Chapter 16 rehabilitate

Jimmy Valentine was meticulously topping shoes in the prison's shoe workshop when a guard approached him and ushered him into his office in the front building.The warden handed Jimmy the pardon signed by the governor that morning, and Jimmy accepted it sullenly.He had already served nearly ten months of his original sentence of four years in prison.He had originally planned to spend up to three months in prison.A man with as many friends in the outside world as Jimmy Valentine doesn't have to shave his head when he's in jail. "Well, Valentine," said the warden, "you can go out tomorrow morning. Pull yourself together and live like a man. You've got a good heart. Don't crack the safe any more, and live your life. "

"What's the matter with me?" said Jimmy in amazement. "I've never cracked a safe in my life." "Oh, no prying," the warden smiled, "of course not. Now, let me think about it, how did you get it in the Springfield case? Are you afraid of getting involved? A person of high social standing, and therefore refuses to give evidence of your alibi? Or is it simply because an unreasonable jury has deliberately mistreated you? You criminals who profess to be innocent will always come up with excuses of one kind or another." "What's the matter with me?" said Jimmy, still innocent. "I've never been to Springfield in my life."

"Take him back, Cronin, and get him ready to go out. Let him out at seven o'clock tomorrow morning, and let him go to the waiting room now. Valentine, think of me. advice." At a quarter past seven the next morning, Jimmy stood in the warden's large office.He wore ill-fitting off-the-shelf clothes and creaked in stiff leather shoes, all of which had been provided free of charge by the state when the men who had been forced to stay here were released. A clerk handed him a train ticket and a five-dollar bill, and the law expected him to use the money to settle down and start anew.The warden also handed him a cigar and shook hands with him.Valentine, No. 9762, was registered in the "Governor's Pardon" file, and Mr. James Valentine stepped into the light of day.

Jimmy didn't want to appreciate the beautiful scenery of singing birds and flowers and green shade outside, but plunged into a restaurant.He ate a roast chicken, drank a bottle of white wine, and then ordered a cigar slightly higher than the one the warden handed him, thus tasting the joy of freedom.Coming out of the restaurant, he came to the train station in a leisurely manner.There was a blind man sitting on the floor at the station gate, and Jimmy threw a quarter into the cap turned over by the blind man, and boarded the train.Three hours later, he arrived in a small town near the state line.He got out of the car, went to a coffee shop owned by Mike Dolan, and shook hands with Mike.It happened that Mike was the only one guarding the cafe.

"I'm so sorry, Jimmy, my boy, we didn't manage to get you out sooner," Mike said. "We've got a protest in Springfield, and even the governor can't make up his mind. Are you all right?" "All right," Jimmy said, "where's my key?" He got the key and went upstairs, and opened the back room, everything was as it was when he left.On the floor there remained a button from the collar of Ben Price's shirt, which the famous detective had torn off with force when he brought men to arrest him. Jimmy pulled the cot off the wall, pulled a panel off the wall, and pulled out a dusty suitcase.He opened the case and gazed with delight at the best set of criminal tools in the East.It was a complete set of tools, made of special steel, including every latest style of drill, chisel, hand auger, corkscrew, steel pry, clamps, and two or three new tools of Jimmy's own design. He is proud of it.He spent more than 900 yuan to order this set of tools at a place that makes tools for people in this business.

After half an hour Jimmy went downstairs and walked through the café.He was now dressed in elegant, well-fitting clothes, and carried a well-scrubbed suitcase. "Are you going to do it again?" Mike Dolan asked kindly. "Me?" said Jimmy in a hesitant tone. "I don't know. I'm a salesman for Biscuit and Cereal United in New York now." Mike was very happy to hear this answer, and immediately bought Jimmy a glass of milk soda.Jimmy never touched alcoholic beverages. A week after the release of Valentine (No. 9762), a safe was broken into in Richmond, Indiana, done cleanly and without leaving a trace.The loss is not big, only 800 yuan.Another two weeks later, a new burglarproof safe in Logansport City was cracked open like cheese, losing fifteen hundred dollars in cash and leaving the securities and silver intact. .The police are starting to pay attention.Then, an old-fashioned bank safe in Jefferson City was stolen, like five thousand dollar bills spewed from a crater that started to work.The loss of the case was considerable, and had to be referred to Ben Price and his ilk for investigation.They exchanged information and noticed that there were obvious similarities in the modus operandi of these theft cases.Ben Price surveyed the scene of the crime and declared:

