New Britain Herald Newspaper, February 27, 1929, Page 14

o R, BLAGK ©1929 By NEA Service, Inc. THIS HAS HAPPENED The body of “Handsome Harry" Borden, promoter and ladies’ man. murdered Saturday afternoon, is found beneath the closed airshart window of his private office Mon- day by his secretary, Ruth Lester. Detective McMann learns of five people who had opportunity and possible motive for the murder: Mrs. Elizabeth Borden, estranged wife; Ruth Lester, who admits ownership of a pistol, now missing from her desk; Benny Smith, office boy: Jack Hayward, insurance brok- er, with offices directly across the airshaft; and Rita Dubois, Borden's | sweetheart. Suspicion falls Hayward, Ruths’ fiance, because of overheard threats agalnst Borden. his presence in the building Satur- day, the location of his office, and the disappearance of his own pistol from his desk. Bloody footprints of a pigeon in- side and outside the airshaft win- dow indicate the window was open until after Borden's death. Benny Smith, who has not reported for work, is sent for, as are Minnie Cas- sidy and Letty Miller, scrubwomen. Bill Cowan strengthens suspicion against Hayward by telling of a telephone call ‘o Hayward's offices Saturday at 2:10, when he was put on a busy wire and heard Borden's voice in anger, presumably against Hayward. Ruth tells McMann about Cleo Gilman, recently discarded mistress of Borden. She is sought. Rita Du- bois arrives, admits she had planned a week-end trip with Borden, but had telephoned him from the sta- tion when he had failed to meet | her. Rita says she went to the office but his door was locked. tuth tells McMann of Borden's having given the dancer the torn half of a yellow-backed bill. Bor- den's half 1s missing from the | body, as well as $500 more in| smaller bills. Rita admits, under grilling, that she saw Borden, that he gave her the other half of a $500 | Eill, but insists that he was alive| when she left him at 2:30 promis- | ing to mect him later. Borden's | manservant, Frank Ashe, is sent for | by the police for questioning. NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY CHAPTER XXV | “All right, Birdwell,” McMann | nodded to his subordinate. “I told | Mrs. Borden to come back at two | o'clock. How's her sick child? . . . Better? That's good!” and oddly. Ruth Lester thought, the stern de- tective scemed to be genuincly pleased. “We won't keep her from | the kid longer than necessary. Sick. | ail right. 1 talked to the doctor my- | self. Tell Ferber to come in. Hold Ashe out there till I'm ready for him. And send around for Mr. Hay- | ward. He's in his own office.” Ruth eyes dilated with fear. Was McMann going to arrest Jack | now, convinced, as she was sure | the detective was, that Hayward had shot Harry Borden through the open windows facing each other across the airshaft, and that Rita, | arriving very soon afterwards, had | robbed his body? If so, how was McMann accounting to himself for the disappearance of her pistol? Or di1 he still stubbornly hold to his belief that she, Ruth, fearing trouble between the two men— | Hayward and Borden — had taken the too-handy weapon away with her on Saturday? i Ferber, the fingerprint expert, | was entering the private office, a large portfolio under his arm. | when McMann shot another ques- tion at Rita Du'inis: “Was that window open or tlosed when you were in this of- fice Saturday afternoon?” And he | pointed to the window looking out | upon the airshatt. | Rita's terror-stricken black eyes went blank. “Window? . . . T, don't know. . Yes, 1 do! It was | open, because 1 noticed some pig- eons—or at least one black pigeon —walking up and down the window | ledge." | “Hello, Ferber! 1 you've got there. see what od, clear most heavily on | | for t permit Mr. Ferber here to take your fingerprints. It is my duty to tell you that none of you is com- pelled to do 80 — unless you are placed under arrest as a suspect.” he added, with slow, significance. “How about it? Anybody got any objections?"" *] have no objection,” Mrs. Bor- den answered promptly. “It's all right with me!” Rita Dubois answered defiantly. Ruth and Jack agreed almost si- multaneously, and five minutes later the ugly, shameful business was accomplished. Seated at the desk again, McMann compared the fresh prints with the enlarged pho- tographs of the fingerprints which Ferber had found in the “death chamber.” “Mrs. Borden, you were wearing gloves Saturday, 1 presume? Did