Show 0 a I II Ii I i t I f GERALD BROWN FEATURES nuke McCale private detective Is II In Inv the murder of 01 Curt urt court who was Wal about bout to mary marry Veronica heiress to thirty million dollars She Is II the tho principal suspect McCale questions members of the family and ob oh- ohI I Important HUM clues uncovering un a deep plot to keep control of 01 the treat fortune In the family through a Ii deal dul with Val Val- derides that Shari Lynn ryno former wife holds the lie key to the puzzle He Ire ile hurries to her b. b I apartment only to 10 And I d that she has bu been shot hot dead dud On Un looking around lie he no no- notices notIces tices that a picture Is It missing from the wall ot of her apartment lie He later talks to Veronica about bout her h. h love Jove for court XIV But nut how can I be sure its it's the emptiness of lost love Its It's more like Oh like oh She broke off ofT burying her head in her arms I dont don't know I think I understand he said quietly It hits you sort of In the stomach instead of ot In the heart I Yes yes That's It it But she grimaced as though the thought so stated was a trifle vulgar She brushed a n tear from the corner coiner of her eye About the scrap of letter you found a found a letter to Curt Curl Yes that I was sure it was from Vicky She's always been so funny about abouL Curt Her Iler attitude altitude seemed to be bc that because she had known him first she had priority rights over him Something like that I was shattered by that note and what it il implied And when 1 I accused her she was so hard in spite of ot her denial In a foolish moment mom nt I gave it to Aunt Addy I was so upset I know that he said sold He lie hesi hesi- hesitated toted not sure whether to go on I Ithen then decided to risk her shock at what he had to say It Is cruel perhaps p to tell you now he be be- began began gan but necessary We haven't much time The Inquest is the day after tomorrow and and and- andOh andOh Oh but do Im I'm able to stand anything after after- after to she shuddered shuddered- after this afternoon You see he said bluntly the thing you suspected the plot to gain control of your our inheritance was real It was a diabolical plot plot plot-aU all were in It He le expected her to cry out or to huddle away from tram him He lie was nearly bowled over himself when she he almost laughed saying But no O no-no no Youre You're wrong Mr McCale McCall Oh Dh I dont don't mean about the plot Youre You're wrong In to thinking I didn't know about It I was so horrified Well I went event first to Chris Chrls- Chrisand and You went w nt to Chris Storm A signal flashed lashed through his mind He lie clamped his teeth together hard Yes He Ill was furious of ot course He lie wanted to have it out with Curt then and there but I persuaded him not to I said it was my Job and that I would do It it And did you Yes I went right rl to Curt be be- before before fore rare the rehearsal the day before betor before he died lied But nut you see sec Sl Iwas 1 was wrong In one thing Curt confessed to lo the original plot That was true enough but but but- But what McCale's mind was working furiously Curiously conjuring up all kinds of ot absurd visions He lie pulled himself up abruptly You see sec sec she sho said carefully a tremor in her voice Curt loved me lie He really rolly did Oh I know Hed He'd been a hellion all right He lie told me a great deal about himself that day da day about about his past past about about Shari Snarl Lynn But for tor once it II was the Ule real thing with him He lie could hardly understand It himself but there it was He lie was truly In love for the first time lime in his life lite He lie was going to turn his back on them all We were going to be happy toge er There TI wasn't anything they the could have done donI after we were mar mar- married ried sled Had head he told them His voice olce was soft soH insistent In Oh no 1 I think he realized the danger because someone was watching him You mean mean- Yes He lie told me wed we'd have to tobo tobe tobe be bo cartful careful right up lip to the U hour of ot the Ute wedding Ho lie joked about it a alot alot alot lot because he considered It funny tunny He lie said Set a thief to catch a thief or When thieves fall out Things like that He lie supposed they the were suspicious because r hed he'd been seen with Shari Lynn The papers had got ot hold of It It you ou know he know who ho was follow follow- following following ing him about I Did he ht say sa heth whether hether er it was a man or woman An All Attempt on Ill McCains S Life li f e eNo No He III said I wasn't to worry worn about it That was all She began to cry softly He lie helped her out and paid the driver He lie didn't speak until the taxi had