Show copyright by courtney ryley cooped service CHAPTER XIV 12 JAMISON shoved back his chair never mind coming any farther chopper he said casually the dapper greer put his bag on the floor it thumped heavily oh yeah he ached jaclson eyed his finger nails boston alie chauffeur edged past joe his shoulders and the bach of his head were familiar now joe barry had seen them one night through the class paneling of a rich automobile as it glided out fifth avenue and through central park you and louie unpack that trunk take the drawers out and break off the standards to give plenty of room put what stuff you can in the grips leave the clothes on the floor louie I 1 said you too 1 he snapped cant you get away from that wall weve looked into all that theres windows on both sides of us a hall on a third and that one room on the other nobody in it but a white haired old woman who have enough sense to keep me from wandering all through the place when I 1 said id gotten in there by mistake now lucli more do you want all right said louie he was sweating furiously 1 I dont like that radio shut oft maybe its got a in it then yank out the plug and pull the speaker an ay from the wall throw it out of the window for all I 1 care unpack that trunk he smiled then and turned to joe carry well boy he said 1 I guess youve got us nailed at the mast how much jack do you want 1 I dont want any money said barry let me get out of here to get us and yourself in bad not till ive talked some beuse to you still got 11 reader out for you you know that youre not sitting so sweet ill know what im talking about it they arrest mel ive got you figured out now big friday here cant keep covered up not after what they know about him when he was with hymie bradke his voice was jerky he turned his head often in desperate glances at the men behind him suddenly lit realized that the gun was still in his grasp naif hanging at his side he shifted it and caught it anew so that the butt was outward you let me out of herel he demanded again listen kid jamison said dont you worry youre going out of here it just depends on how you do it use your bean and walk out start yapping and ride hows that now lets talk jack im reasonable jack tor what youre squawking aint you asked Full house ive got a right to nobody said you aint agreed big friday thickly were ready to talk business joe barrys teeth clicked yes martin there or jaclson or whatever his name Is talked business to me once before promised me ten thousand dollars to take a little fall as he called it why you game enough to tell the truth that you and your gang had killed two men up the river there and that you were looking for somebody to send to the death house easy kid were not deaf jaclson straightened in his chair ill talk the way I 1 want to and I 1 dont care what you do I 1 understand that you cant hurt me youve taken my freedom from me youve got me under the shadow of death yon dont have to broadcast it suddenly hope shot through joe carry ills one chance but he forgot it almost as quickly they could form some escude these men six against one a drunken friend some one out of his head anything that would give them time to make their getaway lie strove for repression if he could only gain tamel it he could only get away from here he could run shouting the minute he struck the hall the floor clerk would help him there must be a house detective your proposition now about ten grand and we walk out what about me this a nice room 1 I dont care anything about your room jamison and I 1 dont care anything about money ive had all I 1 wanted of your money and your promises you and the way you were going to show up at ten that night to find out it I 1 wanted to go through you and that lying louie drag me in and this crook of a Full house here trailing me down on the circus and getling me to go away with him telling me the police were after me so you could get me into just what you got me into tonight into some deserted house out there with a gun in my pocket and a brace and bit in my hand drilling u safe with a car outside oiled with burglars tools then when the guard killed me I 1 would be just a burglar joe carry under indictment tor murder killed robbing a house tie paused panting jaclson swung casually about oh all done he asked as the chauffeur ripped the last of the supports from the wardrobe trunk converting it now into one complete opening jaclson stretched and rose from his chair all right he said then quickly what were you saying carry joe started to snap a reply only to bait in that instant in which hla attention had been diverted three men had edged to elbow closeness lie whirled ne strove to cry out to strike with the butt end of the automatic still clutched in his hand but the sinewy arms of full house were tight about his wrist pinioning pinio ning his arms the chopper had caught his knees breaking his stance and leaving him sagging while the gigantic hands of big friday had closed over his mouth and were pulling his head back farther back slide that trunk on the floor that side down easy not too much noise Full house slip your arms up ills diaphragm his diaphragm you idiot get em cupl boston get over there and take him with a one two in the guts youre not going to put him in the trunk vaguely joe heard the protesting voice