The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1912-08-29

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Well" said he, Il believe I have
been fortunate enough to and such .
man at my first try. believe I can
trust you Ny name Ii Ezra Brun-
dage"
At FIRST the name conveyed nothing
TO me.
Inventor of the Bruneage novel
ties" he continued. "and president Of
the Brundage Novelty Company. OF
Hoboken."
placed him, then; I had seen his
photograph In the advertisements OF
the Brundage novelties.
What is 1t that you want me to do.
Mr.. Brundage?" I asked.
II want you" said he, ''to satisfy
me- that the Brundage Novelty Com
pany is not being robbed"
Then he went On to explain 1t
seems that he had no definite reason
for being Suspicious. He said IL was
only his intuition that told him all
was not right In the company. He
said that a sense Of g-doing on
the part of someone In the Office had
that the impression had grown until
he had begun to investigate, and
though he could find no signs. he now
was fully Convinced that the company
and therefore himself-was being
robbed.
Intuition entirely. Mr.. Cornell" he
said. But all my life have. listened
to my intuition, even In my business
dealings. and find that 1t guards me
better than anything else I know"
Whom do you suspect?" I said
bluntly.
"Mr. Cornell, am In partnership
with a young man named Gerber"
"And he's the man, is he?"
He bowed. II am afraid SO, though
I dislike to say it. Mr.. Gerber is a
young man, and hitherto I have
thought him the soul Of honor-one
whom it was privilege and pleasure
to associate with"
And how do you think he's get
ting away with the loot?"
He thought it over for a few Sec
onds and said slowly: II do rot
| know. That is what l what you to
find out. He is our treasurer, and
so has charge of all the finances of
the firm
We'll" said I, ARE there any de-
tails you can give me? Any point
| ers?"
None" he said. But I have this
suggestion to make; that you go to
work in our office as a clerk where
you will have opportunities for close
observation"
ITO watch you partner, Gerber?
ITO watch Mr.. Gerber. l place the
case in your hands; watch Mr.. Ger
ber."
Back to the Office I went to report
to the chief.
Il thought you would find sort Of a
| queer bird from the way he phoned,"
said the chief. But business ia bus
mess; he's retained us for the job,
ana your Job Is to watch Gerber.
However, don't be 50 slow as to mere
| ly follow his suggestion about going
to work in the Office. Beat the old
man to it; look up Gerber-after
! hours. You'll get more there, prob
ably, than you would in the Office"
Under these instructions I went
| over to Hoboken at once with an
| other man to get "spet" on Gerber,
| who was unknown to me. Getting
a spot" on a man In detective par
lance signifies this process: one de-
tectiye enters an Office or place of
business and asks for the man that
Is wanted. Meeting him, he makes
! some excuse and gets away. At the
| door of the place he waits for the man
to come out. Across the street Is an
other detective. Whez. the man who
Is to be Swallowed comes out the first
detective signals to the man across
the street in some unobtrusive way,
| and drops out. In this case Clutter,
the man who went with me, entered
the Offices of the Brundage Novelty
Company and asked for Mr.. Gerber
Having met him Clutter merely ap-
piled for a position-and was turned
down. When Gerber came out at s
in the afternoon Clutter, standing near
the Office entrance, took q paper from
his pocket and began to read 1.-THE
4
fer went back to New York, and I
whom Gerber had never seen, took
up the trail. In this way all chance
for suspicion on the part of the sub
ject is eliminated
For the next three days we "took
him up in the morning and put him to
bed at night" That is, from the mo
ment when he left his house in the
morning to when he retired for the
night, Gerber never was out of sight
of detective.
By day, in the Office, had him I'M
der my eye, having gone to work
there as clerk Outside Of the Office
another man from the agency watch
, ed him, no matter where he went
} Gerber didn't have a chance to make
; a move that wasn't reported on.
But nothing developed in this time
} and I went to the chief and reported
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