By Advice of Counsel | Page 7

she
had already given the money to Simpkins.
Second thoughts are ofttimes best. Most crooks are eventually caught
through their having, from long immunity, grown careless and yielded
to impulse. Once he had signed the complaint in which he swore that he
had seen Tony throw the brick, Delany had undergone a change of
heart. Being an experienced policeman he was sensitive to official
atmosphere, and he had developed a hunch that Judge Harrison was
leery of the case. The more he thought of it the less he liked the way the
son-of-a-gun had acted, the way he'd tried to get Mathusek to ask for an
immediate hearing. Why had he ever been such a fool as to sign the
complaint himself? It had been ridiculous--just because he was mad at

the boy for trying to get away and wanted to make things easy for
Froelich. If he went on the stand the next afternoon he'd have to make
up all sorts of fancy details, and Hogan would have his skin neatly
tacked to the barn doors for keeps. Thereafter, no matter what happened,
he'd never be able to change his testimony. After all, it would be easy
enough to abandon the charge at the present point. It was a genuine
case of cold feet. He scented trouble. He wanted to renig while the
renigging was good. What in hell had Froelich ever done for him,
anyhow? A few measly pieces of roast!
When Hogan returned home that evening with the little Hogans from
the movies he found the cop waiting for him outside his door.
"Look here," Delany whispered, "I'm going to can this here Mathusek
window case. I'm going to fall down flat on my identification and give
you a walkout. So go easy on me--and sort of help me along, see?"
"The hell you are!" retorted Hogan indignantly. "Then where do I come
in, eh? Why don't you come through?"
"But I've got him wrong!" pleaded Delany. "You don't want me to put
my neck in a sling, do you, so as you can make a few dollars? Look at
all the money I've sent your way. Have a heart, Rafe!"
"Bull!" sneered the Honorable Rafe. "A man's gotta live! You saw him
do it! You've sworn to it, haven't you?"
"I made a mistake."
"How'll that sound to the commissioner? An' to Judge Harrison? No, no!
Nothin' doin'! If you start anything like that I'll roast the life out of
you!"
Delany spat as near Hogan's foot as he elegantly could.
"You're a hell of a feller, you are!" he growled, and turned his back on
him as upon Satan.

* * * * *
The brick that Terry McGurk hurled as a matter of principle through
Froelich's window produced almost as momentous consequences as the
want of the horseshoe nail did in Franklin's famous maxim. It is the
unknown element in every transaction that makes for danger.
The morning after the catastrophe Mr. Froelich promptly made
application to the casualty company with which he had insured his
window for reimbursement for his damage. Just as promptly the
company's lawyer appeared at the butcher shop and ascertained that the
miscreant who had done the foul deed had been arrested and was to be
brought into court that afternoon. This lawyer, whose salary depended
indirectly upon the success which attended his efforts to secure the
conviction and punishment of those who had cost his company money,
immediately camped upon the trails of both Froelich and Delany. It was
up to them, he said, to have the doer of wanton mischief sent away. If
they didn't cooperate he would most certainly ascertain why. Now
insurance companies are powerful corporations. They can do favors,
and contrariwise they can make trouble, and Lawyer Asche was hot
under the collar about that window. Had he ever heard of the place he
would have likened it to the destruction of Coucy-le-Château by the
Huns.
This, for Delany, put an entirely new aspect upon the affair. It was one
thing to ditch a case and another to run up against Nathan Asche. He
had sworn to the complaint and if he didn't make good on the witness
stand Asche would get his hide. Then he bethought him that if only
Froelich was sufficiently emphatic in his testimony a little uncertainty
on his own part might be excused.
In the meantime, however, two things had happened to curdle
Froelich's enthusiasm. First, his claim against the Tornado Casualty
Company had been approved, and second, he had been informed on
credible authority that they had got the wrong boy. Now he had
sincerely thought that he had seen Tony throw the brick--he had
certainly seen a boy in a red sweater do something--but he realized also
that he