you remove them during eithcr visit " the detective sergeant asked. “I was wearing gloves on both my visits, of course, and I did not remove them,” Mrs. Borden an- swered. “That accounts for {t!" McMann muttered to Ferber, who was bend- ing over him. *“You, too, Rita?" be asked casually, without looking up. “Yes! 1 was wearing gloves anl 1 didn't take them off." “Then how do you account for the fact that the print of your right thumb was found on each drawer of Miss Lester's desk?" Mc- Mann demanded. Jack's hand closed so hard over Ruth's that the girl winced, but she was not conscious that she was hurt; she only knew that here was evidence that Rita Dubois® had been searching her—Ruth's— desk something! Had Rita found he thing she was looking for—the | gun with which to kill Harry Bor- den, perhaps? Yh! 1 forgot!” Rita was answering, defian'ly. “I wanted to paste together the two halves of the five hundred dollar bill Harry had given me. 1 was looking for paste, and had taken off my glove to do the job." “With Borden in a hurry to get rid of you?" McMann reminded her. W Harry who suggested g answered. “We were in the outer office, saying goodby—" She glanced, ashamed, at Mrs. Bor- den, who was :ooking steadily at her own clasp:d hands. “I'd just stuffed the two halves of the bill in my handbag and Harry said 1 might lose one of them, and sug- gested 1 paste them together. 1 looked for the paste and couldn’t find it, and he was in such a fidget that T went on without bothering about the paste, and later bought a little tube at the drug store.” “There’'s a paste pot in plain sight on Benny's desk,’ not refrain tive., McMann glanced at her smiled slightly, as if to assure her that he was very much on the job Then, with the suddenness of u cat pouncing upon a mouse: “What did you do with the gun, Rita? Ot course we'll find it sooner or later. but you might as well save us the | trouble!™ Ruth gasped, tried to realize all that McMann’s question meant, as Jack's hand again fiercely exultant pressure I . “Gun? What about?” Rita almost screamed. “The .38 caliber Colt's automatic that you found in the bottom draw- er of Miss Lester's desk.” McMann interrupted coolly. “You were looking for t, and you found it. Borden had told you, as he had told several other people, that Miss lLester owned a gun, kept in her desk in case of a holdup. Borden wouldn't give you the other half of that all-important $500 bill, and you were desperate for need of ft. You couldn't wait till Saturday night. You quarreled with him, pretended to he leaving, went into the outer office, got the gun out of | the drawer, and—shot him.” prints?” ots of 'em, McMann,” the fin- | gerprint expert answered cheer | tully, smiling and nodding at Ruth | Lester. He spread the sheaf of en- | larged photographed fingerprints | upon Borden's desk. “Here's one | ‘peculiar set—found it haif a dozen | places.” and he pointed to a pic- | ture. the right hand is a stub — about | half an inch of it missing, I'd Ruth started eagerly toward the desk. “Those are Minnie Cassi- | dy's fingerprints. Half of the first joint of her middle right finger was | cut off in an accident when she was a child. She told me about it when she was dusting my desk one afternoon.” “Thanks, Miss Lester.” McMann grunted, as he bent over the pho. tographs, studying them frowni 1y. He looked up as Jack Haywar entered the room, jerked a nod at him, which Jack answered with smiling courtesy before he crossed the room to take his place beside Euth Lester, nd Mrs. Borden in, v n called through Jack left ajar. Birdwell,” the door n Mrs. Borden was shown in- office by Birdwell, | « private mn stuck his is pockets and © 1 ciion of “guests” brows and ths twisted smile. He looked at each in turn — Eliz abeth Borden, the murdered 1 widow, whom he had tried, e in the day, to bully into a confes slon; Rita Dubois. dancer at the Golden Slipper night club, and the murdered man’s last love; Lester, his secretary, tect herself from amorous nature, had disguised her beauty with ill-fitting clothes, slicked-back hair, tacles, only to reveal it d on the day of Borden's murder: John C. Hayward, Ruth's ‘iance, the man upon whom suspicion of that murder now lay heaviest. % folks,” McMann said at regarded his with upraised now 'm going to ask all of you to | Saturday | answered i familiar | [ | Ruth | who, to pro- her employer’s | and yellow spec- | underside of the handles sastrously !h\- removing