Atlanta Daily World

Arnold Lundeen, a plainclothes police officer in the New York Police Department, has been charged by the District Attorney with accepting a $1,000 bribe to arrest Eddie Schrade, a "stand-in for Ira Miller, a bookmaker, instead of Miller; and with perjury for denying the bribe before a grand jury. Lundeen's attorney, Ralph Harlingen, has persuaded private detective Murray Kirk to investigate the case. Murray's reluctance to harm his good relations with the police department quickly turns to eager involvement when he meets Lundeen's fiancee, lovely Ruth Vincent.

The more deeply Murray falls in love with Ruth, the more eager he becomes to prove that Lundeen is really guilty, that Harlingen is a sentimental fool and that Ruth is mistaken in her choice of a future husband.

Murray and Harlingen have located Benny Floyd, a policeman who was patrolling the beat with Lundeen at the time of the Schrade arrest, and the three are revisiting the area, when they stop at a hot-dog stand Murray converses in Spanish with the counterman.

CHAPTER 7

Outside the hot-dog stand, Benny Floyd said to Murray Kirk: "I wish I could jabber Spanish like you." There was the light of professional interest in his eye.

The counterman was saying something about the numbers game, wasn't he? The bolita. What was that about?

"Nothing." Murray said. "He told me he stays away from the rackets. I don't think he's lying about it, either."

"Well, what did you find out?" Ralph Harlingen demanded.

"I wasn't trying to find out anything from him," Murray said impatiently. "Look, I want to get together with Wykoff. There are questions about Miller's operations his pay-offs, things like that which Wykoff could clear up in no time. And the only way we'll ever get together is for him to come to me. That's what I want our friend in there to do— shake the grapevine a little and stir up some interest. Then we'll see."

"I don't know." Harlingen said. "Wykoff's been co-operating with the D.A.'s office since they nabbed him. Why would he take any interest in Lundeen's troubles?"

"Because a man like Wykoff wants to know what cards everybody is holding. Meanwhile," Murray said to Floyd, "let's get back to the arrest. What did you and Lundeen do after you ate? Keep moving downtown the same way?"

Floyd rubbed a hand slowly over his face, his brow furrowed with concentration. "Well, no." he said at last. "Not exactly."

"What do you mean?" Harlingen asked. "Was Lundeen out of your sight for any length of time?"

"Well" Floyd said, "there's a couple of hotels across the way, and I went over to check them."

"How long was it before you got together again?" Murray asked. "Twenty minutes?"

It could be. That's about what it was, I guess."

Harlingen looked aghast. "You mean that just before Lundeen arrested Schrade he was off someplace where you weren't even in touch with him!"

"I knew where to get in touch with him if I had to."

"Where?" Harlingen demanded.