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BROWN FROM THE SUN
April 11, 1938. 11:24 PM
Chicago Music
C. Tanner Brown, owner of the Sun Detective Agency, helped Rhiana Walters
with her chair and sat down. At that time, Tanner was sole owner of the Sun
Detective Agency. They were at 'Chez Hymie', a brand new club owned by Hymie
Stutz, a man from Chicago with a shady past. Rhiana had stretched her long
dancer's legs, and Tanner had opened the menu, when the small dark man with
a big hat, overcoat and a scarf around his face burst through the double
doors and opened up with a Thompson sub-machine gun.
The Thompson was a lovely weapon, originally designed for trench warfare. It
used the powerful .45 caliber pistol cartridge and fired 800 rounds a
minute. The preferred way of using the weapon took advantage of the 100
round magazine. The shooter simply started firing, located the hit point of
the bullets and moved it like a garden hose, spraying whatever he wanted to
destroy.
Brown pushed the table over and pinned Rhiana to the floor while the gunman
put new decorations in the bar and mirror behind. Tanner poked his head
around the table and saw an incredible piece of luck. The bartender, Barney
O'Mahoney, had forgotten to drop to the floor. The gunner raked his weapon
across the bar and it misfired just as it was going to hit Barney. The
gunman slammed the bolt of the weapon back, extracting the bad cartridge and
continued firing along the rest of the bar.
The gunman reached into the cash register, pulled out the money and sprayed
the ceiling as he left.
Capt. Al Thomas, a lean and unsmiling man took over the manager's office and
started his interrogation of the witnesses with Tanner and Rhiana. He nodded
to Rhiana and shook Tanner's hand with firmness.
"Miss Walters, I'm glad you're safe. Brownie, tell me about the shooter."
"He was short, accurate and free with his ammunition, Cap. I..."
Tanner was interrupted by the telephone. Capt. Thomas kept his mouth close
to the receiver, but his words came out clearly. "Hello. Mr. Stutz. Has
anyone told you what happened at your club tonight? No. Well, there was a
robbery and a lot of damage."
After a pause, Capt. Thomas said, "No, Mr. Mahoney is alright. No one was
injured." Another pause. "Fine, I'll look for you in a few minutes."
Tanner leaned forward. "Al, he did it. He shot up his own club. I know it.
I'll bet he just took out a lot of new insurance policies on the building
itself."
Brown was right. The shooter was Hymie. How did he know?
Can you solve the mystery? Think about it for a moment then page down for
the answer. If you enjoy 'Brown from the Sun', look at my book, "Dead Box"
with the same characters at www.lockedroom.com
Answer:
How did Stutz know O'Mahoney had been in the way of the bullets. He had just
told Capt. Thomas that he hadn't been told anything about the incident yet
he knew the bartender had been in danger. Stutz wanted to get some free
headlines and play with a sub-machine gun. He was convicted of reckless
endangerment and spent two years in jail.
If you have praise or curses, questions or comments, send them to me at
dlmarsh1044@yahoo.com
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