Foreign
The professor gives a lesson. Cardoni came into Inspector Kelly’s office yesterday. Said Fordney to his criminology class, ‘I want to speak to you alone, Chief.’ He said, ‘I knew with Frank’s suspicion.’ ‘It’s all right, go ahead,’ said Kelly. ‘I’ve got some information on the Curtis kidnappers. How much is it worth?’ ‘That all depends, let’s hear the story.’ ‘They’re in one of my old buildings down on the east side. Three men and a woman. All you’ve got to do, Chief, is to take this walk in and surprise them,’ said our informant, tossing a Yale key on Kelly’s desk.
‘They rented a room from me about a week ago.’ ‘Sounds much too easy, Cardoni. I want something more definite than that. What makes you think they’re the kidnappers?’ ‘I heard them having an argument as I was doing some repair work in the hall. One of the guys threatened to squeal if he didn’t get a bigger cut.’ ‘It sounded interesting, so I peeked through the keyhole.’ ‘They were sitting at a table in the middle of the room, on which there was a stack of money.’
‘Your story doesn’t yet show they had any connection with the Curtis kidnapping,’ Kelly said. ‘No, well, last night I heard them mention Curtis several times, and that ain’t all,’ continued Cardoni with a triumphant air. ‘Here’s a code message one of them must have dropped. Well, Chief, how much do I get?’ ‘Out!’ hollered Kelly as he made a pass at Cardoni.
Why was the informant treated so rudely by Inspector Kelly? Because his information was not substantial enough to establish a clear connection between the suspect and the Curtis kidnapping case. Inspector Kelly, as a law enforcement officer, needed concrete evidence to act upon and make an arrest. Cardoni’s information, based on what he overheard and saw, was circumstantial at best and did not directly link the suspect to the kidnapping.
Cardoni claimed that the kidnappers were hiding in one of his old buildings and that he overheard an argument about money. However, this did not necessarily prove their involvement in the Curtis kidnapping. Even mentioning the name Curtis during a conversation does not automatically make them guilty of kidnapping, as the name could be common or they could be discussing a different person entirely.
Without stronger evidence or proof of the suspect’s involvement, Inspector Kelly couldn’t act solely based on Cardoni’s words. He was likely frustrated that Cardoni wasted his time with insufficient information and possibly felt that Cardoni was trying to exploit the situation for personal gain by asking how much his information was worth. As a result, Kelly’s response of telling Cardoni to get out and making a pass at him was a way of expressing his displeasure and dismissing the unreliable informant.
Cardoni said he saw the kidnappers around a table as he peered through the keyhole. However, locks do not have keyholes. Kelly was justified in throwing him out. Don’t you think the class found this an easy one, did you? Since your eyes are so sharp that you can not only look through a milestone but clean through the Mind Lily.
