had been excited and more or less bewildered at the time; and
his informant--Mrs. Sussman, the wife of the cigar dealer--alleged
positively that it had been thrown by a strange kid who appeared
suddenly from round the corner and as suddenly ran away in the
direction whence he had come.
Froelich perceived that he had probably been mistaken, and being
relatively honest--and being also about to get his money--and not
wishing to bear false witness, particularly if he might later be sued for
false imprisonment, he decided to duck and pass the buck to Delany,
who was definitely committed. He was shrewd enough, however, not to
give his real reason to the policeman, but put it on the ground of being
so confused that he couldn't remember. This left Delany responsible for
everything.
"But you said that that was the feller!" argued the cop, who had gone to
urge Froelich to assume the onus of the charge. "And now you want to
leave me holdin' the bag!"
"Vell, you said yourself you seen him, didn't you?" replied the German.
"An' you svore to it. I didn't svear to noddings."
"Aw, you!" roared the enraged cop, and hastened to interview Mr.
Asche.
Aping a broad humanitarianism he suggested to Asche that if Mrs.
Mathusek would pay for the window they could afford to let up on the
boy. He did it so ingeniously that he got Asche to go round there, only
to find that she had no money, all given to Simpkins. Gee, what a
mix-up!
It is quite possible that even under these circumstances Delany might
still have availed himself of what in law is called a locus poenitentiae
had it not been that the mix-up was rendered still more mixed by the
surreptitious appearance in the case of Mr. Michael McGurk, the father
of the actual brick artist, who had learned that the cop was getting
wabbly and was entertaining the preposterous possibility of
withdrawing the charge against the innocent Mathusek, to the imminent
danger of his own offspring. In no uncertain terms the saloon keeper
intimated to the now embarrassed guardian of the public peace that if
he pulled anything like that he would have him thrown off the force, to
say nothing of other and darker possibilities connected with the morgue.
All of which gave Delany decided pause.
Hogan, for his own reasons, had meanwhile reached an independent
conclusion as to how he could circumvent Delany's contemplated
treachery. If, he decided, the cop should go back on his identification of
the criminal he foresaw Tony's discharge in the magistrate's court, and
no more money. The only sure way, therefore, to prevent Tony's escape
would be by not giving Delany the chance to change his testimony; and
by waiving examination before the magistrate and consenting
voluntarily to having his client held for the action of the grand jury, in
which event Tony would be sent to the Tombs and there would be
plenty of time for Simpkins to get an assignment of Mrs. Mathusek's
insurance money before the grand jury kicked out the case. This also
had the additional advantage of preventing any funny business on the
part of Judge Harrison.
Delany was still undecided what he was going to do when the case was
called at two o'clock. It is conceivable that he might still have tried to
rectify his error by telling something near the truth, in spite of Hogan,
Asche and McGurk, but the opportunity was denied him.
At two o'clock Tony, a mere chip tossed aimlessly hither and yon by
eddies and cross currents, the only person in this melodrama of motive
whose interests were not being considered by anybody, was arraigned
at the bar and, without being consulted in the matter, heard Mr. Hogan,
the fat, kindly lawyer whom his mother had retained to defend him, tell
the judge that they were going to waive examination and consent to be
held for the action of the grand jury.
"You see how it is, judge," Hogan simpered. "You'd have no choice but
to hold my client on the officer's testimony. The easiest way is to waive
examination and let the grand jury throw the case out of the window!"
Delany heard this announcement with intense relief, for it let him out. It
would relieve him from the dangerous necessity of testifying before
Judge Harrison and he could later spill the case before the grand jury
when called before that august body. Moreover, he could tip off the
district attorney in charge of the indictment bureau that the case was a
lemon, and the latter would probably throw it out on his own motion.
The D.A.'s office didn't want any more rotten cases to prosecute than it
could help. It seemed his one best bet, the only
Continue reading on your phone by scaning this QR Code
Tip: The current page has been bookmarked automatically. If you wish to continue reading later, just open the
Dertz Homepage, and click on the 'continue reading' link at the bottom of the page.