Show 1 0 X J Synthetic Gentleman B By y CHANNING G POLLOCK bt f PollOCk NYU SYNOPSIS Th The Duke Barry Gilbert likable youth of twenty-three twenty Jobless and broke en enten enten enter en- en In ten ter an unoccupied summer Rummer home Southampton n. n seeking shelter from a storm torm He makes himself at home DozIng Doz- Doz Ing at the fireplace he het Is t startled by bythe bythe bythe the arrival of ot a butler Willetts and anda a chauffeur Evans He learns that the theIon theon Ion on on of ot the owner of the house Jack RIdder whom th the servants had never neverseen seen een Is IB expected He JIe decides to blurt bluff It out His supposed parents have left for Germany Next morning morning- he Is given givena a letter for tor his mother He opens It and finds a messa message e from the real Jack saying he could not come and returning a hundred-dollar hundred bill The boys boy's father tather had bad pensioned him Into obscurity Barry Barry Barry Bar Bar- ry pockets the tho money Intend Intending Ins Ins- to re return return return re- re turn It later He orders Evans to take him to Montauk Intending to disappear there On the wa way he meets Judge Juds-e e and his daughter daus Patricia Believing he Is Jack RIdder she Invites him to dinner the following Thursday Barry Darry returns to Southampton deciding deciding- to stay a bit longer Ions Mr RIdder Sr through his newspaper the Globe accuses accuses accuses ac ac- ac- ac Judge Juds-e e of ot taking orders from Tammany Hall In a condemnation tion proceeding Barry meets Peter Winslow prominent attorney Winslow tells Barry that Jud Judge e e had hadeen seen een an accident In which a woman was killed by a taxicab b. At home Barry finds ends the tho wife wire of ot the real Jack RIdder awaiting him Her husband Is In Jail In Sn New York charged with the murder of ot Mike Kelly Tammany boss The s-Ir s girl Peggy y tolls tells Barry how she Bho had met Jack In Florida and married him as Jay Rogers Ros Jack lost his Job and they went to New York where she got work at tho the Cocoanut Bar There she was accused of ot trying to plc pick the pocket of ot Mike Kelly and was arrested Her Tier husband husband husband hus hus- band went to Kellys Kelly's to Induce him to drop the charge e. Later Kelly was found dead his skull crushed by a decanter Barry suggests sugs-ests he can help as Jack RIdder and Mrs Rogers agrees Judge Juds-e delivers a decision In the condemnation suit In which Kelly had been Interested Barry cables Mrs RIdder Ridder Ridder RId Rid- der for tor 2000 Winslow takes Rogers Rogers' case Barry gets a Job on the Globe under his true name The editor Ernie Erle Harwood assigns him to cover the Kelly murder CHAPTER IV Continued IV-Continued Continued 9 9 lie had turned into a Il cheap restaurant restaurant rant near The Globe where the slim young man had promised to meet him Lunching he mapped out his this Immediate Immediate Immedi Immedi- ate ute future Work days Barry Darry Gilbert would live In the little rooms rooms' hed he'd taken Saturday Weekends Week of course hed he'd have to spend at ar Southampton as John Clarke RIdder Jr That was essential to his contact with Bad Dad Nau Nau- helm belm And to another even more essential essential essential es es- contact He lIe was to dine at the again next nett Friday he lie recalled re re- called with called with the tube lady Indy from Boston Doston to whom Pat must have written flattering flattering flatter flatter- ing things about him A grand girl Pat and suddenly as we have seen not altogether unattainable If It I make hood good Barry narry thought I can cantell cantell cantell tell her the truth about m myself and antl ask her to marry me Why not A All this John Clarke Ridder Jr Tr bi bust busl- Just seem funny runny then The slim young man arrived In due time Ume and duly presented his charge at the homicide bureau First There here was Tim rim Laugherty as Irish as Barry Darry and with almost as ready a grin The They took to each other Immediately Barry Darry Gilbert Tim Ilm repeated Well We the names name's all right anyway way Tim regarded the Kelly murder as ns asa asa a n closed case So did MacDevItt and everyone else Barry Darry met at The no Rogers ers kid done it It that's sure Tim declared Fill Inn 1 says Bays he didn't let nobody else In iii that night Maybe somebody else Ise let himself In Tiro smiled scornfully There was a u new lock on that door Show him the la keys s Mac Mac obliged Here you are he Ile suld said It was wa chained to Kellys Kelly's pants button Show him the decanter Maybe be he can cnn get et something out of or that Why not Mac laughed Theres about half hair a pint In it It was a gruesome exhibit that bottle which had killed a man Heal Real cut glass and nearly a u quarter full o of reddish liquor Wonder why that didn't spill out Barry arr ventured Maybe Ia be the tale cork stopped It Tim rIm 1 replied The They didn't find arty any finger er prints No The rhe guy must have worn gloves r II Listen Barry ventured again Why weren't the Filipinos Filipino's linger the bottle bottle It prints on If he served It Guess he lie wore gloves too M My y s butler buller always alwa's does 1 Well lVell If It he the wore em emI emI em I get get you Tim Interrupted If It the guy