The Wilmington morning star., 1940-05-22
CHAPTER TWENTY

N41xA4 AAAe
what is this important clue
you've uncovered?" 1 asked the
reporter as he signaled a taXlcab.
II searched the river with the
Markham. motor boat yesterday
he explained, and after 1 hao
gone downstream for miles with
out finding your boat 1 began tC
wonder if someone hadn't picked
it up"
MY boat?"
Sure The rowhoat in which
you got away from that kldnaper.
You turned it upside down and II
was full of bullet holes, but II
c uldn't sink. It was made OF wood.
Z I was pretty sure the KID
naper wouldn't go after 1t because
it was in midstream and ne mlghl
have to follow it for miles"
But what could you tell from a
rowb1 to"
He gave directions to the taxi
driver as we climbed in, then con-
tinued. "There'd been no report TO
the police, and none of the offices
of the water transportation COM
panies had a report OF an over
tur, ,wboat being picked up by
anv of the employees. l was about
ready to give up when l saw 1hls
old man Nth his covered wagon.
He was camped at the edge OF the
river, below the Rio Vista club and
lust above town, on the opposite
side"
And he had the boat?"
Fright. He wouldn't say so, right
NJ, He gave me a kind of funny
answer, until I told him I'd give a
reward for the boat. 1t was inside
his wagon. l guess he figured on
selling it, though it wasn't worth
very much with those bullet holes
in it. ! tied it behind my boat and
towed it upstream. Then l beached
it and cut out the piece of wood
where one of the bullets had
lodged. l took the piece to a bal
listics expert. He's taking the bull
let out and studying it. If our luck
holds, We'll find out what gun hred
that bullet, and through the gun
We'll uncover the owner"
.'Belzer, you're a genius
Call me Scoop" he said mod
estly.
Our cab was following the road
toward the river, north of the Rio
Vista club. We stopped near a
farmhouse I remembered from the
preceding day. Scoop" Belzer
paid the driver as we got out, and
explained in an aside to me, III
goes on my expense account
We descended the path to the
river. The Markham motor boa'
was moored there, waiting for US
Belzer pulled one of the small, vi
tai parts of the magnetic from his
pocket and put it in place. Bet
ter than a lock-" he remarked
Nobody can run the boat withou
it."
For ten minutes it seemed tina
Belzer could not even u the boa
with it, but the engine fnall,
started. We swung out into dec
water and headed upstream. Th'
river was smooth. Sunlight hat
long since dispelled the fog.
breathed deeply of the fresh air
There's something about the wa
ter" 1 started to remark.
yeah, I know" said my com
panion. Keep your eyes peeled
What we're looking for nov is tn
warehouse where you were KEEP
prisoner"
THE only thing I remembe.
about it was a few trees overhead
and the fact that the boat was abb
to go in under the piling."
Among the piling," he correct
ed me And it couldn't have beel
far upstream, could it,"
mo, not far"
There weren't many places t
choose from. A dirty red structur
with a faded sign that rea
Dream Bros" seemed the mo
likely. Belzer swung the b 0 a
around and drifted downstream K
ward it with the motor shut Of
The building extended out over tn
water, but the water was not dee
enough among the piles to float
rowbo~
There was a high tide Tuesda
night and another yesterday NOR
ing" Belzer whispered. This W;
ter would have been a couple
feet deeper. Look like the place?
wees, 1 believe it is. What {
we do next?"
DrY %NKHnIH