Show i 0 GERALD BROWN 1 duke Alc Cale private detective 1 li 1 in the murder of curt cur vallain ca court urt who was about t to marry veronica on ag ni gelow to heiress to thirty million ilion dollars she ls li t the h e p principal r 1 ic 1 p al s suspect usie ct AKI mccale uncovers a deep plot to keep control of the great fortune in the family through i deal with Vallain court sharl shari lynn ballaine Va llaine burts 1 former wife Is shot liot to death mccale Is 19 shot in the shoulder sybil V veronicaa veronicas Vero or 0 nicas mo mother mothers therIs Is sa s1 slugged aged sud denly th the truth ruth strikes mccale Cale rushing hushing out of the he approaches a man n in sailor 0 o s uniform he la stephen bigelow veronicas veronicaa Vero nicas brother DIc mccale cale and his aids overpower him before he can ab shoot I 1 just it then en donlevy drives up and brus brusquely qu ly takes lakes over CHAPTER donlevy took over with a brusqueness that was wag un unfamiliar f abillar ile he herded them all into the library where an astonished and shaking butler w was a s fussing around miss adelaide she stood a figure ot of stone ston drained of all animation her face ace was 9 gray ray against the mantel anguished stephen she said in a murmur myr that became a cry the young old face ace of 0 stephen looked half ugly half despairing iri in the dim light there was a haunted look behind his eyes he wet his lips with the tip of 0 his tongue suddenly he slumped into a chair yes mccale said his sophisticated mouth curled in triumph and his tone was brittle it was stephen bigelow dressed as a sailor who whom m we saw loitering about the enar entrance once to the common just before the murder he looked up at the hou house e once remember lie he must have seen us at the bay window of the drawing room for or the next tl time me I 1 noticed him he was reading apayer a paper probably to hide his face when Vallain court approached pro ached the house he must have come across the street into the shelter of the areaway that goes under the front steps the service entrance when curt was passing he simply stepped up to him and fired pointblank point blank mccale looked at donlevy and his men who were grouped over the crestfallen culprit donlevy looked up at him it was so simple simp e really now that it was ex explained plaine he did say the ghost of darist derision on his lips peculiar no one m mentioned tinned a tailor hanging around 1 I know mccale answered bit terly my fault entirely I 1 pride myself on having a photographic mind and I 1 missed that too men in the service are so common about the streets these days that they go almost unnoticed anywhere that Is where he was so clever who would connect a sailor with t the he big belows one thing I 1 should have seen though most certainly I 1 never forgive myself tor for that what s that asked donlevy mccale reached out and took the hat stephen bigelow had in his hand ile he cocked a finger anger and spun the thing around ue like a plate well I 1 U be damned donlevy exploded 1 I dont don t blame you there was chagrin in Mc Cales s tone this hat la is perfectly round which identifies it as the type worn a number of years ago the style was changed about five years ago the newer ones tilt u up P in front like a regiment al officer s cap without a visor it if id I 1 d only noticed that one thing id I 1 d have realized the sailor we saw was a phoney he sighed it might have saved a life lie he thought of sharl shari lynn donlevy cleared his throat then there was a rustle of feathers and satin at the door and victoria whirled in her eyes were bright and her makeup make up stood ou out t in ghost ghast ly relief against the pal paleness eness of her face her fingers jerked to her hat hair r and a shriek died on her lips two officers moved forward automatic ally she blurted some wild gib berish that foretold rising dyste raa then suddenly was quiet so you did it she said slowly my aly god I 1 t think you had the guts you fool you utter fool she isn t worth it you know not worth it stephen goes quietly to prison by this time donlevy was rattled he moved in on stephen with a c ircle circle of his men he gave the charge so low it was hardly andl ble ills his voice dropped for or an interminable minute before hg he stepped back As he did mccale saw Bige bigelow lows s jaw move his head come up slowly tired furtive eyes liap lit up as he looked away from the group that surrounded him A sin gle tear ran out of the corner of an eye he got to his feet lowering his head as he slowly turned to take them hem all in no ope one moved toward him he gave them a ous glare finally he turned to victoria and spoke his last words in their presence tell mother ills voice bloke bicke she nodded lets let s go said donlevy they took him away they had left the bigelow house in a storm of questions from the first reporters on the scene in the din of explosions from photographers flash bulbs in the confusion of the comings and goings of officials from police headquarters and the district attorneys attorney s office mccale was look ing forward to the peace and quiet of 0 his bis own apartment when they reached it they found ann marriot dozing by the dying are she jumped up smoothing rumpled hair into place well she said tartly are you all right running around like that in