The Meeker herald., 1922-07-29
True
Detective Stories
BROKEN GLASS
copyri.h, ;, n. wheeler synalo.... IL.

II "
4*******e*+4*****%$****>+$
Copyright by The Wheeler Syndicate. Ina
VV7HEN Sergt. John r. Brennan Of
w New York's police force reached
Sixty.nInth street and Park ave-
nue. shortly after the accident which
caused the death Of John McHugh, he
found practically nothing which could
come under the head Of "evidence."
AfcHugh, 1t appeared. had been driv.
Ing along in u light buggy. shortly
after dark. An automobile, speeding
from behind, had struck the buggy
and smashed 1t to bits. killing Nc.
Hugh Instantly. Apparently the only
living witness to the tragedy was the
horse, but, AZ Brennan said. there's
no way Of maxim q horse talk"
So the sergeant set to work to col
lect what bits Of evidence he could
gather from the surrounding street.
Caught on one of the spokes OF the
buggy wheel. where 1t bad evidently
been torn OF by the force OF the col
lIsion. WAS nickel-platcd lamp rim
bearing the name Of the Ham Lamp
Company. Rochester. n. Y" That.
and snull fragment of automobile
tire about three Inches In length. ap-
penred to be the only results OF the
damage which the automobile had suf-
fered.
But Brennan figured that, MS the
lamp rim had been torn from Its
socket, the lens Of the lamp would
naturally have been shattered, so he
set to work to pick up the bits OF
glass. When he returned to head.
quarters that night he brought with
him mn envelope confirming twenty-one
pieces OF glass. together with the nick
eled rim. the buggy spoke on which
1t had caught and the Jagged piece
torn from the automobile tire.
"what are you going to do with
that junk?" Inquired his associates on
the force. "If Sherlock Holmes Ind
Ind those he could have told you the
make Of the car, the complexion Of
the man who was driving Y. the IL
cense number and how many gallons
OF gas there was In the>tank--but,
outside of book. what good are
theyy"
"Ainybe none at ALL" admitted
Brennan. "but II you'll use some brains
when you look at 'em you'tl note sew
eral things that may he Of help in To-
catin' the car that killed McIIugh and
then drove OF into the night. never
did tnke much stock In the Sherlock
Holmes storIes-its easy enough to
fix 1t so that your hero can solve
problem that you know the answer Of
hut here's one case in which ! think
that his deducin' theories will come In
pretty handy.
"See that smudge7' and the Ger
geant held UP the buggy spoke and
pointed to what appeared to be q worn
place on tl,e wood toward the end
which had been nearest the wheel.
AT first thought It was merely
where the paint had worn on and the
wood showed through. But the rest
Of the buggy was spick md span.
Only few days out Of the shop. So
l examined II more carefully and
found that 1t was bit Of gray paint.
scratched of the body of the death
car itself!
Take that lamp rim, now. There
are fourteen cars on the market that
are equipped with lamps made by that
company. SO that reduces the number
of suspects that much MORE. We've
got to took for n gray CIR of one Of
those fourteen makes, which elm.
mates more than 20 per cent Of tile
cars In the city"
But what about those pieces Of
glass? What are they goin' to tell
your
Eventually, the name Of the man
who owned the car" replied Brennan.
'1There are three kinds of glass there
--one plum glass, one mirror lens and
one concnve-convcx lens. II you'll fl
.em together you'll see that the car
carried eigl,t-Inch gas headlights and
six-inch oil sldelIghts. Therefore II
was IN old model. The bit of rubber
was very evidently ripped of four.
inch tire. Now. you members of the
traffic squad, what kind of car an.
swers those specifications"
"a 1909 Packard, model 49," came
In chorus from several Of the men
who had been trained to recognize
the make and model Of an automo-
bile from the appearance of its head.
lights.
-Righti" snapped Brennan. sold
Sherlock Holmes wasn't so far out Of
the way after ALL Now all we have
tn look for is a 1909 model Packard
painted gray. with at least one cash
along the paint on the right side md
badly in need of repairs. The head.
lights are gone, 30 the car couldn't
have Travelled very far. Get after the
garages around sixty-nlntii street and
we ought to have our man before
morning. I've done enough work for
one night and I'm perfectly willin'
that one Of you boys should have the