that done this wore gloves and the Filipino wore gloves why whys s r then maybe the Filipinos Filipino's the Ule guy that done this Exact Exactly y Say you got a bean on you the thet 1 t conceded almost admiring admiring- I ly Jy Of course I still sun think we got the right party but hes he's a cagey guy that Oriental and he didn't say liny nothIng nothing noth noth- ing about gloves to me Why dont don't we go over and see If Ir he wears ein em t He r 1 k At least not when he opened the front door Say Charlie Tim hegan began let us In We Ve want to ask you vou Do you ou wear gloves when youre you're serving stuff Sometimes Did you wear em that night Maybe I dont don't remember He was a thin sallow youth with the usual glossy black hair hall brushed back hack from his forehead Nothing remarkable remarkable remarkable re re- about him not even his shiftiness The three men stood In Inthe Inthe inthe the broad hall of ot the Kelly Keny house and ind Charlie repeated the tale talc of admitting admitting admit admit- ting Rogers Hagel's and hearing a quarrel and returning to his room until the visitor left You were In your room when the therow therow therow row started then i Burr Barry asked Yes Tes sir And HAnd you ou could hear the voices pretty plainly Yes Yes sir You came upstairs and then went jack hack to your room and stayed there until Just as ns Rogers was leaving Yes sir Kelly must have Itne e been dead then If f Ho Rogers ers killed him Yes sir But you didn't hear the sound of ofa a hI blow ow In your roost room nor the thud of ofu ofa I u a i body hody falling No answer If It you could hear voices downstairs dont don't you ou think heard that If Ift It t had happened i iThe The Filipino looked down from frum one Inquisitor to the other Maybe he I didn't stay In m my room he 10 said at last very slowly I dont don't remember Tint Tim was about to press the point when there was the rasp of a latchkey latch kc key heln being thrust Into the lock of the front door Then the knob turned anti and Mrs Irs Kelly entered She stopped short at nt sight of the Intruders The door floor remained opened Well Mr Ir she Laugherty exclaimed ex ex- claimed So youve you've come orne hack back i Wf h iJ J 1 fl I fl fJ t Ij f kO M jT t tf S l I y i c f- f fK Kf K Hit 1 foW t tt t f JJ I lf i r I t d H VI J 1 I 1 f r t I j d 3 r J. J t. t t oh i t r f r. r ri r i. i l r f-f f 1 I 3 I t P. P fJ y O I r t. t f 1 9 Y t f j jt t q l l n 8 x J r. r 11 0 Ir I N- N r. 4 I r 1 I k 11 c r 0 v f i Uh U- U h r lh 4 r e l t tit It Was a Gruesome Exhibit That Exhibit That Bottle Which Had Killed a Man a again aln With a friend too tool I Why dont don't you step In the parlor Tim TIra thanked her and presented Barry Glad to meet you Mrs Kelly de de- Glared Run nun along you ou to the Filipino Come on In bo boys s 's I Youre forgetting your key Barry Darry said lIe He took It out of or the lock Its a brand new key Isn't It i he asked casually Sure Mrs Kelly answered Its a new lock Mike had It put on only a n few days s 's ago ngo How many keys were there Two That one and Mikes Barry was scribbling on the back of an envelope Mrs Kelly was a large lurge woman In her tier fifties Her lIer hair hall was dyed red a red a brilliant aggressive red unknown to Nature But she was atra affable le and extremely extremely extremely ex ex- good Evidently g not nut grieving herself herselt to death about Mike Just dropped around to see Char 1 I lie He Tim said An Anything you want to know Mr Ir Gilbert 7 Just one thing Where were you ou the night of or the murder Mrs Kelly Key laughed hed You dont don't read the papers much do you Wh Why 1 Because all about that was In The Herald Tribune the morning after the body hody was found All a about what 1 All about my being up In Harlem at ut a dance And Aud what time did you get gel home homer Around daylight t tOld Did Old you let yourself In Ini Sure And you didn't wonder where Mike was 1 I 1 thought he tie was asleep We didn't room together loether The lights was all out No Nu light In the front room No o. o Sure Dead sure Anything else No thanks I didn't mean to keep keel you so long But one thing led Jed to another an nn other all right Mrs Kelly assured assured as as- him I got nothing to hide Drop around any time you feel teel like It it No uNo holes In that alibi Tim said as ns they readied reached the sidewalk Straight shooter she Is Ran Itan a n saloon su sa sa- sa loon when Mike married her You certainly got wound found up Whai I was all aU that about the latch key l Bright and shiny wasn't It Brand new She Site told inn Olt Hitt Su s. did I when w we ire were looking b bly's ai ut l' l Kel 1 Kelly's Kellys t l lys ly's key wallet key wallet I i Yes Barry arry admitted But nut there wasn't any new ke key In that wallet I Tim lIm Laugherty stopped short In Fifth avenue I Youre rf right ht he lie said Ive I got the number flurry Barry went wenton I Ion on producing his envelope A Write that down A plain round roundhead head Two of em Wheres Where's the other It never was In that wallet because every evely hooks hook's tilled filled Maybe In le he carried It loose In his lih pocket Wherever hr he carried the key when Is It I III dont don't know Tim Thin answered II 11 wasn't on the body body ts that's