Evening star., 1920-05-09
Mystery of the Thirty-One


winkin' at Mr. Robert.
Minnie who:" demands Old Hicko,
why. from Minnehaha?" says I. an
1 can hear Piddie gasp at my pullir
anything like that on the president o
the Corrugated Trust.
Old Hickory must have heard hin
| too. for he shrugs mis- shoulders an
remarks to Piddie solemn: Even bril-
liant intellects have their dull spots
you see. But wait. Presently thi
spasm of third rate comedy will pas
and he will evolve some apt conclu
sion. He will tell us who sent me
Ha. ha. message on a golf ball. an
why. Eli. Torchy:"
Guess I'll have to. SIR" says I. 'Hoy
much time of do l get. couple o
hours"
The whole afternoon. II you'll solv
the mystery says he. II am golnl
out to luncheon now. When I COM
back"
THAT ought to be time enough.
says I.
Course. nine-tenths Of that was pur,
bluff. All l had mapped out then wa.
just a hunch for startin' to work
When they'd all left the private offic,
l wanders over for another look from
the punctured window. The lower
sash had been pushed half way VI
when the golf ball hit it. and tn,
shade had been pulled about two
thirds down. IT was while was run.
min the shade clear to the top that
discovers this square of red cardboard
hung in the middle of the top sash.
''Hah:" says l. Had the window
marked. did he?"
Simple enough to see that a trick O.
that kind called for an inside confed
crate. Who? Next minute I'm dashin
out to catch Tony, who runs expires.
elevator No 3.
Were the window washers at worl
on our floor this mornin'?" saysI.
Sure" says Tony. What you
miss"
1T was case of direct hit." says /
Where are they now:''
''On twenty-five" says Tony
'I'li ride up with you." says I.
And three minutes later I've corralle6
a Greek glass polisher who's eatin his
bread and sausage at the end of one O,
the corridors.
You lobster" says I. "Why didn',
you hang that blue card in the righ,
Window"
Red card" he protests. sputterin
crumbs. II hang him right. me-
''oh, very well,' says I, displayin
half dollar temptin'. Then you goa
some more comm to you, haven't your
He mods eager and holds out hil
hand.
Just a minute" says I. until Tn
sure you're the right one. What wa
the party's name who gave you the
job"
mo can say him name." says the
Greek. He just tell me hang card, and
give me dollar"
Il see." says I. "a tall. thin man
with red whiskers, eh:'
mo, no." says he. Short thick oil
guy, fat in middle. no whiskers."
Correct so far" says I. "And II you
can tell where he hangs out"
That's ALL" says the Greek. Gimme
half dollar"
You win," says I. tossin' It to him.
But that's maxim fair progress for
the first five minutes, eh? So far ]
knew that smooth faced. poddy party
had shot a golf ball with "Ha, hat
written on 1t into Old Hickory's private
.ffice. Must have been done deliberate
too. for he'd taken pains to have the
window marked plain for him with the
red card. And at that it was some shot
III say. Couldn't have como from the
street. on account Of the distance. Then
there was the grass stain. Grass? Now
where
BY this time I'm leanin' out over the
sill starin' down at the roofs of the ad
joinin' buildings. And after I'd stretched
my neck for q while l happens to look
directly underneath. There it was
Uh-huh. A little green square Of lawn
alongside the tanitor's roof quarters
You know you'll find 'em here and there
on oface building roofs, even down in
Wai1 street. And this being right next
door and six or seven stories below had
been 80 close that we'd overlooked it al
first.
So now l knew what he looked like
and where he stood. But who was he
and what was the grand idea? 1t dom,
take me long to chase down to the
ground floor and into the next building
And. Of course. tackles the elevate,
starter. They're the wise boys. Always
don't know why it is. but you'll gen.
orally find that the most important
lookin' and actin bird around a bi,
bu:ldin' is the starter. And what hi
don't know about the tenants and theil
buziness amt worth findin' out.
On my way through the arcade II
stopped at the cigar counter and in.
vested in a couple OF Fumadoras will
fancy bands on 'em. Tuckin' the smoke.
casual into the starters outside Goa,
pocket l establishes friendly relation,
almost from the start.
well. son." says he. "is it the natu
raj blond on the seventh, or the bru
nette vamp who pounds keys on tn,
third that you want to meet:'
'.Ah. come. captain" says I. do
look like a Gladys-hound? Nay, nay
I'm simply takia' a sport census"
''Eh? says he. That's a new one OF
me-"
Got any golf bugs in your buildin'
cap?" 1 goes Or.
ANY" says ne. Nothing but. Say
you'll see more shiny hardware lugge,
out Of here on a Saturday than
But did you notice any being lugget
In todavo's 7 hroaku in
NO" says he. IT'S little early TO
'em to start the season. and too nea
the first of the week. Don't remembe
a single bag goin' in today"
Nor a club, either?" l asks.
He takes off his cap and rubs hi
right ear Seems to help. too. "Oh
yes" Says he. Il remember now