Show G I 1 A L BROWN S FEATURES i duke mccale private detective Is guarding rua riling the wedding presents present at aba gelow mansion mans lori lie ile senses that old miss mil adelaia gelow Is I 1 afraid all aid of something i more mor leriou s than theft lie ile meets the llie bride and gr room 0 0 m to be veronica and curt and Vero veronicaa veronicas nicas mother sybil and her brother and sister stephen c and victoria there li Is a sinister under current that mccale li is quick to catch lie ile discusses the situation with ann Matr Islar riot lot his bl secretary and fi fiancee antee while they are dining at a fashionable night club lub i they are impressed by the beauty and 1 charm ol of the he clubs cluba featured singer shari lynn shari goes goei to a table and i joins a big handsome han diome man curt val lain courtl CHAPTER V the hash flash of a million goldei 9 sparks went by their table mccale mccal co looked butof out of the corner of his eye and saw that a tall tali woman with will 4 hair the color of spun sugar was wai passing ile he recognized her imme dla dia tely it was wag karen bigelow she sh saw him but gave no glance of ol 01 recognition her eyes were axed straight ahead in a cold hard glaze at the tabled table where VallaIn court sat with the torch ginger binger she de beliber dell ber liber abely walked toward them that your karen ann whispered ul uh ihu huh well I 1 do hope hopa therell be no trouble if there was it was wag remarkably well bred and closely held karen reached the table and spoke quick ly to Vallain court ile he looked amazed shaken ile ho turned to sharl shari lynn once blindly but the lynn girl only sat there utterly relaxed her mouth a sulky sneer karen took something from her bag and handed it to shari she looked once st at curt a long searching smoldering look and turned away val lain court made a move to follow her but sharl shari caught his hand drawing him back lie he almost sturn bled in the alcove jt it was then that mccale swivel ing around to the startled ann had his second shock of the evening not tot five ave tables mablea away almost hidden in it a corner sat cat stephen bigelow gelow Bl there was a row of empty glasses to jn front of him as though he had bad ordered them all at ono one time yet vt he did not seem to be drunk ills eyes were sunken in that face so BO prematurely cadaverous but they glittered with a cold sardonic gardon lc amusement nt that was frightening ann marriot gripped Mc macalos McCa Calos leg hand in az an imploring gesture lets get out of here maybe the fun is only just beginning he said rising with alacrity on the steps a slight altercation was taking place karen bigelow swathed in ochre achre wool was trying to restrain tk a slightly bedraggled fussily dressed woman mccale saw that thai it was sylvia bigelow gelow Bl bulging out ol 01 sheath of at satin karen was waa saying baying you go an in mother bigelow Bl gelow you just cault cant let rne me ta take keyou you home get out of my wayt the older woman said 1 I cant let you go in besides hes haa not there sybil lie he really there how flow do you know 1 I looked you came here to see sea hiet yes yes but he here come home with mo sybil 11 the grotesque sybil hesitated a moment her bright feverish eyes searching karens face then she pushed her forcefully force tully aside with crushing arrogance tito the trail tra becomes A little plainer lit let me by istia ah said her voice rising hysterically there was a limousine at the curb karen walked to it moving like a sleepwalker she got into it without a backward glance it rolled away into the dark well well mccale spoke as they settled back Int into otheir their taxi 1 I am more inore than ever ey convinced that there Is a in the bigelow woodpile 1 1 I should say so ann smiled wearily As our good pal rocky hocky would any say everyone seems one leap ahead of a fit it was still quite early another night they might have gone on to one or another of the nightclubs but mccale was in no mood for it ile he knew anns evening was probably spoiled though she sold said nothing he reached for her hand expecting more of her incurable flippancy but she too seemed sunk in a thoughtful depression when they drew up before the apartment house where she lived she kissed him lightly before they got out made no remark when he told the driver to wall wait As A he fitted her key into the outside dour shi she spoke drink no what are you up to where sire are you going places ladles ladies dont grace with their presence im willing to forget am im a lady for or tonight she had a secret yen for the seamier side the substrata sub strata the ob cure we wont go into that now he said ile he turned her head toward him here ile he kissed her hard on the lips noticing her complete calm indof india ference she was angry thanks ever so eo oh lord he groaned dont go giving me your impersonation of detto bette davis dails now im going to the print club to see jerry tate oh all right go ahead I 1 know what youre like when you smell in ell blood you hound she searched his face quickly does docs it look that tha t bad duke I 1 seem to h have ave been feeling it myself all evening though ive tried to tell myself it was my proximity to you and one of your fabulous hunches ile he nodded slowly yeah something tells me there is something very dirty afoot its only breaking out in little places hero here and there but theres bound to be an explosion orsome of some kind in the offing im short on information baby and a little late on the scene what I 1 do ive got to do quickly well go ahead but be sure sura when you pass the old howard to stay on the other side of the street she laughed laugh fd dismissing him with a return to her old facetiousness you are arc a jealous wench lie he chided her closing the door on her retreating figure I 1 ar I 1 ram j 4 1 4 A 1111 hello ello jerry said bald mccale ving your goodnight good night quart lie he chuckled to himself as an he got back into In the cab giving the ad dress of the ahe print club the old howard local landmark of burlesque was wa a standing joke between them during a former investigation vesti gation he had got himself mixed up almost fatally with a girl whose profession was appearing in various nightclub night club extravaganzas in the glow of infatuation