to the docks before them. Better get busy if you want to land her."
"I'm not ready for that just yet," Gregory admitted with a scowl.[66]
When Mrs. Dodge's taxi drove off the following morning Joe wasn't far away, and, acting on orders which he had delivered over the
phone, no less than half a dozen operatives watched the lady and the maid very closely when they reached the dock.
Not a thing came of it, however. Both of them went to the stateroom which had been reserved and the maid remained to help with the unpacking until the "All-ashore-that-'regoing-ashore" was bellowed through the boat. Then she left and stood on the pier until the ship had cleared the dock.
26
"It beats me," muttered Gregory. "But I'm willing to gamble my job that I'm right." And that night he wired to Washington to keep a
close lookout for the London pearls, adding that he felt certain they would turn up before long.
"In that case," muttered the chief at the other end of the wire, "why in Heaven's name didn't he get them when they came in?"
Sure enough, not a fortnight had passed before St. Louis reported that a string of pearls, perfectly matched, answering to the de-
scription of the missing jewels, had been offered for sale there through private channels.
The first reaction was a telegram to Gregory that fairly burned the wires, short but to the point. "Either the man who smuggled that necklace or your job in ten days," it read.
And Gregory replied, "Give me three weeks and you'll have one or the other."
Meanwhile he had been far from inactive. Still playing his hunch that Phyllis Dodge had something to do with the smuggling game, he had put in time cultivating the only person on this side that appeared to know her--the maid.[67]
It was far from a thankless task, for Alyce--she spelled it with a "y"--was pretty and knew it. Furthermore, she appeared to be entirely out of her element in a cheap room on Twenty-fourth Street. Most of the time she spent in wandering up the Avenue, and
it was there that Gregory made her acquaintance--through the expedient of bumping her bag out of her hands and restoring it with
one of his courtly bows. The next minute he was strolling alongside, remarking on the beauty of the weather.
But, although he soon got to know Alyce well enough to take her to the theater and to the cabarets, it didn't seem to get him anywhere. She was perfectly frank about her position. Said she was a hair dresser by trade and that she acted as lady's maid to a Mrs. Dodge, who spent the better part of her time abroad.
"In fact," she said, "Mrs. Dodge is only here three or four days every two months or so."
"And she pays you for your time in between?"
"Oh yes," Alyce replied; "she's more than generous."
"I should say she was," Gregory thought to himself--but he considered it best to change the subject.
During the days that followed, Joe exerted every ounce of his personality in order to make the best possible impression. Posing as a man who had made money in the West, he took Alyce everywhere and treated her royally. Finally, when he considered the time ripe, he injected a little love into the equation and hinted that he thought it was about time to settle down and that he appeared to have found the proper person to settle with.
But there, for the first time, Alyce balked. She didn't refuse him, but she stated in so many words that she had a place that suited her
for the time being, and that, until the fall, at least, she preferred to keep on with it.[68]
"That suits me all right," declared Gregory. "Take your time about it. Meanwhile we'll continue to be good friends and trail around together, eh?"
"Certainly," said Alyce, "er--that is--until Tuesday."
"Tuesday?" inquired Joe. "What's coming off Tuesday?"
"Mrs. Dodge will arrive on the Atlantic," was the reply, "and I'll have to be with her for three days at least."
"Three days--" commenced Gregory, and halted himself. It wasn't wise to show too much interest. But that night he called the chief on long distance and inquired if there had been any recent reports of suspicious jewel sales abroad. "Yes," came the voice from Washington, "pearls again. Loose ones, this time. And your three weeks' grace is up at noon Saturday." The click that followed as the receiver hung up was finality itself.
The same procedure, altered in a few minor details, was followed when Mrs. Dodge landed. Again she was searched to the skin; again her luggage was gone over with microscopic care, and again nothing was found.
27
This time she stayed at the Knickerbocker, but Alyce was with her as usual.
Deprived of his usual company and left to his own devices, Gregory took a long walk up the Drive and tried to thrash out the problem.
"Comes over on a different boat almost every trip," he thought, "so that eliminates collusion with any of the crew. Doesn't stay at the same hotel two times running, so there's nothing there. Has the same maid and always returns--"
Then it was that motorists on Riverside Drive were treated to the sight of a young and extremely prepossessing man, dressed in the height of fashion, throwing[69] his hat in the air and uttering a yell that could be heard for blocks. After which he disappeared hurriedly in the direction of the nearest drug store.
A hasty search through the phone book gave him the number he wanted--the offices of the Black Star line.
"Is Mr. MacPherson, the purser of the Atlantic, there?" he inquired. Then: "Hello! Mr. MacPherson? This is Gregory, Customs Division. You remember me, don't you? Worked on the Maitland diamond case with you two years ago.... Wonder if you could tell me something I want to know--is Mrs. Mortimer C. Dodge booked to go back with you to-morrow?... She is? What's the number of her stateroom? And--er--what was the number of the room she had coming over?... I thank you."
If the motorists whom Gregory had startled on the Drive had seen him emerge from the phone booth they would have marveled at the look of keen satisfaction and relief that was spread over his face. The cat that swallowed the canary was tired of life, compared with Joe at that moment.
Next morning the Customs operatives were rather surprised to see Gregory stroll down to the Atlantic dock about ten o'clock. "Thought you were somewhere uptown on the chief 's pet case," said one of them.
"So I was," answered Joe. "But that's practically cleaned up."
With that he went aboard, and no one saw him until just before the "All-ashore" call. Then he took up his place beside the gangplank, with three other men placed near by in case of accident.
"Follow my lead," he directed. "I'll speak to the girl. Two of you stick here to make certain that she[70] doesn't get away, and you, Bill, beat it on board then and tell the captain that the boat's not to clear until we give the word. We won't delay him more than ten minutes at the outside."
When Alyce came down the gangplank a few minutes later, in the midst of people who had been saying good-by to friends and relatives, she spotted Joe waiting for her, and started to move hurriedly away. Gregory caught up with her before she had gone a dozen feet.
"Good morning, Alyce," he said. "Thought I'd come down to meet you. What've you got in the bag there?" indicating her maid's
handbag.
"Not--not a thing," said the girl, flushing. Just then the matron joined the party, as previously arranged, and Joe's tone took on its official hardness.
"Hurry up and search her! We don't want to keep the boat any longer than we have to."
Less than a minute later the matron thrust her head out of the door long enough to report: "We found 'em--the pearls. She had 'em
in the front of her dress."