“THE THIRD MAN.”

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXV, Issue 3371, 29 September 1931, Page 3

“THE THIRD MAN.”

n n By C. K. THOMPSON. n nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnni

n (Copyright.) U nunnnnnnnnnnnn

CHAPTER 111. (Continued.) The Commissioner himself presided over that conference. There were, in addition to Perry, Basslngton and Green, several other high officials, and the keynote of the affair was deep gravity. A Judge of the Supreme Court had been murdered under the very eyes of two police officers. The thing promised to develop into the sensation of the State. Of the Commonwealth, come to that. Bassington had not the slightest doubt that he would be suspended, or at the very least superseded in the case. Green felt positively unhappy and ill at ease as he waited for the Commissioner to speak. The grey-haired Chief of the New South Wales Police was a man of few words. In front of him on the table lay the reports of the flirce officers, put in writing immediately on I heir return to headquarters earlier in the morning. lie was already familiar with the contents of these reports and did not refer to them. Instead, he turned to Bassington and nodded curtly. "Your report in full detail," he said.

"It is now up to us to get down to first causes and plan our campaign. This is the biggest thing ever handled and we cannot be too careful. Has the identity of the other man been established yet?" "No, sir," replied the Superintendent.

"It would appear that a third man was present at the murder, and if he was, then it is safe to assume that he was the murderer. Now, was it this fellow Hammersmith who escaped from that useless escort yesterday?" No one answered him, so the Chief proceeded along the line of his own reasoning. "Two things must be done at once —find Hammersmith and discover who the other man was. That task will be the. hardest. Establish the identity of the second murdered man. Curious that he had no papers or other clues on him," mused the Commissioner. "Bassington," he said, suddenly, turning to the inspector, "what were Hammersmith's relations with that woman—Brierly, wasn't her name?" The inspector looked surprised at the sudden deviation, but gave the required information, which led up to the trial of Hammersmith for attempted murder. When he faltered as to facts, Green supplied the required details. Mary Brierly was an unknown quantity as far as police records were concerned, although rumour had it that she had had to leave Brisbane rather suddenly over some affair with a young squatter which ended in the latter committing suicide by jumping out of a fourth-storey window on to the hard asphalt below. As far as could be ascertained, she had lived in her P'addington flat barely three months before she became acquainted with Hammersmith, who, at the time, was living at Randwick, where he maintained a first-class racing establishment. He was a man of independent means, reputedly rich, had owned a Melbourne Cup winner and was much sought after by persons of both .sexes. Where and how they met, neither Green nor Bassington could say, but. .the fact remained that they had become very intimate and were often seen about together, on the lawn at Randwick, at most social events of importance and, indeed, everywhere that the elite patronised. This state of affairs progressed for nearly eighteen months and then, like a bolt from the blue, the path of true love became like a sheet of badly bent corrugated iron. Miss Brierly complained to the police that Hammersmith had threatened her with a gun and claimed police protection. Green was sent round to see the woman and arrived just as Hammersmith was apparently on the point of filling her with the contents of an automatic.

The Inspector detailed exactly what had occurred from the moment he had left headquarters early on the previous night until he had left the Judge's residence with Green and the Superintendent. The Commissioner heard him out without comment and then looked at Green. The detective-sergeant then detailed his movements, which almost coincided with those of the inspector.

"Now, Superintendent," said the Chief, shortly. Perry's report was short and to the point and, after he had finished speaking, the Commissioner remained silent for several seconds, evidently sunk in deep thought.

"Gentlemen," he said at last, "there is not time to indulge in petty recriminations or to blame this man'for that, or that man for this." He looked at Basslngton and Green, who coloured slightly. "The magnitude of this crime, while it shocks us all as members of the public, is one that, if not immediately cleared up, will shake the Force to the very root of its being." "Before I say anything further," he went on, "I want this fact clearly understood —I do not in any way blame either Detective-Inspector Bassington or Detective-Sergeant Green for what has occurred." He paused and began to drum the table with his finger-tips. Bassington intercepted a look of relief from Green, but did not heed it. The Commissioner was speaking again.

"Gentleman, we are all aware of the attitude adopted by the late Judge towards the Police. While that is entirely beside the point as far as our investigation of his murder is concerned, there is this in it to remember: He did not want our protection. In fact, he would have raised an awful row had he known that he was guarded. He would take no heed of warnings and did-not assist us in the slightest. "Bassington and Green did their best and lam convinced of it. Remember, gentlemen, the late Judge was a brother of the Inspector, and it is quite unlikely that Bassington would have been guilty of a dereliction of duty, that being so." "1 have the fullest confidence in both officers," said the Commissioner, gruffly, and threw a quick glance around the room as if to invite dissent. If he did, he was disappointed. "Am I to understand from that, Chief, that this cose will not be taken out of my hands?" demanded Bassington, eagerly. "All I want is a chance to get at the man who murdered Horace and . . . ."

