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Show r7L r7LAL , /AL AL / " > ) S , IN 47 ' 1 1j 1jGERALD GERALD BROWN BROWNW W N U . FEATURES " I IDuke Duke puke McCale IIlcCale priTKte private detective bay bayestabtlshed ha . tttbllthta c.tAbU.hed ctAbU.hed ctAbUhed estabtlshed . . an tnvlibl envlablc enviable * rtpatalloa reputAUon reputation In to Bos Boston Boston Bo Boton ton la In to a . thort .hort hort short time by lolilne sohing .oh oh . Inr lome some somedt9cutt omcdifficult Icult dt9cutt & ! } casel cases Ct < c < ne lie ii Is consequently eonsequenlly , lur mar lurprlsed marprised aipriced prlsed prised & mil &Dd Dd and charlned chagrined cbagrlned , when Miss Ade Ado AdeaIde Adolaide AdcIliac \aIde aIde laide \ Bicelow Blcelow Bigelow extremely wealthy weaithy and andarIstocratic andaristocratic > nilarlttocratic arIstocratic old lady encacea enages engages ! : him 10 to 10pard toguard toinard pard guard the th > ptcicDtl presents durin durmc during , the til * lestlvltle festivities festivitiessurrounding lestlvltlctlurroundinf . lurroundlnC surrounding her niece s . weddinf weddlnr wedding IIlcCale MCCSIO IIlcCaleaccepts MCCSIOaccepts McCaloaccepts accepts the commission eonunlsslon commisston only oo1y becanse because he.ense hesenses he .ense ense senses . cnte . that 111151 bilss Mls < Bicelow Bigelow lcelow li Is afraid 01 of 01lomethlng ofsomething oflomethinc lomethlng something aad a.d ad sad . that she < he want wants a * com corn competent cornpotent cornpetent petent potent dctecttv detective itronnd around the home house In to case caseof caseof carct of .ome ome some ( . om * outbreak It 'If If 'U U ' ' something . iomethln .0methinJ 0methinJ { wer were were.tolen werestolen tolen .tolen stolen . It U If lometbinc .omethlng omethlng something . : did happen you d dhave dbave dhaTe have bave to Investlcatc Investlcate Investigate wonldnt woo1dn wonldn t you yoo7 ? In Inquires Inquires Inqulre quires > MIss Ml BIcelow Blrelow Bigelow meaningfully Me Mc MeCale McCale MeCal Cale * , iraspi grasps rasp . the obvlom obvlou obvious . hintCHAPTER hint . . CHAPTER II IIA IIA A nursemaid s lot 30b join ) to a lot of iced icedtea icedtea Icedtea tea spoons Phooeyl The big bigyoung bigyoung bigyoung young man hitched his long legs legsover legsover legsaver over an arm ann of the chair and snort snortI snorted snorted snorted I ed in irritation irritabon Holy Mftel Mikel Whatare What WhatI Whatare I Bre are we-broke we broke we - - broke ? I thought we were wereI weredefimtely weredefinitely weredefinitely I defimtely definitely out tor for the big stulf-no stulf no etuS-no etuS stulfnomore etuSnomore Huff - nomore more small sman time I run my mylegs myegs . legs ; off oft getting dope on this Val Vallamcourt Vallaincourt Val.amcourt Valamcourt lamcourt laincourt . guy-and guy and guy - - and what v.hat vhat . tor for ? What Whatbas Whathas Whataas bas has the bridegroom got to do withseeing Wlth with Wlthseeing withseeing seeing that the friends ot of the fam tam family tamfly tarnlly ily fly don t snitch all the silver plate ? I [ suppose you expect him to run runaround runaround runaround around the corner comer to the hock shop shopHth shopwith shopwith \Hth Hth with \ the punchbowl puncbbowl between the theceremony theceremony theceremony ceremony and the receptIonAnn receptionAnn reception receptionAnn Ann Marnot Marrlot Marriot came In on the last lastpart lastpart lastpart part of the harangue She set a acoffee acoffee aoffee coffee ; percolator bn the desk desk , . , and andbusied andbusied andbusied busied herselflIlth herself \ with \lIlth lIlth cups and sau saucers saucers saucers saucersKeep cers cersbeep Keep beep eep your shirt on Tiny she shesaId shesaid shesaid saId to the big bJg fellow fenow Duke has II a IIhunch ahunch alunch hunch Why not let him hlln do the thetalking thetalking thetalking7 talking ' We only . work .ork ork hereRocky hereRocky here hereRocky Rocky made appropriate noises noisesaddmg