Show ass A sew alao sy as george F victory for physician detective dr furnivall where police methods fail HEN detective kuger at seven clock the evening teamed win u trat mr courtney ban n ng the young club millionaire was miss ing from his home that foul play was and that a large reward bad been offered tor information of his whereabouts he believed that he knew about what had nap bened to him and just where to find him he hastened at once to the shady hotel northern on the fringes of the slums ring said be to the night clerk a tough looking individual ot 40 with a hard flushed face drink sodden gray eyes flashy cheap clothes and a tall bony form how long ago was it that mr banning was asp A week ago to night ring an jweied quickly I 1 hope there aint nothing only missing all we want to find him for his family if he s still here and if you maks it quiet and easy tor me why no questions asked it all I 1 want is him seea and nobody else needa t know nothing about it here come in here a minute said the clerk hastily he hurried through the dining room into the kitchen and stancu g in the middle of the floor pointed upward to where a door could be seen with three steps of a former stairway depending from it the stair way was sawed short off the lowest tep hanging ten feet up from the kitchen floor ye see them said the clerk pointing we cut them down be cause we needed the room here more than we did them so help me I 1 am t telling a word of lie but mr banning was dodging round up stairs monday night and for some reason or other he opened that door that we always keep locked and tumbled down here he thought there was stairs I 1 suppose he gasn wasn t much but he could ut tand and we would not send him to his own home letting on that is was here he was putting in his time so we calls the wagon nd sends him to the relief sta alon why isn t he out yet at alla e thought he d be all right in the morning only a trifle shook up and debbe the head on him from the lit tie jamboree while he was speaking the inno cent eyes of the detective were search ing his face the clerk wore a guilty manner but was it the flag of guilt in this particular case or was it the general all round guilt which a man of his calling and stamp Is likely to show when in the presence of the liwa the could not say but the relief station would answer the question or at least throw enough light on the subject to start with mr banning would be found injured but had the injury come innocently from walking through that doorway 7 the main point was that the missing man would be restored to his home and the restorer would get the reward the manner of the injury was a matter which however properly looked into might serve as a whip of power to hold over the shady hotel northern therefore after a long jook into the clerk s chitty eyes he said abruptly see you again about this and hurried to the hospital to his inquiries an attendant answered that on monday evening a man had been brought in unconscious s from a fractured skull and bruises on the legs and arms two friends who were with him said his name was banning they coulden couldn t give his ad dress in the morning when they had patched him up and he was able to leave the station he denied that he was banning though he refused to give any other name and went away growling against somebody who had thrown him down stairs was he a gentleman 7 asked ru gersom if he was he was thoroughly dis guised smiled the attendant no he was a bough fellow faded and dirty weak minded sniveling a type we often see here the detective hastened back to the hotel the clerk ring regarded him anxiously was he barted bad after alla he asked atwould give the house a bad name ring said Ru gersom looking him in the eye it gasn wasn t banning how could you make such a bulla gasn wasn t banning he exclaimed then he laughed cynically oh no of course not I 1 lift him up from the floor don t I 1 know him better than I 1 do youa Is he there yeta or how is ita hat are you hand ing mea ring said the detective slowly and impressively there s cometh ng phony in this out with it or it will be the worse for you jakey mike called the clerk poking his head into the larger room come here I 1 want you two seedy individuals shuffled into sight they were the types of young fellows who always may be seen around cheap barrooms doing chores for their entertainment bleary of eye trembling with the weakness of over stimulation when they saw the de they showed further signs of discomfort but brazened it out though doubtfully as if ready for flight on the first token of hosell ty on his part mike said the clerk and you too jakey where was it you seen mr banning monday night the first time I 1 meana on the broad of bis back on the floor answered mike pointing and stretched right put there corrodo rated jakey also pointing both 0 a att 9 it pj tv that pw a t at ane relief station 7 asked ruger som it was not said mike no sir declared jakey they helped put him in the wagon that s all ring volunteered but who went with him to the hos pital thena they say there that two men came with him and gave his name both mike and jakey began to talk very fast explaining that all they knew was that mr banning had tall en down stairs that they had lifted him into the ambulance and then re turned to the