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Show r j i CARIBBEAN iStt CONSPIRACY! lllillll BRENDA CONRAD V J court and wont out through the tunnelled tun-nelled arch. , - Something would have to be done now. and rather quickly, he was thinking. She couldn't have been alone, unless she was braver or a greater fool than he thought'she was. And that meant one thing, obviously: obvious-ly: that Wilcox hud been with her. They must have followed him out of flie. restaurant, though he'd thought they were both so absorbed in what was obviously a pretty tense quarrel quar-rel that they weren't aware he'd gone. lie hailed a taxi. "La Granada," he said. That would explain Wilcox's appearance ap-pearance at the Central. In that case, nothing had been said that he had regarded as evidence. It meant Yi& flhe-" hnd ' talked, - however, though what she could say he didn't know. And G 2 was hardly likely to listen to her. suspicions in the face of his credentials. He looked at his'watch. The question ques-tion was whether to go to Mrs. Porter's Por-ter's or let it ride for a while. If Anne Heywood turned up, it would be a waste of time. On the other hand she might not come .' . .or he might manage it before she got there. AH he needed was half an hour in his own room with the specifications. He could return them after he'd got a microscopic photostat, photo-stat, and no one would know the dif- ''My dear Mrs. Porter, I thought you expected mi," he said pleasant-. iy. "Oh, I did, but I . . .1 thought you weren't coming." It came out before she realized she was saying it. ';- - ' "My dear child!" , ' Mr. Taussig .laughed and wiped the perspiration oft, his broad pal-lid1 pal-lid1 forehead. ' . "I'm a business mqn, and wh"n I come across anyone as promising as your' husband I'm hardly likely to truss jin opportunity to talk to him.". c ; - . . .ij Siie flushed. "Butihe's hot here I should 'have told you," she said quickly. "He had to go to St. Thomas." Thom-as." ' ; She'd Tpianned it so difTcrefitly.-She'd difTcrefitly.-She'd been, going' to say, "You'll, think I'm dreadful .not letting you know my husband Isn' here. He's frightfully sorry. Vou see, the Navy's Na-vy's having water trouble and needed need-ed somebody really good, so Russell Rus-sell had to fly over to St. Thomas to give them hand." Mr. Taussig's disappointment was obvious, but hlsTecovery was more than gallant . . . perhaps because he had known all that before he came. : , "Then you and I can have a comfortable com-fortable chat," he said. He sat down on the sofa where he could keep his eye' on the front steps. "In fact, I think it's probably bet- THE STORY SO FAR! Anne llowood, beautiful daughter of a wealthy New York newspaper publlaher, foei to Puerto Rico on an assignment (or her f ither's paper. Also on tho Island are Peie Wilcox, a reporter on her father's paper, aow a V. 8. Army Intelligence officer; Miguel Valera, a Puerto Rlcan educated In the United States who Is a secret IJ, 9. agent; Richard Taussig, an engineer whose Identity as a German agent U u. pected but not yet proved; and Km. ell Porter, a young American engineer, and bis wife, Sua. When Mr. Taussig learns that Anne suspects him bo arranges to dlspvse of her. Peto Wilcox savei Anne, but Is Jealous of her friendship with Miguel. CHAPTER XIY, .. t e-""' V ' ' "The shiny black Umotfsiser"tjp under the portico of the Granada Hotel. Mr. Richard Taussig got out. "It's been very pleasant,' and most Interesting," he said. "Thank kou so much. Good-by. Good-by, senorita." It had been a mistake to allow Graciela to call Miss Heywood. Gra-ciela Gra-ciela was discontented, seething and highly unpredictable. Her father's confidence in his continuing hold over her was to Mr. Taussig's realistic real-istic mind stupidly unrealistic. ... Mr. Taussig shrugged his shoulders shoul-ders and went into the lobby. As long as it didn't interfere in his plans . . . And there had been enough interference already. He had been trying to figure that out on his way home. It had a little of the smeU of Fate to it, the more he thought about it. Perhaps it was Just as well ... if he could figure Wilcox out properly. He was still thinking about that forty-flve minutes later as he came through the iron grilled gateway into the inner courtyard of Albert Beno-lst, Beno-lst, coffee and sugar importers, his green guide book under his arm, 'his green-visored yachting cap. on his head. He went up the stone steps to the first-floor gallery. At tha top he paused, waiting for Diego Gon-garo