| Show y BLACK ki A SOMBRERO LIFFORD KNIGHT E alv I 1 F chatfield UI hollywood lywood arum artist Is cut ris from the tr will 0 ot of her br aunt amt kitty who t if an overdose ol of morl morphine do bar from rom aled filat tor detective and hunt hont R HOE og an ff y a professional sleuth to go to marat hiag aters marico on a ya bt cruise with mar M 10 rand and D wight nichols Nl chols arriving at gate alln they find that elsa and her have preceded them by plane raf sa s1 party ney dine at the rancho ol of elsas la fa chatfield whom rogers anes sam gim theft about tout h bis is visit to his sister kitty eions a im be night she died the next day meld tosses a roto gravu r a section the seat sea but the pieces are picked into reed beed barton arton 3 who gives alves the them M by LIP la is rs chatfield very ts bore rore over the incident CHAPTER VI here it is said dwight pointing yes said rogers I 1 leaned farther forward to see the he picture it was a reproduction photograph of elsa the lovable of 0 a person personality aliby shone up from the damp surface unmistakably it was hia elsa at her provocative impish best that of course was as it should be tut but the staggering incomprehensible part of it all was the child on her lap A child apparently about a year oldo old seeming normally health healthy ay iy end and lovely and like all babies babie S a capt captivator lator of the heart underneath the picture were the lines elsa chatfield Cb atfield whose caricatures have recently won wide acclaim and her small mall daughter daugh ter mary frances i well that I 1 guess yes said rogers picking up the torn sheet and starting below to his stateroom barry he began III 1 I I 1 dont understand it TT neither either do I 1 reed there were e many things in that strange story not understood until the end the cruise in the orizaba planned for that day was abandoned the yacht lay idly at her anchor there was no fishing what do you make of it dwight I 1 inquired after lunch that day dwight nichols shook his head the whole thing is impossible the child has been dead now several years three or four foun but how could such a mistake be made asked margaret Margar qt her dark eyes very earnest mistakes can usually be explained pla ined rogers reminded her 1 I dare say george rumble to whom we must look for the answer has a very natural explanation that of course is aside from other aspects of the thing heres a family secret closely guarded for years about which neither elsa nor her father would talk broadcast to the public did sam chatfield see the picture margaret interrupted rogers shook his head 1 I have it in my stateroom exhibit A so to speak although there are literally thousands of them in existence elsewhere in southern california however not here in Maz atlan but it was not until the morning of the following day that we ran across george rumble we discovered him in the last place we expected to find him at sam chat fields rancho sitting idly in the patio indifferent to the little green parra keets screaming in the gnarled old pepper tree overhead while he waited for elsa the shirt of pink and white checks was absent but in its place was a companion of blue and white some of us have been wondering where you got that picture of elsa and theraby the baby said rogers 1 I knew somebody would ask that V well ell his dark little eyes watched the movements of a young indian girl as she came out of a doorway walked straight and slim through the patio and disappeared into the kitchen theres lots of ways to get a 8 picture elsa give it to you ano no you understand rumble I 1 began beean theres only one conclusion to be ce drawn after seeing how elsa reacted yesterday when she saw the picture in the paper wen well draw it barry if you want to if I 1 say anything to elsa about what I 1 im m going to do she wont let me e shell be going against her on ro best interests by telling me I 1 cant tan t do it when you start with a press agent you ought to leave it all in his hands eisai be just like her W aunt the one that died shed said to me no you cant do that you cant do this I 1 know what I 1 want in the paper so I 1 says to her one day chyn heck did you hire me if youre going to run it that made her mad and she kicked me out ut of her house and I 1 never did sei get my money either neither rogers nor I 1 said anyn thing for n Q moment as we reflected upon pon this revelation heists helS you chatfield tS knew 1 I elsas 35 aut aunt katherine katheine say 7 I 1 knew hershe was a hellcat hell hp 1 i cat a and no mistake she was an tho the first f 1 ob I 1 have in california when T heard hear I 1 ome coe ou out t from new york I 1 they 3 were putting P on some sort of 0 earn in pasadena she s the th chairman I 1 SO go to see her work in she ta says okeh and we start to but we e start fighting ahting too light fr from 1 l the dont get in my it U Y loney ka 11 and I 1 go to see her h about rd nd I 1 that tha tell her im going S to sue her night 1 she dies the antt first tune time T I 1 ever saw the picture of elsa and the baby when we were ire setting one day at the old gals desk looking up some stuff she wants to give me the next time I 1 see it I 1 pick it up in elsas apartment in hollywood when I 1 am planning my campaign for elsa the names are on the back elsa and mary frances how did you know it was her daughter asked rogers her aunt told me that first time when I 1 saw the picture I 1 asked who it was why I 1 remember it a year later when I 1 can use the picture see you know that the child was dead dead the baby rumble echoed slightly aghast no I 1 know that it aint none of my business where the baby is understand and I 1 dont ask an all im looking for is something with heart interest see dead he mused well that gives me an idea we can correct that ill get the boys at the office in los angeles to run a little piece you know unfortunate mistake picture of brilliant young caricaturist published last week with child say finel fine well crack perri cm again I 1 teu tell you it dont make no difference what you run so long as you keep hammering away at it rumbles thoughts were busy with future publicity while rogers sat 14 i k N aa 1 I elsa seemed to be flying for her life with a curious look in his mild blue eyes regarding this strange member of that great arid acid honored body of mentho direct a nations thought