Show hal G E RAL ALD D BROWN FEATURES duke bl mccale eCale private detective IJ ii engaged by wealthy old oil nisi bliss bigelow Ule clow to luard guard her lleces wedding presents guesses there Is something sinister la in the situation itu a tion and so 10 accepts lie meets mr sibil bigelow gelow Bl the bride tradel mother victoria and stephen bigelow Ble elow the bride bridei broth brother and sitter and mrs stephen bigelow Dl gelow a strikingly beautiful blon blonde d a woman later he becomes and acquainted quain ted with aith christopher storm a noted d arhl architect act atho ho ll Is too inquisitive to suit alt mccale then lie he meets meet veronica the bride t to be e an attractive and intelligent g earl irl and the be the eit extremely r emely handsome curt vallain court big bl and mast masterful erfal ire ho gives veronica veroica it a strange meaningful glance CHAPTER IV wh when e n curt began to take his leave he doled himself out stephen ho ha treated like a brother storm as an affectionate friend it was the women who bit at his heels most avidly miss adelaide glowed turned coy sybil shook herself out of th the e sulks bulks simpered simp ered victoria looked at him hotly and karens e yes eyes kindled with an ley icy fire veronica waited tolerantly as a if the she could well afford to do so he crossed to her finally in his negligently graceful stride he took her hands in his big ones and leaning over whispered in her ear she laid her bronze head against the massiveness of his chest tor for a moment everyone must have heard her tay say 11 but its ita all right now darling all right im so glad I 1 was devastated victorias eyes were halt half closed mere p pencil e acu strokes in her beardsley fa face ce and karens only movement was the tapping of a carmine fingernail on the arm ami of her chair curt kissed his fiancee and then mccale knew there was no acting in that kiss this was no embrace in the thundering animal way of a tarzan this ibis was not the selling power behind perfect merchandise in spite of the stories in spite of the mans reputation he was really in love with veronica bigelow Bl gelow it was in his eyes it was unmistakable how could anyone in that room not know it then the party broke up it was alter after that that victoria laughed derisively ri and in passing christopher christophe said slyly you big big foell to give them the nest dont tell me you wanted to christopher smiled in a depressed manner got up and took her arm As they headed for or the door heard him say calm yourself vicky my girl to the victor belongs the spoilt spoils rats she answered youre a cc congenital idiot adelaide bigelow had been snuffing out candles here and there she twitched switched off a table lamp and came over to mccale who stood in the firelight a dark figure sorting his impressions the old furniture and trappings seemed to flicker and dissolve in the half light the fire pulsed in the grate you wont need me tonight he asked as it if it were finished no I 1 think not she faltered altered will you telephone me in the morning of course 1 I shall need you she said with emphasis she looked older and more haggard in the gloom he nodded as she followed him to the door 1 I think I 1 should have one of my operators operator s on duty here tonight oh no it wont be at all necessary I 1 the wedding gifts there wa was s an a n oh so subtle tinge of sarcasm sarcasm in his tone she s smiled m I 1 I 1 e d uncomfortably be all right very well he was outside in the corridor mr mccale yes you saw the bridegroom what do you think he hesitated very handsome ile he knew that the answer the wanted Is that all character I 1 say I 1 simply recognize him as a type one over which im not enthusiastic III c 1 I watched you this afternoon you are so calm dont you ever get excited he chuckled 1 I have a very even temperament she looked disappointed but he would make no further comment good night good night dinner date at the white abbey As he walked crosstown cross town he felt strangely tr angely disembodied like someone coming from the theater a theater where one had seen a queerly disturbing drama on impulse he entered the first drugstore that he saw he dia dialed led the bigelow number waiting impatiently until he heard miss A ade de caides voice on second thought he said ive decided that it is necessary to have my assistant in your house tonight A mr bjorkland he will report to you at eight good night again he hang up before she could acquiesce or demur then he called his own number rocky answered hello rocky I 1 want you to spend the night at the Bige lows okay boss cooking something yes but nothing that I 1 can get my teeth into I 1 know theres something wrong though do you want m me e to watch out for anything in particular no o o just keep your eyes and ears open I 1 wont even give you my reactions to the bigelow clan I 1 want an unbiased opinion from you in the morning youre supposed to be guarding those precious wedding gifts miss bigelow will be expecting you at eight ask for her better run along now and get yourself some 9 grub rub put ann on the line will you the power bower behind the throne quipped rocky took her royal departure at the stroke of six just like that yeah she had a wicked gleam in her eye when she sealed the note she left for you ill lay odds that ashes up to some deviltry wo no doubt well ill be seeing you in the morning dont let any of em rattle you be seeing Y you 0 u night now the desk light was on in the outer office in the small round pool of light it threw lay a note from ann I 1 1 lights went down suddenly and a 91 girl ra stepped into the yellow oval of 0 a ap spot a t marriot harriot reminding him that he be was taking her to dinner she had underlined der lined the final word dress he 11 e knew what that forecast it meant the white abbey the seasons socially renowned Isa looft ile he grunted turned off the desk light and went through the quiet inner office to his bedroom and bath at the back he shaved and showered