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Show VANITY ALL I C0RNER By Richard H. Wilkinson fpVERY MAN," said Inspector Joe Warren, frowning over the letter which he held in his hand, "has a weak point. In the case of 'The I Flash,' most dar- 3 -Minute ing criminal of c;.t;n this city's crimi-, crimi-, FlCtl0n nal history, it ap- 1 pears to be vanity." van-ity." He gestured toward the letter. "The fellow has become drunk with his success in accomplishing two outstanding robberies. And now he has taken to writing us letters, let-ters, stating just where he's going to be at a certain time and what he plans to do." Detective Fargo blew smoke rings at the ceiling and evaded his chief's eyes. "So far," he said, "he seems to have been pretty successful in carrying car-rying out his plans. This is the third letter we've received. "Each time The Flash has appeared where he said he would at exactly the time denoted de-noted In his letters. And while we've stood Idly by he's committed com-mitted his crimes and escaped. es-caped. What's he up to this time?" "The Devonshire party," Warren growled. The truth of Fafgo's state-merit state-merit scored him. "Mrs. Devonshire is planning to wear that valuable emerald her husband brought her from Europe a month ago. The Flash states in this letter that he intpnrts tn steal the emerald and "What's happened?" Warren barked at Fargo, Ignoring the incoherent babble of Mrs. Devonshire. Dev-onshire. . "It's gone," Fargo grated. "About an hour ago. I was standing behind Mrs. Devonshire in the reception line. Someone poked a gun in my back and told me to walk backwards. back-wards. When I saw the fellow's face I knew it was The Flash, because be-cause he was a dead ringer for myself." "A ringer for you!" Warren gasped. "What the devil do you mean?" "I mean," said Fargo grimly, "that his disguise this time looked like me, generally speaking. He forced me into a closet and cracked me over the head. Naturally no one noticed that anything was happening, hap-pening, as Mrs. Devonshire was exhibiting ex-hibiting her emerald at the time. "Ten minutes ago I came to and began to kick on the door. Devonshire opened it. I rushed to Mrs. Devonshire and discovered discov-ered that she had just missed her emerald. The Flash has outsmarted us again!" Warren slumped wearily into a chair. "Tomorrow," he groaned, "every newspaper in the city will have the story. It will be the most humiliating humiliat-ing moment of my life." Fargo smiled bitterly. "Every man has his weak point," he said. "Yours seems to be vanity." defies us to stop him." Fargo crushed out his cigaret. "Have you taken any steps to prevent the robbery?" "Fargo, as you know, the Flash's disguise is perfect. He'll appear at that party as a guest, or servant or someone with whom the Devon-shires Devon-shires are but slightly acquainted. I want you to go up there early. 11 The butler's face was white and drawn. meet Mrs. Devonshire when she comes down stairs and stick with her until the last guest has gone. Then see to it that the emerald is stored away in a safe before you leave. I'll have Johnson and a couple of other, men mingling with the guests." AT 11 O'CLOCK on the night of the Devonshire party Inspector Inspec-tor Warren drew his roadster up before the palatial mansion and ascended the steps. Warren stepped quickly inside. And at that moment Mrs. Devonshire, Devon-shire, accompanied by her husband and Detective Fargo, came flying down the stairs. |