The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-02-19
Il 1lF BL /ACK PICfON(
VSIFy 1920 By hEA Service Inc bg ANNE AUSTIN NSSM

"And shot him over the tele-
phone, too, I suppose?" Jack re-
torted contemptuously. VERY in
genious of me, I'm sure"
please, Jack!" Ruth begged, her
voice piteous with terror. mfr.
Cowan," she asked TREMENDOUSLY of
the embarrassed witness, "isn't it
very possible that you're mistaken
in thinking you recognized Mr..
Borden's voice over the phone?"
ooh, sure! OF counsel" Cowan
succumbed instantly to the appeal
in those blue eyes.
But McMann was Of sterner stuff.
Look here, Cowan! You told me
that you heard a mans voice, which
you recognized as that of your
friend, Harry Borden, shouting, in
great anger: Tn not going to have
you interfering in my affairs! Who
are you, to tell Harry Borden what
he can do and can't do?' Is that
the truth, Cowan? Are those sub
stantially the words you heard be-
fore you hung up the receiver"
TINE harassed real estate man
l. mopped his brow again. CAS-
near as I can remember--yes."
"You distinctly heard the speaker
call himself Harry Borden?" Nc
Mann insisted.
Eyes, L did, for a fact" Cowan
admitted unhappily. 81 said to my
self that there'd be trouble yet be-
tween those two, but I never
dreamed"
"Well, 7 guess my case is pretty
clear" McNIann broke in, smiling
with grim satisfaction.
Saturday morning, Hayward, you
see the girl you're engaged to strug-
Cling in Borden's arms You
threaten to kill Borden if he lays
hands on her again, Cowan has to
hold you by main strength to keep
you from trying to jump across the
airshaft to get at your man.
"You meet Miss Lester at 100;
she comes back to her office for her
forgotten bank book, has another
struggle with Borden, who bruises
her lip in kissing her"
1--WE told you that is not true!"
Ruth cried.
NGcNann went on as if she had
not spoken.
"You find her at the elevator with
tears in her eyes and her lip swell
ing, and it takes all her strength and
threats Of breaking the engagement
to keep you from killing Borden
then. You two go to lunch to-
gether, she confesses that Borden
had manhandled her"
"That also is not trre!" Ruth in
terrupted furiously,
McNann ploughed on imperturb-
ably.
You're so angry with Borden,
Hayward, that you leave the hotel
dining room in the midst of your
luncheon and hurry back to the
Starbridge building, determined to
have it out with him, possibly with
your mind already made up to kill
hin. You call him on the phone"
Jack laughed contemptuously.
"That's likely, isn't it? If I had
wanted to telephone Harry Borden
I could have done so from the Ches-
ter hotel without making a trip to
the Starbridge building"
But you couldn't have shot him
from the Chester hotel' McNGann
retorted angTily.
Maybe you did forget your the
alter tickets, as you say you did, and
had to come back for them. Maybe
you didn't intend to kill Borden I'M
til after you quarreled with him
over the phone.
"It's not up to me to figure out
just why you telephoned Harry
Borden before you shot him. All I'm
concerned with is that Harry Bor-
den was shot as he stood in front of
that window, that he had been
heard defying your threats over the
telephone, that you had gun,
which is missing now, and that the
window of your private Office is di-
rectly opposite the window at which
Borden was standing when he was
killed. That's enough for mel"
"But not for me, Mr.. McMann!"
Ruth cried, her eyes flashing as she
shook off Jacks restraining hand
"A1ld 1 know enough about criminal
court procedure to know that it will
not be enough to warrant Mr.. Hay
wards arrest. Remember I'm Col
by Testers daughter!"
''You had a good teacher-the
best in the world, Miss Lester" Nc
Mann answered with surprising
gentlenesS. But I'm also remem-
bering that you're engaged to be
married to Jack Hayward, and I be-
lieve he killed the man who in
suited and mistreated you. I'm
mighty sorry"
"TLEASE listen to me for a min
Il ute. Mr.. McMann," Ruth
pleaded.
Il know you're only trying to do
your duty-that you want to be fair.
But there are so many things you
aren't taking into consideration.
First, you are making mistake in
believing that Jack had a motive
for killing Mr.. Borden.
81 admit that he saw, from his
window, the struggle that Mr.. Cow