The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ambulance Made Two Trips, by
William Fitzgerald Jenkins

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Title: The Ambulance Made Two Trips

Author: William Fitzgerald Jenkins

Release Date: January 3, 2008 [EBook #24149]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE AMBULANCE MADE TWO TRIPS

By MURRAY LEINSTER

Illustrated by Scoenherr

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Astounding Science
Fiction April 1960. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

_If you should set a thief to catch a thief, what does it take to
stop a racketeer...?_

Detective Sergeant Fitzgerald found a package before his door that
morning, along with the milk. He took it inside and opened it. It was a
remarkably fine meerschaum pipe, such as the sergeant had longed
irrationally to own for many years. There was no message with it, nor
any card. He swore bitterly.

On his way to Headquarters he stopped in at the orphanage where he
usually left such gifts. On other occasions he had left Scotch, a
fly-rod, sets of very expensive dry-flies, and dozens of pairs of silk
socks. The female head of the orphanage accepted the gift with
gratitude.

"I don't suppose," said Fitzgerald morbidly, "that any of your kids will
smoke this pipe, but I want to be rid of it and for somebody to know."
He paused. "Are you gettin' many other gifts on this order, from other
cops? Like you used to?"

The head of the orphanage admitted that the total had dropped off.
Fitzgerald went on his way, brooding. He'd been getting anonymous gifts
like this ever since Big Jake Connors moved into town with bright ideas.
Big Jake denied that he was the generous party. He expressed complete
ignorance. But Detective Sergeant Fitzgerald knew better. The gifts were
having their effect upon the Force. There was a police lieutenant whose
wife