Black Mask (Vol. 29, No. 3 — January 1947)

“Perhaps you know that every automobile casualty insurance company must file an estimate of the amount of liability of every claim filed against its assured. Sufficient collateral in government bonds must be held in escrow to cover twice the amount of all the estimated claims.

“The insurance department had cheeked the Acme claims and turned in a report that they were underestimated. They demanded that Acme put up collateral commensurate with their own estimate of the claims. Acme refused. The insurance department asked for a ruling on whether it should close up Acme and liquidate the assets.

“Last week, the tenth of the month, I gave a ruling. After a careful examination of the insurance law of this state I saw that a loophole protected Acme. Their own estimate of the liability of outstanding claims was final unless suit had been filed against them. I reported this to the insurance department and recommended reform of the state law.

“Governor Patterson himself stormed in and said I was letting Phil Sutton get away with murder. He said Sutton ought to be run out of the state. I agreed with him, but said it was going to be done legally if I were a party to it. Patterson accused me of fronting for Sutton, and I lost my temper and ordered him out.

“Tonight I got a phone call from Lew Brown, an old law school pal of mine in the D.A.’s office. He said a warrant had been issued for Phil Sutton. The charge was bribery of a state official. The official was me. Brown said that Gordon Kress, the D.A., had got the warrant after Governor Patterson had produced a photographic copy of a check for ten thousand dollars.

“The check had been issued by Sam Price, one of Phil Sutton’s lawyers. It was Price who organized Acme Insurance. He’s still their chief counsel. The check was made payable to cash. There was no endorsement. The photostatic copy was also accompanied by an affidavit signed by one Lester Toland, a teller at the Second National. Toland stated that a man he did not know had presented the check for payment and had refused to endorse it. He phoned Price, and Price said it was O.K., he could cash it. So he cashed it. Later he learned the identity of the man to whom he had paid the ten thousand.”

“Don’t tell me,” I said. “It was you.”

Keever nodded, dropped his eyes, and I thought the tears were going to come again. I said: “What are you up in the air about? It’s the teller’s word against yours! Besides, you were right when you ruled in favor of Sutton’s insurance company.”

“Yes, but Patterson will still argue that I took the ten thousand to rule the way I did. If I accepted a bribe, it would make no difference whether I was right or not. He’s probably arrested Sutton by now, and Brown says he’s going to remove me from office in the morning.”

“Can he do that?”

“Temporarily, until the state legislature hears the charges. It’s packed with Patterson’s pals. Unless I can come up with positive proof that I had nothing to do with that ten thousand, I’m through!”

“Have you contacted Sam Price?”

“No. I’ve tried my best to locate him, but I can’t. The fact that the D.A. hasn’t got a warrant for him is an indication that Price is turning state’s evidence.”

“Against his own client, Phil Sutton?”

“No, with his own client. My bet is that Patterson made a deal with Sutton. Sutton has ambitions in this state. By turning state’s evidence and claiming I forced the ten thousand out of him for a favorable opinion on the Acme deal, he’ll avoid prosecution and reap a huge reward from the governor’s office.”

“What about Price? That’s an awful chance for a lawyer to take.”

“No, Price is in the clear. Lew Brown tells me that his story is that he gave the check to Sutton in settlement of a claim he’d collected for him and made it to cash on Sutton’s request. He’ll say he knew nothing about why it was given to me but told the teller it was O.K. because he figured Sutton knew how to take care of his money.”

“And you haven’t talked to Sutton?”

“No. I’ve had all six of my investigators out trying to find him. They haven’t turned in even a trace.”

If the situation hadn’t been so serious, I’d have laughed in his face. The idea of Keever’s six “investigators,” known in the newspapers as “Keever’s Keystone Kops,” finding their way around the block was funny to me. To a man they were poor relations of country politicians. Keever hired them for political patronage reasons only, and if they had all been turned out in a cloudburst they couldn’t have found a drop of rain.

“It looks like Sutton’s in hiding,” Keever moaned. “If you can’t crack this thing before morning, Ben, the fat will be in the fire.”

I said: “Keever, you’re a shrewd cookie if ever I saw one, but the heat has been too much for you. You think Sutton’s in this deal against you. Yet the D.A.’s office is after him with a warrant. I can’t buy that. Besides, I happen to know that Sutton isn’t hiding at all. I was with him a couple of hours ago.”

Keever bounced out of his chair, his face livid with rage.