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Show 1 he Mei on the Dead Man Litest By CLIFFORD RAYMOND (WNU Service.) Copyrik'tit. The Bobbs-Merrlll Co. any such thing as this. Please look at our guns." "Where are their guns?" the lieutenant lieu-tenant us Wed. "They threw them away as they ran," said a sergeant. "We've picked some of them up." "(Jet them all, Mike," said the lieutenant, lieu-tenant, "and call the wagon." "Honest to G d, Chief," said the bandit spokesman. "Take those bums outside," said the lieutenant, "and straighten out this body so I can look It over." The frightened guests were returning return-ing to claim their checked clothing. "Let them all In," said the lieutenant, lieuten-ant, "but don't let any of them out again. Go out on the street and gather them In. When the wagon comes take those four bums to the station. Let me see those guns, Mike. IIow many you got?" "Five," said the sergeant. "Honest to G d. Chief." "Shut up," said the lieutenant. "Mike, take a piece of paper. Take that menu card. Write this down: Colt. .38, number 4S90C1, not loaded and not fired ; Smith and Wesson .32.20, number 184850, not loaded and not fired ; Colt .38, number 2CSS07, not loaded and not fired; Colt .45, number 3S45C3, not loaded and not fired ; Smith and Wesson .32, number 149234, not loaded and not fired. Now give me that card. And don't plant anything in these guns." "Chief, honest to G d, you're a square guy." "Take these bums away," said the lieutenant, "and get me. Don't try to plant this case. I like It as it Is. And CHAPTER I Dead Man Number One Dunn Clayton was shot September 29, 1928, at midnight, as he sat at a table In the Dutch Mill dance restaurant restau-rant on the near North side of Chicago. Chi-cago. It was Saturday night with Its usual filling of the Mill's space, but because of unusual circumstances, of which the murderer evidently took quick advantage, only one person was found who could or would say he had seen anything of the man who fired the shot. It was assumed that, whatever Its Intention or motive, the murder stood alone, which It did not. It was not strange, to people who know Clayton, that his life should end with a pistol shot; but there was no apparent reason rea-son for the place or the time of It, and such an explanation as an:e from the circumstances and the coincident events could not be sufficient or satisfactory. The Dutch Mill was a place cf expensive ex-pensive amusement, but It and Its kind were too garish to nave been In Clayton's Clay-ton's habit for at least a year. In post-meridian life he had settled down to an exemplary respectability which was Impressive against the turbulent background of his past. He never had been known to have much money until this apparent retirement when he Indicated In-dicated by his way of living the use of a considerable Income. (The relation of this to his death became apparent later.) lie was a powerful, handsome man of resolute and reserved appearance. He bad chosen a good tailor and a good hotel. He had been seen occasionally occa-sionally at the opera, only at the best prize fights and of a Sunday now nnd then, when It was pleasant walking walk-ing on the Drive, at the Fourth Presbyterian Pres-byterian church. If he was with a woman companion at the theater she was in effect irreproachable. irre-proachable. Clayton was a person of complete respectability even if it were new, as were his spats. As the story of his death at the Dutch Mill was pieced together on the spot and at the time, it appeared that three men had entered the dance restaurant res-taurant shortly before midnight and had been given a table at the wall, one by the waiters' door to the kitchen and, being In a poor position, not acceptable ac-ceptable to anyone who could avoid taking It. At an Interval between dances, just as the dancers had returned to their tables and were again seated, there was a loud command for every one to remain quiet. The three men had arisen from their obscure table and with pistols in their hands were moving mov-ing to the center of the floor. "All of you put your arms on the table," said ' the spokesman. "Both hands. Don't move them. Don't anyone any-one be dumb or fresh and no one will be hurt." r All of the guests and employees questioned ques-tioned later by the police said that their first thought was of enforcement officers. Even that was disturbing. Evidences of liquor law violation were on nearly every table. This conjecture con-jecture was Immediately proved wrong. The shot which killed Clayton was fired, not by one of the three men who had the center of the scene, but by a fourth man who had been almost entirely unobserved. It was 'probable that no one had seen him. The diversion was startling and its effects Instantaneous. There, were screams, the breaking down of a tension, ten-sion, a shifting of many bodies involuntarily, invol-untarily, and the men with pistols, as yet unexplained, broke in a run for an exit. A police-squad car was passing as three men without overcoats or hats ran from the restaurant door to an automobile in which a fourth man sat at the wheel. The engine was running, run-ning, but the police were able to stop the car and hold all four men. One of them excitedly tried to explain ex-plain that they were getting away from a fight in the restaurant dance hall an explanation not without plausibility hut it might not have, been satisfactory even if at that moment mo-ment the door of the Dutch Mill had not become the vent for people in hysterical fright. Women without their wraps