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Speaker 1: The secret Fear by Kenneth Dwayne Whipple. The night was

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hot and breathless, as had been the day, and the

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humid tang of the salt air smote my nostrils as

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envying Martin his vacation respite from the grind of police reporting.

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I turned off the broad paved thoroughfare of Washington Avenue

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and started down Wharf Street, narrow and dimly lighted, toward

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my lodgings beyond the bridge. As I passed the second

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dirty globe street light, I halted suddenly, with a staccato

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sound of hurrying footsteps in my ears. Homeward bound from

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the journal office, where Martin's work had kept me until

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after midnight, I had yielded to the temptation offered by

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the short cut. Now, with the peculiar empathic insistence of

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the footfalls behind me, I began to wonder if I

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had chosen wisely. Brass buttons glinted dully under the corner arc,

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reassuring me. The next instant I was roughly ordered to halt.

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I recognized the hoarse panting voice of Patrolman Tom Kenton

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of the fourth Precinct, whose beat, as I knew, lay

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along the wharf. It's me Canton, Jack Bowers of the journal,

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I said, what's doing? Canton peered at me, keenly in

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the bad light, then his face relaxed. Man killed in

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Kellogg's Warehouse just around the corner there, he replied, killed.

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How the sergeant didn't say. I got it from him

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just now when I reported somebody phoned in a minute ago.

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Come along and see if you want. Saw right in

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your line, and you're a good friend of the captain's.

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I fell into step with him, finding some difficulty in

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keeping pace. Do you know who phoned? I asked, No,

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Maybe a joke, maybe a frame up, maybe anything. His

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deep voice rumbled through the gloom of the dingy street,

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deserted save for our hurrying figures. We crossed to the

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opposite side, passing beneath the blue arc, which flamed and sputtered,

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naked through the jagged gash in its dirty, frosted globe.

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Just around the corner loomed the ramshackle bulk of Kellogg's Warehouse,

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a four story wooden structure squatting on the river piers.

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On the ground floor. The broad entrance gaped blackly at

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the left of the door way, about three feet above

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the street level. The end of the loading platform jutted

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out of the darkness beyond the warehouse. A narrow pier

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ran out toward midstream. I caught a glimpse of the

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running lights of some small vessel, dimly outlined against the

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gray black of the oily water. Kenton stopped at the

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corner of the warehouse to draw his revolver, motioning me

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to remain where I was. Stay here, he said under

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his breath, I'll take a look. If it's a frame up,

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there's no need to get anyone else into it. Besides,

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you'd be more help here. He squared his broad shoulders

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and was swallowed up by the oblong of black. It

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did not require much urging to persuade me to stay outside. Timidly,

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I peered through the crack in the warped boarding. The

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dim ray of light which Kenton cast before him seemed

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only to accentuate the obscurity. The light became stationary. I

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could distinguish Kenton bending over something on the dirt floor,

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not fifteen feet inside the entrance. He looked up and

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spoke softly, Come ahead, mister Bowers, he said, no joke

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about this. There was a grim edge to his tone.

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With a shiver, I stepped through the doorway and crossed

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to where he crouched above a motionless shape huddled against

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the side of the long loading platform. The body was

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that of a man of large stature, more than six

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feet in height. As nearly as I could judge from

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the cramped position in which he lay, there were no

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visible marks of violence, except for afrayed linen collar pulled awry,

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which dangled by a single buttonhole from the shirt about

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the powerful corded neck. But as I bent closer to

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look at the features, I drew back with a gasp.

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The face of the dead man was distorted by an

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expression of utmost horror and loathing. Around the dilated pupils

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of his large, bluish gray eyes, the ghastly whites showed

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in a pallid rim of fear. His irregular reddish features,

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even in death, seemed fairly to writhe with terror. One long,

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sinewy arm was thrown up across the lower part of

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his face, as if to ward off some unseen and

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terrible menace. Shuddering, I stared across the body at Kenton's

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homely impassive face in Heaven's name. What happened to him?

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I asked. Keaton's hands had been moving swiftly over the body.

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Now he spread them apart in a little puzzled gesture.

