Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1938-01-06
CHAPTER XIII-Continued

CHAPTER XIII-Continued
$50 we're off to be married!
That's all right with me-" Jerry
Field approved fervently.
Brooke, whose face was pressed
against the back window of the
roadster, twisted round in her seat.
Don't be foolish, Jerry. OF
course we're not. That was red
herring drawn across our trail"
'Just why the red herring?"
The ironic note in his voice gave
her a chill tremor of dismay; she
didn't care for the way in which his
eyes narrowed as they peered
through the wind shield. She pro-
tested:
Don't speak like that, it makes
me shivery, and goodness knows
my teeth are fairly chattering now"
She turned to peer from the rear
window. mo car in sight yet. Can
you 60 a little faster?"
''Not without risk of skidding off
the causeway and breaking our
necks. Can't you see how the snow
is plastering the wind shield. The
squeegee barely moves. Why the
haste?'
"While I'm telling you I'll keep
watch. The excitement began upon
my return from the play"
She told him of leaving her town
car in the garage, of stopping in the
purple gloom under the hemlock to
look at the lighted windows of the
stone houses crouched on the ledge;
her breath quickened as she re-
peated the words of the man who
had produced the newspaper clip
ping:
It's the picture of the dame
who said: "He was a swell-dressed
fella!" I'll have to date her up"
"That was what the Cassidy girl
said about the man they suspect
robbed Mrs. Hunt"
Fields voice was sharp, his per-
sonal problem was submerged in a
mounting tide of excitement. The
car shot ahead like a whippet I'M
leashed.
II know that now. The certainty
as to who he was flashed through
my mind while I was dressing, and
the suspicion that he might be at
the Other House tonight to lift
that's the technical term, isn't it
Mrs. Gregory's gorgeous dia-
monds."
''Why didn't you phone the po-
ice?"
with Henri in the house? I may
be slow thinker but I'm not abso-
lutely dumb.
"And the suitcase?"
"a touch Of theater. I thought
If one of the gang saw us starting,
he might suspect he had been dis
covered, but if he heard what I
told Taku he would feel secure.
Elopements happen every day."
mot in my young Gfe," Jerry
Field retorted crisply.
They maintained breathless,
alert silence until the roadster
turned corner into a street which
mad an air of lonely spaciousness.
just ahead bulked the combination
Jail and police headquarters,
gloomy and ponderous.
"Shall come in with your" Field
asked, as he stopped the roadster
before a heavy iron door and cut
off his engine.
eyes. I may need you to corrobo-
rate my story. When I burst in
upon them in this gown, they may
think I'm crazy. Hurry! We don't
know what is going on at the Other
House."
Field slipped his arm within hers
as they mounted the snowy steps.
''I'll stick around and wait till
you call me. Don't SILVER, sweet
thing. You're not afraid of the in
spector, are your"
"Afraid! No. Haven't I been
cross-examined by him almost ev-
cry day since what Sam calls our
late unpleasantness'? It's just the
Reyburn temperament"
Her satin sandals skidded treach-
erously in the corridor as she con-
fronted policeman whose nose,
criss-crossed with network of fine
veins, had the effect of red
"stop" signal.
where's the inspector? I must
see him. Matter of life and death, 4"
she condded breathlessly. In her
excitement she caught the mans
arm and shook it. He scowled at
her, looked beyond her at Jerry
Field; his expression mellowed.
inspectors just come in. He's
in the radio division. Go through
those swinging doors up them stairs
to the tower"
Brooke was through the doors be-
fore the man had finished speaking.
Three or four men leaning over a
great U-shaped table looked up as
she entered the room. With NUT
tered exclamation, the Inspector left
them and came forward.
A man sitting at a telephone said
something in a low voice to an Off
LII u