and men without their overcoats or hats rushed forth, as if rrrrnr1 nut hw nrnnrp rfln fl few There were five guns found on the premises and examined by the lieutenant. lieu-tenant. Later he examined the pistol of Buck Trembly. The five, as the hold-up men had said, had not been loaded. Trembly's was loaded but it had not been fired. The lieutenant, it will be observed later, did not assure himself that Trembly did not have or had not had two pistols. lie did assume as-sume that two of tiie robbers might have had more than one gun. As none had been loaded it was of small importance. Irresistible deductions soon forced the frightened hold-up men completely out of the picture of the crime rationally contemplated. The gun which was used was not found. That left It for ever undetermined undeter-mined whether Trembly committed the murder or procured the commission commis-sion of it. The lieutenant went out, passing indifferently in-differently the excited groups of guests who, returning for their wraps, found that they were detained. From the sidewalk he looked to see what places of business were open. There was a drug store on one corner and a tobacco store on another. In the middle mid-dle of the block there was a moving picture theater with a tall negro doorman. door-man. In the same building with the dance restaurant was a small candy shop with a pop-corn popper by its one large window. Across the street the late movie crowd was coming out. The lieutenant lieuten-ant crossed over. "You saw some of this, didn't you?" he asked the door man. "You know, this shooting." "I didn't see no shooting." "No, of course not. But you saw the people running out. You saw us take those fellows. Did you see them when they drove up at the curb over there?" "Yes. I saw that. That's all I saw. I didn't see nothing." "Wait a minute. How many men got out?" "Three." "Sure there wasn't four?" , "I'm not going to be sure about anything." any-thing." "Don't get this wrong," said the lieutenant in a friendly way. "Nothing's "Noth-ing's going to happen to you. You'll not be brought into it. I just wanted to know if the fourth man who was at the wheel of the car got out or if he didn't get out. Now, do you know?" "I'd say he didn't." "You think he sat there?" "That's what I'd have to say." "That's what I think," said the lieutenant. lieu-tenant. "All right, boy." Fie recrossed the street to the small candy store and found a more assured witness In a white jacketed young man at the pop-corn popper. He had been standing at the window. He saw the car when it came to the curb. Three men got out of It. The fourth remained in the driver's seat. He was there when the three came rushing out. The young man was positive. The fourth man had not been out of the driver's seat. The lieutenant went to the cigar store. The tobacconist had seen the car as it was driven to the curb, but that was all. He did not know what its occupant had done. He had been behind his counter. The driver could have been in or out. The lieutenant re-entered the dance restaurant where the guests who had been at first startled and then panic-stricken were now only nervous, indignant, or anxious anx-ious to get away from a scene which was unpleasant in fact for some and in possibility for others. "I'm sorry to keep you, ladies," the lieutenant said as the crowd turned toward him. "Not so sorry for you, men, but no one will be hurt. The quicker I get answers to some questions ques-tions tha sooner we'll all be out of here. No one will be held now as a witness and probably none of you will be bothered later. The man who has been killed sat at this table." lie walked to it and touched it. "Now. if anyone who saw the man sitting here and who saw the man who shot him will tell me what he saw you may all go. If no one will volunteer volun-teer this I'll call the waiters and find out who was seated near here. You know," he said, "for a while you haven't any rights because you can't get any lawyers and because you are all reasonably suspect. Some one who was in this room shot the man. I don't think he is here now, but he was here, he or she, and you're here. Any takers?" The people shifted position and looked about them. There was a moment mo-ment of indecision broken by a man who stepped forward. "I saw everything you want to know," he said. "I mean as to what happened. I don't know who shot him or why, but I saw how and when it was done. I saw It so distinctly that It was impressive." The volunteer was of robust middle age. His black hair was graying at the temples, but he was apparently In the prime of vigor and muscularity. He was well dressed and entirely self-possessed. self-possessed. "Anyone with you?" the lieutenant asked, looking liim up and down. "No," he said, "and that is one reason rea-son I saw everything. Another is that I sat at the next table, between him and the door. Then, also, I was interested inter-ested in him. It occurred to me that he was In the same boat I was, and that amused me. So I was observing him and speculating." The lieutenant beckoned to the sergeant. ser-geant. "Take the names and addresses of these people and then release them. Take all the license numbers before you let their cars go. We may want some of these people to check up with. But, mister, I'll take a chance with you. The rest of you may go, but remember re-member If one of you tries to cheat it may be unpleasant. Play fair, and I will. A place like this doesn't have so many innocent people in It night by night, but ordinarily that's not my business. Play fair, and