Show wi r anth ET to beha a 2 x mn n N K 2 SYNOPSIS brooke reyburn visits the office of jed stewart a lawyer to discuss the terms of an estate she has inherited from mrs mary wary armanda dane unwin angly she overhears jed talking to mark trent nephew ot of mrs dane who has been disinherited mrs dane had lived at lookout house a huge structure by the tea sea built by her father and d vided into two tor for her and mark marks s father brooke bad been a fashion expert and mrs dane shut in hearing bearing her on the radio lad bad invited her to call and developed develop ed a deep affection lor for her mark d escloses that mrs dane had threatened to bisin herit berit him it if he married lola from whom he be is now divorced he says he does not trust henri and clotilde jacques mrs dane a servants he says he Is not in te rested in an offer of 0 brooke s to share the estate with him leaving her depart anent store lob job brooke refuses an offer to I 1 go stepping with jerry field a carefree young man who wants to marry her at a family conference she learns she must live at lookout house alone since lucette her ber younger sister who Is taking her job her brother sam a young playwright and her mother plan to stay in the city jed and mark are astounded when they hear from rom mrs gregory a family friend that she he had witnessed a hitherto unknown will henrt henri and clotilde two weeks before mr mrs dane died brooke had arrived just as she was leaving jed suggests that mark open his part of lookout house get et friendly with brooke and try to find out about the will jed agrees to stay with him mark accepts brooke brookes s ineita tion tor for a family thanksgiving dinner at lookout mrs reyburn announces on thanksgiving eve that she has been in wiled to england sam and lucette decide to move in with brooke and sam plans to produce a new play locally after the thanksgiving dinner brooke tells mark that little at 0 mrs dane danes s silver liver collect on Is left jerry field and his sister daphne drop in and announce they will ill be neigh bora bors tor for the winter CHAPTER IV continued 7 it must have been mr mra dane s friend mrs gregory they call her ithe empress here so she has called that means if she likes us ainner that we shall be admitted into the 1 inner social circle jerry I 1 was so i dazed by your appearance that I 1 forgot to ask what you meant by that word neighbor sure we re neighbors daphne and I 1 have taken a house here for the season I 1 season what seasons this winter of course didn dian t you say that many of the houses we were r e to be kept open ye s but why surprise crisped brooke s voice I 1 ve been wanting for years to paint snow found I 1 could hire a house with a studio here you don t mind I 1 hope don t be foolish jerry of course I 1 don t tonly only no matter what brooke thinks I 1 im m all for it mr field lucette encouraged it will be grand to have someone kind of young in the neighborhood and oh sam two more recruits for the cast of your play line of applicants for parts will please form on the left play what play I 1 adore dra matics daphne field s voice and eyes were eager we ve been talking about pro sam sams s comedy islands arise for charity of course its it s a terrific job we always paint our own scenery hold jerry the boy artist will paint the scenery field s enghu spasm cooled afraid my box of a studio wouldn t be big enough though there is a large empty room on the second floor next to lucette s couldn coulden t decide jut how to furnish it so I 1 ve waited we can use that won t it be grand sam I 1 brooke explained and demanded in the same breath prove how do I 1 know whether the field team can act or whether they 11 gum up the show don t be a grouch master key rey burn lucette jibed you d bet ter page the family lost and found department for your manners I 1 adore neigh neighbors bott I 1 in pleased pur pie that we are to have two such snappy ones mark trent straightened and flung the cigarette he had but a moment before lighted into the fire he ile kept his eyes on lucette as he an bounced newsflash News flash not two new neigh bors but four lady I 1 m opening my house next week jed stewart and I 1 will keep bachelor hall there my announcement doubtless lacks the romantic overtones of field s but we 11 do our best to make you Bey Rey burns neighbor conscious in the library of his house mark trent was perched on the corner of the large flat desk As he filled his pipe he compared the old fashioned air of dignified restful ness ne s of the room with its deep chairs chairs in the smoking room man ner an i its two story book lined walls divided half way up by a gal lery with the charm of its twin on the other side of the brocade hang ing which screened the door con necking the two houses