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Man Without a Conscience

<h2>CHAPTER II. MODERN HIGHWAYMEN.</h2> While the Boston chief sat silently regarding him, Nick Carter studied the photograph attentively for several moments. “H’m!” he presently grunted. “The picture is quite plain. Two automobiles appear to have met in a lonely woodland road.” “Precisely.” “Only part of one of them is visible in the picture,” continued Nick, commenting upon the various details. “The picture was evidently taken by an occupant of one of the cars.” “Correct.” “In the road near the other machine stands a very tall woman, closely veiled, who is pointing a revolver, evidently at the occupants of the other car.” “Exactly.” “They are not visible in the picture, however, except the extended hand of one of them, obviously the hand of a woman. She is passing a purse, two watches, and what appears to be several pieces of jewelry, to a masked[15] man, who is standing near the woman holding the leveled revolver.” “Those are the main features of the picture, Nick,” nodded Weston. “Now, what do you make of it?” Nick glanced up and replied: “It looks to me like a hold-up.” “That’s just what it was.” “When and where?” “Near the Brookline suburb, about a week ago.” “Is this the case on which you wish to employ me?” “One of them.” “There are others?” “Fifty, Nick, within the past two months.” “Whew!” whistled Nick, with brows lifting. “I have read in the newspapers that you have had numerous highway robberies about here, but I did not imagine them to be so frequent as you state.” “Because only a small part of them have been given publicity,” replied Weston. “I have suppressed many, Nick, in the hope of thereby getting some traceable clue to the crooks.” “Yet you are all still in the dark?” “Never more so, Nick,” was the grave rejoinder. “In the past two months there have been, as I have stated, upward of fifty of these highway robberies.” [16] “Early and often, eh?” “Decidedly so. These hold-ups have been committed, moreover, with a boldness and daring that invests them with a peculiarly mysterious character. Whether they are the work of two or three professional crooks, or that of a larger organized gang of them, is hard to say. At all events, Nick, we have been absolutely unable to get any traceable clue to the identity, haunts, or headquarters of the rascals.” “Have two of these hold-ups ever been committed at precisely the same time?” “Not that have been reported.” “If that had occurred,” explained Nick, “it would indicate that a considerable gang is at work.” “Two hold-ups in one evening is the nearest approach to it,” said Weston. “In the same locality?” “Within a mile of one another.” “Were the crooks in an automobile?” “Yes, in both cases.” “Then both jobs may have been done by the same persons.” “I feel quite sure of that, Nick, for the same description of the thieves and their automobile was given me by the victims of both outrages.” [17] “Do these crooks always work from an automobile?” “In the majority of the cases reported,” bowed Weston. “Yet at times they have appeared on horseback, and on several occasions afoot. The work, Nick, is that of two or more men and a woman, as nearly as I can judge, and all of them are possessed of extraordinary nerve, boldness, and sagacity. They have committed these crimes at all hours of the day and night, frequently in quite public places, yet they have thus far completely evaded detection and pursuit. They invariably do their rascally job with a decisiveness and despatch that completely awe their victims, who are usually so alarmed——” “Stop a moment,” said Nick quite abruptly. “I’d like to ask you a few questions, Weston.” “Very well.” “If I decide to look into this case, I shall then have some few points already settled, and will need to waste no time in seeking the information myself.” “Exactly,” nodded the chief. “What do you wish to know?” “First, about the crooks themselves,” said Nick. “What have you in the way of descriptions of them?” Chief Weston laughed. [18] “A variety, Nick, to fit any type of man except a humpback or one dismembered,” he replied. “The descriptions vary, eh?” “I should say so.” “Possibly the robbers use a different disguise for each job.” “Very likely.” “Or, as nearly always is the case,” said Nick, “the victims of the robbers were so frightened or excited at the time that they retain only vague and exaggerated impressions of their assailants.” “Precisely.” “To illustrate that,” added Nick, “I know of a case of a noted prize-fighter, who was held up and robbed of his watch and money in broad daylight, and within fifty yards of Central Park. He declared that the thief was six feet tall, weighed one hundred and eighty pounds, and was backed by two confederates, whom he could not quite recall. We got the crook next day.” “Yes?” “He was under five feet, weighed one hundred and thirty pounds, and did the job entirely alone.” “Quite a difference!” exclaimed Weston, laughing heartily. “Rather,” smiled Nick. “As a matter of fact, the[19] prize-fighter was so scared when he saw a revolver thrust under his nose that the crook loomed as big as a house. Probably thinking that such a job