"Kerr Parker was surrounded by a group of people who were in his schemes with him.They are holding a council of war in the directors' room.Suddenly Parker rises, staggers toward the window, falls, and is dead before a doctor can get to him.Every effort is made to keep the thing quiet.It is given out that he committed suicide.The papers don't seem to accept the suicide theory, however.Neither do we.The coroner, who is working with us, has kept his mouth shut so far, and will say nothing till the inquest.For, Professor Kennedy, my first man on the spot found that--Kerr Parker-was--murdered.
"Now here comes the amazing part of the story.The doors to the offices on both sides were open at the time.There were lots of people in each office.There was the usual click of typewriters, and the buzz of the ticker, and the hum of conversation.We have any number of witnesses of the whole affair, but as far as any of them knows no shot was fired, no smoke was seen, no noise was heard, nor was any weapon found.Yet here on my desk is a thirty-two-calibre bullet.The coroner's physician probed it out of Parker's neck this afternoon and turned it over to us."Kennedy reached for the bullet, and turned it thoughtfully in his fingers for a moment.One side of it had apparently struck a bone in the neck of the murdered man, and was flattened.The other side was still perfectly smooth.With his inevitable magnifying-glass he scrutinised the bullet on every side.Iwatched his face anxiously, and I could see that he was very intent and very excited.
"Extraordinary, most extraordinary," he said to himself as he turned it over and over."Where did you say this bullet struck?""In the fleshy part of the neck, quite a little back of and below his ear and just above his collar.There wasn't much bleeding.Ithink it must have struck the base of his brain.""It didn't strike his collar or hair?"
"No," replied the inspector.
"Inspector, I think we shall be able to put our hands on the murderer --I think we can get a conviction, sir, on the evidence that I shall get from this bullet in my laboratory.""That's pretty much like a story-book," drawled the inspector incredulously, shaking his head.
"Perhaps," smiled Kennedy."But there will still be plenty of work for the police to do, too.I've only got a clue to the murderer.It will take the whole organisation to follow it up, believe me.Now, Inspector, can you spare the time to go down to Parker's office and take me over the ground? No doubt we can develop something else there.""Sure," answered O'Connor, and within five minutes we were hurrying down town in one of the department automobiles.
We found the office under guard of one of the Central Office men, while in the outside office Parker's confidential clerk and a few assistants were still at work in a subdued and awed manner.Men were working in many other Wall Street offices that night during the panic, but in none was there more reason for it than here.
Later I learned that it was the quiet tenacity of this confidential clerk that saved even as much of Parker's estate as was saved for his widow--little enough it was, too.What he saved for the clients of the firm no one will ever know.Somehow or other I liked John Downey, the clerk, from the moment I was introduced to him.He seemed to me, at least, to be the typical confidential clerk who would carry a secret worth millions and keep it.
The officer in charge touched his hat to the inspector, and Downey hastened to put himself at our service.It was plain that the murder had completely mystified him, and that he was as anxious as we were to get at the bottom of it.
"Mr.Downey," began Kennedy, "I understand you were present when this sad event took place.""Yes, sir, sitting right here at the directors' table," he replied, taking a chair, "like this.""Now can you recollect just how Mr.Parker acted when he was shot? Could you-er--could you take his place and show us just how it happened?""Yes, sir," said Downey."He was sitting here at the head of the table.Mr.Bruce, who is the 'CO.' of the firm, had been sitting here at his right; I was at the left.The inspector has a list of all the others present.That door to the right was open, and Mrs.
Parker and some other ladies were in the room--""Mrs.Parker?" broke in Kennedy.
"Yes: Like a good many brokerage firms we have a ladies' room.
Many ladies are among our clients.We make a point of catering to them.At that time I recollect the door was open--all the doors were open.It was not a secret meeting.Mr.Bruce had just gone into the ladies' department; I think to ask some of them to stand by the firm --he was an artist at smoothing over the fears of customers, particularly women.Just before he went in I had seen the ladies go in a group toward the far end of the room--to look down at the line of depositors on the street, which reached around the corner from one of the trust companies, I thought.Iwas ****** a note of an order to send into the outside office there on the left, and had just pushed this button here under the table to call a boy to carry it.Mr.Parker had just received a letter by special delivery, and seemed considerably puzzled over it.No, I don't know what it was about.Of a sudden I saw him start in his chair, rise up unsteadily, clap his hand on the back of his head, stagger across the floor --like this--and fall here.""Then what happened?"
