Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, Vol. 29, No. 4, September 1971

Indian George read the papers on the story of the murder, the quoted statements of Lieutenant Coveney that teams of detectives were on the case and that they wouldn’t rest until the killers were nabbed, tried, and paid the full penalty for the crime. Indian George was scared. He could be involved. He could go to prison for life, or he might wind up in the gas chamber.

On March 15, one week after the murder, Lieutenant Coveney got the first break of the case. He received a call from Indian George.

“Who were the men that talked to you about robbing the home of Mrs. Monohan?” Lieutenant Coveney asked. His insides were churning with excitement.

“I had nothing to do with this caper, lieutenant,” George said. “You’re not going to hold me, are you?”

“Not if you had nothing to do with it. Who were the men?”

“Well, Baxter Shorter told me about it and I talked to Solly Davis and William Upshaw about it. I don’t know if they were in on it or not. Honest.”

“Okay. I’ll check it out. Baxter Shorter, Solly Davis, and William Upshaw. Anything else you want to tell me? Any little detail you may have overlooked or let slip your memory?”

Indian George hesitated and Lieutenant Coveney noted it. He prompted George again.

“Come on, let’s have it. You’ve gone this far so you may as well go all the way, if you want to stay in the clear.”

Indian George hesitated again for a moment, then said, “After the murder Shorter told me that if I breathed one word to anyone about casing the house—”

“Mrs. Monohan’s house?”

“Yes, sir. He said that if I told anyone about it that he would kill me.”

“All right. Anything else? Don’t leave out anything. I want the whole story, every bit of conversation you may have had with Shorter, Davis or Upshaw.”

“That’s it, lieutenant. Honest. That’s all of it.”

“Okay. You can go. But stick around where I can find you if I should want to talk to you again”

“Yer, sir. Thanks, lieutenant.”

Lieutenant Coveney put out an APB on Shorter, Davis and Upshaw. The three men were picked up and given a thorough grilling. None of the trio would admit knowing anything about the murder. The three men also refused to take lie detector tests. Lieutenant Coveney held them as long as the law allowed and then had to release them. Before he did so he told Baxter Shorter he was walking on thin ice.

“I’m positive you’re involved in this up to your neck. When I prove it you’ll wish you were never born. This is probably the most vicious killing I’ve ever had to work on. It turns my stomach. So do you. You’re a quaking, squirming piece of scum right now and I know it. There’s going to be a tail on your can around the clock just in case. Get out of here. Looking at you makes me want to vomit!”

Mrs. Iris Sowder, Mrs. Monohan’s daughter and Tudor Scherer’s ex-wife, now offered a reward of $5,000 for the apprehension and conviction of her mother’s slayers. Indian George read of it and called Lieutenant Coveney again.

“I thought of something I forgot to tell you, lieutenant. When Shorter talked to me he mentioned a guy named Jack. Just that, Jack. He said the guy was big and tough and would probably do the job. If you break the case on my information, will I get the reward?”

“We’ll see,” Coveney answered and hung up.

The code of the underworld, he thought, and couldn’t stop the involuntary sneer that came to his lips. He turned to one of his men. “Put out an APB on those three lice we had on the Monohan case. We’re going to give them another going over. I want them in separate cells and I want their cells bugged. Let’s move!”

Shorter, Davis, and Upshaw were picked up and tossed into three separate but adjoining cells. Shorter began to worry. Why hadn’t they been questioned? What had the cops found out? Worst of all, he had talked too much to Upshaw and he was afraid that Upshaw would crack and spill his guts. He was right.

Upshaw yelled over to him to come up to the bars of his cell. Shorter did. The two men talked in low tones but every word they said was picked up by the monitor who was listening in. There was excitement in the squad room. A break in the case was coming.

Upshaw suggested to Shorter that they make a deal with District Attorney S. Ernest Roll. “It’s our only out. Either we turn state’s evidence or we’re liable to wind up in the gas chamber.”

“Yeah, but I want our lawyer there when we talk to the D.A. I’ll tell Coveney we want Tom Mercola present or we make no statements.”

“Good, good. That’s the best way.”

On the evening of March 30, in a sort of cloak and dagger setup, a meeting was held in the Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica. Present were Lieutenant Coveney representing Burbank, Chief of Police Rex Andrews, District Attorney Roll, Assistant D.A. Adolph Alexander, and Tom Mercola, attorney for the three men.

Baxter Shorter made a complete statement. Jack Santo, Emmett Perkins, Barbara Graham. He gave their descriptions and the full text of conversations he had had with Jack Santo.