The Saint to the Rescue (30 page)

He indicated the newspaper they had been
looking at,
which reported the finding of a body identified as that of
Joseph (“Dibs”) Sholto, fatally laden with lead, in a garbage
dump
somewhere in Jersey.

“When the notes that Rood left reached
the Department of
Justice and various district attorneys, and the heat
started sizzling all over, the big boys naturally blamed Sholto for
starting
the whole thing. And out of his own bailiwick, too.. So
they had to
teach him a permanent lesson. The ordinary dull
due process of Law
might have taken care of him anyway,
with the help of Rood’s contribution,
but they saved it the
trouble. I can’t say I was so sure of that,
but I was hoping
for it. Let’s call it a bonus.”

“I’d be sorry for Machiavelli,” said the doctor,
“if the poor
naive man had ever come up
against you.”

Simon Templar grinned gently; and his friend
glanced at
his watch and stood up.

“If you can come to the nursing home now,” he said,
“Mrs. Yarrow was most anxious that if we have succeeded, the first
person she sees would be you… .”