Boy's Cinema (1930-31)

1? (ing body and he sagged to tlie ground in a pitiable heap. Their fell work accomplished, tlie gunmen sank back in the soft cushions of the car as it suddenly shot away from the kerb, a woman's wild shrieks coming faintly to their ears. The dis- tracted wifd of the dead man who, guessing the meaning of the gunfire, had come scampering frantically down the stairs of her little home. Her shoulders heaving convulsively, tears streaming down her ashen cheeks, she drooped pathetically over her man, calling down threats upon the killers. And there the police found her when, seconds later, they rushed to the spot to nivestigate the sounds of the gunfire. " Who Killed Whitey Eckhart ? " A ROOM on the first floor of police headquarters. Seated at a large oak desk was a tall, well-built man of middle age with piercing grey eyes, brown hair that was inclined to be curly and a chin that denoted strength and a great determination. Captain Pat O'Grady, the one man in all CharJesworth that every gangst-er feared. A brave and amazingly clever detective who, once he had marked down a crook to be brought to justice, never rested till the task was accom- plislied. "Yes, boys, though his wife won't speak for fear of the consequences, I feel sure Whitey Eckhart was killed by his own gang of rats." O'Grady spoke very slowly as if carefully choosing his words. But those who knew him were aware that that deep, almost drawling voice was characteristic of tlie man. The four plain-clothes men who were with him hung on his every word as he continued. "You see, I've informa- tion that Whitey tipped off Rocco to a loriy of booze that Louie Ricarno was running out to the West Hill Road- house the other night. Tha.t lorry was aiiibuehed and the two men aboard badly damaged. What's more likely than that Ricarno got wise to what happened and gave Whitey the works? That's how I figure it, and I'm hoping this time that I'll be able to " The telephone bell broke into his words, and he snatched up the receiver, clapped it to his ear. "Hallo! O'Grady speaking. What's that? Yeah. Send him right in." The captain's eyes gleamed from be- neath narrowed lids as he replaced the receiver of the 'phone. Quickly he returned his gaze to his men. "You boys get out. You see, I've a visitor coming up and I want to be alone with him. It's Ricarno. Hawkes and Cox picked him up for me. Smart lads, those, for I only gave them instruc- tions half an hour ago." The four filed from the room, and almost immediately the door was re- opened to admit an upstanding young man, neatly dressed in a grey lounge suit and a grey felt hat. Good-looking he was, too, and neatly brushed dark hair was revealed when he swept off his hat and calmly placed it on a corner of O'Grady's desk, his smiling blue eyes meeting those of the captain unflinchingly. Strange that such a refined and well- bred youngster should be one of the most clever and daring racketeers that ever menaced the city of Charlesworth. But such was Louie Ricarno, and this boy—he was little more than that— was now marked down by Captain O'Ctrady to be brought to justice. "Glad to see you, Louie." O'Grady December lOtb, 1931. BOY'S CINEMA motioned to a chair. "Sit down. Make yourself comfortable." "My, aren't we polite." Louie gave a gay laugh. Well he knew why he had been brought here, but the know- ledge perturbed him not a bit. In a battle of wits the boy prided himself with being capable of holding his own. Coolly he produced a gold cigarette- case, opened it and held it out to the captain. "Have a gasper, Pat?" "No, thanks. I don't smoke that brand." O'Grady waited while Louie lit himself one of the cigarettes, then he rose from his chair, his eyes fixed challer.gjngly on those of the boy. "Tell me, Louie. What do you know about that surprise party on the South Side?" Surprise party ?" Louie's eyebrows lifted in affected amazement. "I'm afraid I don't get you. What exactly do you mean, Pat?" "Playing the little innocent, huh?" Pat grimted. "Don't know Whitey Eckhart was bumped off last night, huh ?" "You don't ."sav so!" Calmly the young racketeer flicked the ash from his cigarette. "That why you asked mo up here?" ' But O'Grady made no direct answer to the question. "What d'you know about that deal?" he shot out with surprising fierceness. "Not much, sweetheart." There was a merry t^. inkle in Louie's blue eyes. It appealed to his particular sense of humour to play with O'Grady in this way. "I only know that Whitey Eckhart was a real bad lad. You agree, don't you, Pat?" But this question O'Grady also ignored. How to get this self-satisfiod young crook to make a slip that would warrant him clapping him behind prison bars? A difficult task, Pat knew. But he