Show 11 1 all over the belp 10 al rich richard a rd powell I 1 I 1 AN SANCTUM MYSTERY f STARRING A ARAB RAB 0 o ANDY BLAKE wu 5 THE STORY THUS FAR I 1 lt andy blake and his wile wife arab discovered evidence dence of ct a spy ring headed by a tie mr jones jone the nicy y arranged to la have jones and ana his bli gang follow to andys home while there here renee who kept the tee hangout came through the window and was wai taken to the cellar arab tried to escape but was captured capture d by jones renee tried to help andy by cutting a small h hole over IT bis heart to a that ishm jones broke into the cellar he be left andy dy were there believing him dead andy rushed to his big superior reported the whole matter then headed to a black market gas station used by jones lie ile captured tee operator but not until Is tee operators had bad ghisi sent ent out an alarm to the gang charter XIII the war department connection came through and I 1 gave the extension number in the few seconds pause I 1 yanked at buttons squirmed out of my blouse the regulation belt with its telltale brass buckle and keeper went next it was gujt as well to be set I 1 had the tie halt half undone as our branch be secretary answered the phone its blake I 1 said get colonel parker in an another ther moment his voice rumbled over the wire and I 1 began babbling out the story etory and trying to listen to him with one ear and to road noises with the other I 1 was incoherent at first if an average person had been on the other end saying huh and that and 1 I get that wed have had the wire snarled faster than a kitten with a ball of yarn but the chief brought me along like a CO handling a green forward observer when I 1 finished he had all the facts and he had them straight blake he said can you give us ui fifteen minutes ill try sir but the way this guys listening he expects his friends awfully soon got a gun guat no sir 11 then get your prisoner hidden and I 1 my left ear went out of business and my right took over it had picked up a faint hum burn like bees swarming but bees dont swarm in late october blake did you hear me the hum was rising ninety horsepower would sound sod like that a quarter mili mile away blakel blake I 1 whirled to the mouthpiece car on the way colonel hitting plenty this looks like it wont hold you then good luck the r receiver e clacked blacked clack ed I 1 slammed tit it into t athe the holder and cleared tor for braction rac action tion my fingers had finished loosening my tie as I 1 talked I 1 flung it into a corner ripped the shoulder straps from my OD shirt shirk and got r rid of rny my dog tags that left nothing bang to scream army two hundred yards down the road tires yowled bowled around the curve I 1 dropped to the floor and rolled oil and grease and dirt into my clothes it enough I 1 scrambled to the workbench and found a battered tin can filled with penetrating oil and rusted parts I 1 dipped both hands bands in it ran them through my hair they were looking for a redheaded guy I 1 gave my face a smearing snatched an old sweater from a hook dove into it and swiped the lanky mans crumpled felt hat the shack trembled to the roar of 0 eight cylinders brakes shrieked I 1 slugged the lanky man back of the ear just hard enough to make him groggy not a time tor for playing nice then I 1 ran outside and saw dust still spurting behind a big sedan jeez I 1 yelled am I 1 glad you guys got herel here I 1 I 1 thought you was never comin I 1 two big men piled out of the car and came at me like guards double teaming a tackle big hard hands jolted me twisted my arms into pretzels behind my back slapped my body I 1 howled take it basyl easy im with you guyal guys I 1 they moved in high gear but thought in low right away they handed me the lanky mans name whore you one said wheres eddie make it fast if you wanna be able to scratch again he gave the arm he held an extra twist eddie ie got hallett nal hall ledl edt I 1 cried im pi s t bryin to help gamme a chance he e army put the snatch on dimill the pressure eased two square stolid etolia faces pushed close to mine Wh atcha mean the army quit yammering hammering yam mering and give out I 1 im tryan bryin fellows this army lieutenant come back see he was onto eddie su sugar garin ln his gas he sticks a rod in eddies ribs and says come on buddy were goin for a arap up U S I 1 and youre gonna banow me where jones and raeder and the others hang out and he makes eddie get in his car and they drive oft jeez it was oney a couple minutes after eddie buzzed you what ahat were you doln all this time 1 iwas I was in the house I 1 watched h him tin lie he know there was any doody dy but eddie I 1 do noth fl tl t I 1 l I 1 have no rod one of f them jarred me with the heel of 0 his thick hand yah he said bif vif it had bad a rod you of used it you dont weigh in lik like e a real guy tor for my m money oney the other hiither nodded said 1 I lined him up tor for a rat they looked at me disgustedly but let my arms go they so worried about me now they had me typed and it was a type they understood I 1 had tad been lucky it healthy to puzzle guys like them playing rat might not be nice work but there was more future in it than playing suspicious character want I 1 whined want me to come out and bite that rod autta his hand one 0 of them slapped sla plied me not hard the kind of slap that tells a rat hc he belongs the kind a real guy 9 gets ts on his back what was you doln doin here huh hub just belpin eddie out all listen fellows aaa eddie go in for helpers youre aidin out chos lookin for you huh it was just a little job I 1 pulled up north much yeah what kind of job lets hear it yo u 11 make him cry he never pulled a job wheres your draft card J jerk rall 1 I 1 I 1 lost it it gets me one of them said These jerks will plead to anything elc except t keepin one jump ahead of a greetings all ali right la 1 A fill up the tank q quick 11 I 1 fumbled in my pocket brought out the key that seemed to wipe out any remaining suspicion I 1 went to work filling their tank my hands kept shaking all ali they had to do was to glance into the repair shop but they I 1 finished the A I 1 4 I 1 y I 1 grabbed a handful of dirty rags and stuffed them into his bis mouth job screwed the cap on tight I 1 had their license number and a good description they get tar far up U S I 1 you be able to catch that car I 1 said he dont have too much of a lead smack him one for me will you one of them laughed do your own smacking he said he wien wrenched ched open the rear door and shoved me into the car