would not be attempted single-handed, he afterward got it into his head that he saw the two confederates, and was so thoroughly convinced of the imaginary fact that he really believed it. I could cite numerous similar cases.” “So could I, Nick.” “Descriptions are not at all reliable, as you imply, yet they sometimes help one a little.” “That’s true.” “In a general way, then, you think there are at least two men and one woman in this gang?” “The cases reported convince me of that,” bowed Weston. “That picture shows the woman, moreover, though two men are mentioned in the majority of robberies reported.” “Are the men always masked?” “No, not always. The woman is invariably veiled, however, and the descriptions of the men indicate a frequent change of disguise.” “That is to be expected,” said Nick. “Now, about the automobile used by the knaves. Have any attempts been made to follow it or to trace it?” [20] “Repeated attempts, Nick, all of which have proved futile.” “Has none of the victims been able to report its registered number?” “We have had a dozen different numbers reported,” replied Chief Weston; “but investigation showed that all of them were fictitious.” “Yet the crooks might be located, chief, if the make of the automobile were known,” suggested Nick. “That should have been easily learned by some of these people.” Chief Weston shook his head. “That would be true, Nick, providing the scamps always used the same machine,” said he. “Half a score of different automobiles have been reported as having been used by these knaves at the time of the numerous hold-ups.” “H’m!” grunted Nick, with a shrug of his broad shoulders. “Evidently, then, these crooks have considerable money invested in their rascally enterprise.” “It certainly appears so.” “How about the horses ridden by them?” Nick next inquired. “Can the owner of none of them be discovered?” “In the few cases in which persons have been held up[21] by a horseman,” replied Weston, “the highwayman has usually been alone. According to the description given, moreover, he has as many horses as automobiles, for he has appeared on grays, bays, blacks, and sorrels.” Nick laughed at the glibness with which the last was said. “It seems a bit odd to me, Weston, that none of your men have been able to get on the track of these desperadoes,” he presently rejoined. “It is not often that a gang of highwaymen can long escape detection and arrest, when at work in and about a city like Boston.” “They are not ordinary knaves, Nick,” emphatically declared Chief Weston. “If they were, we should have landed them long ago.” “Where do these robberies usually occur?” “Generally in some lonely part of a suburban road, though several have taken place in the evening, right in the heart of Brookline, Cambridge, and Newton,” replied Weston. “It is evident that the crooks select their victims from the more wealthy suburbs, presumably with a view to obtaining the more plunder.” “How do they usually proceed?” “In various ways, Nick, according to my reports. At times they block the road with their car and hold up the first automobile-party that appears, which, of course,[22] is obliged to stop. Having relieved the travelers of their property, the crooks then forced them to turn their machine about, under the muzzles of leveled revolvers, and depart at full speed. If the frightened victims return in a few moments, as once or twice has been the case, they reach the scene, only to find that the knaves have fled.” “Naturally,” said Nick smilingly. “They have adopted, in fact, innumerable methods for holding up an automobile-party,” added Weston, “and they invariably intimidate their quarry and get away with the goods.” “Of what does their plunder usually consist?” inquired Nick. “Money and jewelry. They take all that their victims have, and the most of them give up readily rather than take any chances of being shot in cold blood.” “Have you been able to locate any of the stolen property in the pawn-shops?” “Not a piece of it.” “Judging from your reports, Weston, what is the value of the property thus far secured by these highwaymen?” “Thousands of dollars, Nick. Close upon fifty thousand, at least.” “Have there been house burglaries about here of late?” [23] “Very few.” “It looks, then, as if these knaves were confining themselves to this road work.” “I think so,” bowed Weston. Nick glanced again at the photograph, which he still retained in his hand. “This was one of these hold-ups, was it?” said he. “Yes.” “It occurred in Brookline?” “In a lonely road leading into Brookline,” replied Weston. “The victims were Brookline people, and were robbed of some five hundred dollars’ worth of diamonds and jewelry, including what money they had with them. The victims were two ladies, taking an afternoon ride in a Stanley machine.” “Did they have a chauffeur?” “No.” “How was that?” “One of the women, Mrs. Badger, is an expert driver, and frequently rides without a chauffeur.” Nick glanced again at the photograph—little dreaming at that moment, however, how important a clue he then held in his hand. <hr class="chap" /> [24] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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