he had nearly married her gone to new york where he had intended to set up an agency for himself after the completion of his first case in boston but an of seven hundred dollars a week from the producer of a higher type of entertainment had estranged them lie he just see I 1 himself as the husband of a woman who was being cute cuta in front of an audience lie he was not falsely modest and indeed took a rather harsh cynical attitude toward vice however thata that affair was permanently wrecked ills his inamorata had gone into her show got her seven hundred per week and mccale had given him self one big horselaugh horse laugh ile he had retraced his steps to the hub hit b his business there relying altogether on the success ot of his one case to get ham going A newspaper man alart gives the Low lowdown lown lie he lit a cigarette and sat with his 8 feet up on one ona of the ad adjustable sta e seats beats ol of the taxi as it bumped alo along cambridge street ile he thou thought t ho 0 had done rather well in the time he had spent in boston in spite of obstacles such as his decision not to take divorce cases not to hold out on the police I 1 not to get in the way of 0 rival agencies ile he had man aged aced to keep his head above water and had acquired a reputation of honesty and discretion besides ills his lip curled in self derision ax as he ha laughed in the face of his own expensive expansive ego no sense being so damned complacent pla cent boy lie he yas was talking to himself like a dutch uncle so tar far you got much forrider for rader 0 on the problem at hand lie he sighed unhappily as the cab drew up with a screech of brakes before a tall gray office building between this and another older structure was a narrow alley at the back ot of which could be seen a faintly lighted doorway mccale I 1 made tor for this prom from behind the walls on each side of him he could hear the rumble and roar ot of machinery tor for tho the presses of the biggest newspaper in town had their home there the print club where pressmen and reporters gathered fia to drinkard drink drin kand and converse convent throughout the night was on tho the third floor of the narrow edifice et at the end of the alley duke opened the door and went up the winding iron stairs to the bare un im decorated rooms which were fur dished with square wooden tables and chairs of the kitchen variety mccale went over to the bar and asked for jerry tate the barman nodded in the direction of the third room raising a quizzical eye at macales Mc Cales formal attire mccale threw him a hard deliberate scowl and made for the door just inside it a young irascible nervous looking man sat alone at a table playing solitaire he did not look up tip as mccale sat down fac facing ang him Il hello lello jerry said mccale having your goodnight good night quart ill sleuth he be said in a rasping voice where have you been all dressed up Is there a convention you had to attend out ont to dinner well well times have hava changed it the but you see I 1 chavent forgotten the old days I 1 come straight from the lap of I 1 luxury uku r y to visit my old pals im all agog the dark fellow poured himself a finger anger of whisky and swallowed it in one gulp no kidding duke im glad to see ee you however youve probably got an axe to grind so give while im in till still sober As usual im after information so about a great big husky handsome young man named vallain court jerry tate gave a low whistle find and fixed axed mccale with a baleful glance so called in the u s who the Bige lows who else how much you soaking them now see here jorry I 1 said you dont have to I 1 dont have to be a detective not even a lousy reporter to put two and two together what I 1 cant get over Is why let it slide along to this late day youre a bit on the tardy side arent you IU ill say the wedding is next we week ek so im running aro around in circles but fast what can you tell me abo about tit him viry very little im afraid lie he hits the high spots does a lot of gambling plays around fast and loose spends lots of dough where does he be get gei it search me OU ob dome now well rumor has hag it comes from the mostly 1 I doubt that tate shrugged some other old gal then what about his antecedents dont know springs from chicago im told how did heget he get aboard the may flower that Is how diche did he burrow his way into the bosom of the bigelow family welt well now lets see first time I 1 remember him around the gay cay white way he had victoria bige low in tow vicky seemed to have the upper hand there for a while then there were whisp whispers cra very soft but whispers my friend that mrs stephen bigelow was interested in a purely platonic platon lc way we hope 11 the ine beau beauteous teDUS karen 0 stephen bigel Bige Is discussed it if you like that type pardon me oh 0 h well it if I 1 had to be cast c ast away on a desert island or if tome some rainy afternoon or orto proceed that tha t little romance was short lived dont ask me why i abbe maybe stevie got wind of it I 1 stephen big Bl gelow alow that washed up romeo one look from karen or mother Sybil Sybill would squelch him ive saen seen them all together it was wa like ike a peek peck at the motive behind I 1 alv my lord it if youre going to quote ru ill spare you speaking of mama though she had her day in the sun too she was here and there giggling and gooing over him for or quite some ome time nice setup set up achl young tate surveyed the table top with wise old eyes lie ile shook his head he finally did gt got around to veronica right through the family to the pot ot of goldo gold kind of roundabout you think now I 1 dont know it may be he thought lie he was being clever mccale rose to go you dont know of any tle tie up beaw between en him and shari lynn the singer doubling at the abbey and latin quarter dhoest nothing I 1 can vouch tor for they seem beem to be on pretty good terms by the way I 1 do know that pressure was brought to bear somewhere along the line over a bit of 90 gossip asip watts waits printed in his column orders went through to squelch anything more ot of the sort that might come under the snooping 10 eye which only shows hows that the th great can buy protection oh well come the revolution just well thanks old boy for what i TO BE AE CONTINUED |