The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1942-05-15

ne lauSneu.
That's pretty goodl" he chuck
led. you claimin' you don't know
why I'm here. For minute you
had me goin'."
Startling as 1t was, the change
Of front served only to increase
Bill Halcott's cold wrath. II doubt
II 1t has occurred to you" he said
Jelly. that this frameup Of the
missing vouchers is as weak as
water. BY merely lifting a finger
I could have the lot Of you tossed
in jail. Have you ever seen one
Of our tropical jails, Mr.. Mac
Dowell? They have no roofs, and
the sun boils down and there are
rats and scorpions"
"Threatenin', are your" Ugly
red crept through the gray OF
MacDowell's cheeks. "And /
thought you looked like a decent
kind OF guy. Why, you cheap
crook"
BE careful how you talk" Tai
colt said calmly. ut happens that
for every one Of those vouchers
there are two facsimiles. One is
In the possession Of the steamship
lines that carried the nitrates, the
othre with the Netherlands gov
eminent ohicial who collects q tax
on every pound taken from the
island. The remittances have all
been made to New York and the
bank in Willemstad has O COM
plete record" Bill Talcott leaned
forward and his long fingers
closed in steel-like grip OH Mac
Dowell'S knee. "You and your
friends haven't a leg to stand on.
Now, who are you and what is
your gamer"
"Leggo my kneel" Mcdowell
yelled.
Bill Talcott's strong fingers re-
leased with q disdainful move
ment and the mustached one
rubbed vigorously. The words had
brought to his face a mixture Of
doubt and surprise and Talcott
followed his opening swiftly. IF
Halsey pocketed those vouchers
thinking he could force me to re-
main here, he'd better devote
some of his time to studying Fed
eral Chemical procedure. Only he
and Struthers had access to those
records and one of them must be
the thief. Now, where do you
come IMP"
Mcdowell stopped rubbing his
knee. Plainly, he was annoyed. Some
deep-seated conviction Of his was
being rudely shaken. His eyes cloud
ed and the burned-out cigar sagged.
AS If Weighing Talcott against
some mental standard he sat. Then,
slowly his hand moved to his
pocket. 1t came away, bearing not
Identification papers, but a wicked
snub-nosed pistol.
You claim Halsey and Struth-
ers rugged game on your" he
grunted. '"That's what they all
say. had you sized up for
decent sort of guy until you
started to use threats. If you're
innocent and got something to
prove it like you say, I don't see
what you're worryin' about. AS
for you not KNOWN why I'm here,
that's a laugh. Do havta show
you my badger"
Talcott stared. you're de-
tective?"
You're startin' to get smart"
A painful flush stole through
Bill Talcott's cheeks. He might
have guessed the mans identity.
If indeed he was the victim Of q
plot, the locus of origin was now
swiftly removed from Abas Island;
thrust back 1900 miles to the
leather-chaired offices of Federal
Chemical itself. But why? Had
Old Man Winters gone crazy with
war worries? Or was the new"
secretary attempting something
more than merely holding her
job? Was she in conspiracy to
take Federal Chemical for better
than $4,000? Or was bigger
game, one in which Talcott and
Halsey and Struthers and even
Old Man Winters himself were
tiny unwilling pieces. relentlessly
underway?
"Who hired your" Talcott de-
manded.
Mcdowell hesitated, netting
the revolver. His eyes masked his
thoughts now, the yelled, cunning
eyes of the paid manhunter facing
his quarry. To Mcdowell 1t
didn't matter whether Talcott was
guilty or not; he was doing q job
for which he was being paid. His
orders were to bring Talcott back
If the auditor proved a shortage.
The fact that Abas was a Dutch
island meant nothing to Mac
DowelI. There hadn't been any
officers at the dock. So far as he
could see he was the only law
on the island; there wouldn't be
any embarrassing matters of ey-
tradition to worry about. Mac
Dowell's biggest worry was the
prospect of six more days of try
ing to keep something on his
stomach,
That worry vanished from Mac
D0Well's mind when he saw Tai
colts face, Strained, white, tense,
alarmed eyes glazing into the
blacknegg beyond the terrace. And
then Mcdowell heard 1t. Above
the sOughing wind In the palms
sounded the sudden, imperative
bleat OF whistle,
ne BE COptlnuedl