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There doesn't seem to be any wound, he said. See

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if there isn't a switch around somewhere, mister Bowers, there

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ought to be a way of lighting up here. I

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fumbled along the wall until my fingers encountered a round

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porcelain knob, A single grimy bulb pennded from the cobweb

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drafter through a dim circle of gruesome yellow light upon

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the floor of the warehouse. The body had laid on

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its left side, facing the doorway. Canon methodically turned the

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corpse upon its face, his searching fingers exploring the back

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to me. At least it was a relief that the staring,

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terrified eyes were hidden from view, rather than gazing fearfully

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through the arch of the door into the narrow, empty

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street beyond. There's something queer about this, said Kenton. No

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wound at all, mister Bowers. That I can find, no blood,

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not even a bruise, only this mark at the throat.

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I had not seen the mark before, and even now

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I had to look closely to find it. It was

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scarcely more than a discoloration of the skin in a

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broad band beneath the chin, But there was no abrasion,

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much less a wound sufficient to cause the death of

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a powerful man like the one who lay before us.

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With a shrug of his shoulders, Canton rolled the body

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back to its original position. At once, the ghastly eyes

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renewed their unwinking stare at the empty street. A sound

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from the doorway caused us both to turn. Only Kenton

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himself can say what his imagination pictured there, As for

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my part, I owned a feeling of distinct relief at

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the sight of nothing more startling than a pair of

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ragged looking men peering in at the open door. As

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we looked, a third derelict of the wharves joined them,

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pressing inquisitively forward toward the body on the floor. Was

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the trouble here, asked one curiously. Somebody croak a gui, yes,

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said Kenton, tersely know him, any of you. His companion,

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who had been staring at the body, suddenly spoke in

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a startled tone, by gorry, that's Terence mc fadden. I'd

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never have known the boy with that look on his

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face except for the scar over his right eye. Look,

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Jim sure, and he looks as if the devil were

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after him. A confirmatory mutter came from the others. The

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grind of a street car's wheels on the curve of

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Washington Avenue cut clearly across the low lapping of the

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waves against the rotting piles outside the warehouse. The humid air,

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impregnated with the foul odors of the water front, was stifling.

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The three men huddled closer, with fearful glances over their shoulders,

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as if striving to glimpse that which the eyes of

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the dead man watched. Canton, alone, seemed unaffected by the tension.

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No where he lives over on twenty fourth Street, volunteered

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the third man, but he'd been on the Tiger yonder

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this evening. I saw him go aboard. Why not call

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Captain Dolan him? And Terry was pals. What's his name, Dolan?

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Captain Ira Dolan, go and get him, ordered Kenton, removing

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his cap and mopping his forehead. The man not unwillingly

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passed out of the circle of light. We heard his

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footsteps on the planking of the pier and his hail

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to the ship anchored there. Kenton turned to me a

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worried look on his face. Would you mind going down

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to Patten's place on the corner and phoning in mister Bowers,

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he asked. I wouldn't ask it, but the Captain knows

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you well. Tell him I'm staying with the body, and

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ask him to have doctor Potts come if he's there.

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I'd like to get to the bottom of this. I

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was only too glad to get out of the warehouse,

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for the eerie atmosphere was beginning to get on my

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nerve When I returned. Two of the sombulent loafers from

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Patten's greasy lunch room, roused by my telephone message to

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Captain Waters of the fourth Precinct, followed in my wake,

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muttering and rubbing their bleary eyes. Less than ten minutes

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had passed since we had found the dead men in

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Kellogg's old warehouse. Yet now a dozen frowsy wharf rats

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fringed the doorway, brought thither by some mysterious telepathic message

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borne on the murky night air. Be here in ten minutes,

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I said, nodding to Kenton. Suddenly a man made his

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way through the crowd and hastened toward us. His rugged,

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weather beaten face took deeper lines from the light overhead,

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its high lights gleaming in the ghastly radiance like pieces

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of yellowed parchment. Yet there was power in the piercing

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blue eyes, and strength in every line of the tall,

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gaunt figure now stooping suddenly over the body of the

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dead man, Terence. He cried, his voice harsh with grief.

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Rance lad Kenton bent over and touched him on the shoulder.