dining room where they were sitting when the noise of his fall startled them into rushing to the kitch en to see what the trouble was the knew mr banning very well by sight as everybody around the hotel did he was there so often attracting a good deal of attention unknown to him self by being there at all and espe dally by spending so much money you two come along with me ru gersom interrupted grimly you have the spiel too pat well see if the amb ilance man and the clerk at the relief station can identify you it s all right mr Ru gersom it s jest as I 1 tell you called ring after the detective as the three went out debbe muttered R but there s sand in this sugar somewhere it grits the instant they reached the first cross street both men as it moved by one impulse grabbed the officer by the arm and turned the corner out of sight of the hotel git outer here tell him I 1 have the first word growled mike to jakey who was feverishly trying to whisper in the detective s ear I 1 shook them off and stepped into a doorway go slow 1 e slid you 11 both be treated the same in this game no matter who speaks first out with it M ke jakey subsided and mike hastily took the word there was a lifted a couple 0 plunks off a fellow up stairs there that night he whispered and hit it i for the main entrance but the rube stood u j to him so he breaks away for the ba 1 door he seen there it was barred but he got it open and slides through but the stairs is fut out and he pitches on his nut against the kitchen floor we all hears the hulla baloo and five or six ol 01 us trails in to see the game mr banning was one we sends for the black maria and mr banning says give every man here he says a ten spot he says to say that dead man on the floor he says is me he says and then he says who want s ita and he flashed a roll the size of a stove funnel so we all took it and he hands me and jakey here ten more to go to the station for toive his name and we goes and gives it we all thought the man was dead but nothing real phony was it mr Ru gersom you got bothin on us and put in jakey quickly you cant get the 20 apiece back from us because we it dian didn t we mikea elp me swore mike throwing out his palms oh dead sure grinned ruger som you two high rollers blow 20 frequent but that s all right all I 1 want is banning put me near and I 1 m a clam on everything else where is I 1 ea As they consulted each other with troubled eyes he added iroda leak now or take you in twill cost us ring whined mike he li give us the run it we do it give it to you if you don t open up wort ten protested mike ah twenty deprecated jakey go on along up to headquarters the detective burst forth angrily seizing them by the elbows this end ed the controversy they gave in suddenly he s in the house said mike hur liedle well show you but ring is with him by this and well have to slide along for he 11 have him out of that at now they saw as they passed the of flee that ring was no longer there and Ru gersom snatched a precious moment to call up lawyer randall on the telephone then taking the stairs with speed the ran down a foul smell ng corridor and stopped before a door marked in black paint with the number 20 they re in there he whispered As he spoke there came a sudden sharp exclamation from the room followed by the sounds of a fierce struggle and Ru gersom throwing himself again and again upon the door soon burst it in banning and ring were rolling the floor pounding and clawing each other in the midst of torn bed clothes overturned chairs a smashed table and a mass of broken bottles and glasses the detective s presence seemed to cow the fight all out of ring for he it first sat on the floor staring at him and then arose and stood sheepishly eying his adversary banning jumped up in a rage arrest that man he cried point ing at ring he was a slim youth of 23 light haired and weak eyed whose naturally pale face was now pallid from confinement except where the clerk s fingers had marked it with red arrest him he repeated hotly it you are an officer I 1 give him in charge to you he has been keeping me here a week he wants money it s blackmail and put him over tl e road for it no matter what it costs the detective walked up to the abashed clerk ring he said you must be nut ty to do a thing like this why it ain t ilka you I 1 thought o 0 had more benge TH alert fan 1 iwa out a word but Ru gersom waved them aside I 1 won t give you the he said you 11 come along all right for old sake s sake I 1 II 11 see what I 1 can do for vou up at he stopped suddenly and leaped to one side as the gas went out and threw up his arm but he was too la e A stunning blow fell on his head and he dropped senseless to the door when he regained consciousness he fo md himself lying on the in the same room with mike jakey and klawier randall standing over him where s mr bannings 7 he cried starting up the gas had been re bigl ted and he gazed around the ap apartment part ment in bewilderment a sense of the situation coming to him slowly the lawyer motioned to the atten tive mike and jakey to withdraw then when he had closed and locked the door behind them he returned to Ru gersom who was sitting on the bedside feeling tenderly of the back of his head and said mr banning has gone home glad enough to escape from this foul at moi