Show 0 I The Lay figure O n te h T I ral I 0 f B lg F Inger Author A BY The of SCOTT Doctors Below CAMPBELL CAMPBELLI Secret the DeadLine etc Copyrighted 1006 1906 by Street d Smith It occurred between three and four in the afternoon As I the roar of the ceases erases I at the still m of the flooded tide so that of the great gre t Stock Exchange had died I in silence and a hundred and one brokers had hastened from the littered I floor and sped aped away to their respective offices to balance the work oC or a busy d day dayI y Mr Thomas Debbs Dobbs head of Debbs I I Co bond brokers was no exception to th the above aboe A lithe little man ap approaching j i preaching seventy punctilious in bus busness ness nea eccentric by nature a man of harmless whims and able ible e habits he had tripped away to tota tolie ta lie first floor of ot an office building in inI I roadway nearly miserly within a stones MOW crow MOO of Wall all street For Foi upward of oft t renty venty years ears he lie had done the same samer r dally daily dall at the same hour under w me same hie impulses and with the same samer r t ou jerky haste I was close upon four how howe e when Mr lIr Felix Boyd Bord with his r locked through that of Timmie Jimmie an aan the time central contral office man tr t l from Wall Wail street into busy 1 I Iway way They scarce had turned t t c order mer when Coleman abruptly cx ex i i cl J i Look LeI k yonder onder Felix Why that Ii t 3 9 F 1 s listless gray eyes took on a ac ar c t T r gleam gleams i is p s ething wrong he lie le rejoined I t T j y Get Got a move on Jimmie One Once r clients has his office in that T 1 ag firm of Debbs Dobbs Co bond 1 l kt k rs Lets learn up upI li L I r J street and sidewalk fronting the 1 I ding were thronged with a jostling I cr wd of excited men and boys bos the theof of whom were prevented from entering by two stalwart policemen on ont t e steps step Of the tho broad vestibule that gave Ingress to the main corridor As Ast tny t ny elbowed their way through the wd however both Coleman and F Fx x 1 Boyd nod were recognized by the tho of off f rs S Boyd Bod mounted mount the steps In ad adre ade re e of his companion I wrong here Donald said ere rp Cr o Ir the officers Murder sir Mr Ir Dobbs Debbs of ot the I f IT r Hots He long Ion ago interrupted Boyd Dod BoydS F S tre uree five minutes sir lJ I shere here Dote Def live tive AKerman Jerman and Sergeant I Ko Kr of or Station Stop t p a bit JImmie See Seo what you 1 learn leant from those men Ill look farther The several severn 1 men referred to were grouped just within tho the corridor where hero they the stood excitedly discussing tile the shocking affair and upon receiving Colemans nod of compliance Boyd Bod I hastened into the building At the left of the corridor were the t quarters of Debbs Co consisting of several connected rooms three of which opened into the corridor the in interior interior interior one of all being the private of office office office fice of Mr Ir Thomas Debbs Debb On the op opposite opposite opposite side of the corridor were the of offices offices of Cushman Brooks insurance agents with those of a farther to the rear Some forty feet from the th street door was vas the elevator well enclosed with an iron grating through which the car could be plainly seen as it rose and fell fen while occupants of ot the car could easily view the corridor and main stairway a banking institution of yond the elevator well wen around which it wound to the several floors above Be Beyond Beyond yond the foot of the stairs however which rose ros at a right angle from from the tho corridor were several offices nearer the rear of the building and an exit into a back street Above the quarters of Debbs Co were located the rooms and deposit vaults of the Thorndyke Trust company com company compan pany pan with a banking institution of or high repute while directly opposite on the second floor were the rooms of Curley Hixon custom tailors recently re recently brought Into general notice by their extensive advertising Hastening to the stairs mentioned Boyd Bod quickly made his way through I the group gathered there consisting chiefly of clerks clerk from the near offices all of whom stood gazing with awed aed eyes ees and blanched cheeks up the broad I stairway Some twelve feet up UD the stairs at a aI point where they turned sharply I around the elevator well lay In the dead body of Thomas Dobbs with his skull I crushed I A physician one Dr Hardy Hard was kneeling beside the body of which he be beUs was waa Us making a hurried examination Detective Akerman and a sergeant of pf police were standing nearby while on do dothe the stairs above were several men menI I from front the offices peering down at the tho shocking picture It was I one to curdle the blood and sicken I the stoutest heart h art In no observers face was there left a vestige of color Shrinking eyes and gray lips evinced the mute mule horror of one and a d all I Yet one figure there stood tood out In vivid contrast with all the rest r st Its red lips wore a persistent smile Its glassy eyes had a fixed and vacant stare Its waxy cheeks were tinged with a ruddy hue Its at attire t tire Its attitude of unconcern its ab absolute absolute solute immobility seemed Indeed to I mock lock the lifeless