"Playboy Jimmy Valentine did it himself. He's back in business. Look at that combination knob, it pops out like a carrot in wet weather. He's the only one Pliers. And look how well those locks are drilled! Jimmy always only needs to drill one hole. Well, I think I'll have to find Mr. Valentine. Next time he'll be stuck in the jail for no more There's something stupid about shortening the sentence." Ben Price knew Jimmy's habits.He knew it from his Springfield case: long distances, quick escapes, solitude, and a penchant for society were the ways in which Valentine always managed to get away with it and was famous for it.Families with burglarproof safes are feeling a bit more reassured after word spread that Ben Price has set out to track down the elusive lockpicker.

One afternoon Jimmy Valentine stepped off the mail car with his suitcase at Elmore, a small town in the Black Oak region of Arkansas five miles from the railroad line.Jimmy looked like an energetic senior just home from college, walking down the wide sidewalk toward a hotel. A young girl crossed the street, passed him at the corner, and entered through a door that bore the sign "Elmore Bank."Jimmy Valentine stared at her so intently that he forgot who he was and seemed to be another person.The girl lowered her head, a flush appeared on her face.A young man of Jimmy's looks and manners was rare in Elmore.

There was a boy loitering on the bank steps like a stockholder, and Jimmy caught him asking questions, asking about the town, and slipping him a few dimes now and then.After a while the girl came out, pretending not to see the young man with the suitcase, and walked away with style. "Isn't this girl Miss Polly Simpson?" asked Jimmy slyly. "No," said the boy, "she's Annabel Adams, and her father owns the bank. What are you doing in Elmore? Isn't that a gold watch-chain? I'm going to have a lapdog .Do you still have a dime?" Jimmy went to the Planters Hotel and registered as Ralph de Spencer for a room.He leaned over the counter and told the hotel employee about his intentions.He said he came to Elmore looking for a place to do business, he wanted to do a shoe business, and he wondered if there was a good business like that in town.

The hotel employees admired Jimmy's attire and demeanor.He himself can be regarded as a fashionable young man in the local area who pays attention to dressing, but now he can see his own gap from Jimmy.As he wondered how Jimmy tied his slipknot tie, he offered him the information honestly. no!There should be good opportunities here in the footwear industry.There are no shops selling shoes here.Both silk shops and department stores sell shoes, and business is good.He hoped that Mr. Spencer would make up his mind to settle at Elmore, and that he would find the town pleasant to live in, and the people hospitable.

