Show BLACK by CLIFFORD Weld Hollywood artist is disby dis dis- dis by y her ber Aunt Kitty who bo died dice overdose of morphine Hunt Hun id d 4 Barry Madison detectives flan Mexico to solve what hat ve ve ye to be Kitty Kilty Chatfield's mur mur- arriving they find that Elsa Esa's preceded them by plane Dura Durta Durta Dur Dur- ta a at the ranch of Sam Chats Chat's Chat Chat- il J s 's father James Chesebro I Is Later while on a fishing trip n Chatfield Is playing the when his swivel chair breaks I out the martin marlin rushes him film sword through his body ves a detailed lIed account of the thel thet t l i tea sea to Lombardo Mexican lIce I tt 1 c CHAPTER xv V sorry Senor Lombardo In English We are arec aree he c e reason that we searched I or r George Rumble ont be hard to find IS I 15 S He probably mo moved ed to teL oteL moment no one said anyn any any- n Rogers turned to LomI Lom- Lom I will win interfere somewhat this evening senor haps laps we can go ahead with who is-who who are here Im I'm ready tj first to put on the hat hatto to the room where Chese Chese- V. V was was as a stir among us and trod red to to take up where we weft ft the the night Pedro fled i's is the quirt inquired I said picking it up from r where where here it still lay beside at it I gave it to Rogers need Rumbles Rumble's black blackI I said but its it's not t another do just as well tReed Reed Barton Barton- He and I II Io i I o 0 the rack near the door several hats there none wever as Rumbles Rumble's huge hugeL L f. We settled d upon one of ot fhe ilie head size was small I perched on top of Rogers' Rogers rge head as he began a stride down the dim dima a ay ay to the door of the room Iro ro from his station and the at vantage points looked ers Js J's rs opened the door and 1 fed d d within the room A AI later after ter he emerged to learn learnt learnt I t t which Pedro was quick nee flee r rl r he Is not the one he teeth eth chattering next Inquired Rogers the the hat and guirt quirt toward r Try rry y you play the role rolee B le e hat gingerly and set it head although it was a ar kir or r m me than it had been for the quirt firmly ta slight sensation of cold wn my backbone I began long ong the passageway i exclaimed Lombardo r sank at the sound of the te not ot the man sir said voice olce that was little more sper sper spero sure insure audible sigh I removed handed it together with I o Dwight Nichols next ext Dwight old mantly man mantly itly although my voice rained ined and unnatural in rs is TS He took them hesi- hesi before he could put on argaret appeared at the passageway She halted Sight of us r sr are you doing she sheli sheh J li- li Her voice betrayed and she moved our direct direction on Its rn irn is it ar Dwight replied sog sog song so so- ng g on the hat hal hate hale e hush descended upon I lr t was vas as the same suppressed f s Dwight moved slowly irately past the place ro o o crouched in his conand con con- rid and on down toward the drew near the door his retched out to touch the thee r i e was a sudden move- move dros dro's place of conceal- conceal r I bardo was alert to it in in- made as if it to leap upon ien en said sharply in Span- Span r is it Pedro t of the jefe's jete's voice star- star it t. t He turned about at and stood In hi an attitude altitude C It said said Pedro hesitantly It Pedro demanded sharply 5 r t- t man sir lithe lie man you saw Pell Pes Pe- Pe iman ll s fingers dug convulsive- convulsive flesh flesh of ot my arm she breath sharply n he is the one said i d us as we entered the theNo theft ft No one had spoken in 11 way aY after nIter Pedro made W n. n happened Elsa de- de me e. e 1 que jue que m man m has accused nUng Chesebro I saidi said i light flashed In lIght Elsas Elsa's yes She appeared not stood el-stood me I repeated ted nt it t. Dwight removed the l and dropped it into u a lid chair the quirt he tossed upon th the e table The man Is simply mistaken Senor Senor Senor Se- Se nor Lombardo Dwight said his voice remaining calm despite the strain he obviously was under Ican I III Ican can understand how how I might bethought b be bethought thought to be the man youre you're seek seek- ing It was like this The night Chesebro was murdered we were all here In this room We had been talking over the death of ot Mr Chatfield's sister in California Professor Professor Pro Pro- Professor fessor Rogers had been cond conducting a n sort of investigation Into it Lombardos Lombardo's eyebrows lifted eloquently elo eto- eloquently and he glanced at Rogers then at Doctor Cruz who were intent intent in in- tent upon what Dwight was wa saying When the gathering broke up togo to togo togo go outside and look on at the thc dances which were the evenings evening's entertainment entertainment entertain entertain- ment I was Im I'm sure the last to leave this room The quirt there he he indicated the whip on the ta table ta- ta ble interested ble interested me I stopped to examine the carved knob Someone entered the room at the far end there He nodded in that direction It was a man somebody man-somebody somebody dressed in n white like this man A servant I thought I paid no attention to him I put the whip down and went out into the hall thinking to go out by the front door The rack there therewith therewith therewith with Its man many hats attracted me Dwight paused In his recital he licked his dry lips and tugged athis at athis atlis his lis collar conar which seemed tight about his ils neck He went on Its curious the little mental quirks we get Ever since I first first saw Rumble wearing that black felt sombrero Ive I've had a curiosity to put the he hat on A woman could understand understand understand under under- stand that Impulse I suppose And or orr rA n r 11 M ji l l lI I t i 1 i 1 Rogers' Rogers hand suddenly was flung out ut to stop me so o I lifted the thing of off the rack and tried It on on- onIt It was much lighter than I thought for tor I took It of off after a moment and put it back on the rack Now then he summed up I saw aw somebody who could easily have been this man Pedro while I was ing the quirt in the living room oom f r Whether or not he followed me to to the living room door where he le could have seen me trying on Rumbles Rumble's hat I dont don't know I believe believe believe be be- lieve that he did So So it Is easy