Show a ia aby FREDERIC R F VAN OE DE 0 vaa WAI if SYNOPSIS cavid mallory in searched sear chot chef newspaper 2 in ne new yo york k la is forced to accept a wl as witch Itch board bard operator in a swank 00 managed by officious ment house parl ll iggins there david meets meet agatha paget a crippled old lady ideas the charming niece allegra Al leRra one and nd talking with higgins III gln in the lobby day I 1 td is alarmed by a piercing scream md fid bonds the scream camo came from the raier apartment not tar far from rom the ferriter 1 er the er include lyon and paget erell IS aa thear r sister basterl lone ine everett 13 averell sv genealogist gena logIst is 1 h elbing agatha paget book about her blue b loaded blooded an ors inside the the a apartment ar ament they find hiack black bearded man dead cad no weapon can A nbc be found the apol police lea larrive lir arrive rive CHAPTER ill continued 4 at rit completed shannon te piled it it had been wed have been en here an hour sooner ile ho was ailing police headquarters when he was killed lie ie plumped into hla his chair as though bough the weight of jumbled facts iad had pushed him over from three thirty on there was someone in the hall all the while q 1 I think so I 1 left biggins there w ahen it en I 1 brought miss paget upstairs Hoy loyt was there when I 1 went down again and neither of them saw anyone go 9 out he snarled me like the victim of if a practical joke and you no he jumped up and began to walk the he room his law jaw hard miss aga ta leaning forward in her chair watched ached him with the interest of a pec at play could anyone leave without pass ng g through the foyer shannon threw at me theres the fire escape I 1 sug ested or the dumb waiter thanks lie said savagely the ire escape been used in months I 1 happened to think of that tod and the dumb waiter rope broke this morning and that tub of lard hig glas fixed it yet yel yet some ody body stabbed that guy next door and got otaway away ilow how stabbed him with what I 1 asked ind and only made him angrier it if I 1 knew he squalled squal led id not be suf differing firing here A knife you goof A knife that was in this he darted to the desk and held a leather either sheath blackened by long wear up before me ever see that before he demanded and scarcely waiting for roy MY dental denial plunged on we found this under Black blackboards beards armpit empty wheres the knife gone with the murderer murder ertl the hands he ran so frantically through his reddish gray hair teemed seemed at last to control his mind he be asked me suddenly higgins had a key to that flat yes anyone else beside these ferri lers 1 I dont think so higgins says not he growled higgins goes in and messes up that phone receiver with his big paws until theres not a clears clear fingerprint on n it walt wait a minute his eyes sparkled where was 1119 gins when you took that call I 1 saw miss agatha shift a little in her chair start to speak and check herself I 1 said upstairs on the elevator doing what I 1 kept all feeling out of my voice he said he was fixing the water tank on the roof you can go shannon decided joke jake bring that big beef back here miss agatha said mildly as I 1 rose timothy was on the fourth floor im in certain captain sure he was he agreed 1 I wt lt want to see it anyone saw him bere ere I 1 he was pacing the floor again nd the old lady was smiling oddly u jake ake led me out I 1 felt miss alha would confide in shannon en 1 I was gone hoyt was on the elevator ile he baked ed at me hard but said nothing tile itile jake took me downstairs bigas was arguing with a half dozen n in the foyer and getting noe I 1 could tell they were re and the sight of them made it t horn homesick esick higgins looked worse alln lin I 1 felt when joke jake led him back I 1 the e car ills his face was graland gra gray yand and kt tyes yes made me think of a steer 14 a 1 slaughterhouse chute I 1 waited lytie the elevator shaft till hoyt came I 1 w again with him was a po anian en ian who shooed the reporters qa 2 the settees and out of the door billowed oll Ill owed eddie over to the switch board ard you dont think I 1 asked and tho olds sounded foolish that hig 1 irons I is tied up in this thing de 0 your age hoyt advised me then hen grinned the big boy looks dont he what made me wonder wok eddie muttered you hw w that smart t little trick on the fiur ve iri floor or mrs arnolds maid mrs airs arnolds out this after w and mrs hugging is away till aw akes I 1 and two and two kh ah hahl i said 4 right erht hoyt agreed Il liggins got an allba all bl au all right e but I 1 they kyll 11 have to tear it out of tha ts why he looks so sick ia bobbi I 1 told him an arbi is A half hour went by A couple ot of the me homicide men went away with their black satchels A few indig n nant ant tennants pennants ten nants worked through the blockade beyond the front door and hurried along the foyer talking to themselves eddie turned the car over to boone of tile the night shift and went home and fineman my relief had just come in when fliggins came downstairs again ile ho looked sick till he saw me inc and then he looked hearty once more hey ile ho called you conle coma here I 1 had been through a lot that aft ernson and I 1 suppose my mind had slowed dup up I 1 really thought he wanted to thank me tor for saying he had been on the roof so when ho he spoke I 1 stood and stared ills his voice sounded as it if he was afraid someone would overhear but he could have been no angrier if he had screamed you had your chance he told me you want it eh all right I 1 dont want you get your things and scram 00 walt wait a minute I 1 stalled it youre canning me it tor for after what ive been through up stairs he wheezed and his big fists were clenched youve got the guts to ask that slandered mo me and a poor innocent girl so ye did you ought to thank me im just kicking you out into the gutter where you belong instead of calling a cop ills his voice had got away from him A blond young manone man one of our tenants but I 1 know which paused an instant and stared at us before he went into the elevator re ha looked so sleek and handsome and 0 0 1 I want my book to keep them from going paget contented and so much else I 1 was not that the anger higgins had kindled blazed up in me I 1 even try to keep my voice down you two timing tomcat I 1 told him go ahead and kick me out and well see who lands in the gutter