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Show + GERALD h BROWN hBROWN BROWNW W N U "fIa fIa ' " - - rlvate detective Is In Inpike ! n nFhu lcCaie P private pike Fake sterols Purder urder of Curt Vall.ln Vallln VaUitn Vall.lnu.atDf VaUitnout . u.at/Df u.atDf u.at uat Df . Fhu / w tbe l labmurder abmurder out to marry marrytVeronica marrytVeronicag Veronica Veronica.ll was wasto .ll ll . rr : . "bo bo " million dollars dollar , to thirty g " ' 10 " belreSS belreSSsome admls admis 'Ca1e Ca1e it itextracts : ' utrae extracts some damaging maging and former formers formert I singer L'Dn LDn ) ' 1 " ' 1of rom ! Shar Shart singerLater Laterand Victoria VictoriaJI o vnalneo Vapalnomit Vapalnomitsinger , t . Later ] JI JIJ't J't Jt ' of vnalneoJI at his omee once and III andIII ' " slsttt sister calls ' JI ' J letJ . V tin tine1 e1 ' , ' " s fA fAI t . be llt'P lltP help sistere I ' P P"c b b.nm In , > rpeo"erlng rpeoerlng recovering " som somIII some e let- let letom - - III ask , $ \.nm .nm \ , ' : . bH bIS his vallal vallalI vallaiaciurrs VAlIa "c c " C urt " ' * . . " a.ulment aulment a . - ; > , ertmen- ertmen ertmenMc . - - . - Mc Ic IcllIom llIom ! " om ' " . . . . . that th t I the letters are not notY notcnt her here . \ ab Ie t to < apartment Is Ig e , . but bul hints blnlS tl II ti at Shirt Shul Sbarl Shullilt SbarlJ Y lilt tit aVarlm aVarlmBceause Bceause Because of elr clr clrbellevo them ! J may ha base : : the police belleve bellevo Veroiflca tantlal 111 e eIs Is e the them themurderelreC n urderer urderelreC urderelreCMcCale McCa.lotpl "ccale ccale McCa.lo McCalo McCale " . tpl , ! veronica veronicabnt ffkobot-111"1 ffkobot 111"1 1111 "ccaleffkobot111"1 think s sberc so bnt bas has ' ' " not - ' t ' " et ct lor for ' " ned nedi " .snot not sot contra contraJ contraOlorf .s s " . wte There berc are " 1 ! Inany many " J i cone LDr , u a5 . on en onJIIlDrY < " < JIIlDrY Olorf ( idar ) ' clues the ' cluesCHAPTER - l CHAPTIR.1 CHAPTER CHAPTIR : M \.1 .1 ' \ . .I I . .IIbe ' Insistne telep telephone hone ; was as r ng ng insistlafy insist The ne Ibe ' " openedoIlY openedoot opened openedycswore 1 roUed rolled over MCCr McCale oIlY lafy oIlYMCCr lafyMcCale ! ycswore sw swJlo swore : : and finally grabbeder(1e grabbed grabbedS grabbedoct oct oot S eye ' bundl bunding ng it at under1be underthe under underadHef Jlo 110 " V " . er(1e er1e ( a p P"ov Pov 1be the thedad ex adHef aJe Je He fumbled ledwiththelght wIth the 1 ght , , IP8Pped popped yapopped hJ ya lia liahUed dad ed t onc on lifted hUed hfted the telephoneIP8Pped telephoneci telephone c ci ! Its cradle cradlehe ' I j ( rowledI yowledj 1 > DtcCale { cCale cCa'ie cCaie peaking speaking he g g"Rocky g"Rocky growled rowled yowled " Bocky "Rocky Rocky bossyou boss'Vbere boss bossTdiere ' ' Tdiere 'Where Where 'Vbere Vbere ar are you you7 you7Corner ? ' Corner 'Comer Comer 'corner opposIte'Comer ' ' 0 0D of Aspmwall Aspinwall oppositeHie oppositethe opposite Hie the YOUVallaJl1court VsUamcourt VallaJl1court VallamCOUrt den . . D Didn I dn t youtell you youjell ? ' jell tell me to keep a lookout lookoutOh Ob Oh yeah All qUIet quiet'AH quietAH ' ? bossbout boss'long boss bosslong All quiet now L sten about bout five this mornmg- mornmg mornmgAll morning-All morning All - long 'long ' 1OD1na mornmg1OD1na 1OD1naright All right . . What happened atLve at Ave Lve ( ? e o 0 clock clock9 cJo clock9Sleep ' ? Sleep e still bugged hugged him hlm tightly and andtI andthere andthere = unreasonable barb inhis In tn Inhis t/I t I / there was s an aD " . his . ' vo 10 ceOkay ce , Okay y yu okay k y Around five a glr glrJhO girlshowed girl girlriiowed 1 JhO riiowed showed u up ; with th a key ley to the Val VallaIncourt Valaincourt Vallalncourt laIncourt aincourt ) ron-day ron day - - - voo 100 100Who vooWho ' vooWho Who w " was "as as as It It ? ? Hold on to your hat now It ItI1S ItFos Itvts I1S Fos V ctoria clorla ctorla B gelowS BelowVictoria gelow Below gelow'Victoria i'VIctoria ' 'Victoria