Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-03-26
CHAPTER XIV.

That evening after having dined at home,
Hartley drove down to the club where he
hoped to find DR.. Ramie or Maynard.
Neither OF them was there, and when he
called up the doctor at his office, he
found that the doctor had been out all
afternoon and was not expected to return
until late.
Several of the men at the club were
talking about the murder in the cab. The
latest news was that the result Of dragging
the river was the finding Of a mans leg.
The dredgers had also fished up a demi-
john, which was full of reddish colored
water The police thought it might have
been used in an attempt to catch the blood
coming from the cab, or in carrying water
to the cab in an attempt TO wash it off.
Their theory was that the cab had been
abandoned because of the tell-tale frozen
blood on the door and step.
A rather puzzlng thing about the case
was that the police had taken the cab to
the stable in order to see how 1t was that
the owner came to have two cabs bear
ing the same number, only one of which
was registered. The two cabs had stood
there together for several hours; they had
been gazed at by hundreds of persons, and
had been photographed by dozens of news
paper men before any one had noticed
anything peculiar about the numbers on
the lamps.
A sign painter happening to stop in front
Of the stable out Of curiosity, pointed out
that while one cab had the numerals 49,
on the lamp, the other was marked mo.
A." This led the few drivers and stable
men who were standing around to COM
pare notes and to concur In the opinion
saN
in front OF its number. After getting closer
to the cab, the crowd having made way
for him as II he were an authority, the
sign painter remarked that the lettering
was never done by man who had learned
the trade; because both the downstrokes
of the IN" were heavy, instead OF being
light, while the diagnol stroke was light
instead of being heavy The crowd did
not attach much Importance to this critic
ism; several men thought the lettering
was all right, and they did not hesitate
10 say so.
This made the painter angry, and he went
close up to the lamp. A glance told him
that the right number OF the cab was 1l44
and that the IL had been turned into an
n and a small 90 had been put between
the II and the Al. lie said the alteration
was never done by a sign painter, moi
with paint; but with some sort OF lqulC
glue mixed with ink. Upon hearing this
opinion, the policeman in charge took Il
upon himself to remove both lamps, after
getting the sign painters name and ad
dress, and getting three stablemen TO wit
ness that the lamps with the altered mum
bers came from the bloody cab.
With this information at hand, the police
had lost no time in finding the ownei
Of the cab registered as No. liza The owne
Of the vehicle said the cab had left tn
stable the evening before, and the drive
had telephoned that while he went int
house for minute with a fare, tn
horse had run away. Where the telephone
. message came from they did not know, an,
the driver had not returned. The polio
lost no time IN going to the cabby's home
: but he had not been seen since the nigh
. before,
Hartley passed half an hour reading owe
the details and looking at the picture
Of the dock, and the dredges, and IN
; stable and the house where the cabma
lived Then he began to feel restless, and
q as there was no sign Of the doctor or May
: nard. he drove 90 the theater and saw IN
! last acts Of the latest play Then he wen
+, home.