"The rest we know," concluded Bassington. "No we don't," said the Commissioner, testily. "What was the row about?"

"Mary Brierly," said the inspector, deliberately, "blamed Hammersmith, or rather, named him, as the father of her child!"

The Chief looked interested. "Hardly a motive for murder," he said.

"Well, according to Hammersmith, she blackmailed him good and hard, although that evidence, for some reason, was not brought out by his counsel in Court," said Bassington.

"Blessed if I can see daylight, yet," confessed the Commissioner, with a shrug of the shoulders. "You will excuse me, Chief, but has this any bearing on the case in hand?" ventured Superintendent Perry, with a slight yawn, which the Commissioner did not observe, fortunately. * "You asked for suggestions, sir. Might I suggest that it would be more to the point to discover the relations, if any, between Hammersmith and the late Horace Bassington," he added. The Commissioner turned to Inspector Bassington. "Tell us all you know about your brother, his habits and so on," he commanded.- "How old was he?"

The Commissioner interrupted him. "It was in my mind, Inspector," he said, "Lo supersede you. Not," he went on, hastily, "that I have lost confidence in you, but you would have such an incentive to hunt down a murderer that perhaps your rigid sense of justice might suffer." Bassington looked hurt. "I do not think so, sir," he said, stiffly.

"Fifty," replied the inspector, promptly. "How old is Hammersmith and this woman, Brierly?"

The Chief's eyes twinkled slightly. Neither do I, Bassington, I confess," he said, and then his manner changed. "We've got to get right down to tin tacks and see justf where we are," he said. "The whole resources of the Force must be thrown into this case. Now, any suggestions" to make gentlemen?"

"Brierly is about thirty and Hammersmith thirty-five," replied Bassington.

The Commissioner drummed his fingers on the table again while the rest of the conference stared at him in some perplexity. What on earth was the Chief driving at, they wondered. "It is hardly likely," remarked Bassington, drily, "that my late brother 'pirated' Brierly from Hammersmith.^ "Who suggested such a thing?" roared the Commissioner. "I won't have any levity in this inquiry. You gentlemen seem to think that this matter is . . . Well, that doesn't matter, anyhow," he concluded, hastily. The conference lasted the best part of two hours, and when it broke up a plan of action had been formulated, duties allotted and the case formally handed over to Superintendent Perry. "Green," said Bassington, as the two men left headquarters together, "I've got an idea in my head, and I'm going to work it off on Stumpy Phegan." "Where does Stumpy come into this business?" "Never you mind, my lad. wan and seel" Green snorted.

"Who is to handle the case, Chief?" asked Superintendent Perry. The Commissioner looked at him thoughtfully.

"You had better take control Perry, with Bassington and Green as your chief subordinates. Remember, the whole of the Force Is behind you, if necessary- Have you anything to say?" "Nothing at all, Chief," said the Superintendent, instantly. "The first thing that strikes me, however, is the desirability of keeping this thing from the newspapers as far as possible. Naturally, we cannot hide the actual crime, but the fact that it was committed within a stone's throw of two officers would, if made public, raise an awful outcry. The fact that the officers were powerless to prevent the crime will be lost sight of by the Press." The Chief Commissioner agreed with him and said so.

"Well, I'm going to rope in Mary Brierley," he said, decidedly. "What on earth for?" demanded Bassington. "Wait and see," chuckled Green, as he adroitly dodged.

Together the two men threaded their way through the busy streets, presently coming to a halt, on the corner of Pitt Street and Martin Place. Green's eyes roamed leisurely over the passing traffic, presently coming to rest on a crowded tram which had just come to a stop, and was busily taking in passengers. As he watched he saw a closed car shoot past the tram, nearly knocking down several intending passengers.

"I'd grab him for dangerous driving if I wasn't on other serious business," he remarked to Bassington, who was also eyeing the driver of the closed car with disfavour. It was a private car and th?v could see a passenger inside.

"Looks drunk," commented the sergeant, as the car drew level with them. Suddenly he gave a sharp cry and grabbed the inspector's arm. "It's Hammersmith, by all that's holy," he shouted.

(To be continued.)