Show e 0 G ERALD BROWN 7 anu FEATURES duke Alc mccale Cale private detective li Is engaged by wealthy old alliss bigelow Ule elow to guard her nieces wedding presents 51 mccale RUeS lIell there Is so methIn g sinister in the situation and so BO accepts if he meets hirs sybil bigelow Ill gelow the brid balilea br lilea 0 mother victoria and stephen bigelow ni gelow the brides brother and titter slater and bin stephen bigelow Ille clow a beautiful hondo blonde woman later he becomes acquainted quain ted with christopher storm stor m a noted architect who Is too inquisitive to salt Alc mccale Cale then lie meets veronica tho the bride to be en an attractive it and nd intelligent girt all anil id tho bridegroom tobe to t ob be tha the extremely handsome curt vallain Vall aln court big and masterful lie ile gives given veronica a strange glance fiance IR IV when curt began to take lake his leave he doled himself out stephen he treated like a brother storm ns as an affectionate friend it was the women who bit at his hee heels Is most avidly miss adelaide glowed turned coy sybil shook herself out of the sulks simpered simp ered victoria looked at him hotly and karens eyes kindled with tri an icy fire veronica waited tolerantly as it if the she could well afford to do so ile he crossed to her finally in his negligently graceful stride ile ho took her hands la in his big ones and loaning leaning over whispered in her ear car she laid her bronze head against the of his chest for a moment everyone must have heard her say eay but its ita oil all right now darling all right im so glad 1 I was devastated victorias eyes were half closed mere pencil strokes in her beardsley face and karens only movement was the tapping of a carmine finger fingernail nall on the arrn of her chair curt kissed his fla fiancee acce and then mccale knew there was no acting in that kiss this was no embrace in the thundering a animal almal way of a tarzan this was not the selling power behind perfect merchandise in eplite spi teof of the stories in spite of tho the mans reputation ho he was really in lovo love with Veronf ca bigelow gelow Dl it was in his eyes it was unmistakable how could anyone in that room not know it then the party broke up it was after that that victoria laughed derisively ri and in passing christopher said itald slyly you big big to give them the nest dont toll me you wanted to christopher smiled in a depressed manner got up and took her arm aithea As Ai they headed for the door heard him say calm your vicky my girl to the vic ator aar belongs tle tha spoils 0 I 1 rats she answered youre a congenital idiot J adelaide bigelow had been snuffing aing out bandies here and there she twitched switched off of a table lamp and came jover over to mccale who stood in the relight a dark figure sorting his i impressions tho the old I 1 and trappings seemed to flicker and dis als solve in the half light the ore t pulsed in the grate you wont need me tonight he tasked asked as if it were finished no I 1 think not she faltered will you telephone tele me in the morn ing of course cu A 1 I shall need you she said paid with emphasis she looked older and more haggard in thi the gloom he nodded as she sha followed him jato to the door 1 I think 1 I should have on ono ot of my op operators orators on duty here to tonight night oh nc ha lt wont be at all feces sary the wedding gifts there was an oh so fco subtle tinge of sarcasm in his tone I 1 she smiled uncomfortably be all right i i very well t ile he was outside in tho the corridor H mr mccale aps Y 1 Y you ou saw the bridegroom what do you ou think L ile he hesitated very handsome 4 ia lie he knew that gasn wasn t the answer i the wanted Is that all character I 1 say I 1 simply recognize him as a type 11 one over which im not enthus enthusiastic las 1 I watched yuu this afternoon you are arc so calm dont you ever got get excited i ile he chuckled 1 I havea have a very even temperament she looked disappointed but he would make no further comment j good night good night dinner date at the white abbey As he walked crosstown cross town he felt strangely angely tr disembodied like somei one coming from the theaters thea tera theater where one had seen a queers queer ily ely disturbing drama i S on impulse he entered the arst fj drugstore that he saw ile ho dialed the bigelow number waiting imea flient ly until he heard miss ade baldes caides voice i f if 1 on second thought he sold said ive decided that it Is necessary to have my assistant in your house 0 A mr bjorkland ile he will f e ito ou at good night again ain f i ite he hung up before she could or demur then he called 1 1 l his bis own number nu rocky answered alello I 1 want you to end the night lilg bt at athe the Bige lows 11 okay boss cooking something yes but nothing that I 1 can got get my teeth into I 1 know theres something wrong though do you wont want me to watch out for anything in particular NO O O just keep your eyes and cars open I 1 wont even give you my reactions to tile the bigelow clan I 1 want on an unbiased opinion from you in the morning youre sup posed to bo be guarding those precious wedding gilts gifts miss bigelow w will 11 be expecting you at eight ocl oc ask for or her better run aloi along 9 now and got get yourself some gru grub put ann on the line will you the power behind the throne quipped rocky took her royal departure at the stroke of six just like that yeah she had a wicked gleam in her eye when she sealed the note she left for or you ill lay odds that ashes up to some deviltry no doubt well ill bo be seeing you in the morning dont let any of em cm rattle you do be seeing you night now the desk light was on in the outer office in the small round pool of light it threw lay a note from ann r lights went down suddenly arid and a girl stepped into the yellow oval of A spot marriot reminding him that he was taking her to dinner she had underlined der lined the final word dress lie he knew what that forecast it meant the white abbey the seasons socially renowned saloon ile he grunted turned oil oft the desk light and went through the quiet inner office to his bedroom and bath at the back lie ile shaved and showered dressing