Johnston McCulley

“ For Jerry Tandon assumed that all other men were of the same ilk.
And now he remembered, also, what an old crook had told him less than a week before—that once too often he would plan and carry out a crime and boast of it afterward. For he was known as “Jerry, the Boaster” to crooks and the police alike. It was an alias in which he gloried. He liked to boast of his crimes and his cruelty. But he always did his boasting in the presence of only one man, at a time and in places that he deemed were safe. ”

“ This was a real exploit. To take a life after being caught in robbery, and to escape the consequences was something that not every man could do.
On he went up the street. He began whistling softly as he hurried along. Two more blocks up the avenue and he would turn into another and narrower thoroughfare and soon be at home, and safe.
A man stepped from a dark doorway ahead of him. “Hello, Jerry!” he said.
Jerry Tandon stopped abruptly. His heart seemed to cease beating for an instant; he had a moment of terror. The man standing before him was Detective Walt Bryan! ”

“ In the theater all your life, huh? And what has it got you? You're a simp! All your life workin' for the theater, and you've got nothin' but a night-watchman's job.”
“Your kind wouldn't understand,” the old watchman told him frankly. “No decent man would expect you to understand. Now you turn around and walk back to the office door, and you keep your hands up, and be mighty careful about it. The telephone is in the office. March!”
Jerry Tandon hesitated only a moment. He did not like the sudden, hostile gleam in the old watchman's eyes. ”

“ Surely, he thought, he could outwit an ancient watchman.
“Oh, I've always liked the theater,” Jerry Tandon replied, trying to grin. “I was just lookin' around. You've got quite a nice place here.”
“You've been in the office,” the old watchman accused. “You've been at the safe. You're a housebreaker. We'll just call for the police.”
Jerry Tandon was suddenly alarmed. He felt cornered. And he told himself that it was ridiculous to let himself be cornered by such a man. Currency from the safe was in Jerry's pockets. ”

“ Jerry Tandon went on, “I tossed the rubber gloves away and got out an alley window. I took plenty of time to clean my knife. Didn't bother me at all. I offered to split with the old fool, but he wouldn't. Maybe he wishes now that he had!”
“If you're tellin' the truth, you sure made monkeys out of the dicks,” Alex said with some degree of admiration. “Dang these cops, anyway. Puttin' men like us in a detention cell like a couple of drunk hobos.”
Alex got up and walked to the door again, and once more he rattled the bars and shrieked at the jailer. Then he paced the floor of the cell angrily. ”

“ Jerry Tandon answered. “You can't frame me!”
“We're not trying to frame you,” Bryan thundered. “But we've got the goods on you, and you're going to the electric chair! You're a killer, and there's only one end for you!”
“You can't do it on this man's talk,” Jerry cried. “He lies, I tell you!”
“Yes? He says that you told him you got three thousand dollars from that robbery. How can you explain that statement? As a matter of fact, that is about the amount stolen. But it has not been published in the papers. Nobody knew it except the manager of the theater and the police. ”

“ Them you'll have the thousand, and nobody'll suspect you if you're found bound and gagged. You can tell some kind of story. There's a scheme! They may fire you, but what of it? You'll have the thousand.”
“Why, you low-down crook,” the old watchman cried.
“Maybe I might make it fifteen hundred.”
“Not for a million! This is a theater. Understand? A theater! I've worked in theaters all my life. Theater folks stick together, you crook. Let you rob a box office and then split with you? Why you——”
Jerry Tandon saw that he was on the wrong track. ”

“ He was a kind, lovable old man. The fellow who knifed him is a beast! His murder will stir this town as much as though the mayor had been shot down on the street. And we're going to get the man who did it, Tandon!”
“Get him, but don't bother me about it,” Jerry said. “I'm not the only man in town.”
Bryan and the captain looked straight at him, and then, without a word, they got up and left the room, closing the door behind them. That did not fool Jerry Tandon in the least. He knew very well that in some fashion they could watch him, see his every movement, observe the expression in his face ”

“ He shrieked half a dozen times in the general direction of the jailer's office.
“They'll be comin' in here to tame you down some if you don't stop that,” Jerry Tandon told him.
“Yeh? Let 'em! I'm not afraid of the whole gang of 'em!” Alex informed him. “Let 'em come, from the big chief down to the janitor. This is enough to make a fightin' demon of a man.”
“Aw, cool down,” Jerry begged.
“Who's goin' to make me?” Alex demanded. “A man like me to be pinched for refusin' to move on! And put into a cell with a common bum!”
“I'm about fed up with that common-bum talk,” Jerry Tandon told him. ”

“ Jerry was thinking rapidly as the old watchman wasted a moment in indecision.
“You've got me,” Jerry said frankly. “Yes, I've tapped the safe. But what do you care?”
“Why, you——” the old watchman began.
“Just a moment, now, before you explode. You're a watchman, workin' for about seventy a month and maybe less,” Jerry said. “What do you care how much coin the big boss loses? He's got his thousands, I reckon, and he don't give you very much for stayin' awake all night around here. Maybe we can come to terms.”
“What do you mean?”
“How about a little split?” Jerry Tandon asked, leering. ”

“ There was an old watchman in the theater, Jerry Tandon knew, but he also knew the watchman's habits fairly well. The old fellow generally spent the greater part of the night at the stage-door entrance, reading and smoking, getting up a few times during the night to ring in his report and to walk through the theater on the lookout for fire. ”

“ But what's that got to do with a bum like you?” Alex demanded.
“I did it—that's all!”
“Don't make me laugh.”
“I did it, I tell you. I tapped the box for about three thou, and when I was makin' a get-away that old watchman stopped me with a gun. I let him have it with a knife. And then I went right on with my get-away. And I've covered up. They had me on the carpet, and I fooled 'em. I had an alibi.”
“Tell it to some kid,” Alex scoffed. “You can't make me believe that. It was too good a job for a common rat like you.” ”

“ What good will it do you to call the coppers and hand me over? That won't get you anything. The boss may pat you on the back for catchin' me, and maybe he'll just cuss you out for lettin' me get in here in the first place. ”