Octavus Roy Cohen

“ Corwin was staring at Hanvey in amazement. The pudgy detective had been speaking disinterestedly, casually, but he had the most intimate facts at his finger tips. Corwin nodded before he thought, then bit his tongue.
“I’m not at liberty to say whether or not you're correct, Mr. Hanvey.”
“Sure you ain’t. You're dead right, son. Don't you never spill no beans to nobody no time. ”

“ To see them chatting amiably about topics in general, reminiscing over past escapades of Scanlan and exploits of other criminals and swapping theories on unsolved crimes was astounding. Corwin found it hard to reconcile himself to the fact that at the moment the porty detective and the would-be gentleman crook were engaged in a battle of wits. He later discussed the matter with Hanvey.
“Why don’t you arrest Scanlan?”
“Arrest him? He ain’t done nothin’.”
“He’s planning to.”
“You can’t arrest a man for what he's got in his head. If you could the jails’d be overflowin’.” ”

“ I'm in Los Angeles on a vacation and without no definite objective.”
“Sure, Billy, sure! I know that. You're a gent of leisure, you are. But if you could grab off that fat wad the Quincy-Scott people hung under your nose, you wouldn’t have no objections, would you?”
Scanlan's hand dropped on Hanvey’s shoulder and he gazed earnestly into the eyes of the detective, Corwin for the moment forgotten.
“Honest, Jim, I’m runnin' straight. I ain’t plannin' a thing. So leave me be, won't you?”
“I ain’t aimin’ to bother you none, Billy. Goodness knows, you’re too much of a gent to be in jail. ”

“ Once Hanvey saw the gesture and he laughed.
“It’s safe all right, son. It’ll stay safe unless you lose your coat.”
Corwin flushed angrily. Hanvey rightly interpreted his anger and extended a fat and reassuring hand.
“I wasn't giving no dope away. Billy knew where you had the proxy, didn't you, Billy?”
Scanlan nodded.
“Sure! It's the regular place.”
Both men—detective and criminal—were vastly amused by Corwin's obviousness, and Corwin knew it. But he didn't care. Perhaps the lining of a coat was the regular place to keep a valuable document; certainly it was a safe one ”

“ His job is to keep that proxy from getting to New York in time for the stockholders’ meeting.”
“O-o-oh!”
Corwin's jaw hardened, his sinewy frame tensed and a fighting light blazed in his fine, level eyes.
Jim grinned.
“They ain't gonna try no rough stuff. That ain’t Bill Scanlan's way of workin’. He's one of the smoothest con men in the known world, but he ain’t rough—not Billy. He's smooth as butter.”
“Then how——”
“Easy enough, son. He'll be on the same train that carries us back east, an’ before we get to Chicago he'll swipe that proxy. At least that’s what he's figurin’ he's goin’ to do.” ”

“ Never trust nobody an' you’ll never get a shock. That’s my motto. The honester a person is supposed to be the easier he can crook you.”
They reached Chicago at noon of the following day. Hanvey and Corwin boarded the Pennsylvania for New York. Scanlan secured a berth on the New York Central. Freed from the Scanlan menace, Corwin thawed slightly and attempted to make late amends to his benefactor. He even summoned sufficient courage to request a closer inspection of Jim's gold toothpick and to say complimentary things about the fearful weapon which had been anathema to him. ”

“ Taxis are terribly expensive.” And Hanvey moved heavily away.
Scanlan's vigil continued for more than an hour. Then through the gates of the Warrington home swung a limousine. It stopped briefly while Corwin alighted, paid his taxi and then returned to the big car. The route into the city was more direct this time, and Scanlan followed Corwin and Colonel Warrington into one of the larger Broadway office buildings. He saw them enter the offices of a law firm and knew that Corwin had won the first move of the game by persuading Warrington to issue his proxy in favor of the McIntosh interests. ”

“ I just naturally don't forget things, an’ I’ve sort of built up the rep of knowin' more professional crooks than any other ten men put together. McIntosh knew that the other crowd would engage a professional crook to get the proxy away from you, it not bein’ no job for an amachoor. He was sure to foller you out here, an’ the way he was plannin’ to work was to scrape an acquaintance with you, you never suspectin’ nothin', which would have made things pretty easy for Billy. I just trailed along to sort of point out to you the feller you wasn’t safe with, an’ Billy Scanlan is him. ”

“ It bein’ ’most time for the meetin', an’ things bein’ pretty desperate, they sent you out to get the proxy from the ol' gent, his proxy gettin’ there meanin' victory for McIntosh, an its failure leavin’ the vote control with Quincy an’ Scott. ”