Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-06-12


We looked at one another.
That is what was done here, isn't
it?" said.
Absolutely" said the dynamite
man.
sent for Mehaffey and told him
what had been said.
Then the Job never was OF Sailor
Benny's doing" said he instantly.
Good CAD, man! The load must have
been put in by the man who locked
the door. And then how sid Benny
come to be killed cracking the Ioor?"
The dynamite man and the safe fian
prepared to withdraw.
II guess the case is all up to you.
Mr. Cornell" they said. ut looks like
work for tee"
They went away and Mehaffey and I
sat down to theorize behind the
locked door.
Cornell" said Mehaffey, there is
this about this job: Somebody had
been in on 1t before Sailor Benny got
to It. Somebody had stuck load in
there back Of that door, and whoever
j
closed the vault and fixed the combi-
nation. Then Benny comes along
with his pal and gets busy. Benny
puts in his little charge, just little
soup poured in the cracks to loosen
that old door His pal Is in the other
r. ON, doing lookout. Benny turns
loose his charge-and, bang! goes the
big one that's inside. Naturally Ben
ny is knocked stiff. His pal comes In,
sees what has happened, gets the
money and beats it in hurry. Isn't
that the way you size 1t up?'
Not quite" said. why did that
big load happen to be on the inside the
night that Benny came to blow the
crib? Didn't the man who put 1t
there know that Benny was coming!
And II he did know-how did he come
to know? Why did he know that
And If he knew-which he certainly
did-why did he leave It there, know
ing-as he certainly must have-thal
II would blow Benny to pieces as sure
as he ever turned loose his charge
And If he knew all this-this man
which he did-why did he do it? WI!
did he want Benny killed there Il
front Of tho safe? Why did he O.
that"
Mehaffey shook his head.
She's a bad case, Cornell" he said.
Yes" I said, because the man
who put that soup In there to go of
when Benny came must have had
something to hide, and this was the
way he took to hide It. Mehaffey,"
said. suddenly, you and Durango
both know all about Bennys old
haunts out in Omaha. Better run out
there right away and see If you can
find why Benny came east"
"Ye-es," said he, slowly. That's
about the way she will work out. Why
did Benny come east? Who got him
to come? That's the question that's
to be answered. Durango stars in
/ that piece: he used TO work in Omaha
and knows Benny's girl"
When we came out Of the vault
room I said to the president
We'll, Mr.. Giles, We have done
about all we can do here. What we've
got to do now is to to try to look for
man who got the money. We will do
our best, but assure you it will be a
hard task to find him.
II fear so, Mr.. Cornell" said Giles
But you people are very capable,
; understand"
I'VE never have fallen down on a
case yet" | said as we left him.
suspect that Durango at one time
/ or another had been on the other side
OF the fence, for his knowledge of
criminals, their hang-outs, their man
/ ners and their associates in this coun-
try was something too intimate to
/ have been picked up as a detective.
Durango could at any time go to any
city in the country. go straight to the
/ criminal quarter and be accepted as
one of the bunch without the slightest
suspicion. This was his sole qualitica-
ton as a detective, however, so he
was valuable only at infrequent inter-
walls. In this case he was, as Mehaf-
fey put 1t, the star. The pair Of them
blew into Omaha on the beams OF a
box car, attired in proper hobo cloth
ing. They went to a saloon kept by
an ex-convict near the stock yards-a
crooks nest-and within few hours
they were associating with some OF
Durango's old friends in a back room
upstairs. 1'ney worKeo Tor two DAYS
and then sent me this bulletin
Sailor Benny was flush With
money for weeks before starting to
do Weldon job. Must have been
paid in advance TO do It,"
Next day came another wire.
lave found Benny's wife From
| her got Information that Benny was
! originally q Weldon boy. he used
to got money from there occasion.
ally. Perhaps you can connect up
on this"
And the third day:
"Bennys wife says Benny went to
Weldon in answer to wire saying
just Come She doesn't know
where wire came from"
wired back:
III possible send me sample Of
writing from person remitting hin
! money from Weldon"
And that-the result OF that wire
settled the Weldon bank robbery.
On the tenth day OF my stay in Well
don, just after he had pulled down the
I