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Are you, Captain Dolan, he asked. The old man looked up,

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one hand still resting upon the motionless body beside which

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he knelt. I am, he said, simply. I understand this

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man Terence mac fadden, his name is Captain Dolan nodded.

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I understand he was on board your ship tonight, Yes,

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said Captain Dolan, raising to his feet. What time did

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he leave? Twas not more than half an hour ago, Officer,

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shortly after midnight. I would say he was just aboard

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for a little farewell banquet, you understand, just a friendly visit,

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eating and drinking in the light before I leave at

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daybreak for another trip. I'm going down the coast. Canon

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shook his head. Never mind that. Have you any idea

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how he met his death? Had he any enemies that

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you know? Captain Dolan ran his bony fingers through his

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grizzled locks, his eyes still on the body of his

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friend enemies. He had a plenty officer like any two

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fisted men with the disposition of Terence McFadden. Twas only

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last week he cleaned up two of Jerry Kramer's gang

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that tried to hold him up with a pistol down

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on this very street. But his worry tonight had nothing

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to do with them. A man like Terence could take

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care of himself against any man. Truth to tell, he

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was his own worst enemy. Kenton broke in sharply, what's

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that he was worried tonight? You say? There seemed to

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be a trace of evasion in Captain Dolan's manner. It

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was a piece he read in the paper. It fair

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spoilt his supper for him. What was it about? It

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was an item from the zoo, replied Captain Dolan, canon

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fingered a button, puzzled, casting a mystified glance at me.

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It was evident that his inquiries were not getting him anywhere.

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Before he could question Captain Dolan further the group about

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the doorway behind us was thrust roughly aside, and Troman

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corkran the new officer from the adjacent Bete shouldered his

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way in. His right hand was twisted in the lapels

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of a short, squat foreigner with a swarthy face half

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hidden by a coarse, reddish brown beard. The neck of

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his sweat soaked undershirt was open and his sleeves were

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rolled above harry muscular forearms. Corcoran stared at the group

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about the lifeless body of Terence mc fedden. So it's true,

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is it? He curiously asked. I thought Big Jim here

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was trying to give me a wrong steer. Who said,

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Kenton Dobrowski or some such name. Big Jim they call him.

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He's one of the Cramer gang. They say, where'd you

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get him? Caught him coming out of the basement over

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on Efton Street. He took one look at me and

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ran like hell. So I rounded him up and asked

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him what was the big idea of running? He just

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looked dumb, and I knew he'd been up to something,

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so I frisked him and found these. He pulled a

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watch and a purse from the side pocket of his coat.

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Captain Dolan leaned forward eagerly. Terence's he cried, see if

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his initials are not in the back. He fairly snatched

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the watch from Corcoran's hand. The younger patrolman turned to Kenton,

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who's the old bird anyway? He asked in an undertone.

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Kenton established the captain's connection with the affair in a

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few words. In the meantime, the old man had pried

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open the gold case with his heavy thumbnail and was

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squinting inside. See he affirmed, pointing to the initials T

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J M engraved there. Corkoran nodded carelessly. Big Jim, all right,

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he said, decisively. He's the man that killed mc fadden here.

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Big Jim started at his captor, chewing vigorously. No kill,

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he exclaimed, No kill. Kenton had been frowning perplexedly. Now

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he turned to Corcoran, Say Bill, he demanded, how did

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you get over here anyhow? Who told you there'd been

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a man killed? To our amazement, Corkoran jerked his thumb

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toward Big Jim. He did, he said, he did, repeated

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Kenton incredulously. Then you were the one that phoned into

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the sergeant Corkoran nodded, taking a tighter grip on the

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captive's lapels. I was going to call the wagon and

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go straight in with Big Jim here. Then he told

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me such a funny story that I thought maybe he

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was trying to string me, so I marched him over

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here to make sure. Kenton shook his head. That was

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no way to go, he muttered under his breath. Well,

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no matter what does he say, he says he took

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this stuff away from mc fadden but didn't kill him,

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sneered Corcoran. Doesn't know who killed him, but he didn't fishy. Well,

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I'll tell the world. Captain Dolan again bent over the

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body of Terence mc fadden. Then he looked up at

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Big Jim. Tell us what happened, he commended. Words popped

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turbulently from Big Jim. Either he was actually telling the

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truth or he had committed his story to heart. No kill,

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he vociperated, gesticulating, no kill, take watch, but no kill.

