Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-12-31

He looked in the unfathomable.
light blue eyes of Nicol Brinn, and
became conscious of a certain mem
tai confusion.
Good evening. sir" he said, awk-
wardly. IT am acting in the case
concerning the disappearance of
Mr.. Paul Harley"
"Well, ~slr''-again he glanced
rapidly about-"I don't want TO in
trude more than necessary, but a
lady came In here about half an
hour ago."
Yes" drawled Brinn. TITS pos
sible."
TITS a fact, declared the detec-
tive sergeant. 'If II isn't troubling
you too much. 1 should like to know
that lady's name. Alos 1 should like
q chat with her before she leaves"
Nicol Brinn replaced his cigar in
the right corner of his mouth: DE
tective Sergeant Stokes, l give you
my word that the lady TO whom you
refer is no longer in these cham
bers."
Stokes glared at him angrily. But
there is no other way out" he blus-
tered.
II shall not deal with this matter
further" declared Brinn, coldly. IT
maye have vices, but 1 never was a
liar"
"oh," muttered the detective SER
geant, taken aback by the cold in
cisiveness of the speaker. Then
perhaps you will lead the way, as I
should like to take a look around"
Nico1 Brinn spread his feet more
widely upon the hearthrug, "Detec-
tive Sergeant Stokes" he said, 'you
are not playing the game. Inspector
Wessex passed his word to me that
for t~wenty-four hours my move
ments should not be questioned or
interfered with. How is it that 1
find you here 2"
Stokes thrust his hands in his
pockets and coughed uneasily. "I
am not a machine" he replied; "and
I do my W job in my own way"
Maybe. but 1t is no affair of
yours to interfere with private af-
fairs of mine, Detective Sergeant.
See here. there is no lady In these
chambers, Secondly. I have an APP
pointment at nine o'clock, and you
are OBTAINING me-"
whats more" answered Stokes.
who had now quite lost his temper,
II intend to go on OBTAINING you I'M
til L have searched these chambers
and searched them thoroughly"
Nicol Brinn glanced at his watch.
"If I leave in five minutes, I'll be
in good time" he said. Follow
me-,
Crossing to the center section of
a massive bookcase, he opened 1t.
and it proved to be a door. Within
was a small and coy study. In con-
trast with the museumlike room out
of which it opened. it was furnished
In a severely simple fashion.
Palpably there was no one there.
Nor did the two bedrooms, the
kitchen, and the lobby afford any
more satisfactory evidence. Nicol
Brinn led the way back from the
lobby. He resumed his place upon
the hearthrug.
Are you satisfied, Detective Ser
geant?"
At ami Stokes spoke angrily.
while you kept me talking. she
slipped out through that study, and
down into the street"
Sorry" drawled Brinn, again con-
sulting his watch. "The five minutes
are up. must be Off"
mot until l have spoken to Scot
land Yard. sir"
NicoI Brinn strobe to the tele-
phone, which stood upon a small
table almost Immediately in front OF
the bookcase. The masked door re-
manned ajar.
"You are quite fixed upon detain-
ing me?"
"ouite," said stokes, watching him
closely.
In one long stride Brinn was
through the doorway, telephone in
hand! Before Stokes had time to
move, the door closed violently, in
order. no doubt. to make 1t shut over
the telephone cable which lay unde
it,
CHAPTER XVII
What Happened 20 Harley
Some two hours after Paul Har-
lev's examination of Jones. the x
pariormaid, a shabby street hawker
appeared in the Strand, bearing a
tray containing copies of "Old
Moore's Almanac" Nobody appear