The Washington times., 1936-04-17

The Inspector wasted no time.
He grabbed his hat. At the door,
he turned to me. you want to
be in on this, don't you? It's
your show, Come along!"
Ny hat and coat were in my
hand and I was down the hall
after him. We jumped into his
big police car with the radio and
the siren, and away we sped
toward San Francisco in pursuit
Of the fugitive.
On our way, my description Of
Mrs. Sardoni was coming in over
the radio. Cali cars look for a
woman Of this description, wanted
for murder in st. Joseph"
It is q 25-minute drive, I said,
but we reached the wharf in 1S
minutes. The auto ferry was
about to pull out. O'Brien showed
his badge and halted 1t. Then
they waited while he talked to q
man standing there.
ANY news?"
mo, chief. I've watched every
car, there were only 10 at this
time of day; no woman Of that
description drove on"
Keep watching. She may lie
over here for a few hours and
then try to make it."
eyes, sir"
"By the way, call Attorney Mar
tins home in st. Joseph-tell the
family I'm taking their daughter,
Julie, with me to San Francisco"
The man regarded me curiously.
Eyes, sir"
I'VE are running a chance, play
ing q bunch, call it what you will.
The woman must have got wind
that her husband was in custody,
that he was being questioned.
She decided the time had come
to get away before she was taken
in. It seems to me, that since she
was not sure we knew she was
Mrs. Perkins yet, and had no idea
anyone yet suspected her, that she
would go as directly as possible to
the city, where she has q big
range Of escapes open to her"
"And she was all ready to 60;
you know how stripped her apart
ment was" I recalled.
yeah. The trail is covered at
st. Joseph. I feel that it is my
fault she got away. So you and
I are going to San Francisco on
the bunch we'll find her there.
OF course, she's clever and she's
cautious. She knows how the po-
lice work. There is always the
chance that she Is back-tracking
to throw us off, or that she Is
lying low somewhere behind us.
She has had time to reach the
city had she gone straight there. D."
He opened the door, gently
pushed me out, followed me, and
holding my arm firmly, led me to
the cafe. There he ordered me a
hot beef sandwich, which came
with potato and gravy Sluicing all
over the plate. I was much too
excited to eat. I felt that each
mouthful was a part Of martyr
DOM, But I got most of it down.
In the meantime, the Inspector
had left me. So walked around
the deck, going out front in the
wind to gaze at the sun setting so
Economically over the water.
AS I turned from the rail, I saw
Q woman wrapped to the eyes in
fox furs. She was sitting in the
corner where the glass enclosure
breaks the wind, her back to the
door and to anyone on deck. ]
knew without any hesitation that
I had stumbled on Mrs. Sardino
Perkins.
Whether she had seen me or not
I couldn't tell. But since she was
in my line of vision I didn't intend
to let her out of it. So I sat down
In the opposite corner. The vino
was cold enough through my thir
tweed suit to send me into chills
but had it been warm as India
my teeth would have chartered
from sheer fear and excitement
This woman had killed one per
son. What would she not do tt
anyone who stood in her way al
this stage of the game? More thar
that, my mind was racing arounC
In the proverbial circles to finC
what course I should take. I hatec
to leave her and go to look TO
O'Brien. # she had recognized
me she might manage to disappear
CHAPTER XXXVI
It could not have been ten min
utes from the time first saw Mrs
Sardoni on the deck until the ferry
whistle blew to indicate that We
were approaching the dock. It was
ten million hours to me, yet I hae
made no plan to waylay her.
She rose, wrapped her fur more
closely about her throat and face
picked up her small bag, anc
walked toward the stairs. rose
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