The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-05-19
On the Trail of big Finger"

With the last Boyd sprsng from his
concealment and strobe toward the
group of men at the table. Before he
had covered six feet Coleman was by
his side, and their four revolvers rose
to line with their shoulders.
Throw UP your hands, you fellows"
Numbered Boyd. up with them, 1
say The man who disobeys will be
downed with a bullet. Hand up, every
man of you!'
For five seconds only. while Boyd's
threatening words fell upon their ears,
CONSERVATION and surprise held the
startled ruffians motionless and silent.
Then, despite his commands, despite
the deadly array of weapons by which
they were backed, there came the very
move Felix Boyd was expecting.
As If the vision of a prison cell sud
denly had risen before his glowing eyes,
Dalton uttered one desperate cry,
ieaped backward from the table and
snatched out a revolver from his pock-
ct. AS his arm rose, however, the spite
full crack of Boyd's weapon ran through
the loft.
The bullet reached the mark intended.
With a single, piercing yell, and a con-
vulsive leap of fully three feet, Dalton
threw both arms above his head and
through the heart.
Next" said Boyd, with a voice and
aspect pen could not describe. up
with your hands. you rascals, or one of
you will follow"
Such scenes are enacted in seconds
only. The swift death. the shock Of be-
holding such a tragedy. had far more
effect than Boyd's ringing command. In
another moment the hands of every
oh hn tel a hove
his head.
quite worthy of him, Jimmie, so it
was" assented Felix Boyd, when the
two sat discussing the case in the lat
ter's office next morning. "Only the ras-
cally brain of the Big Finger could
have invented so ingenious a scheme. 1
suspected as much from the moment l
saw how the trick was turned"
AT what particular moment was
that, Felix" inquired the central Of
fee man. I'm blessed if l saw through
1t at any stage"
Boyd laughed and fell to filling his
pipe.
1.-THE evidence allowed of only one
theory said he; that the work of the
burglars had in some way been masked
from the view of any person outside of
Kibby & Kane's windows. The testi-
dictated. moreover not that they had
seen the office and safes of the firm. as
they believed, but that they must have
seen a cleverly executed picture,
painted on a canvas or curtain
by which the burglars were con-
cealed while at work, and which must
have been so nicely adjusted that,
when viewed from the distant window,
il presented a perfect likeness of the
rear of the store"
Il see the idea" nodded Coleman.
Naturally" continued Boyd. such
an artificial scene would not have
stood close or prolonged inspection, yet,
under the cursory glance of passing
Waterman, accustomed to night after
night of seeing nothing wrong in the
store, the fraud might easily escape de-
lection
That's true"
The two window poles, carelessly left
out of the place by the burglars, at
once confirmed my theory. l inferred
that they had been used to hold up the
curtain, one at each upper corner; and.
when 1 discovered a straight row of
tiny holes in the floor, indicating that
the lower edge of the curtain had been
tackled down, l was convinced that i
was right
1.-The greath depth of the store made
the scheme the more feasible" observed
Coleman.
Exactly. Jimmie" nodded Boyd.
Next it became obvious to me that
such a curtain could have been pre-
pared only by some clever scenic artist,
possibly one employed in one of the
city theatres. My discoveries in the
rear alley helped me to establish his
identity"
How was that, Felix?"
Naturally, the burglars had left on
guard out there some of their number
who could not possibly aid them in
breaking the safe. So 1 at once began
searching for the scene-painter with a
clubfoot."
"Ah. I see." laughed Coleman.
'I located him the following day."
continued Boyd; land then began to
shadow him. 1 learned that his name
was Julian Tampa, that he was an
Italian, and remarkably clever in his
line of work. He has been employed
for some months at one of the uptown
theatres. On the second night of my
espionage l detected him making
sketches of the interior of Isaac Pol
inski's pawnshop on the BOwery, and 1
promptly suspected that a similar
burglary there was under considera-
tion."
Naturally enough" smiled Coleman.
"Afterward I Swallowed Tampa to Den
ny's stable, in which / discovered the
painting In the loft. For three nights
/ secretly watched Tampa as he gave
his work the finishing touches. but
Denny, who owns the stable, was the
only man who visited him. From
their conversation, however. soon
learned that my suspicious were en-
tIreIy correct. Scanlon was back of the
ingenious scheme, and Denny one of
the gang, one of his teams having been
used on the night of the Kibby burg
larry. When I invited you to go there
to have a look at the loft and the
painting Jimmie, ] had no idea that
we would encounter most of the gang,
though l already knew that Polinski' 5
shop was soon to be entered and a like
robbery attempted.
your plan was to nab them when
about turning that trick, eh?''
Precisely" replied Boyd, reaching
for a match. Even then Idoubt if We
should have caught Scanlon. Though
he devised this scheme, and craftily
inveigied Tampa into 1t, he himself is
keeping we'll under cover. Not a man
of the gang we've recently taken in
will disclose his whereabouts.
We'll. it's some satisfaction to have
secured all of his confederates and to