Chapter V: Drawing the Lines

While Patsy was meeting with his experiences, Chick had been making inquiries as to the five promoters, each of whom had been endeavoring to obtain possession of the drawings and models of the deceased inventor.

Inquiry, skillfully conducted, had satisfied Chick that at least four of them had gone no further than to make offers to the widow for possession of the drawings.

In these offers, there may have been no regards for the rights of Mr. Herron, and, if the widow had accepted one of them, they would have taken an unfair advantage of that gentleman. But, as to going any further and taking a step into crime for the purpose of securing them, Chick was well satisfied they had or would do nothing of the kind.

They were men of standing and reputation.

He did find out that these four had banded together in a new offer to the widow if she could obtain possession of the drawings and models again to deliver to them, and that this offer was made peculiarly advantageous to her in order to induce her to stronger efforts to regain them from Mr. Herron.

As to the fifth, whose name was Mortimer Seaman, Chick was by no means so well satisfied.

He found by inquiry that Seaman was regarded by those who knew him best as a keen, sharp, unscrupulous man, who was reckless in his methods and who, more than once in his career, had trod so near the line dividing honesty from dishonesty that he had barely escaped punishment.

He was charged, in more than one instance, of having robbed inventors of the fruits of their labors and discoveries, and had, in one case, openly boasted of the shrewdness with which he had secured certain patent rights without paying for the same.

Indeed, a cloud of scandal and doubt and suspicion seemed to surround the man, and Chick also learned that his credit at the banks and other financial institutions was by no means of the best.

Pursuing his inquiries into his private life, he found that Seaman had two sides therein. One, that he was interested in athletic sports, and the other, a rather rapid side, since he was much given to gambling.

In short, in the daytime he was a projector of commercial schemes and a promoter of stock companies, while at night he was a man about town familiarly known in the Tenderloin.

“If any one undertook such desperate means to secure those papers as hiring burglars,” said Chick, to himself, “Mortimer Seaman is the man.”

He went to Nick Carter to report his inquiries to his chief.

“Chick,” said Nick, “what you have discovered fits in very well with some things I have learned to-day, and together the two discoveries make a pretty strong showing.

“Before calling on Samuel Elwell, who is the lawyer who acted for the inventor and is now acting for the widow, I made some pretty close inquiries as to his standing. In those inquiries I have learned that, since the death of the inventor, Elwell and Seaman have been seen together very frequently, but almost wholly in the evenings and uptown. I cannot learn that Seaman ever called at Elwell’s office.

“The fact that they met at night would in itself be of no sort of consequence, perhaps; but when I called on Elwell he denied ever having seen Seaman, saying that he was unacquainted with the person. This looks bad on the face of it, and, at all events, shows that Elwell is an unreliable person.

“Elwell is the man who drew up the articles of agreement between the inventor and Mr. Herron, which had not been signed at the time of the death of the inventor. He, therefore, well knew what the intention of the inventor was, and what value the inventor had received from Mr. Herron. Yet it is he who advised the widow to accept the offer Seaman made and who had been trying in her name to recover the drawing and models from Mr. Herron.”

“And your conclusion is--what?” asked Chick.

“My conclusion is,” replied Nick, “that Elwell is not acting sincerely for the widow, is advising her badly with the intention of profiting in the enterprise himself.

“Mr. Herron’s lawyer tells me that Elwell had abandoned his suit against Herron for the recovery, since he found he had no standing in court; and, when Mr. Herron’s lawyer refused to make such concession as would enable the case to be tried, Elwell lost his temper, declaring that if they were not permitted to proceed on legal lines they were not to be blamed if they took to illegal ones. In short, Chick, Mr. Seaman and Mr. Elwell are both men to be watched.”

They had arrived at this stage of the consultation, when Patsy came in, in great haste.

“I have got to get back again as quick as I can!” he exclaimed, “so let me spiel first.”

Consent having been given him, Patsy told his story--a story that elicited the heartiest praise and laughter from Nick and Chick.

That which struck Chick as the most humorous was that Patsy, after having assumed the disguise of an east side crook, and as he was hastening away with a view of getting rid of it, should run against the original himself.

When the story was ended, Nick said:

“If I had been at your elbow, Patsy, to have you do exactly what I wanted you to do, you could not have done better than you have done. It was a bright idea of yours, having found out pretty closely who the men were who did the job, to make them hold on to the case, and not deliver it.

“From what Chick and I have learned to-day, added to your very important discoveries, I think we can set out on the line, and not be very far wrong, that Seaman employed Lannigan and his companions to go into that house for that case.

“That’s the line that we have got to work on now. If we can connect Seaman and Lannigan, I think our theory will straighten out into fact.”

“I wish,” said Chick, “I had known all that we now know before I left the neighborhood of Seaman’s office.”

