Show SY T H IM T aw chan afta A copyright CODY right channing Ch annina pollock Q service 7 fai CHAPTER VII continued 14 her voice roice broke rudder Ridder ll be tree free in a few weeks she pled wait mr gilbert fill bort aou dont know liow how many innocent people IOU you may day drig into tills this barry hesitated hesitate nc ile now remembered that lie had told pat he be loved her it set get me ine anywhere harry barry tho thought tight it never will im not ot even sure that she heard beard roe me but im glad I 1 spoke all the same aloud lie said ill wait pat she glanced up at him gratefully grateful iv l not until the trial though lie he warned her 1 I wont take that chance I 1 wont let tills this girl peggy go on suffering until then but bu now I 1 believe know who murdered kelly someone who came into tile the house while your father was there someone so full of the thou thought lit of it that she bungled the new lock on the front from door you think it lIam bidge began 01 1 I think why it blew open and I 1 think too that revealing your visit now would be merely tipping our hand the person I 1 suspect has already covered her tracks pretty well then I pat at said almost incredulously then youre not dot going oln to repeat tills this story not even to winslow ile he much more faith in my sleuthing than you tou have well leave him to work out ludders defense for the present lets lees agree on oil an armistice mutual silence if the time arrives when I 1 feel I 1 must speak ill come to you first Is that fair quite from the very beginning barry had suspected mrs kelly she sued for divorce recently and withdrew the case peter winslow had told him do vou ou think that might indicate that she killed her husband barry did and one discovery after another confirmed the idea but as barry had reminded its ills city editor mrs kelly was in harlem she went to a dance eier eer hear of faking an alibi harwood had asked advising a check up that sounded promising until as the first move in ills his Jn investigation vesti alon barry dug 0 up the herald tribune of the morning after the body was found sirs mrs kelly had bad told him that paper contained a full record of her social activities and it did at the time of the murder mrs kelly who sued for divorce recently and withdrew the case was awarding prizes at a fance dress ball of the crosstown Cross town chowder and outing club in liar harlem lern gardens this was at midnight and the other judges were kelly killed at midnight barry realized he killed un til lit two hours after midnight if mrs selly kelly got through with her prizes well barry exulted climbing into the subway what next say noth ing and saw wood what one more bore link in this chain and im going to change a lot of peoples people 8 minds about me ine and my sleuthing 9 monday morning barry dropped in on peter winslow ile he was still carrying the milder check for 2000 and he wanted peter to take part of it as a retainer and bank the rest for peggy aggy peter did accept it as a matter of course thou though gh he be waved aside the of fer r of a retainer im in no hurry ile insisted wait til itil I 1 do something I 1 know knew youre good for it obviously lie was doing a great deal al got the defense all planned he declared areil showing barry a thick sheaf of memoranda loose leaf memoranda it was in the most literal s sense en sc scrawled on waste paper and the backs of envelopes order may be natures first law but it tills this lawyers NO ko im not neat peter smiled intercepting epting barrys glance lance except personally so nally and julies achievement julles mrs winslow of course and she buys all my clothes lays lem cm out ut for me too even the bouton were re I 1 often ask her it if she wants ine e to look like a gigolo dont worry about out tills this stuff thou though gb indica indicating tin tte the sheaf of memoranda miss aliss clarell Clark ll have that straight by night MISS dark clark was his secretary women keep you in order he went on n smiling about the only nga have against em theres nothing to this case he come to trial in a fe clours w v 1 weeks I C ek s now and be over in a f few ew ours want avant to hear bat im going to ask that filipino listening stoning P arry felt again that his own activities had been merely foul fool ish A dozen questions disposed of all the evidence the lie butler hall had given so lar far and made it apparent that what lie he actually knew of young ludders visit was exactly nothing you heard a quarrel A violent quarrel and you were alir alarmed med why you came upstairs rogers left then and the alie lights were still burning in tile the front room if you were alarmed why you knock at the door to make sure your roaster master was all right not so very much alarmed were you in fact you alarmed at all until you saw what