automatically his mind busy in a in treadmill of its own ile he went over the events of the tha afternoon trying to docket his impressions pres press lons in some way to relate them to the dark daik omen ho he had carried away from there ile ho wished rocky were with him now nov to talk it over q 1 ile he called a cab and rode cross town deep in the groove of hla his mood they drove up to a row of old brownstone browns tono houses which looked deserted their flat unlighted fronts a deceptive septa sepia blank lone ione of them had an nysted white door mecole mccole made for it arin ann sizes vp up tho the sit situation after a wait of less than five utes ann came from behind a door marked powder room 11 she was slender and smart mart in a green draped affair that ended in a lot of gray joam the gown had no straps that he could see and it seemed s she lie might bo be rising out of it to be ba with alth him minus the surf she was riding at any moment they climbed one of the staircases arid and were bowed into the din dan ner room by another interior decorator there was wad a lot of diffused light in here which made it rather better although uie the white prevailed they sat ant on one ot of a num ber of semicircular semi circular velvet divans which formed n series of alcoves around the room they lingered over the exorbitantly priced dinner mccale preoccupied bored by the place all right ann said finally its not so hot but I 1 had to see sec it what do you really think of it its fascinatingly dull however what it will be like when you marry me your week will be all mapped out tor for you ill want to dress up one night and go out to the place of the moment a re regular au night for or the movies then well have to take in all the good plays ma maybe y be go dancing and 1 l which leaves one night a week tor for me to sif by the ire are at your feet while you discuss the intricacies of your latest case yen yea I 1 know youre full of the blasted Dige Bige lows now tell me nil all 1 I hope only your way of 0 telling me that youre burning up with curiosity and so lam I 1 am he ie lighted a cigarette etta ad nd start ed cd to recount carefully the affair bigelow as far as it went when he finally paused she said bald no more no more so far as I 1 can see from where were sitting then there any mystery unless its your irish hunch have I 1 ever been wrong 11 oh you must have been once or twice but I 1 swear there la Is something going on there some deep trouble I 1 tell you the whole family has the jumps Ih eyre shaky nervy out of sorts it sticks out like a sore thumb ann selected a salted nuland bit into it with her strong white teeth she said an amused look in her eyes what sticks out Is that the whole family Is crazy about the gorgeous curt and lie he takes the one with the money ile he must be quite a boy 1 I assure you he Is cant you just see them oil au from my description the old lady at wits end sybil drowning something or other in sherry karen cold and lax taking it out on the piano veronica dazzled victoria cruel and fighting back stephen lost and floundering why ot of course darling I 1 s see ee them till all but what do you think 1 I think youre smitten with this karen wench mccanic roared good lord are arc you jealous of me now see here if course im jealous you wretch she waggled a finger at him then pointed and here it if im not mistaken comes another member of our cast lights went down suddenly and a girl stepped into the yellow oval of a spot she was dressed in some borne silver business so cunningly draped that it turned her into a shimmering pillar she had a wide raspberry mouth and dark daik brown hair with strange lights in it the saxo phones walled and subsided to a moan the drums were a tom tom accompaniment she stood perfect ly ay still a cigarette hanging from the corner of her mouth while sho she sang her voice was a husky con gralto and she wrenched the lyrics from the commonplace into the realm of the boudoir it was topnotch old school singing bowl exclaimed mccale showmanship what were you saying my pet when love walked in that was short shari lonnall mccale raised an eyebrow the girl had walked out onto the floor again to take a bow she accepted the acclaim in id the sa oa sultry way she had sung 1 I ho hope you wont go into a jealous rage it if I 1 say I 1 think ashes got something there said mccale sly ly not atall at all ashes got something with her too it if look where ashes headed mccale turned and saw the top of a curly black head the set act of unmistakable shoulders he whis pere under dunder his breath curt Vallain court he murmured ann sighed so the boy himself I 1 can certainly see why the girls drop their handkerchiefs whenever he goes by ill admit hes handsome handsome darling is not the word for or it ann im ashamed of you I 1 did not dream that girls you listen to me instead almost any man with a lot of I 1 money is on the hunt tor for the best deal he can buy the matter with a woman chos got a fe few million lying around loose buying herself a gorgeous piece of freight reagh like li that he W was as shocked even though he knew she was enjoying his reactions curt goes to take te highest bidder just it was his rejoinder its just the fact act that its merchandise that makes it so so cheap well its perfect merchandise and any woman women are supposed to have morals phooey chooey Pho oey darling what a million dollars or a real mink will do to a gats gals morals just funny shed stuck her chin out with that last observation and mccale resist the temptation to take taka advantage of it ill get you a platinum fox he sold said with a perfectly serious expression do tid nothing thing of the kind she flared up then suddenly dissolved into convulsive laughter it was true however that curt Vallain court that highly salable male was going to the highest bidder on saturday next mccale thought of the clairvoyance that had made him sure only that afternoon that the man was truly inlove in love with ve veronica ronica bigelow gelow Bl lt it hardly seemed credible now that he saw him here herd in a tete acte a tete with shari lynn but there they were a table or 01 two away deep in conversation TO DE BE CONTINUED |