CAPTURE OF MELOY.
It was late before Nick parted from the inspector of the Brooklyn
headquarters.
They had gone over the question of “Mystery 47” thoroughly.
Shortly before Nick left the inspector, a man was brought into the room.
It was Meloy.
He was put in a cell next to that occupied by the wife murderer, and an
officer was placed in the cell next to him, so that he could hear if
Meloy tried to say anything to the other prisoner.
After Meloy had been locked in the cell, Nick said to the inspector:
“I want to interview that wife murderer. He knows that things are in
pretty bad shape for him, and I may be able to get him to tell us
something that will shed some light on these murders.”
“What makes you think that you will be able to get anything out of him?”
asked the inspector.
“In the first place, he is locked up on a charge that cannot be bailed,
and in the second, he will try and get on the good side of the keepers,
so that he will be able to get more liberty around the jail, and the
last reason is that I shall tell him how some of his companions have
turned against him, and that the leader of the gang, Jack Weeden, wanted
to take his life.”
“What under the sun could have been the object of the man in wanting to
have one of his own gang killed?”
“He may have learned too much of the workings of those high in the
council of the gang, and they saw an excellent chance to get rid of him
without putting their own lives in jeopardy. They are a desperate and
cunning lot.”
Nick took leave of the inspector, and started down toward the ferry.
He had almost reached his destination when he noticed that two men were
passing on the other side of the street.
The men were Wright and the doctor.
They turned and saw Nick, and the next minute they had disappeared into
an alleyway, and were lost to sight.
As Nick had not eaten since early in the morning, he concluded that the
best thing he could do would be to go over to New York and get a big
porterhouse steak at the Cosmopolitan Hotel.
As Nick passed into the ferry house, he was followed by five
rough-looking men. Three of them carried pails and the other two had
pickaxes.
“I think I will go out and smoke a cigar. I have not had one to-day, and
a smoke will do me good,” Nick said to himself.
Nick had been smoking for several minutes, when he heard the tread of
stealthy footsteps behind him.
As he turned to look, to see who was coming, he was seized by several
hands, that held him as in a vise.