Gon-garo coming out of the arched tunnel tun-nel from Juan de Pinzon street "I must frankly admit I was disturbed dis-turbed this morning," Gongaro said casually. "I Was afraid our young friend might lose her footing so high above the floor. It would have been most unfortunate." "Most," Mr. Taussig agreed equably. equa-bly. "However, I was watching her very carefully. Shall we go in?" He waited until the door was I closed. "In view of the flattering attention atten-tion we have been favored with this morning by a certain member of the Military Intelligence, I .wish each department to function without with-out communication with any other, until ... let us caU it X-Day. ter. Because if you don't mind my saying so the trouble with your husband, my dear girl, is that he hides his light under a bushel. He's too modest He needs somebody to push him a little. He's so off the beaten track- down here that unless he lets people know wfoat he can do, he'll find himself In a rut. Men not half as well, equipped as he is - will be- picking the plums," merely because they're on the spot." "I know," Sue said eagerly. "That's What I've tried to tell him. But he thinks if he does good job the company will know it. and" y "And keep him down here, where they won't lose him and don't have' to- pay him what he's worth," Mr. Taussig interrupted calmly. "I know all about that." He took a cigarette out of his case and lighted it thoughtfully. "Of course I'm interested in him particularly," he said. "I was tremendously-impressed by what was said the other evening. And very selfishly, I'd better add. You see, we have a project a very big one with a problem not unlike the one you have here. I don't want this to go farther." He looked appraislngly at her. "How discreet are you, Mrs. Porter?" Por-ter?" "I can be. very," Sue answered When that comes, it will be in coordination co-ordination with the concerted movement move-ment throughout the Caribbean area. Central and South - America. Until then, Gongaro will continue the organization of personnel for the eventual destruction of all water facilities." fa-cilities." H took out his handkerchief and wiued his dark lenses. Xhe dark man with the black mus-tache mus-tache moved suddenly. "I ; wonder," he said quietly. "I have an exhibit two exhibits, in fact. I think they will interest you." He went to a desk in the corner and took a folded piece of paper out - "Then yon and I can have a comfortable com-fortable chat," he said. ference. After that he could look at churches and schools to his heart's content. , -, "I'll go on," he said as , he saw the crushed" raspberry and dream outline of the GranadaV through the palms. "I'll give you the address." He took out his notebook. The magazine Sue Porter had been trying to force herself to read slipped off her lap into the white quickly. She realized She'd beer holding her breath, waiting, and that she had to be calm so he wouldn't see how much it meant He tapped the ash off bis cigarette. ciga-rette. "Well, this is it Mrs. Porter. I heard about the construction down here,, though not about your husband. hus-band. He wasn't mentioned. I've been looking for a man for the last fifteen months. I'm not sure, oi course, that, you'd be interested. The living conditions won't be easy. I ought to tell you that. That's one of the reasons we want a young man. The salary would only be string rug. She sat perfectly still for a moment; then 'her face crumpled crum-pled and she buried her head in the cushions, unable to keep the tears back any longer. He wasn't coining. coin-ing. She'd known it all afternoon. And she shouldn't have phoned. Half a dozen times since five o'clock she'd forced herself not to, but the last time she couldn't help it. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Porter. Mr. Taussig Came In an hour ago and left right away. He didn't say when Jie'd be back." The telephone girl at the Granada had recognized her voice, and Sue could hear her laughing laugh-ing as she put down the phone. Her .cheeks were burning. The girl' thbught she was running after Taussig Taus-sig because she'd phoned so many times and left messages .he'd not bothered to reply to. If Russell knew he'd be furious. He didn't get of S drawer. . "I saw a friend off on the strato-liner strato-liner for Rio this morning with the information for Bauer. This new filtering station here has caused us ho end of trouble. I think the safest tiling to do is chop up the sending unit we got last fall." . He came back to the table. ."When I