Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1944-12-22
CHAPTER XIV

me-" he asked gently, that might
be useful-on your behalf? Mr..
Stromberg is realist and man of
quick decisions. do not know what
he will decide to do, but I assure
you l will do everything to save your
life. You are so innocent and so
beautiful"
"Will you tell me who Ah-nah is?"
Zorie asked.
"But of course, Miss Corey! I will
gladly answer all of your questions.
Ah-nah is Pierre's way of pronounc-
ing Anna. He is referring to one of
the bravest, cleverest, most bril-
liant, most dangerous secret agents
who ever lived-Anna Boland. She
was an English girl, of about your
AEGEAN amazing person. She was
shot by firing squad in Berlin six
months ago."
do l resemble herr"
Mr.. Lanning laughed, sharply.
my dear girl, you are Anna b.
land! 1t is the most amazing re-
semblance have ever known"
rs that why Pierre threw me
overboard?"
"Yes-and for other strangely CO.
incidental reasons. Do you recall
the night in the rain in Elleryton
when you met Steve Duncan"
Eyes"
what you may not recall was
that, while you were talking to Steve
beside that telephone pole, a sedan
"a pale green sedan-came along.
Do you recall that?"
yes"
Il was in that sedan. So was
Pierre. We saw you talking togeth-
er. AS we passed, Steve Duncan
pulled you behind the pole"
"Why?" said Zorie.
Steve explained that to US very
lucidly. He did some very quick
thinking. He had seen your amaz-
ing resemblance to Anna Boland.
Then he recognized me in the sedan.
He reasoned that, in spite of our
belief that Anna Boland was dead,
your resemblance to her placed you
in danger. He pulled you behind the
pole to protect you"
might you or Pierre have shot
me-something like that?"
II would call that a very remote
possibility" Mr.. Lanning answered.
"1n spite of his lazy way, Steve
Duncan thinks with great rapidity.
He was simply taking no chances.
"And, of course" Zorie said,
THAT made you suspicious"
AT least it made US very curious.
But we did not see you well enough
that night to notice your remark
able resemblance to Anna Boland.
1t was later, when we saw you on
the ship, that we pieced things to-
gether. In Elleryton, we merely
thought that you and Steve were be-
ing eXtremel, furtive."
But there were other suspicious
circumstances. One was your pos
session of certain engineering pa
per on the retooling of the Waffen-
fabrik krupp plant for increased
war production. 1t was the sort Of
document Anna Boland might have
had. Another item was your steno-
graphic notebook.
She wondered why he was going
to all this bother. He didn't have
to explain anything to her. Certainly
he expected to learn nothing of i'm
portance from her. Back of his air
of solicitude was a quality that puz-
zled her. Why, she asked herself,
was Mr.. Lanning being SO out
spoken?
Mr.. Lanning paused. He took an
other drink.
you realize, of course, that Pr
ere killed Amber by mistake. When
your fiance made that unfortunate
disclosure on the lanai, knew that
Pierre would go berserk. 1t has
taken all my responsiveness. all my
ingenuity, to keep him in hand so
far. All along, he has been very
suspicious of Steve-and certain that
you we're Anna Boland. If he kills
Steve, he should be here at any mo-
ment. When he finds that you are
still alive, he is apt to be quite upset.
You see, Anna Boland was some
thing of legend. Every time she
was killed, she popped up some
where a little later-more alive than
ever. Pierre has already killed you
twice-once by drowning, once by
strangling. He is very supersti-
tious man. His face, if he comes
into this room, will be very interest
ing to watch"
with YOU" Zorie said, "insisting
that am not Anna Boland, and with
Pierre insisting that I am-why
didn't you check up? Couldn't you
somehow have radioed Berlin and
confirmed Anna Boland's death? I've
lived in Elleryton all my life. 1t
would have been so easy :"
Mr.. Lanning jumped up. But, my
dear girl, that is the most amazing
part of all. The day before Pierre
tried to drown you, we sent two
ra6iooroc,c opo ,,,h;,l, D..