had happened tills was the beginning of an inquiry that twisted about doubled on itself and was likely to leave any jury on earth too uncertain to convict anyone of a capital offense particularly anyone with a wife and child peter said Il peggy leggy was in here friday he added she looks as though shed been dragged through a knothole knot hole I 1 wanted lier ter to come to us for tile the weekend week end but were in town most of the time im going to talk to the about having lier ter out there that would be great barry kindled be company tor for each other it do pat a bit of harm to learn how the other half lives 4 right glit peter exclaimed heartily ill call pat today in spite of himself as he was leaving barry mentioned his harlem theory peter listened intently well he said you are a shaw be surprised if I 1 landerl landed sirs mrs kelly you no peter replied smiling again but id be terribly surprised if you begin suspecting ft someone else ten minutes afterward CHAPTER VIII tile more barry thought of it th III more certain lie he became that the judges jud story and the revelations in harlem removed the only reason for questioning IIa Ila hypothesis when tile the divorce action was filed kelly had promised not to see betty barclay again that promise had induced the withdrawal of the petition and then betty barclay had phoned phone white kelly was out and just as mrs kelly was going in harwoods own words mrs kelly went wild falling failing to get legal counsel she taxied to harlem and there she 0 got madder and madder just after midnight she drove home and found kelly alone drunk and with the accumulated wrath engendered by two trying interviews ter views there were words and a handy decanter the design began being almost too nearly perfect lie found peggy doing some mending in her dingy 7 room she had lost flesh and seemed to be always staring in at nothing its jacky she confided in barry im worried about I 1 19 I 1 him the youngster looked pale and ill look here reg peg will you have lunch with me tomorrow at the astor I 1 want you to meet somebody miss hambidge yes shed turn up her nose at me like an elephant reaching for peanuts 1 I dont think so anyway I 1 want Y you OU to know each other the appointment was ma made de at last one and barry called pat well tile the trails trail s hot all right tell me about it 1 I dont dare over ever the wire you know operators come in and lunch with roe me when vh en tomorrow at one pat was eagerly anxious to hear bear his news and there was no other way but if pats nose remained static when she learned site she was to encounter I 1 peggy lier her mouth straightened why what have I 1 in coin common mon with this girl well barry answered flatly youre keeping her husband in P prison rison pat flushed you y owe her something for that d ont dont you think yo you u being so high hat about this girls sirs airs john klarke clarke ridder jr you know tin not being bein g high hat only naturally just now I 1 dont feel much like especially strangers meeting strangers with whom I 1 have no 0 community mm unIty of 0 f interest lunching Lun chin toge together ther however it soon that there was a community evide evident nt became of interest trite nest rat pat warmed to 11 fearful for painted c horus chorus girl this husband e exactly as rat pat was fearful h her er though peg for her ber father jally jl lly know it their fate hung on the same s imn thread noth both heard barrys account of its discoveries alth kelly sell regard d to mrs it seems pretty conclusive pat pa said 1 I never of that dame 1 I mean woman peg added would that set get jack off quick larry harry explained his understanding understand InZ that if there were definite proof of another persons having committed a crime anyone in custody was released immediately the district attorney attorn ov moves for a dismissal of the indictment I 1 believe ho he told them geer gee reg peggy my said with the tears in her eyes pat was no fool and she found herself respecting and liking this night club hoofer she was mrs rudder lifter after all whoever the girl might have been it was the tears beginning to dissolve the heads beads that stirred rat pat she had never seen anyone cry that way before cry with her lips twisted into a smile youve certainly stuck to your husband rat pat observed why not when you really love anybody you dont care what they do or have done or what they are its what they are to you that counts youre not chinkin th thinking InkIn what youre going to get but what youre going to give that Is the right kind of girl is gosh ashes trying to help me with pat barry thought the upshot was that rat pat took peg and the youngster to southampton the next morning peter suggested it she told barry and of course youre right I 1 do owe owe them something it the debt that