Show all 44 over su but t the al I 1 0 0 o r 4 richard powell Shoot shooting 1 inq y AN ah INNER SANCTUM my MYSTERY sr F r y ARAB AND ANDY BLAU THE STORY THUS vart lt and andy blake assigned to operations was wai agree ably surprised by the arrival of tag wife arab who announced the 1118 had bad taken a job in washington with ordnance to aid in the war effort they aielt the orlice to look for or a room tor for arab arab told andy that thought thoughtless lesi people talked too much about their war work and plans while anthe on the bus she be decided to walk around and take down in shorthand the various war conversations she ibe overheat overheard d while in the act the iho was wa spotted potted and the word SPY sly first a whisper de into an angry cry andy pulled the top stop cord in order that they could both jump or off aral arab started running with andy fast fait alter after her CHAPTER 11 there was only one word needed A small hissing word my eardrums ached as I 1 waited tor for it then it came spy it broke the ice jam in my blood my legs and arms came alive tingling I 1 started wrestling forward through the crowd white faces turned eyes stared blankly they want to let anybody through they were already jamming toward the front of the bus moving forward under the sting of ct one word it had started in the back of the bus and was working forward like slow poison spy spy they let me move grudgingly it for me that they moved aside though they moved a little for the gleam of shoulder bars and buttons and the wide winged eagle on my cap I 1 got to the exit at the middle of the bus that was the limit beyond that point the jam was solid I 1 yelled at the nearest people end and they even turn they shoved coved back blindly not looking around when I 1 tried to drive through I 1 grabbed the handrail on each tide side of the exit and hoisted myself up I 1 raught caught a flash of arabs pale face she was jammed against the front entrance the people right around her know yet wh wb t was happening happ qIng they had turned to tn push back resentfully at the mob but arab knew she was clawing at the tight folds of the door spy spy spy SPY the word was striking at her like a snake I 1 yelled at people to stop it but not a back turned it would take a half dozen cops to halt them now I 1 put all my lung power into a yell arabi arab when the door opens then I 1 grabbed the stop signal cord and hung on it ordinarily the driver would have waited until the next loading station and that might have been too late tor for arab but he must have known something was wrong without quite knowing what As I 1 hung on the cord praying the bus suddenly swung to the curb and halted I 1 jumped on the step which automatically mati mat cally leally opens the center doors they flapped back L leaped out skidded once and swung toward the front entrance the front doors folded back and arab slipped out while I 1 was still three strides away I 1 yelled she jumped to the sidewalk and I 1 faked a dive at her and clipped the first two men who spilled out after her my nose left a rut in the street but it seemed worth while it gave arab a few seconds start into the blackness of a private drive driveway 1 way I 1 scrambled to my feet and followed fifty yards up the curving drive of the big estate I 1 saw a n white blur when arab runs she flap her feet the way most girls do like a hen trying out clipped bings I 1 pounded up the drive well in advance of the others but was I 1 really ahead of the rest once or twice the white blur of arabs rain oat seemed to be blacked out by mother figure arab flashed past t lighted ground floor window of the dig house and a moment later I 1 thought I 1 saw a shadow flick across the same light A shadow as squat as a tub it was nonsense of course my imagination was pulling things out of hats tubs cant move that last fast then in a split second my toot foot hit something and a fuse blew in my head and I 1 plunged down into ringing blackness I 1 opened my eyes and peered up at a lighted room A circle of faces hung above me like a halloween group bobbing for apples how do you feel lieutenant somebody tome body asked swell I 1 said la Is were there an undertaker der taker in the house oh andy a familiar voice sob beU 1 I thought you were dead what made you change your mind I 1 said peevishly what I 1 broke oft off suddenly ard stared around at the circle here was arab with a half dozen of the people who had bad been ready to get rough with her fier no not long ago what happened to the girl 11 1 I asked the girl in the tha white raincoat and the black felt hat bat arab asked in a clear voice she got away ak we called the police somebody added get her if they do get her I 1 growled ill be happy to testify for the prosecution ec what happened to me A man said you tripped over something lieutenant tenant your head hit the stump of a treed tree we found you crumpled right up tip against the stump and carried you into the house bouse here 11 an ain an ambulance Is coming from walter reed arab mulled sin filled colonel parker came in first shook my hand and said glad you came through all right blake got to ask you some questions these gentlemen he sketched nn an introduction need information know you need rest but this cant wait F feel eel up to it 4 yes sir I 1 said faintly it appeared P that I 1 was entertaining the federal bureau of investigation counter intelligence tho the military district of washington the provost marshal generals office and other serious minded organizations yes sir I 1 said but first I 1 ought to tell you save your strength blake let them ask the questions first another colonel grumbled cant make head or tail of the stories of the people on the bus one says she was short another has her nearly six feet tall she has red brunette and platinum blonde hair is knock kneed has beautiful ae legs you see what were up against t sir I 1 groaned its a long story she lets have a description sir I 1 wish lot let me m go at this my own way she blakel blake 1 I 1 babbled aishe she has ha s blonde hair shoulder should erlen er len length ath height five feet seven and one half with high heels t I 1 saw a white blur weight one ten blue eyes nicely cut cameo features age twenty three somebody whistled softly are you sure of all this a civilian