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Show "You go to the devil! I'm on my way home. You can reach me there if you like. I don't intend to stay here, subjecting myself to youi childish abuse." "Sit down!" There was something in the ring of Morton's voice that impelled obedience. obe-dience. Patton, with an indifferent shrug, resumed his seat. Morton turned to Examiner Lally, Definitely Suspicious By JAMES FREEMAN Associated Newspapers WNU Service who had been a silent witness to the drama. "Lally, you are positive that Drake was killed Instantly?" "I've already told you " "Answer my question!" . "Yes, I'm positive." Lally was irritated. ir-ritated. "I'm inclined to agree with Patton, however, in regard to your attitude, Inspector Morton. It's entirely en-tirely uncalled for." "I'm not asking for your opinion regarding me, Lally." Morton whirled, pointing toward Patton. "Patton, I accuse you of the murder of Drake. Better come quietly and save trouble!" "Why, you idiot, you're crazy!" Patton's cheeks were suddenly void of blood. He drew away, as Morton approached, holding handcuffs in readiness. "Maybe," said Morton, "maybe I am crazy." He took a quick step forward. There was the rattle ol metal and a clicking sound. Patton stood, securely handcuffed. "I don't get it," Medical Examiner Examin-er Lally was saying later. "What evidence did you have?" "Plenty." Morton was in an irritable irrita-ble mood. He hadn't liked the way Lally had sided with Patton. "But for your information, mister, I'll explain ex-plain some things that you, with all your wisdom, didn't notice." He paused and pointed toward the corpse. "When I pulled back the covers I fpund Drake's hands clenched and held rigidly to his side, under the covers. If he had shot himself, and died instantly as you declared he did, his hands couldn't have been under the covers when Patton discovered dis-covered him." MEDICAL Examiner Lally finished his examination of Drake and stood up. "Killed instantly," he reported, re-ported, "and by a bullet." "You're sure of that?" Inspector Cy Morton rounded the edge of the couch on which lay Drake, and looked sharply at Lally. "Positive. Probably suicide. There are faint indications of powder marks." Morton stooped over and picked up the automatic that lay on the floor beside the couch. "Recognize this?" he asked, turning turn-ing to a middle-aged man who 0 watched from a chair near the cen ter of the room. . The middle-aged man Luke Patton Pat-ton by name, smiled. "Yes, of course. It belonged to Drake. He had quite a collection of guns revolvers re-volvers and rifles. Collecting them was a hobby with him and with me, too. In fact, that's why I came up here tonight to talk shop." Morton strode over to the table near where Patton sat and picked up an ancient duelling pistol. He examined it. Presently he said: "It's a relic, isn't it? Worth considerable con-siderable money?" Patton arched his brows. "Considerable, "Con-siderable, yes. How did you know?" "Oh, I'm quite a fancier of old firearms. Every policeman is, I guess. Fact is, I'd met old Drake on one or two occasions. ' He was always hunting around headquarters in the hope of picking pick-ing up some discarded weapon. On his last visit he told us about locating a duelling pistol like this one to match one he already al-ready had. Said Its owner wanted want-ed too much money. It seems there were several buyers." Patton looked faintly puzzled. Inspector In-spector Morton seemed to be ram- v ' I The middle-aged man, Luke Patton by name, smiled. bling, something one is not apt to associate with police inspectors. But before he could reach a satisfactory answer to the question that had flashed into his mind, Morton had returned to the couch and pulled back the covers. Drake was fully clothed, except that he wore dressing gown and slippers instead of shoes and jacket. jack-et. His hands were clenched, as though in pain, and held rigidly by his side. Morton studied the still form a moment, turning at length to confront con-front Patton. "You found him?" he asked. "Like this?" "Exactly. We had talked all evening. eve-ning. About midnight Drake said he wasn't feeling very well and lay down. He looked pale, I asked him if there weren't something I could do, and he suggested that I go to the kitchen and bring him a glass of water. "It was while I was in the kitchen that I heard the shot. I hurried back here and found him as you see him on the couch. The gun was lying on the floor. I immediately immedi-ately called the police." "You touched nothing after finding the body?" "Absolutely nothing.', Inspector Morton reached forward and plucked a handkerchief from the breast pocket of Patton's jacket. jack-et. He spread it out, despite its owner's angry protest, revealing several grease stains. "I've been wondering," Morton said slowly, "how you account for these grease spots." He looked up suddenly. "You'fe quite sure you didn't use this handkerchief to wipe your own fingerprints from the automatic auto-matic that was used in killing Drake?" "Don't be absurd! Why in the world would I want to kill the old man! I used the handkerchief to wipe off that duelling pistoL You can see for yourself it's still pretty i messy to handle, even now." "I don't know," said Morton evenly, even-ly, "why in the world you would want to kiD the old man. Unless," he added, "it was because he wouldn't sell you the duelling pistol. It seems to be in great demand." Patton stood up, his face convulsed con-vulsed with rage and indignation. "It seems to me, Inspector Morton, Mor-ton, that you're carrying this thing a bit too far. It's preposterous to accuse a man of killing another over ra useless old duelling pistol." A "Not when the useless old duelling pistol is worth considerable money, Patton. Sit down!" |