first now get this I 1 never knew where been this afternoon till I 1 came down here now that im wise is that leaves just one in the house who mrs hig gansl will you be still he asked in a hushed voice and I 1 knew from his eyes he was going to hit me go ahead I 1 invited theres plenty of reporters outside make a good story the tabloids will have pictures too one of you in wilsons Wil sons uniform maybe I 1 waited ho he stood still and at last opened his mouth I 1 never found out what he was going to say tor for fineman at the switchboard called illey hey mallory youre wanted up in three A right away dont bother to pack for me I 1 told fliggins ill do it myself when I 1 come down boone on the elevator kept glancing at me as he took me up maybe I 1 looked as sick as I 1 felt anger is worse than liquor on an empty stomach they had closed the door of the ferrater Ferr lter flat but there still was movement inside I 1 rang the paget bell the girl in uniform id seen in the hall hah while miss ferriter Ferr lter was screaming let me in im she led me down the hall and stood aside at an open door I 1 started to enter but astonishment stopped me I 1 could only stand on the threshold and stare without belief CHAPTER IV miss agatha paget laid a red ten on a black jack A tall glass stood beside the cards on her table A cigarette dangled from her lips through its smoke her eyes shone bright as the diamond pin at the throat of her black silk gown she should have been knitting instead of playing canfield the drink the cards and the tobacco seemed as out of place as a cuspidor in church she blew a cloud from her nose ground out the cigarette on a tray and nodded toward a chair cor corne in david she said sit down I 1 obeyed she held a card above the layout placed it and then looked square at me if that is an air of affronted pi aty she told roe me 1 I can get along without it when youre my ag oga c david take to the small vices remaining as compensation for others youve missed havo a drink she looked toward a cel larette in the tha corner I 1 shook my head iler her sharply angled eager face mado mad mo me wonder whether tile vitality dc nied her crippled legs had not flowed upward to invigorate the rest cl her she took a long pull nt at hel hc glass and wiped her lips on a lacy lac handkerchief grove she began it tells ells me ma youve been discharged I 1 know grove but I 1 said 1 I have im supposed suppo ged to have hava bared the amours of the basement casanova 11 she gave her husky chuckle it was I 1 who bared them only a remarkable man could be wrong Is as often as timothy she tinkled the ice in her glass sipped it again and then 1 looked straight at me what are you going to do when you sent tor for me I 1 said 1 I was just going to take a p poke oke at fliggins lo 10 the wrinkles about her eyes deepened you quote kenneth grahame you want to punch timothy what other recommendations have you I 1 did not understand she prompt ed youve been a reporter what else can you do I 1 could not see where all this led but I 1 answered im a fair blocking halfback and a good fencer I 1 also ride swim and know a couple of offard card tricks college eh I 1 wondered it if this was her idea of amusing herself 1113 B A I 1 told her the diploma Is in omaha I 1 also had a pill phi beta key but I 1 now there are rules against hoarding gold you see I 1 can ransom my dress clothes though if you feel you need a butler in the trunk my former landlady Is keeping for me she insisted on it I 1 had begun to feel like a laboratory specimen under her regard it bothered me when miss paget asked would you care to work for mea me I 1 shook my head kind of you I 1 told her but 1 think not ive got relatives in ne brama it if I 1 want charity I 1 think that surprised her she ut lit another cigarette my boy she said through a smoke cloud im beginning to understand der stand why higgins like you it charity people I 1 help have to work tor for what they get Is that clear it but I 1 nodded she went on I 1 im working with mr ferriter Ferr lter on a genealogy of the paget family youve heard of the sorry I 1 said and hoped my denial would irk her instead she grinned and tor for an instant it 81 seemed time had worn her old face so thin that a valiant spirit shone through the mask you lucky said miss agatha to have been raised in nebraska if stop being suspicious ive something to tell to you she finished her drink iler her eyes were bright and mocking paget david just a family name its a rell religion glon a very exclusive comfortable religion the only reason there a paget on the mayflower is that the ship had no roy royal al suite there arent any D A R a or sons of the revolution among the you see cee the patriots were rather a mixed lot I 1 was raised in the tear fear ot at and im do doing I 1 ng a book about my forebears by way of reprisal I 1 need a man preferably one who never heard of the who can take what the heliotrope mr ferriter Ferr lter digs up and write it IL he cant or hes afraid to A genealogy Is just a catalogue I 1 told her you wont need a writer Wron gall the way she told me briskly just what I 1 do need theres never been a genealogy like this one im prying the highly polished veneer off etry im going to tell the story of a family that Is full of cowards and dels and hypocrites and cheats and StOg stag gards like your family like all families im going to give as much space to my ancestors frailties as ap to their virtues be a big book again she gave that robust chuckle I 1 asked deien defensively tor for I 1 felt her sweeping me along dare to publish it 1 I will she said and her teeth bit through an invisible thread one copy tor for each of the most of them are too far gone for the truth to reach them but I 1 want my iny children to know all about before much older they arent really my children though I 1 raised them my brother and sis ter in law died when grosvenor was thirteen and allegra ten grove Is working in a bond house for all hes worth which is bout about half of what he gets allegra Is too pretty to have brains yet she has them I 1 want my book to keep them from going paget every family should have a tactual factual account of its ancestors their weaknesses and foibles and misdemeanors and felonies the will be the first to get it I 1 don dont it want my youngsters to get thi family delusion that just being a paget laget is all that should be expected of anyone TO HE BE CONTINUED |