Murder & the Married Virgin Read Free Page A

hundred thousand.”
    Shayne nodded absently, said, “But not if it has to be fenced while it’s hot. Broken up into individual stones it wouldn’t bring more than a tenth of that.”
    “Quite true,” said Mr. Teton, hooking his glasses on his lapel. “Particularly since the Ghorshki stone is too well known to permit it to be sold in one piece.”
    “So the thief will be pretty anxious to get rid of it,” Shayne mused. “How will the company feel about buying it back if worst comes to worst?”
    Mr. Teton looked distressed. “I thought you were being retained as a detective—not as a go-between.”
    Shayne tapped the folded paper in his pocket. “My ten per cent is contingent on recovery without loss to you. If you have to pay out more than twelve and a half grand for it, I lose. How’s Lomax fixed financially?” he asked abruptly.
    “Quite well, I believe. His credit rating is good. His firm is active in instruments production—making gadgets for submarines.”
    “But what about cash? Any chance that he’s caught short right at this time? For plant expansion, perhaps?”
    “I’m having that investigated. There should be a complete report on his financial status as of this date in my hands by tonight.”
    “Good enough. Now sketch in the actual theft.”
    “The necklace was kept with other valuables in a small safe of approved design and the combination known only to Mr. and Mrs. Lomax. The house was burglarized night before last, but no one missed the necklace until this morning. And, there seems to be a plausible reason. Two reasons, in fact, that the discovery was not made at once. First, the necklace was supposed to be in the safe in Mr. Lomax’s bedroom and he was in the room reading in bed when he heard the burglar in Mrs. Lomax’s dressing-room. He got up and chased the thief through the hall and down the stairs. He knew, of course, that the safe hadn’t been touched. Secondly, Mrs. Lomax didn’t remember until this morning that she hadn’t returned the necklace to the safe after wearing it.”
    Shayne asked, “Where was Mrs. Lomax at the time of the burglary?”
    “She was out of the city and didn’t return until yesterday afternoon. Evidently it did not occur to her that no one had checked up, and we have to remember that Mr. Lomax was in the room with the safe which he supposed held the necklace.”
    Shayne nodded and asked, “How about other members of the family? Any children?”
    “A boy and a girl,” Teton answered. “The boy, Eddie, is about twenty-one and Clarice is about nineteen.”
    After a moment of thoughtful contemplation Shayne asked, “Do you see any tie-up with the suicide out there last night?”
    “I’m sure I don’t know,” said Mr. Teton. “The girl was Mrs. Lomax’s personal maid and had access to the jewel case when it was left outside the safe. I presume the police are working on the suicide angle.”
    Shayne ground out his cigarette on a metal ash tray and said, “All right. I’ll get the rest from the cops. Let me know if anyone contacts you.”
    He swung into his trench coat when he reached the outer lobby of the International Building. Raindrops made a gay patter on the striped awning as he pushed through the door to the sidewalk. He turned the collar of his coat up around his neck and pulled his hat brim lower over his face as he made his way to his car.
    Chief of Police McCracken leaned back in his chair and smiled when Shayne barged into his private office at headquarters.
    “I hear you’ve settled yourself in a luxurious suite of offices with a beautiful secretary to mix drinks for you,” he boomed good-naturedly.
    Shayne waved a big hand and said, “I’ve got a hovel in the International Building with a girl who sits in a chair when she takes dictation. Who’s handling the Lomax thing?”
    “H-m-m. I thought you’d be nosing into that.”
    “I represent Mutual Indemnity. You got anything on it, Mac?”
    “Better see Inspector Quinlan.