icturesque characters as Martin
Aguirre, court bailiff, former sheriff and one-time warden of San
Quentin; Charlie Sebastian, whom the reporters declared unanimously was
a capable chief of police, despite his faults; Billy Wong, representing
the Bing Kong Tong of Chinatown, and "Cap" Gillis, Chinatown "lookout"
and undying friend of the police reporters.

Le Compte Davis they met in his turret-like office room in the Bryson
block, examining a tattered book under a microscope. He learned that
Davis had a private library of more than 8,000 volumes and was one of
the rare old book lovers of the city. His office room was stacked with
books he had purchased, several of which were to be sent to England to
be handsomely bound by hand. On the wall were several oil paintings, one
of which Davis bought at an auction for $75 and which he had been
offered more than $1,000 for.

"Sometimes Le Compte Davis disappears in the middle of a busy day and
scouts are sent out to look for him," Brennan told him. "Invariably they
find him at some bookstore, pawing over a recent purchase of old books,
or in some second-hand store where he picks up rare and costly things
for a few dollars.

"He's such a shark on books that whenever he goes into a bookstore the
proprietor details a clerk to follow him around. When Le Compte takes a
book from a shelf, examines it and returns it to its place, the clerk
takes the book down and immediately doubles the price of it.

"He would rather get some old book that's listed in his catalogue as
valuable for a few cents than win the most important law case."

The offices of Davis and his partner, Jud Rush, who was once a cowboy in
California, were picturesque in themselves because of the furnishings,
as quaint and dusty as those pictured by Dickens. The furniture was
mid-Victorian, the rugs and carpets worn by the feet of countless
clients, and a musty odor of old books and papers permeated the air. It
was like stepping back fifty years to enter the waiting room.

"I don't know whether Le Compte realizes it," Brennan said, "but it's
good psychology for him to keep his office as it is. It suggests
stability, dignity, soundness. A person feels like he is entering the
office of secure, reliable, established lawyers when he comes in here.
It has twice the effect of entering a bright, shiny, new office,
smelling of varnish and neatly kept."

Frequently Brennan and John lunched with Paul Schenck and his partner,