Chapter 10 Chapter 9 Sleepless Night

It was past three o'clock in the morning when Ellery and the major returned to the stadium—three o'clock after the darkest midnight Ellery could remember. "The moon hasn't come out, so we can't even borrow the old-fashioned exclamation: 'Blood-spattered night moon'!" Ellery walked in with an agent he knew well, and chattered alone, "every day Whenever a murder case comes, God should give me a decent mood." "It's bright enough here," Major Kirby put in earnestly. It's bright enough here, indeed, spotlights of weird hues brighten up the eerie atmosphere of the venue.The righteous indignation of the crowd in the arena is terrifying enough, but what is even more frustrating is that these people who may explode out of control at any time have to accept irresistible searches one by one.The silent resentment in the dark auditorium was like silent rolling thunder.Almost everyone stared at a pair of fire-breathing eyes, and only those who were exhausted and weak had gentle expressions.If it was the largest detective operation in modern police history, it was certainly the most heinous.If eyes could kill, then more than two hundred police officers and soldiers would have died straight at the scene.

Even so, the search of the 20,000 spectators proceeded quietly, swiftly and—in vain. Ellery and Major Bryant found Officer Quinn—the old man was exhausted, but he was still calmly directing the investigation.Sitting at one of the small tables set up in the center of the venue, you're like Napoleon with all his energy.News from all walks of life kept coming up, and he dispatched them one by one directly.At various exits, agents relayed inspected spectators out of the arena, until the listless citizens suddenly found themselves standing on the sidewalk outside the stadium, bewildered.Policewomen from nearby areas were called in at the last minute to carry out body searches of female citizens.From time to time, men were taken to the cordon for a more thorough search before being sent back to the central grounds for temporary detention.Occasionally a woman becomes suspicious.All key suspects were brought before Officer Quinn for questioning before being subjected to further searches.The guns that Detective Ritter brought to headquarters were recovered from such men.These men all possessed a certain "suspicious quality": many were stable members of the underworld, with faces familiar to everyone from police officers to detectives.

Now the major and Ellery waited for Officer Quinn to finish his questioning of a swollen, sleepy-eyed fellow in front of him. "It's incredible," said Major Bryant, "how many types of people there are in this group of suspects." "God knows how many crimes," muffled Ellery, "and how many murders. . . . Oh, Pa! We're back." Officer Quinn got up in a hurry, and asked eagerly and gently: "Did you find anything?" "Where are you here?" Officer Quinn shrugged his shoulders: "Nothing. A lot of people brought guys with them tonight. I wish everyone with guns in the city would come, what the hell. But..." He waved his hands helplessly, "There will be a bunch of guns over there. Waiting to be tested. Is Knowles still waiting in town?"

"Yes. Is there a twenty-five automatic pistol here?" "Just one or two." "Send it to Knowles, he's got the ammunition, and he'll stay up all night if need be." "I have to wait until these people are thoroughly investigated. All right, son, all right! Tell me what you find!" "Can I speak to you further? Excuse me, Major," Ellery whispered to the major. "no problem." "I'm sorry for you to wait on the sidelines," Ellery said. "Maybe we'll need you later." "Happy to help."—the major turned and walked away—"nothing useful, Pa." Ellery whispered quickly to Sergeant Quinn, "Knowles and Major Bryant figured it out, only 1.25 caliber automatic that fires that kind of cartridge. But none of the cowboys wore that kind of gun. Forty-four of the forty-five guns were .44, .45, and .3 Eight. The forty-fifth gun is the automatic that Officer Willey seized from Teddy Lanes. But comparative tests show it didn't fire the fatal shot."

"So," the old man gloomily waited for the next sentence. "Also, Knowles helped me discover an interesting fact before I left headquarters. Except for Crazy Bill's revolver and the three guns Lyons was carrying, all the guns confiscated from the Knights had only ever fired One shot—so it can be assumed that Horne was hit in the saddle when all the guns fired simultaneously." "Isn't it full of empty bombs?" "Yeah, that's true, but theoretically it's not impossible for a round to get in the mix, but that won't save us--because none of those guns were . ; but it would match his use--he shot a few times in the air by himself in the middle of the arena before the murder, I remember. His gun was a .45. As for Lyons, he never let go of a single shot, whether it was his own or he took it from the armory . . . did you check the armory?"

"Yes," said Inspector Quinn darkly, "and nothing," "Not even a .25?" "Not one." "Oh, good God!" cried Ellery, in a drawn, bitter tone. "No reason. That automatic pistol must be somewhere in the arena, and it can't have disappeared. Once the murder is discovered, here's where it's going." Immediately it was completely surrounded." "Perhaps we will find out after searching all the audience." Ellery bit his nails, and then he rubbed his forehead anxiously: "No, I don't believe that will happen. It would be too easy. It's quite weird—and, yes, quite weird, opponent That's too smart, Dad. I have an intuition..." Suddenly he blinked, took off his pince-nez and wiped it, "Well, maybe think so...you stay here first, okay?" He said suddenly.

