| Show N copyright manning service Fl pollock CHAPTER V continued 12 stop fretting g barry commanded I lell be out in a month barrys heart h had ad gone one out to re peggy gy and to her boy A cli chorine orine with the domestic virtues of a clergy mans wife what peg was id like to give rat pat a squint at the underdog she thinks she despises so he thought the next nest morning there were two responses to the advertisement suggested by evans barry wrote asking both applicants for the reward to call at his rooms on the way to the globe he dropped in on tim laugherty tim had been ass assigned ined to a new case now and regarded the nelly matter as a closed incident barrys barry s zeal amused him you talking about he inquired with mock seriousness ous ness kelly were at the follies buddy barry reported his interview with the oriental tim grinned we knew all about that ten days ago he produced his records there was a call at that came from a hotel in the forties an actorina ac torine named betty barclay then there was three calls from kellys at 82 47 and that first numbers the house of a lawyer named hood next kest comes the yale tale club and the thirds a flat in riverside drive whose 1 I dont know what about the call that came in while rogers was there boloney 11 a you tou mean there any such cam c not on my records of course it m might ve been sent from a nickel ln in the slot booth you cant trace them things listen pal youre on a chase this rogers lad done it ILP CHAPTER VI barry proceeded to the globe quite expecting to find his dismissal there im going doing to draw down fifty bucks he thought 0 lit and what have I 1 done for it but E ernie 1 narwood harwood had caught the contagion for sieu sleuthing thing 11 the other papers have practically all y dropped it he said okay well go on working quietly and some day well turn up the story its good any time and im dead sure now the cops have got the wrong party mayhe he they know it too maybe they dont want to know who buil bumped aped off the ba big boss you doing 0 barry told him 11 lets leta see those telephone numbers ers 11 standing over him barry pointed out that somebody had made two calls from kellys within eleven minutes after the receipt of the message from betty barclay harwood arwood II saw nothing remarkable about that but it barry persisted who was some somebody bodyl kelly get home till 11 the filipino says mrs kelly was in ili harlem who called the yale club and the flat fiat on riverside drive II harwood arwood sent for a newspaper file 1 I thought so he observed his finger on one of its pages betty bar clays the dame mrs kelly named when she was going to divorce kelly barry whistled that might explain sirs mrs kell kelly v calling a lawyer named hood the city editor glanced back at the file especially since he was her lawyer gilme that ba big 0 red book barry obeyed d hood graduated from yale ile he at home so they tried to get him at his club law firm hood loring gamme the telephone book just a hunch but okay the riverside numbers the home ot of horace loring somebody wanted legal advice that night and wanted it bad 10 who use your imagination 11 mrs kelly sure she took the call from betty barclay she the butler took it all right then he gave it to her and she went wild you want to know why the orientals Orient als cagey well why hes trying to shield sirs mrs kelly what youve got to do now is to check up on that alibi 19 they discussed ways and means also they discussed barrys other activities tivi ties barry showed ernie his advertisement verti and the two responses harwood li arwood was skeptical W might get the number of the e taxi that killed the woman what then that was two hours after the murder and if you have the good fortune to get the ta taxi xi the one that brought the midnight caller to kellys if there was a midnight caller hows the driver going to know who ills his fare was no son beet tops barry defended himself you fou never can tell what youre going to get till you go after it harwood was searching tor for that inevitable pipe youre enthusiastic he commented and something in fact its everything I 1 figure getting anywhere as 5 per cent luck lack and 95 per cent enthusiasm now beat it im too busy for mathematics he smiled almost as warmly and kindly as winslow had done youve got ot a nose for news 10 he went on when I 1 hired you I 1 said get a raise if you were worth it and fired it you well lvell I 1 think youre worth a hundred a week swell of you barry glowed but I 1 dont see what ive done 19 wednesday brought the desired letter from bad nauheim Kau Nall heim helm and three more from gentlemen who hoped to receive the fifty dollar reward with these as with their predecessors barry made appointments beginning at four thursday mrs ald ridders envelope contained a check drawn to her order by the old man and endorsed simply eleanor ridder ashes a good business woman barry said to himself ironically it occurred to her to doubt the sender of that cablegram or what he meant to do with the money Wins Whis lowll lowIll take it barry toll told peggy and take his retainer out of it then lie he can give us his check for the rest winslows Win slows be on this check when its returned to the old man and of course all ri right ht What ll we do with winslows Win slows check start a bank account in your name then ill go to you when we need funds and tell you what for give this letter to jack and tell him it ou ought lit to make him ashamed of himself se IV e it almost did even more than the communication barry had bad shown him this answered jacks question as t to 0 whether his mother cared im so glad youve got work she had written and so glad youre taking an interest in that boy it shows ive always been right about you and it will help hell you too we cant help others without helping ourselves making character I 1 want to boast to your father hes no better though worse it if anything goodness knows when we shall get back to america and im so anxious to get back now 11 the real jack ridder an answered that letter without prompting and the fake jack ridder posted the answer at three thursday afternoon he was in his rooms preparing 0 to quiz the reward seekers barry had reason to know the ways of imposters impostors im posters the first caller was just that 1 11 I 1 was walking down fifth avenue I he recounted and I 1 happened to glance to my left I 1 saw the cab coming lickett split 11 to your left barry asked that would have