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Show l t r 1 GERALD BROWN BROWNW W N U FIATUREt - - - - - CHAPTER 1Outside I J 1 IOutside Outside the sidewalks were damp dampand dampand daintend and slippery It was late February FebruaryThe FebruaryThe FebruaryThe The sky was blurred with an ap approachmg approachang appreaching proachmg proachang storm McCale walked walkedup walkedup walkedup up Stuart street slowly stopping to tobuy tobuy tobuy buy an early morning paper at the thecorner thecorner thecorner thecornerHe corner cornerHe He d just lust had some mid morning morningcoffee morningcoffee morningcoffee coffee with a couple of erst\\ erst ersthile erstwhile erstwhileprhate erstwhileprivate \ hile hileprhate prhate eyes and they d told him himin himin himto in gleat great gi eat deta I 1 of how Miss Ade Adelalde Adeaide Adelaide lalde aide ] Bigelow of the Bieelows Bigelows had hadbeen hadbeen hadbeen been traipsing from tram office to office officefor officefor officefor for the right nght detective detechve Just what whatshe whatshe whatshe she needed a detecbve detecuve detective tor for they theydldn theydidn theydidn dldn didn t know Imow but it looked promising promlsmg promisingTo promlsmgTo To McCale It looked tooked like bke hokum hokumbes hokumbes hokumbes bes des he wasn t interested He Hedld Hedid Hedid dld did not at the moment realize that thatthe thatthe thatthe the first pebble pcbble had started to roll rollthat rollthat rollthat that even then he was bemg beIng gently gentlyprodded gentlyprodded gentlyprodded prodded into the relentless ava avalanche avalanche avalanche lanche of a big case He stopped stoppedfor stoppedfor stoppedfor for cigarettes at a drug store and andstood andstood andEtood stood at the counter idly 1dIY turnmg turning turnmgthe turningthe turningthe the pages of the newspaper newspaperB B Z9s 29s v \ sere , ere at home over the Jap Japmain1and Japmainland Japmainland main1and mainland and the An-encan An encan AlTencan American - fleet fleetwas fleetwas fleetwas was tickling tlckhng tacking Jap shipping shlppmg where It Ithurt ithurt ithurt hurt There was a complete black blackout blackout blackout out planned tor for the coming commg week weekend weekend weekend end On page ten Mrs Atkinson AtkinsonKeye AtkinsonKeye AtkinsonKeye Keye socialite was off to Reno Renoagain Renoagain Renoagain again Busmess Business as usual A Mrs MrsMulligan MrsMulligan MrsMulhgan Mulligan of Roxbury had gIven gIvenbirth givenbirth givenbirth birth to her twelfth tweUth child And walt wait waita walta a minute mmute under a misty photograph photographof of a very debby deb the caption caption"Lydia caption"Lydia caption"Lydia captionLydia "Lydia Lydia " Prentice of Marlborough MarlboroughItreet Marlboroughstreet Marlboroughitreet Itreet street and Magnolia Magnoha one of the thebnde thebride thebnde bnde bride s attendants at the wedding weddingnext weddingnext weddingnext next Saturday of Veronica Perkins PerkinsBigelow PerkinsBigelow PerklnsBigelow Bigelow to Curtin Curthi Vallalncourt Vallaincourt VallalncourtSo VallaincourtSo So that s all It was A society societyweddIng societywedding societywedding weddIng He laughed soundlesslyas soundlessly as s he thought of Leach and Gar Garrlty Garrlty Garrity rlty making a big story over some someold someold someold old blue bloodho blood \ who \\ho ho was no doubt doubt doubtlooking , , lookIng tor for a couple of dicks dlcks pre presentable presentable pretestable sentable enough to mingle with a acrowd acrowd acrowd crowd of gilt gllt edged guests while whileth"y whiletb'1 whilehoy th"y thy tb'1 tb1 ( " ' kept a sharp sbsrp eye on the wed weddmg wedding wedding dmg ding presents He did not have to tobe tobe tobe be much of a sleuth to figure that thatone thatone thatone one out He chuckled at the mental mentalpicture mentalpicture mentalpicture picture of either of his so called pals palsstrainmg palsstraining palsttraimng strainmg straining to look to the manner