to see ee how the man could have been misled He is mistaken in his iden iden- Pedro you OU have made a mistake mis- mis take ake Lombardo said in Spanish turning belligerently upon the un unhappy unhappy un unhappy happy pulque seller No sir he is the man man- man man man- We go now said Lombardo My humble apologies senoras and senores enores senores Later on that evening Rogers and andI I stood on the Street of the High Waves near the Belmar Hotel Reed Barton had stayed behind at the rancho ancho to talk with Elsa The others others others oth oth- ers had come dawn town Margaret and Dwight went out to the yacht saying that the launch would be beat beat beat at the wharf for us whenever we wanted it Lets look about a bit Rogers said aid II It Rumble Is In town toD hell he'll be loafing on the streets or In the bars It t shouldn't be hard to find him in We went once more into the hotel bote I and not finding him came out again We walked to the plaza and around it The evening throng was beginning to thin out Nowhere was there any sight of the huge black sombrero or the gaudy clothes he wore He Hc can cnn be around Hunt I said and still elude us is a sized fair little city there must be many places of ot conceal conceal- Why should he be In hiding Rogers demanded I dont don't moan that he intentionally is avoiding us Yes I know how you meant It But he should be hunting us Barry instead That was a broad brond insinuation insinuation tion lion he be made that made that he knew something some some- thing of interest to me in the death death of Kitty Chatfield If U he meant it this ibis Is the time for him to talk so why isn't he trying to find us to tell what he knows I had no answer for that Indeed the more we talked the more hopelessly hopelessly hopelessly hope hope- lessly i involved we seemed to be come Perhaps while we slept our subconscious monitors could sort over the many conflicting factors I much to Rogers Sleep not only knits up the rave sleeve of 01 care but also straightens straight straight- ens out many things Its It's a fact he commented Suppose we see if il the launch still waits for tor us d down wn at the wharf We set out to walk the comparatively short distance down the narrow narrow nar nar- row twisting streets Rogers Roger's hand suddenly was flung out to stop me mc Two figures were idling under a street light a short distance distance distance dis dis- dis- dis tance from the end of the wharf the rays of the light shone down upon a battered guitar which brown fingers fingers fingers fin fin- gers were idly strumming Our two mariachis I said They observed our approach and called out to us Buenas noches senores Rogers returned their greeting It was not until then that I realized what had drawn his attention so forcibly to them We walked up to them and halted R Rogers gers pointed to the sombrero which Felipe the larger of the two was wearing Que es esto he asked Es un sin era ero senor was the reply Yes I know Rogers continued In Spanish but whose hat Is It It Is the hat of the gentleman who wears the fine clothes senor was the astonishing reply what I thought said Rog Rog- ers eis ers How do you happen to be wearing It tonight I found it it senor Found it vOh Oh yes senor Come I will show you the very spot where I find it this morning Wonderingly we fell In behind the two boys who plunged into a dark passageway which as we walked I discovered was leading us to the waters water's edge underneath the wharf I We were stumbling along in the I gloom when Rogers took out a tiny pocket flashlight to guide our feet What is that asked Pancho the smaller when the light cast its feeble rays into the darkness A flashlight Pancho replied Rogers I have never seen one so small senor the boy replied A few steps farther on and we came out upon the damp sand Here re Felipe asserted was the spot where he had found the black sombrero sombrero- the very spot right on the sand beside beside beside be be- side this very piling Was it in the water Felipe inquired inquired inquired in in- Rogers No sir on the sand The tide Ude was out Had it been in the water Was it wet Yes sir I think it had floated on the water and been left by the tide on the sand H H m m mi Rogers' Rogers voice was tense I should like to have the sombrero Felipe to take with me Yes sir The boy took it off and gave it to Rogers Ill give you something He fumbled in his pocket I want nothing sir It Is not my hat hat- It Is the hat of your friend who wears the fine clothes I could not find him today to give it back to him We walked back up to the end of ot the wharf where we parted with the pair Rogers still fumbled in his pocket Suddenly he held out the little flashlight Let me give you this he said for taking care of the hat With an exchange of at buenas noches noches noches no no- ches we separated the boys lighting their way up the street with the aid of the newly acquired flashlight and we walking out upon the deserted deserted de de- de wharf to the landing where the launch was w waiting for us We went silently down to the launch Arturo loafing in the scats seats sprang up to help us Are we the last ones to go aboard tonight Arturo Rogers Inquired with an effort at cheerfulness Yes sir all are aboard now except except except ex ex- ex- ex you two gentlemen Mr DIr Nichols Nichols Nichols Nich Nich- say wait for you and I wait After some moments he stirred the engine into life and nd then cast off We moved slowly at first close alongside the wharf pulling away only a little from the darker shad shad- As we left the wharfs wharf's black edge and emerged Into the area illumined somewhat by the lights on the wharf above us the launch struck something In the water and careened slightly What was that Rogers de de- de- de It are perhaps a log sir replied replied replied re re- re- re plied Arturo nonchalantly I hope it is not an alligator the same being plent plentiful ul not far from here It didn't feel like a log to me Rogers ret retorted peering over the side into the gloom gloom- Something in his manner filled me with sion slon He held up a shadowy hand to the pilot Stop Arturo I want to see what that was The launch began to lose headway headway head head- way and soon we drifted Well have to back up a few tew feet teet The screw reversed and we began to move slowly backward backward t TO BE CONTINUED |