been east and sixteenth streets lor for traffic from the west the second applicant was waiting by now a lunch counter clerk run out of his place dato to see what the excitement was about but seen much on his heels came an exceptionally interesting jehu ile he was an M D he told larry barry but business is bad so im out to make a little A little business barry asked well I 1 hit anyone yet he was thirty five neatly dressed and wore glasses and his english was pure and undefiled moreover he had a scientific instinct for observation 1 I saw the taxi he said and the woman step off the curb I 1 knew the cab would hit her and it did get the number of course the visitor answered took it down as the runaway crossed in front of me he produced a prescription pad 1 barry wrote it in the notebook note book to which he had transferred the number of kellys lost latch latchkey key how did you happen to be in lower fifth avenue at that hour he asked 1 I went down some time before with a very singular person why do you say he be was singular ile he acted strangely at least I 1 thought so at the time I 1 picked him up in a tobacconists sho shop p a few minutes before twelve where do you want to go I 1 asted asked him to a drug store f he answered theres one in the flatiron building at broadway and twenty third street take me there ait oit it seemed a long way to go for a drug store but I 1 supposed he knew someone or wanted a special prescription anyway jt it was none of my m y business and I 1 took him he gave me a fifty cent tip and went into the broadway entrance five minutes later while I 1 was wondering where to go next nest I 1 saw him walk out of the door that opened on fifth avenue I 1 started start ed back uptown about half past one I 1 picked up a couple that wanted to go to the brevoort on eighth street I 1 took em and was ni making aking for times square again when the traffic trade lights stopped me at sixteenth then I 1 saw the wo woman an and the cab the whole thing was over in a minute the taxi struck her went right up on the pavement smashed a lamppost lamp post and kept going but I 1 got the number then of course I 1 jumped out of my cab and went to the woman she was beyond help though and by A va who are you he asked curtly this time a policeman had turned up and I 1 decided to move on it he smiled A taxi driver learns to avoid the constabulary stab 11 so you give the cop that license number what for the woman was dead and arresting some poor seared scared going to do her any good 1 I started back to my cab and whom should I 1 bump into but the chap id driven to the drug store he was coming 0 out of sixteenth street so lost in himself that he even noticed the crowd hello helio 1 I 1 said we seem to be meeting 0 a lot tonight who are you he asked curtly irm im the taxi driver who took you to a drug store on twenty third street a couple of hours ago 1 I never saw you before in my life youve made a mistake he said 1 I 1 live in this street and ive been home all evening you never drove me anywhere t have it your own way I 1 said and climbed into my buggy 1 I mistaken and neither was he lie was in kind of a daze until he recognized me and then he pt got almost hyst hysterical You youdie dve thought id accuser him of murder wie ake doctor rose from his chair maybe im doing that he added there was a murder that night you know in that street but of course you know your ad tool fool me then why did you answer it well my conscience has been hurting me a little ile he smiled again my number and my name and address if you want me theres your fifty dollars thanks 11 1 I wish you could tell me more about your singular fare 1 I wish so too but I 1 cant id know him it if I 1 saw him again but 11 im m not likely to see him would you mind leaving me a receipt for that money money barry asked certainly not 1 I like to have vouchers for what I 1 pay out the doctor nodded and went to the desk barry was halted by an exclamation what is it he asked the doctor turned to him the man I 1 saw in sixteenth aki J 1 street he said believe it or not j the man in his hand was barrys i per with the picture of judge ham alde aldge 1 I must see pat at once barry eliou thought what was he going to say to heri her six days before she had g given iven him a pretty plain warning to keep out of this barry no longer had any doubt of that he lad had decided to do so and then willetts had reminded him that gentlemen abandon ladles ladies in distress well what was a gentleman to do now damn it he ra raged ed 1 I cant bi blame ama her for wanting to protect her own father 1 and it make the least difference anyway id go on loving hir bar if shed committed the murder once more lie he asked himself what right he had to assume that either pat or the judge e had anything 7 to do with that murder murd er pacing the floor he reviewed all his evidence again and reached a conclusion as to what it indicated dica dien ted that brought him back t to 0 the idea of himself as pats ally it if I 1 can make her see that he said ashes got to come clean though and she will when I 1 can tell her about peggy and make her understand that the truth will clear that boy and then we can get together to clear the judge jude the there re might have been a whole lot of reasons decent ones for ills his going to kellys that night evans phoned at ten ive been having dinner with kellys chauffeur his names nolan evans said and lie he dont talk much we got pretty thick tonight though suppose we ve start for home at nine I 1 in the morning larry barry said he was hungry and tired of thinking in so he had a snack at the corner precisely at nine the next morning he called pat and told her he was wag coming 0 something important import anta 14 happened he said why not lunch with us aptt su suggested were lucky if we get out by two barry told her and anyway I 1 want to see you alone ill expect you at two she said evans was waiting and full ot of I 1 ids evenin evening with nolan kolan 1 I date dae ask a question evans reported hes the suspicious kind I 1 think lie he drinks though and a fellow that drinks 13 19 bound to loosen up some day buy him all he can hold barry counseled conversation lapsed after that evans passenger was rehearsing his part of the coming interview ill bet she knows now what its about he speculated and she did come in pat invited leading the way to the drawing room pat indicated a chair sit there she bade him its awfully warm for june TO BE CONTINUED |
