Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-23
NINTH INSTALLMENT.

~ NE thing, though, that the dis
coVery of her loss did fol-
Rhoda was to put an end in
~ Stantly to her panic. The cold
half-paralyzed nightmare fear
that had had its grip on her ever since
! Claire Cleveland'S reference to Califor-
mia was succeeded by flame of hot
anger. On her mind the effect of it was
like the lifting of hot anger. On her
mind the effect of 1t was like the lift
| ing of a fog. Even during the moment
| that she stood staring at the spot where
the trunk had been she began to see
what had happened. began asking her
self questions and perceiving in a sue
ceSSion of flashes the answers to them.
Had ClaireS invitation to lunch been
anything but trick to insure her alb
Sence from the studio while it was be-
ing broken into? 1t wouldn't have been
necessary to do that, and Claire prob
ably knew it, Max Lewis knew 1t, any
how. for Babe had told him the night
he brought her home that she and
Rhoda worked all day, and that Doris
and Isabel were off on tour with their
ballet No. Claire had asked her to
lunch in order to find out something.
What could she have found out?
Not much. certainly. Rhoda was sure
she hadn't told anything important.
Wait minute. thought She had said
that none of her fathers papers had
been destroyed. Shed said, in answer
to question, that they weren't at the
bank There was whole trunk full Of
them. she'd said, and she had sealed
up the trunk. In other words, she'd
volunteered the fact--fool! Silly. bab-
bling fool!-that a Sealed-up trunk was
the thing to look for.
But had she said that it was in the
studio? She couldn't remember hav-
ing said that in SO many words, but
she must have admitted by inference,
since Claire had suggested coming home
with her and helping in the search for
the paper she wanted. Had Claire ex-
pected her to accept an offer like that?
Probably not very seriously, but she
might have regarded it as chance
worth taking Anyhow, it hadn't been
until after Rhoda had declined this
offer-giving away her own suspicion.
no doubt, hand over fist-that Claire
had remembered the friend who was
waiting for her to telephone him.
Them" she'd said. though: not
''him.'' Did that really mean there were
two of them-MaX and his uncle, ForS-
ter? Most likely not. Claire's hatred of
old Forster had seemed real enough. 1t
had probably been nothing but Claire's
way of avoiding the admission that her
friend was man. 1t must have been
Max she'd telephoned to- waiting at
telephone somewhere for Claire'S in
structions.
His attempts yesterday to find the pa
pers they wanted had been unsuccessful,
because he hadn't known what to look
for. So he'd taken her $500 instead. Did
Claire know that? she wondered. That
might be worth thinking about later, but
she hadn't time to follow 1t out now.
Max had tried again today with better
Just where he'd seen the sealed trunk
the day before, and had succeeded with
out any trouble at all. 1t had just hap
pened, within the past hour, thanks to
her own plain imbecility in giving every
thing away.
Shed been furious this morning with
Martin for warning her against going
to lunch with Claire. The woman was
clever and dangerous. he'd said, and
she'd better let her alone. And she'd
wanted to shake him for saying that.
She hated the thought Of telling him
what had happened, even while she was
wishing he were here at her elbow now
telling her what to do. Well, couldn't
she think Of anything, do anything. for
herself? Was she going to just sit down
and let that pair Of crooks get away
with it? They were probably up at
Claire's fiat now gloating over their
been.
1t was what Martin had overheard
| them planning night before last at the
! Alhambra. And now after one failure,
despite the repeated warnings she'd had
they'd got what they wanted-unless,
somehow, she could make them give 1t
| up.
But what chance was there of that?
She wouldn't call the police. She
couldn't do that. with the story Of her
fathers disgrace involved in the matter,
and they knew it. That's what they
were counting on. They'd been too
clever for her; not Max, but Claire. The
mere fatuouS smirk on Max's beefy,
handsome face was enough to tell any
body that there was no intelligence be-
! hind it. He took Claire's orders. in spite
of the rich uncle whom Martin thought
he was afraid of.
| ForsteTl The old man who had given
her and Babe the ride downtown in his
limousine that morning That hadn't
been chance, of course. He'd been trying
to find her and he'd succeeded some
how. He was playing a hand of his own