Victoria ' B gelow7 gelow Below ? ' S Surprise Surprisejerked SurprisejeAed urpr i se se4erled 4erled jerked him wide awakej awake'Uh awakeUh awake awakellh j llh 'Uh Uh ' uh ub She was after some let- let lettIS letters let-tcs let tcs - - \tIS tIS ters \ of hers she said'Well saidWell said saidTell ' Tell 'Well Well well . . Victoria had cer cer1ImIY cerytny certualy 1ImIY ytny bad had a busy night he thoughtThe thought . . " The "The place was clean like hke you youpJd yousold younil pJd sold . . No secret panels either 1- 1 I- I 1Ibat Ithat I Iflat - flat Ibat that I is-I is I is - I finally helped her hunt huntfor hunttor huntte for tor them Go themGo home and grab y yourself yourselfsome yourselflome urself urselflome lome some grub and shuteye said Mc McCa1e McCale MeCale Ca1e Cale . . Get here about one o 0 clock clockrm clockrm clockI'm clockIm rm ' going gOJl1g to be busy this morning mornlog mom morn momInZ , ingAt logAt InZ ing log At eight forty five he called Arm Ann ArmMarrIot AnnMarriot ArmS Harriot MarrIot on the telephone telephoneTo To her cool hello he said saidGood saidGood saidi Good morning mOrDJl1g This Tlus Thus is your bossOh bossOh boss bossOh Oh good mommg mornJl1g mornmg dar-boss dar boss darbossAnythJl1g darbossAoythmg dar - bossAnything AnythJl1g Aoythmg important7 Important ? ' I m on my myway myway myway way In m about five ffiJ)1utes'No minutes'No ) minutes ffiJ)1utes ffiJ1utes No 'No ' ' hurry In fact , , , th s Is Just lust ] ust to toIy tosay toiiy Iy say ! you might shop tor for an hour 1f if 1fYOII ifyou ifyou YOII you want to ar > and d then do an errand errandfor errandfor errandlor for me I want you to drop In tn on onSbarJ onShari onShsn SbarJ Shari Lynn Suite Swte 802And 802And 802 802And And pray what shall I use useu useU useu u an excuse for dropping droppmg m in as you youny yousays youlay7 ny says ' Don t tell me you re sendmg sending sendingire sendmgIre Ire along to smooth the way for youa youa you -a a - - a more subtle approach so tolpeak tospeak to tpeak7 lpeak speak ? ' tpeak7No No-and No and No - - and that ( hats s comedy enough enoughfor enoughfor enoughtor for now my girl He grew serious'I seriousZ serious 1 'I I Z ' saw her myself late last rught mght rughtfor mghtfor nightfor for that matterYu matter matterXpu Xpu Yu u ratI ratI rat ratI I d like bke a ] line Ime me on how she is thJs this thJsmommg thismorning thismorning mommg morning You knov-sad knov sad know-sad know know . - sad gay ex expectant expectant expectant pectant ? Ask her tor for her auto autolI'aph autograph autopaph lI'aph lIaph graph ' Anything AnYlhlng to get In . m . Talkabout Talkshout Talk bout about shout Vallamcourt If you can Wlth with Wlthout without withoat out being bellJg thrown out'That outThat out That 'That ' all all7 all7"Yes ? ' ' "Yes Yes 'Yes " ' Just a check up to satisfy satlsy satlsya satisfya ! a point pOJl1t that s been nagg ng me She meShes meShe s a fairly transparent It ought to oughtto be easyOh easyOh easy easyOh Oh yes Indeed It sounds too bestSee too tootoo easy All right III I U ll do my best See you when ? About noon . . Here Bye sweet sweetHe He dressed leisurely and careful ly carefully centurywarrior He felt like hke a tv tit . , ent eth century warrior battle batUe going gomg forth to civilized bat bat- - - tle Ue He knew that to solve thIS problem thistroblera thISproblem he had first to break do 'In In vn ' the vnthe 'Inthe buttresses of trad tion tlOn iron that sur f1junded rounded surttimded surf1junded surrounded heWas the Bigelows Bigelov.s Bigelovs . He knew he I Was " up against agamst someth eventhe ng that even : the overest matedawe mated awe or if U hl you W1Il will youW1Il youwill < * najesty ajesty iajesty of the law could not Upend not"Pcno notPcno notUpend " . . He had to break down that mug thatmug mug superiority which was so se cure se"ire seire secure " in the belief in m its own tntelll Intella tatelhtence tntelllgence Intellageece gence geece that