Show A GE LD BROWN duke Al mccale ecale private detective Is guarding IT th the 0 wedding Ved ding presents present at the bigelow mansion ile he senses it that bat old bliss adelaide bigelow Is afraid of 0 something m more re serious than theft ile he meets the bride and groom to be veronica and curt Valla inc 0 urt and ver veronica moth ft er sybil an and d her brother and sister Step stephen henad and victoria while at a night club alc mccale cale spots in company 0 ol 01 f the clubs cluba singer snarl shari lynn ile he talks to J jerry err y tate a newspaper man and les letria ans th that a I 1 vua pincourt incourt to Is a big open spender r and gambler and that he was the h heart car t interest of 0 mrs stephen alge low I 1 or a short time according to rumor asa As soon as he met veronica he be concentrated olon grated on her CHAPTER VI for almost nothing but thanks 1 anyway he left the club and trudged through h the midnight city a sullen gloom curtaining his thoughts the lights of an all night lunchroom roo m winking through the murk drew w duke inside it was a dismal en enough ough place pace peopled w with ith a f ew down at heels stragglers the tha restaurant door banged and a tall wasted figure in a bedraggled coat and hat slouched to the counter there was something familiar about that back instinctively mccale half rose to his feet to see but his movement was too late joe leach saw him as he turned tray in hand he shuffled over and sat salt down HI shamus he said well all turned out in tails I 1 see excuse me but you look as though just been thrown out of the ritz what are you disguised as a magician gi cian mccale grunted noncommittally wont talk huh it just happens im a bit of a dick myself bud so ill dig down to in my bag of tricks and pull out the tact fact that you youve ve been hobnobbing hobnob bing with the elite elate the bigelow tribe to be exact what have they been having a soiree good god have you had a tall on me deduction shamus no to be honesty every agency in town knows youve knocked off the bigelow job ob howd hovd you do it it all about you give to know oh ob lord im just curious it might be worth your while look I 1 wont argue w with I 1 th you either you tell me or tell tel 1 it t to the marines im indifferent now what does it matter he made a slight movement as it if he were about to get up and go all ali right au all right I 1 just thought I 1 might soak you for or a five I 1 lost my pants in a game tonight the truth is stephen bigelow called our office to get the lowdown low do down on you late this afternoon called your office to get dope on me duke gave a raucous derisive howl bowl too darned tunny funny the connection between your outfit and stephen bigelow I 1 mean we did some work hork for or him once you did uh uh till what kind of work the usual sure who was the dame his wife ife macales Mc Cales spine began to prickle he hoped his sudden interest did not show too much on his face he not show too much on his face five dollars worth of information you may not think its worth the five but here it is about six months ago this stephen bigelow came in to see watkins wanted a tall put on his wife ile he say much but the boss figured it we was the old divorce routine I 1 got th the e night job following her around to the nightclubs she went out a lot alone I 1 trailed along tor for a couple of weeks shed stop in at a lounge bar now and then always met people she knew but never seemed to gather in anyone particular then one night I 1 followed her as tar far as a studio building in copley square A dumb elevator boy place her or tell me where in the building he took her id wait and in a few hours shed come out ou alone this happened two or three times a week until one night late she came au out with a middle aged guy they went to a quiet little restaurant around the corner I 1 tagged along it looked like the old old story to me you found out who the man was sure well heres where the drama falls apart hmm amm I 1 see where I 1 dont get paid off he was a piano teacher name of Pare cini not an old foxy grandpa with a weakness for or blondes after all we turned the news over to stevey boy and damned it if he seem relieved he came in a week or so afterwards to pay his bill he told us his wife had once shown great talent for or the piano but had lost the use of an arm from rom nervous shock or arthritis or something she was getting back her old wallop again slowly shed been going to the old bird tor for lessons keeping it from the family tor for a surprise or so he said now how do you me like that 1 I like it you think it was the truth now see gee here in spite of the tact fact that it ad ap the level I 1 think it was fishy I 1 pulled right off the tall tail see it was over a week before stevey came in to pay up we heard from him to the contrary so I 1 kept on the job but the blonde bombshell never went near Pare cinis studio again she must chave have backed down somewhere along ithe the line they probably had a nice old f fashioned 11 heart to heart talk and patched it up my guess would be that she wanted to continue her studies with the idea of going on the stage or something of the sort but stephen put his foot down the family probably stand tor for it yeah funny it not that either of them seem socially conscious your insight Is amazing they are both good family but not quite as you say I 1 I 1 well whether you know it or not no t stevey was quite a gay dog once used to do a bit of chasing in the old days 1 I dont doubt that but I 1 think hes tn in love with his wife better to have loved et e t cetera ile he sure seems nuts about her decidedly I 1 C one night late she came out with a middle aged guy all of nay my little offering do I 1 get the fin oh sure take it he slid the money over to the big ig man he had the exasperating feeling that held hed been cheated he shrugged it away mccale had set his alarm for sev en thirty the next mo morning it had shrilled in vain A feeble ray of sunlight flickered across his face as someone shook him by the shoulder shrugging out from under the none too gentle pressure he blinked