Evening star., 1927-03-28

| panicky. You realize the Phantom
couldn't be blamed for the murder OF
Mrs. Trippe, for he was in Jail when
| the job was done. Anyhow, every.
body thought he was, which amounted
to the same thing. YOU were In no
condition to reason things out, and the
only safe way out of the mess you
had made seemed to be to hide the
body. 1t would postpone discovery OF
the murder for while and give you q
chance to think. The hiding place you
picked wasn't a very good one, but !,
was the best you could find in q
hurry
Yeah" taunted Pinto. "Been hit
ting the booze again, amt your"
"No; I'm sober for once. Well
Pinto, after our little talk a while
ago you were a bit worried You
knew some one would find the body
sooner or later. and you thought
things would look better all around II
you were the one to find it. Anyhow
there was no reason for keeping il
hidden longer after 1t turned out that
the police had nabbed the wrong man
and the Phantom had no alibi. / sup
pose II / hadn't stopped you when !
did you would now be at the telephone
reporting your discovery to the station
house"
AS he spoke the Phantom studied
every change OF expression in the
others face. Pinto WINGED as If each
word had been a needle prit but he
seemed to be drawing on - reserve
force of fortitude, for his co. age was
rising rather than ebbing.
| After pulling that dream stuff, ;
he said sneeringly, "mebbe you'll come
across with the evidence"
Sure thing The Phantoms tones
belied his rumbling hopes. He realized
he had no evidence, and Pinto showed
no signs of breaking down. eff what
| I've said doesn't hit the bull's-eye
why did you sneak in here and drag
the body out from behind the packing
cases? You seemed to be making a
bee-line for it. How did you know 1t
| was there?"
$50 that's what you call evidence
Pinto sneered. II guess If it comes
good as yours. Now that you've got
| all that stuff off your chest, mebbe
you'll answer a question or two. and
you might begin by telling what you re
doing here yourself"
"a reporter goes everywhere"
"Reporter-huh! You've been on
the Sphere four weeks, and soused
half the time. You came here from
Kansas City. You worked on a news
paper there only week or two, ac-
cording to the dope the department
got. Seems you've been tramping
around a lot in your days. Mebbe
you're an honest to goodness reporter
and mebbe you're not. I've got a
hunch of my own"
Lets hear it," said the Phantom
lightly, though inwardly he felt some
what uneasy. Pinto's gaze, constantly
searching his face, was growing
keener with every passing moment.
well, it looks mighty queer to me
that you showed up in this burg just
few weeks ahead of the Phantom.
especially since you two look SO much
alike. What's queerer still Is that you
got pinched the other day just when
the Phantom was as good as caught
in the net. He would have been
hauled in if you hadn't been grabbed
by mistake"
so that's it, The Phantom
chuckled amusedly.
Just because it happened that way
you're thinking that am acting as a
foil for the Gray Phantom"
"You got me just right. Granger.
I'm thinking that, though I'm not
saying much about 1t yet. Here's an
other little thing I'd like to get your
opinion on" He came a step closer,
looked hard at the Phantom, and put
the question sharply. What's be-
come of Helen Hardwick?"
"He-Helen Hardwick?" The Phan-
tom stood rigid, mouth gaping and
eyes staring.
She's the one. They say the Phan-
tom has crush on her and that it
! was on her account he handed the
Duke the wallop some months ago.
She's supposed"
The Phantom. his face deathly