"Of course, what's the matter?" "Because I'm leaving! I just remembered that there is something else that must be done quickly." "must?" "Yes. Must see Buck Horne's room at the Buckley Hotel." "Oh," the old man looked a little disappointed, "I wanted to put this matter back. Of course it has to be done. I have sent Johnson over there to watch. He said there is nothing special..." "There must be, there must be something unusual over there," Ellery said stubbornly, "I want to find out first."

Sergeant Quinn looked at him for a moment, shrugged his shoulders, and said, "All right, then. But don't dawdle. Maybe you can catch up with me and finish the search. Would you like Thomas to accompany you?" "No—well, I just remembered! And . . . Dad, I want Kit Horn to come with me." "The girl? She hasn't been searched yet." "Then do it immediately." "The people in Mars's box, including Mars himself, should be searched." Officer Quinn said, and walked quickly towards the southeast of the oval with Ellery. The cheerful atmosphere of the first few hours in Mas's box had long been replaced by the anxiety, boredom and frustration of the long wait, and none of the several people made a sound with their heads drooping.The only one who was at peace was the innocent Dijuna; he was so at peace, for he was already wandering in his chair in his dreams.

Sergeant Quinn said, "I'm sorry, gentlemen, but you can't leave at this time. Miss Horne—" Her eyes were also swollen and blistered, "What's the matter?" She replied wearily. "Could you please come here?" Several people sitting inside stood up upon hearing the sound, and Mara Gay's eyes shot fire. "You too, Mr. Grant, and—you, Curley." Ellery greeted them kindly. Crazy Bill and his son, who were sitting in the box, looked at Ellery in amazement, with hope shining in their eyes.Then Curley rose straight from the chair, jumped out of the box over the rail, and went back to help Kit.Kit lightly crossed the railing, and the skirt drew a beautiful arc in the air.He staggered a step when he landed, and then threw himself into Curley's arms, panting for a moment.The young man put his arms around the fragrant girl, feeling the wonderful caress of her soft hair fluttering in the wind, he couldn't bear to let go.But Kit withdrew lightly and said to Officer Quinn, "Wherever I go, I'm always with you."

"It's nothing serious, Miss Horn. I'm just going to take you back to the hotel. But before I go—for the sake of completeness of the inventory...you'll understand, maybe someone will slip the weapon into the hotel while you're not looking What about you...you have to get checked like everyone else." She suddenly became impulsive: "You think I..." But soon she smiled again and shook her head, "Of course, whatever you want is fine." A group of people walked towards a small exit on the edge of the field.Officer Quinn made a gesture, and Officer Willie quickly followed and walked behind them; at the same time, a policewoman of South American descent also walked together.

In a small basement, the policewoman searched Kit as she had been told repeatedly—thoroughly—but gently.In the next room, Officer Willie also searched Curley.A few minutes later, the young pair were back together; each with "satisfactory results," that is to say--no suspicious items, let alone a .25 concealed. Officer Quinn escorted them to the gate.The crowd stopped, and Ellery whispered, "Are you going to send the others out as soon as possible?" "Yes. I will urge them to speed up the investigation and let them leave quickly." "Be very careful, Pa, please! Besides—really, you should try to get Tijuna home. The poor little thing was too much of a thrill for the night, and he might be sick to-morrow. " "I'll send Piggott or someone to take him home." "And—keep Grant till I come back." "Grant, huh?" Officer Quinn nodded, "Okay." The father and son looked at each other: "Then—good luck." Officer Quinn said. "There'll be luck," murmured Ellery. "Ah—by the way, you can let Major Kirby go, but, just to be sure, search him again. I don't think we'll need any more tonight." Knowles will always be waiting at headquarters." "No problem, no problem," the old man muttered absently.He fumbled for the snuffbox frantically and took a pinch of snuff tremblingly. "You know, there's something that has been on my mind all night, son. When it first happened, you told Grant that there was something missing from Horn's body." What the hell do you mean?" Ellery tilted his head back and smiled silently: "Dad, you're still that smart old trickster, Dad! I was waiting for you to ask the right question at the right time." "What's the matter!" Officer Quinn scolded, "What's going on?" Ellery stopped laughing, and stood with his head bowed extremely calmly, slowly flicking off the ashes from the cigarette butt between his fingers: "It's obvious, have you noticed the gun belt Horn is wearing?" "Yes what's the matter?" "How many holsters are attached to it?" "Why, one... no, hell, two!" "That's right. But he only carried one revolver; why did that man carry such an old and cherished double-gun belt, but only one gun to go into the game? Besides, they were very precious to him." sidearm?" "There must be another one," said Inspector Quinn with a look of wonder. "Exactly, my boy! I wouldn't be surprised if the other gun had an ivory totem on the handle too. " "I know that's got to be a couple," Ellery finished in a low voice, jumping out onto the pavement in good spirits to join Sergeants Kit, Curley, and Willie, who were waiting there. The night was dark and windy, and the air was biting.Officer Quinn silently watched the four people lower their teeth, stopped a taxi that was speeding at night, and jumped on it one by one.For a moment, he also seemed to see Ellery's lips moving.And so he kept watching the car shoot like an arrow toward Eighth Avenue.The car had long since disappeared from sight, and Officer Quinn was still standing there looking in that direction, without looking back for a long time.