching Warrington
narrowly.
"I've heard of it," he admitted, I thought a little evasively.
Then it flashed over me that Mrs. de Lancey was leading the crusade
against society gambling and that that perhaps accounted for
Warrington's fears and evident desire for concealment.
"I know that some of the faster ones in the smart set go there once in a
while for a little poker, bridge, and even to play the races," went on
Warrington carefully. "I've never been there myself, but I wouldn't be
surprised if Angus could tell you all about it. He goes in for all that sort
of thing."
"After all," interrupted McBirney, "that's only rumour. Here's the point
of the whole thing. For a long time my Association has been thinking
that merely in working for the recovery of the cars we have been
making a mistake. It hasn't put a stop to the stealing, and the stealing

has gone quite far enough. We have got to do something about it. It
struck me that here was a case on which to begin and that you, Garrick,
are the one to begin it for us, while I carry on the regular work I am
doing. The gang is growing bolder and more clever every day. And
then, here's a murder, too, in all likelihood. If we don't round them up,
there is no limit to what they may do in terrorizing the city."
"How does this gang, as you call it, operate?" asked Garrick.
"Most of the cars that are stolen," explained McBirney, "are taken from
the automobile district, which embraces also not a small portion of the
new Tenderloin and the theatre district. Actually, Garrick, more than
nine out of ten cars have disappeared between Forty-second and
Seventy-second Streets."
Garrick was listening, without comment.
"Some of the thefts, like this one of Warrington's car," continued
McBirney, warming up to the subject, "have been so bold that you
would be astonished. And it is those stolen cars, I believe, that are used
in the wave of taxicab and motor car robberies, hold-ups, and other
crimes that is sweeping over the city. The cars are taken to some
obscure garage, without doubt, and their identity is destroyed by men
who are expert in the practice."
"And you have no confidence in the police?" I inquired cautiously,
mindful of his former manner.
"We have frequently had occasion to call on the police for assistance,"
he answered, "but somehow or other it has seldom worked. They don't
seem to be able to help us much. If anything is done, we must do it. If
you will take the case, Garrick, I can promise you that the Association
will pay you well for it."
"I will add whatever is necessary, too," put in Warrington, eagerly. "I
can stand the loss of the car--in fact, I don't care whether I ever get it
back. I have others. But I can't stand the thought that my car is going
about the country as the property of a gunman, perhaps--an engine of

murder and destruction."
Garrick had been thoughtfully balancing the exploded shell between his
fingers during most of the interview. As Warrington concluded, he
looked up.
"I'll take the case," he said simply. "I think you'll find that there is more
to it than even you suspect. Before we get through, I shall get a
conviction on that empty shell, too. If there is a gunman back of it all,
he is no ordinary fellow, but a scientific gunman, far ahead of anything
of which you dream. No, don't thank me for taking the case. My thanks
are to you for putting it in my way."

CHAPTER III
THE MYSTERY OF THE THICKET
"You know my ideas on modern detective work," Garrick remarked to
me, reflectively, when they had gone.
I nodded assent, for we had often discussed the subject.
"There must be something new in order to catch criminals, nowadays,"
he pursued. "The old methods are all right--as far as they go. But while
we have been using them, criminals have kept pace with modern
science."
I had met Garrick several months before on the return trip from abroad,
and had found in him a companion spirit.
For some years I had been editing a paper which I called "The
Scientific World," and it had taxed my health to the point where my
physician had told