Show I f GERALD BROWN FEATURES FEATURE Puke fluke McCale private detective li Ii In In- the murder of Curt Valla In court who waa wai shout to marry Veronica heiress to la thirty million dollars dollari She Khe he li JI the principal suspect McCale learns learn of a deep derp Plot lot to keep control of i the treat great fortune In the family through a deal wit Valla Incourt Sharl Shari rl Lynn I Vall former wife li Ii hot abut to toI I death dual apparently to silence her Some Some- I onn OM em fires Orel at al McCale wounding him In Inthe Inthe Inthe the houlder Then Them Veronica calls call tell tell- l lug lur t him that the police have arrested Christopher Storm noted architect and former suitor tor of McCale police lieutenant In iii charge of the caie cace cue and ask aske him hIm to 10 hurry over CHAPTER XV The case was beginning to Irk him badly Not only was he not making progress he almost seemed to be going backwards We gathered in Christopher Storm he began beganI I I 1 told you to tall toll him not ar are arrest ar- ar arrest rest him McCale Interrupted sour sour ly Iy Ills His arm was giving him pain and ond besides that his thoughts were not encouraging lie He swears he didn't hoot shoot at you last last night I I didn't think he did Did you let him go so Had to lo No real evidence And MCI the lads lad's too damned honest to suit me lie Ill came come right out and admit admitted ted td he was the tile one who was follow follow- following ing log around the last few days day however Said he had the Itch either cither to get his hands on him and tear him to pieces or to get something on him that would Influence ence dice Veronica True to type dont don't you think I rah rah-rah- rah rab This from Rocky The officer gave him a cold stare before lie he continued Oh quite Darned If It he lie didn't meet up with the glamour boy and have a heart to heart talk with him though Val Val- convinced him him that he heas was w as going to do right by our gal g 8 so 0 Storm took himself off of to his law lawyers lawyer's lawyers yer's y ore and ond like u a boy scout signed over ver o the Love Nest or whatever he h e calls it Very civilized I knew all that Then why in the Ule name of ot the Ole theather Father ather F and the Son did you give r me m e that cryptic message Just be be- before before f t rf fore rr ore you were last r n night ight Why did you want me roe to tout r put p ut a tail tall on him hit Because my good friend 1 I be began gun gan g an to suspect that the lad thinks i a lot that he has hils more than a gUm gilt i mer as to what this mess is all oil t about bout a I was sure that eventually 1 his h is elephantine mind would hit on i something s important Would he i come ome c to me ne with It Oh Oh no As j you y ou say the naive honesty of ot the thead lad ad 1 l Is amazing I was almost sure hs 1 hed he'd h ed start digging around by him f self elf s A dangerous game He lie pat patted I ted ed t his bandage I wanted to avoid i another nother a catastrophe ell Donlevy muttered to himself glumly lumly g Instead of at that Rocky put in they had hod the murk mark on you for the text next i victim boss It wont won't happen again ago in the lieu lieu- lieutenant tenant t said sold Ive put a man mon on tills his t house Oh Lord said Duke Ill iii humor coloring c his voice All AU right You ou may not like It l but b ut he stays StD'S just the same lIe He t got g ot up to go Anything new trw besides that McCale Inquired Im Not a tiling thing unless you think Karen Is the girl were we're after atter Ive I've I got g ot a man on every last one of them now She drew from the bunk b ank this morning She did Yes Looks more like she was going g to pay pa blackmail again what He lie studied McCale's ex ex- closely close but got no visible I reaction r lie He shrugged Well VdU he looked l his chagrin glad to see youre you're breathing If It I you think of anything anything- Yes McCule's eyes were far tar away lIe He finally persuaded Ann to go home She Site wouldn't admit how fa fatigued ra fa she was was as until until he callously called attention to the droop of at her shoulders and the dark circles un WI under der ier t her eyes Someone Strikes Down Sybil Sy l I At six o'clock Rocky came conic in in from tram the Ule bedroom where he had been getting some sleep He lIe pulled the curtains over the Ule dark windows McCale sat satta wrapped ta ped in thought j staring moodily J into the fire His face clouded and grew bright again and again as liS it if his mind had reached out and just lust missed a very vcr J elusive memory i Youve got to go out for tor me me Rock Bock he said bis his voice packed 