Heads You Lose Read Online Free PDF

“Go ahead. Don’t mind me. They tell me you drink your clues out of a bottle.”
    Shayne said, “I’ve got a clue, so I’ll wait till I catch you off duty,” as he returned the bottle to the pocket. He sat down across from the captain.
    “What’s on your mind?” Ott asked. “Got something for us?”
    Shayne tugged at his earlobe, frowned, and said, “I’m not sure. I hope maybe you’ve got something for me. That is… maybe I hope you haven’t.”
    “Now I’ll tell one,” Captain Ott said approvingly. “Riddles are a swell way to pass the time on night duty.”
    Shayne leaned forward and said, “Let’s take a hypothetical case.”
    “Shoot.”
    “Suppose a soldier whose home is in Miami gets into some sort of trouble with the Army. As a routine matter, would your office get a report on that soldier?”
    Captain Ott’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully, then he said, “What sort of hypothetical trouble would you have in mind?”
    “I’m not sure. Something rather serious.”
    “It isn’t likely we’d know about it. There isn’t any reason why we should receive a report on it.”
    Shayne scowled at his knobby fingers. “I was afraid of that.”
    “If you have a reason to check on some soldier,” the captain offered with brisk interest, “I can get in touch with his commanding officer and get the details. Is that what you have in mind?”
    “That might be difficult. This man is presumed to have been shipped overseas a couple of weeks ago.”
    “There are always ways of contacting him, of course. But I would want to know how serious the necessity before sending a request through official channels.”
    “What about desertion?” Shayne asked.
    “In a case of desertion we would be notified at once if his home is here. It’s routine to interview the family and associates of a deserter… keep some sort of surveillance on his home in case he tries to contact them.”
    Shayne massaged his angular chin and said, “U-m-m.” He lit a cigarette, tossed the match toward a wastebasket. “My hypothetical soldier is named Robert Wilson.”
    “Wilson?” Captain Ott swung around in the swivel chair and reached for one of the files behind him. He pulled a drawer half-way out, lifted a large folder from the front, and turned back. “I don’t have to look that one up. I made the investigation myself a few days ago.”
    Shayne looked at the closed folder. “Then it is desertion?”
    “A bad case,” Captain Ott told him. “Wilson deserted his outfit on the eve of their embarkation for foreign service. That places his action in the same class as desertion on the field of battle.”
    Shayne leaned back in his chair and said, “That’s what I thought you might have on Wilson.”
    “See here, if you’ve got anything on this deserter, give it to me,” the captain warned sternly. “He’s nineteen years of age, and…”
    “I know.” Shayne held up a big hand. “I know Bob Wilson and his parents.”
    “That’s a pitiable case, Shayne. As I say, I made the investigation and had to inform his parents. It would have been more merciful to shoot them. Particularly the father. He impressed me as being a fine man. Runs a little filling station out on the Trail.”
    Shayne said, “Clem Wilson was a fine man. I can imagine how it hit him.”
    Captain Ott did not notice his use of the past tense. “They have another son who was killed in a naval action recently,” the captain said. “Damn these thoughtless youngsters. If they could know the heartbreak they bring to parents they might think twice before doing some of the things they do.”
    “Have you been keeping watch on the home?”
    “Only in a cursory way. I’ve kept in touch with Mr. Wilson. If I’m any judge of character he can be trusted to turn his son in if he comes home. Wilson gave me his word of honor he’d let me know if he heard from the boy. I felt that I could trust him to handle the situation.”
    “That’s too bad,” Shayne