heap bean of clay on the I stone stairs some some two feet Ceel below For the figure occupied a sort of r platform or raised niche formed by an angle of the stairway wall and a pla placard placard placard card at its feet told the story stOl It was w s what Is known as a lay figure such as asIs asIs asis Is seen s n in store windows and it was designed to attract attention of per persons persons persons sons passing through the lower cor corridor corridor corridor or descending the stairs or ele elevator elevator elevator vator It was one of the advertising schemes of Curley 1 Hixon the on the second floor As he elbowed his way through the throng In the corridor and about the elevator one glance at the inanimate form of the stricken broker seemed to stir all the latent energy of Felix Boyd Bod At such a time when serving seeing any of his numerous employers Boyd suffered neither detectives nor police policeto to stand in his way Yet he cried sharply as ass he sprang up the stairs This man Debbs was one of my clients Akerman When was this crime discovered and what have you learned about it His voice fell Cell upon the general still stillness stillness stillness ness with a ring that drew the atten attention attention attention tion of every hearer and necks were immediately craned and eyes opened wider under the sudden swell of ot in intensified intensified intensified interest Ah it Is you ou Mr Ir Boyd exclaimed Akerman Its dead lucky too that you are here hera The body was found less than five minutes ago Mr Boyd robbed of a big batch of bonds and as dead as Hold on there shouted Boyd sud suddenly suddenly denly swinging around Stop that elevator Take nobody up or down Dont make a trip with that car until I give you permission And you ser sergeant sergeant sergeant geant stop any person who attempts to descend these stairs before I have havea a look at the evidence here Who found this body Akerman The elevator boy Where were you at the time de demanded demanded demanded Boyd Doyd sharply turning to that I young oung man who was at the foot of the stairs Coming down in the elevator I happened to glance through the grat grating grating ing and saw the body lying there How long had you been up Only about a minute sir Did you notice these stairs on your way UD un I did sir Then the body bod for all aU you know may have hate ha been there when you ascend ascended ed cd Yes sir I IDid Did you OU give ghe the alarm at once I 1 did sir Did you see any person coming up or down these stairs just before re you saw tho body or immediately after fter afterward afterward ward 1 T n i v fl I did not sir There was nobody I else on the stairs Call one of Debbs clerks out here at once cried Boyd Bod who was springing his questions and commands with the rapidity of Gatling Catling gun I am Mr Debbs Debby bookkeeper said an elderly man leaving the throng in inthe Inthe inthe the lower corridor and mounting a few stairs My Iy name is Caxton I know that Mr Debbs left eft his office only six or seven minutes ago Did you ou see him leave lea leaNo No sir but I 1 heard him He was in his private office and I heard him go out and close the door That is the thedoor thedoor thedoor door there sir opposite the foot of these stairs From his elevated position on the stairs Boyd glanced sharply over over the heads of the crowd in the corridor and saw that the door mentioned was clos closed closed ed ers also the plain glass transom above it For the bare fraction of a second secondI he stood like a man suddenly trans transfixed transfixed I fixed with eyes aglow and his clean cut forceful features tensely tensel drawn Yet when he reverted to Caxton and resumed his hurried inquiries during all of which Akerman and the sergeant of police pollee as well ell as the gaping crowd above and below stood awed and motionless mo motionless motionless no sign or token In the face or voice of Felix Boyd indicated that he had advanced the breadth of a hair in his investigation of the tragic mys mystery mystery tery ten Meantime the physician was engaged in a more careful examination of the dead mans wounds Do you 3 U know what Debbs was do doing doIng doing ing just before he left his office de demanded demanded demanded Boyd Bod still addressing Canton Caxton Yes sir I do said the bookkeeper He returned from the Stock Exchange about half hal an hour ago Then as usual he at once went into his private office to tabulate and tie up the package of bonds which we deposit each afternoon in th the safe of the Thorndyke Trust company upstairs where Mr Debbs rents a private drawer their vaults are superior to ours Mr Debbs always at attended attended attended tended to this business immediately af after after after ter returning from the Exchange in order to lock up the bonds before the trust company closed dosed for the day Why y he send a clerk upstairs with the bonds Boyd quickly demanded de demanded demanded Was Vas it habitual with him to act as his own errand boy Not exactly that Caxton hastened to explain But he carried the only key of the drawer upstairs go So o he al always always always ways went e t up with the package Ive Ivo been bc n Into his private office sir and his hat Is lying on the desk hore ho he left it The bonds arc are gone however and Im sure that th t he took