The Devil's Partner
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THE DEVIL'S PARTNER Maxwell Grant THE DEVIL'S PARTNER Table of Contents THE DEVIL'S PARTNER.................................................................................................................................1 Maxwell Grant.........................................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER I. A CROOKED DEAL........................................................................................................1 CHAPTER II. THUG'S TRICKERY.......................................................................................................7 CHAPTER III. MR. JONAH MINTER.................................................................................................13 CHAPTER IV. A TREACHEROUS TOY............................................................................................18 CHAPTER V. A FAVOR FOR PORKY...............................................................................................24 CHAPTER VI. A DATE FOR MR. JOHNSON...................................................................................30 CHAPTER VII. A STRANGE THEFT.................................................................................................35 CHAPTER VIII. SLEIGHT OF HAND................................................................................................40 CHAPTER IX. KNOBS MALETTO....................................................................................................46 CHAPTER X. THE SHADOW'S SHADOW........................................................................................52 CHAPTER XI. TRIPLE CROSS...........................................................................................................57 CHAPTER XII. A CUNNING DECISION...........................................................................................64 CHAPTER XIII. A SUCCESSFUL RAID............................................................................................69 CHAPTER XIV. THE HOUSE OF STONE.........................................................................................75 CHAPTER XV. TWO−WAY TRAP....................................................................................................81 i THE DEVIL'S PARTNER Maxwell Grant This page copyright © 2001 Blackmask Online. http://www.blackmask.com • CHAPTER I. A CROOKED DEAL • CHAPTER II. THUG'S TRICKERY • CHAPTER III. MR. JONAH MINTER • CHAPTER IV. A TREACHEROUS TOY • CHAPTER V. A FAVOR FOR PORKY • CHAPTER VI. A DATE FOR MR. JOHNSON • CHAPTER VII. A STRANGE THEFT • CHAPTER VIII. SLEIGHT OF HAND • CHAPTER IX. KNOBS MALETTO • CHAPTER X. THE SHADOW'S SHADOW • CHAPTER XI. TRIPLE CROSS • CHAPTER XII. A CUNNING DECISION • CHAPTER XIII. A SUCCESSFUL RAID • CHAPTER XIV. THE HOUSE OF STONE • CHAPTER XV. TWO−WAY TRAP CHAPTER I. A CROOKED DEAL YOUNG DR. KILBY sat in his beautifully appointed office, staring at a portrait of his father. There was a tight smile on his lips. He wondered why he hadn't heard yet from Simon Swade. Kilby's office was in his home. It was on the ground floor of a private wing. To this discreet consulting room came many patients, most of them wealthy. Young Kilby was carrying on the work of his dead father, Marcus Kilby. The patients who came to him, like those who had come to his noted father, suffered from no ills of the flesh. They came to be cured of the more difficult ills of the mind and heart. At the time of his death, Marcus Kilby had been the most famous psychoanalyst in New York. He had been the city's best loved philanthropist, as well. His death had brought an army of sincere mourners to his funeral. From rich penthouse suites on Park Avenue, from tenement ratholes − all came to pay tribute to the greatness and kindness of old Marcus Kilby. The measure of his goodness was made even clearer when his will was filed for probate. Except for a small trust fund he had bequeathed to young Anthony, not a penny of the huge fees collected by the old man was left. Everything else had been spent freely for the good of humanity. THE DEVIL'S PARTNER 1 THE DEVIL'S PARTNER That was why young Kilby smiled so impatiently at the thought of Simon Swade. Swade's visit meant profit. He was a keen man of affairs. He had been for a number of years the confidential business adviser of the elder Kilby. Anthony Kilby had entrusted five thousand dollars for Swade to invest. It was money that he would not have risked with anyone else. He hadn't asked questions, because Swade was not the sort of man who answered questions. But Swade had made a pleasant promise. "I will do better than double your money," Swade had said, a week before. Anthony Kilby wet his lips as he stared at the enormous portrait of his saintly