and whim you say that katherine chatfield died that night after you threatened to sue her for your money asked rogers yes I 1 dont can call till after dinner see this guy elsas eicas poppa and his mexican wife arrived while I 1 was still talking with the old gal in her study they dont know me now but I 1 dont forget people the chatfield woman gets sore as heck when they come in and jumps up and slams the door I 1 thought she was going to have a stroke maybe id have got my til money oney out of her if she been so mad when she sees them out in the hall do you know anything about the death of miss chatfield what do you mean hunt 4 1 I mean do you know of what or how she died 1 I dont know anything except what I 1 read in the papers the next day they said it was suicide why has it ever occurred to you that it might have been murder for a long moment george rumble gazed at R rogers without speaking rogers added when did you leave the house that night about nine she was alive then I what are you getting at 4 the woman was murdered can you teu ten us anything about it 1 I do it I 1 left her still alive there any reason for me to kill her she owed me money and we had a row and I 1 threatened to sue and she tried to kick me out and I 1 says no you dont old girl there aint no woman going to kick kick me out of any house im a gentleman and ill walk out like 9 one we fell silent tor for a few minutes while overhead in the old pepper tree the little green parra keets scolded and shrilled 1 I wish you could help us out about that tha t night george observed rogers casually 1 I wish I 1 could too hunt did anything arouse your suspicions while you were there anything that would lead you to believe that miss chatfield was about to be murdered noo no o I 1 guess not you see its it s a year and a half almost since that happened and the thing I 1 re member of 0 course is the row I 1 had with her conversation lagged we had exhausted an all that was obvious in the affair 1 do you know where elsa L is ro rogers gers inquired of a sudden AU ali I 1 know is that some guy a mex who speaks english said when I 1 first came out that she had gone out horseback riding alone 1 I ask we had had our talk with george rumble the explanation of the picture in the rotogravure section had been made and I 1 was ready to return to town but rogers was inclined to linger although we had discovered that neither sam chatfield nor berta was at home and there seemed ro no r o object in remaining you dont know of course when wh en elsa is expected back inquired rogers of rumble no I 1 dont hunt rogers got up from the patio bench and began a leisurely examination of the flowers and the riot of tropical shrubbery finally he pushed open an old grilled gate which led to a graveled courtyard or bare plaza the huge house formed one side of the open square A long low line of adobe buildings with barred windows housed the office of the ranch and the storehouses a third side was the living quarters of the ranch workers the fourth that of the stables I 1 followed rogers leaving rumble sitting alone smoking a brown paper cigarette in solitude As we sauntered toward the stables the actions of a man in the courtyard near a gate which opened upon the fields of the rancho drew our attention he was stooping above the form of a brown dog lying on the ground As we drew near he emptied the contents of a bottle upon a dirty rag and held it to the dogs nose and the dog quivered slightly as if from a chill the dog is old said rogers in spanish very old sir the man replied looking up sadly it is best that he should die now sir he caught a whiff of something and turned his head away chloroform I 1 said to rogers yes he answered and stooped to pick up the empty bottle the man had discarded hell die quickly he said to the executioner yes sir senora chatfield would not have him shot she said this was merciful the senora gave you the drug yes sir do you think the dog is dead sir not yet but soon while I 1 was standing there gazing at this odd scene my ears picked up the sound of hoof beats for a moment or two their source was not apparent I 1 walked through the gate and out into the open away from the stables rogers followed me across the wide fields along an unpaved ranch roadway leading to the house came pounding a horse and rider as if in a tremendous hurry to arrive A hundred yards or so behind was a second horseman following in the wake of the other As they came nearer in their mad race I 1 made out the figure of elsa astride the leading horse and on the other chesebro elsa seemed to be flying for her life she was leaning far over the neck of her mount and applying a short quirt in vicious mechanical strokes her arm rising and falling as if geared to the flying hoofs of her horse they drew rapidly toward us elsa looking back over her shoulder of a sudden sat erect and reined in her horse there was something very intent about her every action she had not discovered us standing as we were beside the huge wheel of an old oxcart she was intent upon chesebro now reining up at her side she sat quietly astride her horse which with heaving flanks was uneasy and nervous after the run rogers grunted half in astonishment at something half in warning to me he seemed to sense what was about to happen for there was something deadly in elsas firmly seated figure in thie the way she held herself in readiness chese bros restless horse sidled close to elsas Che sebros hand was extended as if in expostulation in in protest in appeal to an iron something in elsa it was all too apparent now that elsa had not so much been flying for her life as running away from a situation that had angered her and had now thought better of it and was decided upon action that action was so swift so startling and so cruel that I 1 gasped scarcely able as I 1 was to follow the figure that stiffened in the stirrups the arm that rose and fell like lightning the lash of the short quirt which elsa only a few moments before had used upon her horse struck chesebro across s the face I 1 still can remember the sound of it can see the white line it left along his fat cheek elsas horse reared she clung to the saddle without touching the pommel so intent was she upon the object of her wrath chese bros horse whirled about b but U t bolt the man was dazed beail tiered dered by the blow TO BE CONTINUED |
