CHAPTER XII A LADY DETECTIVE

 In that ancient Book called Genesis it says that God saw that it was not good for man to live alone. So He gave him a woman to be his companion. Johnny Thompson had read that old Book. He had learned, too, by experience that a man and woman, or boy and girl, fighting side by side, shoulder to shoulder, will go farther along the road to success in any endeavor than will either alone. It will not seem strange, then, that as he launched forth¹ on a fresh adventure, as he prepared to carry forward the business of solving the mysteries back of the sinister² events that had led to the downfall of his good friends Drew Lane and Tom Howe, he should think first of securing a partner for this adventure. And who could better occupy this post of honor than Joyce Mills, daughter of a great detective and partner of Johnny in many a previous adventure?

 

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Johnny was not long in seeking her out. Fortune favored him. He arrived just at her lunch hour.

 

“There’s no place like a crowd for talking,” he assured her. “Come over to Biedermann’s, on Adams Street. It’s a German grill³. You can get a swell⁴ cut of flank steak and all the trimmings for thirty-five cents. And there’s so much racket thrown in that not a soul will hear what we say.”

 

Joyce joined him gladly. To her, every new eating place was a fresh adventure.

 

After they had eaten the steak and onions and were sipping⁵ iced tea, Johnny told of his new adventure.

 

Briefly⁶ he described his experience at the “Greatest of All Carnivals,” of Greasy⁷ Thumb and his con⁸ game, and of the Gray Shadow. He even produced the roll of bills that had played so large a part in that night’s adventure.

 

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Had he known all, he might well have regretted this move; for scarcely had he slid the roll deep in his pocket than two small men with sharp eyes and nervous, twitching⁹ fingers, sidled from their table to pay their check and leave the room. As they gained the street, the shorter of the two placed a hand to his mouth to say in a hoarse¹⁰ whisper:

 

“Marked money.”

 

Unconscious of all this, Johnny went on with his story. By a telephone call to the office of the Air Mail station he had secured some details regarding the packages that had disappeared with the young pilot.

 

“It seems,” he said, “that one package carried the heaviest insurance possible on a registered package, and that it was mailed to a rather dingy¹¹ section of the city. That in itself seems strange.”

 

“It does.” Joyce sat up with sudden interest. “Unless you know some things. Would you believe it? I can almost name the consignee¹² of that package.”

 

“You?” Johnny’s face showed his astonishment¹³.

 

“I might, if I would,” she replied soberly.

 

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“You see,” her eyes glowed with fresh fire, “I’ve all but turned radical¹⁴. It’s working in the store that’s done it, I guess. When you see girls, fine young things with splendid bodies and keen minds, working for fifteen or eighteen dollars a week and trying to make a go of it, it sort of makes you hate the millionaires who own that pile of brick and stone and merchandise they call a store.

 

“Look at that thing of marble out on the lake front.” Her eyes burned like fire. “That place where they keep fish, live fish for folks to look at! It cost a million, they say. Built by a man who ran a big store. Built for a monument to his name, and paid for by the labor¹⁵ of ten thousand folks just like me! Who wouldn’t be a radical?”

 

“I know,” Johnny agreed quietly. “I’ve felt that way myself. And yet it is so easy to go too far.”

 

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“I know,” the girl sighed a trifle wearily. “I’ve thought of that, and I’ve about given the radicals¹⁶ up. Not till I became a Comrade, though. And I happen to know that they were expecting a priceless package. And the address is about where you say it would be.”

 

“They did?” Johnny leaned forward. “That’s something worth knowing!

 

“But look here!” he exclaimed. “They wouldn’t endanger an Air Mail pilot’s life by forcing him to land in a pasture at night!”

 

“There’s no telling what they would do.” The girl paused to consider. “To them the ‘cause,’ as they call it, is all important. Everything and everybody must be sacrificed to that. But where would they get an airplane and a pilot, much less a radio station? Well, they might—”

 

“Try to find out.” Johnny gripped her hand.

 

“I’ll do anything for you.” The girl’s eyes were frank and fearless.

 

Then suddenly her face was clouded.