jed stewart lounging in a crim son ison leather chair hands in his trou brou cers sers pockets legs outstretched was staring at the blazing logs watching the blue and yellow copper and green tongues of flame lick at the chimney the faint thunder of waves dashing against ledges the ceaseless crying of sea gulls stole through the heavy hangings drawn across the long windows ampa he sat up we ve been here a week mark and we are not the fraction of a degree nearer finding that last will anu ana testament of mary amanda dario s if there is such a thing by emilie loring emice loring service and the silver don dont t forget the silver jed I 1 can account for the will being lost if there was one but what has become of the silver I 1 ve had it so much on my mind that I 1 consulted bill harrison who s he the inspector in charge 0 of f police headquarters across the cause way he s been on the force here since I 1 was a small boy what did he say about the sil ver he didn dian t say he doesn doean t talk much he asked a few questions about the jacques and said he would drop in here this afternoon to take a look around mrs gregory is corn com mg ing later hope they don t meet I 1 asked her to have tea with us met her yesterday on the street and she let it be known that her feelings were hurt that I 1 had not invited her before I 1 I 1 asked her to bring miss reyburn mark trent slid from the desk and absentmindedly twirled a globe which showed the countries of the world as they had been before the treaty of versailles had remade the map of europe do you think brooke reyburn suspects that we are here as ama beur detectives jed amateurs I 1 we may be but youve you ve called in a professional on the job haven t you youa you can t tell what that girl thinks but why should she suspect our reason for being here more than field s and one could rit t suspect that lad of ulterior motives he always looks to me as if he were on the verge of kissing a lady s hand why didn dian t you accept the lead in sam s corn com edy it was offered to you wasn gasn t it it it was but long ago I 1 outgrew dramatics what do you think of islands arise that s the name of the play isn t it if that it will get a fair hearing at least the theater going world orld isn t so cocky and hard boiled as it was some ears ago and it may appreciate sam s ideas and ideals you d be a knockout knock out in the lead fella I 1 take part in the play if I 1 were aching to act I 1 see the Rey burns as seldom as possible thanksgiving day when brooke started to thank me for pulling her from under that car I 1 burned with shame when I 1 remembered why I 1 had accepted her invitation I 1 don t care for this spy stuff even if I 1 do believe that the girl by some hocus hypnotized aunt mary aman da you show it getting to be the strong silent type aren t you mark if you feel that way about her why did you ask mrs gregory to bring brooke here this afternoon you never have been fair to that girl you started with the idea that she s crooked and you re sticking to it like honey to a glass dish trent blew a shrill whistle through his fingers stewart S t e w a r t laughed I 1 get you the stop signal ill toss her a posy then I 1 II 11 quit I 1 in supposed to be stage manager of sam sams s play but I 1 d sure make a mess of it without brooke as my property woman she s executive and then some she never forgets when does the play come off first thursday in january sam s eve gave that up for fear he couldn coulden t lure a producer away from new york fes tivi ties that isn t far off well we U have a grand celebration here for the cast and friends who come from town we 11 invite the neighbors to supper and dance after the show have you a speaking part mark trent stopped speaking to stare at the ceiling had a door banged overhead or had he imag med tried the sound the servants taku and kowa were in the kitchen at this time of day they wouldn t be on the third floor anyway he hp had not had that opened up plenty of room below for jed and himself A man entered the room with a purposeful stride he was ample of jowl slightly opulent at laist alst line he had the flinty eyes of an eagle who can stare straight at the sun A sense of force was his out standing characteristic here I 1 am mark that jafs jao out side wanted to bow rne me in but I 1 shooed him off inspector bill har rison s voice was surprisingly oft with a persuasive inflection glad you ve come inspector this is my friend jed stewart inspector harrison nodded how are you mr stewart does he know about the silver mark he low ered himself into a deep chair and accepted a cigar yes he s staying here to help me us solve the mystery what ele elce have you lost why do you think we ve lost any thing else would you two city guys come to this burg to stay