The D.A. Breaks an Egg

21

Selby sat in Rex Brandon’s office. The door was locked. A copy of the evening Blade, still damp from the press, was spread out on Brandon’s desk.

Brandon said, “That other stuff was vicious, Doug. This attack is really deadly. It’s going to hurt. This is the stuff voters read, believe and fall for.”

Headlines streamed across the front page: SHERIFF AND D.A. FAKE RECOVERY OF JEWELRY TO HIDE INEFFICIENCY.

Brandon skimmed through the news account, turned to the editorial page, said, “Listen to this, Doug. Here’s the way Paden’s fighting now:

Brandon pushed the paper back, looked up, and said, “People like to be on the side of the winner, Doug. As long as The Blade adopts the position that we’re has-beens and also-rans, and can pour out that sort of propaganda, people are going to fall for it. The Blade will call another mass meeting within the next few days. They’ll manage to stampede a lot of people into petitioning the attorney general to send in a special prosecutor to handle the case against Dorothy Clifton.”

Selby nodded. “Of course that jewelry business backfired, Rex. I led with my chin. I wanted to get Moana where we could question her. I’m suspicious about that theft of the jewelry and... oh, well, the breaks went against me. I’m sorry I dragged you into it.”

“ ‘Dragged me in’ nothing,” Brandon said. “I was with you hand-in-glove. I felt certain it would be a good idea. It...”

The telephone rang. Brandon picked up the receiver. “Hello, Brandon talking,” then said, “Oh, hello. Yes, Sylvia... Yes, he’s right here... Okay, I’ll let you talk with him.”

Sylvia Martin’s voice came over the wire sharp with excitement. “Doug,” she said, “there’s something funny about this whole business. I went in to get an interview from Mrs. Kerry. She didn’t want to see me. When I finally got to her, she wouldn’t talk. I started intimating that I knew something, and believe me, Doug, she’s scared to death. I don’t know what it is, but she’s absolutely frightened stiff. She says Moana comes to see her whenever she’s upset. She insists that Moana was there last night and also spent the night with her a couple of months ago, but she’s white-faced, and her husband is definitely against the whole thing. He said that as far as he was concerned he had nothing to say, and he was gruff about it. Doug, there’s something, somewhere, that needs looking into in connection with this woman’s story. She’s covering up something.”

“Where are you now?” Selby asked.

“I’m still up here.”

“You’ve finished your interview?”

“It was finished for me. I was virtually thrown out on my ear.”

“Okay. Come on back,” Selby said. “I’m going to set off some fireworks and you may want to watch them.”

Selby hung up and said to Rex Brandon, “Okay, Rex. The way things are now we’re in just about as bad as we can get. Personally, I never won any battles remaining on the defensive.”

“What are you going to do?” Brandon asked.

Selby said, “Let’s look at it this way. Carr is mixed into this thing up one side and down the other. He’s supposed to know all about Moana Lennox’s jewelry because she showed it to him. All right, he knows about it. That means she showed it to him. How did it happen she showed it to him?”

“She knew he was interested in antique jewelry and...”

“Bunk!” Selby interrupted. “Carr’s interested in antique jewelry. Carr’s also interested in fees. Carr’s primarily interested in power. The reason Moana Lennox showed that jewelry to Carr is because she wanted Carr to do something for her and she didn’t have the money. So she turned the jewelry over to him and then, in order to account for its disappearance, cut the screen from the inside and, at what she considered was a propitious moment, started screaming.”

Brandon thought that over. “It could be, all right,” he said.

“Try to think of another explanation that covers the facts,” Selby challenged.

Brandon gave the matter thought, then said, “It’s a possibility, all right. But it’s something we’d never be able to prove.”

Selby said, “I’m tired of being on the defensive. I’m tired of sticking around here letting Carr snipe at me. I like him. I appreciate the man’s intelligence. He’s a genius. He’s also a crook. I believe he has that jewelry.”

“Wouldn’t he have disposed of it?”

“He wouldn’t dare to, because he must have known that Moana was going to claim it had been stolen. Therefore, if it should be located in a pawn shop, it could be traced back to him. As I see it, there’s a darn good chance that Carr has that jewelry and is going to hold it until after everything has blown over so it’ll be safe to dispose of it. That jewelry is Carr’s fee.”

“Gosh, if we could only prove something like that, Doug! But we can’t do it.”

“Why not?”

“A. B. C. would have covered his back trail. Moana would never talk. If we tried to reach her we’d run into a play just like we did when we...”

Selby got to his feet. “Okay, Rex. I’m going to break an egg.”

“Do what, Doug?”

Selby grinned. “There’s an old saying that you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. I’m going to make an omelette.”

“And the eggs you’re breaking?” Brandon asked.

“I’m personally going to hunt up a justice of the peace and get a search warrant. After all, the jewelry is supposed to be stolen.”

“Gosh, Doug, it’s too risky. If it’s a wrong guess we’d be liable for damages, and we’d be the laughingstock of...”

“Not we,” Selby said. “This is one thing you’re going to keep out of. I’m personally going to...”

Brandon pushed back his chair. “Who the hell do you think you’re talking to? I’m personally going to serve that warrant.”