Show 0 LS STORY 4 ae sy V tl 0 by JACQUES FUTRELLE by air M KT I 1 coper arfat 1108 bv the A 0 a e ed d 8 sun an I 1 aty A copyright 1 M by the echa xem LIMP ay 4 SYNOPSIS count dl rosini the italian ambas Is at dinner with diplomats in the nat onal capital when a messenger brings a note directing him to come to the embassy at once here a beautiful young woman asks that she be given a ticket to the embassy ball the tick et is made out in the name of miss Is abel a bel throne chief campbell of the s secret ecret service and mr grimm his head detective are warned that a plot of the latin races against the english speak ing races Is brewing in washington and find grimm goes to the state ball tor for information in a con erv atory his at Is called to miss isabel thorne wl 0 with her compan on soon d sap p pears e ars A revolver shot Is 13 heard and C campbell ampbell and grimm hasten down the hall to find that senor alvarez of tl e mexican legation has been shot CHAPTER IV continued what sort of a paper was ita in quiren mr air grimm none of your business came the curt answer who shot youa you none of our business A mana senor alvarez was silent A still silence with some new idea mr air grimm turned away suddenly and started out into the hall he ile met a maidservant maid servant at the door coming in her tare face was blanched and she stuttered through sheer excitement A lady sir a lady she began mr grimm calmly closed the door shutting in the wo tided man chief campbell and the others then he caught the maid sharply by the arm and shook some coherence into her disordered brain A lady she ran away sir the girl went on in blank surprise what lade la da demanded mr grimm coldly where here did she run froma why did she run runa the maid stared at him with mouth agape begin at the beginning I 1 was in that room farther down the hall sir the maid explained the door was open I 1 heard the shot and it frightened me so I 1 don t know 1 I was afraid to look out right away sir then an instant later a lady come running alborg the hall sir that way and she indicated the rear of the house then I 1 came to the door and looked out to see who it was and ahat hat was u be matter sir I 1 was standing there when a man a man cime ime along after the lady and banged the door in my face sir the door ha I 1 a spring lock and I 1 was so so fr and excited I 1 couldn coulden t open it right away sir and when I 1 d d I 1 cane can e here to tb see what was the mat ter she drew a deep breath and stopped that alla all demanded mr air grimm yes sir except except the lady ady had a pistol in her hand sir mr air grimm regarded her in silence cor for a i moment who was the ladya he a ked at last I 1 forget her name sir she was the lady who who fainted in the la you 11 room sir just a few minutes ago whatever emotion may have been aroused within mr grimm it certa aly nl found no expression in his face when he spoke again bis his voice was quite calm miss thorne perhaps 7 yes s r that s the name miss migs thorne I 1 w a as in the ladles ladies dr 4 s ng room when she was brought in si and I 1 remember some one call d her nane nan e mr air grimm took the girl still a qu v er with excitement and led her along the hall to where gray stood take this girl in charge gray he directed lock her up if necessary don t permit her to say one v w ord to anybody anybody you understand except the chief mr air gumm left them there he ile passed along the hall glancing in each loom toom as he went until he came to a short flight of stairs leading toward the kitchen he went on down silent ly the lights were burning but the place was still deserted all the ants who belonged there were evi dently for the moment transferred to other posts he passed on through the kitchen and out the back door into the street A little distance away leaning against a lamp post a man was stand ing he ile might have been waiting for a car mr air grimm approached him beg pardon he said d d ou on see a woman come out of the back door there yes just a moment or so ago re plied the stranger she got into an automobile at the corner I 1 imagine tl is is hers and he extended a hand kerchief a dainty perfumed tr of lace I 1 p eked it up dimmed abely after she passa mr air grimm took the handkerchief and examined it under the light for a time he was thought fil with low ered eyes which finally lapsed met those of the stranger with a mizing stare why asked mr air grimm slowly and d why did you slam the door in the girl girls a face 9 why did I 1 came the an question why did you slam the door in the gris face mr grimm repeated slowly the stranger stared in utter amaze ment an amazement so frank so un acted so genuine thai tha mr air grimm as satisfied D d you see a man come out of the doore mr grimm pursued no say young fellow I 1 guess you youve ve had a little too much to drink han en t you youa but by that time mr grimm was turning the corner CHAPTER V A visit to the count the bland serenity of mr campbell campbells s face was d stubbed by thin spidery lines of perplexity and the guileless blue eyes were vacant as he stared at the top of bis his desk mr glimm gillum was talking from the moment miss thorne turned the corner I 1 lost all trace ot of her he said either she had an au to mobile in waiting or else she was lucky enough to find one imin immediately mediately edia telY she came out she did not to the ambas ball last that mi mich ch is certain he paused reflect dively she is a guest of senorita inez rodriguez at the venezuelan ie le gatlon gation he added yes I 1 know his chief nodded I 1 dlan didn t attempt to see her there last night tor for two reasons mr grimm continued first s she he can have no possible knowledge of the tact fact that she is suspected unless per haps the man who slammed the door he paused anyway she will not attempt to leave washington I 1 am confident of that again it didn dian t seem wise to me to employ the orill nary crude police methods in the case that is go to the venezuelan lega tion and pick up a row for a long time campbell was sl st lent the perplexed lines still furrowed his benevolent forehead the president la Is very anxious that we get to facts in this reported latin alliance as soon