Chapter 7 park patrol department pinch of sugar

The truth about Shakes Cooney's murder would never have come to light had Mountie Wilkins not crossed the driveway outside Parker's Restaurant at dawn.Ellery is more than happy to admit it.He's entitled to it, too, because he's the one who brings a little bit of old-fashioned wisdom to this merry-go-round mess. The night before, a restaurant waiter had forgotten to clear a table in the restaurant's open-air area after picking up a hot girl.So the question arises: Who actually stabbed Cooney in the heart at about 6:00 the next morning?Logic dictates that the law-abiding vast majority of New York City's eight million people have little interest in the question of Shakes Cooney's life and death; but Mountie Wilkins was there to witness his death.He arrested three gentlemen for hanging around the empty restaurant and Cooney's body at that indecent hour.

The three collars he seized contained such precious necks that Inspector Richard Quinn at Police Headquarters had to be extra cautious in taking over the case.After all, it was an unusual affair, and Inspector Quinn was called in early in the morning to interrogate an activist, a financial titan, and a party politician over a murder case.The humble detective rises to the challenge. Senator Craig spoke in a condescending tone, as if he were a reporter from an opposition newspaper. Pierce Diet Millard spoke with the indifference of the voice, as if he were a small shareholder. The Honorable Mr. Stephens spoke in an amiable tone, as if he were a constituency worker.

Whether condescending, uncaring or amiable, the stories told by the three prominent suspects in riding attire are indistinguishable.They went for a morning jog on the track and saw no one until the mounted police came and summoned them.Shakes Cooney's life and death meant nothing to them.It was "totalitarian," in the words of Senator Craig, "unwise," in the words of financier Millard, and "unwise," in the words of politician Stephens, that Mountie Wilkins should have delusional attempts to detain them. , "It's just a cover." Detective Inspector Quinn is careful to touch on some potentially relevant issues, namely: In the forests of national politics, there are rumors that Senator Craig (a former Senator) is a thriving oak for the President .It was rumored that Pierce Dieter Millard was the Senator's architect and had drawn up the blueprints with gilt pens.And the cringe-peepers of politics assert that the hon. Mr. Stephens, as a salesman for the scheme, is well prepared.So in the circumstances - said the Inspector with a dry cough - some uninvolved persons might suspect that Shakes Cooney - the bookie-broker and ticket-seller, the shady nightclub slacker - had a fool Intuition, like a tomb robber who has no moral bottom line, thus learned the burial place of a certain scandal.And unearthing it would tarnish the senator's district, and possibly even ruin the senator's noble ambitions.Inspector Quinn said slightly apologetically that some people might speculate that the conditions that Cooney gave to keep the scandal from ever seeing the light of day were too outrageous, so some people became angry with embarrassment.Can gentlemen comment on this speculation?

The senator condescended to deliver a tirade, luckily not recorded, and walked away.The financier was ready to follow in his footsteps, but left with a meaningful question: "Inspector Quinn, how long have you been with the NYPD?"—sounds like a fatal blow to an empire. hit.Stephens stayed and made peace for a while, and then left. When Ellery arrived at the scene, he found his father losing his temper after racking his brains.It is a foregone conclusion that the deceased left a message before his death.Inspector Quinn says the question is who exactly is Shakes implying?Because Shakes Cooney wasn't the type to sit around and die.Evidence in the open-air area of ​​the restaurant shows that Cooney, with a steak knife stuck in his chest, despite himself being bloodied after the attackers fled - struggling to climb up out of sheer rage, the inspector stated. Go to the table that the absent-minded waiter forgot to clear, fumble for a container, and grab something in his hand.What they found in their clenched hands was a pinch of sugar.Perhaps it was after grabbing this handful that Shayx died contentedly.

"He must be your reader," the Inspector grumbled, "because, Ellery, I'd be the Senator's uncle if it weren't for the dying message. But who is Shakes alluding to?" "Sugar," said Ellery absently, "in Cooney's dictionary sugar means—" "Of course. But Millard wasn't the only greedy of the three. The ex-senator had a huge bankroll and recently doubled his fortune by marrying the fertilizer millionaire's daughter. Stephens just got his first Ten thousand dollars in bribes. So that's not what Shakes meant by sugar. What does sugar mean in your dictionary, boy?"

