Show synthetic gentleman gentleman Gent lema n by charming channing b pollock copl right chonn inc pollack cil service 1 11 I 1 CHAPTER V continued 12 stop fretting barry commanded hell be out in a month barrys heart had gone out to pe peggy gy and to her boy A chorine clorine with the domestic T virtues of a clergy mans wife what peg was id like to give pat a squint at the underdog glie elie thinks she despises so BO lie he k thought the next morning there were two responses to the lie advertisement suggested by evans barry wrote asking I 1 both applicants for the reward to call at his rooms on the wity way to the globe he dropped in on tim laugherty tim had been assigned to a new case now and regarded the kelly matter its as a closed incident harrys barrys zeal amused him What rc you talking about lie he inquired nith mock seriousness ous ness kelly were at the rollies follies buddy barry reported his interview with the lie oriental tim grinned we ive knew all about that ten days ago 11 lie ile produced his records there was a call at that came from a hotel in the forties an ac torine named betty barclay then there was three calls from kellys at 82 i and that first numbers cumbers the house of a lawyer named hood next comes the yale club and the thirds a flat in riverside drive whose 1 I dont know inow what about the call that came in while rogers was there boloney you sou mean there any such call not ot on my records ot of course it might ve been sent from a nickel in the j slot booth you cant trace them things listen pal youre on a chase this rogers lad done it CHAPTER VI barry proceeded to the globe quite expecting to find his dismissal there im going to draw down fifty bucks lie he thought and what have I 1 done for it but ernie harwood arwood II had caught the be contagion tor for sleuthing the other papers have practically dropped it lie he said okay well go on working quietly and isome 0 6 some day well turn up the story Ws its good 1 any time and im dead sure now the cops have got the wrong party maybe they know it too 31 abbe they dont want to know who bumped ott off the big boss you doing barry told him lets see those telephone numbers standing over him barry pointed out that somebody had bad made two calls calla from kellys within eleven minutes after the receipt of the message from betty barclay harwood arwood II saw nothing remarkable about that but barry persisted nho was somebody kelly get home till 11 the filipino says mrs kelly was in ilar harlem who called the yale club and the flat on riverside drive harwood arwood II sent for a newspaper file 1 I thought so he observed his finger on one of its pages betty bar clays the dame mrs kelly named when hen she was going to divorce defly barry whistled that might explain mrs kelly calling a lawyer named hood the city editor glanced back at the ilc file especially since lie was her lawyer glame that big red book larry barry obeyed hood graduated from yale tale lie at home so they tried to get him at his club law firm nood hood loring gamme the telephone book just a hunch but okay the riverside numbers the home of horace loring somebody wanted legal ad lee ce that night and wanted it bad who use your imagination mrs kelly sure she took the call from betty barclay y she he the butler took it all right then he gave it to her and she went wild you want to know why the orientals Orient als cagey 1 well why iles hes trying to shield mrs kelly what youve got to do now is to check up on that alibi re i they discussed ways and means K also they discussed barrys other ac g tivi ties barry showed ernie his ad vertI and the two responses P 1 harwood was skeptical 0 1 we might get the number of the A taxi that killed the woman what then that was two hours after the murder and if you have the good j fortune to get the taxi the one that brought the midnight caller to kellys it if there was a midnight caller shows hows the driver going to know who I 1 his big fare was no son beet tom 11 barry defended himself you never can tell what youre soo ing to get till you go after it harwood II arwood was searching for that inevitable 0 evl table pipe r youre enthusiastic he comment lii ed and something in fact it ifa it everything I 1 figure getting any where as 5 per cent luck and 85 95 i per cent enthusiasm now beat it 1 I too busy for mathematics lie smiled almost as warmly and kindly as winslow had done youve got a nose for news he went on when I 1 hired you I 1 sold said get a raise if you were worth it and fired if aou ou well I 1 think youre worth a hundred a week swell of you barry glowed but I 1 dont see what ive done wednesday brought the desired letter from had bad Naul icim and three more from gentlemen who hoped to receive the fifty dollar reward with these as with their predecessors carry barry made appointments beginning at four thursday mrs bidders envelope contained a check drawn to her order by the old man and endorsed sl simply n ply IT eleanor leanor ridder bidder ashes a good business woman barry said to himself ironically it occurred to her to doubt the sender of that cablegram or what he meant to do with the money Wins lowll take it carry barry told peggy and take his retainer out of it then he can give us his check for the rest Win winslows slows camell na inell be on this check when its returned to the old man and of course all right 11 What ll we do with winslows Win slows check start a bank account in your name then ill go to tou ou when we need funds and toll tell you what for give this letter to jack and tell him it to make him ashamed of himself it almost did even more than the communication barry had shown him tills this answered jacks question as to whether its his mother cared im so glad youie youe got work slie she had written and so glad youre taking an interest in that boy it shows ive always been right about you and it will help belp you too we cant help others without helping ourselves making character I 1 want to boast to your father lies iles no better though worse if anything goodness knows when we shall get back to america and im so anxious to get back now I 1 the real jack bidder answered that letter without prompting and the fake jack ridder bidder posted the answer at three thursday afternoon he be was in its his rooms preparing to quiz the file reward seekers barry had bad reason to know the ways of Im impostors posters the first caller was just that 1 I was walking down fifth avenue he be recounted and I 1 happened to glance to my left I 1 saw the cab coming