Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1931-02-17
Twenty. First InstaIIment
, Copyright By II. BObbs.Msrrni ca

Twenty-F First InstalImens
IT'S about said Martin, -the
disappearance or Miss Rhoda Nc
Farland. Do I get nv interview p
There was q long silence az that.
Evidently they were having an ar.
gument about H.
Nothing DOING the voice said
ar last II don't know that she's
disappeared I don't know that
there's any such person"
You don't want 10 say. then.
why you've been advertising for
herr"
The only answer lie got TO that
question was a click which meant
that the other receiver had been
slammed down on the hook. 50
Martin hung up. too. and left the
booth.
The first thing to nnd out was
the number Of Forster's apartment,
and Of course. the obvious way
would be 10 walk I'D to the desk
and ask the clerk. But instinc-
lively he SHE'D az that. Forster
was no ordinary transient guest
here A man as rich as he was
and permanently domiciled here,
would have special defenses. You
wouldn't be able 10 mention his
name without starting something.
The better way would be 70 drift
into casual talk with somebody. q
bellhop or the girl who sold thea
ter. tickets. lead up to his question
and ask II idly.
But II wasn't 20 easy as II
looked to frame that question so
1t would sound casual. And IL he
failed. IL his question reused sus-
picion. he'd be worse OF than IL
he'd gone straight to the clerk I'm
the first place
His gaze was questing about the
lobby, noting everything that
everybody did. studying faces In
the hope Of finding q duh and
friendly and unsuspiciouS enough
TO suit his purpose
The man who had Just come
down In one OF the elevators and
now stood talking 70 the captain
hadn't q face like that; very much
the contrary. In fact. bleak and
rocky as a chunk or the great
American desert and he talked as
II be were biting or the heads or
finishing nails.
Martin stared az him, regardless
OF the risk OF catching his eve, IN
I'll. In his own minds eye. he had
put a derby bat on his head and q
brown overcoat on his back and n
little leather notebook I'm his hand.
and recognized him. He was the
man who had come to the studio
Last night. getting names for the
new city directory. And this iden-
tifcation led on so quickly 10 an
other that IL was like firing the
second barred OF a shotgun. This
was the man whose voice he had
just now been trying to remember.
the man on the telephone who had
been pretending he vas Forster.
TX seemed a reasonable guess
that the instructions Blue Serge
vas giving the captain that
any reporter or other Inquisltlvn
person asking questions about c
J. Forster or trying TO get through
70 him was u Be dealt with IN &
special manner.
Satisfied that the captain under
stood these Instructions, whatever
they were. Blue Serge left him and
crossed the lobby 70 the desk. Here
his business was not with the clerk
but with the manager. who prompt
" came out or his little private OF
fee 70 talk with him. The mana
ger was taking orders. too. with
an alertness which showed be rec
ognIzed their importance.
Leaving the desk and a complete
Nv instructed manager behind IL.
the man In the blue serge suit now
started across the lobby in a new
direction. one that would bring
him. unheas Inc veered or. uncon-
fortably close to Martins chair.
But before this embarrassment be-
came acute he was diverted by one
OF the hezEh0ys who crossed his
path- Thn boy seemed perfectly
unaware O. him. but B1ue Serge.
after q sharp look. turned On his
heel and went back 70 the desk.
summoned the manager again,
bruRgtk hlm eut into tie iobby .
uftla waE. aDA needed afher the