did it barry realized it was jacky pe peg wanted patricia to see him and the house was so near there really any good excuse for not going so for th the e first time in her life rat pat sniffed fried fish in an entrance hall and tripped on worn stair carpets and found herself ter stilling in a back room without air or sunshine shed known people lived like that of course but somehow shed never thought much about it she found herself thinking now if I 1 had to spend one night an in this place the matter with the boy it was arranged that evans was to drive them out and come back for barry on thursday when barry left pat at her hotel she said you seem to be friend sir air gilbert its a little hard bard to understand considering 0 considering that im an adventurer and an imposter yes yes barry repeated but how you learn what friendship means that night barry went to the cocoa chanut nut bar 1 I overlook anything he reflected there much to overlook in the cocoanut Coco anut bar not in the way of clothing W at all events the lobby was full of men more or less surreptitiously glancing at framed photographs of girls whose costumes might almost have been packed in a vanity case inside was a square dancing floor with tables about it like the seats about a prize ring above there was a balcony with more tables except at one spot occupied by offices there were three shows a night the amateur hawkshaw dIsc discovered overe from ills his menu at seven eleven and one it hard to get acquainted with any of the girls one had only to look prosperous and incline ills head an inch or two in the direction of a vacant chair were not supposed to do tills this violet pane fane informed barry but luiss got a swell stand in barry had bad his expense account and ills his ingratiating grin and used both to the limit it long iong bea before ore the blonde was telling the story of her lif life C 1 I bin with luis ever since I 1 was a kid she bragged hes a swell guy you aughta know him ill give you a tur tumble after the n next ext show luis was most a frable affable A sentimentalist but a business man with a keen kean eye to spenders and a withering contempt for tight wads A flashy young fellow morano was who wore sporty clothes and much jewelry slim and dapper rf apper his shining ebon hair was slicked clicked back fro from in his forehead he had bad a long thin nose and straight thin lips and a slight but r rather ather curious impediment in his speech his voice could be very soft at times tender hearted luls luis Is miss pane fane declared later ive seen him cry when ian somebody sang about other mother or the id kid 1 or that loved lie her r and lost her stuff specially ile he was married v it tale tal e sure it took why lie he crie chiei the jane diec or know what luis did w win i n lie he got the coln coin I 1 mean bought the house they used to the in and nent ent on oil bivin there atone alone with a couple of servants gee aint that romantic ill say so lles hes still got tile the servants V ants too they all moved to ft a farm somewhere in jersey a couple a years ago would you believe it lie he drive out every morning after the last show nuts about horses luis is not to bet on just likes em cm learned about horses in fouquier Fiu rau county luis said returning at that instant 1 I lived there til itil I 1 was nineteen and all they know go on vi N 1 be late 1 I never was late for a show yet she retorted nor out of one not in all the years ive worked for you straight morano admitted as she was leaving never been out of a show in her life ashes a swell girl vl VI there much to be got at th cocoanut Coco anut bar not that violet ant and morano Nl orano willing to talk romance had left him a gentle melancholy or perhaps he was wa 8 only Y worried about business but it if he had anything to conceal it certainly seemed to have no relation to keidy keelly on that subject everything was open and above board just a gorilla 0 orilla morano said of the big boss the next nest night when barry returned to the cocoanut Coco anut par bar oh mike alike was a right miss pane fane protested sure her employer agreed he ha do nothing worse than steal pennies from a dead baby pat pal ol of vis though thou b luis added winking at barry yell eh violet declared dryly until that barclay dame came along lie ile was in here that evening w a ant he barry asked yeh just a few hours before they croaked him lie had a girl pinched or some thing yell yeh morano repeated nice kid too took her around to the station in them thins things 1 I dont blame the janes husband for getting sore morano continued though bumping a guy off for that thata 14 going go I 1 il a little too far 11 kelly was soused doused miss pane fane sak yell yeh plenty and lie he thought tho th kid was picking his pocket bothin to it TO BE CONTINUED |