of louie certo how else are we going to get him out of this room oh tor G ds sake quit your shaking teh I 1 know they did that with lefty breen and his body rolled and some express guy got next to it well no body rolls this time what do you think I 1 left those clothes out tor put some some of them in the bottom there tor a cushion and use the rest to pack around him go on and take him boston joe barry writhed anew he strove to twist from the grasp of the three men who held him the breath of big friday blasted in his ears as joe struggled against his efforts to gag him joe saw the joe barry writhed anew he strove to twist from the grasp of the three men who held him torn of boston approaching dancing with the shit ting movement of a man in the ring getting his stance for the full force of a blow again he heard louie protesting once more the even voice of daml son of course not alive no there wont be any blood dont you think belts can do something else besides hold up pants twice around the neck and buckle it know anything better well boston are you going to dance or take him joe sagged from the crush of a blow to the pit of his stomach he strove to gasp but the great hands of big friday shut off his air again a blow and a third time vaguely from far away came a thunderous noise and the sound of some one shouting once more a blow struck him this time fair his knees caved the forms about him danced and blurred while behind mm far tar behind him something crashed dully a splintering noise ne struck out again this time free of supporting arms A hurtling body struck him knocking him far to one side As he fell a queer barking sound broke for an instant through his fogged mentality then he struck head on against the foot board of a bed and lay still it was to a feeling of aching comfort that he slowly awoke a bed beneath him something cool on his bead a man beside him ills eyes opened upon hazy forms and closed again slowly they opened again to remain staring bete maxwell of the homicide squad leaned closer well kid how about it kind of glad see the old bottle and stopper this time yen joe carry stirred jamison big friday he muttered dead said pete maxwell and probably not his name either big friday your old friend Full house and the rest of the mob are down at the station house where louie Is belching his guts choens Chu ens down there with cm tipping the washington cops hat questions to ask I 1 thought id stay up here with mother bandy to see if you caffie around all right boure in mothers room you know next door joe still not sure of his senses looked across the room to a old woman attired in fashion who sat rock ing tier feet rising with every movement of the chair then striking the floor flatly again she laughed and rolled her head if that a hot onel she gasped in sudden denial of her innocent benign appearance louie sitting on one side of the wall with an car on me and me sitting on this side with the same kind of an ear on halml pete grinned mothers quite a help in an ear job alie wall you know nobody ever suspects her she even fooled when he stalled in to give her room a mother knows her racket hern a bee of nails and the best room plant in the homicide squad it created but a faint impression on joe im tree then he asked halt afraid of the answer im free As soon as I 1 can get you back to new york and quash the indictment and warrants maybe a few weeks just formalities the telephone rang mother brady answered it then turning motioned pete maxwell to the receiver following that she went quietly to the bathroom returning with a new pack of cold towels replacing those on joes confused contused cont used forehead A bit of a bump you got she said and went back to her rocking pete maxwell still stood at the phone wide mouth half open sharp eyes peering disinterestedly at the ceiling yeh he said and again was silence tor a long time finally he straightened about the way we figured it then yeh the kids all right he hung up the phone then and came back to the bed joe was sitting up well kid it worked out ah t the way we doped it matheou Mayhe ou remember one time when I 1 was talking to you about jigsaw jig saw puzzles well about all there Is to this racket putting em together and finding you have to start all over again well about the time erymle bradke put on his show I 1 yanked my puzzle all to pieces maybe it was because id taken a liking to you but everything seemed too perfect I 1 dont like hundred per cent cases said pete theres usually a hole in them that you could throw a mule through 1 I had escaped then said joe yeh A bood thing you had the way it turned out cut one day a telephone tip comes in that youre playing the accordion on a circus out in the sticks so I 1 just traced the call it led straight to louie Bertolin ls so we started putting out the tails we found out first of all that Full house had beaten it out of town on some bind of a rush job As it turned out louie had gotten es cited and phoned in the tip thinking all that was necessary to close the case was to head you to the chair again but jaclson was wiser ue figured you might have learned something from tlygie bradke when you were cell mates and that hed better find out just what that something was why Full house was so generous pete went on in wanting to get you away