sure By now It was ns time for his dinner appointment with Peg Peggy y Still In hl high h spirits he walk walked tl around to her boarding house Barry remembered Southampton with shame sham when he saw the Bidders Bidders' two shabby rooms The boy hoy lay In one of ot them ter old a It bright youngster oun five Ove years ears The doctor doesn't seem to know v what the matter Is Iso Peggy declared I 1 know Barry Darry said Id be sick sick- In this dump Why dont don't you bring him out to the country Peggy shook her head hend I want to be near Jack she repeated re re- Winslow sn says s 's hes he's likely to be free In a n week Dining comfortably In a nearby cafe he lie told her er e everything that had hap hap- happened happened since their parting all nU the astonishing as ns- astonishing events of that day And with the recital Pegg Peggys Peggy's s spirits rose too When Barr Barry mentioned his new Job she actually laughed funny she said Youre doing what the he old mans man's real son wouldn't do Ive I two reasons Barry arry explained In the first place It puts me In a splendid position to help Jack In Inthe Inthe Inthe the second well second well the fact Is that Im I'm nuts about a girl and I want to make good hood on her account her name Patricia ge She lives at Southampton and she and her father both knew the Ridders They think Im I'm young RIdder of or course The next morning Barry dropped In again on Pete Winslow The lawyer lawyer lawyer law law- yer had talked with Peggy's Peggys husband and antl was persuaded of his Innocence The They've ve got a prima facie ache case though he lie admitted The grand Indict the boy Im I'm afraid Well We'll get him tried as quickly as possible and there Isn't the slightest chance of ot othis his conviction Peter leaned forward his fingers Intertwined between his knees That was a shrewd question you asked that Filipino Only I wish you'd oud asked It of Ole me lies lie's prepared now n Never mind When It comes to cross cross- examination examination- He lle rose with the Joy of or battle In hl his e eyes es But Dut be careful about tipping our hand he said Bring In Mrs Rog Rog- ers Id I'd like to check up on her state state- ment Tomorrow Make It next week Hes lles a great lawyer Ernie Harwood Harwood Har- Har wood said when Barry Darry repeated as much of this conversation as It seemed wise to repeat repent And a wizard at cross Ive I've seen him discredit discredit dis dis- dis credit one witness after another with mere monosyllables Tell Winslow I Imay Imay may have a tip for him some day Its It's nothing now Just a phone ca call But Dut if It I ever find who It was was was- was was-If Barry arr devoted that evening to draftIng draft draft- Ing lag a n letter for the real Jack RIdder to copy COP an and send to his mother Something Something Some Some- thing told him that whatever the bo boy wrote himself would be cold and find resentful re re- re- re That would make the old lady unhappy and Barr Barry didn't want her to be Ive I got a job on fathers father's paper he wrote with genuine pride Ive I've respected re re- fathers father's wish as to using hl his name except at Southampton of course They rhey had to know there At AtThe AtThe The fhe Globe Im I'm on my own and getting getting get get- et- et ting ahead Ill I'll be a credit to you ou yet et darling From that he lie went Into some detail I Ins as ns to his Interest In the friend locked up for murder he lie didn't commit and the need of funds runds for his defense Even to Jack Ridder It was obvious that the letter had to be sent so sent I It was was was-In In Jack RIdders RIdder's hand writ handwriting ing from writ from the railway station post box at nt Southampton the following ln Friday Barry arrived d on an nn earl early afternoon train He had wired Evans to meet him and found Willetts waiting In the front hall There was WIlS no doubt now that the butler suspected something and Larry Barry arry sure SUle of what he suspected faced him with a broad grin the matter with you Oll Matter Ia sir Youve been acting queer ever er since the night Mrs Rogers Rogeis spent Silent here I dont dont don't know what you heard that night Do you mean menn eavesdropping sir There was a n pained surprise In the theman's theman's theman's mans man's voice Not me sir Ive I've got my position to remember Ive I've been a tl butler with some of the best families All right Barry Parry soothed him You t think tink Im I'm back at the kind of behavior be be- havior that alienated me from my fa a- a ther Well Im I'm not That glittery lad lady Is the wife of or a u man I met in Florida And Anti for tor the third time that week Barry related his stor story a brave little kid he concluded concluded con con- and she's In trouble troubie up to 1 her tier neck Im I'm going to stand by herIve herIve herIve her Ive I've gut got a Job joh on my ray fathers father's newspaper news paper under paper under an assumed name because because be be- cause I 1 want to win out on my own Ive I've Ive I've- en cabled bled my mother for tor money and everything e I can get t goes oes to that lady until her husband can win on au his own Im I'm going gultig lIln to bt bl I In town most of ot tho the ti lime we II nun II working 11 my head off no 10 ui LC |