Show TH 1 F I 1 CT I 1 UN COMB A A A CASE OF JITTERS by WILLIAM CUTHBERT JOHNNY LISIK sat in the barber chair smiling as he f angered through the pages ot of the magazine looking at the cartoons bi in the mirror in front ol 01 him he saw the two men peer through the store window he expected that they would move on once they saw that tony the owner ot of the shop wasn gasn t there johnny s reputation as a barber wasn gasn t too good and he had had only one dissatisfied custo mer all night suddenly it dawned on johnny that these two men had appeared at the window a few minutes before he ile t be mistaken they both had several weeks stubble on their faces and hair was growing over their ears and down their necks the door opened and the men stepped inside johnny winced it was almost eight a clock he d have to work overtime johnny pushed himself out of the chair and noticed that both men were as tall as he but lean he saw eyes that were alert but could stand some sleep beneath the growth of whiskers were thin faces that needed a few square meals to help fill out the sunken jaws and a good whiskbroom could be used to advantage to remove some of the dust from their clothing you the dahly barber here one of the men snapped as he set a small valise on a chair johnny didn t like the man mans s surly tone lie ile hunched bis his broad shoulders stretched to his full six feet and was tempted to toss the two haggard looking gents out of the shop but decided that that might hurt tony a business yeah answered johnny cas bally realizing that he had never seen the men in town before the owner of the shop took his wile wife out tonight and I 1 m filling in for him III go first ed the spokesman toi for the two said as he began to re move his coat the man called ed grunted I 1 don t like this chance dick then he flopped on a chair near the wall and pulled the valise to him forget it dick grinned I 1 feel lousy with all this hair on me A good clean shave and haircut will pep us up johnny walked to the door and started to pull down the shade ed jumped to his feet knocking the valise on the floor his hand flashing to his coat pocket with the same movement what are you doin dom that for he snapped men johnny was stunned by the sud den outburst he found bis his voice and explained its it s getting near closing time I 1 m pulling the shades down so that no one else will come in dick 9 ogled and said you ve got the jitters ed we don t want anyone else to come in here do W we suspicion arose in johnny s mind the men s names had a familiar ring ed and bickl where had he seen or heard these names link ed together before he ile went to the store window and pulled down the b g shade and the three men were hidden from the eyes of any passerby he wished he t thought about the shades he ile had an uneasy feeling now that he was alone with the two men ed saw the bolt lock on the in side of the door and said right dick we don t want anybody else comin in here with two long strides he reached the door and pushed the bolt barrel into place nobody can come to in now be he sneered then he went back re grieved the val se and sat down johnny walked to the barber chair and adjusted the headrest he ile had an inkling now of whom these two men might be although it seemed fantastic that be he could be right D ck loosened his necktie and col lar then eased into the barber chair he looked at his fingernails brushed them on his knees and said you ought to have a girl here to mant man cure my nails they could stand a po lishin at first johnny winced at the thought of a man having manicured nails then although he showed no outward emot on he was jolted in side dapper dick crane cranel surely that was the name of the man sit k L PY if this goy girl s a barber then think this guy s been planted here ting in the chair chairl and the jittery man near the wall who was staring at him with cold piercing eyes was his twin mn brother ed johnny took a long linen imen cloth spread it in front of dick then pinned it around his neck so these were the kidnappers who had made the cheadl headlines nes two weeks before they were miles from the coast where they had collected 50 in ransom money and the F FBI B I 1 was supposed to be hot on their trail don t cut it too short dick said just give me a good quick trim and make a neat job after pick ng up the clippers johnny turned his back on ed he had a good view of him in the mirror been in these parts long ed asked behind him lived on a farm outside of town all my life except when I 1 was in the army johnny said as he ran the cl apers up the back of D ck s neck you don t look like a farmer to me ed growled his voice full of suspicion what a batin you ed dick grunted johnny became shaky when he saw ed s hand grip something in his coat pocket again he ile began to work faster and the back of dicks head dian didn t look so good after all johnny thought a fellow who had cut hair only aboard a transport on the way back from japan couldn coulden t do too good of a job especially on a mop of ha r like this dapper dick had for a minute or two ed watched in silence then be he stood up and put the valise on the chair put ting his hi hands on his hips he turn ed toward the barber chair he snapped I 1 told you dick that this idea ot of at a barber shop was no good you know those FB FBI I 1 boys are smart and I 1 bet they figured that dapper dick crane wouldn t be able to resist somewhere for a trim the clippers poised above D ck s head johnny looked in the mirror and said nothing although a wild thought was running through his head dick straightened in the chair youve you ve got the jitters litters he said what harm was there in comm comin here if this guys a barber then I 1 in santa claus I 1 ed snarled I 1 think this guy s been planted here and we ve walked into a trap them shades down was a signal dick ran his hand over the back of his neck and johnny forced a smile johnny said it doesn t look so good now but wait until I 1 put the other clippers on it he moved around the chair with I 1 m santa claus ed snarled I 1 and we ve walked into a trap ed 2 s eyes watching intently after pulling open a drawer be he reached far inside suddenly he whirled about a 32 in his hand the brothers were taken by sur prise ed mumbled I 1 told you he was one of hoover s men I 1 holding the gun in his left hand johnny used his right to throw the clippers at the big bulk store window amid the crash of glass johnny backed around to the door and as he unbolted it he could hear run ning feet on the pavement amdal f sheriff ike wilhard was the crowd that hurried to invest gate the noise caused by the break ing window after johnny explained who the brothers were ike smiled and said local boy captures big city slick ers P still rubbing his hand over the back of 01 his neck dick mused then you aint am t a fed hehl he ile looked at his brother and added why didn dian t you shoot the punk johnny waited until sheriff ike took guns away from the brothers then he smiled and said I 1 thought tony was crazy for keeping an un loaded gun in the drawer but I 1 guess it was a good idea after all |