you'll probably prob-ably never hear from me again. Try to cheat me, and your husband or your wife or your cousins and aunts may learn of it. Let them go, Mike. Mister, will you come into the office here with me? I'm taking a chance on you, as you see." "It's all right with me let's see I don't recognize police insignia how should I say those scared boys called you chief." "I'm Lieutenant Stanton, and I don't mind telling you the only reason I was In that squad car was because It was running me home. And I'm glad I was. What the squad would have done with this case makes me uneasy to think of It. But that's nothlnj you're much interested in, mister." "But I am interested in it," said the man as they went into the restaurant office. The manager of the Dutch Mill came to the door. "We'll not disturb anything 'here," said Lieutenant Stanton, "and we're not enforcement officers. I'll want you later. Stick around but get out and close that door. Now, mister, why are you interested in the way I handle a police job?" "Because I saw that you knew those poor amateurs did not do it." "That's no compliment," said Stanton. Stan-ton. "Any copper with any sense would have seen in a minute that they hadn't done it." "But a lot of coppers would have wanted to solve a case right there." "You're right, mister, but I don't. Now, mister, what's your name, if you don't mind?" "Arthur Trembly," said the man. It was curious that Trembly gave his name. Stanton later could not explain ex-plain it. It might have been due to his confidence in himself, to some ego-tistic ego-tistic gratification in seeming to assist the police in their inquiry into a murder mur-der he had committed or procured which of the two never was discovered discov-ered to indifference, carelessness or natural assurance. Whatever influenced influ-enced him it was a part of the impulse im-pulse or design which led him to volunteer vol-unteer information when he could have remained unnoticed among the other detained patrons. It was cool, behavior and inasmuch as fate had him on another string it had no consequence con-sequence for him. "Resident of Chicago?" Stanton asked. "Been almost everywhere in the world, but this is my first time in Chicago." "Well, Arthur," said the lieutenant, "go ahead and justify me in letting all those other fellows go and relying on you." "When people call me Arthur," said Trembly, "they usually call me Buck, and if they don't know me well enough to call me Buck, they don't know me well enourrh to call me Arthur." "Buck, I may never know you well enough to call you what you ought to be called, but I'll light a cigar and listen to you for a while to find out 'for myself whether again I've been a d n fool or an intelligent guardian of the public peace. You know what I want to know. Buck. Shoot it." Trembly said he had particularly noticed Clayton, if that was his name, because both were waiting for a person per-son or persons to join them. For most people, particularly in such a place as the Dutch Mill with its high note of merrymaking, it was an uneasy posture pos-ture to maintain confidently. Its embarrassment em-barrassment or boredom protruded. It made the person self-conscious as a rule. Trembly had been waiting for a man and two women and had been given a table for four. TO BE CONTINUED.) "Both Hands. Don't Move Them." another thing: these fellows aren't gold fish. Throw them in, but let them alone. Have you searched the car? Any more guns?" "No," said one of the policemen. "No what?" "No more guns." "Then don't find any more when I get back to the station. I like this case. Let it alone. Now, let's see who this guy is." "Chief, honest to G d." "Mike, If that bum calls me 'Chief again you can sock him, but that's personal. If he shuts up I'll bust the man that touches him or any of them. I'll take care of them. Let's see the guest of honor at this party." The body had been lifted away from the wall. "Dunn Clayton!" the lieutenant exclaimed. ex-claimed. "Well, I'll be d d I Keep those people back and get me something some-thing to cover this body with. Take a tablecloth." He bent over the body, gently straightening the arms. As he did so he reached into the pockets of the dead man's coat exploringly and from one of them took what he chanced upon, a letter envelope which he put in his pocket. A policeman brought a cloth which was spread over the body. "There's a capable citizen gone," said the lieutenant. "Whoever got him was good. Stay by him, Mike. I'm going outside for a minute." feet or a half block and then stood uncertainly, conscious of needing the possessions they had left behind. Also waiters and other house employees in their work clothes were soon outside shouting. The police took the four men back Into the Dutch Mill. The floor was in a disorder of overturned over-turned tables and chairs, evidence of the fright which had emptied the room. The body of the dead man had slumped out of the chair, and at first sight there was nothing visible except the litter of the rush to the outside. "Honest, Chief," said one of the prisoners to the lieutenant of police who was holding him, "we didn't do it." "You didn't do what?'' the lieutenant asked. "We didn't kill him. We didn't do it." "What's he talking about?" the lieu-t lieu-t tenant asked of the head waiter who, had come up. "I think there may be a dead man over here," said the head waiter, walking walk-ing toward the wall. There the body was found. "but we didn't fire a shot, Chief. Cross my heart, we hadn't even loaded our guns. We weren't going to.liave |