The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1922-07-19
A Man in the Open.


house that night on the track Of
Roberta in precisely ithe way she /
planned, although she did go out into
the darkness by another method than
the door-by one that was forced
upon her, which she would not have
attempted, nor, indeed, believed pos
sible Of accomplishment, had she not
been compelled to do it, and if she
had not been transformed, by the
scene she had just witnessed, to the
keen and daring of Lady of the Po-
lice, to the Lady of the Night Wind
who had dared so greatly and accom-
plished so much, long ago, when she
had taken upon herself the task of
clearing her husband of the framed
up charges against him.
When Roberta went from the room
after making those se~lf-addressed
whispered remarks about her going,
Katherine became suddenly alert and
eager.
She was again the shrewd, re-
sourceful and skillful detective Of her
miss MAXWELL days at headquarters,
unafraid, self-confident, and compe-
tent. She became, on the instant,
the skilled operative of bygone times.
1t did not matter to her then that
| she was in negligee, Senorita Ger
v~antez, the Roberta of the midnight
: conversation over a telephone wire,
l the confederate of Belknape in his
l schemes, had just gone out into the
night to meet somebody she had sent
for and was expecting-somebody
who was inimical to Belknap and his
4 plans-somebody whose identity
Katherine vaguely, very vaguely,
/ suspected-and Katherine was bound
to discover who and what that same
: somebody might be; she was determ-
ined to find out if there were any
grounds for her faint but insistent
Y suspicious.
She had what Tom Clancy would
= have called a "hunch."
v She guessed that in the conversa-
ton she had just overheard, Belknap
and Roberta had both referred to her
e brother Roderick - and yet - and
7 yet
! She darted to the door and pulled
: L a little way open without a jar or
e sound. .
5 There was the possibility that Ro-
: erta had paused just beyond it;
! that she might have changed her
p mind; so Katherine was extremely
cautious-and it was well that she
was so.
u She peered into the hall, which, al.
VI though dimly lit, was lighter than the
II room behind her.
!, Instantly she withdrew her head
II reclosed the door, and turned the key
y in the lock, fastening it. Then, al
II most holding her breath, she waited
\ What she had seen was startling
le enough.
H. Roberta had already disappeared
much more quickly than KATHERINE
had believed she could; more thar
~ likely she had run to the stairs ant
- down them. But Belknap was return
~ ing.
She had caught sight of him at tn
moment he turned around the pos
N of the balustrade coming from tn
floor above, where his room YVES 10
Gated; she had seen him-and sh
feared that he had caught a glimps
of her. Not enough to have 1ecog
-, nized her; she was quite certain IS t
that, but his eyes had evidently bee
=; on the door when she had thrust he
" head outward. He had started foi
Al ward with quickened pace, and
e The knob of the door turned; the
when it would not yield, the kno
- was shaken gently.
IN Katherine made no response wha
- ever. She stood very still, listening
Belknap, at the opposite side, tappe
III lightly against it. Then Katherir
~ heard his voice raised barely aboS
q whisper.
50 "Let me in, Berta; there is som.
III thing forgot to say, and there is r
knowing when there will be anothC
opportunity like this one. 'Yo
haven't undressed yet, l lam sur
he Open and let me in. l won't stay fly
~ minutes. I promise"
Katherine smiled, well pleased
"a know that he had not recognized he
and, of course, she made no rep
whatever.
"p Belknap did not Immediately spes
again, but Katherine could hear
'ns faint rustling beyond the closed doc
and then she became genuinely sta
LET tied.
'ne She heard the click of metal again
~ metal at che keyhole, and Belknap
me muttsred remark made at the san
aat tins:
er, aAll right. If ysu won't let m
Ios. I'll go in"
ap And Katherine understood.
ma She knew that be was using bu
ere glar forceps to grip the post Of Il
len key and turn L. and thus unlock Il
door from his side, and sac knew tn
m il could be done as easily as if
ain held the key itself. She knew /