Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 17: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ANNIHILATION, and rich looking as any gentleman would sport they were fakes, evén if I wouldn’t give Taggart the satisfaction of telling him so. He’d too close a shave, remember, and his hands showed no signs of hard work; don’t you-make anything at all out of it?” “He could wear the clothes, though not the shoes, of another man—smoke his cigars, copy his jewelry, keep his own hands soft— No, there’s no sense to it, what- ever.” Dennis shook his head slowly. ““You’ve something up your sleeve, but what makes you figure so much on the close shave of him? Why was that number ‘four’ on the other side of the tag with his initials on the key-ring? Did you look to see if the same letters was in his hat?” “Tt had dropped down into the gutter when he fell.” McCarty had refrained from mentioning for the time being his errand from the station house for the missing head- gear. “‘ Did I say that ‘ N. Q. M.’ were the dead man’s initials? I fitted a made-up name to them in joke when Taggart was so sure about it, but it might be an address as well. You’ve known this town as long and as well as me, Denny; did you ever hear of the New Queen’s Mall?” “ Holy saints!” Denny started forward, sripping the arms of his chair. “ You don’t mean that one block running through from the park to the next avenue, with gates shutting it in at both ends as though the families living in the houses on the two sides of the street was too good to mix with the rest of the world? It’s right in the heart of the millionaires’ part of town, with the swellest society all around, and ’twas named after some grand place in London, wasn’t rh ae McCarty nodded. “The Queen’s Mall. The Burminsters came from there and they owned most of the property on both sides of this block here. The great corner mansion on the north side nearest the park is where they live, and they moved heaven and earth to close in the street with gates, the families in the other houses liking the idea fine. The newspapers put up a holler about the street being a public thoroughfare and the whole business being contrary to democracy, but 807 had their way. That was long before ever you and me came to this country, Denny, but the inspector told me about it, and it’s brought up even now when there’s occa- sion for it at some election time or other—” “Number Four, New Queen’s Mall!” Dennis interrupted witheringly as he emp- tied and pocketed his cold pipe and rose with a glance at the clock. “’Tis twenty minutes to eleven, and you sit there giving me a history of New York! What are we waiting for?” CHAPTER I. NUMBER FOUR. T the corner the two self-appointed in- vestigators found a taxi, and Dennis, for once taking the lead, insisted upon engaging it. McCarty had protested loudly, but half heartedly to this excursion. The recounting of the strange event at the water front had aroused all the sternly re- pressed longing to be back in the game once more, and although bitterly resentful of the new order of things at headquarters since his day the fascination of the mystery itself had gripped him with irresistible force. Not for worlds would he have admitted it to his companion, however, and as they rattled eastward through the park he grum- bled: “You must have taken leave of your senses entirely, Denny, and I’m no better, letting you drag me out again on a night like this to gawk through barred gates at a row of rich men’s houses! I’ve one satisfaction, though; ’twas you and not me, as you'll kindly remember, that hired this robber taxi!” Dennis grinned to himself in the dark- ness. “You're welcome to the ride, Mac.” Then his tone lowered seriously. ‘I’ve been thinking this thing over, and I must have been wrong on that blackmail notion; that the fellow was on the way to pay any, I mean, if he had only a matter of seventy dollars on him. I’m surprised at you, though, and even at Terry and Mike Tag- gart, that not one of the three of you that little bunch of stuck-up millionaires thought to go back across and get the hat; COMME OOOKS EO