them out with him as usual and that whoever I I killed billed him also robbed him himI The bonds are missing Akerman I asked Boyd turning briefly to the de deI del I l Theres not a sign of them Mr Boyd Have you ou any idea of their value Mr Ir Caxton About one hundred thousand dol dollars dollars lars 1018 I should say Was Vas Debbs alone In his private of office office office fice just before leaving it Yes sir Did you hear him speak to any per person person person son as he went Into the corridor ask asked asked asked ed Boyd Bod putting question after ques question question question tion with a rapidity that almost stag staggered staggered staggered his hearers h rs I II I did dill not notI I wish to learn If possible whether he encountered any man who mounted these stairs with him himI I think I can settle that for you ou Mr Ir Boyd said a gentleman who in com company comp company pany p ny with Jimmie TImmie Coleman at that moment came through the corridor I Iam Iam Iam am Mr Ir Cushman of the Insurance e agency occupying yonder office Make your please Boyd replied crisply I was talking with a friend at the street door yonder onder said Cushman and I 1 saw Debbs when he came out of his office and went upstairs He was bareheaded and entirely alone I cannot say aay that he ho had any package of bonds with him however If he did didI I think he must have had them under his coat Quite likely remarked Boyd Did you see any person follow him up upstairs upstairs upstairs stairs None did so declared Cushman quickly Of that I am positive for forI I stood facing the stairs and elevator cleva tor from the time Debbs went up UD till the alarm was sounded that told us of his violent death Tho The interval was only two or three minutes Yet in two or three minutes this crime must have been committed said Boyd decisively Did you OU hear any sounds of a struggle or of violent blows None whatever This distance may have presented it however Yet Tet can swear that no person verson followed Debbs up these stairs stai and that no person came came down from the tho time he went up tu c found f und him dead where you see him Aha cried Boyd triumphantly A thousand thanks Mr Cushman Your valuable testimony establishes one pos positive positive fact The miscreant m who killed and an robbed this poor man must have been coming down the stairs and as on his way up But that appears equally l t able Mr Ir Boyd Bod as two gentlemen up here can testify put nut in Akerman Boyd swung around hats that Akerman he said perplexedly What two gentlemen I 1 am ore one sir said a dark young man coming down a few steps from be beyond beyond beyond yond the corner of the elevator well wellI I am Mr Ir Hixon of Curley Hixon tailors Our room is on the second floor And to what can you testify in inquired Inquired inquired Boyd Bod apparently becoming more and more mystified I can swear that nobody came camp down dawn these stairs for several minutes be before before before fore the body bod was discovered declared ed Hixon with an emphatic So also can my friend here Mr Dalton Wo We were standing at my door In the corridor above which Is within six feet of this stairway and nobody used the stairs In either direction for at least five fire minutes before this crime was Us discovered That is ill true sir bowed a large bearded gentleman to whom he had referred I know what I am saying added Hixon evidently Impressed with Boyds mystified countenance I was trying to sell Mr Ir Dalton a suit which he much inclined to purchase and we tood Mood outside my m door all of often often often ten minutes discussing the matter We Ve are positive that no man used these stairs during that time or we e should have h e seen him hint And did you hear nothing de demanded demanded Boyd obviously staggered by bythe bythe bythe the increasing complications No Xo unusual sounds Mr Ir Boyd Bod I give you my word replied Hixon In a way to Impress one with veracity But this is most extraordinary said Boyd This man here was mur murdered murdered murdered dered within the past ten minutes The Tine crime certainly was vas committed in these stairs yet et upon presumably reliable testimony his llIs assassin neither came upstairs nor down Its absurd He must have used the stairs In one direction direction direction tion or the other oth r Unless I say sa doctor can this be a case of accident Can Debbs have fallen on the stairs and fractured his skull in this fash fashIon fashIon fashion Ion Out of the question cried ih he physician starting to his i feet No Xo mans skull was ever fractured thus by a fall This man was struck with a bludgeon or an I Iron bar two as foul blows as a mur murderer murderer murderer derer ever dealt i iThe The limit of Mr Ir Felix Boyds pati paU patience patience I ence appeared to have been reached He waved the physician aside with an I angry gesture enough doctor he said Eaid 5 Stand St nd aside asid for the present Ill It get I i at the bottom of this affair or Ill know the reason why wh Clear the cor corridor corridor corridor down there Coleman and have havo this body removed Into Debbs office Here you sergeant lets gey ge this in infernal infernal infernal fernal thin thing out of or the way wa until the crowd has dispersed and this place is III cleansed It looks like a slaughter |