Show 0 G E LD BROWN features duke mcc mccabe itle private detective Is investigating vesti gating the murder of curt vati vallain aln court who was wag about to marry veronica bigelow heiress to thirty million dollars dollan cecale recale trades trade with police lieutenant donlevy and learns that veronica la is the one the police suspect the other members ot of the family all have alibis but none done Is above suspicion this includes inc 11 udes veronicas veronicaa Vero nicas mother sybil he her r sister and brother victoria and stephen and stephens wife karen snarl shari lynn former wife of 0 may also be involved mccale and his assistant rocky hunt in th the park for or the murder weapon they it have e reason to believe that the be gun will be found in the old cannon CHAPTER X in silence they climbed the rise bf at ground where the old world war cannon camion stood it was rocky who pushed his longer arm into its barrel groping grunting he withdrew it finally growling his dAs disappoint appoint ment no soap duke he said 1 I touched bottom nothing there but a handful of leaves mccale was puzzled leaves at the bottom of that shaft nonsense lets see he snapped the button of his flashlight in the round yellow circle of light t he examined the leaves rocky held in his hand an exclamation of surprise escaped his lips tho the handful of leaves tangled wet was obviously a womans comans red haired wig sharl shari lynn was noticeably done in she lolled on the divan in an almost unnatural attitude mccale thought for a fleeting moment that she had passed out or was dead oh she said its you the door was war alar he offered and knew that instant that she had bad been expecting a visitor she swung herself on off the divan abruptly at that and staggered to her feet she looked at him her eyes snaky and vicious vi clou get out of here before I 1 call the desk and have you thrown out ive got nothing more to say to you or your friend the lieutenant either he fished out a cigarette and said over the flame of af his lighter so you told them your little story she smiled like a contemptuous cat sure I 1 told it why would you rather have waited until morning to put the finger on veronica bigelow Bl gelow slid laughed a high pitched witcha laugh youre a rattrap rat trap maybe just thought id ask she pivoted slowly and dt here er e was uneasiness under her bravado listen mister just juit what Is it you want with me 1 I only want to ask you a question or two and give you some advice look here he said 1 I know it was you who ran away from the Vallain court murder you were the only woman who oho ran over the hill I 1 know because I 1 was at an upstairs window and if there had been two women I 1 would have seen them both you know abot a lot she said sullenly b but you ou cant prove it U 1 I im on my way to oh yeah well nuts to you my story Is instill still good besides the woman had red hair it if you OU saw her oud know that pa granted well then chenk well then he threw the red wig down on the coffee table between them she gasped you get that i shari gets a ning in the cannon where you hid it now get this straight any co cop p oil 01 judge or lawyer is 14 going to know after I 1 produce this wig that your story is phoney you should have taken more pains with it if you wanted your story to stick youre in a jam lady I 1 think youre going to be in amorse a worse one youre making a little gamble on your own somewhere i along the line and 1 T I think better tell me what i it ls her eyes narrowed tartar like tor for a brief Iii instant stant ill give you five minutes think it over ile he went over to the desk holding out his wrist as it if timing her by his watch it wai was five minutes of two while he waited his bis eyes roved cynically over the pictures of snarl lynns boy friends there was a sailor anda and a petty officer a jockey a tall unhappy looking marine on oil army lieutenant and mecole mccole suppressed a smile an acrobat in white tights there were several othi others irs proving that besides her catholic taste sharl shari was evidently attracted by anything ng in uniform there was no picture of curt Vall rAncourt mccale wondered at that at two oc lockhe he turned to her again she surprised him by beginning to talk almost immediately she had found the bigat wig at vallain Vall aln courts apartment days before ile he had some woman who came there to see him someone disguised as veronica she denied she was the woman she know the slightest idea who could have been checking up on him no whoever was watching evidently had to think that only veronica went there it was hardly rational be cause think the only person to whom it would matter would be veronica herself lately the woman come any more hence the wig which she had found Vallain court confide in you at all mccale asked no why should he ive played with the idea that you were once his wife A secret look behind the mascara told him he was right but she said nothing ile he got up reaching tor for his hat on a nearby chair at the door he turned his dark eyed face all sharp points and edges in the light youre in a bad spot he tried to 0 control the hardness in his voice 1 I id d lock the doot door if I 1 were you he saw fear burning bright it in h her eyes Is that the advice you were going to give me yes he said ile he became deadly serious somehow he hd had to get through to her he slipped a business card trim from his wallet and placed it on a nearby table it if youre frightened or just want 0 to o talk he said call me at the number on that card you really I 1 I 1 tot rocky pushed his bis arm into the e barrel groping should talk you know I 1 mean more than han you youve ve talked so tar for I 1 know youre holding back something important something that is dangerous to someone I 1 think youre planning to sell that information A little blackmail maybe but let me warn you you are dealing with a cold blooded murderer youre in danger miss lynn you know that she laughed loudly hysterically you tool she screamed you think you know a lot well what do you know just a lot of bunk I 1 told you you think you can scarp scare 1 me