BUCKY FOLLOWS A HOT TRAIL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 April 1939, Page 10

BUCKY FOLLOWS A HOT TRAIL

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.

COPYRIGHT.

BY

WILLIAM MACLEOD RAINE.

CHAPTER XII. (Continued). “You don’t put it the way I do," he answered. "But that’s all right. I’m much obliged to you for coming. We're keeping tabs on Mr West and his friends. They can’t hurt me while Miss Graham rides herd on me. “If you won’t leave this part of the country why don’t you go out to the ranch and stay there.” Kathleen urged. “Just what I mean to do in a few days. Thank you for coming, Miss Garside.” “You needn’t thank me,” she said, flinging back his gratitude almost violently. “It's just that I won’t have murder done, and be a party to it. Now it’s off my mind. Do as you please.” She turned to go. There was a small crash of breaking glass. For an instant none of them moved. Then Nancy darted forward, pulled the blind down swiftly, and dragged from in front of the window the chair in which Bucky was sitting. “What was it?” Julia asked, shaken and frightened. Bucky shook off the blanket that wrapped his legs. He put an arm around Nancy’s shoulders, gave her a little hug, and said, “Good girl!” “The' bullet must have passed close to your head,” Nancy said. She was white to the lips, but quite composed. “It broke the picture glass on the wall directly behind you. “A bullet!” Julia stared, big-eyed at her. “You mean ”

“Must have been fired from the empty house opposite,” Bucky explained. ‘“The fellow had a Maxim silencer on his gun.”

Nancy picked up the telephone. “I’ll get the police.” “Do no harm —and no good,” Bucky said. “He’s beating it down the alley by this time. Wait a minute. Miss Graham. Give me the phone. I’ll talk with the chief.” He sat on the bed, telephone in hand. “Police department?” he said presently . . . “Gimme the chief. Bucky Cameron talking. This is important . . . Chief, this is Bucky Cameron. I was fired at a moment ago through the window of my room at Mercy,Hospital. From a gun with a silencer . . Yes . . .

Yes . . Room 321, facing south, toward Steele Street . . Listen chief, there’s an empty house opposite my room. The fellow must have fired from the second story window . . Sure I know it’s against the law to have a silencer. It’s against the law to have sub-mach-ine guns. Anyhow, that bird may have left some evidence in the house —finger prints on the window-sill, and the door knobs especially. If you find anything please let me know. Better come up and see where the bullet struck a wall picture in my room. Fine . . That’s good. See you later, chief.”

“Some one may have seen the man escaping.” Kathleen said, after Bucky had hung up.

“Maybe,” Cameron replied: “The police will cover that angle.” “Miss Garside is right,” the nurse said decisively. “You’d better get out to your ranch as soon as you can Mr Cameron . . He didn’t lose any time, did he —that man West, whoever he is?”

Bucky walked up to the picture and examined the bullet hole. He could not tell until the lead had been dug out of the wall whether it had been fired from a rifle or a revolver “West and his friends —or somebody else —seem anxious to get rid of me,” he said “They are in a hurry. Why the rush—unless they are afraid?” “Afraid you or your men will shoot them first?” Kathleen asked. “But while you are in the hospital ”

“While I’m here I can’t very well shoot them, can I?” Bucky finished for her, with a sardonic smile. But we’re such notorious killers, the Cameron outfit, that they can’t sleep nights for fear we’ll slaughter them wholesale.” Kathleen flushed. “Some of you kill-, ed that man Dieter.” “Just in time,” Bucky added. “No Miss Garside, that’s not what they’re afraid of. What’s worrying them is that they think I’m on the edge of a discovery—or at any rate getting close to it. They fear I know too much.” “About what?” Julia asked breathlessly “About the First National Bank robbery.” “What do you know?” asked Kathleen, her glance darting at him. Bucky ignored her question When he spoke, his mind seemed to be on another matter “Tuffy Arnold was in town yesterday, and the day before,” he said thoughtfully. “Who is he?” Kathleen wanted to know impatiently. “He is a friend of a friend —I mean of an acquaintance of Miss Garside,” the young man explained. ‘“Referring to Mr Dan West. Tuffy and a man named Jud Richman are the brains of the Red Rock outfit. Tuffy advises them at home. Jud fronts for them here, disposes of their rustled stock, sees that the law does not annoy them too much. If those two good citizens got together they might decide to take direct action against a common enemy —with the help perhaps of Mr West. Jud must have got the silencer."

"The finger prints in the house,” Nancy suggested. "Maybe they will tell who fired the shot.”