driven oft of That afternoon the afternoon the one before yesterday when you ou and Curt came into the living room he hI flashed you rou a R signal Ignal with his eyes es You YO noticed that Yes What Whit did dd it 1 mean mem It meant that everything e was all allright allright allright right that hed he'd he destroyed destro ed everything e his his letters letter his associations ev ev- everything everything that tha t had hali tied him to the past It was wu as as- asit if it he said said her her voice oice broke as broke asif Iff l if he said Look darling the past is all finished Im I'm clean McCale blinked his eyes ees cleared his throat All right he said Then Im not going In with you Things to do Lots of ot them Chin up now Ill I'll see you tomorrow night Good Good She made an at at- attempt attempt tempt at a smile And thank you Of Ot one thing he was sure Curt had really loved Ver Veronica Veronica onica Bigelow Start with that fact lie He had burned his bridges care- care carefully carefully fully tully and conscientiously Including Ing Shari Lynn He lie thought so Funny Tunny what love will do for a guy But he must have been aware of ot othis his antagonists of of their viciousness If It what he intended doing became known He lie was certain that he knew of ot his danger He lie had woven his spell with the blackest of arts and had been caught at it That was his undoing He lie must have been conscious of playing a long chance those last few tew days But he went to his death blithely all the same even welcoming it in the knowledge that something fine had happened to him that had never happened before lie He had been be be- betrayed betrayed betrayed however by hope hop McCale McCall was silently deriding the philosophizing he had been indulging IndulgIng indulging ing In when he came abreast of his own doorway Just when it was that the first warning came he couldn't afterwards recall He lie had just looked up to see the lights of his office gleaming faintly He was was was' i r Y I I r s su sr i u r m lie He didn't hear Ann scream only a few feet from the doorstep when it came came that that intuitive mes mes- message message message sage from his nerves his glands Call it what you will It reaches up out of ot the vastness of our primeval beginnings to warn us It gripped him now thrusting icy claws down Into his diaphragm He lIe started to turn then thought better of it Then he began to run The report came like a firecracker er 11 hard by on his right lIe He heard the sound of at running feet reet He felt felta a ghastly blow near his heart lIe He reeled stopped In his tracks A Alow Alow Alow low whisper escaped his lips His knees buckled as a pain shot through U his side He climbed up the steps somehow He lie thought Oh God this is how Curt Val Val- Vallain lain court died I wonder what went through his mind mind crawling crawling up those endless stairs After a thousand years the door I swung open Ann Mn stood there then She seemed far tar away in the dark lIe He forced a smile Hello he ht said conscious of slobbering Youre tight she said I A NurmI i Escape l From Death neath No Ills His own 1 voice voil sounded dif dlf different different ferent and from way wa back some where I 1 dont don't drink You know that Ive I've 1 been held up Yeah Y all Yeah all the way wa home Ill I'll bet What have hI you ou done with Veronica Bigelow Dont tell me youre you're jealous of her He III swayed hardly aware of this insane stalling It II must have been en then that she saw pain glaze his eyes ees bare his teeth She mowed moved forward sudden terror striking her Duke she gasped lbs Ills legs gave ga way wa again Slowly he h slid to his knees crouching there His face tace twitched twite-hE'd a moment and he made a mumbling noise before he pitched forward He Ill didn't hear Anns Ann's scream Once during the night nl ht he became conscious It 11 was like being dragged dragg d up liP into the light from the depth and darkness of or a great well weB lie He felt f lt a breath of cool air all and opened his eyes es He realized his throat was parched He lie asked for water w and a phantom into view It 1 was Ann Arm She held a glass of water for him Her eyes ees he noticed were big and tilled filled with low love lo for tor him and far ft-ar for tor him too That's Ann he hI thought Im Imsick Imsick Imsick sick and she's worried about me She loves me and she's worried I That's great That's fine Me When the black curtain of mor mor- morphia morphia morphia 1 phia lifted again it was another day dB The room was light The first thing he saw was big black letters They formed forme slowly ly olo l out of the mist that still clouded his vision islon some some- what They TIley read DETECTIVE SHOT Ills His mind struggled