noisesadding noisesadding addmg adding So this is a conference conference9 conference9'Whit ' 'Whlt Whlt 'Whit Whit ' ' What ! did you think thmk it was-the was the wastheweddmg wasthewedding was - thewedding weddmg wedding breakfast9 breakfast breakfast9All ' All right , , all right . . So Duke hasa has a hunch- hunch hunchGo . - . Go ahead master mmd mind mmdGo mindGo mindGo Go into your trance and tell us allMcCale allMcCale all allMcCale McCale helped himself hJJIlself to a sand sandWJch sandwish sandwich WJch wish . . . There isn im t anything anythmg defl deft deflnlte deftnlte deflnite nlte Rocky The old lady BIgelow BIgelowaunt Bigelowaunt Bigelowaunt aunt of the bride comes m lD in here to tolure tohue tolure lure hue special servIce-that servIce that service - - that of guard guarding guardIng guardIng ing the v w \ , eddmg edding gifts glts ! That s herstory her herstory herstory story But look here She doesn t twant twant twant want half a II dozen men planted plantedhere plantedhere plantedhere here She s after only one mcon incon mconSPlCUOUS inconspicuous mcontpicuous SPlCUOUS spicuous man not tor for the day 'of of 'ofthe ' 'ofthe ofthe ' ofthe the wedding weddmg but starting startmg now-for now for nowforthe nowforthe now - torthe the duration duratJon That in Itself isscrewy is isscrewy isscrewy screwy Besides that she doesn t twant twant twant want the police pOllce and she s turned turneddown turneddown turneddown down operators from all the bIg bIgagencies bigagencies bigagencies agencies To top It off she acts as asthough asthough asthough though the Four Horsemen of the theApocalypse theApocalypse theApocalypse Apocalypse were tracking trackmg herdown herdownRocky her herdown herdown down downRocky Rocky s eyes narrowed Skip Skippmg Skipping Skipping pmg ping the mythology maestro I Ithmk Ithink Ithink thmk think I do see a glimmer gltmmer of l1ght light l1ghtIn lightIn lightIn In other words she doesn t give a ahang ahang ahang hang it l t1 ! the wedding feast is 15 lousy lousyWlth lousywith lousywith Wlth with kleptomaniacs kleptomamacs She s got oth 0th other 0ther other er troubles troublesExactly troublesExactlyGo Exactly ExactlyGo Go to the head of o1 the class classi classsaid classsaid i , saId AnnWell Ann Well Well , , where do we come 1111 1111McCale in inMcCale ? McCale accepted coffee from Ann Annand Annand Annand and lit ht a cigarette He spoke mto into mtothe intothe intothe the first puff of smokeYou smokeYou smoke smokeYou You ve ye got me there I m not notsure notsure nolsure sure the lady knows herself butit but butIt butits It its s certain certam she wants someone someonearound someonearound someonearound around We re elected anyway So Somy Somy Scmy my first move is a file on the famIly famIlyand familyand familyand justIn lustin and the dashing bridegroom Just lust in case What d d you get on CurtVallamcourt Cur CurVallaincourt Curt t Vallamcourt Vallaincourt ? . Mystery Surrounds SurroundsT'illatn SurroundsVallamcourt SurroundsVallamcourtNot Vallamcourt T'illatn Tillatn ' court courtNot Not much I I m afraid Rockyfl Rockyfi Rocky fi fl pped open a notebook Showed Showedup Showedup Showedup up around these parts about a year yearago yearago yearago ago He s from New York City or orso orso orso so he says Definitely Defimtely not Harvard Harvardnor Harvardnor Harvardnor nor Blue Book Seems to have plen plan plenty planty plenty ty of dough Lives to in a swankapartment swank swankapartment swankapartment apartment on the Rn Rnerway Riierway erway Doesn t twork twork twork work Goes everywhere with the thesoc thesoc thesoc soc ety crowd The gals all do cart cartwheels cartwheels cartwheels wheels whenever he shows up any anywhere anywhere anywhere where Anyway he s marrymg marrying marrymgtwenty marryingtwenty marryingtwenty ' . twenty million mlllion dollars next week weekMake weekMake weekMake Make anything anytbmg mysterious out of ofthat ofthat ofthat ' I that ' I McCale shrugged Plenty if 