Evening Star Newspaper, October 7, 1936, Page 26

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1936. Secret Operative 48 g S--- : THR DAUGHTER HAS 25 e 4 /}/t/ VINCENT STARRETT ; TOSS NESE CALS ABOGY INSTALLMENT XXIV. ?| "1 did see him there on Saturday §¢y SUPPOSE Anne Gray told you | night.” 7 Colbath | Mr. Blackwood suddenly thought I Foems e better of himasit, S “y t of| “Then I'm righ! y Jove!” Tamansed to S5 g;h:, gloated. “He did go there from the party!” He banged his right fist into his left palm, then leaned for- ward with exulting eyes. “What time did you see him, co“mr' e6—0 only string-| “Now don't get excifed,” said Rollie Il::’: :::'ac" cire (e y ahio Colbath, “or you'll have the nurse ' »|in here to protect me. He came in “It wa Percy who introduced you. : < “He didn't say they were engaged.| Liftle atter 3, I thick., I dop's know Bhe told me that a little later—| "oy oo Lo b qoingw when 1 was dancing with her. “Nothing in particulsy—that T no- Blackwood lighted a cigarette, and | ticed, anyway. I didn’t.get a chance tossed the package to Colbath. He|to talk with him. I don't know drew up & chair and sat down beside | whether he saw me or not. I saw the bed. him go into the bar once, and then— “Why did the night club try to|a little later—I saw him heading for bump you off>” he asked abruptly. the back of the establishment. Back “It didn't” said Rollie Colbath. | stage, I mean.” Blackwood told him. ‘B “No, no! Do you suppose she is " “percy—and Valerie West! 8She's | Belasco couldn't have done it better. | No, eonfound it!” exploded the ex-| “I doubt if she could be arrested on responsible for his disappearance. | The fantastic obscures the obvious, | positor, bitterly. “There was a kit- | the evidence.” *It merely put me to sleep.” “What was the big idea “They wanted to frisk me.” Blackwood was puzzled. “Why did they want to frisk you?” “I've & notion to tell you” said Colbath. “You're a decent enough fellow, I understand. The truth is, 1 overplayed my hand last night. 1 examined a bad bill that had been handed to another fellow. Examined it under their noses. I've taken plenty of them, there, myself; that's my job. Maybe they suspected me before; I don't know. But they sus- pected me last night, all right. They got the idea I was a Federal agent, and they wanted a look at my cre- dentials.” “The deuce they did,” said Black- wood, in surprise. “Are you a Fed- eral agent?” he asked suddenly. “Oh, yes! They had the goods on me, all right. But they didn't find “To talk with Valerie Wiesst!” eried Blackwood sharply. “I don't know who he talked with™ said the Federal detective. “That was the last I saw of him"” Blackwood was elated. “You saw enough,” he said. “Look ‘here, Col- bath! Have you talked with any- body about this?” “No, of course not! It's none of | my business. A hundred othier people must have seen him at the chub. Your friend Dallas will know all mbout it; there are always plenty of volunteers. I did mention it to Anne Gray last night, I think; but she’s the only one.” Riley Blackwood snorted. “If it had occurred to her to mention it fto me,” he observed, “it would have sayed me quite a bit of thinking.” “What's on your mind?” asked Col- bath, curiously. 8he’s the ‘redhead’ who arranged his alibi—except that she isn't a redhead. His alibi! You're familiar with the case, I suppose?” “Vaguely. I've read the news papers and I've listened to the charm- ing Miss Gray. I note that the Lai sing woman has been held for ques- tioning.” “Hindus!” cried Blackwood in dis- gust. “Blue kittens and red-headed women! What's your opinion of an alibi like that?” The detective shrugged. “It's a little wild,” he admitted. “I suppose he made it up. He probably knows who killed the Wingfield woman, doesn't he? I wonder if Lansing could have done that, too!” “She didn’t do either of them,” sald Blackwood. “It's all a frame-up,” he added angrily. “One sinister truth hidden under a Jot of masquerade. and it was intended o, The redhesd | ten, st lesst! But you get the ides, and the Hindu and the kitten are all 50 much mummery—red herrings laid across the trail” He leaned forward with s sudden gesture. “What's the purpose of an alibi, Colbath? You're a detective. It's protection, isn't it?—protection for the person alibled? But Percy’s alibi didn’t protect him; it helped to accuse him. The police thought it was & fake. That was the intention—to give him an alibi so crazy that it would look like a fake. A perfect alibi for the time of the murder—but one that nobbdy could check up on, even if he tried to. Therefore, in effect, no alibi at all. Everything happened very much as Percy described it, and yet it was all false and misleading. There was s redhead and yet there wasn't a redhead. There was & Hindu and yet there wasn't & Hindu. There was s kitten and yet there wasn't a—— don't you?” “I certainly do not,” ssid Colbath, frankly. > “I mean, since none of 'em can be found, they're of no help to Percy. And that was the ides. It's clever as hell, too. The redhead turns out to be a blackhead—maybe she wore & wig on Saturday. The Hindu isn’t s Hindu st all—but Saturday he looked like & Hindu. The kitten is probably dead, poor little beast! In effect, none of them exist. The police are expected to believe that Percy lied. And they do believe it. He disappears, and practically clinches the case against himself. The matches were planted in Rita’s bed room by the murderer. Percy's 'I_nen the goat from the be- Colbath thought it over. “And Val- erle Wesst is the fake redhead!” “That's my story,” sald Riley Black- | “Perhaps not yet, but if I could get my hands on that photograph, I'd— Oh, I forgot you didn’t know about the photograph!™ The detective listened to the ama- teur’s theory about the stolen photo- graph. He whistled softly at the story of the perfume, “It's good thinking, kid,” said Col- bath, approvingly. “You're getting warm. Too warm for comfort, maybe, Better watch your step or somebody’ll be taking & shot at you.” Riley Blackwood got briskly to his feet. “It's a wicked world, Colbath,” he smiled. “But I've got to find the Wesst girl this morning and Peroy not later than this afternoon. Thanks for your information. Its been a help.” \ (To be continued.) e Scotland Yard now has only two women plain clothes officers. Demonstrators at this attra price. Com early. 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