1 with excitement Somehow you have got to get into inlo the Lynn L girls girl's Irl's suite at the Bribe the officer If it theres there's one on guard or orthe orthe the tile desk clerk if 11 there isn't If It the rooms are arc seated sealed up get In some other way vay What do you wont want there boss A list of the pictures over o the desk in the living room Just a description description- Theres There's one missing I look took for tor that one one l I 1 dont don't want it I want the oth oth- others others ers era If It Itou you ou cant can't get them out make a list Get Gel back here as soon as you rou can Right nIGht you OU are are McCale was alone when the call caU came an hour later He lie lifted the receiver with his good hand to hear the frightened voice of Adelaide Mr McCale's McCole's residence In spite of the Ule feverish anxiety In lit her tone she clung to the formalities Right night here Miss Bigelow Oh Im I'm so glad youre you're up and about I heard you had been In Yes but Im I'm quite all oU right What Is IB it Jt lie He was urgent Its Sybil She's She been attacked night Right here here in the house I am frightened What can It mean I thought thought- Yes yes Is she she she- Alive Yes but unconscious A doctors doctor's here Tell me Is ill it a bullet wound No McCale was surprised to hear this How was she hurt She was was was-was was struck on the back of ot the head Oh its it's so horn horri ble I 1 suppose I shouldn't bother you but but but- Not at all aU Keep calm Im I'm com corn coming ing lag right over As he stood on the sidewalk wait walt ing trig a shadow detached Itself from T l I I fI i J A ri McCabe McCale unfolded a large targe black silk handkerchief the cold dark February night and ond walked toward Win tim That you Mr McCale Yes officer hello or or hello Hum Hum- If It I Id I'd known it was you Id I'd have ho ve invited you inside long ago Hell so you knew the office had hada hado a o tall on you And me thinking It was a real mysterious job I was given That Donlevy Tells me I wasn't to bother you but to stick to your door like it was me mothers A taxicab slid up to the curb and McCale got in He held the door open Come on on Humph You'll get a dusting from the lieutenant 11 If you lose your quarry McCale gave the Beacon Deacon street number as Humphrey clambered in The big red faced officer set set- settled tied Ud himself with ith a sigh We going for tor a u long ride Mc oil McCale McCale Cale Calc No Just over the hill and I cant can't take toke you in Too bad The Thu house is full of beautiful women better let me come in Humphrey gibed You cant can't do dc your best work with that arm orm in a sling sUng The Tim Murderer Must Be Re in the House You dont don't know knew me Besides the thc lady Im I'm going to see is In a worse worst condition than yours truly Some Someone one tried to bump her ofT God Who Is it it Mats Mata My lint Hari McCale laughed and lapsed into silence for tor the th rest of the ride Adelaide Bigelow Big e low seemed see m e d changed Like the tile house she was enveloped In tragedy To be sure tragedy had hod touched her life lift more mont than once In the last hours had i crouched on her own doorstep But Dut I Inow now it had hod entered the very vrr house the room It was this fact tact that seemed to have shattered the last lad I remnants of her courage She sat sni I huddled in an armchair like a para paralyzed person powerless watching death like UkI a slow burning flame tiami creep toward her across the Uie floor Oh she sh said seeing him stand stand- standIng standIng standing Ing before her noticing his arm in it I Its ite hammock Your arm 1 knew of course you OU were hurt but but oh oh I shouldn't have hav called you ou Her Ilci voice was dull hopeless Im sorry 1 I had to come In my m r dressing gown but I 1 had no one to it help me rae dress I 1 didn't want to u waste the time It Il uld hove have taker taken t t me to do It by myself I hope hOle you'll youl I excuse It Of Ot course did dW it hap n Hl ills HI tone wai more like lIk a doctors doctor's thus than a de de- detective det t About five o'clock She Sh must mug I have ha lain there a good hour h hourS hour'S ur Where here Wherein In the stile attic attic I An w e shot up The attic j What was she doing up there I lr 1 dont don't know Putting some things away or or- or Looking for tor something per per- perhaps haps I couldn't guess Who found her It flashed through his mind that someone must have known where she was would have had subtly to reveal her hiding place She recovered her senses after after- goodness knows how long She walked downstairs by herself hersel Ver Vcr Veronica den