Evening star., 1933-01-07
q -r( Ae
H#EN=N by NINA wilcox PUTNAM %sz&DM
by NINA WILCOX PUTNAM

cars ahead of him. Santini's and the
taxi, turned. abruptly, one after the
other, into an alleyway. Then De Pas
shifted into second and followed.
The alleyway proved to be an i'm
passe. one of those blind little streets
ending in nothing, which are so COM
mon in that hilly quarter. Hallway
down its length the taxi was parked at
the entrance of cheap new apartment
house, and the driver had got down and
was removing his dust coat in leis-
urely fashion, pausing with one arm off
| to light a cigarette. But save for him,
! the alley was empty. There was no
/ other exit, and yet Santini, his Eu-
| ropa. mechanic and all, had vanished
/ into thin airl
| With a hasty grinding of brakes De
Pas brought the car he was driving to
a standstill just behind the taxi and
sprang to the ground, looking down
the little impasSe with incredulous
! amaZement.
| But it was true, the enormous racing
car had vanished. On three sides the
buildings showed blank faces and, ex-
cept for Alacia and the taxi driver
there was not a soul in sight Under
| the impression that he must have suf-
fered from a delusion when he thought
he saw Santini turn in there Armand
ran frantically back to the corner, but
the Europa was nowhere to be seen.
From this point on the La Turbie road
mounted nakedly, zigzagging up the
bare face of the rocky mountain side,
and any car must inevitably have been
visible from where he stood, but there
was none in sight. Where on earth
had the man gone to? 1t seemed in
credible, but the explanation mist lie
in the little hind u,l.i iaH l.
er-beaten sign on the corner dwelling
| announced as the Rue de Paques
Fleurie. Slowly he came back and spoke
to Alacia.
Am I mad, or did he really turn in
here?" he asked.
Il thought he did" she answered
shakily. In fact I could have sworn
| It'll"
Then where is hep" Armand snorted
disgustedly.
A closer scrutiny of the surrounding
buildings revealed only two possible
ties. At the bottom of the alley facing
them and forming the blank end, was a
building which looked as if at some
time or another it might have been
used as wagon shed. Below the shut
tered windows of the upper story were
pair or wooden doors, in bad repair
and with the remnants of a coat of
green paint still clinging to their bat
tered surface, and these. had thev been
flung wide, could certainly have adj
mitted the vanished Europa But they
were held together by an old-fashioned
| paddock which was rusted in its hasp
ana had evidently not been disturbed
1or long time. Bits of dirty straw
stuck out from beneath these doors and
armand, reering through a crack,
hn
put an old set of harness hanging on a
| peg.
The other possibility was more prom-
ising. On the right, as one entered the
alley and Just beyond the spot where
the taHl stood, was modern one-car
garage. II was built into the concrete
foundations OF an apartment house and
was closed, in the European fashion. bv
sliding shutter of corrugated metal
which reached from top to bottom of
the entrance and locked at the side with
a patent catch. If this shutter had
oeen up when Santini turned the cor
ner 1t would have been a simple mat
ter to run the car in and lower it in
! taxi driver. ''''
Where are the men who entered
ahead Of you?" he demanded. "The
two men with the racing car Where
are they?" The man shrugged his
| stupidity 70 "'oi
What carp" said he. ct have seen
no car; What are you talking aboutP"
LOOK here, my man." said Armand
commanding his temper with difficulty,
cut real1Ang that to lose it would be
| Iutlie, look here. Don't tell me there
was no car ahead of you when YOU
turned IN. l saw it myself. Where did
y 60 to?' The man merely shrugged
anu pegan polishing the wood of his
IaXi with maddening indifference.
MonSieur mas made mistake" he
SAID 1t Is plain to see there is no car
here except his and mine" " VA
But that garage!" Armand insisted
VINO does 1t belong TOP"
An! The garage!" said the taxi
orlVer. The garage is mine. monsieur
let" ID no' 10
II II Is already taken" said Armand
quickly, who has rented it from vou9"
Inc man ceased his polishing and looked
az Armand trifie insolently before re-
plying, N'-0'0 It.
MSieur asks a great many oues-
tions' he announced Then. us he. by
chanee, an officer of police?'' Armand
vas sure the man knew he was not. so
ne shook his head and managed a pos
Sinle Semblance OF good humor.
NO, my friend" he said. But 7
MOuIa greatly like to see the inside of
your garage, Just the same, for as a
matter of fact, we are looking for " q
stolen car" To his infinite as.onieb1
ment, the bluff worked. Without fnr-
ther protest the taxi driver took a kew
from MS pocket, unlocked the garage
ooor with grating sound and lifted
int IRON shutter. The garage was enntv
save Tor the ordinary small work bench
ana a couple of old brooms in a corner
Inc place had no other exit.
wen, I'll be damned" said Armand
ana repeated it in three languages
(To be continued)