dressing automatically his mind busy in a treadmill of its own he went over the events of the afternoon trying to docket his impressions pres to in some way to relate them to the dark omen he had carried away from there he wished d rocky were with him now to talk it over he called a cab and rode cross town deep in the groove of his mood they drove up to a row 0 of f old brownstone houses which looked deserted their flat unlighted fronts a deceptive sepia blank one of them had an oyster white door made tor for it ann sizes up the situation after a wait of less than five minutes ann came from behind a door marked powder room she was slender and smart in a green draped affair that ended in a lot of gray foam the gown had no straps that he could see and it seemed she might be rising out of it to be with him minus the surf she was riding at any moment they climbed one of the staircases and were bowed into the dinner room by another interior decorator there was a lot of diffused light in here which made it rather rathe r better although the white prevailed they sat on one of a number nu m of semicircular semi circular velvet divans which formed a series of alcoves around the room they Imig lingered ered over the exorbitantly priced dinner mccale preoccupied bored by the place all ali right ann said finally it its not so hot but I 1 had to see it what do you really think of it its fascinatingly dull however what it will be like when you marry me your week will be a all U mapped out for you ill want to dress up one night and go 0 out ut to the place of the moment a regular night for the movies then well have to take in all the good plays m maybe abbe go dancing and which leaves one night a week tor for me to sit by the fire at your feet while you discuss the intricacies ot of your latest case yes I 1 know youre full of the blasted Bige lows now tell me all 1 I hope only your way of telling me that youre burning u up P with curiosity and so I 1 am he lighted a cigarette and nd start ed to recount carefully the affair bigelow as far as it went when he finally paused she said no more no more so far ai as I 1 can see from where were sitting then there any mystery unless its your irish hunch have I 1 ever been wrong oh you must have been once or twice but I 1 swear there Is something going on there some deep trouble I 1 tell you the whole family has the jumps shaky nervy nerv out of sorts it sticks out like a sore thumb ann selected a salted nut and bit into it with her strong white teeth she said an amused look in her eyes what sticks out Is that the whole family Is crazy about the gorgeous curt and he takes the one with the money he must be quite a boy 1 I assure you he Is cant you just see them all from my description the old lady at wits end sybil drowning something or other in sherry karen cold and lax taking it out on the piano veronica dazzled victoria cruel and fighting back stephen lost and floun floundering derin g why of course darling I 1 see them all but what do you think 1 I think youre smitten with this karen wench mccale roared good lord are you jealous of me now see here if course im jealous you wretch she waggled a finger at him then poin pointed and here it if im not mistaken comes another another member of our cast lights went down suddenly and a girl stepped into the yellow oval of a spot she was dressed in some silver business so cunningly draped that it turned her into a shimmering pillar she had a wide raspberry mouth and dark brown hair with strange lights to in it the saxophones walled wailed and subsided to a moan the drums were a tom tom accompaniment she stood perfectly still a cigarette hanging from the corner of her mouth while she sang her voice was a husky contralto t and she wrenched t the he lyrics from rom the commonplace into the realm of the boudoir it was topnotch old school singing bowl exclaimed mccale s showmanship ho wh what t were you saying my pet when n love walked in that was shari lynn mccale raised an eyebrow the girl had walked out onto th the floor again to take a bow she accepted the acclaim in the same slow sultry way she had sung 1 I hope you wont go into a jealous ra rage ge if I 1 say I 1 think ashes got something there said mccale slyly not at all ashes got something with her too if look where ashes headed mccale turned and saw the top 0 of f a curly black head the set of unmistakable shoulders ile he whispered under his breath curt Vallain court he murmured ann sighed so the boy himself I 1 can certainly see why the girls drop their handkerchiefs w whenever he goes by ill admit hes handsome handsome darling is not the word tor for it ann im ashamed of you I 1 did not dream that girls you listen to me instead almost any man with a lot of money is on the hunt tor for the best deal he can buy the matter with a woman chos got a few million lying around loose buying herself a gorgeous piece of freight like that he was shocked even though he knew she was enjoying his reactions curt goes to the highest bidder just it was wag his rejoinder its lust just the fact that its merchandise that makes it so so c heap cheap well its perfect merchandise and any woman women are supposed to have morals phooey chooey Pho oey darling what a million dollars or a real mink will do to a gals galls morals just funny shed stuck her chin out with that last observation and mccale cou resist the temptation to take ad advantage v altage antage of it ill get you a platinum fox he said with a perfectly serious expression do nothing of the kind she flared up then suddenly dissolved into convulsive laughter it was true however that curt Vallain court that highly salable male was going to the highest bidder on saturday next mccale thought of the clairvoyance that had made him sure only that afternoon that the man was truly trul in love with veronica bigelow Bl gelow it hardly seemed credible now that he saw him here in a tete a tete with shari lynn but there they were a table or two away deep in convers conversa timi TO BE |