mannerborn mannerborn mannerbom born in such a situation- situation situationHow . - . How 1\1 1 \ McCale 11cCale cCale Became a aPrivate aPrivate Przvate Private Detective Detectzve Detectivet t I As he folded the paper his eye eyecaught eyecaught eyecaught caught a word or two in the gossip gossipcolumn gossipcolumn gossipcolumn column After Dark It read At Atthe Atthe Atthe the Latin Latm Quarter last night Curt CurtVallaIncourt CurtVallamcourt CurtVallamcourt VallaIncourt Vallamcourt , , , the handsome ladwho ladwho lad who Is to middle aisle it with Wlth Ver Veromca Veronica Veronica omca onica Bigelow next week week , , , waited in invain invain Invain vain for her to appear He ended endedhis endedhis endedhis his vigil by lapping up Zombies with withSharl withShari withShan Sharl Shari Lynn the torchy smger singer smgertram singerfrom singerfrom tram from the floor fioor show We didn dldn t know knowthey knowthey knowthey they knew each otherMcCale otherMcCale other otherMcCale McCale frowned trowned at the last allu allulion allusion allulion lion sion . . Too bad these keyhole lads ladshad ladshad ladshad had to spice everything everythmg up soMcCale soMcCale so soMcCale McCale s office and living hVlng quar quarters quarters quarters ters combined were on St . . . James JamesItreet Jamesstreet Jamesttreet Itreet street , , , a bit tar far uptown tor for that10rt thatsort that 10rt sort ort of thing . . . They were In fn a block blockof blockof blockof of old brownstone houses the last lastthat lastthat lastthat that remained remamed in m that vicinity VlCmlty Here Herewhlie Herewhile Herewhile whlie while they lasted anyway McCale McCalewas McCalewas McCalewa was able to cling to the Illusion that thathe thathe thathe he was a cut above the average de detectlve detective detective tectlve tective He admitted that it was wasprobably wasprobably wasprobably probably psychological psychologicala psychological-a a - a complex complexWith complexwith complexwith With him l His s background surely surelywas surelywas surelywas was worse than most Born in im the theBcummler thescummier theBcummier Bcummler scummier part of Chicago Crucago he had bad hadbeen badbeen hadbeen been brought up among thieves and andmobsters andmobsters andmobsters mobsters aUthe allthe At fourteen he knew aU all allthe the answers To himself himself , , , he otten often ottenadmItted oftenadmitted oftenadmitted admItted that he had a crIminal crIminalturn criminalturn criminalturn turn peculiartwist of mind mmd but some peculiar tWIst itInto it1nto had saved him from putting puttmg it 1nto into beenthe practice It may have been beenthe the merest glimmer glummer or craving cravmg for forsometlung forsomething lorsomething sometlung something finer than the obvIously obviouslybrief brief splash made by the racketeer racketeeron on top today shot full of holes to tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow morrow But at sixteen he went 1nto Into wentInto went1nto the world to find out if there thereV.as therewas thereMas V.as Vas was . any good in it Somehow he discovered hediscovered that he be had a love for torbooks forbooks books and a real aptitude tor for learn 1ng Ing learnIng learn1ng He worked his hts way through a r4ldwestem Midwestern aMidwestern ar4ldwestem college He took sum gummer mer tier summer sumtier courses here there and wher wherever wherever wherever ever he heard of something that might knight thattalght thatmight thatknight interest him And he was wa m in terested interested mterested thingsHe thmgsHe in many things thmgs He woke one knowingthat morning knowing that detection would be his career Then careerThen he took a course In criminal crlminol criminalogy crlminology criminology ogy Inat at a famous university sat in at lectures at police college talked talkedhimself himself into a job with a run rIm down downdetective detective agency After that he had hadset hadset hadset set himself up as a private Invest Investigator ! ! gatr