Show ms BURST ONCE UN ai CE Wy GRANVILLE FG RANVILLE CHURCH yf SERVICE ij THE 01 so FAR fan KB jeff curtis ind and his hl hlat afe wt lee are on their way to tierra libre when jeff receives he a note nol from rom zora 1 L matchell itchell Ml Bl warning them not t to come liter r ho he learns from jerry that ra ia husband ta 1 bas ba been murdered ind that t 1 it t 1 li 11 his job as ai chief engineer for or a truit fruit company that jeff has hai been called to 1111 when they arrive in tierra libre tt jerry tells tell jeff there Is strange iranee going on jeff and lee me met hion taya jeffs employer and go eo with ith mm him to san aljo alejo where here tang them tint that zora mitchell Ml has hai committed suicide neither jeff nor lee believes that at her death was wai suicide zora they agree alb e was not at the type to commit suicide jen jeff suspects ot of or ar ranging or at least of 0 knowing about roth both zora and her husbands deth lh NOW CONTINUE airn THE stoby CHAPTER IV every day was wa g a new day at san alejo fresh and cool and clean at dawn no matter what the blazing sun might bring later even the asphalt underfoot was toned up by the dew as curt swung along for his early appointment with montoya curts mind should have been toned up too by the tangy air air s so 0 mit much ch like a fall morning at home but his kis last words to lee just edw now lied hed read the pucker between her eyes were still in in his ears dont you be worrying about zora mitchell Ml hed told her 1 I admit suicide sound like her but we seen her for six six years and that length of time will work changes in any of us it was her little girl I 1 was thinking of lee had answered him soberly ill find out about her curt made his way to montoya Mon s office a high room paneled and furnished in unvarnished whitewood an impression of coolness was heightened by venetian blinds and a grass rug curt came to the point before senor montoya could broach business he said suggestively the news of mrs mitchells death was a considerable shock to us to my wife and me montoya looked at him in silence as though the words needed elaboration 1 I mean we should hardly have expected suicide of zorn zora mitchell Ml especially as she was wash leaving a small child nor did I 1 expect it ft the senor made this statement as a sort of admission he fumbled among papers on his desk bringing forth two large square envelopes from one he spread several photographs to before curt they showed from different angles zorn zora mitchell slumped over in a bamboo peacock chair her head at a curious angle there was a bullet hole in her left temple and blood had run from the wound coagulated stained her dress her left hand hanging over the arm of the chair held a gun curt recognized as a luger A augerl he thought instantly funny she get that he recalled how mitchell had always favored a colt 45 against all foreign makes of small arms another question forced itself on curts mind why the physical shock relaxed zoras zeros fingers and made her drop the gun now in in the case of her husband we had no chance to obtain photographs on the ground the body was moved to but we did the best we could I 1 had b sketches Rs made from the second envelope spread out these sketches and with them a map m marked arced with an X and two photographs of the body as it lay jay on the flat handcar an inquest was held of course as in in the case of mrs mitchell both ah incidents were quite properly handled by our local police we have a cornand coman dancia ancia here another at the sketches and the map were valueless but the photographs curt picked up one of them hem t the picture was sickening the body slashed and mutilated beyond recognition many of the cu cuts is were clean however iio wever and ana something about these the se clean cuts rang a bell in curts mind yet the reason at once click that cuts which bleed had to be made after death after the blood alood stops coursing in the body what about their little girl he asked only five she 11 ali ah but it is is sad about her hei poor little thing jling we have her at the hospital spital lo for the present where the nurses can look a after her I 1 am trying drying to get in touch with relatives in n the states montoya stacked the photographs and sketches replaced replace d them in their envelopes he drew from his pocket tin an oversize cigarette case and camped tamped against ag ainest the lid one of the special six inch turkish cigarettes he aie used apparently he was considering si some problem at length he said picking his words it would be not natural ural for you to 0 want to see the murderer of mr mitchell brought to justice I 1 also do but I 1 assure you everything was done that could be done you may believe me mr curtis it would be it a waste of time for you ou to try where we have failed curt stared before lie he managed ah oh quite splendid besides shan shall I 1 contess confess to a selfish motre motive if it if I 1 been mistaken and a nd we have say the mu murderer aderer is still about then he h e a a more clever nia man n than we think anil if f you should interest inheres y yourself in the lle c case age you might perl perhaps ps invite a similar fate no montoya put an end to the subject with an apologetic flash of teeth 1 I cannot risk that engin engineering work is behind schedule I 1 need you so very badly mr curtis the next hour was spent in meeting key workers of the general staff persons with whom curt would have frequent contact it was a whirlwind tour the bulk of employees numbering fifty to sixty were americans with a sprinkling of Britis hers and other europeans then said montoya this is the best time of day tor for you to meet dr later he is likely to be in the field using a handy phone he called for the laboratory and when he got his connection spoke in french french queried curt as the other hung up 1 I thought the name was dutch montoya smiled perfunctorily oh dr also speaks spanish and english after a fashion he is is more successful with french you do not then speak french As curt shook his head 1 I thought not lie he will use english with you the agricultural department occupied an adjacent building filling a corner left by the administration building and the hospital pushed on through the outer office vacant except for a young man man typing cards and on to a door at the rear in the huge working laboratory there was shelf upon shelf and row upon row of carefully labeled boxes and jars along one side of the room a number of steel filing cabi a L I 1 I 1 ah but it is sad about her poor little thing thin nets stood in a straight line on the work tables