your dressing gown my goodness no way to call on the beacon street Bige lows its all over it it came over the ra radio dio about an hour ago you would have to wrestle with murderers you you sure you leel feel all right she was trying hard to cover up her concern she had been worrying about him all everling evening afraid that he might seriously harm his injured shoulder im all right mccale said but im still wet and very very tired then you get into dry clothes right away rocky bocky you mix him a highball while I 1 make coffee while youre getting the liquid inside of you I 1 want to hear about everything if you think im going to tuk tuck you in and go home before I 1 get the whole story you are sadly mistaken it if you will go out chasing a murderer all night with a hole in your side just have to take the consequences im going to ask questions if I 1 stay here the rest of the night 1 if you keep this up spending your nights with me the way you have been doing have to marry me to save my good name your good name ask ask she laughed and flounced out the door the three of them sat a long time ov over er brandy and hot coffee discussing the case after a lengthy resume they grew silent mccale finally spoke why sybila life was spared the maddening thing about it all was the motive you see everyone who come came under suspicion after veronica was more or less cleared had a motive but not different motives they all had the same one what do you mean ann asked well they were all in the plot to get curt married to veronica and in charge of the bigelow millions then when it was discovered that he intend to give them a share after all they all had the same incentive to keep him from getting control of it when it was c lear clear that they all wanted him out 0 of f the way for the same reason it became more a matter of seeking au out t the person with the characteristics most suitable to committing murder bright lad rocky grinned its a wonder you fumbled as long as you did mccale scowled oh I 1 know the old one about everyone being a potential murderer I 1 had to nose a little closer to the ground than just accusing one right after the other some of them had to have a stronger than just money call it jealousy combined with passion korea karen was the temme femme fatale of course I 1 think she knew from the first that stephen did it she give him away though not until tonight shed even thought of helping him to run away again why she drew the but tonight when I 1 asked her it if she knew why sybil been killed instead of stunned she answer however as I 1 went out the door she began to play the lullaby from jocelyn it was her way of telling me about the mother fexa fixation stephen had he could not bring himself to kill her even though he realized she had gone to the attic to see if his sailor suit was still there and the gun oh h what she was lo 10 looking for of course funny AU all the wa way along the line everything pointed to the sailor angle it until I 1 found the black silk square in the attic that I 1 realized what I 1 had missed it was a kerchief you know the kind sailors wear knotted about their necks when I 1 realized what it was the whole puzzle fell into focus there was a sailor lounging near the gate across from the house on the afternoon of the murder then miss bigelow had told me that stephen had once run away and joined the navy lie he even mentioned the fact himself then there was the picture missing from sharl shari lynns wall the only sailor in all those uniforms stephens photograph of course the picture was taken years and years ago not a very good one bu but t if I 1 had given it more than a cursory glance the night I 1 saw it at sharl shari lynns I 1 think I 1 would have recognized him lord the whole business was out in the open all th tha time this from rocky uh uh where he was clever it was almost too out in the open stephen told no ties lies he admitted being jealous of karen everything ery thing he did was logical you know except attacking his mother he have done that because he follow through on it he have the heart to kill her it showed that the killer had a fondness for sybil that kept him from destroying her that definitely put the finger on stephen it A all 11 ends with a kiss rocky said surprisingly ile he was lucky about the false clues too boss he try to leave any himself false ones to point another way like most murderers do there was the red wig and everybody being in the same locality at just the right time to come under suspicion those things just happened all the confusion it caused was lucky for him for a while anyway certainly right he almost got away with bumping me off too hed never been caught it if hed killed you said ann oh I 1 dont know Don levys smart and he would have plugged away until he got the right line no doubt maybe she sounded skeptical good heavens its five what about you and your good name now she grinned at mccale rocky tilted his bulk from his chair saying ill mosey along too come on ann ill drop you you get right into bed now duke she ordered 1 I hope youre going to be oil all right you arent running a fever are you she put her hand on his forehead and bending over suddenly gave him a long kiss im fine answered mccale happily but if you want my temperature pera ture to go up youre certainly doing the right thing THE END |