Bucky shook his head. "There won’t be any fingerprints, not if Jud and Tuffy are running the show.” "Then why did you tell the chief ol police to look for them?" Julia asked. "They are a wild, careless bunch, the Red Rocks outfit,” her cousing explained. "Light on brains. It would be like one of them to forget instructions and write his identity on the dusty win-dow-sill or on a wall, especially if he chanced to have been drinking. But it’s only a long shot.” “It doesn’t matter who did it —at least that’s not what matters most just now,” Kathleen interposed impatiently She looked at Bucky, and a heat ran through her lithe brown body. “You’re not going to be fool enough to stay around here any longer, are you?” You’ve already had two warnings—”

“Three,” amended Bucky. “Dop’t forget they ruined my hat in front of your house.” He added regretfully, “A good hat, too. Cost me eight bucks” ■With a gesture of annoyance Kathleen brushed this levity aside. “I'm interested only because I won't have people thinking that father is mixed up in any harm that comes to you

when he is really trying to protect you,” she went on, her colour high, eyes sparkling angrily “If you want to strut around and be killed, you don’t have to choose our yard” “And all Toltec is your yard now, isn’t it?” he said, with sauve irony. “Since your father has taken it over, lock, stock and barrel. He ought to deport as undesirable citizens those of us he doesn’t like.” Kathleen Garside was furious. She looked hot to the touch as she turned to Julia. “If he has any friends they had better have him -put in an insane asylum,” she said, and walked quickly out of the room. After the explosive exit, Julia was the first to speak. “She’s right, Bucky. I don’t mean about the asylum, of course. But you can’t go on like this.' It’s terrible.” “He isn’t going on like this,” Nancy said in her cool matter of fact tone “He’s my patient, and I’m responsible for his safety. Right away I’m moving him into another wing of the hospital. Tomorrow we’re going out to the ranch to stay.” Buck said .smiling at her, “I’ve got my orders.” CHAPTER XIII. The chief of police, a hard-boiled officer who had fought his way up from the ranks, dropped in to see Bucky after his nurse had moved him to another room “You certainly keep things stirred up, young man,” O’Sullivan growled, easing himself into a chair “What the hell are you doing here anyhow? Nobody invited you back to Toltec” “I came to find out what had become of my uncle and who robbed the First National?” Bucky replied. “You know all about it now, I expect,” the chief said, with harsh sarcasm. “I’ve wondered a good deal how much you know, Chief, that you didn’t give to the papers,” Cameron said, brown eyes fixed on the officer “If I knew anything, why would I tell you?”

“That would depend on whether you think Uncle Cliff was guilty.” “He was there that night. His gun killed Buchmann. The safe was robbed. Cliff disappeared. What do you figure I would think?” “I would look for a good sleuth like you to dig in after the inside story. You were on the. ground early.” The chief chewed the end of a tattered cigar. He had always felt friendly to Cliff Cmeron, and he had never liked Garside, but he did not intend to let this interfere with his career. Cliff was through. His enemy was in the saddle Still, Chief O’Sullivan was not a rubber stamp. “One thing I don’t quite get,” the chief volunteered. “Cliff called me up the afternoon of the robbery, and said the Malpais pay roll had come in, and that he had seen some suspicious characters hanging around. He asked me io have tne officer on the beat that night keep a special eye on the First National.”

Bucky sat erect. “Did he say who the suspicious characters were?” “No, he didn’t. I kinda guessed he had some of the wild bunch from the Red Rocks in mind. Three or four of them were in town that day. What stumped me was that if Cliff was fixing to rob the bank that night he wouldn’t have asked me to check up specially on the First National.” Bucky nodded agreement.

“There was one other circumstance I don’t quite get,” O’Sullivan went on. “We found the elk tooth Cliff wore on his watch chain. It was lying near the front door, and had been torn off probably in a struggle. Now Buchmann couldn’t have put up any fight. He was shot from behind, in the back of the head.” “But if Uncle Cliff was being taken away forcibly by the assassins the tooth might easily have been ripped from the chain near the door,” Bucky said. O’Sullivan slanted a hard, suspicious eye at the young man. “Or if Cliff had wanted it to look like he was being dragged away.” “Only it wasn't that way . . Did you find any evidence in the empty house opposite my room?” “No. The shot was fired from a bedroom window on the second floor. No fingerprints on the sill or on the door knobs. The guy wore gloves or wiped them clean.” “What I expected. Did he have a rifle or a revolver?” “A revolver. Colt’s army .38, say. That is likely why he missed. We dug the bullet out of the wall of your room.” “How did the fellow get in?” “Garside owrfs the house. The rental agency is the Richman Realty Company. The key has been turned over to a dozen people looking at the house. Anyhow, a skeleton key will open the back door Which leaves us where we started from.” “Was anybody seen going to or from the house?” “A woman hanging up washing two houses away thinks she saw some one going into the yard, but she didn't even notice whether it was a man or a boy. She was used to seeing some one around the place, and wasn’t in- ' erested. I don't suppose you saw any one going into the house?” “No. By the way, Chief, did any one hear a shot in the bank the night of the robbery?” “If any one did he's been holding out on me. You trying to locate the time?” Bucky lit a cigarette, looking at the chief. “I was wondering if the killer used a silencer," he said indifferently. O’Sullivan stared at him a moment, silently, his prognathous jaw tight. "Meaning he was the same man took a crack al you?” he asked, at last. “Who’s in your mind?” he demanded, bluntly. “I haven't got that far.” “But you have a suspicion.” “A very private one.” “Shoot the works.” “T said private.” “Hell, come clean,” the officer snarled. “You’re just like the others. They either want to tell more than they know, oi’ else they want to hide half of what they do know. Then everybody yaps at us because we don’t run down the criminals.” “You’re in a tough spot, Chief,” sympathised Cameron. “But we’re going to clear this thing up before we get through with it.” “Fine,” scoffed the older man, his hard eyes on Cameron. “I’m all set up, you’re working with me.” (To be Continued).