Ellery's eighty-seven-page novel was still on the typewriter at home.He sorted out his jumbled thoughts and finally said, "Get me the history of riding Craig, Millard, and Stephens." Then he went home to his literary pursuits. His father called him that afternoon from Central Avenue. "What?" Ellery frowned at the typewriter. "About their time on horseback," the Inspector gruffly said, "the Senator used to ride, but he took a bad fall ten years ago and only rides in gymnasiums now—the electric kind. As for Millard, the moneybag hasn't touched a horse since he left his old horse in Grandpa's field in Indiana in 1888. I'm pretty sure he'd wear this plush-lined one this morning Breeches, just to have a dirty little meeting with Craig and Stephens out of sight of the news cameras."

"And what about Stephens?" "The bar animal?" snorted the old gentleman. "He'll ride nothing but a garter horse. This morning was the first time Stephens tucked his goatskin-capped boots into his stirrups." "Okay, okay." Ellery's voice seemed surprised. "So what would Shakes mean? Sugar... Is anyone of them connected to the sugar industry? Is Craig involved in the sugar legislation?" Famous? Is Millard a director of the Sugar Conglomerate? Or Stephens owns Sugar. Try that line, Dad." His father said wearily, "I don't need you to cast this kind of net, son. It's all included in the work process."

"That's all right," said Ellery, sullenly returning to his novel, which was dying like Shakes Cooney at the time. Inspector Quinn reported the results on the phone two days later. "None of them have anything to do with sugar. The only thing Craig, Millard, and Stephens have to do with sugar, I'm afraid, is to add a little to their coffee." After a while, the Inspector Said, "Are you still there?" "A pinch of sugar," Ellery grumbled. "Shakes apparently thought that was a pretty obvious cue..." The grunt stopped with a gulp. "How?" said his father hopefully.

"Of course." Ellery chuckled, "Dad, get a copy of the physical examination reports of the three of them and tell me who has diabetes." The detective gritted his teeth. "This is my good son! That's it, boy! The case can be closed!" Inspector Quinn called again the next day. "Whose father?" Ellery asked, running his fingers through his hair. "Oh! It's you, Dad. What's the matter?" "About the case, Ellery—" "Case? Oh, that case. What's up? What's going on? Who's got diabetes?" The inspector replied thoughtfully: "No one."

"Nobody! Are you sure?" "I am sure." "Well," said Ellery, "mmm!" For a while Inspector Quinn heard only little grunts, rummaging, thumping, and other sounds of thought.Suddenly, with a clear sound like an electrocution switch, everything on the other end of the phone line fell silent. "Have you thought of anything?" Inspector Quinn asked suspiciously. "Yeah, yeah," Ellery said, without a trace of doubt in his voice, as if he had dropped a big rock, "Yes, Dad, now I know who Shakes Cooney is referring to Already!"

"who is it?" "We ruled out all the sugar explanations," Ellery said, "and we're back to square one—Cooney was clutching a pinch of sugar, which was a hint about the murderer. Since all the bells and whistles had been Excluding, why don't we just see a pinch of sugar in a man's hand as just a pinch of sugar in a man's hand? Why would a man carry a pinch of sugar?" "I give up," said the inspector immediately. "Why?" "Why?" said Ellery. "To feed the horses." "Horse--" the old gentleman was silent, and then he said, "that's why you want to know the history of their riding. But Ellery, that theory has failed. None of the three men were riders, so they were not quite Possibly with sugar." "Exactly," Ellery said. "So Shakes was hinting at a fourth suspect, I just didn't see it at the time. Cooney was a ticket dealer and a gambler, and you might find that in Cooney's books." This guy. He can't pay the money, and decided to use extreme methods to avoid debts-" "Wait, wait!" his father yelled. "Fourth suspect? Where's the fourth suspect?" "Why, it was the fourth man who was on the track that morning. He probably brought a pinch of sugar to feed the horses." "Mount Wilkins!"