Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1922-04-22
True
Detective Stories
BROKEN GLASS

w New York $ police force reached
Sixiy.ninih street aud 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."
McIIugh. II appeared, had been driv-
ing along in light buggy, shortly
after dark. An automobile. speeding
from behind. had struck the buggy
Hugh instantly. Apparently the only
living witness to the tragedy was the
horse but, as Brennan said. there's
no way of maxim horse talk
So the sergeant set to work To coll
lect what bits OF evidence he could
gather from the surrounding street
Caught on one of the spokes Of the
buggy wheel where Il had evidently
been torn off by the force OF the col
lsion, was a nickel-plated lamp rim
bearing the name of the Ham Lamp
Company. Rochester. n. Y" That,
and small fragment Of automobile
tire about three inches In length ap-
peared 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 It's
socket. the lens of the lamp would
naturally have been shattered. SO he
set 10 work to pick up the bits Of
a.. 80 hno1
quarters that night he brought with
him nm envelope containing twenty-One
pieces OF glass. together with the nick
eled rim, the buggy spoke on which
IL had caught and the Jagged piece
torn from the automobile tire.
what are you going To do with
that lunk:" inquired his associates on
the force "If Sherlock Holmes had
had those he could have told YOU the
make of the car. the complexion Of
the man who was driving H. the IT,
censo number ana how many gallons
Of ca> there was in the tank-hut.
outside If a hook. what good ARE
they
Maybe none at all" admitted
Brennan. hui If you'l use some brains
whom Won look nj 'em you'll note soy
eral things that may be Of help in lo-
catin' the chr that killed Mcllugh and
then drove oG into the night. never
did take much stock in the sherlock
Holmes Stories-it's easy enough -
fix II So that your hero can solve %
problem that you know the Answer of
but here's one cslse in which ! think
tlut his deducin' theories will Gene In
pretty handy.
See that Srnudcei' and III" ser
gcnnt held up the buggy spoke and
pointed Ia what appeared To be Il worn
place on tie wood toward III" end
which had been nearest III" wheel
AZ first thought II was merely
where the paint had worn OF ana the
wood showed through. But The rest
~ the nu.sy Voc ST.Jh ";i,, ;i.;.;..
Only few days out of the Shep. So
| examined il more carefully and
found that il was "A bit of gray paint.
scratched off 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 look for gray car Of one Of
those fourteen makes, which elm
mates more than 20 per cent of the
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.
There are three kinds Of glass there
one plain glass. one mirror lens and
one concave-conyeX lens. II you'l fit
'em together you'll see that the ear
Carried cight.'nch gas headlights and
six-inch oil sidclights Therefore il
was nm old model. The bit ri rubber
was very evidently ripped on four
inch tire. Now, you members 90 the
traffic squad what Kind Of q cur an
swers those specifications"
~ 1900 Packard model Is" came
In q y''rGS from several of :hr nen
who had been trained 10 reco.nizc
the mike and model of an automo-
bile from the appearance Of r. heed
lights
"Right" snapped Brennan, "Old
Shcrluck Holmes wasn't So far out of
the WAY after all Now all We hive
10 look fer is n 1909 model Packard
painted gray. with az least one cash
along the PAINT ON the right side and
badly IN need Of repairs. The head
lights ARE gone. 50 the car corl3n't
have Travelled very fur. Ger after tie
garages around SlNiy.ulatl street and
we ought To have our man before
morning I've done enough work for
one night and I'm perfectly will'n'
that ono Of ynu boys should have the
credit for the arrest :"
II was less than an hour later that
the headquarters phone rang and
Brennan was notified that the owner
ami driver Of the car had been ar
rested and had confessed giving a.
an eNcuSp the fact thar he hadn'f seer,