Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

Every Tuesctay "Remember [hisr Dugan went on Biiarplv, "nobodv ever caught a crook in a police-station. Therefore, a firsl-class copper has got to know his town inside out. He's got to know everybody in it— cabbies, waiters, bartenders, dance-hall L'irls, stool pigeons, politician.s. and store- keepers. He gets his information from them. And then, when he's got it, he cracks his case wide open." Kathleen noticed that a student at the gangwav end of the row in line with hers was looking bored, and his attention had wandered. His name was Dannj- Blake, and she liked the look of him. in spite of his behaviour. His hair was red and wavy, his eves were as blue as her own, and he was quite good-looking. She judged him to be a phvsicallv perfect specimen of young manhood, but she thought he might at least have listened to her uncle. She realised suddenly that she herself was not listening, and she looked towards the platform. •'Now, vou fellows have been on a diet of scientific deduction," Dugan was saying. '•Let me tell you this—ninety-nine cases out of a hundred are solved without test- tubes and microscopes. A veteran cop approaches a case with only one idea hi his head—that everybody he meets is a liar bv the clock. He keeps his eyes and ears open and his mouth shut. Then he adds it all up." Dannv Blake opened a book he had been nursing on his knees and became im- mersed in it. Kathleen glanced in his direction and frowned. •• When you've been on the force as long as I have." Dugan continued. " you'll know what I mean. And you'll " He broke off. because at that instant he had caught sight of the offender, and he stepped down off the platform and strode along the gangway. All heads were turned to watch as he reached Danny's chair and snatched away the book. •• • The Micro-Analyst in Crime Detec- tion." " he read aloud from its cover in a voice of derision, and he thrust the volume almost under Danny's nose, as though he would like to smite him with it. "Listen, mister." he thundered, "if you don't want to listen to me, that's jour business. But don't sit there reading this Hawkshaw bunk when I'm tellin' you what I know it takes to be a cop!" The book descended upon Danny's knees, and as the irate captain stalked back towards the platform. Kathleen leaned smilingly towards the culprit and said mockinglj-: ••You asked for it—and you got it!" Danny swung round in his chair, quite ready to make some rude rejoinder, but his resentment melted av/ay as magically as hail in summer as her beauty became regis- tered in his brain, and he retiu'iied her is >! smile with a very broad grin. On reaching the platform. Dugan ma'de straight for the lieutenant there, and he M'i. said, loudly enough for all the students iBDiWl to hear: "Lieutenant, when jou're passing out the assignments, remember to send me rookies that aren't afraid of a fight or a bullet. Don't send me men that hide in a laboratory behind a book!" Instead of taking that additional insult to heart. Danny Blake slipped across the gangway into the vacant chair beside Kathleen. "What do you mean, I asked for it and \[ got it?" he questioned in an undertone. •Win-, you did, didn't you?" she chal- lenged. ■'I think there's room for argument there." There might have been room, but the moment was inopportune. Dugan was in the middle of the platform again and speaking. •'Science may be great in the class- room." he stated dogmatically, "but vou can't pound a beat with a microscope in your hand. You need a night-stick and a strong arm. Don't you ever forget it." He flipped a hand, and added : "Thank vou. bovs. for listetitn^." BOY'S CINEMA The students ;ipi)laudcd. whether the.\' agreed or not. The two officers on the platform ro.se to congratulate the speaker. "Nice v.ork. Bill," said the lieutenant. "Did I lay it on too thick?" inquired Dugan. The heuCenant. Matt Digb\- b.\- name, evaded that point. •■ It was swell," he declared. DANNY aETS ACQUAINTED AS Captain Bill Dugan descended from the platform to find his seat beside Kathleen. Lieutenant Digby walked to the edge of it and announced : "For the benefit of the friends here, we are now going to run a film showing the activities of these .^oung graduates." His colleague pulled aside two of the curtains, disclosing a white screen, and the lights in the lecture hall were switched off while Dugan was in the central gang- wa.\'. He found his chair occupied, and Danny Blake its occupant. Dann\' was saying to Kathleen: "You see. the trouble with Dugan is " A heavy foot trod on his toes and he looked up. His jaw dropped, and he scrambled out of the chair. But there was another vacant one beyond Kathleen, and her uncle squeezed past her to it without a word. Dann.\ promptly dropped back into the seat he had vacated. "As I vvas saying," he whispered, "the trouble with Dugan is " This time the voice of Lieutenant Digby silenced him. "Our men," he said from beside the screen, "are trained to fight fire with fire. They can match the armies of the under- world bullet by bullet." On the screen a moving car had ap- peared, students leaning out of its windows to fire at targets. The car gave place to a silhouetted figure of a man, and flashes of light that indicated where bullets had struck him. These scenes changed to a rifle range and bull's-eyes being scored, and then to a close-up of a table upon which various types of guns reposed, each with its appropriate bullet beside it. "They are better armed." continued Digby. '•with better weapons, and thev are trained to use them better. Police rookies must qualify as marksmen every thirtv days." Dann,\ peered impi<**v^ past Katlileen at Dugan io see how l:i was taking that. On the screen, four students were firing in .semi-darkness nt life-size figures. 'For this sort of gruelling, nerve-testing work," Digby stated, " these men must be in perfect phxsical condition." The interior of a large gymnasium ap- peared, with men in shorts drilling, jjunch- ing bags, wrestling—and being thrown— boxing, and so forth. "This modern, fully equipped g.'.m," said the lieutenant, "ensures ph'.sicial fitne.s.'- and mental alertness, for only the keen, wide-awake officer of the modern police force can understand the most effective use of the simple elemental tools of his trade, to say nothing of the scientific equipment necessary in the solving of a baffling crime." On the .screen, a pair of binoculars faded into a camera, the camera into a magnifv- ing-glass, and then an open suitcase con- taining handcuffs, a fingerprint outfit, a first-aid outfit, and other objects. There followed a scene in which a detective opened a door and entered a room wherein a waxwork figure of a dead woman wa.- lying on the floor, and other officers entered on the heels of the first. "A crime," continued the lieutenant, "such as the murder of Lulubelle." The seated students laughed, for they were well acquainted with Lulubelle, who I'epresented a dead woman in a synthetic case of homicide which the prospective sleuths had all been called upon to solve. A gun was on the carpet beside the dummy, and the man who had been the first to enter the room moved it with a pencil into a large cellophane envelope he took from a case. Other articles were placed in other cellophane envelopes, with- out being touched by hands, and the lieu- tenant's comments were: "Just a typical set of clues, placed in cellophane envelopes to presen-e their original condition. The murder weapon ia never touched by hands, and thus the original fingerprints are retained." The process of dusting fingerprints with the aid of an insufflator was showia next. "If everything is examined for those tell- tale marks." said the lieutenant, "it's two to one that up will pop the prints—either Danny turned the camera-gun sideways in his hands. •• Shoot a man and take his picture at the same time," he explained.