them,” Rita had gone dead white as the detective summed up against her, but when he had finished she laughed, her vividly rouged lips twisting in an ugly loop of disdain. “Sounds simply swell, don't it? But listen her and get his straight: 1 dida't know Baby-face had a gun in her desk; there wasn't | Look! The middle finger of one in the bottom drawer when T | looked for the paste, and 1 didn't kill Harry Borden! That's the truth, and you can third-degree me till hell freezes over if you en-—someone clse had already killed him with that gun when you looked for the paste to stick to- | &ether that bill you'd taken off his | defi- | body?" McMann ant dancer. “Wrong shot at the again, insolently. ive when 1 He was e and alive when I left, as T seem to remember hav- | ing told you betore!” Ferber said something to Mann in a low voice, tective frowningly studied two pho- tographs of fingerprints. Then: 1 suppose Borden helped you look for the paste tube, Rita?" The girl flushed ‘No, he didn't. hands deep in- | He went over 10 the cooler and got a drink while T was going through Miss Lester'a desk.' didn’t touch the desk?” Me- | n persisted strangely. No!* in particular, “Borde — or rather his right is on top of the wood- en handle of the lottom drawer of Miss Lester's desk. ur fingers wouid be inserted be- neath the long wooden handle, of course. That right, Ferber?” “Yes. 1 didn't photograph the but 1 can Ferber an fingerp thumt swered, Not sured him A den, to your Fottom necessary. McMann as- did Bor- open the s Lester, knowledge, drawer " Ruth could | from telling the dstec- | and | want | big bov!" Rita | Me- | and the de- The other | of your desk on | “No,” Ruth answered. “To my knowledge he never opened a draw- er of my desk during the entire time T worked for him, bat he m~v |have when 1 was not there, of | course. Benny Smith, the office boy, opened that drawer Saturday morning. He was looking for a towel. he said, when 1 asked him what he was doing at my desk. 14 just come out of Mr, Borden's of- fice after having taken dictation.” | “That accounts for these prints,” Ferber said to McMann, pointing to a picture. “Found a number of them on the kid's desk." “Anyone else touch your desk Saturday that you know of?" Mc- Mann asked Ruath. “No. 1 did, of course. T opened the bottom drawer, as I have told you, to get a paper cup to | Borden a drink. 8he help me, but didn’t touch the draw- er—and she had on gloves, T re. member,” Ruth answered. “One of Borden's thumbprints halt obliterated by Rita’s thumb. print,” McMann mused, in a low voice, that was just loud enough for Ruth's straining ears to catch. “That means he opened the drawer first—" “Well, if he did, he did it before I came!” Rita cut in. “He certain- ly didn’t touch that desk while 1 was with him.” Ruth's head spun with conjec. 1luru. If Borden had opened that | bottom drawer on Saturday after- roon, after her departure, and be- fore Rita'sarrival, was it not possible that he had done so to get the gun, to protect himself against some threatened trouhle—trouble arising from that mysterious telephone call which had kept him so long that he had missed his train? But Bill Cowan had testified that Borden had been connected with Jack Hayward's number! Had McMann, who ability she was be. ginning to respect as much as she | feared it, arrived at the same con. cluslon? If so, he had again ar- {rived at Jack Hayward as the most “II]\'cly suspect. . Ruth forced her mind away from that too ::r- rible possibility. Supposing Bor- den, fearful of an attack at the hands of someone who had not yet |come into the investigation — for |she herself was convinced that |Jack had not talked to Borden over the phone or across the air- shaft—had taken the gun from her closed with | upon are you talking | Chair fabric. | No. 44-5740 of ‘“easy chair” design. Rita came—Ruth went on building up her suppositious case —the gun was on top of Borden's desk, handy for his defense against the person fram whom he undoubt- edly feared a visit. Else why should he have planned te remain all afternoon 1n his office, instead of spending the hours between trains with Rita? But that, she told herself despairingly, was built on the theory that Rita was telling the truth about the agreement be- tween her and Borden to make the later train. i Why suppose Rita had told the truth? She had lied s0 much! No, it was better to hold tight to facts. Borden had undoubtedly opened the