11 I Iwanted Iwanted Iwanted : wanted lo to o let it run away . with .lth lth me meHe meHe meHe He turned to Ann Did DJd you ltne line ltneup lineup lineup ' up the Bigelows Blgelows tor for me me7 me7Well ' Well she began the Perkinses Perkinsesand Perkinsesand Perkinsesand > and the B gelows go right back- back backlong backlong back-long back long - long before the Tea Party-lf Party lf Party-if if Party - if that s sthe sthe sthe > the sort of thing you wantSk wantSk want wantSk Sk p that Bring Brmg us up to dateOkay date dateOkay dateOkay Okay The money all comes comesfrom comesfrom comesfrom ' from cotton mills m Lowell and andchpper andclipper andclipper chpper clipper ships shlps and the Oriental trade tradebefore tradebefore tradfbefore ' before that The Perkuises Perkmses Perkinses and the theBlgelows theBigelows th ' Bigelows Blgelows intermarried mtermarrled and so onAdelaide onAdelaide on Adelaide Bigelow our client cllent and andher andher her brother Joel are and wererespectively wererespectively were respectively the last ot of 0 ( . . , the lineAdela lineAdela line Adela de never marr man ed ad Joel mar married married ried twice His first wile wife is deadIs deadIs dead deadIf If Is that clear ' Perfectly PerfectlyJoel Joel i s . second wife wlfe Sybil Syhll is ap apparently apparently apparently parently purpleHer not of the royal purple Her family famlly only seems to go back backa bada ; a genera generation bon or two Probably she shewas shewas sh < ; was considered fast or nouveal nouveau nouveauriche nouveauriche riche or something as she was a awIdow awidow < widow when he married her She s , sa sa ; a lot younger than he too tooWhere tooWhere Where d d you get the nouveau nouveauriche nouveauriche riche stuff sbill stun ? Oh Oh , , , I d dn do t Just surmise surrDlse In Infact Infact ] tact fact I don t know whether she has hasany hasany ha s any money of her own or not He Hewas Hewas H was seventy when he died wed five fiveyears fiveyears yean years ago aeo and she was forty three threethen threethen then She had two children croldren by her hert.rn herIIrst heflr t.rn trn IIrst . t marriaga marriage a ion son Stephen and an a daughter Victoria Their name namewas namewas namewas was Bennett but he adopted them themand themand themand and they thcy changed to the Bigelow Bigelowsurname Bigelowsurname Bigelowsurname BigelowsurnameThen surname surnameThen Then Veronica the bride 11 is I * a adaughter adaughter adaughter daughter of this second set'ond setond ' marriage ? No The first Mrs Bigelow dJed died dJed1D diedin diedin 1D in chlldbirth-that chlldbirth that childbirth-that childbirth childbirth - that is in giving birth birthto birthto birthto to Veronica The old gentleman gentlemanmarried gentlemanmarried gentlemanmarried married Sybil Bennett three thrce years yearsafter yearsafter yearsafter after Am I bawling bawlmg this up ? ? No indeed . . It s very clear Go Goon Goon Goon GoonThere on on'There on'There ' ' There 'There 2 s not much more Stephen Stephenwas Stephenwas Stephenwas was married two years ago He Hed Hed Hed d dn do t go to Harvard or Groton like likethe likethe likethe the rest of the B gelows M MIT I T I Ibelieve Ibelieve Ibelieve believe He s an airplane auplane designerat desIgner at present . . He married a girl from fromSt fromSt fromSt St LouJs-Swedish LouJs Swedish Louis-Swedish Louis Louis - Swedish descent but so social sociai social cial ciai and all that A Karen Karcn Cristofen CristofenNot CristofenNot CristofenNot Not much fuss around here about aboutit aboutit aboutit it it'What it'What 'What What ' ' Whats s that9 that ' He picked up afolded a afolded afolded folded square of paper that had hadfluttered hadfluttered hadfluttered fluttered from her lap to the floorOh floorOh floor floorOh Oh I nearly forgot that It s a arotogravure arotogravure arotogravure rotogravure cut of Veronica B ge gelow gelow gelow low from the Sunday Herald of o1 a afew afew afew few weeks agoMcCale agoMcCale ago agoMcCale McCale unfolded it and spread it it11at itflat Itflat 11at flat on the top of the desk The Thelikeness Thelikeness Thelikeness likeness of a very pretty girl looked lookedup lookedup lookedup up at him It was a carefully lightt light lightShe t 2 25l 5l ( S 1 1t t . 