Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-29
BLUE MURDER
By Edmund Smell.
Thrilling With Crime and
Of n
Bv Edmund Smell.

! b. the place was seething with police
| l had to knock one of EN- on the head
from behind before I could get away.
Decent looking chap. too"
Marney, his legs set wide apart. sur
veyed the other with look OF undls-
! guised admiration.
/ Mani" he calculated presently;
you're a crackerjack!"
I'm damn thirsty" said righton.
! Narney relieved him of the heavier
! burden
Wen beat it," he returned; beat
/ it right now. Better head for my place
You can get a cleanup there and
| there's always liquor handy"
They made off down the path which
led toward the Casino and the sea.
Marney opened the shop door with
the key he carried and motioned to
Dighton to follow nm in.
Don't make more noise than you
can help" he whispered. "FoItanei!i'S
all right. but his rtighbors are apt
TO be curious
He propped the apparatus in the
nearest corner and switched On the
light.
Now. look here. Diehton," he whis-
pered. Il don't want to push you out.
but your games 20 doll yourself up
The best you can and get back to the
hotel. The poiice1l be getting active
presently and they'll be Watching all
foreigners"
The other had dropped into chair
without troubling to remove his water
proof.
They won't worry their heads about
Us" he returned. The" caught one
Of the Germans while / was there.
That and the remains of old Dopmann
ought to satisfy them as to the ma
tiona:ity CT the invaders.
Too weary to fill his pipe, he found
a cigarette and tapped it on his thumb.
The odd thing is. Marney. that only
two people actually saw RE in the
Villa Sabine. and I'll bet you anything
you like thu. neither of EN- would
recognize me if they lostled me in the
street AS soon Gs Id Slammed the
trent door on Dopmann I covered the
lower part of my face with this scarf.
PULLED my cap we'll over my eyes and
held my gun ready. The first chap l
met boltcd for dear life up the stairs.
Gosh! but he was scared! l wanted
to burst cut laughing. He was little
fellow in horn-rimmoG spectacles, with
a comic sort of face and little bits
Of sidcwhiskerG-"
Marney nodded
"That'd be Gerardo-Ahlborg' pri-
vate secretary"
That's more or less what I imag-
incd. The chances were that he'd do
enc of two tllings-rouse the rest of
the household or flatten out under the
first bed until I'd gone. I didn't wait
to see, anyway; 1 hadn't time. Mine
was a smash. grab and clear out stunt.
and the more panic there was the more
likelihood there was Of my pulling
it off,"
H. cxhalc6 two streams of blue
smoke through his nostrils and smiled
across at Marney
Il knew enough about the building
to remember that the laboratories we're
somewhere On the left. The first
passage I tried took me almost into
the Kitchen. A smell of garlic put
ms wise before I Numbered in, so
dubbed back on my tracks and chose
PIE only other corridor. that offered.
Ehere was door at the far end, paint
cd white with yellow finger marks all
around the handle and the lock.
knew 1 was on the right track then;
it smelled right! The door was locked,
so 1 tapped softly with the butt of
my pistol. Nobody putting in an APP
pearance. / tapped bit louder-and
quite suddenly the thing opened about
six inches and a head came round.
Il gave that rap, too, before the
fellow could draw It back again. !
hadn't much bother after that. sup
pose you didn't notice any blu. smoke
curling cut of anywhere while was
inside? You see, had to fire off
one round to see if the pocket-brand
of Ahlborgs gun were loaded or not.
I had to take my chance with the
other. Somehow it didn't look the sort
of thing one would muck about with In
a drawing room!"
The other uncorked the cognac and
poured some into a glass. He passed
it across to Dighton.
Get that down you," he recon-
mended Meantime I'll see what the
Signora Fontanelli's left on the kitchen
stove in the shape of hot water"
He disappeared for 10 minutes, re-
appearing with an enormous iron
saucepan which emitted clouds of
steam.
THE signora believes in constant hot
water" he declared, pausing in the
middle of the floor. Failing any other
method of getting it, she leaves the
fire banked up and every available re-
ceptacle full of fluid and near enough
to get some heat. You'd better wash
in here, by the way: you'll find towels
and all that sort of thing. and there's
q clothes brush on the table by the
window"
Dighton was glad of that wash.
He rejoined Marney presently. pink
faced and more or less respectable.
What are we going to do with those
trophies?" he queried, pointing to the
weapons in the corner.
We'll" said Marney, clasping his
hands behind him and sucking at his
fnGfh Hth0fO'C nrnffU
cupboard under the Goals In Fontanel-
lis cellar. 1 guess they'd better go
there. Judging by the show of force
we saw up the hill tonight, I should
saw the authorities will be taking this
raid fairly seriously It'll be risky get
ting anything out of Rapallo until the
excitement's died down"
Dighton nodded.
And after that-?"
when things are a bit quieter I'll
drive over to Genoa one evening in
hired car and fix up with our people
there to have the things forwarded to
Taverner."
How'll they go?"
Marney shrugged his shoulders.
by boat from Genoa to Southamp-
ton, maybe-or an embassy messenger
NAV have to smuggle them through
with the rest of his confidential Junk"
Dighton looked thoughtful
Il suppose there's no chance of
smuggling them to London MYSELF"
You can take 1t from me, Dighton,
you wouldn't have an earthly. No, sir:
yc- jobs to go on just as you've been
going on. You've got to dance. attend
all the lawn parties you're asked to,
make love to Mafelda and behave your
self generally as if you'd never heard
of Ahlborg's blue dope"
Continued in Tomorrow's Starr
W@~'A w., E11l~.v