“Why so?” asked Nick.

“Because,” replied Chick, “I fear that that trip of Lannigan and his companion across the river, that Patsy tells of, was to meet Seaman and, perhaps, to deliver to him there that case.”

“I don’t think so,” said Patsy, positively.

“And why not, youngster?” asked Chick.

“Because the biggest ‘fence’ there is around here is on that side of the river, in Long Island City. I don’t know how long it has been there, but a crook told me about it a week ago, and, when I heard Lannigan and the other fellow say they were going over to the other side of the river, I dropped that they were going to make arrangements for taking the stuff they took out of that house in Thirty-fifth Street over there.”

“I think Patsy is right,” said Nick. “I hardly think that they would cross the water to meet Seaman. But I do fear that that case has already been delivered to Seaman--was delivered before day broke.”

Chick looked up quickly at Nick, and said:

“Then it is your plan to make the fight on the Seaman line.”

“Yes,” said Nick; “after the developments of to-day I am satisfied that if we recover that case, it will be from Seaman. However, we are hardly in deep enough to be positive about anything. I have great hopes from what Patsy may learn this afternoon. And, Chick, I think the thing for you to do now is to put yourself on Seaman’s trail and follow him up to see where he leads you.”

“If that is so,” replied Chick, “I had better get to him as soon as I can.”

“And I must get back to my assistants,” laughed Patsy.

Without further delay, both Chick and Patsy left the room and hurried off in their different directions.

The two young detectives were hardly out of sight when Ida made her appearance to report the results of her labor during the day.

As she entered, Nick said:

“I hardly expected to see you to-day, Ida. But your coming now would indicate that you have something to say.”

“I have,” replied Ida. “I have seen and had a talk with the widow, Mrs. Pemberton.”

“So soon?” said Nick, highly pleased. “That is very quick work, Ida.”

Ida laughed, and replied:

“I had unusual good luck. Finding out where Mrs. Pemberton lived, I saw at once that her next door neighbor was a friend of mine. Going there, to that friend, I found out that the two--my friend and Mrs. Pemberton--were quite intimate friends. At all events, very neighborly--frequently exchanging calls. That is how I came to meet her so quickly. While I was in the rooms of my friend, Mrs. Pemberton ran in, and it was not a difficult matter to get Mrs. Pemberton to talk of that which is nearest to her heart.”

“That was, indeed, unusual luck,” said Nick.

“Nick Carter’s luck,” said Ida, with a laugh.

“No,” replied Nick; “if it was anybody’s luck, it was your luck; but I don’t think luck has anything to do with it, after all. It is hard work and quick seizure of opportunities when they present themselves. And your luck was in seizing quickly the opportunity you saw. But what did you learn?”

“The chief thing that I learned,” said Ida, “is that Mrs. Pemberton is beginning to believe that she has been badly advised and that she believes that it would have been better for her had she followed the intentions of her husband and stuck to Mr. Herron. She is poor and without money.”

“But she has the ten thousand dollars that Mr. Herron gave her for the drawings and models.”

“No, she has not,” replied Ida; “that was returned to Mr. Herron when she decided to accept the offer of the other people and demanded the return of the models and drawings?”

“But it was not returned,” replied Nick.

“She said to-day that it was,” replied Ida.

“She gave the check to Mr. Elwell, her lawyer, who says that he returned it to Mr. Herron.”

Nick started to his feet, crying:

“The infernal rascals! They mean to rob her of everything. If they have got those drawings and models through the robbery of last night, she will not get a single penny.”

The detective began to pace up and down the room hurriedly. Suddenly he stopped and asked:

“Did she mention a man of the name of Seaman in her talk?”

“Yes; he is the man who made the offer that induced her to go back from the arrangements with Mr. Herron.”

“Was Mr. Elwell with him at the time?”

“Yes; she mentioned him as being present at the time they concluded the arrangements with Mr. Seaman. Mrs. Pemberton said that Mr. Elwell wrote a paper in her rooms at the time, binding her to let Seaman have the drawings and models, and Seaman to the payment of certain sums of money at certain periods, which they both signed.”

“They are a pack of rascals!” again exclaimed Nick. “Elwell knew that Mrs. Pemberton was in honor bound to let those drawings and models go to Mr. Herron, and that, in accepting the check of ten thousand dollars, she was legally bound. But he has stolen that check and left her without a cent. I must prevent him from realizing on that check if it is not too late. Follow up your acquaintance with Mrs. Pemberton, Ida.”

Nick hurried to the office of Mr. Herron and learned from him that up to twelve o’clock that day, the check for ten thousand which he had given to Mrs. Pemberton had neither been received nor tendered to him, and that it had not been presented for payment.

Under Nick’s advice, he hurried to the bank to stop its payment unless it was presented by the one in whose favor it was drawn.