and take care of you was just talking about it on the phone louies doing a swell job of coughing full house had to find out how much you knew and I 1 guess they finally decided you knew too much so they framed up this little idea about the house and Full house leaving you and ducking back fo town with boston who was waiting for him in a fast car while you stayed there and held the sack until the watchman could come along and bump you over with a few shots from a tomcat but im getting ahead of the way things worked out they were pretty excited about the way louies balled things up and began holding conferences pretty soon we saw there was a hookup between louie and nig friday there meantime wed set a tall on you and Full house but he lost you then your letter came and the little gal turned it over to prove you were straight pretty game little kid that gal we were pretty badly stuck until we found out that the whole crowd was getting ready for a fast lam out of town figured to lay low for a year or so says we followed em they met jaclson here at the hotel we know what was up but we bad mother brady ear ing on em from this room they kept the radio squawking so she get much and we were afraid to have it shut oft but when you blew in and I 1 heard it from across the hall where we were in a room with the transom down with some washington detectives once out of new york of course we have to depend on local police but it all works out about the same way we telephoned down to unhook the juice and the radio went ot mother started to get an earful and when things began to look bad she ran out and flagged us we did the rest with a tour by four that the portend port erd sneaked into our room except of course the gat work there were just a couple of slugs jaclson started to draw and a washington cop had already lone it joe pulled at hla breath 1 I guess I 1 understand it well ive just given you a sketchy as the ang anys ot course were onoe other things like gelting hold if that aloud molls handwriting dd finding out she was the one who wrote that first squeal timing it just right for us to catch you ID your room ashes big fridays gal then there were a few other little but of course the real tuffs come out since louies been appling down at headquarters I 1 elways figured louled yap stand prosperity lays seen all the money to be made in the booz e racket and paired up with jaclson Jam lson working mostly in washington covered up by not selling anything at his bolot cut there was competition from big friday so they offered him the big end of the deal to hook up lie crossed and came over the first job they pulled on this new deal they blew into this chopper mess at orrs mills then when things looked rotten in you come with your story of a day in the country you were made to ader so they took you they needed a fall guy bad jaclson Jam lson so louie says would have been willing to pay anything just to get somebody who would even admit being in the neighborhood enough to stall off the cops until he could cover op his tracks and manufacture alibis right then he even care if the guy was released in a few weeks to satisfy the laws longing for a victim and take off the first of appetite but after he had heard your story in the automobile he saw where a straight frame un would be better than anything else sou remember details too well and spilled things too easily he want to spend any more time than was necessary with you for fear that when you started coughing you might turn loose a picture we cops could recognize so he dazed you with a thousand dollars got you out of town for the day sneaked boston into your room with the evidence when the lodgers were all away and let circumstantial evidence do the rest it nearly pulled off an airtight air tight job said pete that lob tonight that was jamisons Jami sons hideout ue posed down here as a big oil guy had an office and everything played washington society a lot and ap pear in any booze transactions never came to new york except when it was important why we get his lay greer was the chopper who pulled the orrs mills job so gays about the time he had cleaned up boston came along in the second truck picked him up and got him into a new york hideout guns and all nobody had seen him what made the case against you so bad you were the only stranger who had been noticed in the neighborhood lies been under cover down here as a guard at the jaclson country place the lay was for you to get killed cracking the safe while jamison was down at the hotel talking with some blends rl ends there have been anything more to it as soon as the washington police got your fingerprints and checked up your record it would have been about the same on that trunk deal big friday that was his room would simply have called for two porters and had the trunk taken downstairs and fastened on the carrier of hla car then at the first good spot out of the trunk for you and into a river the police have wasted much time on a boater after it had turned out to be nothing but a dead new york gangster well pete reached for a cigarette how you feeling look a lot better he grinned as joe barry staggered to his feet all right go over and write it ill ring tor a boy guess the little gals been pretty anxious A cotton moon hung low over tle squatty tents of the |