were odd shaped shape 4 2 vessels alembics alem bics glass funnels retorts dr below medium height in a dirty linen laboratory smock proved a colorless individual indeed with his full bearded face and careless dress aress he looked fair prey for a caricaturist nearsighted near sighted he w wore ore thick lense spectacles which gave him a bug eyed appearance the first words were conventional greeting then your shipment of ah chemicals at cabeza aroused mr curtis curiosity yesterday montoya said 1 I told him such questions were your special province geniality left the bearded face hostile gray eyes bored bared through 9 it tile the thick inick lenses into curt you ver vonce vilh der beedles across der asked th the e dutchman curt nodded smiled montoyas Mon deprecation of the doctors english been an exaggeration six years ago I 1 know panama disease has shown up with them and that tried a lime treatment for it it was a simple question I 1 put the quantity of 0 lime landed on tile the docks ali ah ja it iz I 1 use der lime but alzo der oder chemicals vat I 1 use iz my cegred der bana ana pla ant vill be der more healthy und vigorous from ray my chemical treatment der soil und so ve combat der fungi more better as 3 yet et den vill ve haff hafe der ree chest pla in tierra libre if dr did have a miraculous 4 cheap compound for soil treatment I 1 something to allay the dreaded fungus fungus disease something with which associated could rejuvenate their used lands then there was good reason for guarding the secret you still hail hafe ofer der negro associated the amusement in curts eyes was a better answer than his words the trend of the interview curts feeling that montoya was exhibiting him to the doctor a certain indefinable deference in Mon attitude toward the dutchman convinced curt that whatever the dumpy bearded man had hed sold montoya on it pretty solidly at last as final courtesies were being said the worthy doctor let down the bars lie he asked with what could best be described as a cunning look you blay cribbage grib boge bage ja jaa cribbage curt laughed sure I 1 know the game goot we blay sometime ja jaa certainly montoya explained as they left the laboratory dr one regret here Is that he has no good opponent at his favorite game lie he smiled politely bitely ile he Is very good at it I 1 hope mr curtis you will be able to stand up to him curt chuckled if I 1 cant ill sic my wife onto him she can play the game backwards and forwards ile he added with another chuckle if hell comb out his beard first their final stop was the engineering office a one story structure square like the laboratory it occupied the corner between the general offices and the clubhouse thus thug completing the layout of principal company buildings about the square and balancing the community center here curt was introduced to his own staff it was now midmorning three draftsmen were at work two at detail drawings the third on maps one room was reserved for the field men when they came to san alejo to submit their progress reports there was a darkroom dark room and a big vault containing records and master charts from photo static machine down to electric erasers the equipment throughout was ultramodern ultra modern curts own office was airy light cool with both desk and big table on which to spread out his papers a swivel chair between a handy upright rack for rolls of blueprints but the one thing which instantly took his attention was the huge aerial photographic map of the C A T tract permanently framed against the wall here was something montoya led the way across the room to top tap proudly with his finger tips id never have gotten my planting under way without this this map showed a rough triangle of about hectares or acres the quebrado quebrada Qu ebrado mountains formed the western boundary along the south and east cast flowed the masica river joining the turbulent unruly rio negro the northern boundary just below the rise rise of land where stood Tem pujo no buildings and no engineering work ork showed on the map it had been made before any preliminary work had been done but it gave curt nn an instant picture of the entire project of the drainage necessary to clear the huge swamp dotted with stands of jungle of the levees necessary to hold back the rivers of the best terrain for spur tracks to feed the farms the negro is a wild stream that requires taming said montoya we work on that now along here he e indicated with a pointer taken from a rack beside the map we make a twenty three foot levee your most important job mr curtis is is to see that it is com completed plated within the next five months on that I 1 gamble acres of planting the masica will hardly worry us this year in fact since the ah unfortunate happening to mr mitchell I 1 have halted work on the masica levee and put those machines on the negro levee flooding of the masica will not endanger present planting along this line he indicated with the pointer is is our main c canal a nal already it has drained several thousand acres here will be secondary ditches but we have so much to do yes so many literals laterals late rals to dig the canals in in the upper halt half of the tract trac t must also be completed before the rains corne come now we have four draglines dra glines and a three yard shovel and 6 laborers at work on the engineering projects this even the beginning more and more curt realized hed stepped into a manele man ele size job and with people who knew where they were going what they wanted and how to go about getting it who made this map mr and mr lannestock was the answer in a plane I 1 chartered especial for the purpose a year before I 1 was ready to start work it takes long to secure a concession to plan it Is if good work no they are competent young men that is why I 1 am so happy now to have them under contract bueno here are progress reports on the negro levee the main drainage system and the railroad you will wish to look them over but you will be brief about it ft no directly after lunch we shall start on an inspection tour of the valley for this we shall take the rest of today and tomorrow so you will vill bring what personal articles you iou need tor for overnight in the meantime I 1 have much to do my sp curt cult hardly noticed montoyas Mon departure lie he even forgot the worries in the back baan of I 1 his mind what a jobi cobl the best equipment to work with a challenge to meet with tile the next se seasons afons rainfall the deadline he swelled to the task his eyes shone ile he could have stood for hours before that map noon rolled around all too soon TO ito HE BE CONTINUED |