The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-04-07

SfOpCQ backward WIFI Ills Atlt manu- ~
lock 1t; still covering Boyd with the
weapon i'm his right.
There was a moment of silence,
strained, intense, fairly painful Then
it was suddenly broken by the noise of
BOyd's pencil, which had fallen, hat
Ting upon the floor.
Instantly the corridor door was
hurled open against Dalton with Vio-
lence that destroyed his aim and sent
him Keeling against the wall, and the
central office men, the sergeant of pO-
lice, and three additional officers, all
with weapons drawn, surged fiercely
into the room.
For an instant, HiXOn's eyes were
turned from Boyd, and his weapon wa
Vered. Another instant, and he was
stretched upon the floor, quivering in
every nerve and muscle, struck down
like an OK in the shambles.
With the snarl of a trapped wolf,
Dalton had caught his feet, ducked I'M
der COleman's Outstretched arms, and
was darting toward the nearest win
dow. Boyd met him halfway, met him
with a blow more vicious even than
that which had fioored Hixon, and he
reeled headlOng into the arms of the
detectives.
Lets have your bracelets, sergeant"
he CURLY commanded, as Coleman
wrenched the ruffian's revolver from
him, while the police ran to arrest his
two confederates, both of whom were
speedily secured.
Here you are, Mr.. Boyd" cried the
sergeant.
Boyd ignored the triumphant glee
with which the blinking handouts were
promptly rendered. With his features
grown hard as flint and his eyes in
tensely bitter he snapped them around
DaltOn's wrists. Then he reached
quickly up and. with a sharp jerk, tore
away the heavy beard from the mans
face.
Jimmie Coleman uttered cry Of
amazement, but Boyd said simply, yet
with an icy severity that cut far deep
er than his words:
so, so, As l suspected! ] once told
you, Mr.. Magnus Scanlon.. better
known as the Big Finger. that some
day l would lock you in manacles and
behind prison bars. The day has come
and l have made gOOdr'
The man addressed had recoiled in
voluntarily, with his face cOnvulsed
and distorted, and his broad, cruel
mouth viciously drawn.
Curse you, the end is not yeti" he
snarled in his throat.
Your end is in sight, however" re-
IF you elude justice this time
you red-handed knave, it will be be
cause the heavens fall"
As may easily be imagined, the news
of the arrest spread like wild-fire. Fol-
lowing close upon the heels of the
bloody crime came the startling reports
of BOyd's remarkable work; and the
evening papers of that day contained,
as rarely occurs under such obscure
circumstances, not only glaring stories
of the crime itself, but also reports of
the speedy arrest of the criminals, and
the remarkable craft and discernment
of Felix Boyd.
With the publication of the fact that
one of the prisoners was none other
than Magnus Scanlon, known as the
Big Finger and chief of the desperate
gang of crooks which long had been
operating below the dead-line. a feeling
of relief swept over that great financial
district, and the exploit of Boyd was
lauded to the skies.
x
They are making too much of it,
Jimmie" he mOdestly declared. while
discussing the affair with the central
office man next morning. MY success
resulted less from the keenness of my
observations and deductions, than from
my own confidence in them and my
prompt action. If Scanlon and Kelly
had got out of the building with those
stolen bonds. it's long odds that we
never could have fixed the crime upon
them and HixOn. We might have in
ferTed that that lay-figure was used as
a blind for doing the vicious job, but
theories never yet caught and convict
ed a criminal"
That's true" admitted Coleman.
But how the dickens did you light
upon a correct theory so quickly? I
had not formed the most remote sus-
piciOn."
Boyd laughed lightly
q hit upon it almost Immediately
Jimmie" said he. 'T knew Debbs to be
man of invariabIe habits, and the
instant l saw that lay-figure, which
stood just above the stairs on which
Debbs' body lay, I surmised what pos
sibly had occurred. 1t was necessary
to clench my suspicious as quickly as
possible, however, and. knowing that
the criminals probably had not had
time to get out of the building I at
once stopped the elevator service and
the departure of any person by the
way of the stairs"
q remember" nodded Coleman. els
there no other stairway"
testimony, moreover, and that of the
elevator boy, confirmed my belief that
the criminals still were in the build
ing"
quite naturally"
$50 l took a chance that / had the
rascals cornered, Jimmie, and went at
the case with zest," continued Boyd.
after mounting the stairs and ques-
tioning Caxton, the bookkeeper, 1 de
cided that from the position occupied
by the lay-figure one could see through
the glass transOm over the door of
Debbs private office, and possibly the
desk at which he worked. l confirmed
that a little later, Jimmie, when
sprang up beside the figure, ostensibly
to remove it. and glanced down the
stairway. Debbs' desk is near the win
dow, and I could plainly see it and the
hat he had left lying upon it,
Very clever, Felix, on my word"
1T confirmed my suspicion that the
lay-figure had been placed there with
an object and that DehhS' daily Ia