Evening star., 1936-10-14
rNSTALLMENT xxx.

INSTALLMENT xxx.
"What!" Zelda Lansing, too was
Interested. but the explosive WHAT"
came from Blackwood.
He owned the night club--secretly
Of course" Goliath went on. i've
known that for some time, but 1t
never occurred to me to connect him
with the murders until I saw where
your suspicious were leading you
Then I wondered. Your explanation
at the table last night completed the
story as far as was concerned. So
kept an eye on Fentress.'
HE was a coiner?"
II don't think so. Just part Of
syndicate that was distributing the
stuff. There were only four Of them
in it-Fentress Tor Valance. II you
prefer, Chance, Shuler and Elk. The
walters wer all innocent enough. The
three thugs were all minor criminals.
under Fentress' thumb. AS criminal
lawyer, he's saved them from Jail at
one time and another. It was they
who posed as the laborers we walked
past that night after Janice's party
and who we're burying Percy in the
etreet-Fentress had told them Percy
knew about the phony money and
was going to turn them all up"
"They killed Percy?"
"Oh, no! Fentress took care of
that after Valerie had summoned
him by phone to the club from Janice's
party. You were right about nearly
everything Then the excitement be-
gan. They had to work fast. The
plan had already been laid. A truck
had been hired in the afternoon. some
initials painted on it to make it look
like a street car company truck, and
the necessary paraphernalia pur-
chased in hurry. They were just
finishing their fake repair job when
you made your appearance a little
before o'clock You must have
walked right over the gravel!
Blackwood thought it over.
Poor devil" he muttered, and
added quickly. What a shock must
have given Fentress that night And
how he took it! He lied as promptly
and as easily as professional wit
ness. Anu UtOuSllI 1T dll OIl
self, too. by that first lie. I knew it
had been a lie as soon as I learned
there had been no street car gang at
work. And I knew what had hap
pened to Percy. He should have kept
his trap shut. All mischief comes
from opening the mouth according
to my favorite Chinese philosopher" j"
"Confucius, Riley?" smiled Zelda
Lansing. eager to reveal her culture.
Charlie Chan, darling" said Riley
Blackwood. I'm really horribly an
noyed with myself, Goliath. In effect,
It was I who murdered Janice Hume.
I should have kept my own mouth
shut. I blabbed everything to Fent-
ress-talked things over with him
called him up and volunteered in
formation-told him about Janice's
search of Rita's apartment-made a
complete thistle-feeding ass Of my
self!'
Goliath shrugged. you're bound
20 feel bad about it," he agreed. "but
don't see how any of 1t could be
helped. You turned up Fentress.
fnaIy-that's the main thing-and,
Of course, the West girl. Incident
! ally, old man, you did rather fall
down hard on one point though
Blackwood was troubled.
'You should have known that the
woman, who escaped you in Rita's
apartment after stealing the Missoula
photograph Of Rita-Valerie, as it
turned out-lived right there In the
building"
"oh, no." protested Blackwood.
SShe didn't"
I'm afraid she did She disap-
peared rather quickly didn't she. after
ducking out? Obviously she ran down
one flight and shot into her own apart
ment. Dallas asked her where she
lived, and it came out. She was there
Under another name, of course"
"Oh!" said Blackwoed. That's
where Fentress came from, then, the
night he killed Rita with Janices
pistol! And where he went to after
the murder! Slipped his turban into
his pocket after the incident of the
kitten, and hurried off to that apart
ment; then slipped upstairs and COM
mitted his murder. He had known
earlier that some day he and Rita
would meet and there would be show
down. He put the Wesst girl in there
on purpose. How long had she been
there? Not month, I'll bet dollar!"
"Three weeks" said Goliath.
"Saw Rita's pictures in the paper
and got ready! Saturday-after the
meeting"
Goliath nodded. "You were right
about that, too She was with Percy
on the boulevard. Fentress passed
them and she recognized him. She
jumped as if she'd been shot and
turned and tried to speak with him.
He went right on without word. Of
course. But he peeked back. Sure
enough, there she stood, looking after
him, and talking hard to Percy-telling
him all about it." The detective
shrugged. $50 Percy also had to go!
The West girl told US all about it."
what happened in Rita's bed
room?" asked Blackwood.
"He went upstairs and rang the bell.