Boy's Cinema (1930-31)

Every Tuesday Meanwhile, Bugs Raymond watehetl and waited, though his interest in tne outcry was spasmodic, and only apparent wlien his thoughts did not hinge i!p<.'n Dorothy Stone. He had set his mind on one coia-se, at any rate, and it was a course that kept strictly to the strait and narrow path of law-abiding citizen- ship. But Nails Markey was not idle. He rcaiited that he had stirred up a hornet": ne>-t. and further action was necessary. With Bugs Raymond's dc-eertion of the gang still rankling, he saw a move whereby the latter might become a scapegoat. Nails sent secretly for Jimmy Kirk. "Hallo, Jimmy," he greeted, when the gunman called on him. "How'd yoii hke to make a little extra money?" "How little?" drawled Jimmy with h:s thin-lipped smile. "There's a loud-speaker, on the radio that's shootin' off hie mouth plenty," said Nails. "I wondered if you might attend to him, if I made it worth your while." Jimmy's eyes took on a glint of greed. That night he made his way to the radio orator's hotel and let himself into the man's room by a duplicate key. The reformer was sitting at a tyi>:-- writer, tapping out notes for a speech that he intended to deliver the following day. He did not hear Jimmy enter. He was not aware of the .slayer's presence till the smash of a gunshot broke the trend of his thoughts. Jimmy Kirk plugged him throe times in the 'back, then drilled him wjth a fourth bullet as he lay on the floor. Next dav the papers hlazened the news of the killing and demanded justice. Men in the street pronounced the name of Bugs Ravmond in wrathful tr.ne.^. He had been'at the back of it. He-was the one the police ehoidd lay hands on. But the police had no proof. Bugs received a call from Arkansas Smith at his apartment that night. "You know the latest?" Arkan.«as announced. "They've pinned the killing on .liinniy KirHc. Yeah, he wa.s seen leavin' that loud-speaker's hotel just after the shootin'!" '"Bunk !" was the re- joinder. "Jimmy didn't do it. He knows I don't want to get in any jam. He knows I'm out of the racket." "I'm tellin' you," "Arkansas persisted. "You airi'-t seen Jimmy ■ nince last night, any- way, have you?" Bugs shook his head. " But that don't mean a tiling," he argued- '-' I guess Jimmy got the tip he was suspec- ted, and he's lyin' low for a spell." Ho was interrupted by the ringing of the 'phone-bell, and picked up the receiver. "Hallo?" he called. " Raymond this end. Yea-h. Oh, liallo, Jim- my ; it's you, IS it ? What's all this about that reformer ?" _ A pau.se. and then: "You what ?" Watching Bugs, -Ar- kansas Smith saw his face cliangc colour. BOY'S CINEMA ''You've gotta get out of town, huh?" Bugs went on, a metallic note in his voice. "You want me to " His tone grew suave all at once. "Oh, sure, Jimmy! You know I wouldn't stand by a^id see you in any fix without doin' something. Yeah, I'll have a car for ycu. You can pick it up at the gas-house at ten-thirty to-night." He hung up the receiver and .stood thinking for a moment. So Jimmy had been gviilty, after all. Jimmy had gone against instructions, and now came whin- ing for aid, a hunted slayer with the law at his heels. It was not pleasant for Bugs to re- flect that, by force of circumstantial evidence, he might now share his err- ing lieutenant's fear of the electric chair. He glanced at Arkansas Smith. " You were right," he said curtly. "Jimmy did it, but I don't want the cops to get him—if you understand what I mean. Ark, I want Jimmy put on the spot." "I get you, Bugs." "Take a car down to the gas-house, and meet him there," Bugs ordered. Arkansas left the apartment, picked up a touring car and drove to the gas- house, over which Bugs had assumed control shortly after ho had launched forth as a racketeer. He entered a small office there, .switched on the light and w-aited. Fifteen minutes after his arrival he heard a stealthy footfall, and, glancing through the window, saw Jimmy Kirk stop into the shaft of light that streamed through the panes. Arkansas opened a shutter. He ob- serve<l that Jimmy looked haggard and nervous. "The cops are on my trail. Ark," said Jimmy hoarsely. "Where's the car?" "Rig^it behind you," was the answer. "You'd better beat it, quick!" Jimmy Kirk turned and darted to- wards the auto. Arkansas let him take 17 the wheel and then drew a gun. He levelte<l it deliberately, and blazed at Jimmy's white face. Three shots he pumped into the gunman in the car, and watched him sag forward over the steer- ing-column. Then he turned to a tele- phone, to dial police headquarters. "I'm speakin' from tlie gas-house," ho said, as he heard the voice of the desk-sergeant. "A motor-bandit just tried to stick me up here. No, he didn't get away. I shot him, an' he's dead " Arkansas stopped speaking. A hand had closed on his wrist, and, turnrig quickly, he saw a man in a slouch liat. The man was not alone. There were three or four uniformed police-officers with him. The cops had been clo.?er on the trail that even Jimmy Kirk had realised. They would never take Kirk into cus- tody, but they had seen and heard enough to arrest ArkaJisas Smith. The manacles were snapped home on Smith's wrists. Back to the Racket. EYEN under third-degree methods, Arkansas Smith maintained the habitual reticence peculiar to a gangster in the hands of the police. So Bugs Raymond continued in his role of business man, and was a prominent figure at a civic function which took place a day or two after Kirk's killing. The occasion marked the completion of the sixteen-million-dollar skyscraper that had been erected by the Stone Con- struction Company, and the function was carried out on the roof. At a height of over a thousand feet aliove street level', speeches were made and applauded, a news-reel recording them. Bugs mingle<l with the ehte, and. wlien the oratory was over,managed to edge his way to where Dorothy Stone was standing. A goo<l-looking young man was with her. yhe was holding on to liis arm " What do you want ? " Stone demanded in a voice that was shaken by ill-concealed wrath. August 20tb, 1931,