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Hide from man, pull him in fight, no dead, take money,

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run hide. Fear shone in his shifty eyes and on

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his swarthy, perspiring face as he glanced nervously about the building.

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The fantastic idea occurred to me that his fear was

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less of the police than some unseen, intangible force beyond

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his comprehension. I caught myself looking apprehensively over my own shoulder.

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Corkran spat on the floor disgustedly. Part of that yarn's

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all right, he said, that part about his stealing the watch,

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and all, I mean, the rest is all bull How

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would he get the stuff off a big guy like

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that without broking him? How did you kill him? Anyway?

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Captain Dolan leaned forward, his eyes gleaming. Yes, officer, he repeated,

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how did he kill him? Tell us that if you can.

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Corkoran thrust his captive toward Kenton and knelt beside the body.

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When he looked up, his face was blank. Rising. He

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turned savagely on Big Jim. Come now, he ordered, roughly,

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shaking the foreigner by the shoulder. How did you kill him?

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Speak up? No kill, repeated Big Jim, stubbornly. No kill.

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Corcoran raised his club menacingly. Whether he would have struck

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Big Jim or merely wished to intimidate him, I did

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not know. He had not been long on the force,

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and he felt his authority keenly, but Captain Dolan stepped forward,

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holding out an imperative hand. One moment, Officer, he said sternly.

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For a breathless instant, the tableau held. Then Corkoran, closing

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his amazed mouth, thrust his flushed face close to Captain

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Dolan's What business have you got butting in on this anyway?

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He shouted? Who told you to give orders? You seem

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to have been a friend of this fellow's by what

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Tom here says. But how do we know you didn't

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have a grudge against him and dope him tonight aboard

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your boat? How do we know you didn't give him wood, alcohol,

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or something to drink that put him down and out.

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You'd better just keep quiet and stick around here until

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the doc takes a look at him. Captain Dolan's wrinkled,

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parchment like face turned angry red, and his bony hands clenched.

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Then suddenly he relaxed, uttering a short, mirthless laugh. In

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remaining here as you request, he replied, tis my idea

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to see justice done. Little love has Terence had for

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Jimmy Kramer and his gang. He would have wished fair

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play even for Big Jim there, and for that reason

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I'll be answering your kind indulgence while I tell you

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a little of Terence McFadden. Corkoran glared at the old man.

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Kenton shrugged his shoulders. Go ahead, he said, We've got

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to wait for the car. Captain Dolan stood erect beneath

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the grimy electric bulb, which cast a brassy gleam upon

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his grizzled blocks. At his left stood Corkoran, scowling, one

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hand gripping his subdued prisoner. Beyond him, Kenton leaned against

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the loading platform. I watched them from the shadows. Every

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man of us has his secret fear, began Captain Dolan abruptly,

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and a trifle oratorically. With one it's the open sea.

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With another, it's the horror of great heights. But we

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all have it. As for Terrence McFadden, it took no

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more than a little long tailed hand organ monkey to

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set him a shivering, and they seemed to know it too,

294
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the grinning devils. No sooner would he pass a dago

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organ grinder on the corner than the little red capped

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ape would let out a chatter and make a rush

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for Terrence, and would you believe me. The man would

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actually turn pale. Come away, Ira, he'd say, clutching at me,

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Come away, Ira, sure, and he'd be looking for a

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bite from the leg of ye. I mind me of

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the day when we went to the zoo Terrence, and

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I 'tis understood, said said he, when we reached the gates,

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that we make no visit to the monkey house. But

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I gave him the laugh with hints about his courage.