asked yes sir i somebody else said nope too good to be true they dont come like that the last female spy I 1 sa saw w had hair like a broomstick and must have topped one sixty athletic girl went in for weight lifting colonel parker said nervously Bla keyou you dont happen to know this girls name do you J 1 sandwiched a gulp betge between en a yes sir what Is it I 1 closed my eyes and said mrs arabella reynolds blake there was silence tor for a few moments it was so quiet you could have heard a lieutenant drop if I 1 been lying down already tell it your own way my chief muttered my own way would have been by long distance telephone but I 1 went ahead anyway after I 1 finished one officer said well cross that one oil the books as a wasted evening after he left I 1 decided that things so bad they really put a black mark on my file in the adjutant generals office for the nights work and arab ought to be grateful after all I 1 had helped her out of a nasty spot in the bus arab phoned that she would bring the car out for me whenever I 1 was ready to leave and I 1 said cald not to worry because the army nurses were very lovely after that arab called every hour and the hospital authorities got tired of it and dec decided I 1 d in the late afternoon that I 1 could be returned to duty arab got out to the hospital without ou t delay and I 1 coaxed the ae prettiest nurse to escort me to the door and even let me lean weakly on her this had the proper sobering effect on arab for at least five minutes then as we drove away she started fighting the war var her way again youre just bitter I 1 said because nobody consulted you before starting the war why andy do you really think im going to keep quiet after the way those people were balki talking ng last night on the bus im going to do something about it whenever I 1 get gel a chance last night in the hospital a full colonel said you ought to be spanked she murmured 1 I do love you terribly andy and im ever so grateful to you for last night and ill be quiet from now on an and not got get us into any more trouble 1 I hope so ive already been quiet since last night and a whole twenty tour four hours what have you been doing finding a room swell lets hear about it its out on northwest Q street to in a big old house with lots of 0 space around it about sixteen girls live in it and its owned by a bee youthful ful refugee frenchwoman and some of the girls are the cutest things and I 1 just know they all going to make passes at you and whoa I 1 said youre peddling this too hard now tell me what it Is im not going to like about the tha place well its really a very little thing til ill bet so are arc thirty caliber bullets its just that mrs fielding she sha married an american wont ren rent t rooms to married women that is IB not married women who are working at it sho she said that the first thing she says married women who really lovo love their husbands are always either moping around and depressing her or else rushing off in a few months to wherever their husbands are and there she is with with the me trouble of finding the right girl for the room again so because im signed up with civil service under ray my maiden name of arabella reynolds she sort of got the idea that im not married and let me have the cie room that like you butch you know well be finding an apartment and leaving her flat we had dinner downtown and arab mentioned that she recovered her white raincoat and hat after dropping them last night wo drove to the scene of the chase and I 1 spent half an hour poking through throng h the shrubbery with a flashlight it was no use either arab had forgotten where she dropped the articles or somebody had walked oil off with them I 1 switched on the overhead light and drove on slowly and listened to arab deciphering her shorthand she had filled halt a dozen pages page s some of the quotes started out as it if I 1 they might be important but then turned into meaningless chatter about how hav the supervisor said this and edith snapped right back at her there were perhaps four remarks of the loose talk type but they dangerous to anybody except a few thousand guys who were off fi fighting ming germans and japs or getting ready to there a remark which might have made arab dangerous to somebody on the bus did you find anything in that she asked closing the notebook you missed it I 1 complained it mus must have been said while you were listening and you missed it we cant do anything about it can we andy let me think a minute I 1 said an idea was fluttering in my head it would brush the edge of my thoughts like a moth and then vanish I 1 know what the idea was but I 1 knew I 1 needed it badly were here I 1 arab announced suddenly and I 1 pulled over to the curb and got my first look at the house on Q street li ii was in a rather desolate section quite a distance beyond georgetown only two other houses were in the section arabs place was planted on several acres of unkempt grounds it had peon been built maybe mayba thirty years ago by someone who had hoped it would loba like an embassy it was a three story man sard roof type with a tiny porte cocheres and a couple of pillars the pillars were oversize for the house they stuck out like buck teeth what a comedown I 1 said hamm this thid house it starts off air thirty years ago in the society columns and ends up in the rooms for rent section you said you saw BOW it advertised today you oh yes in the washington post the idea fluttered back into my head and settled down I 1 asked in a carefully restrained tone the number of this place fifty seven ninety seven Q street northwest I 1 got out a cigarette and struck a match my hand trembled to BO that the match went out I 1 tried to strike another and merely crumpled it youre awfully nervous arab said 1 I read the post this morning too did you but that got to do with 1 I had plenty of time X said 1 I read the rooms for rent section n there any ad for this house II 11 1 I I 1 must have read it in an other pa paper per I 1 grabbed her shoulders and shook hook her and shouted you read it in your notebooks that thug mug on the bus dropped a remark that brought you to this house 1 and you skipped it when you read me your notes you utter damned fool ore are you trying to get yourself killed TO DE BE CONTINUED |