Smugglers' Reef: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story

  CHAPTER XIV

  Captain Killian

  Jerry turned down the cross street and looked around him doubtfully."I don't know what a fancy hotel would be doing in this neighborhood,Rick."

  "We don't know how fancy it is," Rick returned. "It just has a fancyname. But keep going. We should get to it soon. See any numbers?"

  They had stopped and found the address in a telephone book as soon asthey crossed the river into New York through the Holland Tunnel. AsJerry pointed out, it wasn't a likely neighborhood in which to find ahotel. It seemed to be mostly manufacturing plants engaged in makinggloves and ladies clothes.

  "Wonder how he happened to choose this location?" Scotty asked.

  "Probably just came into the city and walked down this way and wentinto the first hotel he saw," Cap'n Mike speculated. "Man gets used toa fishing trawler, he's not going to ask for anything fancy by way ofa hotel."

  Jerry and Rick had been scanning the numbers along the street. "It'son your side," Rick said. "Watch for it."

  Jerry applied the brakes and the car slowed. "That must be it," hesaid, pointing across the street.

  It wasn't what Rick had expected. A tiny metal sign announced thatthis was the Garden View Hotel. It was set above a dingy doorwaythrough which a flight of stairs could be seen.

  "Where's the garden it's supposed to have a view of?" Scotty wanted toknow.

  Rick motioned in the general direction of uptown. "Probably MadisonSquare Garden. You could see it from here easily if there weren'tabout two thousand buildings in the way including the Empire State."He was wondering if they had the right place. "This calls for a smallchange in plans," he said.

  On the way to New York they had decided it would be easiest to give abellhop a generous tip and have him locate Captain Killian for them.Bellhops usually knew about every guest in a small hotel, and theysuspected the Garden View would be small simply because none of themhad ever heard of it.

  "You're right," Scotty agreed. "A place like that wouldn't have abellhop."

  Rick searched for an idea. "You wouldn't know his signature on theregister, would you. Cap'n?"

  "Never seen him sign his name."

  "Why couldn't one of us be a relative looking for him?" Jerry offered.

  "Say, that's an idea!" Scotty exclaimed. "We could pretend he's alittle cracked and describe him. The clerk would know who we meant,and he'd probably be glad to tell us, because hotels don't likehaving people who might be a little bit off."

  "Cap'n Mike could do it," Rick said. "Cap'n, couldn't you pretend tobe his brother?"

  "Sure I could. Well, what are we waiting for? Do I go alone?"

  "I'll go with you," Rick offered.

  "Jerry and I had better wait, then," Scotty said. "It might look funnyif four of us came trooping in like a chowder-and-marching club."

  Jerry spoke up. "That's okay, except don't forget I'm to talk with himif he has anything to say. Have to get an interview for the paper."

  "We'll bring him down," Rick promised confidently. "Let's go, Cap'n."

  The stairs leading up into the hotel were creaky with age, and theaccumulation of dust and dirt showed months without a broom. At thetop of the stairs was what had once been quite a nice lobby. But nowthe rug was worn to strings and the wallpaper had acquired a glaze ofdirt that made it look like ancient newspapers. Behind the scarredruin of an oak counter stood a clerk so fat Rick wondered how thefloor could support him. He was reading a comic book, and he didn'teven look up as they came in.

  Cap'n Mike addressed him politely. "Excuse me, sir. I wonder if youcan help me?"

  Tired eyes looked up from the comic book. "What can I do for you?" Thewords and tone were surprisingly courteous.

  "I'm looking for my brother," Cap'n Mike said. "He's a man about myheight, five years younger, still a lot of black in his hair. Redcomplexion, pretty well lined. Smokes a corncob pipe. His real name isKillian, but I don't think you'd know him by that." He touched hishead significantly. "Mind is going. He thinks he's being persecuted."

  "What makes you think he might be here?"

