The Washington times., 1937-05-07

It was due to some smart work
by Charley Harris. He saw
Lewicki come in and heard him
ask at the desk for Weiss. Harris
guessed who he was and asked him
if he had seen anyone with Mar
gle Shannon the night before.
Kornman came up about that time
and grabbed Lewicki and took him
into Weiss office; but not until
Harris had found out what he
wanted.
We were already on the press
when Harris called in, but we
made over for bulletin and new
line, SEEK MURDERED GIRLS
ESCORT"
I leaned back then to relax a
bit after the strain of pounding
out nearly Ohree columns OF copy,
most of which Calhoun had kept
snatching out of my typewriter in
three and four paragraph takes
And while sat there with my
feet on the desk, thinking about
what the next lead might be,
Lowell Brant came over to me.
Until then I had never eX-
changed more than half a dozen
words with him at a time. he
was the quiet sort; unusually so;
not at all the kind of man it's easy
to be friendly with, even in a
newspaper office. He was long
and stopped and grim looking
a forbidding figure with his sharp
features and his unruly name OF
iron-gray hair.
City Room Speculates
AbOuS Readers Story
He had come to the Express
about four or five months before.
looking for a job. Sparks, the
managing editor, being short OF
COPY readers, had taken him on.
If he had told Sparks where he
came from, then Sparks was the
only man who knew. The statt
did a lot Of speculating about him,
and hazarded numerous guesses as
to what had brought such a
strange fellow to their midst.
Every newspaper office have
known has had its mystery" ana
Lowell Brant was ours. Tacitur-
nifty in such a jovial and garru-
lous crew as ours marked man
and set him apart. Coupled
with our utter lack Of information
about his past and our wonder.
ment at his amazing command
of the facts which the rest OF us
had to scurry to dictionaries and
encyclopedias for made Brant
more than curiosity. We
looked upon him rs sort OF
combination of Delphix oracle
and Sphinx.
So he gave me quite a surprise
when he paused at my desk and
actually started a conversation.
ct read copy on your story" he
said haltingly and with obvious
difficulty. Good yarn"
Now, I like a pat on the back
as well as the next man, but this,
coming from Brant, was almost
too much.
why, LnanKS, 1 SAID. 1GS
the kind of story, though, that
just about writes itself"
you're modest" said Brant,
rubbing his long nose. He said,
IT liked that description of the
scene. That was neat writing"
Thanks" I said again, and I
began to fidget. I felt like a big
sissy. With Brant actually
standing at a reporters desk and
talking, every ear would be
cooked our way. and I didn't rel
ish any lunch-table razzings from
the staff.
Pardon me all to hell, Brant,
but you'll spoil me-" I laughed
and said: IT can't get over this.
You don't say ten words day,
and here you are delivering an
eulogy. You ought to tell that
stuff to Calhoun. He's never
satisfied"
He colored a bit at my blunt
speech. His piercing dark eyes
held me briefly with an inquir-
ing look and then he decided to
smile. It was a shy, lonely sort
Of smile and on the instant I
changed mind about the man.
He was a human being after all.
calhoun" I said, sensing that
Brant was really anxious to have
me talk, 'rhas been praying for a
story like this. They don't come
along every day . 1 hope I get to
cover the trial. The last decent
murder we had, did all the dirty
work and then got an out-of-town
assignm ment when the trial
started"
Thinking about the trial al
ready?" said Brant. whats your
theory-that Margie Shannon was
killed by her gentleman friend of
last EVENING""
We'll" I told him, "that'l do
till better one comes along"
"And at first" he said, "the po
lice were sure it was the work of
burgler."
mot all Of them" I corrected.
"Cropsy wasn't sold on that idea
at all, but he asked me not to men
ton it. Cropsy couldn't imagine
what a burglar would be looking
for behind tapestry" I told him
then what Cropsy had said.