The Washington herald., 1918-12-29

Police Sergt Robey of the Eighth
precinct stopped beneath a flicker
ing street lamp and looked at his
watch. A binding gust of rain beat
in his face and Obscured the dial.
Seven minutes of two" he NUT
tered. where the deuce Can Hooper
be- There must be n pretty soft
hoodling place somewhere on this
beat" For an hour the sergeant
had searched from one end to the
other Of PatrOlman HoOper's beat
without finding him. The beat was
one OF the worst, If not the worst
in Washington. embracing what
was known to the police as "HeIrs
Bottom"
At the next corner thessergeant
met the officer OF the adjoining beat
whom he had left a little after mid
night. According to this officer he
and Hooper had been standing talk
ing at the dividing line between the
beats just before l o'clock. and
Nwhen they had parted Hooper start
, ed apparently for the patrol box to
turn in his hourly call to the station
house
Losing patience every moment
Sergt. RObey went to the patrol box
10 learn whether Hooper had turned
N his ? o'clock call. and if so. from
what box. His o'clock callr ex-
,laiTned the desk sergeant. Why
iidn't even turn in at l o'clock
Where is he? Can't you find him 2
Robey responded in a few well
chosen AnglO-Saxon terms that
made the wires burn. slammed the
receiver on the hook and resumed
his search for the missing Hooper
For short cut to an adjacent street
the sergeant started through a mar
row alley adjoining Harris C"Bat-
tle") Reid's notorious dive. which
was known in police circles as the
Palace Of Vice"
Reid Boosted Immunity.
Reids place was headquarters for
svery type OF criminal to be found in
'Helfs Bottom" and it was no secret
that Reid himself had struck terror
INTO the hearts of the police of the
precinct. Every criminal on Reid's
stan who obtained refuge in the Joint
seemed immune from arrest. and the
proprietor of the palace" openly
boasted that ne was feared BY the
police. The palace was a safety
zone for the professionals of the un-
derworld. and the veteran members
Of the police force discreetIy avoided
hunting for too much evidence against
the den.
Sergt. Robey was half way down the
alley when he tripped over a huddled
1p figure and went sprawling. One
Of his hands touched a face that was
cold as ice and the other smeared into
4 pool of blood. He hastily struck a
match. looked into the face of the
figure and then shrank back in horror.
The body was that of Patrolman
Hooper.
An Instant later sergt. Robey
Strengthened up and broke the still
ness Of the night with the shrilI
blasts of the police distress call"
. Policemen Bruce and Burley of near
by beats quickly responded.
1t required little examination to
prove that Hooper had been brutally
murdered His helmet. near the body
had been broken in the back by the
force Of a downward blow, and an
enormous bruise directly on the back
of the officers head showed where
the blow had struck A stab wound a
little below the throat. from which
the gushing blood had saturated
the officers uniform. indicated that
Hooper had first been struck from be-
hind with a blackjack or other wea-
pom and that a second assailant had
inflicted the stab wound as the officer
fell forward. Apparently he had been
dead for more than an hour
In a back room of the eighth pre-
Cinct three nights later n lieutenant
of police Sergt. RObey. a central of
fee detective and two privates of the
precinct were sitting in conference.
''Well. we've got him. boys" the
lieutenant was saying in a breezy
manner. You know Carlmo, the man