  Cap'n Mike's expressive face assumed a look of infinite sadness."Once, many years ago, he spent his honeymoon here. Lost his wifeshortly after in an auto crash, but since his mind went he won'tbelieve she's dead. Even though it was nigh onto twenty years ago.Poor soul. Keeps looking for her. We try to keep him home, so hesneaks off and takes an assumed name. Found him here once before."

  "When?" the tone was suspicious. "I've been here five years myself,and I don't remember anything like that."

  "Oh, it was longer ago than that," Cap'n Mike added hastily. "Must beover eight." He coughed apologetically. "We've had him in an oldseaman's home for a few years, but he wasn't happy there."

  Rick looked at Cap'n Mike with admiration. When it came to spinning aconvincing yarn right off the cuff, so to speak, Cap'n Mike was amaster. Rick hid a smile. What had the old man said about ham actors alittle while back?

  The clerk was nodding slowly. "Old seaman, is he? Well, that fits oneof our guests." He looked at Cap'n Mike sharply. "Sure it's all right?Who is this boy?"

  Cap'n Mike put his hand on Rick's shoulder. "This? Ah, sir, it's thisboy's poor mother old Jim came here to find."

  Rick bowed his head and looked as sad as possible. He had to bow itanyway, to conceal the grin that was forcing its way to the surface.

  "What room is he in?" Cap'n Mike asked tenderly. "Poor old soul."

  "I'll call him." The clerk went to the switchboard and plugged in aline, then pulled the toggle switch a couple of times. He picked upthe phones and put them on. "Mr. Jameson? Your brother and son aredown here to see you."

  Rick held his breath.

  The clerk unplugged the line and put the phone down. "He'll bedownstairs in a minute." He went back to his comic book.

  Rick and Cap'n Mike went over to a sofa and sat down. As they did so,a little cloud of dust rose.

  The minutes ticked away. Rick fidgeted.

  He leaned over close to Cap'n Mike. "What do you suppose is keepinghim?"

  "Don't know," Cap'n Mike whispered back. "We'd better see." He rose andwalked to the desk again. "He's slow in coming, sir. I'm just wondering.Remember I said he thought we were persecuting him? He may ... well,sir, I wonder if we could go up?"

  There was a trace of alarm in the clerk's face. "Maybe you better," heagreed. "Room 410. Three flights. Two floors up."

  Rick and the Captain hurried for the stairs, went up them two at atime. To Rick's surprise the old man kept pace with him. On the fourthlanding they paused and looked up and down the shabby corridor. Onedoor was open. Rick ran to it and looked at the number. It was 410. Herushed into the room, a tiny box with only a bed, a washstand and acloset. It was empty. He flung the closet door open and saw asuitcase.

  "He's gone," he called, and rushed back into the hall again. Cap'nMike already was trying other doors. All of them were locked exceptthe bath, and that was empty.

  Rick ran the other way, to the end of the hall where a window stoodopen. Fire escape! He leaned far out the window and looked down into amaze of back alleys. Then his searching eyes saw a figure scurryingthrough them, heading east.

  "Cap'n," he called. "Hurry downstairs! Tell Jerry to cut around theblock. He's heading east, the same way the car is. I'll go after him!"He swung a leg through the window and jumped to the steel fire escapeas Cap'n Mike rushed for the stairs.

  Rick went down the open steel stairs as though he had wings. As hepassed the second floor, he saw the clerk's mouth open to call. Rickdidn't wait to see what he had to say. Perhaps he was trying to tellhim Captain Killian had gone down, too. The clerk would have seen him.Rick shook his head. The captain must have waited on the fire escapeuntil they started up the stairs in order to avoid being seen throughthe window.

