The Daily Alaska empire., 1934-06-06
Chapter 23
MISSING REVOLVER

TT WAS squat roll of old stair carpet. There was a scorched hole through the tough fabric and a further search showed a scar on the whitewashed boards where the spent bullet had hit.
 Were on the right road now" Harper exclaimed exultantly. "If we could only find that steel-jacket bull let, we'd have our proof complete"
 "Im afraid the killer would hold on to that" was Lafferty's surmise.
 There's natural urge to get rid of that sort of evidence" Harper countered, land I'm counting on that"
 They swung their fiashlight about at random. What's in that little cubby-hole over there?"
 Lafferty poked his head down. Logs for the fireplace" he an nounced.
 They moved those from one side of the narrow bin to the other but found nothing hidden beneath them. Harper flashed his light around the sides of the bin and the beam came to rest on rough board barrier set flush into the wall. N
 The detective unfastened. the rusty hooks and pulled it free. after a struggle. A dark space filled with rubble was revealed, greeting them with damp, musty odor.
 That must be the space under the front steps," said Harper. Lafferty suddenly raised his hand. "Listenw he whispered. "There's some one on the stairs. I heard a board creak!"
 He tiptoed silently in that direc- tion, while Harper snapped off the light and listened, waiting. In little while Lafferty returned, disgrun- tied. There wasn't soul in sight" he growled, "but I'm sure somebody was listening in"
 "Im going to look in that hole" Harper declared. Give me a boost up to the ledge" With his assist ants aid he scrambled on to the shoulder-high ledge. Thrusting the torch ahead, he crawled forward on his knees. Lafferty heard grunt of disgust as he brushed aside a black thing that crawled out from under a dislodged lump of mortar.
 There was a cry, scramble back wards, and Harper slid down to the cellar floor in a shower of small stones and dirt. His clothes were soiled with lime and the soft, messy dirt, and his hands were brushing at the thick cobwebs caught around his head and shoulders. but in his stained fingers he held lump of metal.
 "Carlin was right!" he exclaimed.
 It was discharged .45 caliber steel-jacket bullet!
 "DUT, Steve, tell you I saw it- D right there, buried under those handkerchiefs!"
 Lafferty pointed to the open draw CT of the highboy in Pierre Du- fresne's dressing-room. There was palpably nothing there now but the neatly stacked handkerchiefs.
 "I couldn't be mistaken about any thing as important as that. It was not an automatic, but heavy cali Der revolver Andrews was looking for Dufresne's extra pairs of glasses and they were in the drawer on the other side. The gun was not in a holster. I'd bet a months pay the bullets would be .45's."
 q don't get this at all," Harper unused. We went off by ourselves and made an important discovery that has to do with the gun used for this crime. No one knew anything about our suspicious, yet when we return to this room less than an hour later the revolver has been spirited away. That's more than a coincidence!"
 Harper looked through the other drawers in the highboy. The con tents were in meticulous order and 1t was apparent at a glance that nothing as bulky as the revolver Lafferty had described could be hid. den there now.
 To be doubly sure that Lafferty and he had overlooked nothing, Harper went through the drawers once more, and gave the pleasant room a nasty general search before either spoke again. There was noth ing.
 Don't forget" Lafferty advised drily, "that there was noise on the stairs while we were poking around the cellar. Some one in this house Is trying to keep an eye on us. think it's Andrews..That fellow car move around with less noise than 2 snake" i
 elf that was the revolver were looking for" Harper went on, z .A-~------- ----------f 8S-