The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-12-09
R3IINKNOWN BLOND & kksssss 5s; s;;

thing. I'll tssl her not to expect
 mo for dinner"
 Now that he had gotten into this thing he hadn't the falntest notion of stopping. Ho would EO first to
 the Evening Post ofiice to find out
 what had happened In his absence.
 Maybe Paxton would be there. He
 felt the intense necessity of ~chln- ming over" the days events. He
 was still behind on many of the
 details of Tracy Kings death and
 wanted to ask questions. Gainey
 or Cunningham could tell him
 what he wanted to know.
 The car turned into q wider street. Shop windows were already lighted and made the sky seem darker. Night had descended with the turn of that corner. This was
 down town Tremont--a thorough fare on which ranged several small dress shops; Q furniture store: a chain grocery store with red front and another painted green;
 a second-rate hotel and huge
 vacant building. Ahead brighter lights and larger electric signs in-
 dicated more prosperous concerns. Bannister rode two more blocks. then left the car. The newsboy on the nearest corner was shouting unintellible cries from which the word murder" could be dis tinguished. Bannister bought a Post and walked on.
 The black type across the first page of the newspaper declared, "Scurlach Denies King Murder There was a photograph of man walking beside a policeman, shield ing his face so that 1t could not be seen. That, no doubt, was Scur- lach. There was a photograph of a letter and, grouped below, were pictures of Carlotta Scurlach and Denise Lang and Q larger one of
 Tracy King. The photographs took up a good part of the page but at the left in two column measure, set in large type, was an account
 of Herman Scurlach's arrest and
 his denial of the crime.
 At the top of the column were the words, "By J. Randolph Gainey." Bannister read hastily as he walked. There was nothing that
 was new to him in the story ex.
 cept the facts that Scurlach was
 a plasterer by trade. that he and Carlotta had been married for two
 years and that they lived at an address on Waverly avenue. In another column Bannister
 read, Search Continues for Miss l ing Blond" There was nothing
 new beneath that headline either. A description of the girl wanted in connection with the King mur- der, so the account read. had been
 broadcast to city and county au- thorities throughout nearby states.
 Her apprehension could be only a matter of hours now. Still~there
 was not the slightest clew of her
 whereabouts.
 "she's a slick one," Bannister reminded himself, and thought
 that the hollow feeling that came over him must be due to going without his lunch.
 He turned into the Evening Post building. The elevator was not in sight so he climbed the stairs. Two l flights. His breath was coming in dep puffs when he reached the top. After all, he certainly wasn't as young as he had been.
 He pushed through the gate
 erected to keep bothersome vis- itors from the editorial depart
 ment. The place was helf in dark
 nes, lighted only by two low-hung, ! green.shaded lamps. For a moment he thought there was no one there.
 Then he made out two figures = a
 man bending over the drinking fountain in the corner and. at a
 desk. crouching awkwardly behind
 the open pages of newspaper
 Gainey!
 Bannister felt a rush of jubi- lance as he crossed the floor. "Hi
 ther. Gainey!" he called. 'eHow
 about going out to have something
 to eat?" The younger man shifted his legs from the table to the floor, varied the angle of his felt hat. "Suits
 me-" he said without change of
 expression. "Where'd you want to
 go?"
 In a small restaurant two blocks
 away they found table for two.
 Gainey, who had had little to say
 during the walk to the restaurant, l leaned forward.
 (To Be Contlnued)