we like your company listen fellows I 1 got to stick around herel jeez it if a highway cop says wheres my draft card and I 1 shut cupl up we need you to spot the car he climbed in beside me take it away chum he be told his partner the engine howled the big sedan made a rocking turn tum which slammed me against my companion and roared back the way it had come only five minutes had passed since Col colonel ofiel parker had hung up five minutes and he had asked me for fifteen I 1 had let him down I 1 had let a lot of swell people down and I 1 might have cost arab her only chance of rescue it was no use counting on cops but the army was something else every time we screeched around a bend I 1 prayed tor for a road block and a squad of tough GI Is g from meade in battle dress A couple of phone phon e calls from the gas station would sew up this road until armor get through curve after curve loomed ahead and then dwindled in the rear view mirror I 1 chilled a little more each time my idea had been on the optimistic side I 1 expect the army to read minds probably they were losing time right now searching the underbrush around the gas station tor for my body when they find it they know where to look next u until n til they got the lanky man balkin talking g I 1 it t takes time to loosen up a man when you dont use axis axil methods until he talked the army was looking for an unidentified car filled with an unknown number of strangers stranger headed beaded in an undisclosed direction the car neared baltimore once the man next to me snapped orders to keep a loser closer watch for the green coupe I 1 had described both he and the driver were getting jumpy we spotted a green car at a diner and two thick automatics slid out toto into two big hands they almost seemed 0 o doubt my word when I 1 said it the car and the tha driver slowed to check but the car had delaware plates and we went on we slipped through baltimore shortly after ten then came open country and the driver swerved to the side of the road and halted well he said scowling at me who me I 1 asked an elbow slammed into my ribs not extra hard just enough to remind me of my place wheres where the car wheres eddie how would I 1 know I 1 whined 1 I aint been car carrein carry ln them in my pocket A clown the driver said reaching back to clip my jaw warningly why we spot that car you said he took eddie up U S 1 what about the sugar in his gas tank we see no green coop stopped anywhere maybe he hc stopped and drained his tank before we caught up I 1 said he could have had time tor for a fast job he could still be up ahead he not now jerk not now lie he looked at me from empty blue eyes and said you know why on account of eddie dont know where we go from baltimore it took a few seconds tor for that to sink in when it did I 1 got sick the army army nt be able to find out the location of the hangout from eddie ile he would give them baltimore and then they would have to guess they still had the whole jersey and maryland coastline to work work on it would take ten divisions to check that coastline and it be done between now and tomorrow morning about now was time tor for me to get my brain out of cold storage I 1 had been letting things slide counting on others to clean up the mess I 1 even noticed for example that we had turned off U S 1 in baltimore and had taken the more easterly highway 40 it took a route marker near the car to make me realize that what do you think the driver asked his buddy get going but watch tor for a tall tail if you guys dont doat want me no more I 1 said ill thumb a ride back and A sla slap ended that try were taking you along jerk my companion said the chief might want to get a load of you from that point on we try to set any speed records in open country we eased along at thirty occasionally another car would tag along behind us tor for a while and the big men would start to worry our car would drift into a side road and then crouch on its rear springs from sudden acceleration sometimes we made long detours or turned into side roads and parked to watch tr traffic f on the highway once a light plane circled overhead and the big car ran for cover like a rabbit under a hawk A little while later I 1 noticed my companion staring at my shoes the shoes were dirty enough but the russet leather cracked the laces were neat and the heels run over at the back I 1 shuffled my feet back out ot of sight nothing was said but I 1 knew that this and other odd facts were being 5 studied t u died the two big men had low gear minds but low gear will get you places if you have time to spare and low gear minds arent likely to get off the track we stopped tor for more gas at a place I 1 in delaware they let me go into the washroom alone while my companion smoked a cigarette outside the window I 1 had time to tear off a piece of paper towel write colonel parkers Far war department address and print ONE THIRTY MID DELAWARE SEDAN VIRGINIA LICENSE ROUTE 40 HEADED JERSEY STOP UNDER SUSPICION BUT NOT YET PRISONER STOP BLAKE underneath I 1 wrote telegram URGENT I 1 underlined URGENT three times and backed it up by folding a aved dollar 0 ilar bill in the paper it made a sm small all wad which I 1 could hide in my h hand arl d until I 1 got a chance to pass it t to 0 somebody respectable they let me get away with that but when we reached the newcastle Penns pennsville ville ferry one of them stuck beside me wherever I 1 went I 1 had bad no c hance chance to slip the telegram to anyone anyon e by the time we rolled up tal the e jersey ramp the wadded paper wei was getting damp alamp with sweat As we drove on I 1 noticed that my iny pal no longer kept his automatic in his pocket it was on the far side of cf the seat beside him I 1 knew what the books said to do clip him cross across the throat grab the gun and plug the man up front but maybe 1 ray n y pals read the anaa same boo boocks k a and I 1 the right to take that kind of gamble yet ten miles into jersey we stopped slopped at a diner tor for coffee and sinkers linkers A A faded middle aged woman served us and wondered aloud if wo we knew a war job for or anybody with arthritis she t told id us that gas rationing had bad ruined the diner business when we finished I 1 made rny my bid let me take this I 1 said maid and wen went to the cash register before they could answer I 1 dug out a dollar bill with a flourish turned nay my back to them and handed the woman the dollar and the folded note she gave ave me the change from the dollar fingered the note saw the five and started to speak TO BE |