ad been quietly buried and forgotten, but this was too
conspicuous. The boss, facing a decline of his power, had undoubtedly
murdered the man he had begun to fear, and the parties in control of all
the machinery of justice were against the accused.

The case was thoroughly threshed out. Shay had openly threatened the
life of Squeaks; he had tried before to do him hurt; had gone with two
men to Squeaks's lodgings; had warned Schmidt that there was going to be
"a little fuss"; had broken open the door and got certain papers--his
own property, undoubtedly, but now splashed with blood; a shot had been
heard--a heavy something thrown from the back window and then carried
off by two men; blood on the floor, the sill and the back fence; and the
Judge had disappeared from the face of the earth. The case was clear,
the jury retired, but quickly brought in a verdict of guilty, although
at every point there was nothing but circumstantial evidence.

Jim Hartigan was one of the first friends to call on Shay after his
arrest, and Belle came soon after. They heard his story, which was
simple and straight: Squeaks was holding the papers which would be, at
least, damaging to Shay's property and reputation; he got them in
confidence and then defied Shay to come and take them. Shay decided it
would be well to take two witnesses and went, as planned, to Squeaks's
apartments. Finding the door locked and believing that Squeaks was
inside, he forced it open; the room was dark and no one was there. He
lighted the gas and rummaged through the desk for the papers that
belonged to him, paying no attention to any others. He saw blood on some
of the papers, but didn't know where it came from. As he was coming
away, he heard a pistol shot, either upstairs or outside, he didn't know
which. He knew nothing about anything thrown from the window. He got his
own property and came away.

Although every particle of evidence adduced by the prosecuting attorney
was circumstantial, it was very complete. Some juries would have felt
reasonable doubt, but no one could get over the facts that Shay had
threatened Squeaks's life and that Squeaks had disappeared after a visit
from Shay which left traces of blood in Squeaks's apartment. The trial
over, the verdict of guilty rendered, Shay was asked if he could offer
any reason why he should not be condemned. He rose and said: "Only that
I didn't do it. I never saw him from that time in the club a week
before."

T