Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1944-12-08

| ludt UeCduSe II WOULD instantly de-
stroy Winthrop Lanning's and Pierre
Savoyard's trust in Steve.
1t was Paurs way of handling a
situation that he himself described
as dynamite. He had done it DELHI
| erately,> and she realized that he
would claim, no matter what the
consequences were, that his motives
had been purely patriotic.
Zorie slipped out Of the curtained
door and found herself running be-
fore she was aware that she had
commanded her legs to carry her as
fast as they could. Steve had said
he would meet Pierre at the garage
at exactly eleven. There was time
to spare, but she must reach him
and tell him what had happened.
What he chose to do about it did not
concern her. Paul had deliberately
jeopardized Steve's life by what he
had said, and Zorie felt that it was
her simple duty to warn him. II
Savoyard and Lanning really be-
lieved that he had all this time been
embarrassing them, they would
certainly kill him without hesitation.
Certainly, they had given sufficient
demonstration of their ruthlessness.
She recalled the look Pierre had
given her before he ran from the
lanai, and she ran faster, holding up
her sun-pleated star-sapphire dress
so that she would not trip on it.
She ran past the tiny far-spaced
blue lights that marked the path to
the garage. The garage, when she
reached it, was dark and empty.
"Steve!" she called. "Steve!"
He did not answer her. She looked
at her watch again. 1t said ten
forty-fve. Steve might not be here
for fifteen minutes. He might be in
his room at the house.
She started breathlessly along the
path toward the house. And as she
started, she heard, off to her right,
in the jungle-like garden, familiar,
terrifying whisper.
"Ah-nah!" it said. "Ah-nah!"
There were sounds in that direc-
ton, as if someone were struggling
or floundering about in the dense
growth. Then she heard a soft
thump-a sound that might have
been made by body falling.
She flattened herself against
tree. The man passed within four
feet of her, walking rapidly toward
the garage.
| The man was Pierre.
/ When he reached turn in the
path, Zorie left the tree and walked
to the dark opening out of which he
had come. Had he already found
and killed Steve?
Zorie pushed her way through soft,
damp growing things. It was so
dark she could see nothing. But
her feet had found another path. It
was the path on which she had been
standing this morning when Steve
and the admiral had passed on their
way to the garage, when Steve had
said, Il don't give a damn who
comes, as long as you get Basil
Stromberg"
She paused and called softly,
Steve! Steve!"
There was no answer She took
step toward the house. Her toe
touched something soft, yielding She
became aware of the sudden spicy
sweetness of ginger flowers. It
seemed to be all about her
She bent down. Her cropping fin
gers found, first, a pasteboard pack
of matches lying on the ground. Then
she touched flowers and woman's
Oh, H.,
were still moist, as if they had been
freshly plucked.
Her exploring fingers next found
face, chin, then the texture of silk
and soft, warm flesh under it. She
Strengthened up. She wanted to
scream, but she could only whimper.
1t was Amber! Amber-with fresh
ginger flowers in her hair!
Zorie knelt down in the path be-
side her. She placed her ear against
Amber's breast. There was no sound
of a heart beating. In Amber's body
there was nothing but stiffness.
Pierre had killed her Rising from
her knees, trying to collect herself,
Zorie realized that Amber might
have been killed because of those
white ginger flowers in her hair!
Zorie could not recall that Amber
ever wore flowers in her hair. She
had come here tonight and picked
these flowers and put them in her
hair. Why? Because she admired
their effect in Zorie's hair? Because
she was envious?
What she did know what she
could arrive at by the simplest and
most logical of deductions-was that
Pierre had killed Amber by mistake.
He had intended to kill Zorie! She
recalled his glance just before he
left the lanai. He must have come
upon Amber just as she had picked
the white fragrant flowers and put
them in her hair. He must have
run to the garage to find Steve and,
in back-tracking, had seen Amber
striking matches to pick the flowers.
He hadn't seen her clearly enough.
1t now occurred to the terrified girl