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Do you mind till at last he sets his teeth

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determined like no man shall say Terrence McFadden is a coward,

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says he let us go. In the minute we entered

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the room, the place was in an uproar. The little

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yellow haired monkeys were hanging by their tails and chattering,

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and even the big apes down in the corner were

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roaring like devils. Let loose. Tis no use for me

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to point out to Terrence that the hour of feeding

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is at hand. He will have none of it. The

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beast knows me, he mutters, between chattering teeth, tis my

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blood they would be having? For why would they be

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having your blood? I asked, I know not the why

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of it, he says, shaking in every limb. But TI

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so rubbish, says I, for I wish to rid him

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of this foolish fear of his Walk with me to

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this cage and look the big chap in the eye.

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There's no harm he can be doing to you. And

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him safe behind the bars. Terrence was fair sweating with fear,

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but he grits his teeth and arm in arm. We

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walk over to the cage. The big tawny fellow, the

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ugly faced one by the fire door, sits there humped

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up in his corner, glowering at us with eyes like coals. Look, man,

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says I, and give over your foolishness. Why even in

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the open, ye'd be a match for him. No sooner

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are the words out of my mouth than the beast

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makes one jump from his corner and lands halfway up

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the bars at the front of the cage with a

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roar that would blast the very soul of ye. I own.

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I was startled little, as I fear monkeys in their likes.

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But poor Terence gives a sort of gasp and leans

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against me, actually paralyzed with fear. His eyes are set

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in a glassy stare like a dead man's. And I

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swear to you that after I got him outside. It

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was half an hour before the color came back to

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his cheeks, and his knees gave over their quivering. Did

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you see the horrible face of him? He gasps, and

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the long arms reach it for me throat, and then

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he'd fall to trembling again. Captain Dolan paused, as abruptly

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as he had begun, so vividly had he told the

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story that he had been for the moment, transported bodily

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to the monkey house at the zoo. Now, in the

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sudden silence, we moved uneasily, glancing at one another. Corcoran

347
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scratched his head in a puzzled What's all this got

348
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to do with finding the murderer? He burst out. Captain

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Dolan shook his head. There is no murderer, he said.

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We all looked startled. I imagine Canon would have spoken,

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but Captain Dolan motioned him to silence. Even Corkoran, for

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once found himself without words. I spoke of an item

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in the newspaper tonight, continued Captain Dolan, doubtless to a

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scene by all of you. Did you not read that

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one of the gorillas at the zoo had escaped from

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its cage and was at large in the city. In

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the breathless silence which ensued, I felt a peculiar thrill

358
00:27:47,559 --> 00:27:52,920
of terror pass up my spine. Kenton was fingering the

359
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:58,400
holster of his revolver with nervous, clumsy motions in some

360
00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:03,440
uncanny manner. The gaunt old sea captain's grim words of

361
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doubtless import had woven about us all a web of

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superstitious fear in which we vainly struggled, unable to grasp

363
00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:18,480
the saving clue. Twas that item which spoiled his supper

364
00:28:18,559 --> 00:28:21,200
for Terence when he read it aboard the ship tonight,

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and no use I found it to reason with him.

366
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To his mind. The grinning face of the big ape

367
00:28:28,839 --> 00:28:35,400
was peeping in at every porthole. Suddenly Corcoran whirled, peering

368
00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:37,880
into the blackness at the far end of the warehouse,

369
00:28:38,599 --> 00:28:44,880
where something stirred softly. Canton drew his pistol. I felt

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the goose flesh rising along my arms. Only the dead man, undisturbed,

371
00:28:51,599 --> 00:28:56,799
stared unwinkingly in the opposite direction. The next moment, a

372
00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:01,440
stray cat wandered leisurely into the circle of light and

373
00:29:01,599 --> 00:29:06,440
sat herself down to wash her dusty fur blinking complacently

374
00:29:06,599 --> 00:29:11,799
up at our pallid faces. I wiped the cold drops

375
00:29:11,799 --> 00:29:17,440
from my forehead and breathed a deep sigh. Corkoran turned

376
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:23,359
almost pleadingly to Captain Dolan. The gorilla, he said, was

377
00:29:23,359 --> 00:29:26,440
it the gorilla from the zoo that killed Terence McFadden.

378
00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:32,680
Dolan shook his head. I would not say that, he answered.