yawned dawned and saw by the clock that it was much later mccale began to dress as rocky headed tor for the inner sanctum it take him long his toilet completed he went directly to the office windows to pull back bach the curtains on another dreary morning he took the cup of coffee his assistant handed him and waited until they sat facing each other across the desk before beginning conversation well he said between sips of the hot black liquid lets have your birdseye birds eye or keyhole view of the goings on of last night A jittery family thinks rocky nothing sensational to report boss bois outside of a lot of nervous running in and out till about one a in I 1 had a look see at about everyone but the dame called victoria shed gone out someplace to dinner when I 1 got there and must have slipped in without my tamping lamping her if she came home at all no trouble with the servants 1 I only saw the butler very superior guy he kept looking in the dining room where I 1 was sitting with an eye on the door I 1 dont know whether he thought I 1 was wai going to snitch some of the fInger bowls or sample the family bourbon anyhow he kept popping up at odd moments until around ten thirty say what a parade of junk accumulated yeah what do you think of the setup set up in general I 1 mean A atmosphere t mo sphere that kind of thing 1 I may be wrong but outside of the little old lady a bunch of screwballs screw balls ashes okay A little jumpy but tor for that matter the w whole hole caboodle aint my idea of what ive been led to think of as calm quiet unruffled blue bloods all as jittery as a hangover definitely well heres five to your one that theres something cooking going to smell to heaven youve no taker in me mccale grinned a and nd lit a cigarette smart as usual the old dame acts as though she was walking through a bad dream but dare wa wake ke up very aptly put she meets me last night shows me around sort of impersonal like so far as she was con concerned I 1 might have been the plumbers p r helper come to repair a leak V very cool and calm but burning up with something inside her acts al all the a time as if ashes seared scared stupid but wont admit it if 1 it kills her rocky poured himself a second cup ot of coffee and took a deep breath before he continued she went to her room early about nine I 1 see her after that veronica the bride and joy he looked at mccale to see whether he was amused by the play on words of the old lady she is that she it st sticks 1 acks out all over stayed home all evening too she was in the back library most of the time did she look good to you oh yeah if you like the placid type she had two visitors guess ill buy it dont play guessing games with me so early in the morning well the present and the past glamour boy number one and good old dog like ever lovin chris oh he impressed you that way christopher storm I 1 mean remember I 1 only got a short gander at the past and present crown princes as they entered and left he was the second one by the way mr big came first go on well id just got settled in the silver and crockery department when johnny Wel comes swinging from tree to tree calling tor for his mate such a flutter they get into over him dont they the butler scuttled around after him as if hed just brought the tatted batted calf then the bride to be comes down the stairs in a burry but a flurry I 1 said and he just tells her hes oh off to dinner with some friends she looks at him with the trust ot of a bird fascinated by a python you know what enormous eyes you have grandmother and off they go to the library 1 I take it you warm to romeo borneo not roe me obvious as heck beck dont you think 1 I dont know the boys got something just what is it its as old as the world chief the can just make his eyelashes go boo take that needle out of your arm hes in love with the girl all ali right so hes in love with her your impression of the girl you show a great deal of enthusiasm 1 I guess I 1 dont like em quite so wide eyed chief ashes nice you know what I 1 mean nice and when youve said that youve said everything right out of a mignon eberhart novel if you get what I 1 mean just beautiful and wispy and too dumb to take off her rose colored glasses rocky had already settled tor for himself the fact that veronica bige low was both beautiful and dumb mccale leaned back in his chair and smiled tor for rocky was a good guy mostly amusing searching for the coffee pot dukes eyes slanted up quizzically hy at rocky as he be said well boy the word op on christopher storm now that youve dusted duste dev everyone else off odd goings on in the mansion J P marquand has done him to a turn on both sides and in the middle more than once that guy was born to the yankee purple has gone to the best schools and never stepped out of line in his life he may be a little shocked at the alge lows but they are Bige lows arent they so they be wrong veronica has tossed him overboard but would he say a word about it would he ride up in his stanley steamer and rush her off to the nearest justice of the peace before she makes a fool of herself no sirree it just done by people in our set boncha know he did come to see her oh yes had a short confab with her to in the library I 1 get a chance to eavesdrop of course but I 1 did see them when they said goodnight at the door he had the most miserable little boy who has been kicked expression on his puss when he be kissed her goodby good by he kissed her dont let it throw you it was just the old IU ill be a sister to you act she sort of put her head up and he gave her a solemn brotherly kiss on the forehead before he went into the night like the last act of an old melodrama I 1 could have s spit pit in his eye the dope my my you are taking this to heart cheari not so notice it well do I 1 go on in the order of their appearance pe arance he asked a sour smile on his lips oh of course no offense pal rocky waited a moment looking at mccale skeptically not quite sure he being made fun of then he bp resumed lets see first there Is mr stephen now theres a jumpy guy surly wedded to the bottle too I 1 ft HE CONTINI 1 13 ir |