Read Online It and Other Stories by Dashiell Hammett - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Dashiell Hammett
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Iâve an idea what it was all about but I could stand having a few details cleared up.â
âIâm sorry I canât clear them up for you, but Iâve got to cover myself up. Iâll tell you a story, though, and it may help you. Once upon a time there was a high-class crookâwhat the newspapers call a Master Mind. Came a day when he found he had accumulated enough money to give up the game and settle down as an honest man.
âBut he had two lieutenantsâone in New York and one in San Franciscoâand they were the only men in the world who knew he was a crook. And, besides that, he was afraid of both of them. So he thought heâd rest easier if they were out of the way. And it happened that neither of these lieutenants had ever seen the other.
âSo this Master Mind convinced each of them that the other was double-crossing him and would have to be bumped off for the safety of all concerned. And both of them fell for it. The New Yorker went to San Francisco to get the other, and the San Franciscan was told that the New Yorker would arrive on such-and-such a day and would stay at such-and-such a hotel.
âThe Master Mind figured that there was an even chance of both men passing out when they metâand he was nearly right at that. But he was sure that one would die, and then, even if the other missed hanging, there would only be one man left for him to dispose of later.â
There werenât as many details in the story as I would have liked to have, but it explained a lot.
âHow do you figure out Cudnerâs getting into the wrong room?â I asked.
âThat was funny! Maybe it happened like this: My room was 609 and the killing was done in 906. Suppose Cudner went to the hotel on the day he knew I was due and took a quick slant at the register. He wouldnât want to be seen looking at it if he could avoid it, so he didnât turn it around, but flashed a look at it as it layâfacing the desk.
âWhen you read numbers of three figures upside-down you have to transpose them in your head to get them straight. Like 123. Youâd get that 3-2-1, and then turn them around in your head. Thatâs what Cudner did with mine. He was keyed up, of course, thinking of the job ahead of him, and he overlooked the fact that 609 upside-down still reads 609 just the same. So he turned it around and made it 906âDevelynâs room.â
âThatâs how I doped it,â I said, âand I reckon itâs about right. And then he looked at the key-rack and saw that 906 wasnât there. So he thought he might just as well get his job done right then, when he could roam the hotel corridors without attracting attention. Of course, he may have gone up to the room before Ansley and Develyn came in and waited for them, but I doubt it.
âI think it more likely that he simply happened to arrive at the hotel a few minutes after they had come in. Ansley was probably alone in the room when Cudner opened the unlocked door and came inâDevelyn being in the bathroom getting the glasses.
âAnsley was about your size and age, and close enough in appearance to fit a rough description of you. Cudner went for him, and then Develyn, hearing the scuffle, dropped the bottle and glasses and rushed out, and got his.
âCudner, being the sort he was, would figure that two murders were no worse than one, and he wouldnât want to leave any witnesses around.
âAnd that is probably how Ingraham got into it. He was passing on his way from his room to the elevator and perhaps heard the racket and investigated. And Cudner put a gun in his face and made him stow the two bodies in the clothespress. And then he stuck his knife in Ingrahamâs back and slammed the door on him. Thatâs about theââ
An indignant nurse descended on me from behind and ordered me out of the room, accusing me of getting her patient excited.
Orrett stopped me as I
âIâm sorry I canât clear them up for you, but Iâve got to cover myself up. Iâll tell you a story, though, and it may help you. Once upon a time there was a high-class crookâwhat the newspapers call a Master Mind. Came a day when he found he had accumulated enough money to give up the game and settle down as an honest man.
âBut he had two lieutenantsâone in New York and one in San Franciscoâand they were the only men in the world who knew he was a crook. And, besides that, he was afraid of both of them. So he thought heâd rest easier if they were out of the way. And it happened that neither of these lieutenants had ever seen the other.
âSo this Master Mind convinced each of them that the other was double-crossing him and would have to be bumped off for the safety of all concerned. And both of them fell for it. The New Yorker went to San Francisco to get the other, and the San Franciscan was told that the New Yorker would arrive on such-and-such a day and would stay at such-and-such a hotel.
âThe Master Mind figured that there was an even chance of both men passing out when they metâand he was nearly right at that. But he was sure that one would die, and then, even if the other missed hanging, there would only be one man left for him to dispose of later.â
There werenât as many details in the story as I would have liked to have, but it explained a lot.
âHow do you figure out Cudnerâs getting into the wrong room?â I asked.
âThat was funny! Maybe it happened like this: My room was 609 and the killing was done in 906. Suppose Cudner went to the hotel on the day he knew I was due and took a quick slant at the register. He wouldnât want to be seen looking at it if he could avoid it, so he didnât turn it around, but flashed a look at it as it layâfacing the desk.
âWhen you read numbers of three figures upside-down you have to transpose them in your head to get them straight. Like 123. Youâd get that 3-2-1, and then turn them around in your head. Thatâs what Cudner did with mine. He was keyed up, of course, thinking of the job ahead of him, and he overlooked the fact that 609 upside-down still reads 609 just the same. So he turned it around and made it 906âDevelynâs room.â
âThatâs how I doped it,â I said, âand I reckon itâs about right. And then he looked at the key-rack and saw that 906 wasnât there. So he thought he might just as well get his job done right then, when he could roam the hotel corridors without attracting attention. Of course, he may have gone up to the room before Ansley and Develyn came in and waited for them, but I doubt it.
âI think it more likely that he simply happened to arrive at the hotel a few minutes after they had come in. Ansley was probably alone in the room when Cudner opened the unlocked door and came inâDevelyn being in the bathroom getting the glasses.
âAnsley was about your size and age, and close enough in appearance to fit a rough description of you. Cudner went for him, and then Develyn, hearing the scuffle, dropped the bottle and glasses and rushed out, and got his.
âCudner, being the sort he was, would figure that two murders were no worse than one, and he wouldnât want to leave any witnesses around.
âAnd that is probably how Ingraham got into it. He was passing on his way from his room to the elevator and perhaps heard the racket and investigated. And Cudner put a gun in his face and made him stow the two bodies in the clothespress. And then he stuck his knife in Ingrahamâs back and slammed the door on him. Thatâs about theââ
An indignant nurse descended on me from behind and ordered me out of the room, accusing me of getting her patient excited.
Orrett stopped me as I
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