gator Cynical over police methods as ne he round found them In practice sIck to sickto death ot of the strike breaking breakmg jobs jobsthe the divorce work the undercover brIbery undercoverbribery the questionable ethics of ofmany ofmany otmany many of the men masquerading as honest ashonest Investigators it was the only thmg thing onlything onlythmg tor for h hm m to do Only Oniy a few fewclIents fewclients fewclients clIents had come hit his way But it ftwas was itwas \ worth orth ItMcCale itMcCale it itMcCale McCale was smalland small and darkand dark and andsmoothly andsmoothly andsmoothly smoothly articulated His hair was wasshiny wasshiny wasthiny shiny Inclinedto 1nclinedto and black his eyes 1nclined inclined to be withdrawn one minute mUlute would wouldqUlcken wouldquicken wouldquicken qUlcken quicken with a peculiar pecuhar glint gbnt the thenext thenext thenext next His mouth was too large for the lorthe forthe countenance It gracedand graced and in to inrepose torepose torepose repose a tnfle trifle sardonic But whenb whento when b . to . tiniled smiled or lau laughed hed It lit up his hi * whole face In a most disarming disarmingway disarmingway disarminway way The dominant feature of the thecomplete thecomplete thcomplete complete picture of Duke McCale McCaleseemed McCaleseemed McCalseemed seemed to be a nerveless quiet but butoften butoften bu'often buoften ' ; often there would come a fine fineItalIan fineItalian flnItalian ( ItalIan like llke gesture fleet Sect as an ar arrow arrow arrow row that bespoke the closely guard guardcd guarded guarded cd ed energy of a coiled sprmgHe springHe spring sprmg springHe He was nearly at his own door doorstep doorstep doorstep step when he noticed it An antique antiquehmousme antiquelimousine antiqulimousine hmousme limousine broad in m the beam and andhIgh andhigh anihigh hIgh in the tonneau was Vias drawn to tothe tothe tthe the curb before his doorMcCale doorMcCale door doorMcCale McCale opened the waiting room roomdoor roomdoor roondoor door and stepped inside The room roomwas roomwas roonwas was empty The faded carpet and andreal andreal amreal real lea leather ther chairs stared at hlm hum hlmblankly humblankly himblankly blankly The wine W1ne velour draperIes draperIeswere draperieswere draperieswere were pulled back to let in what whatdaylIght whatdaylight whatdaylight daylIght there was There were werefresh werefresh werefresh fresh freshellow ; ! - yellow -ellow ellow flowers ! to in n a squat squatwhIte squatwhite squatwhite whIte bowl on his rus secretary s a desk deskbut deskbut deskbut but she wasn \ wasnt asn t thereI thereHe thereHe there thereHe I He was thinking thmkIng that it looked lookedvery lookedvery , very quiet , , , very nice IDce not like a de- de detectIve detective de detective - - tective s s waiting waltmg room at all when whenAnn whenAnn whenAnn Ann Harriot Marriot came In She closed dosed dosedthe closedthe closedthe the door of the inner office gIvmg giving gIvmghim givinghim givinghim him a warning look . . . Ann Marnot Marmot was the type of girl girlyou girlyou girlyou you might pass by at a first meet- meet meeting meet-Ing meet Ing - ' - ing big but . when .ben ben you knew her better betterMiss f fs fe s rr rra rrk e s a k 1 f > ' - ) r , . F r rIII III 4 4M M ! i 3 . - d dMiss \ Miss 1\llSs 1 llSs Bigelow ? ' ' His Ills sharp eyes eyestook eyestook eyestook took her in at a s & glanceyou glance glanceyou you became aware ot of her attrae attraetlveness attraetiveness attracUveness tlveness tiveness Her features were nice- nice nicegray nicegray nice nicegray - - gray eyes set far apart a straight straightbut straightbut straightbut but not too small nose and a good goodsIzed goodsized goodsized sIzed mouth She ran to 1ntelligence intelligence 1ntelligenceand intelligenceand intelligenceand and tweeds and her ash blonde hair hairal hairalways hairalways al always " , ays Imparted the fragrance of ofcarnations ofcarnations ofcarnations carnations McCale