Show fl 0 GERALD BROWN L arlu FEATURES duke Alc mccale Cale private detective Is in tho the murder of curt valla Vall vallain aln I 1 n i e ourt who was wai about to marry veronica bigelow Bli clow heiress to thirty million dollars dollan mccal 0 e extract tracts some damaging dina gln admit t rom 0 ni sharl shar lynn singer finger and former wife of later victoria Vero veronicaa veronicas nicas sister calls at his hi office and asks bils help to a to coffering some lome let derx from apartment me 1 cale telli tell bc bir that th be letter ite are not 1 la the apartment hot but bents is that hat sharl lynn may have the them m flee became lust of clr 4 curn evidence the g police lice belle bellave ve i that veronica li Is the murderer mccale ft 4 doe not think so 0 o but hug not yet ormed formed a conclusion there are many cont contrat rit I 1 I 1 clory clues clue CHAPTER XI th the e telephone was ringing insist I 1 yi antly mccale rolled over opened 1 one eye swore and finally grabbed tp f the extra pillow bundling it under his head lie ile fumbled with the light snapped it on lifted the telephone off its cradle i mccale speaking ho he growled 1 rocky boss i where arc you corner of aspinwall opposite the Vallain court den you tell mo me to keep a lookout I 1 t oh yeah all quiet 4 all quiet now listen boss 1169 long about five this morning ow j all right what happened lit at te five ocl ocle sleep still hugged him tightly and there was an unreasonable barb in his voice f j okay okay aromnd five a girl showed up with a kiy key to the val I 1 1 lain court ron day who was waa it hold on to your hat now it fc was victoria bigelow gelow Di 15 victoria bigelow gelow El surprise ki i jerked him wide awake uli uh uh she was utter after some letters of tiers herd she said 11 64 well well victoria had aby had a busy night he thought the place placa was waa clean like alko you said aid no secret panels either I 1 that I isi s finally helped her hunt fior them go home and grab yourself some grub and shuteye shu teye said mccale calo get here about one rm aro going to be busy this morn ing at eight forty alve he called ann marriot on the tha telephone to her cool hello 11 he ha said good morning this la Is your boss oh good morning dar boss bogs an anything athing important im on my way in about five minutes 1 0 o hurry curry in fact this la is lust just to say you might shop hop for or an hour if you want to 0 and then do on an errand for me awant I 1 want you to drop in ort on sharl lynn suite 11 and pray what shall I 1 use as an excuse for dropping in as you say gay dont tell me youre sending me along to smooth the way for you a more subtle approach so be to speak boand comedy enough bor or now 0 my girl he grew serious 1 I saw her myself late lost night to or that matter aaa you catl id like aune a une on oil how she Is this morning you know iad sad gay expectant pec tant wilt ask her for or her auto graph anything kAy thing to get in talk about it you jou can with out being thrown out 10 that all I 1 ayes yes just a checkup check up to satisfy a point been nagging mo me ashes fairly transparent it ought to be easy oh yes indeed it sounds too too easy all gaii right ill do my best i see sea you when whon about noon here alere byo bye sweet ho liu dressed leisurely and carefully I 1 y ile ho felt like a twentieth century warrior going forth to civilized battle battie ile ho knew that thai to 6 solve this problem he had first to breal break down tho the buttresses ot of tradition that sur rounded the Bige lows ile he knew ile he was up against something that even the overestimated awe ir or it if you will majesty of the law could not upend ile he had to break down that smug superiority which was wa so 50 56 secure in the belief in its own Intel intelligence ll that thatis it made its own julea rules as aa it went along ile he rather pitied them momentarily I 1 and smiled wryly at the pure cynicism of his down own thoughts sybil Bec becomes onies f implicated on impulse he ha dialed police head quarters and asked tor for donlevy after a tight slight delay the curt it sive voice of the lieutenant came through i donlevy Don leyy here mccale lieutenant f Oh sure not out yet hunting S the foul criminal id i on the way away id d like to know hl al what the bigelow women were wear ing when they came in yesterday outside of the green thingamajig vi veronica sported acy of course I 1 mention V that t na no well here it Is victoria an i 1 oiled silk affair yellow karen a A black velvet suit black capel sybil a light brown raincoat that help ai uh uh it was sybil then who walked away into the toe fog you think so she claims to have been at the drugstore not for or my money 1 I kind of think not that fam am ue lve almost impossible to get them to admit anything all protecting one another what ive had a devil of a time and got nothing so BO far get less very likely now had a chance to compare notes there was a pause then donlevy ae vy said almost cheerfully 1 I guess veronicas veronicaa Vero nicas our girl you really think so the lynn womans comans evidence will V put t the finish on it oh mccale pondered over that for a moment then decided to add id keep a sharp watch on the lynn woman why Don levys interest was wag immediate 1 I would all now duke you must nave have a reason why be mysterious ill drop jn in to see you later late r in the day okay by all means mccale dropped the receiver onto its cradle an emotion oil of concern crowded his mind and he sighed a sigh of sheer desperation ills brain seemed dulled inactive depressed there was something there something that would make it clear it was evading him until ho he could grasp it he must blunder along without help without even the confidence of the ones he was trying to help damn the medieval reserve of such people anyway tj v I 1 0 1 I want those letters do I 1 got the 1 the no police commissioner had come coine and asked a few pertinent questions question stayed barely an hour and departed at eight the district attorney had attempted to bully the police in charge as we well as the suspects ile he had left at eleven in a buff the body had been removed to the morgue and laboratory tor for full er examination Lieutenant Donlevy band and his squad had finished with the preliminaries the hungry press had been thrown a boned bone to nibble on men had been sent to Vallain courts apartment to look ov erpa pars para and belongings tor for a possible elua clue the tha orderly hubbub of official procedure was over for a