The Burning Court

Author:John Dickson Carr [Carr, John Dickson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780930330279
Publisher: New York : International Polygonics, [1985], c1937.
Published: 1985-12-14T18:30:00+00:00

"Yes, I could feel what you were thinking the minute I walked in here," he declared. His startled grin became a chuckle, "Let me ask you something. Did you expect me to come charging in here, pointing my finger in everybody's face, insulting people right and left, and roaring for blood? Listen, Mr. Despard. I can tell you this: the cop who acted like that would get his pants thrown out of the police department so quick you couldn't see ‘em for dust. Especially if the party concerned happened to have an ounce of influence, or was a personal friend of the Commissioner's like you. When people write those stories, there's one thing they seem to forget - and that's politics. But we can't forget it. And there's more to it. We have a job to do. We try to do it as well as we can, and I think we do it pretty well. We're not a side-show or a monkey-house. And the ambitious young fellow who tries to turn us into one, and make a splash for himself, is the one who doesn't get on with the department, That's only common sense. As I say, I'm here representing Mr. Cartell, the Commissioner.

"Cartell," repeated Mark, and sat up. "Of course. He was-"

"So," concluded Brennan, with a broad gesture, "what about telling me the whole truth? I've told you this so that you'll see where I stand; and the Commissioner wants me to help as far as I can within the law. Is it a deal?"This, Stevens reflected, was probably the one course which would have won over Mark Despard. Captain Brennan was not only a representative of the head of the department; he was a clever man. Mark nodded, and Brennan opened the briefcase again.

"First of all, though," he said, "you'll want to know about my end of the business, to show that this isn't any bluff.

"As I told you, I got that letter early yesterday morning. Now, I know all about you here; I've got a cousin who lives down in Merion. So I took that letter straight to the Commissioner. He didn't think there was anything to it, and neither did I. But I thought I'd better go round and see Joyce and Redfern, the chemists. And," said Brennan, running his finger down a typed sheet, "that part of it was right, anyway. You went to them on Thursday, April 13th. You took a glass and a cup for analysis. You said you thought your cat had been poisoned, and the cat had been lapping some stuff out of one of these two. You asked them not to say anything about it if anybody asked. You came back next day and got the report. Glass OK., but two grains of arsenic in the cup. Description of cup: about four inches in diameter, three inches high; solid silver; a design like flowers round the top; very old." He raised his eyes. "Correct?"

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.