The Washington herald., 1919-01-24

more SNOW said Drew TO him
self. This is white day IL ever
there was one. I wonder If Delaney
got to the house in timer"
He turned as ''Buurrrr! Burrrr!r
sounded at the ring1ng-box below
the desk.
''HelIo?" he said sharply into the
transmitter. Hello! Who's this7"
He waited as some out-of-town
connection was made. A thin voice
broke in from the silence. The voice
rose in timber. "Oh, helIo!" e1-
claimed the detective, recognizing
Flynn. one of his operatives. Hello.
Flynn" ne said. Whats the wealth
er like out at Morristown? les,
. Yes! 81. Oh, is that so.
What? h. Too bad!
,, Well. you better come
in. = Take the first train and
jump on the job. He's in
Florida, eh? Well, that lets
him out Good-by. Flynn"
Drew reached for a pencil and
scratched a name of his list before
he hung up the receiver. That
J leaves slAs ne Sdlu~ running MS
eyes down the names OF the sUs-
poets six to go. Wen round them
up-or out. II looks bad for one
or two of them
He dropped the pencil to the desk
with a Zip of his fingers. He re-
placed the telephone receiver on the
hook He twirIed the chair and
| leaned forward with his hands on
his knees.
Nice bird. you" he said. ad-
dressing the magpie. We're alone,
! you and /. why don't you tell me
what you know-what you heard in
| that library, when the millionaire
| talked over the phone and then re-
ceived the cupronickle bullet in the
/ base of his brain? He said, All
| Sing" Ell? He said il, or We are
jumping at conclusions. Have Delaney
and l erred-as once or twice before?
The bird strutted about the cage
| 1t pecked at a hard, white fishbOne,
/ thu ust between two bars. It dipped
| its bill into the water-hOlder. then
! held high its head as II gUlped. II
! switched its tail and hoped onto
| the first perch. There it sat, with
! coiled claws. as Drew leaned closer.
| 'Ah. Sing" he repeated conf
IDENTIFY. "Ah, Singing. Ossining,
Sing Sing, Let me hear you do
your prettiest. birdie. DON
The magpie lowered its head and
peered outwardly. It lifted a wing
with rurIed dignity. Drew mar
/ rowed his eyes. You were there.
! he whispered. You were in that
/ sealed room-that double-locked
and triple-watched library. How
: did the murderer shoot down the
! old man? How could he do it.
Don? l think 1 know why it was
done. I'm fairly sure who is direct
I ing matters. What I want to know
is. what devilish ingenuity of the
! criminal tribe projected that bullet
into the old mans brain? Answer
that. Don"
| The bird was as stately as a
/ raven. 1t seemed to Drew that he
heard an ecnoed ''Nevermore' He
! his knees. Answer that, Dom he
| repeated.
Gone batty. chief" asked Har-
rigan. thrusting his shoulders
I through the open door.
Drew glanced up. He passed his
hand over his forehead in a sweep
| ing motion as if brushing cobwebs
| from his brain. Guess ] am" he
| admitted, with a sparkling glance al
/ the paper held in the assistant S
| hand. Well" he snapped, recov-
ering himself We'll. what luck
/ see that YOU got something"
/ Yep, l got him all right. He's
hanging around the front office OF
the prison seeing what he can find
/ out He says" HarriEan consulted
the paper He says. MOrphy has
been worried all morning. That he
! acts like a man in a daze. AL
Ways"
Il don't want that. now, Didn';
I send you out to call up the vice
president OF the telephone company!
The same man who helped us early
this morninE. Westlake."
4 was getting to him, chief! He
was busy when called. so I thought
I'd get Frick again. That's all
Frick had to say, except a
Well"
Except he'll stay there until Inc
receives instructions from you tc
the contrary. Says he'll report il
anything turns up"
GO on with Westlake" The de-
tective's voice hardened.
Well. I got him. finally. Had tC
wait till he cleaned out the callers
/ in his office. He's in charge Ul
maintenance and equipment. He
says that their records show
show WHAT" Harrigan had
scowled at his own writing. IT
took some time to get this. chief
! Oh, / see. Well, the records Of tht
! Westchestcr Company shows thre;
! long-distance calls from the prison
between o'clock last night and thi!
morning. The first one was at 7:ll
D. m. to a slot booth at the eas'
end of the New York Central Rail.
road station
Good snapped Drew. Good
/ Go on! We're getting there"
This call was for seventeen min
utes. 1t was charged to the prison
What was the booth number
HarriEan consulted his sheet. 81
didn't get that" he said. scratChin-
his head. ''Westlake didn't give Ii
to me"
Go on-we'l get it, Go on
What was the next CALI
The second call, chief, was "a tn"
state Capitol Building at ALBANY
1t was for three minutes. No more.
l guess that was the warden talk