  The last flight was counterbalanced. He stepped on the stairs and theyswung down with a faint groan. Then he was on the ground. He turnedeast and ran, leaping over fallen trash and b
arrels. He had a pictureof the alleys in his mind, so he took all the right turns but one.That one brought him into a dead end. He backtracked quickly and foundthe right way out, and in a moment he came out on the avenue. Hestopped on the curb and looked both ways, spying Jerry's car on theuptown side, cruising along slowly. He started to call, then realizedJerry wouldn't hear him. Better to wait. If the car hadn't reached theavenue before Captain Killian, it was a good bet that they had losthim. He scuffed his shoe on the curb disgustedly.

  Jerry swung into the next cross street, apparently with the intentionof going completely around the block. And Rick saw a figure step outof a doorway the moment the coast was clear! The man fitted thedescription Cap'n Mike had given. Rick turned his back hurriedly andwalked leisurely in the opposite direction. Then he turned into analley between two buildings and peered out. Captain Killian waswalking briskly uptown. Rick saw him turn right at the next corner, inthe direction opposite from that Jerry had taken.

  Once Killian was out of sight, Rick turned and ran uptown, crossingthe avenue. At the corner the seaman had turned, he slowed and lookedaround cautiously. It was a long block. The captain was about halfwaydown it. Rick debated. Jerry, if he had gone around the block, wouldappear on the avenue in a moment, probably one block farther up, sincehe wouldn't retrace the street in front of the hotel.

  Rick decided to take the chance. This part of town was almostdeserted, because it was late in the afternoon, and few offices wereopen on Saturdays, anyway. They could spot Killian easily enough nowthat he knew which direction he had taken. He ran to the next cornerand had to wait only a few seconds before Jerry's car appeared acrossthe street. He put fingers to his mouth and gave a piercing whistle.Jerry tooted the horn and shot across the avenue to him as the lightturned green.

  "Straight ahead," Rick said. "With luck, we'll meet him at the corner,unless he turned downtown."

  The car roared through the narrow street to the next corner andstopped. Rick and Cap'n Mike piled out, and the Captain went to meetthe man who had stopped short at their sudden appearance.

  "Howdy, Jim," he said.

  Captain Killian snorted. "So it's you. Thought I recognized youthrough the window. What d'you want? And how did you know where tofind me?"

  Cap'n Mike smiled. "As to the second, I got some excellent spiesworking for me now, Jim. As to the first, you know right well what Iwant."

  "You ain't gonna get it, Mike O'Shannon. I didn't leave town for myhealth. I left for a good reason, and I'm going to stay lost. So getback in the car with them kids and get out of here. Otherwise, Ireckon I'll have to yell for a cop."

  "You won't do that," Cap'n Mike said shrewdly. "If you'd wanted a cop,you could have got one in Seaford. Come on, Jim, and stop acting likeyou were the only one knew anything. We know what you saw the nightTom was wrecked. And we know who did it."

  That stopped Captain Killian. He gave Cap'n Mike a penetrating look,then said abruptly, "Where can we talk?"

  "In the car."

  Cap'n Mike introduced the boys to Killian. "Rick and Scotty," heexplained, "figured out what must have happened to Tom Tyler. Tellhim, Rick."

  Rick outlined the theory quickly.

  Captain Killian sat staring out of the window. "That's about it," hesaid finally. "It must be. Maybe Bill Lake thought he'd lost the lightand current set him over, but I was closer. Not close enough to seeanything but the light, you understand. But I saw it blink out, and Ilooked down at the binnacle and held the same compass heading until itcame on again, and it was in a different place.

  "If you'd said that at the hearing this morning, Tom Tyler might havebeen free right now," Cap'n Mike accused.

  Captain Killian's back stiffened. "I don't know what you're thinking,Mike, but if it weren't for Tom, I wouldn't be here."

  "We'd like to hear about that," Cap'n Mike said.