just to find a lot of silverware 9 it s more than mere silverware the pieces are antiques of great value inspector harrisone Ham pulled himself from the enticing crimson depths to his feet all right mark have it your own way but I 1 am ain t miam up in a case where folks are holding out on me I 1 work best when the interested party works with me get that mark s laugh was quick and d dis arming hold everything bill harrison Har you can t walk out on us like that sit down again jed tell him wha what mrs gregory told us about the will che he witnessed you understand in S that there may be nothing to it so it s off the record say mark do you suppose I 1 climbed up on the force by talking my head off off I 1 play the rules spill it mr stewart stewart repeated mrs gregory s astonishing announcement that che he had witnessed a will of mary amanda dane s of a date later than the will allowed told of the decision of mark and himself to turn detectives tec tives and of their absolute un success to date inspector bill harrison blew a perfect smoke ring did mrs gregory say there was anyone else present but mrs dane and the other witnesses when she signed no mark trent s answer was nothing short of explosive the inspector s soft grudging laugh in such marked contrast to his bird of prey eyes brought guilty color to his face it wasn gasn t keeping back information not to tell that brooke reyburn had driven in that afternoon just as mrs gregory had driven out from lookout house was it inspector bill harridon Har rose with a cigar tucked in one corner of his mouth he nodded be going guess I 1 ve got all the dope don t give that henn henri jacques and his wife the idea that you ve missed the silver let it drop out of their minds when you have any news come to head don t phone that reminds me know anything about the people dhove who ve started the filling station here on the pointe no but I 1 understand that henn henri jacques is recommending them oh he is isa that henns henris just nat aurally helpful am ain t he well I 1 mut get back he added in his soft per voice whenever you re ready to come across with the name of the other party who was in the neighborhood of lookout house the day that last will of mrs dane danes s was signed mark I 1 m just across the cause way be seeing you don t go yet bill BAD he austri t leave thinking that he and jed were holding out on him mark realized jed stewart grabbed mark marks s shoulder hold on mark see who here I 1 mark trent turned surprise brought him to his feet wiped the smile from his lips that couldn coulden t be lola on the threshold it was hunt her name was now lola hunt he must remember say mark be making my get away he nodded response to bill harn harri sons son s mumble knew when he opened the door which led to the print room and vanished evidently the inspector didn dian t care to meet lola who did with the question mark thrust his hands hard into his coat pockets and took a tep for ward well the sound was more a growl than a word be ile realized as he looked steadily at the woman who had been his wife had been at last he had come to think of her in the to accomplish that the shame years the humiliation the unbearable heart ache he had suffered in the years they had lived together swept over him in a sick sickening tide what did she want now nowa she was the type of woman who constantly and ever last angly wanted something wan t he giving her enough there had been no justice in his giving her any thing but when she had written him that her current husband was out of a job and ard that she was hun gry what hat could he do but make her an allowance till the man found ork her clothing had a cheap smartness the dark brilliance of her eyes was intensified by artificial shadows her skin was thick and flushed her short black hair needed trimming her mouth drooped at the corners she pouted lip which re nothing so much as a bloody smear don t stare at me as if I 1 were a ghost from out a purple past mark I 1 told your jap that I 1 was an old friend that I 1 wanted to sur prise you I 1 hate to keep the gentle men stan standing dinc won t you ask me to sit down without waiting for an answer she sank into the large chair be fore the fire still pals you two aren t you youa funny how much longer friendship lasts between men than love be tween a man and woman mark I 1 came here to talk to you jed you may go mark trent s hand closed on stewart s arm with a grip which turned his naila nail white jed will stay and hear what you have to say surely we can have no secrets from the man who saw us through the divorce court she shrugged all right with me I 1 ve nothing to lose thought you might object to haing what I 1 say get on the air methinks the lady is implying that I 1 in a gossip TO BE CONTINUED a |