Mr. Spencer thought he should hang around town for a few days to find out.No, don't call the waiter, he'll carry the suitcase himself; it's pretty heavy. A sudden fire of love burned Jimmy Valentine to ashes, and he was resurrected, and from the ashes was born the golden phoenix Mr. Ralph de Spencer.Spencer settled down in Elmore, opened a shoe store, and the business was booming, and it soon became a success. He was also very successful socially, making many friends.His inner wish was also fulfilled, and he met Miss Annabel Adams, and was more and more overwhelmed by her charm. At the end of the year, Mr. Ralph Spencer's situation was as follows: he had won the respect of the local people, and the shoe store was flourishing.He was engaged to Annabelle, and was to be married in a fortnight.Mr. Adams was a slow-moving, typical country banker, and he thought highly of Spencer.Annabelle not only loves him, but is proud of him.Mr. Adams's family and Annabelle's married sister's family welcomed him as if he had become a member of their family. One day Jimmy sat down in his room and wrote a letter to the safe and secure address of an old friend of his in St. Louis. On the Monday evening following Jimmy's letter, Ben Price came quietly to Elmore in a taxi.He wandered about the town in silence, and finally found out all he wanted to know.In a pharmacy across from Spencer's shoe store he watched Ralph D. Spencer carefully. "You're marrying the banker's girl, aren't you, Jimmy?" said Ben softly to himself. "Well, I don't know that yet!" The next morning Jimmy had breakfast at Adams' house.He was going to Little Rock that day to have a wedding dress ordered and to buy some pretty presents for Annabelle.It was the first time he had been away from Elmore since he had come to Elmore, and it had been more than a year since he had last been in the old trade, so he thought it would do no harm to venture out once. After breakfast, the whole family went to the business district. It was Mr. Adams, Annabelle, Jimmy, Annabelle's sister and two little girls, a five-year-old and a nine-year-old.They passed the hotel where Jimmy had been staying, and he ran upstairs to get his suitcase and take it away.Then a group of people came to the bank. Jimmy's carriage was parked in front of the bank. The coachman Dolph Gibson waited for him to take him to the train station as soon as he came out. They all went together into the high carved oak fence of the banking room, Jimmy among them, for Adams' future son-in-law was popular everywhere.The bank clerks were delighted to make the acquaintance of the handsome, amiable young man who was about to marry Annabelle.Jimmy put the suitcase down.Annabelle, blissful and youthful in spirit, puts on Jimmy's hat and picks up her suitcase. "Do I look like a scratching traveling salesman?" said Annabelle. "Oh, my God! Ralph, what a heavy case! It looks like it's full of gold bricks." "There are a lot of shoe lasts wrapped in nickel leather," Jimmy said calmly. "I take them back to people, and I take them myself to save express shipping. I'm getting more and more frugal now." Elmore Bank recently built a new vault.Mr. Adams was so proud of it that everyone must come and see it.The vault is small, but it has a door that stands out from the rest.The door uses a timed lock, and when the handle is turned, the three steel bolts are locked at the same time.Mr. Adams beamed and explained its mechanics to Mr. Spencer, who listened politely but didn't seem to care much.Two girls, May and Agatha, are interested in shiny metal and quirky time locks and handles. While they were visiting the vault, Ben Price strolled in, leaning his elbows on the counter, and occasionally peering in through the bars.He told the cashier that he wanted nothing but to wait here for an acquaintance. Suddenly there was an exclamation or two from the women, causing confusion.When the elders didn't care, nine-year-old Mei played around and locked Agatha in the vault.She closed the bolt and turned the handle of the combination dial, following Mr. Adams' example. The old banker jumped forward and twisted his handle. "The door won't turn," he moaned. "The time lock isn't wound and the combination dial isn't aligned." Agatha's mother cried hysterically. "Hush!" said Mr. Adams, raising his trembling hand. "Hush, everyone. Agatha!" Curry cried out in fright, and they heard only faint voices outside. "My darling!" cried her mother, "she will die of fright! Open the door! Break the door open! Can't you men do anything?" "It won't be until Little Rock to find the man who opened that door," said Mr. Adams in a trembling voice. "My God, Spencer, what are we going to do? The child—she won't stay in there long, the air Not enough. And besides, she'd be convulsed." Agatha's mother beat Kumen frantically at this moment.Someone made a wild suggestion to blow the door open with dynamite.Annabelle turned to look at Jimmy, her big eyes full of anxiety, but not despair.To a woman, the man she adores seems omnipotent. "Can't you do something, Ralph--try it, will you?" He looked at her with a strange, tender smile on his lips and bright eyes: "Annabelle," he said, "give me that rose you are wearing, will you?" She couldn't believe her ears, but she still picked off the flower buds pinned to her chest and put them in his hands.Jimmy put the flowers in his vest pocket, took off his jacket, and rolled up his cuffs.Now Ralph D. Spencer was gone, replaced by Jimmy Valentine. "Get out of that door, all of you," he ordered curtly. He put the suitcase on the table and opened the lid.From this moment on, he seemed to be alone.Methodically and swiftly he set aside his shiny, strange set of tools, whistling softly, just as he usually did when he was doing the job.The others were silent and stared at him motionlessly, as if possessed by a demon. In less than a minute, Jimmy's precious drill had successfully penetrated into the steel door.Ten minutes later, he pulled the steel bolt and opened the door—breaking his own theft record in time. Almost exhausted, Agatha finally returned safely to her mother's arms. Jimmy Valentine put on his coat, stepped out of the fence, and headed for the door.As he walked, he thought he heard a distant, familiar accent calling "Ralph!" but he did not look back. At the gate of the bank, a tall man almost blocked his way. "Hello, Ben!" said Jimmy, still with his strange smile. "It's finally here, isn't it? Well, let's go. Now I don't think it matters." But Ben Price's behavior was a bit weird. "You're mistaken, Mr. Spencer," he said. "I don't know you. Your carriage is waiting for you, isn't it?" Ben Price turned and walked down the street.

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