with this and he made a slight motion with his head A golden colden olden blonde an an- angel angel gel leaned over and kissed h him lightly on the brow Where am I He lie mouthed con con- confused confused fused thoughts Why darling this is Ann You know where you are Uh huh Fuzziness began to leave the edges of at his brain This is heaven Do that again angel He lie started to put an arm about her Pain seared his his' shoulder He lie groaned a bit coming wide awake Behave yourself Ann said Youre in no condition to become amorous Good lord did you see that She flung the th morning pa pa- paper paper per on the floor The papers have you at deaths death's door Here let me lift lItt you up a little She propped a B pillow behind him and sat at down There were deep shadows under her eyes Have Ilave lave you been here all night he asked Sure why not Why didn't Rocky make you go home Do you think Id I'd leave you to the tender mercies of ot that behemoth Every time you asked for tor a drink he reached for tor the bottle of ot Scotch She scowled Just then the door opened and Rocky stuck his head In lie He grinned broadly on seeing McCale awake and sitting up Doc Preble is here nurse He lie dropped a curtsey to Ann I Preble I McCale McCall howled The I coroner What is this Im I'm not dead dead or or am I I Ann chuckled She did not look too tired or harassed now that she I smiled I I 1 When you fell tell in the doorway last night you looked looked pretty dead to me I fainted tainted Rocky had the two of us In his hands Of Ot course he simply let me lie He there With the door wide open I wasn't un un- unconscious unconscious unconscious conscious long I came to and stumbled stumbled stumbled bled up the stairs to find he had stretched you OU out on the office desk too much like a corpse for me to think of anything else What with Rocky beating his own brains out and cursing that someone had bumped off the boss I dialed head head- quarters The homicide squad down to the last legman were here hereIn In three minutes flat fiat Preble was short and thin and past middle age and sported a goatee He lie had the typical medical mans man's seeing all-seeing eye He looked McCale over shrewdly examined the wound and reban- reban it in short order do he said Stay in bed for tor twenty-four twenty hours Dont Don't want you running a temperature Youre You're a lucky guy The bullet was deflected by the cigarette case you I carry in your upper vest pocket Was it a forty-five forty I Undoubtedly from the nature of ot the wound If It it hadn't been for I that cigarette case It would have ripped you wide open Well mind what I 1 say now This girl needs some sleep He lie turned to Ann and went oil off giving Rocky the stare of an anthropologist gist ignoring an Interesting but in inferior In In- specimen DOll evy Galls Chills All Ami ii tul Talks Tal A half hour later McCale McCall was in interrupted in the middle of ot exasperated exasperated a ted resentment at the light right diet ordered by b the doctor and carried out to the letter by b Ann The tele telephone telephone phone rang Ann provokingly placing the bedside telephone out of his reach and with a smug ex ex- expression I ex-I I on her face tace went into the I outer office omee to take the call I That was Veronica Bigelow she said matter of matter of factly I had I the devil of a time before shed she'd trust me with the message She's I upset no end It seems that Don- Don Donlevy Donlevy levy Icy has arrested Christopher Storm I When Last night or early earl this morn morn- ing She's been trying to get the ever since I suppose You suppose I Well Weil 1 1 I 1 stuffed blotting paper in the telephone bell last night I thought the ringing might your our rest the rest the doctor said said said- God Almighty Between you and the doctor I might as well be a I I corpse I was all hopped up with morphine wasn't I He lie turned t himself around with a painful ef 1 ef fort Now Duke youre you're not to excite yourself You'll Y raise a tempera tempera- II ture To hell with my m temperature Get Donlevy Donley on the wire w ire Obediently she called police nead- nead quarters only to learn that the homicide man was on his way there thereat at that very ery moment McCale patted her hand feeling ashamed of his irascibility He lie re- re resigned re 1 signed himself to waiting for Don 1 Don Don- levy levy- I In less than U twenty minutes the I lieutenant strode in in in the wake of i iRocky IRocky Rocky ROCK The two of them so big but so different bulked hugely in inthe inthe the doorway Donlevy Donle with a mut mut- muttered muttered greeting to McCale McCall flung him him- himself sell self into a chair Crevices of fatigue and worry lined his face tace i ii II i TO ITO BE m CONTINUED CO |