time a at least the night had been quiet the quiet of nervous exhaustion perhaps but quiet then at nine this morning a man had interrupted breakfast with an urgent request for veronica iiii ho was impolitely in seclent that she must comb at once to the office of 0 lieutenant donlevy for further questioning she was not noi to be alarmed it was a matter of routine tout lne but miss aliss ade adelaide laide agrees to macales Mc Calos cales platt plan the library was dim end and still and wily only the sound of a plano piano being played in the drawing room upstairs come through the oppressing quiet as aa adelaide dukelow degelow finished herl her recital lof i of events and looked at mccale sadly mccale did no not t speak tor for a minute the weight of his senses closed down on him like a stone ile he wondered idly whether it was the gloom or the tha helpless ness in the old ladys voice that caused this feeling of 0 futility ito ho wondered why karen bigelow was playing the liszt preludes so pas romantic things so richly interlaced with religious mysticism A strange woman karen but merely more obviously strange than the others only the woman before him resigned deter mined with great courage seemed to belong in that house iler her voice brought him awake again with a start what are we going to do she asked 1 I think he answered that I 1 may be able to see a little further get a little more than the pollen police ware were able to that Is it if I 1 can gain their confidences ill if you will ask them to come tn in ho he rose as she got up selled and added one by one it you please 1 it might bo be cas ler that way to trap them I 1 suppose she mur inured surprisingly why of course lie ile bowed the smile leaving his lips lie ile felt the subtle antagonism leap betwee ji them then she came over to hini him impulsively putting a thin patrician hand on his sleeve forgive me she whispered its only that I 1 am so upset I 1 know how things must be from now on I 1 see a whole way of ufa life disappearing before my eyes an empire slipping away I 1 know that below the alio surface things have not been what they seemed for a long long time he interjected keeping the pity carefully from his tone of voice for he knew that this she would not have yes yes you wont need me again she spoke as if that would be abhorrent to her no it Is better that I 1 do my dirty work alone ile he smiled once more as he watched her leave the room ile ho stood by the fireplace staring moodily into the ashes of last nights alre until he heard the doot door open and close behind him when he turned he saw stephen bigelow standing irresolute and nervous in the gray morning light it was clear as he sat down in the chair opposite mccale that he be was completely shaken although it was no doubt partly hangover mccale intuitively sensed that not a little of it was due to the fact that ho he was on his own A complex lad this one he thought riddled by complexes ile he had seen enough of stephen to know that in spite of his high nosed arrogance he was lost aitho without ut the support of his wife and silly mother ile he pondered as a to which one of them had been c clever ce v enough to send him in first so that either or both could expertly deny any break he might make in a business like way mccale N cc said 1 I am willing to take the police report of your actions yesterday afternoon verbatim hoover im more interested in something that ahat may not seem relevant to the murder if you will only have con in me I 1 can assure you it will probably go no further I 1 ask it 4 entirely in the hope of helping your foster sister veronica out of a ticklish situation I 1 know of course that you are eager to be of any assistance pos possible sibe to her oh quite the answer answer came cama readily enough mccale studiously ignored the contemptuous curve of the lips that accompanied the remark very well then id like to know it if you had known curt Vallain couri before he ha became engaged to veronica what you know of him what you thought of him to be exact now how for instance did it happen that he came so suddenly to this city to betoken betaken be taken up immediately by your family id welcome anything you can tell me ile he saw relief come over stephens stepheno face relief that the question was not the one he had feared stephen I 1 smiled a thin lipped uneasy smile I 1 1 I met him in chicago he said calmly about six years ago victoria was running around with him I 1 had gone there for a couple of 0 months just to renew 1 a few old acquaintances f anyone in particular Steril stephen tells of his chicago trip no t ills his hands shook a little as he tumbled fumbled for a cigarette and lighted it just a couple of fellows I 1 had known in the navy wt at one time you ou see things were not very well pleasant at home I 1 ra ran n away and joined up I 1 made a few friends while I 1 was in the service I 1 corresponded with them from time to time after I 1 got out we are not a particularly happy group mccale en famille so to speak so when 06 things got boring again and er a little squawky I 1 decided to hop out to chicago and visit a chop chap who had since married and done dona quite well for himself sort of run away again isthan is that it macales Mc Cales grin was sardonic ile ho thought as youve run out on everything unpleasant since you were a kid I 1 can bet well I 1 suppose you could call it that you took victoria with you no she came to fetch me back as it were all Is forgiven you know that sort of thing victoria had met curt in some of her wanderings de rings I 1 had met karen by then and want to leave until there ther 0 was an understanding of some sort between us we stayed almost a year until her vicky corresponded with Vallain court for or a while after she came home it was she iwho who finally anally got him here ran into him by accident in new york or something and slid aha brought him along for a visit ile he 0 just stayed au all ile ho settled back in the chair a little less jangled as if a job had been done and rather kalher well done mccale settled back in his chair and looked at stephen BI Bl bigelow gelow with unconcealed disgust then lie he decided to try a shot in the dark ana and see what it would hit of 01 course you know that curt was married at some time lime in his lively career oh yes ile ha was stephen admitted completely oft off guard to sharl shad lynn barall linsky to you bigelow blurted blut ted then bit his lip realizing the trap 40 ii 4 0 you knew her toot too TO BE CONTINUED |