into admitting something J I ca can n take care of myself you trying to do get get out ills his last look showed her ashen and distraught she was stretched on the davenport hair dishevelled dishevel led mouth lax deep circles under th the e horrible eyes how shell be when ashes old mccale thought as he reached thi the pavement he walked slowly down tremont street gulping deep breaths of wet air victoria bigelow Bige v seeks her letters the buzzer sounded in the outer office mccale looked athia at his watch it was wag three in the morning he walked quickly to the door pressing the button that released the lock in the vestibule ile he opened the looked out into the hall I 1 and land wondered who could be calling at that hour sharp heel clicks told him it was a woman coming ull up theota stairs irs the headband head and shoulders then the of a girl in furs with a cowl concealing most of her face rose out of the i stairwell she saw him hurried forward with a short taugh and stepped in side hurriedly she pushed back the rowl cowl of her persian lamb coat and he saw the black hair and beardsley face of victoria bigelow Bl gelow she perched herself on tire the corner of the desk loosening her coat coal and swinging one leg 11 1 I could stand a drink you might be that hospitable silently he poured her a whisky and soda from the cabinet he still looked at her abr with hardly concealed hostility in his glance about my being followed here she said sipping her drink have no fear the police even put put a man an the house old unimpeachable pea chable family stuff you cant be suze sure sure enough she shrugged the suggestion away S she he slipped off the desk with a languorous movement meant to be provocative mccale supposed scrutinizing her closely he was aware of the complete completa artificiality of he her irl makeup make kc up she had tried to effice an ah exotic appearance in the tha manner of I 1 the cinema but succeed i ing in looking more like one of the Fu futures tires his musing swiftly encompassed the whole lot of them the en masse with the possible exception of miss adelaide they were unreal without authenticity ile he watched victoria with a bored expression as she fingered a book on the desk examined the lester varga painting of a nubian woman which hung over a bookcase to see it if it was an original its late he said breaking the silence you came to see me about something it must be important for you to call at this hour I 1 hate to hurry you but if youve satis satisfied fled your curiosity perhaps you 11 tell me what this Is all a bout about she she turned abruptly and came over to to him 1 I want you to do something for me what can I 1 do for you his voice was urgent and exasperated well she fumbled for a phrase probably have an anan an opportunity port unity to go through curt val things wont you ile he looked up pursing his lips we e ll 11 better not tell her the cupboard was bare ethere there 0 Is something of mine that Is curt had some letters that belong to me I 1 thought that I 1 might take them out from under the eyes of the police im afraid I 1 have the chance chanc e by this time the place has been gone ovar over with a vacuum cleaner but they just be in any ordinary place im sure he had a hiding place somewhere in that apartment A wall safe or or something 1 I doubt it it seems perfectly obvious that you have already looked in every available place 1 why I 1 tut tut your intonation gave you away my youre clever arent you let us say well trained you visited Vallain court often no I 1 well th that at Is I 1 went there herc once in a while for cocktails with a few friends she was on her guard now often enough to look about tor for something that was mine Vallain court was hanging onto your I 1 correspondence oh no then why you just ask tor for it 1 I did but hed only laugh and say hed give them all back when she caught herself she bit her lower up sullenly when he was safely married to veronica Bl gelaw ill wager youre quite the sherlock arent you mister listen can I 1 or can I 1 not buy your services I 1 want those letters do I 1 get thern them she moved closer to him and stared him in the face boldly a intensity in her eyes for a moment mccale gazed deeply into her vicious little soul not from me his voice was as aa cold austeel as steel ile he turned away from her w with ith a brusqueness intended to convey that he was through with their little in ter view he spoke quietly im sorry I 1 wish take my word for it that there are none of your letters at the Vallain court apartment no letters of any kind in fact she eyed him na narrowly youve been there already he nodded thanks but I 1 dont believe you all right he went on wearily ont dont believe me but I 1 assure you there is nothing there theres not a wall sate safe or a sliding panel in the whole shebang the police 1 I hardly think so I 1 was there P before afore they arrived she seemed suddenly drained of vitality there was a thwarted look on her face so that just that im afraid however I 1 think hear from your letters tl A parting shot startles mccale oh my godl what a stink they will make strewn all over the front pages of some slimy paper take more mor ethan than the bigelow money to 1 I dont mean that i 1 ohl oh I 1 the echo of it hung in the air she gazed at him once more as i it if to reassure herself of bf his hones honesty ty his inscrutability seemed to have baffled her 6 we shall see what we shall see s she said finally a note of derisi derision dai and forced facetiousness in her tone he followed her to the door abor watching her down dowd the stairs at the turn she looked back at him she stopped waiting a moment until he became aware that she in 16 tended to explode la a farewell bombshell ill if they dont turn up sherlock ill go to snarl shari lynn tor for them what she laughed insolently as she continued down mccale shook his head tn in utter weariness sas as he went back in ile he was sure the interview had been a fiasco at le least ast his share of it things were piling up too quickly too fast ane one conclusion tont contradict ing another IT TO BE CONTINUED |