Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1927-12-05
CHAPTER VII

on his narrow shoulders. He was
short and thin and his face was
sharp beneath straggly hair which
was never quite smoothly brushed.
He appeared to be a clerk-and only
in that capacity not out OF place in
the luxuriously furnished office on
the door Of which was the single
word-Private.
Yet this wEs John Carmody's Of
flee and Carmody was the sharp
faced man at the desk wac DELHI
Grated with punctilious care between
two brands Of pertumed cigarets. lie
was dressed with a %plainness
amounting to severity.
His private office occupied a cor
rer Of the fourteenth floor Of the
First National Bank building and be-
tween IL and the hall were other Of
fees: those Of hireling lawyers who
attended 10 routine work for him,
ard Of law clerks and Of many ste
nographers and typists and filing
clerks. One did not gain an audience
with John Carmody easily and
never unless he desired It. There
were many who tried 10 blast
through-and always without sue
cess. There was rigid austerity for
the timid ard. il necessary, brute
force for any who might harbor a
deep personal anim0sity against the
acrid man In the corner room.
John Carmody had enemies, pow
erful ones, for to be an enemy of
Carmody one must be powerful. Os-
tensibly the man was merely an
amazingly successful practitioner in
the field Of criminal law; actually
he was an omniscient power in city,
county and state politics with a fin
ger firm on the pulse Of the under
world and the proletariat.
Personally, he cared nothing for
the political limelight. He never
sought office and would have re-
fused IL had il been thrust upon
him. But il pleased him-and was
OF inestimable personal benefit-to
control those who did hold office. II
Is difficult TO overestimate the value
OF knowing in advance just who will
be on the jury in a vitality import
ant case: il is OF absorbing interest
10 a criminal lawyer TO know exact
" who the real criminals are-so
that nc times these men sought his
serSiccs defensively, merely to
close lips that might otherwise be
used TO assist the district attorney.
That vas John Carmcdy: a rapier
brain behind innocuous mask of
bland friendliness; a master player
moving his cheesmen about the vast
board OF the state: a person who
knew to the tiniest fractional part of
an inch what he could and should
do-and what had best be left IN
done. II pleased him 70 earn the
worship OF the criminal world. Its
citizens furnished him with an ade-
quate practice. but more particularly
they held tiny bits Of information
which could be woven prettily into
the warp and woof Of information
texture which enabled him 10 invest
his personal fortune soundly and
successfully.
Only the very honest dared ex-
rress hatred Of John Carmody. III
they snubbed him, that was their
business and immensely amusing 10
him. They did not have the power 70
blacklist him from the city's ex-
elusive clubs. nor to debar him from
the best social circles. Socially. he
was considerable Of a lion. Men re-
sponded in spite OF themselves. TO
the sheer power Of the man, and
women
Only one or two OF Carmcdy's
most intimate friends-ard non Of
his enemies-knew OF the chink in
the mans armor. They regarded him
as inhuman. bereft of any distinctly
masculine emotion: yet beneath the
retiring exterior were veins ia which
red blood coursed hotly-so holly,
indeed. that en- more shan one ocrn-
sion il had come near to h~etraying
the man. Where women were con-
cerned he was not always bland and
srave-and never negative. 10 was
that which had sent Tod Shannon
70 Jail. Carmody could have picked
his " jury in that trial, and
would have had IL not been that he
learned Of Kathleen's intention 20
come into his employ. With Kath-
leen as his private secretary, he
considered IL more profitable 70 his
own interests for Todd 20 he in pris-
on. And SO 10 prison Tod went he
and his niece filled with admira-
ton for the heroic efforts Of this
great man on Tod's behalf-and Car
mody was left with a free hand 70
do as best he could with the girl
For years she had baffled him. He
knew that she worshipped his power
and his ability. Her admiration Of
his accomplishments showed in every
look and gesture-yet in all the
years Of office intimacy he had
never pierced the veil Of personal re-
serve. He was further away from
the girl now than he had been when
Todd Shannon first went to prison.
and he had been too adroit, too
mach the master strateRist. TO risk
disaster by one grand false move.
He had never succeeded IN ccnvinc-
inE her that he was a mortal man