 

“Johnny,” she cried, “where is my father? I have not seen him for days. I am worried, frightened for him!”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“Help me find him.” Her words were a cry of pain.

 

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“I will do my best.”

 

“One more thing, Johnny.” She leaned over to whisper in his ear before they parted. “I am not a book sales person at the store. That is a blind. I am a store detective.”

 

Before Johnny could recover from his astonishment at this fresh revelation, she was gone.

 

“Well,” he thought to himself, “so that dark-eyed girl has put one over on me. She’s a store detective!”

 

After sober reflection he realized that the thing was logical enough. The girl was born a detective. Her father, one of the greatest of them all, had always inspired her. Girl though she was, she had resolved to follow in his footsteps.

 

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“Of course,” he told himself, “she couldn’t get on the city force. Too young for that. But a great store; that’s different. They use the material they have at hand. And a young girl, even in her late teens, would be of service to them. The shoplifters, the purse snatchers, all that light-fingered tribe, would hardly suspect her of being a dangerous person. Even her fellow employees would not suspect her.” Full well Johnny knew that all too often youthful employees of a great store, dazzled by all the wealth and splendor¹⁷ about them, fell before temptation and began secretly carrying away small articles of merchandise for their own use.

 

“And that makes it hard for the honest ones,” he told himself.

 

He paid his check and was about to leave the place when, to his surprise, a young man tapped him on the shoulder.

 

“You’ll excuse me, I’m sure.” The other’s tone was apologetic. “I’m Mike Martin from the World. Reporter, you know.”

 

Johnny recognized him on the instant. He it had been who stood behind the Chief, whispering in his ear while Drew Lane and Tom Howe were being so neatly¹⁸ shelved.

 

He felt an instinctive¹⁹ dislike for the man, and yet he was obliged to admit that he knew nothing against him.

 

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“Sit down, won’t you?” The reporter led him to a corner of the room. “I want to tell you some things that will be for your good.

 

“Of course you know,” he smiled deprecatingly, “we reporters get into all sorts of strange places. We meet all kinds of curious people; have to know them. That’s our job. Crooks²⁰, judges, police captains, Senators, all the rest. The more we know the more news we get and the straighter we have it.

 

“So you see it happens I know a lot about you.” He tapped Johnny on the knee.

 

“Me?” Johnny stared. “Why me?”

 

“Some people are more important than they appear to be. Some little people, if they blunder about, cause a great deal of trouble.

 

“You’re interested in Drew Lane and Tom Howe.” His tone had changed.

 

“Why yes, I—they’re my friends. They—”

 

“That’s well enough. But you think they’ve been unjustly treated. You think you can stir matters up and have things changed.

 

“Have a care!” He leaned forward with a hand held up for warning. “You may change things in a manner that will get you in bad. Very bad indeed.”

 

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“Just what do you mean by that?” Johnny was on the defensive²¹.

 

“Don’t ask me how I know.” The reporter leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “It is the business of a reporter to know much and write what he thinks is safe; at least that’s best for him. And in this world it’s every man for himself.

 

“Now I happen to know,” his voice dropped still lower, “that you have in your possession a roll of marked money.”

 

Marked money! There it was again. Johnny started. How could this reporter know so much?

 

“That money,” the reporter went on, “will be your undoing²². Unless you walk a very straight and narrow path, you are going to suffer. You will sing your psalms²³ on Sunday behind iron bars and make shoes or clothes-pins during the week.”

 

“Prison,” the boy thought with a shudder²⁴. The money appeared to burn a hole in his pocket. “Why did I take it? I’ll get rid of it at once.”

 

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The reporter appeared to read his mind. “Won’t do a bit of good to dispose of it now. Those men have witnesses to swear you took it, and others who will say under oath that they saw you with it later. That’s evidence enough.

 

“Mind you,” he went on smoothly²⁵, “I am not threatening you. Why should I? I am only a reporter who knows things. I am telling you what is safe. All you have to do is to drop this whole affair; forget it. Take the money. Go on a fishing trip. Have a good time; you’ll not be molested²⁶.”

