Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-07-13
THE DIAMOND THIEVES BY ARTHUR STFINGEI

Then I thought or Wlnkle, FROM
tonight, knew. l could face him
without fear. Wrinkle. I said, as I
sent in a call for his number, would
never fail me. Wrinkle had imagina-
ton, and would understand. And IT
might lead to chance for certain
explanations which were due him.
But Wrinkle, found, was not at
home.
III 1t is urgent" explained his man
over the wire. Mr.. Ealand might
be called at Mrs. De Ravens. He Is
dining there tonight"
"Never mind" said with a sigh.
"Who shall say called him?" in
CURED the pompous- noted voice over
the wire.
'You can say 1t was Miss Rymal,
speaking from Tiernan's," was my
retort.
] hung up the receiver with O still
wayward sense of desolation mill
stoning about my heart. could pic
ture Mr.. Winkfred Ealand in that
9Th avenue home. drinking Turkish
coffee out Of Sevres demitasse and
leisurely helping himself to another
gold-tipped cigarette as the white
Called footman made his rounds. And
could see him leaning idly over the
grand piano. In a music room of rose
and Roman gold. while Gwendolyn Do
Haven played Grieg and gazed ar.
IDENTIFY into my Wrinkles eyes. And
had spent the evening In a beer
dump with sawdust on the floor and
obscenity In the air!
went back to Tiernan's, oppressed
by that vague ache for companions
ship which probably brought Eve and
Adam considerably closer together
after Eden's pearly gates had been
pushed shut in their faces.
Yet the tainted air Of Tiernans
"1nk-pot" was more than ever re-.
pellent to me. The same sordid gayety
went on as before, and in the midst
OF that sinister merry-go-round Gas.
House Aggie still sat alone At her
table. The only difference was that
Doyle and Toosey had mysteriously
disappeared, and that Aggie had
changed her position. so that. instead
Of sitting with her back to the main
entrance, she sat facing 1t. The rest
Of the room, noticed, had left her
strictly alone, In an instructive Sud
animallike respect for her unhappi.
ness. ! suppose, the same az 4 sick
steer is impassively Stunned by the
range herd.
SAY. Aggie." told her in the Ian
NNQ0A that yuonl6 corro o1ocneA - hn,
comprehension. but / Just couldn't
DO It."
"Who said my name was ASHER
che finally asked.
THAT bouncer called you Aggie," !
reminded her. And perhaps know
more ebout you than your hara4,A
"1ts muffin thatll do yuh any GOOD"
she finally remarked, "or me, either"
But didn't intend to DO rebpfted.
And 1t was essential that the truth or
falsity OF that girls story should be
confirmed.
"Aggie. all this world nurses a
sure-enough contempt for q gutter.
There's a taxi thirty yards from this
corner. What's the matter with you
and me taking that taxi and getting
tucked away in my district until we
can talk this thing out. Then maybe
we can lay the right sort Of plans
for having Callahan rounded up be.
fore he runs away from the idea that
q shooting iron is the supreme court
OF New York state"
The woman didn't answer me. She
wasn't even looking at me. Instead,
she was staring above and beyond me,
with eyes that widened into q vapid
cape.
ITS him." she said, in a loose
Tipped whisper that brought my heart
up into my throat.
I couldn't see the man who had
stepped In through the door-the man
she was watching. could only read
what was happening as 1t was reflect
Cd In that tragically intent face. And
was afraid to turn around, afraid to
confront the calamitous moment that
couldn't be long deferred, very much
the same as a child breads to un-
cover cut. And din't turn around.
l waited, even as the woman on the
other side Of the table waited. .-
Then the man who had stepped In
through the door moved forward into
my line Of vision. And that man
wasn't Duke Callahan. It was An
gelo Pareto. ....,