Charlevoix county herald., 1918-03-01

son was my desire to keep outside the
St Dunstan mystery. It might weave
more closely, bind more surely, and
I did not intend to be caught In its
meshes. l was through unraveling
mysteries. and ! particularly wanted
to stay through.
told Holme my plans and ~
agreed to the advisability, although
he hated to have me 60. 30 long -
/ might help In the solution Of HIS
problem; but his friendship was such
that he accepted my reasons without
question.
called up Thurston. telling him ]
would take immediate advantage q
his kindness and the letter, and -
offered to attend to the details Of ~
servation Of q stateroom and notice
to Captain Blake. Marcus could not
get in touch with, a. he was not q
headquarters, but left word for him
to drop In on me should he be In the
building, and as that was pretty cee-
tain, l began packing and assembling
my belongings for migration
decided to give up my apartmsuss.
as my future plans were - indeon1ee
that would not know where ] mao8
live after my return from HcuAdos.
Such Of my things as I need not tahO
on the trip ] would store until
again had home. In q short time
was In the midst Of q muss that
It ia hard to believe could all be con-
tanned In the confines Of q tworoom
suite.
Sergeant Marcus called when was
in the heat Of 1t, coat and vest OF, and
down on my kneesHbefore trunk.
ION the window-ledge behind the cur
TAIN" l called to him, referring to the
bottle Of Scotch, and he srinned and
found 1t.
Going away?" he asked az he filled
the glass. His back was toward mas.
and I was anxious to see his face
when / answered, so resorted to
ruse. Letting the trunk-lid fall with
a bang. stuck my thumb In my
mouth and yelled. He turned all right.
What the deuce" he began.
Just bruised it." said. Yes. I'm
going to South America, Marcus"
South America? What for South
America" he asked, but there was no
suspicion in his mind I felt certain:
nothing more than natural interest.
i've little plan for earning Q uv.
ing outside of newspaper work. Going
to test 1t by round.trip on the Wilton
to GuayaQuil. I'll combine business
and vacation"
Guess you've earned the vacation
all right" he said, swallowing his
drink with a perfunctory "Gesund-
heit!" "Td like to get away for q
few weeks myself. Twenty years ON
the force and not longer than a week
off at any time in the twenty. BY
Crikes, it's a dogs nfe!"
He settled down in the only chair
that was not loaded with bric-a.brao
and prepared to discuss the hardships
OF his profession, but shifted him
promptly into the st. Dunstan affair.
That IL at all was where the hitch
might come in my plans.
Nothing new" he answered my.
query. I've been proddins. the ten
ants, but haven't lead. A Jap, Ko-
dani-know him" I nodded. Hes
skidooed, but 1t isn't this affair. Hes
been stealing necktie pins and cufI-
links here and there. and made his
getaway yesterday. so they shovsled
him into our case. But this killing
wasn't any Jap servant business. It
was conspiracy"
political. religious. or socdal3" ]
asked.
white slavers. That's where Il II
end, mark my word. That's what Pm
working on, and when / get hold OF
two OIL three of my stools down on
Barbary Coast. III begin learning
something. You see. Gilmors,"-ths
sergeant replenished his glass and
settled more comfortably in the chair
I'll is corpse hasn't beea Identified,
and why? Because SIZE hadn't besn
in tie city twenty-four hours. Shs
was just brought in BE- the trust, and
somehow she got away, and. In fear
Of exposure. they killed her. That's
my theory"
That theory suited me-for Mar.
Gus. It wasn't mine, but az It did not
include me anywhere In It's workings.
/ was perfectly agreeable the deteo
tive sergeant should hold 1t. All !
asked was forty-eight hours, and
should be outside the heads on the
rolling decks of the bonnie Wilton.
go to It." I encouraged, deciding
to put my dress suit with the stun
for the storage bins. "Ill be lolling
in steamerchair while you are work
ing your think-tank overtime ON the
mess. No further word from my jocu-
lar friend Of the revolver notef"
Marcus grinned shame-facedly. "Just
another fool note." he said. handinG II
to me. II paid no attention to It."
read. typed IS before:
Search John Gilmore's apartment
for evidence in st. Dunstan murder.
want to dig through here% ask
ed. trying not to show concern, for !
was certain that somewhere among
my effects was evidence as damning
as would have been the empty shell