as possible he said at last irrelevantly he mentioned the matter last night and he has been keeping in constant com munica tion with gault in lisbon who few ilow 1 ever has not been able to add ma serially teri ally to the nal d un der all the circumstances don t you think it would be best for me to re lieve aou ou of the investigation of this shooting affair so that you can con cen on this greater and more im things will senor alvarez die dieb asked mr grimm in turn his condition is serious although the wound is not necessarily fatal was the reply mr air grimm arose stretched his long legs and stood for a little while gazing out the window finally he turned to his chief what do we know here in the bu rea reau abot miss thorne this far the reports on her are of the usual perfunctory nature mr air campbell explained he ile drew a card from a pigeonhole of his desk and glanced at it she arrived la in wash ington two weeks and two das ago from new york off the lusitana a from liverpool she brought some sort of introduction to count dl di ros ini the italian ambassador and he ob talked for her a special invitation to the state ball which was held that night until tour four days ago she was a guest at the italian embassy but A V what sort of paper was it in qu red ivr mr grimm now as 3 ou on know is a duesi at the venezuelan legation sinco her ar rival here she has been prominently pushed forward into society she slip has gone eer where and been received everywhere in the diplomat c set we have no knowledge of her beyond this there w as a question in mr grimm s I 1 eyes as they met those cf the chief rhe same line of thought was running in both their mind born per haps of the association of ideas italy as one of the three great nations known to be in the latin compact prince benedetto dabruzzi of italy the secret envoy of three countries the sudden appearance of miss chorne at rt the italian embassy and in the ir n ind of the younger ma 6 there vas was moie than this a definite knowl edge of a message cunningly trans in eted to mr of the german embassy by miss thorne there in the can you imagine he asked slow ly can you imagine a verson who H would be of more value to the latin government in washington right at this stage of negotiations than a bril llant haut woman agent I 1 most certainly cannot was the chief s unhesitating response in that case I 1 don dont t think it would be wise to transfer the investigation on of the shooting affair to another man said mr grimm emphatically revert ing to his chiefs chief s question I 1 think wa on the contrary we should find out more about miss thorne precisely campbell agreed ask all the great capitals about hei madrid paris and rome particular ly then perhaps london and berlin and st petersburg mr campbell thoughtfully scribbled the names of the cities on a slip ot of paper do you intend to arrest miss thorne tor for the shooting 9 he quer led I 1 don t know replied mr grimm frankly I 1 don t know he repeated musingly if I 1 do arrest her imme I 1 may cut off if a clue which will lead to the other affair I 1 don t know he concluded use your own judgment and bear in mind that a man a man slammed the door in the maid s face I 1 shall not forget him mr grimm answered now I 1 im in going over to talk to count dl rosini tor for a while the young man went out thought fully tugging at his gloves the ital ian lan ambassador received him with an inquiring uplift of his dark brows I 1 came to make some ingul inquiries ries in regard to miss thorne miss isabel thorne mr grimm informed him frankly the count was surprised but it didn dian t appear in his face A As s I 1 understand it the oung young man pursued you are sponsor for her in washington the count evasively diplomatic born and bred in a school of caution Is she in every way worthy of your protect on considered the question from every standpoint it may be that I 1 am so regarded he admitted at t last may I 1 inquire if the sponsorship ia is official personal social or all threes mr grimm continued there was silence for a long time I 1 don t see the trend of your ques dioning said the ambassador finally miss thorne is worthy of my crotee tion in every way lets let s suppose a case suggested mr grimm blandly suppose miss thorne had had let us say shot a man and he was about to die would you feel justified in withdrawing that that protection as you call ita such a thing Is preposterous ex claimed the ambassador the utter absurdity of such a charge would IM pel me to offer her e every ary assistance mr grimm nodded and if it were proved to your sat is faction that she did shoot hima he went on evenly 4 the count counts s lips were drawn er in a straight line I 1 whom may I 1 ask he inquired frigidly are we supposing that miss thorne shot no one particularly mr grimm assured him easily just suppose that she had shot anybody me say or senor Alyarez 9 I 1 cant can t answer a question so ridic ulous as that and suppose we go a little fur ther mr grimm insisted pleasantly and assume that you knew she had shot hot some one say send alvarez and you could protect hr from the consequences would you youa I 1 ne to suppose li 4 athing so utterly absurd was as the iel binder mr air grimm sat with his hn elbows on his knees idly twisting a oeal mal ring on his I 1 atle finger the sean seart hing eyes of the ambassador found his face blankly inscrutable diplomatic represent representatives tivee in washington have certain obligations to this government the f oung man reminded him we that s the gov eminent of the united states stae under take to guarantee the pers nal inal safety of every accrued ted reprise in re return t ur n tor for that protection A ae e must in upon tl e name and identity of a cangero is person who may be known to any foreign represent representative alive un der stand please I 1 in not asserting that miss thorne is a dan dangerous Larous per son you are sponsor for her here Is s she in every way of your protection 9 yes said the ambassador flatly I 1 can take it then that the introduction she brought to you is from a person whose position is high enough to 0 insure miss thorne s position 9 that Is correct ery well and mr grimm went away TO BE CONTINUED |