lickett split to your left barry asked that would have been east and sixteenth streets for traffic from the west the second applicant was waiting by now a lunch counter clerk run out of his place to see what the excitement was about but seen much on his heels came an exceptionally interesting jehu lie ile was an SI D he told barry but business Is bad so im out to make a little A little business barry asked well I 1 hit anyone yet lie ile was thirty five neatly dressed and wore glasses and its his english was pure and undefiled led moreover lie had a scientific instinct for observation 1 I saw the taxi lie he said and the woman step off the curb I 1 knew the cab would hit her and it did get the number of course the visitor answered tool took it down as the runaway crossed in front ot of we me lie he produced a prescription pad barry wrote it in the notebook note book to which he had transferred the number of kellys lost latch latchkey key how did you happen to be in lower fifth avenue at that hour be asked 1 I went down some time before with a iery ery singular person why do you say lie he was singular ile he acted strangely at least I 1 thought so at the time I 1 picked him up in a tobacconists shop a few minutes before twelve where do aou ou want to gor go I 1 asked him to a drug store he answered theres one in the flatiron building at broadway and twenty third street take me there thera it seemed a long way to go for a drug store but I 1 supposed lie he knew someone or wanted a special prescription anyway it was none of my business and I 1 took him ile he gave me a fifty cent tip and went into the broadway entrance five minutes later at while I 1 was wondering where to go next nest I 1 saw him walk out of the door that opened on fifth avenue I 1 started back uptown about halt half past one I 1 picked up a couple that eliat wanted to go to the brevoort on eighth street I 1 took em and was making for times square again when the traffic lights stopped me at sixteenth then I 1 saw the woman and the cab the whole thing was over in a minute the taxi tail struck her went right up tip on the pavement smashed a lamppost lamp post and kept going but I 1 got the number then of course I 1 jumped out of my cab and went to the woman she was beyond help though and by this time a policeman had bad turned up and I 1 decided to move on ile he smiled A taxi tax driver learns to avoid the constabulary stab so you give the cop that license number what for the woman was dead and arresting some poor scared going to do her any good I 1 started back to my cab and whom should I 1 bump into but the chap id driven to the drug store I 1 ie he was coming out of sixteenth street so lost in himself that he even noticed the lie crowd ll hello ello I 1 said we seem to be meeting a lot tonight who are you lie he asked curtly im the taxi tail driver who took you to a drug store on twenty third street a couple of hours ngo ago 1 I never saw you before in my life youve made a mistake be said 1 I 1 live in this street and ive b been ce n home all evening you never dro drove Y e me m ebone anywhere have it your own ways way I 1 sall and climbed into ray my buggy 1 I mistaken and neither was lie he ile he was in kind of 0 a daze until he recognized me BOP and then he got almost hysterical toudie Tou You dve thought id accused him of murder the doctor rose from his chair maybe im doing that he added there was a murder that night you know in that street but 0 of courses course you kr w your ad fool me then why did you answer it well my conscience has been hurting in g me a little lie ile smiled agala A I 1 r 4 f who are you he asked curtly nay my number and my name and address it if you want me theres your fifty dollars thanks 1 I wish you could tell me more about your singular fare 1 I wish so too but I 1 cant id know him it if I 1 saw him again but im not likely to see him would you mind leaving me a receipt for that money barry asked certainly not 1 I like to have vouchers for what I 1 pay out the doctor nodded and went to the desk barry was halted by an exclamation what Is it he asked the doctor turned to him the man I 1 saw in S sixteenth street lie he said believe it or not the man in ID his hand was barrys newspaper with the picture of judge hambidge 1 I must see pat at once barry thought what was he be going to say to her six days before she had bad given him a pretty plain warning to keep out ot of tills this barry no longer had any doubt of that ile he had decided to do so and then willetts had reminded him that gentlemen abandon ladies in distress well what was a gentleman to do now damn it he raged 17 1 I cant blame her for wanting to protect her own father 1 and it make the least difference anyway id go on loving her if shed committed the mur murder derl 1 once more he asked himself what right he be had to assume that either pat or the judge had anything to do with that murder pacing the floor he reviewed all his evidence again and reached a conclusion as to what it indicated dica ted that brought him back to the idea of himself as pats ally it if I 1 can call make lier her see that he said ashes got to come clean though and she hlll when I 1 can tell her about peg peggy and make her understand that the truth will clear that boy and then we can get together to clear the judge there might have been a whole lot of reasons reasons decent ones for his going to kellys that night evans phoned at ten ive been having dinner with nith kellys chauffeur ills names nolan byans said and he dont talk much we got pretty thick tonight though suppose we start for home at nine in the morning larry barry sald said ile was hung hungry gry and tired of thinking so he had a snack at the corner precisely at nine the next morning he called pat and told her he was coming something Import ants happened he said why not lunch with us pat suggested were lucky if we get out by two barry told her and anyway I 1 want to see you alone ill expect you at two she said evans was waiting and full of his evening with nolan 1 I dare ask a question evans reported hes the suspicious kind I 1 think he drinks though and a fellow that drinks Is bound to loosen up some day buy hirn him all he can hold barry counseled conversation lapsed after that evans passenger was rehearsing his part of the coming interview ill bet she knows now what its about he speculated and she did come coma in pat invited leading the way to the drawing room pat indicated a chair sit there she bade him its awfully warm tor for june TO BE CONTINUED |