Evening star., 1941-05-05

messed violence again. A woman
David went down and he felt,
was not LYDIA. 1t was Hildreth
Walther. He saw the brutal wound
at her temple. He kneit and be-
gan a hasty examination.
Senor Martinez came and to him
David said, There is a faint heart
beat, 1 think We must rush her
to hospital" )"
Martinez sent one of his men to
order an ambulance.
David's face was darkly intent
dangerously grim, in the sharp
tight
I've been wrong about this, Mar
tinez," he said. Il thought Hildreth
was the murderer, but now she's
been assaulted and left for dead
You mean" Martinez asked,
"that the Senorita Mora-?"
mo! And it wasn't Eric Fabier
Did you notice the glass fragments
at the spot where Miss Mora S
handbag was found? They are
bits of lens-from a pair of glasses.
Hildreth wears glasses, but I saw
hers in her hotel room. One other
person involved in this vicious af-
fair wears glasses. Mark Derringer.
He hasn't been wearing them to-
day I wondered why, and now I
know There was a struggle here,
between him and Hildreth, and his
glasses were torn Off They dropped
and broke. He failed to remove the
glass fragments and that has tripped
him up"
These clever criminals" Martinez
observed, always slip up on some
little thing"
Try Another Lead.
They did not accompany Hildreth
Walther to the hospital. The doctor
who came with the ambulance told
them it would be useless. The wo-
man lived. She had a faint chance
of recovery, but if her skull was
fractured it would be long before
she could be questioned. They went
instead to find Mark Derringer.
Derringer was not at his hotel.
David recalled that the man had
dropped in at police headquarters a
short time before the call had come
in about the finding of the handbag,
He suggested they 60 to headquar-
ters
Derringer was not at headquar-
ters, but Detective Sergt. O'Brien
was. OBrien said, "Derringer?
saw him an hour or two ago at the
hotel where I'm staying. At the
Claremont."
David said. THE Claremont?'
And something in his subconscious
mind hammered for recognition
Then he had it.
THE Claremont, of course! That
Is where LYDIA Mora was going at
midnight last night. He'll be there,
waiting"
But my men visited the Clare
mont" Martinez said. Miss Mora
had not been there" And OBrien
asked, Waiting for what?"
For Eric Fabier to show up"
David said. That's been his game
all the time, waiting to find Fabier.
Everything that has happened has
been planned by Derringer so he
could get those designs of Carmody' S
from Fabier."
why would Derringer be waiting
at that particular hotel?" Martinez
asked. Have you reason to believe
he expects Fabier to come there?"
"Yes," David said. THE person
Fabier would follow is there"
O'Brien looked both skeptical and
puzzled. who's that, Larsen?"
You wouldn't believe me if told
you," David told him. You'll have
to see for yourself. Come along :"
An Old Hotel.
The Claremont was a small, old
hotel, and just the sort of place
where a person not wanting to be
noticed would stay. They entered
the lobby, went to the desk, and
David asked the clerk for the regis
ter. He looked at the signatures in
the book and found the one he had
expected to find.
1t was Nan Bentley, New York
City
The cabin cruiser rode at anchor
just beyond sight of land. 1t pre-
tended to be about legitimate busi-
ness. The two men aboard kept up
the pretense of fishing. One was
the owner, q nervous, thin man with
a scar across his left cheek. The
other was heavily built man with
an aggressive jaw and cold, un-
friendly eyes.
Below in the cabin Nan Bentley
was locked in as a prisoner. She
sat curled up on a bunk. In the
dark because the burly, chill-eyed
man had told her not to switch on
the lights Nan obeyed because she
was afraid of him.
She had known fear so long now
that 1t dulled her thoughts. 1t was
difficult to recall when she hadn't
been afraid. She had been aboard
the boat since midnight last night
since she had been violently
seized, gagged and blindfolded,
thrown into car and brought to
the boat.
The daylight hours had not been
quite so bad. She had watched from
the portfolios. hoping to see an
other craft come close enough for
her to call to. To scream to.
But none had.
So now, for this second night, she
sat in the dark and listened to the
splash of water against the boats
sides. And the fear she felt was
leaden weight. Her eyelids were
heavy, too, and sitting like that 1t
was hard to fight sleep and stay on
guard. She finally dozed, but awoke
shortly nerve-taut and startled.
There had been a sound. 1t came
again, the deep -throated roar of a
marine engine started then cut off.
Nan jumped up and ran to port
hole.
Nan Near Hysteria.
There was boat. 1t was very
close, trim and white in the moon
light. It's searchlight came on and
focused on the cruiser. Voices