father. They were oddly unlike for father and son. The elder Kilby's face was round, his expression benevolent. Young Kilby wasn't like that. He took after his dead mother. His face was sharper. There was a driving force within him that had been entirely lacking in his father. He was so intent on his scrutiny of the portrait that he jerked nervously when his butler knocked at the door. "Yes, Oliphant?" "Mr. Swade telephoned a moment ago, sir. He said to inform you he'd be here shortly." "Good! Admit him to my office as soon as he arrives." Left alone, Kilby's smile flicked. If everything went well, there would be glory for him as well as his father. It would be a more personal sort of glory. The profit he anticipated from Swade would not be used for anonymous free milk stations for needy children. Nor would it go into distant vacation camps for sick babies and mothers. It would be a perpetual memorial to his father's humanitarian reputation right here in New York. A memorial playground, completely equipped, paid for privately by Kilby's own son. A daily reminder that young Anthony Kilby was also a psychoanalyst! No reason why charity couldn't be made to pay. Wealthy patients had been slow bringing their mental troubles to young Anthony Kilby. A memorial erected to the memory of his father would also be a constant reminder to neurotic millionaires that Anthony Kilby deserved their continued patronage. He had studied a long time to fit himself to take over his father's practice. It annoyed him that people who had paid his father large fees were slow in coming to him. Again a knock roused him. "Mr. Swade," Oliphant said, and withdrew. SIMON SWADE entered. The two men shook hands. "What news?" Kilby asked eagerly. "Good news," Swade replied. THE DEVIL'S PARTNER 2 THE DEVIL'S PARTNER He was a lean man who looked thinner than he actually was. Everything about him seemed to run to points. His mustache, the corners of his eyes, his thin eyebrows, his elbows − all contributed to an appearance of undernourishment that was far from the truth. Swade was a well−fed business expert who knew which side his bread was buttered on. He laid a large briefcase on Kilby's desk. "I'm a man of my word," he said. "You gave me five thousand dollars to invest confidentially. I promised you more than to double your money. I've brought you the return on your investment. Suppose you count it." Swade opened the bulging briefcase, began tossing packets of currency to the desk. At sight of those packets, Kilby's eyes widened. Swade kept tossing them on the desk until there were ten in all. Elated, Kilby picked one up. A glance at the denomination of the topmost bank note and a quick estimate of the number of bills made him gasp. "But... Swade... good heavens! There are five thousand dollars in just this single packet!" "That's right." "But there are ten packets. That makes... fifty thousand dollars!" "I told you I'd do better than double your money." Swade was entirely calm. But the glint in his sandy eyes deepened. He was like a fox considering a very silly rabbit. He waited for Kilby to make some comment about the odd fact that the money was in currency, rather than in the more convenient form of a check. But Anthony Kilby was too dazed to notice. "Good heavens! I didn't know it was possible to turn so handsome a profit so quickly in the stock market. I know that you are a financial wizard, Mr. Swade. But even so −" "I didn't invest it in the stock market," Swade murmured. "I took a little flyer in some real estate" Kilby hardly listened. "Now I can go ahead with the memorial project. Naturally, I'll need more money later. But this is a splendid start! Since the city has agreed to assemble a plot provided that I pay for the equipment of the playground, it looks as if I can go right ahead." Simon Swade didn't reply. The cold spark in his shrewd eyes made a more noticeable gleam now. Kilby became aware of it. He thought he knew what it meant. Flushing, he tried to stammer his thanks. "I want to show my appreciation, Swade. You've undoubtedly gone to some trouble to do me this favor. You must have incurred some expense. I insist that you allow me to turn over − say − ten percent of this money to you." "No!" Simon Swade was no longer so friendly. A change had come over him. His voice was crisp, cold. THE DEVIL'S PARTNER 3 THE DEVIL'S PARTNER "Keep your money, Kilby. I want something more than a lousy ten percent from you, my friend. I want complete obedience!" "Look here, Swade; what kind of talk −" "Shut up! Listen! It's time you learned where that fifty thousand dollars of yours came from." "Didn't it come from a stock−market deal?" "I said nothing of the kind. If you were listening you'd have heard what I said a moment ago. The money came from a little