bottom drawer of the desk., In all probability he had done so to get the gut kept there. Rita had come. 8he had quarreled with Borden. She had seen the gun on his desk. i 8he had shot him to get the money he would not give her. Then Rita had robbed the body. Perhaps she was telling the truth about the paste — or part truth. Who could say how Rita's mind would function after she had killed Borden? The bill was all- important. It was torn in two. In an offies there would be paste, S8he had hunted for the paste in the outer office, and in the meantime the black pigeon — or one of his flock — had flown in through the open window, had dipped his tiny feet in the fresh-flowing blood of the dead man, leaving tell-tale tracks behind, But why had Rita come back in- to that death room to close the window? Ruth knit her brows in a territic effort to think straight. Then !light burst upon her. Rita had heard the flutter of the pig- eon's wings or the sound of its body caroming against the glass of the upper sash and had run back into the private office, frightened half to death. She had seen the pigeon — or maybe several of them —on the window ledge, and had had a sudden horror of the feath- ered creatures pecking at Harry Borden's dead face. Cautious finstinctively, even In her panic, she had closed the win- dow with her gloved left hand, so that there were ho fingerprints Ruth started to draw a deep breath of relief, when suddenly the whole structure topple and fell, stricken by one question which her relent- lessly logical mind insisted upon asking: if Rita had done all this, where did Jack’s missing automatic fit into the picture? ‘Then hope thrust up its head again. Why try to fit Jack's gun into any theory of the murder? It missing—true. But wasn't it “EUGENE FIELD" entirely possi that Jack’s gun had been stolen by a petty thief, prowl- ing through the almost deserted of- fice building, giad to lay his bands on anything of value? The long arm of coincidence, of ocourse, but wasn't real life full of just such amasing coincilsnces? But Ruth knew, even &s she con- soled herselt with this philosophic reflection, that Detective Sergeant McMann would emit & loud roar of derisive laughger if she told him her theory. e might be trying. with true polics conacientiousness, to bully Rita Dubois into confess- ing to beth murder and robbery, but Ruth was sure that in his heart McMann believed that the dancer had dope nothing worse than rob & dead ' man's body, after Harry Borden had been killed by Jack Hayward, in a jealous rage. The newly-discovered evidence tht Borden had had Ruth's gun In his possession that Saturday after- noon would do much, Ruth realized sickly, to confirm McMann's sus- picions against Jack. He would argue, undoubtedly, that Borden and ’k had quarreled over the telephone — that inexplicable one- sided conversation of Borden's which Bill Cowan had overheard when he had called Jack Hayward's number at 10 minutes after two — and that consequently, fearing an attack upon his life, Borden had possessed himaself of Ruth's gun, had gone to the open window with it in his hand, and had been shot down by Hayward before he could aim Ruth's weapon. But—Ruth argued with herself desperately — it McMann believed this to be the truth about Borden's murder, how could he account for the disappearance of her gun? Would he be so stupid as to try to convince himself that Rita Dubois had stolen it, too, ng with the money on Borden's body? Ruth herself was sure that If Rita had come into Borden's office and found him dead, with a gun lying on the fioor, she would have concluded that he had committed suicide, would not have dreamed of touching the weapon with which he had done it, for fear of its b ing found in her possession and In- criminating her. “Miss Lester!” McMann's harsh voice broke into the girl's troubled maze of theory and conjecture. “Do you know when the glass pan- els of the: office doors were washed last?" Ruth considered for a moment, then answered confidently: “On Friday. The window washer al- ways comes on Friday, and does the door panels at the same time. It was late Friday afternoon.’ “Was any other woman, besides yourself, Rita and Mrs. Borden in LAST WEEK To Endow Your Home With Bountiful Comfort No. 345-510 HIS splendid chair shows recognition of the newer tendencies Slim, graceful contours .... form- fitting button back .... generously comfortable! They are on our floor regularly with a $47 price tag. They are identically as shown, except the covering, which is an attractive and durable sunfast elling qood turniture tor iy years This Duncan Phyfe Drop Leaf Table 49z Typical of the quaint old designs you will find Wing” is this era. liantly 103 Asylum St. and 150 Trumbull St. in our new “American table of the Federal The 43x30 inch top is of bril- figured mahogany veneer, base of gumwood. tag $60 .... $10.25 saving! Its regular price Hartford The FLINT-BRUCE Co thess offices indow washer's visit 1 Ruth shook her head, her pus- sled hine eyes taking in the fact that McMann's narrowed eyes were fized upon t of photogruphed fingerprints 'No. Not while 1 was here, Mr. McMann.” “Well,” McMann grunted, “some woman was here, all right. 8he left her calling rard on the glass panel of the door between this of- fice and the outer one. Three fine fingerprints.” He veached tor *he phone, which was pluggéd up with police headquarters. “Hello! Cap- tain Foster, please! McMann speaking. . . . Oh, Captain, any report yet om Cleo Gilman? . . . 1s that so?™ (TO BE CONTINUED) fter i A new character to be reckoned with = Cleo Gilman. Will she lead them to a solution? J. W. WISE TO TALK ON MODERN YOUTH Lacture in Central Junior High School Next Saturday James Whterman Wise, son of Rabbl Stephen A, Wise, the distin- guished New York ecclesiast, will eliver a lecture at the Central Jun- ior ‘High achool auditorium next Sunday afternoon at ¢ o'clock under the auspices of the Junior Hadaasah of this city, His subject will be “Youth's Challenge to Church and Synagogue.” The meeting is open to the public and it is expected that the attendance will include persons of all creeds. Mr. Wise is beueming recognized more and more as one of the ablest platform speakers of the nation. In spite of his comparative youth he has & deep philosophical mi a keen understanding of indi and mass psychology. He is a stu- ent of modern affairs as contrasted with customs and channels of thought of past generations and is sald to be a fascinating apeaker. Noted as & man who does his own thinking, Mr. Wise is frank in ex- preasing his opinions. He has stud- ied the so-called youth problem and has reached conclusions which do JAMES WATERMAN WISE not run parallel with the views of others who go serenely on their way blind to the fact that the world is changing daily. “Youth—the problem of the ages —has never been more acute, or more Interesting, than it is today,” Mr. Wise s2id recently. “American youth is termed irreligious by many leaders of the religious life of the nation. Is the charge a just one? “Can the youth of the nation jus ly reply that not they, but the r i d|the vital spirit of religion? “Youth is net irreligious ing of the best of they turn from demeuncing examine thelr own mneeds, yet again become the ors of the inner spirit of 12 not, they will perish, net attacks without but frem lack vitality within.” Judge Morris D. Saze will chairman of the meeting Sunday. In Bolivia gasoline retails at about 60 cents a gallon. NO PATIENGE it ] i E,"E%fi’f! g ipii i o i myself and got B S Componia i youl hn;ndlmll:dw“ut ¢ iY me."—Mzs, n,rA:unn Brach, si=k churches and synagoguea have Iast‘ R. Y. D. 2, Dalton, Remember the FACTS about used car allowances MOST new car sales now involve the trading-in of a buyer’s used car. More and more people are asking: “Why should my used car seem to have several values?. ... Why should dealers in different makes of cars offer me allowances differing materially?.... Does the largest allowance offered mean the best deal for me?” Here are basic facts: 1 P used car market. times itis; sometimesitisnot. Your used car has seemingly different values because come petitive dealers are bidding to sell you a new car. Your used car has only one fundamental basis of values what thedealer who acceptsitin trade can get for it in the The largest trade-in allowance which is offered on your used car is not necessarily the best deal for you. Some- An excessive allowance may mean that you are payingan excessive price for the neyw carin comparison with its real value. 5 Judge the merits of each new car in comparison with its price, including all delivery and finance charges. Then weigh any difference in the allowances offered on your used car. the new car. WIENyon trade-in your present car, remember that you are first of all making a purchase and not a sale. 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