returned to the office from the airport, I found this under the stairs in the yard. The cat was playing with it." , He opened the folded paper and took out a small linen handkerchief. It had been white, but it was crumpled crum-pled and slightly soiled, as if it had been moist. "It's an expensive trifle. And expensively ex-pensively perfumed. Also mono-gramed. mono-gramed. The initials' are A. C. H-" He looked -upr r - yr "It was not there when we came in last nieht - I turned mv flash. bdoui iwemy-nve inousana a year, but the man who went would be known throughout the civilized world. Of course I don't know . . ."; Sue closed her eyes. All the things they could dp . . : . for themselves j and for the children! She held her breath again. . "I'm not sure your problem here can be done, of course," Mr. Taussig Taus-sig went on equably. "If it can, your husband is the man. we want. I suppose the thing to 'do is wait until the job's finished, and see .... if we can wait." ; "But the specifications are all drawn up!" Sue cried. "Russell'Vays they're absolutely perfect! Oh, why don't you just look at them? You could tell, couldn't you?" Mr. Taussig shook his head skeptically skep-tically and waltedrShe Jumped UpT ran into the dining room and came back. Two -bright pink spots burned angry often, hut when he did he was terrifying. Sue raised her head and dabbed at her iyes with her moist wadded handkerchief. She'd planned it so carefully. The silver tray with the decanter and glasses on it was out on the kitchen table. The ice cubes would be melted by now and the canapes soggy and unpleasant-looking. And she'd rehearsed It In front of the mirror a hundred times during dur-ing the day. She'd be casual and charming. "Why, Mr. Taussig! How awfully nice. I really didn't think you'd have time to come, you're so terribly terri-bly famous. Do sit down and let me see if I can find something for you to drink. It's been ghastly hot all day, hasn't ft?" Thten'she would say Russell had been called away unexpectedly, and get around to the specifications. She glanced wretchedly wretch-edly out into the dining room where she'd put them on the sideboard, the corners of her mouth trembling. Suddenly she straightened. There Was a step on the porch. She flashed up .and around. Mr. Taussig was standing ifi the door, smiling, his hat in his hand. Sue stared at him. She hadn't heard him come up the stairs or cross the wide veranda. " - " i light around the yard, to be quite sure of everything." The silence in the room lasted for some time. - "What is Exhibit B?" Mr. Taussig Taus-sig inquired quietly. "It is a golden hair," Albert Beno-ist Beno-ist said. "It was caught in the rough plastei1 on the., wall under the? stairs, at a height of five feet eight inches. presume the average heels are' about two inches high. In which case the owner of this would be approximately ap-proximately five feet six inches." Piego Gongaro knocked off the long cylinder of gray ash from his cigar. .It is most -unfortunate," be said urbanely. "Most" Mr. Taussig said. He got up. "Good day, gentlemen."" "I always admire finesse," Diego Gongaro said irrelevantly. He went down the stairs and stopped in the courtyard, looking at the' space where Anne Heywood must have been, trying to recall where they had stood the night before be-fore and what they had said. A clerk crossing the patio with a sheaf of papers in his hand looked at him and quickened 4iis pace, slightly startled. Mr. Taurrig crossed the in her chetks, her blue eyes were as full of hope as the dawn. "Just look at them a minute!" She,, thrust the thick roll of linen prints into his hands. He unrolled them without haste, and studied the top one deliberately. He could hear her breath coming quickly and see the pulse pounding in her throat as she .sat there beside him. " After a moment he looked up at her with a smile. "Mrs. Porter, I really wouldn't be surprised if your husband isn'1 exactly the man we've been hunting hunt-ing from one end of the world to the other, 'he said simply. ""OiT, I'm so. glad!" Sue whispered. "You don't know how I want him to get away from here!" "Of course I'll have to go through all these, rather carefully," he said, "It's a complicated setup. I wonder won-der . . . No. I don't suppose we could do that." .,; . "Do what?" I "I was just thinking that if could jlay them out on the dining room table," Mr. Taussig said, "1 could see them all at once. But someone might come in, and it's better bet-ter to keep this to ourselves." (TO PE CONTINl'ED) |