The Washington times., 1930-12-01
GIRL =
How a Red-Haired Beauty
Overturned a Great City
CHAPTER XXI


sooty curtains of Room 444, of
the victory Hotel, Polack Annie
and Tommy Gillespie met the
daylight.
They had said much through
the night. Game as he was,
the young fellow had finally ac-
cepted Annie's desperate, dead
~ plan-she had convinced him
that it was Freeman's life or
his and she had convinced him
that she would take Freeman's
and save his.
He strained her to him in his
athletic arms and he choked on
bis high emotions. Their lips
were glued together in the last
passionate kiss, the last of a
thousand through the long,
short night.
Then she opened the door.
Goodbye, Annie" he half
sobbed. May the Lord be good
to you!"
A Farewell
She kissed his hand - then
closed the door behind him.
She closed the door behind
the onU living man on earth
she. loved, the only honest man
who had eveY loved her. She
closed the door, too, on any
peace or profit that New York
might have held for her. And
on her identity. And on her
crowning glory-her red hair
which had sent many good men
into frenzy and many bad men
to their graves.
AS though to steel herself,
she locked the door.
And with one last sigh as she
looked toward it she turned
and went to work. For there
was much work to be done this
morning-and not nice work.
From her handbag she took
out a package of dye. She
coated a comb with 1t and
started running it through her
hair over and over again. The
natural color resisted the first
assault, but as she dipped and
dragged the vandal comb down
and down and down again, it
began to give in. Soon that
storied hair became an un-
recognizable, dark, nondescript
brown. She was still beautiful
but she was no longer Polack
Annie.
Getting Ready
Now she took from her bag
some other things. One was a
blued revolver, not Of the latest
type. In her other hand she
held a shiny something that
looked like an elongated eye
cup. She adjusted the thin
end of it over the muzzle and
it settled with a click. It was
q silencer, practical for the sort
of assignment Annie had given
herself.
She pumped a shot into her
pillow. It worked! There was
o noise like the splitting of an
angry cat. That was all.
Annie picked up the tele-
phone.
"H'lo," answered Silk. why
didn' you call las night?
Where's my sucker?"
"He JUS lef' me. Listen
Silk, can't spill on the wire
see? I've got to talk to you.
An can't leave here. I'll ex-
plain when I see you. Can you
come right over? An come up
alone-I am. I'm in 444. Vic
tory Hotel-you know"
II know. I own a piece of it.
Why can't you leave?"
Agrees to Come
Becus' I'm standin' by here
for a buzz on the phone from
him-get it? When it comes,
an it'll be any minute now,
I'll have him where I want him
an he'll wait. It's surefire
an foolproof."
"H-m-okay-I'll be over in q
half-hour."
Annie unlocked the door. She
opened the window and went
out on the fire escape. She
climbed down one floor and
looked into 344. Yes, every
thing was copesettee. The win
dow was open. Her getaway
looked clear. She paSSe d
through the room, went up the
main stairs and was again in
444, which she had chosen as
the execution chamber for Silk
Freeman. He had better rooms
than that in his garage.
She put on her hat and was
about to unleash the curlS she
always displayed with practiced
careleSSnesS. She sighed and
left them hat-locked. She tum
bled everything back into her
bag-except the ugly blue gat
and it's Shiny-nosed appendage.
Annie returned to the fire
escape, drew the Soiled cur
tains together, and stood
watching the door. She raised
her pistol and guaged the
range. She visionec Freeman
entering-he stepped fast, he
would trot in briskly and, not
seeing her would look sur
prised and search the room
with his eyes. If he was still
able to. For she proposed to
FORK with dispatch. If Free
man ShoIld see her before she
pumped one into him-he was
aosourceful; he might dive un-
lar the bed or turn and r1ln