caught a wh whiff whiffof whiffot ! of It now mow as she handed him an anengraved anengraved anengraved engraved calling callmg eardIt cardIt card eard cardIt It read Adelaide Perkins Blge Bige Blgelow Bigelow Bigelow BigelowWealthy low lowWealthy Wealthy Tfalthy Tf/ Tf / althy Old Lady LadyAppears LadyAppears Appears Troubled . ' ' Miss Bigelow ! is s waiting to in your youroffice youroffice youroffice office said AnnWhy AnnWhy Ann AnnWhy Why to in there there7 " ' ' McCale asked askedlowermg askedlowering askedlowering lowermg lowering his voiceWell voiceWell voice voiceWell Well she answered fiushlng flushing fiushlngshghtly flushingslightly flushingshghtly shghtly slightly it s nice to In there There s sa sa sa a fire in m the grate and the big chair chairandbooks chairandbooks chairand and-books and books - books and things * . ' Ah An I see You are duly Im tin Impressed tinpressed 1mpressed pressed by the royal presenceNot presenceNot presence presenceNot Not at all she rather snapped snappedShe snappedShe snappedShe She s quite nice Did it occur to toI toyou toyou toyou I you I might want to Impress her ? McCale sm led Bless you , , , my myChIld mychild mychild ChIld he said as he went inThere inThere to in toThere There was a fire burning briskly brisklyin brisklyIn in the fireplace throwing throWlDg light hght and andshadow andshadow andshadow shadow on the simple decorationsthe decorationsthe decorations decorationsthe -the the - the big chair with its accompany accompanyIng accompanytng accompanying Ing tng side table well filled bookcases bookcasesI I 1 ning mng fling the walls The lamp on the thedesk thedesk thedesk desk was lit tor for It was darker in inthis inthis tothis this roomA roomA room roomA A little httle old lady quietly dressed dressedturned dressedturned dressedturned turned to in the act of reaching tor for a abook abook abook book to face hImOh himOh him himOh Oh she said nearly dropping droppingit droppingitMiss it itMiss itMiss Miss Bigelow7 Bigelow ' His sharp eyes eyestook eyestook eyestook took her to In at a glanceShe glanceShe glance glanceShe She was small almost birdlike birdlikeand birdlikeand birdlikeand and nervous to in a fluttery fiuttery way She Shehad Shehad Shehad had a fine delicately modeled face facetoo facetoo facetoo too delicate perhaps to be Impos Imposing impostog impostog ing tog Yet there was evidence to in her hercarnage hercarriage hercarriage carnage carriage and to in her manner of dig dignlty dignity dignity nlty nity and stubborn strength Mc McCale McCale MeCale Cale was aware too of a certain certainuneasiness certainuneasiness certaliuneasiness uneasiness a lurking lurkmg apprehensloi apprehension I behind the too bright eyes that he hecould hecould hecould could not attribute to surprise at athis athis athis his sudden entrance nor to her be beIng being being Ing out of her milieu to in a detective s soffice soffice soffice sofficeI office officeI I was interested to In your 11 11brary 11brary Ubrary brary she floundered I expect expected expected expected ed you- you you - you'To youTo ' To 'To look quite different7 dIfferent ' McCale McCalefrowned McCalefrowned McCalefrowned frowned More like a doctor or orcollege orcollege orcollege college professor perhaps7 perhaps perhaps7Why ' Why WhyThat That s all right None of us can canchoose canchoose canchoose choose his hts personal appearance If IfI IfI ItI I could I Id d be qu te to a dllYerent different differentlooking dllYerentlooking differentlooking looking person I assure youThere youThere you youThere There was something ingenuousabout ingenuous ingenuousbout , about bout the way he said It Then he smiled and everything was quite qUlte qUltean quiteall an all U right rIghtIt It Isn isnt t that at all She waa was wasjust wasjust just as candid You re quite nicelookIng nicelooking nice looking really It B a * just that all allthe allthe allthe the detectives I ve ye ever seen-that seen that seenthatiserheard seenthatiserheard |