Part 2 (2/2)

”We had better go into the front room here,” answered Morgan, ”and let me get a line on things. About all I know so far is that somebody THINKS a murder has been committed.”

”You can't make much out of things as they are, that's a fact,”

a.s.sented Tierney, as they moved into the front room. He dropped into an easy chair close at hand, and pushed his cap back on his head, while Morgan went to one of the front windows and ran the shade to the top. Seating himself where he could get the full benefit of the light from the window, he drew out the typewritten report and read it over carefully.

”This is your report, isn't it, Tierney?” he inquired, folding up the sheets again and replacing them in his pocket.

”You bet; and I put into it every d.a.m.ned thing I know,” a.s.serted Tierney. ”And that's mighty little,” he added. ”This is the most mysterious case I ever saw.”

There was a pause while Morgan drew a pipe from his pocket and filled and lighted it. Then settling back in his chair, he looked at Tierney. ”Got any theories?” he asked.

”No,” replied Tierney. ”I haven't any theories--but I've got a couple of suspicions.”

”Well?”

”One,” continued Tierney, ”is this flat across the hall. Murphy--that's the man on the beat who heard the shot and investigated--Murphy noticed that in spite of all the racket we made breaking down the door last night, no one in that flat showed any interest. I tried to get in touch with them this morning. Nothing doing. Either they weren't home, or wouldn't answer the bell.”

”That looks bad,” commented Morgan. ”You mentioned in your report that you talked with the janitor. Did he drop anything about them that you didn't think worth while putting in the report?”

”The janitor simply told me that a man and his daughter lived in the flat, and that he thought the man was away a good deal; so he supposed he must be a traveling man. They have always seemed to be quiet people. He has never even seen them have any company.”

”That's suspicious, too,” declared Morgan. ”Normal people usually have SOME company. Is that all?”

Tierney nodded.

”Now,” prompted Morgan, ”you said you had another suspicion.”

”You bet!” exclaimed Tierney, straightening up in his chair. ”That guy, Marsh--underneath here.”

”'Great minds',” laughed Morgan. ”I sort of focused on that man myself after reading your report just now.”

”Well, here's the way I look at it,” explained Tierney. ”When ordinary folks hear fighting and shooting in the middle of the night, they generally stick their heads under the covers and lie close. They don't put on bath robes and run out on the street to be the first to give a report. Then the janitor tells me that he's seen this man around a lot in the daytime--'no visible means of support,'

you might say. Both Murphy and I remember that Marsh referred to his wife. The janitor says he's pretty sure that he never saw any woman around the flat. And when I asked Marsh this morning to let me talk to his wife, he said she was not in.”

”You probably noticed in my report that it was this Marsh who showed us the bloodstain under the chair. You know, we came out of the kitchen and caught that guy in the act of pulling a chair over the spot. He said he was replacing the chair where he found it. I've been wondering whether he wasn't actually covering up the spot himself. When we caught him in the act, maybe he just decided to bluff it out.”

”The Department didn't make any mistake when they s.h.i.+fted you into the Detective Bureau, Tierney,” said Morgan, laughing. ”Has the Chief a.s.signed you to any other case for my day off?”

”No,” replied Tierney. ”When the Chief told me to come back and meet you here I figured he wanted me to stick to this case with you.”

”So I thought,” agreed Morgan. ”But I want to be left alone here for awhile. You scout around and see if you can find out something more about this tenant across the hall. Do you know his name?”

”Clark Atwood, it says on the mail box downstairs.”

”All right, Tierney. See what you can look up in this neighborhood.

I'll get in touch with you later. By the way, you had better leave that key with me.”

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