phere phew how it smells I 1 bui rose the place chasn t been aired for 40 u hi paused and then with a search ing glance at the detective lowered his voice to a confidential tone and aid II 11 how did you happen to find mr banning or know where to look tor hima why he replied still feeling rue fully of his head I 1 have known he artas coming here for the last two n months dearly every afternoon it about five clock he turned up 1 and then held the chairs down 11 tl e evening blowing his you know champagne and all the fixin s he was in with this night clerk ring and two or three others young fellers cut of a job that used him for the su pers and the fizz a queer break anyhow him greas ng the bin of this low down joint when he could have the cheam and he had me S i asing for fair because 1 e alev gasn wasn t that sort lou could see that right oft what his lay was had me to the mat for he was way out of his class here a d amond button on a sty door I 1 missed him and when I 1 found his friends were gun ning for him I 1 laid it out that he d got what was coming to him for hitt ng it up in such company so I 1 saw ring and found I 1 was right he 1 ad him locked in here and I 1 suppose he was putting the screws on tor the ma zuma did mr banning say anything to you about thata he pa ased and examined the lawyer cunningly why we said only a few words to each other here randall answered glibly for he was feeling sick and wanted to get home we st all talk that over later but how did ring escape youa As I 1 understand it you and this mike had him cornered dian didn t youa and he got away not mike interrupted Ru gersom he looked at the lawyer from under his brows mike was the room me and mr banning what gets me as where was mr ban ning at when I 1 was put outa he could have stopped it all right nonsense the lawyer interrupt ed what mr banning wanted was to escape to get away as soon as possible of course he very naturally thought of nothing else at the moment what he will think later is another matter I 1 promise you the detective stood looking at the speaker half suspiciously halt ques but mr randall gave him 10 heed well he said bustling toward the door I 1 austn t be lingering here it s your job to find this ring and I 1 fancy you know pretty nearly where to look for him don t take him to headquarters bring him to me first make it right with you you un der stand we re going to make it hot for that fellow and the other guilty ones when he have learned from him who they are but we want no noise about it Ru gersom watched the lawyer with narrowed eyes as he hastened away down the dirty corridor and for some time afterwards he stood staring into vacancy mechanically feeling of his crown dr furnivall said lawyer ran dall I 1 have come to you on a lar errand whether your unique pow er is what I 1 need I 1 don t know but if it isn t I 1 certainly don t know what is and in that case I 1 should be corn belled to stop proceedings which would prove a downright calamity the case is this the lawyer went on the doctor making no oral response to his statement some two months ago young courtney banning you know the childs bannings that fam 11 began going wrong originally he was a fine fellow not a vice in the world I 1 m sure and not a bad habit even seemed to be just a harmless sort of average youth who would never set the world afire nor drown it either I 1 saw a good deal of him in his boyhood and can speak from per bonal knowledge at his majority he received three millions in his own right and became guardian of his sis ter subject to advice from a board of trustees of which I 1 am one he conducted himself so sanely with such good will and ability that we never interfered with him he was left practically with a free band in the disposal of five millions for two years or until last june he ran is steady as a clock giving every day to his business interests and the even li gs to such society as a rich young fellow of good family would naturally select then one day I 1 was informed that he had unaccountably changed his whole course 0 ak none 0 ua W lall cy W af fp weeks and it was hinted that he was going tl e fast pace in vile resorts there were whispers of a love affair and I 1 thought that deiy likely there was something in that view I 1 m not sure I 1 don t still think so A week ago his sister came to me in hyster acs ics saying that he had not been home for two days and was not to be fo ind anywhere she had searched high and low with all his friends help ng her but to no purpose not a word could be heard ot him he had van dished utterly without leaving a trace behind after making a still bunt on my own part which resulted in noth ang I 1 quietly called in the police who found him at once but the circum stances are such that it is impossible to determine whether he was in hid ing or held by force if the former it is necessary I 1 should know the rea son II 11 the latter somebody should be made to sweat for it and I 1 come to you to learn the truth of the mat ter or to find if you have any way of getting at it isn t the matter of rather too trivial an order to set the wheels of science whirling fora dr Fum ivall ren arced dryly I 1 see that I 1 must make a confidant of you the lawyer said gravely the fact Is he continued hitch ing his chair to the doctors and |