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Updated: May 24, 2025
Having failed at Baldy Jack's, it was certain, since Clarke's whole plan hinged on Klanner's death, that they would try again. After to-night if all went well it did not matter, for Klanner then would be no longer a factor to Clarke or Hunchback Joe!
But that meant different men at work in many different directions, and there must therefore be some central spot where Hunchback Joe could be instantly reached and reports made to him should Klanner be found and what better place, what more likely place than here in the security of his own lair!
Well, what was ample time for them, was ample time for him! It was not far from the tenement where the Tocsin had said Klanner lived to Baldy Jack's and Klanner was not due at Baldy Jack's until ten o'clock. Under the slouch hat, pulled far down over his eyes, Jimmie Dale's brows knitted into a frown. It was true then, and his intuition had not been at fault!
Jimmie Dale, approaching the garishly lighted exterior of the dance hall now, lit a cigarette. The plan, if successful, placed the guilt without question or cavil upon Klanner, but that was not all strong as that motive might be, Clarke had had still another in view, and one that perhaps took precedence over the first. Hunchback Joe had defined it clearly enough.
"I'm a man in a hurry," said Jimmie Dale whimsically and then the grim note crept back into his voice. "I am giving you a straight tip. Take it and take that street car that's coming along there." He held out his hand. "Sure!" said Klanner. "And I "
And so they had selected Klanner as their victim. But Klanner, if allowed to talk, might be able to defend himself therefore Klanner would not be allowed to talk. There was only one way to prevent that effectively by killing Klanner.
It would take some little time not until after the police had restored order to discover that the attempt upon Klanner had been abortive, that Klanner's body was not lying there dead on the floor.
A man, that he recognised as one of the Mole's gunmen, had dropped into a seat a couple of tables away from Klanner, where there was a clear space between the two men.
There was a long, jagged scar on the other's right cheek bone. It was Klanner. Jimmie Dale pulled out a chair at a vacant table directly behind the other, and sat down. A waiter, in beer-spotted apron and balancing a dripping tray, came for his order. "Suds!" said Jimmie Dale laconically.
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