onica found her pacing up and down the hall hail on o the third floor in tn a daze She She She-l She She-she she he couldn't find her own room That was logical Many people after atter being struck over the head regain enough of at their senses to walk about automatically seeking help though still in a semi con semiconscious condition She collapsed again Yes as os soon as we got her to tobed bed and had sent for the doctor I What prognosis does docs the doctor give I She will probably recover but she may not remember things who thIngs who hit her how her how it happened happened for for a along a I long time The police were quite nasty about It It Mr McCale They I have insisted on a police nurse so that she may be questioned the mo mo- moment moment moment ment she regains consciousness Oh Its It's awful awful awful She reached out an old blue blue- veined hand toward him like a dis distressed child Her voice was emp ct ty drained I What con can we do Mr McCale He shrugged away the pity that flooded his mind No time for sym sym- I pathy His business was not com corn His mouth was grim I his voice held no clemency no hope He turned with a violent movement I striding toward the door I I want to see the attic She rose obediently mechanical mechanical- ly Iy In the hall she led the way i 1 isome Isome some of at the granite In her taking possession again She preceded him up the stairway dead eyes straight her fine-drawn fine lips set in a firm line Up the dark heavily carpeted I stairways of 01 the brooding house they went past the double doors of I Ithe the drawing room where Karen still played her macabre music up to the third floor where a policeman sat sot dozing before the closed portal of at Sybil's Sybll's room where death was hovering up the last Jast flight darker and anti narrower than the others to the attic where murder had been been been- I perhaps only delayed Miss Bigelow pressed a switch r rand and two yellow bulbs came into view dimly lighting the place A kept well attic came into focus shadowy but unlike most attics or or- derly deny No dust there no dark cor corners ners no cobwebs or broken furni turn ture turn There were a few chests of at drawers any number of trunks and I antique baggage An old trunk had ha d been pulled out under one of ot the lights for easier I perusal It stood open There was wasa a damp red stain on the I where the blood had spilled from Sybil's wound I McCale dropped down beside the trunk asking curtly The weapon on The police took It away away away-a a chim chit chimney chimney ney brick wrapped in a towel The I towel was from tram the third floor bath bath- room Miss Adelaide's eyes avoid 1 avold- avold ed the blood on the floor i Miss Bigelow's voice came hollow hollow- hollowly ly futility dulling it Then It Jt must have been been oh Jh h It if it were not true true but but it must must- I I Yes he said quietly It could only ol y have hae ha e been the murderer of Curt and Shari Snarl Lynn Lynn- Lynn 1 the person who attempted to re remove re-I re re- re remove move me from tram the world last night here here in this house Surely you have known k have suspected Miss that the murderer is eUh- eUh elther er Cr one of ot your family or someone who goes and comes at will to and from tram this house I 1 A Black Handkerchief j Intrigues McCale McCole She looked at him him bleakly I He began to co go through the con j can con 1 tents tent of at the trunk Ironic swiftly urgent urgently ly- ly It was apparent that Sybil had stored her keepsakes there Writ Writ- Written 1 ten labels were pinned to a number of articles There was 88 a girls girl's white wl t dress with a card that read Vie Vic Victorias toria's torla's graduation Sybil's own 11 I wedding gown Two envelopes con con- con 1 locks of Stephens Stephen's and Vic Vie Victoria's Victorias Victorias toria's tot childhood curls There were several schoolbooks As he removed remo other souvenirs sou from the t depths of ot their hiding place a new brand picture of u Sybil flashed across his ills mind She was revealed re not so much as the worn wom woman an who clung clun so desperately to her fading youth who made vapid silly conversation who bolstered her empty middle ape a e with sherry but butmore butmore more mOI as a w doting doUng mother secretly keeping alive l ve the brighter moments of or a not too easy life McCale unfolded a large luge black silk ilk handkerchief the last thing in inthe inthe inthe the trunk ThIS A puzzled look came amt over o her face She struggled with ith memory I 1 dunt know kno 1 I cant can't place that I 1 hardly think so Could It u have been Q my brothers brother's i TO oTO BI RI |