Evening star., 1951-05-03
CHAPTER TWENTY-oNE

Tania threw the ski clothes anc
the shirts and slackS into the bis
suitcase Bill had brought, ther
dressed rapidly in the black WOO
dress. the black-veiled hat, wear.
ing a short blue ski jacket insteae
Of the green coat.
She called the desk and founC
that the hotel bus was leaving fol
the railroad station in 10 minutes
When it left she was on it, with.
out leaving a note for Bill. She
hadn't dared, for again she was
determined not to drag him into
it. She loved him too much te
jeopardize his life or his job. Sht
had weakened once; she woule
not weaken again. 1t was heart.
breaking to leave him, but by to.
morrow he would know the truth
and surely understand.
For the moment she arrived il
New York she was going straight
to 1t. Wilson and tell him the
whole story. She could not &C
on with both the police and the
murderer hunting her!
On the train going back to New
York she went over the whole
weird series Of events that had
begun on that Wednesday morn
ing when Mickey came up to the
country cottage near Bear Noun
tain. Mickey had said that peo-
pie killed for money, hatred, jeal-
ousy, fear, revenge.
She hadn't enough money to
tempt any one. especially after
Nina's forged thousand-d dollar
check. Just enough now to see
her through until she did another
show. Certainly no one had rea-
son to hate her or fear her.
Which left revenge, and jealousy.
The only person who might feel
vengeful would be Jeremy
Knight. Because she had thought
herself in love with him, and had
let him publicly announce their
engagement, and then had broken
1t off. There was no way of know
ing how much pride he had, how
much she had wounded his ego.
Still 1t was almost impossible to
picture Jeremy mingling in an
after-theater crowd and plunging
knife into her back.
There was jealousy left, which
brought her again to Gloria Gray,
who had been rather obviously in
love with Jeremy. What if Gloria
had believed that by killing Tania
she might be able to marry Jere-
my? 1t seemed more convincing
than anything else.
Night was falling when she
reached New York. The cold wind
OF late November pierced her
dress, chilling her small bones.
Before leaving Grand Central Sta
ton she checked the suitcase and
put the check in her purse. Then
she wandered outside, strangely
reluctant to go to 1t. Wilson.
First she felt sure Gloria was
her enemy. then she knew it must
be Jeremy. Oh, if only Bill were
with her! If only she could talk
to him and ask him, as Tania
Lynn, to help her!
She thought of Mickey. Mickey
would help if he had fully re-
covered. if he were out of the
hospital. She found a drugstore
telephoned the hospital, and asked
about him. A crisp impersonal
voice said:
Mr.. Rollins is doing very we'll,
but he is not permitted to talk to
any one yet, or have visitors. Who
Is calling, please?"
Tania hung up, relieved that
Mickey was all right, yet feeling
more lost than ever. She had no
place to go, no one to turn to. Ex-
cept the police, and she admitted
TO herself that she wasn't ready
not quite. 81 suppose I'm a reck-
less idiot" she thought. "but I
want to do some investigating
nrst on my own :"
Again on the street she felt that
any one, at any moment, might
recognize her from the newspaper
picture and hotel clerks descrip-
ton.
She hurried along, her head
down. the ski jacket clutched
around her. No one appeared to
notice her at all. Still, she didn't
want to chance a taxi, or a taxi
drivers discerning eyes.
Getting on a crowded bus which
seemed safest, she rode up Madi-
son avenue to Seventy-ninth
street, then got off and walked
east to Park avenue. Reaching
the corner where Jeremy's apart
ment was, she took up a watchers
position in a dim doorway across
the street.
She felt chilled through, hungry
and weary, yet some obstinacy in
her kept her waiting in the door
way. for some inner conviction as
sured her that the answer must lie
in Jeremy's apartment.
Finally she saw George NARROW