 

“I don’t want the money!” Johnny protested indignantly. “I—”

 

“Don’t say it.” The reporter put a hand on his arm. “Think it over. Iron bars; work in a shoe factory run by the State, behind iron bars.”

 

He was gone.

 

“Well, I’ll be—” Johnny stared after him. What did it all mean, anyway? A whispering reporter with such a warning.

 

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Just what Johnny thought of this whole affair after ten minutes of reflection may be judged by what he did.

 

Pulling his cap down over his eyes in a determined²⁷ way he made for the street.

 

“Shoes,” he grumbled²⁸. “Always did want to know how to make a pair of shoes. Lots of people can write a book or paint a picture. How many of them could make a pair of shoes. And you can learn all that for practically nothing.” He chuckled²⁹ in a mirthless sort of way.

 

“I’ll find that missing aviator,” he told himself. “And then, we’ll—then we’ll see.”

1 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

2 sinister   

adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的

参考例句：

• There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
• Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

3 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

4 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

5 sipping   

v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She sat in the sun, idly sipping a cool drink. 她坐在阳光下懒洋洋地抿着冷饮。
• She sat there, sipping at her tea. 她坐在那儿抿着茶。

6 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

7 greasy   

adj. 多脂的，油脂的

参考例句：

• He bought a heavy-duty cleanser to clean his greasy oven.昨天他买了强力清洁剂来清洗油污的炉子。
• You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时，你会厌恶油腻的气味。

8 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

9 twitching   

n.颤搐

参考例句：

• The child in a spasm kept twitching his arms and legs. 那个害痉挛的孩子四肢不断地抽搐。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My eyelids keep twitching all the time. 我眼皮老是跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 hoarse   

adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的

参考例句：

• He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
• He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动，嗓子都喊哑了。

11 dingy   

adj.昏暗的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• It was a street of dingy houses huddled together. 这是一条挤满了破旧房子的街巷。
• The dingy cottage was converted into a neat tasteful residence.那间脏黑的小屋已变成一个整洁雅致的住宅。

12 consignee   

n.受托者，收件人，代销人；承销人；收货人

参考例句：

• The consignee is decided according to the order of the shipper or the opening bank. 收货人是由托运人或开证行的指令决定。 来自辞典例句
• For Freight Collect shipments, the charge will be billed to the consignee. 若采取收件人付费方式，则费用由收件人支付。 来自互联网

13 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

14 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

15 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

16 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

17 splendor   

n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌

参考例句：

• Never in his life had he gazed on such splendor.他生平从没有见过如此辉煌壮丽的场面。
• All the splendor in the world is not worth a good friend.人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友。

18 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

19 instinctive   

adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的

参考例句：

• He tried to conceal his instinctive revulsion at the idea.他试图饰盖自己对这一想法本能的厌恶。
• Animals have an instinctive fear of fire.动物本能地怕火。

20 crooks   

n.骗子( crook的名词复数 )；罪犯；弯曲部分；（牧羊人或主教用的）弯拐杖v.弯成钩形( crook的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The police are getting after the crooks in the city. 警察在城里追捕小偷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cops got the crooks. 警察捉到了那些罪犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

22 undoing   

n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭

参考例句：

• That one mistake was his undoing. 他一失足即成千古恨。
• This hard attitude may have led to his undoing. 可能就是这种强硬的态度导致了他的垮台。

23 psalms   

n.赞美诗( psalm的名词复数 )；圣诗；圣歌；(中的)

参考例句：

• the Book of Psalms 《〈圣经〉诗篇》
• A verse from Psalms knifed into Pug's mind: "put not your trust in princes." 《诗篇》里有一句话闪过帕格的脑海：“不要相信王侯。” 来自辞典例句

24 shudder   

v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动

参考例句：

• The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材，他浑身一阵战栗。
• We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。

25 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

26 molested   

v.骚扰( molest的过去式和过去分词 )；干扰；调戏；猥亵

参考例句：

• The bigger children in the neighborhood molested the younger ones. 邻居家的大孩子欺负小孩子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He molested children and was sent to jail. 他猥亵儿童，进了监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

28 grumbled   

抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
• The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏，水手们边干活边发着牢骚。

29 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。