379
00:29:33,559 --> 00:29:38,160
I stared at the parchment like face in amazement. Like Corkoran,

380
00:29:38,519 --> 00:29:42,480
I had jumped to this conclusion. Kenton drew his hand

381
00:29:42,519 --> 00:29:47,759
across his forehead in perplexity. But you said there was

382
00:29:47,799 --> 00:29:51,880
no murder, cried Corkoran. Was it Big Jim that killed him?

383
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:56,720
After all? I would not say that, repeated Captain Dolan.

384
00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:02,720
Corkoran looked at the old man. Then he spoke very

385
00:30:02,799 --> 00:30:08,039
softly and soothingly, as one might interrogate a backward child.

386
00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:13,559
Then tell me, Captain Dolan, he said, how did Terence

387
00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:22,759
McFadden die? He was murdered, replied Captain Dolan. Corkran stared murdered.

388
00:30:23,359 --> 00:30:28,000
But you just said there was no murderer, Nor was there,

389
00:30:28,279 --> 00:30:35,000
said the Captain. Corkoran dropped his hands helplessly. Kenton took

390
00:30:35,079 --> 00:30:41,319
up the interrogation. Did he kill himself, he demanded, Was

391
00:30:41,359 --> 00:30:46,519
it suicide? I would not say that, repeated Captain Dolan

392
00:30:46,599 --> 00:30:50,799
for the third time. But Kenton was not to be

393
00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:56,839
baffled with What weapon was the man killed? He asked

394
00:30:56,880 --> 00:31:02,799
doggedly Captain Dolan, at the contorted face of the man

395
00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:06,640
at his feet, with one of the oldest weapons in

396
00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:10,920
the world, He answered, A weapon which has caused the

397
00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:14,400
death of many A brave man, ay braver and more

398
00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:19,759
powerful than Terence. Here the waves lapped saltily against the

399
00:31:19,839 --> 00:31:23,680
rotting piles at the far end of the warehouse. In

400
00:31:23,759 --> 00:31:29,160
the darkness, our rat squeaked, and the cat, interrupting its toilet,

401
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:34,519
darted out of the circle of light and vanished. In

402
00:31:34,599 --> 00:31:37,680
the darkness was heard the sound of a speeding motor.

403
00:31:39,359 --> 00:31:42,519
Captain Dolan raised his eyes from the corpse of his friend,

404
00:31:43,359 --> 00:31:48,799
and his voice was very soft and compassionate. Did I

405
00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:53,319
not say that Terence was his own worst enemy? Had

406
00:31:53,359 --> 00:31:58,200
it not been for this foolish bewitchment of his He

407
00:31:58,319 --> 00:32:03,319
turned and pointed suddenly towards Big Jim, standing stupidly there

408
00:32:03,359 --> 00:32:07,960
in the shadows. It seemed almost that the eyes of

409
00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:11,759
the dead man, following the direction of his extended arm

410
00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:17,039
were staring at the beastial, repulsive features of the prisoner

411
00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:21,799
with sentient terror. Look at the hairy arms of him,

412
00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:26,119
he cried, Look at the long, shaggy beard when he

413
00:32:26,279 --> 00:32:29,440
stood on the platform yonder by the door and crooked

414
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:33,079
his elbow upon the throat of Terence. Do you think

415
00:32:33,119 --> 00:32:35,640
the poor lad knew of the pistol stuck in his back?

416
00:32:36,079 --> 00:32:38,839
Or of the words of warning? Jabbered in some heathen

417
00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:43,359
LINGO to the mind of Terence was nothing less than

418
00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:47,839
the coming true of all his nightmares. Small wonder that

419
00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:51,160
his eyes are bursting from their sockets as he lies

420
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,119
there with the grip of terror, stopping the valves of

421
00:32:54,119 --> 00:32:57,359
his heart and curdling the very blood in his veins.

422
00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:03,039
Then the name of the weapon. It's called fear, said

423
00:33:03,119 --> 00:33:07,519
Captain Dolan. The throbbing motors sounded at the end of

424
00:33:07,559 --> 00:33:12,119
the street. With a squeal of brakes, the police car

425
00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:17,880
halted outside. Doctor Potts pushed through the crowd and bent

426
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:25,559
briefly over the body heart failure. He said, the end

427
00:33:25,599 --> 00:33:27,400
of the secret Fear