wasn't finished yet. He would try a different line of conversation in the hopo of achieving success. "•Louie, it's just too bad to see a swell kid like you in the booze racket. Why on earth don't you get out of it when the breaks are in your favour?" He noticed with satisfaction that Couie's lip curled. Perhaps he would blaze out at him in a moment and in his torrent of abuse say something that would condemn him. " You ought to know that the best you'll get if you stick to it is the worst of it. Why be a sap?" "A darned pretty piece!" Louie was not to be ensnared. The rage ho had felt at Pat's words had been efl'ectually mastered. "See here. Pat." He grinned provokingly. " I'm real sorry for you. It's your job to clear up the law breakers. The dickens of a task, for if you'll pardon me saying so, you ain't smart enough." "Yeah?" O'Grady shot him a fero- cious look, smarting under the taunt. But he was not to be outdone by a mere boy. " How in blazes you think I can be that smart when you've got all the brains, huh?" "Now, now, don't get rUed." Louie waggled liis cigarette reprovingly at the captain, then a peculiar gleam came into his eyes. " Look here, Pat. If you would set to and clear out Rocco's gang and not bo •■'o drrned tough on your friends I could give you enough of these things to paper your kids' nursery. Look fine for Christmas decorations, take it from me." Louio thrust the wad of dollar bills that he had taken from his breast- pocket under O'Grady's noso. Quickly tho captain made a grab at them, but Louie, with a grin, jerked them out of reach. Every Tuesday "Getting smart at last, huh?" he taunted. "No," growled Pat. "I just wanted to see the serial numbers." " You do, huh ?" There was fierce anger in Louie's eyes now. Almost savagely he rammed the dollar bills back into his pocket. "Listen to me, you copper-headed mug. I'm no thief. My racket is beer, and you know it. I'm in a legitimate business, I am." "Sure you are," Pat mocked him. "You're just selling that nice creamy beer to the poor working man with a few murders thrown in for his enter- tainment, aren't you?" He came round his desk and con- fronted Louie, his whole attitude one of menace. Quickly the boy snatched up his hat and stepped back. " What you trying to do ?" With an effort Louie again controlled his anger. "Endeavouring to get mc sore so I'll spill something, huh? Well, there's nix doing, Pat, so there. But you'll get a chance to read all you want to know when I write tho story of my life at three-fifty bucks a copy." " What, you going to do that ? Well, well, you surprise me." There was con- tempt in Pat's voice. "But take my tip, Louie. Don't write the last chapter till the night you go to the chair. It'll be more realistic.' "So you think that's where I'll land?" Louie laughed carelessly as Pat solemnly nodded his head. " Rot! I'm too fly to land on the wrong side of the law, and you know it." Pat shrugged. There was no doubt in his mind that he would have his wor4c cut out to bring in this boy. Ho was immune to questioning—that was obvious. He must be caught red-handed, or onei of his gang be made to " put him awav." "Who killed Whitey Eckhart?" As Louie turned towards tho door Pat clamped a heavy hand on his shoulder and twirled him round. "You tell me that, you little runt ?" But the element of surprise did not have the least effect on the cool-headed youngster. Instead, he broke into a grin. " Ha, ha, wouldn't you like to know, sweetheart!" he chuckled—then flung himself free of the detective's grasp and marched from the room. A Strange Meeting. THOUGH ho was courageous and possessed more than his fair share of brains, Louio Ricarno fcli strangely uneasy after his visit to Pat O'Grady's office. Pat was after him, and, sticker that he was, Louie felt that the time would surely come when a slip would be made and he would find him- self in tho inexorable hands of the detective. That was the last thing the youngr racketeer wanted to happen. Not that he feared for his own safety, but there was his kid brother, Jackie, away at tho Alilitary Academy at Fairfield. The two had not a single relative in the world, and Louio knew that if anything should happen to him the kid would bo deso- late—with no one to pay his fees at tho college, or to ptovide him with food and clothes. It was as he was thus ruminating the day following his visit to O'Grady that he had a brainwave. A way to ensure keeping on the right side of the law. Instantly the shadows vanished from hia good-looking face, and, without loss of time, he sot about putting his idea into practice. Tho result was that that same evening some hundred men, all with the stamp of tho criminal upon their unpre- possessing faces, assembled in tho largo i