it made its own rules as it asit " went edwin edthem along He rather pit ed them momentarily momentanly and smlled smiled smiled"ryly smiledryly Wryly smlledWryly smiledwryly Wrylyat " at the pure cynicism of hIs hisown own thoughtsSybil thoughts thoughtsSybil Sybil Sybll Becomes BecomesImp Becomesffnplicated Implzcated Imp lzcated lzcatedOn OD On Impulse i Pulse he dialed police pohce bead head headWarters beadquarters headQuarters ? quarters and asked tor for DonlevyA Donlevy Donlevysivervoicegof mciSr'ougT camthrough Sr'ougT SrougT Mer live sivervoicegof " ' " voice a " sl ght of delay the the lieutenatt lieutenattcam lleutenant heutenant the curt cam earn cam mci . < ' throught throughc through t , c < < throughDole Donlevy Dole here herel heret l t lieutenantOb McCale lieutenant lieutenantthe , Oh-sure Oh sure Obsure Ob - sure 8,6 86 " Not N t out yet huntmg " " " S the Ihe "e e S"e " criminal7On foul foulcrlnunal foulcriminal t ( oul criminal7 crlnunal criminal , ? , , ? On waywhat the way I dike d 1 ke to know knowj knowoiae what at the Bigelow women omen were were wear wear weartag tag g when \ they came In yesterday yesterdayr- yesterdayr , . - yesterdayreutside eutside tslde j oiae of 01 me the green thmgamajlg thingamajig thmgamajigVeronica Veronica veronica sportediaOf sported sportedOf Ofcourse Of course Didn DIdo t I mention mentionNo mentionthat than iaOf iaOfcourse ! thanNo ; No NoWell Well here It Is Victoria an anfilled lined ailed Itlk silk silkaffair ilk _ aJfalr affair flM ) . yellow . " > " " - - - Karen black blackvelvet a velvet suit black , , . . . a Sybila - - cape - * ' Sybil . * light fight "ght ght " brown i-.t i.t i .t t i.tfu -fu fu - raincoat That ? ' ' help7"uh " help help7 "uh uh 'Uh Ub ' Ubuh uh . uh . It Itwas was Syb 1 I then who i Talked \'aIked 'aIked aIked Balked who'aIked 'aIkedaway Balkedaway \ ' away into the fog ( og I IYou . You Yoii th thnk nk nkso ? ' so so7 She | I ! "ve ve lave " aVe been claims to drugstorel drugstoreNot at the drugstore l Not tor for my moneyuyil money moneyI I 1 I kindof kind of think not That fam tam tamthem uyil tarn"yl tarnyl " ' IfB Ifs It's Its ' almost them themIt's " em get"tin gettin getem getto to Impossible Impassible to get all * admit anything . , . They re , . ? BMtectini retectlng Dtateeting ; one another What ? ? I I : I ' ve 'Ie Ie ye had a devil of a time and got gotnothmg gotnothing gotnothing nothmg nothing so farYou farYou far farYou You 11 II ll get less very likely llkely now nowthey nowthey nowthey they ve 'Ie Ie ye ' had a chance to compare compareI comparenotes comparenotes comparenotes comparenotesThere notes notesThere There was a pause Then Don Donlevy Donlevy Donlevy levy said almost cheerfully I Iguess Iguess Iguess guess Veronica s our gIrlYou girlYou girl girlYou You really think thmk so ? The Lsim Lynn L ) no woman s evidence w 11 ll 11put llput 11put put the finish on ItOh itOh it itOh Oh McCale lVIcCale pondered pondcrcd over that thatfor thatfor for a moment momcnt , , , then decided to add addI I d keep a sharp watch on tl tI t1 e a Lynn Lynnwoman Lynnwoman LynnwomanWhy7 woman womanWhy Why Why7 ? ' ' Donlevy s interest was wasimmediate wa waimmediate immediate immediateI I would Tha That t s allNow allNow all allNow Now Duke you must have a areason areason areason reason Why be mysterious mstenous ) ? Ill I U II drop in m to see you later In Inthe inthe Inthe the day Okay Olay ? By all meansMcCale meansMcCale means meansMcCale McCale dropped the rccc rece ver onto ontoItS ontoits ontoits ItS cradle An emotion of concern concerncrowded concerncrowded concerncrowded crowded his mind mmd and he sighed a asIgh asigh asigh sIgh of sheer desperaton desperat on His brain brainseemed brainseemed brainseemed seemed dulled inact ve ye depressed depressedThere depressedThere depressedThere There was something somethmg there some someth10g something something th10g thing that would make it clear It Itwas Itwas Itwas was evading evadmg him hun . Until Unttl he could couldgrasp couldgrasp couldgrasp grasp it he must blunder along alongWIthout alongwithout alongwithout WIthout help w thout even the eon con eonfidence confidence confidence fidence of the ones he was tryingto trymgto trymg trying to help Damn the medieval re reserve reserve reserve serve of such people anyway anywayI anywaya a Ij Ijf f 14rt C CN N 1 T d dQ Q 0 0i1 i1 k1 k1q q s # 5 - I want hose those ( letters Do I get tl tI em ? ' The police Commissioner had hadcome hadcome hadcome come and asked a few pertment pertinent pertmentquest pertinentquest pertinentquest quest ons stayed barely an hour hourand hourand hourand and departed At eight o 0 clock the thedistrict thedistrict thedistrict district attorney had attempted to tobully tobully tobully bully the police pohce in 10 m charge as well wellas wellas wellas as the suspects He had left at ateleven ateleven ateleven eleven in tn a huffThe huffThe huff huffThe The body had been removed to tothe tothe tothe the morgue and laboratory tor for full fuller fuller er examination exarrunatlon Lieutenant Donlevy Donlevyand Donlevyand Donlevyand and bis hIs squad had finished 1in1shed WJth with withthe withthe the preliminaries prehmmarles The hungry press presshad presshad had been thrown a bone to DIbble nibble DIbbleon nibbleon nibbleon on Men had been sent to Vallam Vallain Vallamcourt Vallaincourt Vallamcourt court s apartment to look over pa papers papers papers pers and belongings belongmgs for a possIble possIbleclue possibleclue possibleclue clue The orderly hubbub of official officialprocedure officialprocedure officialprocedure procedure was over for a time at atleast atleast atleast least The night mght had been qUlet- qUlet quiet- quiet qUletthe quietthe quiet quietthe - the quiet of nervous exhaust on per perhaps perhaps perhaps haps but qu etThen etThen et etThen Then at nine mne this morning morrnng a aplamclothes aplainclothes aplamclothes plamclothes plainclothes man had mterrupted interrupted mterruptedbreakfast interruptedbreakfast interruptedbreakfast breakfast with an urgent request requestfor requestfor requestfor for Veronica Veromca He was politely In Inslstent insistent Insistent slstent sistent that she must come at once onceto onceto onceto to the office of Lieutenant Donlevy Donlevyfor Donlevyfor Donlevyfor for further questioning questJomng She was wasnot wasnot wasnot not to be alarmed It was a matter matterof matterof matterof of routine routme But- But ButMISS ButMass But - Jifiss MISS Mass Adelaide AdeZmde Agrees AgreesTo AgreesTo ITo To McCale's McCales l\fcCaZe's l fcCaZe's fcCaZes \ ' Plan PlanThe PlanThe The library was dim and still and andonly andonly andonly only the sound of a piano bemg being bemgplayed beingplayed beingplayed played in the drawing room up upstaIrs upstairs upstairs staIrs came through the oppressmg oppressing oppressmgqUIet oppressingquiet oppressingquiet qUIet as Adelaide Bigelow fimshed finished fimshedher finishedher finishedher her recital of events and looked at atMcCale atMcCale atMcCale McCale sadly McCale did not notspeak notspeak notspeak speak tor for a minute mmute The we ght of ofus ofhis of\ of ofhis \ _ his us ! senses closed down on him l I 1 ke kea kea kea a stone He wondered idly whether whetherit It was the gloom or the helpless helplessness helplessness helplessness ness in 10 the old lady s voice that thatcaused thatcaused thatcaused caused this feeling of tutil futll futal ty He Hev Hettondered Hewondered v . ttondered ondered why Karen Bigelow was wasplayIng wasplaying wasplaying playIng the Liszt Llszt Preludes so pas passlOnatelythose passionatelythose passionately slOnately-those slOnately those sionately-those sionately - those romantic romanbc th ngs so sorIchly sorichly sorichly rIchly Interlaced tnterlaced with WJth rehglous religious rehglousmysticism religiousmysticism religiousmysticism mysticism A strange woman womanKaren womanKaren womanKaren Karen but merely more obviously |