1 ' I It t 4 4She She held op up a . . long legal envelope envelopeI envelopethat envelopethat envelopethat that had bad been lying beside the themodel themodel themodel themodeled I model I Ied modeled ed study of the photographer s con conceptlon conception conception I conI ceptlon ception of o1 how a well groomed groomedI groomedquiet groomedquiet I qUIet aristocratic young woman womanshould womanshould womarshould should poseI poseThat poseThat pose poseThat I That really doesn t do her JUS lus JUSUce lustice juslice Uce tice I should say mused Ann I Iunderstand Iunderstand ] I understand she has gorgeous red redhaIr redhair redhair haIr and a beautiful beautLful figureWell figureWell figure figureWell Well we shall see said Duke Dukehandmg Dukehanding Dukehanding handmg handing it back to her Tuck llaway it itaway i iaway t td away with the rest of the data and andtranscnbe an antranscribe anctranscribe d transcnbe transcribe Rocky s notes tor for a flle flleon fit fiton fliton e on Vallaincourt Vallamcourt I m due at the theancestral th thancestral theancestral e ancestral mansion manSlOn for tealth tea \ with \\lth lth M ss ssAdela s sAdela ssAdela s Adela de at five-or five or five - or there"boutsWhee thereaboutsWhee thereabouts there"bouts therebouts thereaboutsWhee " Whee It was Rocky No Noblesse Noblesse Noblesse blesse obi obl ge and old pewter mugsQUIet mugsQuiet mugs mugsQuiet Quiet stooge You and Ann hold holdthe holdthe holethe the tort fort here I don t even know knowwhether knovwhether kno knowhether w whether our client expects me to totake t ttake o ( take over twenty tour four hours duty o or ornot onot r : not I m darn sure she s not really reallyworned reallworried reall y ; worried worned about the wedding weddmg pres presents presents presents ents It If by any chance she is yoU yoUmay yo yomay yoimay u may have to put on crepe soles and andpussyfoot anpussyfoot an anpussyfoot < pussyfoot around there through the tin thewee tinwee thiwee e wee small hours 111 I 11 ll call you vou . . . I I McCale llcCale 11cCale Senses ThatSomething's ThatSomethings That ThatSomething's SometTllng's SometTllngs Something's Somethings ' AmissThe Amiss AmlSS AmissThe The Bigelow house was on that thatmound thatmound thatmound mound of Beacon street that slopes slopesgently slopesgently slopesgently gently to Charles street and the theGardens theGardens theGardens Gardens It was almost In the shad shadow shadow shadow ow of o1 the State House dome and you youcould ) ou oucould 01could could have thro vn VD vu a pebble easilyfrom easilyfrom easily from the front stoop onto the paths pathsof pathsof pathsof stonesI of the old Common Four stories stones stoneslugh storieshigh high lugh its narrow dusty brick bnck facadeI facadegave facadegave facade facadegave gave the 1 e to the roominess roommess and anddepth anc anddepth depth withine withinAdelaide . within .lthm lthm withinAdelaide .lthme .lthmAdelaIde e Adelaide B gelo v was wa ting tmg toi for forMcCale forMcCale McCale In the dra vmg ving room on the thesecond thesecond thesecond second floor A butler old and quiel quiet quietand quietand and unobtrusive had answered an.wered anwered . hIS hISknock hisknock hi ; knock and led lcd him rom through a d m mhallway mhallway ir hallway preceding him up dark darkthIckly darkthickly darkthickly thIckly carpeted staIrsThe stairsThe stairs stairsThe The room was at the front of the thehouse thehouse th ( house Heavy red draperies drapenes at the thewide thewide th < wide high windows were alreadydraVD alreadydrawn already drawn dra\VD dra VD \ Frail FraJI M ss Bigelow BJgelow stooc stood stoodm stoodin in m Its exact center small and patrl patri patrlcJan |