Sallys in the Alley | Page 3

somebody knocks you down."
Carstairs sprawled out on the floor and rolled over on his side with a resigned snort.
Doan nodded at Arne and Barstow. "Well, what can I do for you?"
"You're not a private detective any more," Arne told him.
"Oh, yes," said Doan.
"No. You don't work for the Severn International Detectives now."
"Yes, I do," said Doan. "They don't dare fire me. If I started to talk about that outfit, they'd be bankrupt in five minutes and on their way to jail in ten--if they weren't lynched first."
"Maybe. But anyway, they've loaned you to the government temporarily."
"No," said Doan.
Arne took a letter from his pocket and opened it. "Read this."
Doan read the letter. He came to the signature, and his eyes widened slowly. He read the letter again, and then he folded it up very carefully and handed it back to Arne.
"If you want to call Washington at your expense, you can verify the signature," Arne said.
Doan shook his head. "That won't be necessary. So I'm loaned to the government. All right. What does that make me?"
"A Japanese," Arne said.
"Oh, I don't think the Japs would go for that," Doan told him. "My eyes don't slant enough."
"Not a Japanese national," Arne explained. "A Jap agent."
"A spy!" Doan chortled, pleased. "Now that's something like it! I've always wanted to be a spy. Does it pay well?"
"To you, it pays nothing," Arne informed him. "You're donating your services."
"Oh," said Doan glumly. "What services?"
"You are to go to the Mojave Desert and find a man named Dust-Mouth Haggerty and buy from him the secret of the location of an ore deposit."
"What kind of ore?" Doan asked.
"You wouldn't know if I told you, and besides it's none of your business. Dust-Mouth will know what you're after. Don't pretend to be a mining expert. Tell him you're the forerunner of a Japanese invasion force, sent ahead to locate this deposit so they can take it over when they come and use what they get out of it to blow Washington off the map. Understand that?"
"Yes," said Doan. "But if you don't mind me saying so, it sounds a little on the screwy side from where I sit."
"That's how we want it to sound."
"Oh," said Doan. "I take it that this Dust-Mouth Haggerty doesn't like Washington?"
"Not even any at all," Arne confirmed.
"Why not? That is, providing you admit that you need a reason."
"Have you ever heard of Boulder Dam?"
"Sure."
"That's why. Dust-Mouth claims it was built as part of a conspiracy to defraud him."
"Was it?" Doan asked.
"You'd better practice up thinking so if you're going to negotiate with Dust-Mouth. He had a gold claim on the Colorado River. He was washing out about thirty cents in gold a day. After Boulder Dam was built the river backed up over his claim so that now he can't get at it. He says that was the real reason the dam was built, just to destroy his claim."
"It seems like the long way around," Doan commented.
"Not to Dust-Mouth. His claim was investigated, and he was offered compensation for it, but he wouldn't accept. He says the thirty cents a day was merely the forerunner. He says he was just about to uncover the greatest gold deposit the world has ever seen, such an immense quantity of gold that it would have made him financial emperor of the United States, disturbed the world's balance of trade, and resulted in international crises by the dozen. He says the politicians in Washington built the dam to prevent him from doing that."
"When did he get out?" Doan inquired.
"Of where?"
"Of the insane asylum."
"Six months ago. Don't get the idea that he's a complete whack. He's not. He's a monomaniac. He's hipped on this one point. Other than that, he's pretty shrewd and sometimes nasty. He's just got a mad on with Washington, and he really means it. We've come at him from every direction, but he can spot a government man for a mile, and all he does is froth at the mouth."
"Hmmm," said Doan. "This ore I'm on the hunt for doesn't have anything to do with his gold claim, does it?"
"No. Dust-Mouth is an old-time desert rat. He's been prowling around in the Mojave for forty years. He came across the ore deposit we want on one of his trips. He never filed a claim on it, because the stuff was worth nothing at that time. It is now. In relation to the war effort, it's worth just about any amount you want to name. You'll probably have to promise to pay him a billion dollars for the location."
"What happens if I do, and he shows me where the stuff is, and then I don't pay off?"
Arne shrugged. "That's your problem."
"Yeah," said Doan sourly. "How about giving me some counterfeit money to pay him