Shadow 054 - Death Claw 05-15-34, The by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant [Grant, Maxwell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Street and Smith
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XIII

THE COMMISSIONER SPEAKS

IT was midnight. Inspector Timothy Klein and Detective Joe Cardona were at the scene of crime. Standing in the room where Hiram Engliss had died, they were discussing the facts that they had learned.

The telephone bell began to ring. Inspector Klein picked up the instrument from the table beside the bed. The call was from police headquarters. Cardona judged that from Klein’s conversation.

“We’ve fixed one point,” declared the inspector, grimly, as he laid the telephone aside. “They’ve compared the bullets. The same gun was used to kill both Jerome Neville and Hiram Engliss.”

“Which means the same murderer,” asserted Cardona. “I saw that right away, inspector. Those ashes in the living room grate -“

Cardona paused as a man entered the upstairs room. It was Clyde Burke. The detective stared at the reporter.

“No alibi for being late tonight,” announced Clyde. “It doesn’t matter, though. Looks like I’ve walked in on something interesting.”

“You have,” admitted Cardona. “Here’s the link you want. You can tell the public that we’re after one murderer. The same man killed both Neville and Engliss.”

Clyde nodded as he scrawled the item on a sheet of folded copy paper. He was about to put a question when the telephone bell jingled. Again, Klein answered.

“Hello,” greeted the inspector. “Yes. This is Midtown nine-one-three-six-two… Final report, eh? Only one call out of here tonight? Yes…We know about that one… It was a call to the police…”

“Engliss heard the murderer break in,” explained Cardona, to Clyde. “He put in a call for help. The killer must have got him right after that.”

“Fingerprints?” inquired Clyde, briskly.

“None,” responded Cardona.

“No link-up with the Crane case?” asked Clyde.

“None at all.” Cardona was almost savage in his retort. “That’s out, Burke. Do you understand? We’ve got enough trouble without you -“

“All right, Joe.” Clyde’s easy tone mollified the detective. “Don’t worry. I’m not mentioning it. This is enough. How did the murderer get away tonight?”

“In a taxicab,” stated Cardona. “Chased the driver and the passenger to the sidewalk. We picked up the empty cab a dozen blocks away. It’s the same story. Nobody got a good look at the killer. Of all the dumb clucks -“

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