  "May as well tell you. Soon as I saw what happened to the _Sea Belle_,I hurried to find Tom. While I was looking for him, I ran into BradMarbek and I asked him about the light. I knew he'd been right behindTom. Brad acted mighty queer, and when I did see Tom, he got allexcited. He begged me to leave town, for my own sake and his. I toldhim he'd have a hard time without my testimony and Brad's, and hebroke down and told me Brad was mixed up in some kind of deal withthem Kelsos, and he said he wasn't worried about himself, but aboutCelia--that's his wife--and their little girl. He said he didn't daretry and clear himself, though he knew right well what had happened."

  Captain Killian shrugged. "What could I do? Stay and put Celia andtheir little girl in danger? Not likely I'd do that! And I couldn'tpretend not to know anything because I'd already talked to Brad."

  The four nodded their understanding.

  "So I packed up and got out. First I told Chick what to say, and toldhim to tell folks I'd been to the trawler next morning so theywouldn't connect my going with Tom's wreck."

  "Was just the shifting of the light all you saw?" Rick asked.

  "That's all. I will say that I knew the second light was the real one.I hadn't known the first one wasn't real, but when Smugglers' Lightcame on I could see there was a difference. I'd figured the light wassort of dull because of ground haze. There was some, you know."

  "There's our evidence," Scotty said.

  "Yep." Cap'n Mike leaned back in the seat. "Only trouble is, we can'tuse it without getting both Jim and Tom's family in danger. So I guesswe're back where we started."

  "But we can prove to the police the light was changed," Jerry began."If Captain Killian tells his story ..." He stopped. "No good. Becausewe have no proof the Kelsos were mixed up in it, and they'd still beable to carry out their threats."

  "That's exactly right," Captain Killian said. "Now how about tellingme how you found me? Did Chick give me away?"

  "Not on purpose," Cap'n Mike assured him. "Rick was trailing him whenhe telephoned you this morning, and he found out the number Chick hadcalled. The rest was easy."

  "I see. And what am I supposed to do now?"

  "I don't see how you can stay in that hotel," Cap'n Mike said, alittle distastefully.

  Captain Killian smiled. "Pretty bad, all right. You know, last time Ispent a night in New York I stayed there. It was right nice. There wasa real pretty garden out in back."

  "How long ago was that?" Rick queried.

  The fisherman hesitated. "Oh, must be all of twenty-five years ago. Iwas some upset when I saw the place, but I'd already told Chick tocall me there, so nothing for it but to stay. Wish I could staysomewhere else, but it wouldn't be safe to go back to Seaford."

  "Whiteside would be all right," Rick said. "You could stay there."

  "I'd rather. But are you sure it'd be safe?"

  Jerry spoke up. "Captain, I'm on the Whiteside _Morning Record_. I'llmake a deal with you. Give us your story exclusively, when the righttime comes, and the paper will guarantee your safety."

  "It sounds good," Captain Killian admitted. "But when is the righttime going to come? Maybe never."

  "Sooner than you think," Rick said quietly. "Look, gang. There's onlyone way to crack this case. We know now we can't get Captain Tylercleared unless the whole outfit is rounded up. So we'll just have toget busy and find the evidence we need. We'll start over again, andthis time we won't go wrong because we know what to look for, andwhere to look."

  "Fighting talk," Cap'n Mike chuckled happily.

  Scotty laughed. "Do we dare put our heads inside the Seaford citylimits again after what we did to Carrots? He'll be waiting for uswith a squad of thugs and that little popgun of his."

  "The popgun maybe, but no thugs," Rick corrected. "What will you bethe never even tells his father what happened to him?"

  "No bet there," Jerry said, grinning. "I'll bet the same thing." Heput the car in gear. "We may as well head back to Whiteside. First,though, we'll have to collect Captain Killian's baggage."

  The captain spoke his agreement. "I'll take your offer, son." He shookhis head. "You know, I'm real surprised at Brad Marbek.
I knew hewasn't above turning a dishonest dollar, but I thought he had moresense than to go into smuggling. No matter how foolproof you thinkyour setup is, if you start smuggling you're bound to get caught.Sooner or later."

  "In this case," Rick added hopefully, "we'll try to make it sooner."