Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1922-02-04
True
Detective Stories
FOURTH DEGREE

mind of Thomas Byrnes. superin-
tendent Of police In New York
city. that Louis Haner had been muir
dered for the sake of the money tina.
he MAS carrying with him az the time.
The little F'renchman had been the
proprietor Of cafe. and. having a
fear of the banks Of America. had the
habit Of carrying hundreds Of dollars
In his wallet until the opportunity pre-
scented itself Of purchasing an inter
national money order.
one morning he was found dead in
the ves:ihule Of his home, a IS cali
Der bullet through his heart and his
pocketbook missing.
That was all Byrnes had to work
upon. for there we're no indications
whatever Of the persons who had com
mt'ed the crime. The dispatch with
which the matter had been handled.
appeared To point To Il professional
criminal. so Byrnes gave orders that
all the pawnshops in New York were
to be closely watched. and reports
made To him Of the pawning of any
IS caliber revolvers
Investigation OF the dozen or more
.3S's pawned during the week which
followed the flanier shooting. showed
that all but one of them had been
+ pledged by persons who very evident
+ ly had no connection with the murder.
The single exception was one Michael
MCGloin, whom the pawnbroker In
+ question identified by means Of his
photograph in the Rouges' gallery.
McGloin's gun had been pawned on
the morning after the murder. and.
while the police had little difficulty
In locating the man himself, there was
not shred Of evidence TO connect
him with the Hanier case. beyond the
fact that he had been absent from
home on the night of the shooting In
the company OF four Of his boon com
panions.
Quietly. and without allowing a
word of his intentions 10 leak out.
Byrnes rounded up the quintet one
nj a time. none Of them knowing that
the others were being arrested. Each
Of them was lodged In a cell by HIM
self and questioned closely as 10 his
actions and his whereabouts at the
time of the murder. In spite Of the
fact that ByrneS had definite infor-
nation that the five men had been to-
geiher, each OF them told a different
story and each claimed to have been
alone. M n considerable distance from
the Hanier house.
ITS no use inspector" said one Of
the policemen who had been working
on the case about week after the
five men had been picked up. you
can't get n thing out of em. They
know, all right. but you can't convict
any OF EN- without confession--and
we've tried everything, including the
third degree"
Every WELL" said ByrneS quie;ly,
swell have To try the fourth degree"
Fourth degree? What's that?"
".IuSl ltile way oi getting al tine
truth when man wants 10 hold out
on you" was Byrnes' answer You
think there's no doubt that McGlOin's
the man: Have him brought TO this
Office tomorrow morning, promptly AT
ten o'clock"
A; the time specified. McGloin. sui
len and rcSentfu AT what he claimed
WAS an Illegal detention, walked into
the inspectors office. alone. Had he
been interested In such details. he
nigh: have noted that Byrnes was
seated so that he could watch the
window of his office which looked out
upon corridor, and also keep an eye
upon the occupant of the only chair
IN the room. bolted 10 the floor in
frcni of the desk. But McGloln wasn't
worrying about such triiles He was
there to demand his release, and he
told the inspector So In no measured
terms.
That's all right. McGloin." replied
/ ByrneS. "Sit down minute. I've
several things to attend to- and he
mO:ioned 10 the chair, placed so that
/ Il too commanded view of The cor
ridor window. A moment later the
office door opened and a man came in.
ByrneS. watching the gunman closely,
saw that he was barely able 70 sup
press II stgrt--for the visitor was the
pawnhroker with whom McGloin had
/ pledged his revolver Without saying
word. the Tawnbroker crossed the
room. laid McGloin's gun on the in
spectors desk and walked out.
/ Neat little boy" remarked Byrnes
{ picking up the revolver. Ever see
+ il hefore2"
Never" growled Mc0loin.
IL thought not" was the reply. ats
the gun that Hanier. the Frenchman.
was shot with. We've finally got a
line on that case. after working on II
for over a month. Found Il man who
was witness OF the shooting"
AZ this moment by a prearranged
signal. one Of McGloin's partners was
marched past the corridor window.
"Ycs." continued Byrnes, appearing
nof ~ noficc tho gliuman's n.ifnfinu