The Weird World of Wes Beattie by John Norman Harris

Author:John Norman Harris
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781631941368
Publisher: Felony & Mayhem Press
Published: 2018-02-18T16:00:00+00:00

Ten

SIDNEY WAS DREDGED FROM the depths of sleep early Sunday afternoon by the jangling of a telephone bell. He cursed and dragged himself up to answer it. It was Inspector Frank Young of the Metropolitan Police calling.

“Oh, Sid, I just wanted you to know that you have a job,” the inspector said. “We have arrested your client, Mr. Herman Rivers, again. You know, Snake Rivers? I like to keep you gainfully employed.”

“What has Snake been up to now?” Sidney said.

“He says you will explain everything. And Sid— remember how you cross-examined me about certain burglar tools? Your client had them smuggled out of his house, and hid them in a loft. We were keeping that loft under surveillance. Well, last night the tools were spirited away, in one of those foreign cars. A Citroën, it sounds like. And Mr. Rivers couldn’t be found all night in any of his usual haunts. You see, there was a big job in the East End last night. Electronics warehouse. Big haul. Safe blown. We picked Snake up, arriving home at seven this morning. He’d better have a good alibi.”

“He has,” Sidney said. “He was with me, and I can prove it.”

“Sid,” the inspector said, “I wouldn’t like to see a guy like you land into any trouble.”

“I won’t,” Sidney said. “My strength is as the strength of nine, because my heart is relatively pure. I—I will bring a witness of unimpeachable integrity who will clear him. Just give me a little time.”

It had suddenly occurred to Sidney that the incriminating tools were still in the trunk of the Citroën and would have to be put away safely before June’s name could be mentioned.

“Snake and I were eating ham and eggs at four-fifteen A.M., a hundred miles north of here, at Harry’s place on Highway 11,” Sidney said.

Inspector Young remained dubious for some time, and it was late in the afternoon before Snake Rivers was set free.

By that time, the burglar tools were carefully stowed away in the basement of Robert Duffy’s home, and June was able to come to headquarters and confirm the alibi.

“Gee, it all worked out perfect,” Snake said. “The cops were watchin’ me so close they forgot about certain other characters. I heard they made a real good haul.”

“Snake,” Sidney said, “I admonish you as your legal and spiritual adviser to sever all connections with those certain other characters. Twenty years is a long time.”

“Oh, sure, I’m through, no kidding,” Snake said. “From now on, I want no part of nothin’ like that, except maybe in an advisory capacity. Just hang onto them tools till I tell you where to deliver them, will you?”

But Sidney’s conscience was already black with guilt because he had acted as a red herring, and he arranged to purchase the tools outright for five hundred dollars. “Which your brother will pay,” he explained to June, “as part of the investigation costs. And probably well worth it.” He had intended to spend the afternoon with his

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