Chapter 11
21. McGivney laid the money on the bed. "'There it is,' he said. "'And if you give me the name of the spy you can take it. But you'd better take my advice and not spend it. Because if it turns out that you haven't got the spy, by God, I believe Ed Guffey'd twist
the arms out of you.' Peter was easy about that. I know he's the spy, all right. Well, who is he?' "'He's Jack Ibbots.'
"'The devil, you say!' cried McGivney incredulously. Jack Ibbots, one of the nightkeepers in the jail. "'I know him,' said the other. But what put that notion into your head? He's a cousin of the Todd sisters.'
"'Who are the Todd sisters?' "'Jenny Todd is my girl,' said Peter. "'Girl!' echoed the other. He stared at Peter, and a grin spread over his face.
"'You got a girl in two weeks? I didn't know you had it in you.' It was a doubtful compliment, but Peter's smile was no less expansive, and showed all his crooked teeth. "'I got her all right,' he said.
And she blabbed it out the first thing. That Ibbots was her cousin. And then she was scared, because Andrews, the lawyer, had made her and her sister swear they wouldn't mention his name to a soul. So you see, they're using him for a spy.
There ain't a particle of doubt about it.' "'Good God!' said McGivney. And there was genuine dismay in his tone. Who'd think it possible? Why, Ibbots is as decent a fellow as ever you talk to.
And him a red, and a traitor at that. You know, that's what makes it the devil trying to handle these reds. You never can tell who they'll get. You never know who to trust. How do you suppose they manage it?'
"'I don't know,' said Peter. There's a sucker born every minute, you know. Well, anyhow, I see you ain't one of them,' said the Rat-Faced Man, as he watched Peter take the roll of bills from the bed and tuck them away in an inside pocket. Section 22
Peter was warned by the Rat-Faced Man that he must be careful how he spent any of that money. Nothing would be more certain to bring suspicion on him than to have it whispered about that he was in funds. He must be able to show how he had come honestly by everything he had.
Then Peter agreed to that. He would hide the money away in a safe place until he was through with his job. Then he in turn proceeded to warn McGivney. If they were to fire Ibbots from his job it would certainly cause talk and might direct suspicion against Peter.
McGivney answered with a smile that he wasn't born yesterday. They would promote Jack Ibbots, giving him some job where he couldn't get any news about the Goubert case. Then after a bit they would catch him up on some mistake or get him into some trouble and fire him.
At this meeting and at later meetings Peter and the Rat-Faced Man talked out every aspect of the Goubert case, which was becoming more and more complicated and bigger as a public issue. New people were continually being involved and new problems continually arising. It was more fascinating than a game of chess.
McGivney had spoken the literal truth when he said that the big business interests of American City had put up a million dollars to hang Goubert and his crowd. At the very beginning there had been offered $17,000 in rewards for information and these rewards naturally had many claimants. The trouble was that people who wanted this money generally had records that wouldn't
go well before a jury. The women nearly always turned out to be prostitutes and the men to be ex-convicts, forgers, gamblers or what not. They didn't tell their past records until the other side unearthed them. Then it was necessary to doctor court records and pull wires all over the country.
There were a dozen such witnesses as this in the Goubert case. They had told their stories before the grand jury and innumerable flaws and discrepancies had been discovered, which made more work and trouble for Guffey and his lieutenants. Through a miserable mischance it happened that Jim Goubert and his wife had been watching the parade from the roof of a building a couple of miles away, at the very hour when
they were accused of having planted the suitcase with the bomb in it. Somebody had taken a photograph of the parade from this roof which showed both Goubert and his wife looking over and also a big clock in front of a jewelry store, plainly indicating the very minute. Fortunately the prosecution got hold of this photograph first, but now the defense had
learned of its existence and was trying to get a look at it. The prosecution didn't dare destroy it because its existence could be proven, but they had photographed the photograph and re-photographed that until they had the face of the clock so dim that the time could not be seen. Now the defense was trying to get evidence that this trick had been worked.
Then there were all the witnesses for the defense. Through another mischance it had happened that half a dozen different people had seen the bomb thrown from the roof of Guggenheim's department store, which entirely contradicted the suitcase theory upon which the prosecution was based. So now it was necessary to reach these various witnesses.
One perhaps had a mortgage on his home which could be bought and foreclosed. Another perhaps had a wife who wanted to divorce him and could be persuaded to help get him into trouble. Or perhaps he was engaged in an intrigue with some other man's wife. Or perhaps some woman could be sent to draw him into an intrigue.
Then again it appeared that very soon after the explosion some of Guffey's men had taken a sledgehammer and smashed the sidewalk, also the wall of the building where the explosion had taken place. This was to fit in with the theory of the suitcase bomb, and they had taken a number of photographs of the damage.
But now it transpired that somebody had taken a photograph of the spot before this extra damage had been done, and that the defense was in possession of this photograph. Who had taken this photograph, and how could he be fixed? If Peter could help in such matters, he would come out of the Gouber case, a rich man. Peter would go away from these meetings with McGivney with his head full of visions and
would concentrate all his faculties upon the collecting of information. He and Jenny and Sadie talked about the case incessantly, and Jenny and Sadie would tell freely everything they had heard outside. Here's would come in, young McCormick and Miriam Yankovitch, and Miss Nevins, the secretary to Andrews, and they would tell what they had learned and what they suspected and what
the defense was hoping to find out. They got hold of a cousin of the man who had taken the photograph on the roof. They were working on him to get him to persuade the photographer to tell the truth. Next day Donald Gordon would come in, cast down with despair, because it had been learned that one of the most valuable witnesses of the defense, a grocery man, had once pleaded
guilty to selling spoiled cheese. Thus, every evening before he went to sleep, Peter would jot down notes and sew them up inside his jacket, and once a week he would go to the meeting with McGivney, and the two would argue and bargain over the value of Peter's news.
