Duke McCale, private detective, it In
vestigating the murder of Curt Vallaln
court, who was about to marry Veronica
Bigelow, i-eiress to thirty million dollars.
She Is *he principal suspect. McCale
learns ol a deep plot to keep control of
the great fortune In the family through
a d al with Vallatncourt. Shari Lynn,
Vallaincourt's former wife, Is shot to
death. Someone fires at McCale, wound
ing him in the shoulder. McCale hur
ries to the Bigelow mansion where Sybil,
Veronica’s mother, has been slugged. She
was searching in an old trunk. McCale
finds a large black silk handkerchief in
the trunk that puzzles him. Miss Ade
laide Bigelow is not able to place it,
either.
CHAPTER XVI
He fingered it, feeling the coarse
pull of the silk. A signal seemed to
flow from the material in his hand
along his arm, into his brain. His
thoughts clouded, then grew bright,
as they played hide-and-seek with
the infinitesimal shadow of an idea.
He sat on his haunches, rooted to
the spot, unwilling to let the flicker
ing image go.
Suddenly, revelation poured over
his mind like a searchlight. He
jumped up. Placing a firm hand on
Miss Bigelow’s arm, he guided her,
surprised and bewildered, to the
stairway.
"We must go down immediately,”
he said. "Is everyone at home?
You said Christopher Storm was
here.”
“Yes. They are all here some
where. Must you see them all?”
“Not yet.”
H~ strode ahead of her on the
third floor hall. He reached the door
of the second floor drawing room
before she was halfway down the
second stairway.
As he went in, Karen stopped
playing. She sat cold and austere
at the piano, letting her long fin
gers rest quickly on the keyboard.
She turned toward him as he quick
ly crossed the room to her side.
“You drew $800 at your bank this
morning.” He hurled the statement
at her. "Why?”
A sullen smile turned up one cor
ner of her mouth. She shrugged.
He waved a hand in exasperation.
“Very well. You don’t talk. You
do know why the murderer did not
kill Sybil this afternoon.” He was
aware that she drew away from
him. “That was a mistake, wasn’t
it, not finishing the job?”
She set her mouth in a hard line.
He looked his exasperation. He
shrugged then and turned to the
door, where stood a startled Miss
Bigelow.
In the library once more, McCale
called his own number.
“Hullo, boss.”
"Did you get those pictures? A
list? Read them off.”
“Okay, coming through. A cou
ple of football players; some guys
in a canoe; a petty officer; a jockey
(no horse); a marine, kind of de
jected-looking; an army lieutenant;
and whoops, an acrobat!”
"Uh uh. Just what I thought.
Okay. Hop on over here.”
“Where are you?”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you. The
Bigelows. Make it snappy. This is
the kill.”
He dialed headquarters, asked for
Donlevy.
"Donlevy, I’m at the Bigelows’.
Can you get over here on the double
quick? I’ve solved the Vallaincourt
Lynn business. Proof? Of course
I’ve got proof. Yeah. In twenty
minutes—sooner if you can. Good
bye.”
Involved Motives
Are Unravelled
It came—as he held the receiver
• moment too long at his ear. He
heard Donlevy put down his instru
ment. Then, so nearly after it that
the sound was almost simultaneous,
came another soft click, as some
one else carefully cradled a receiv
er.
McCale and Miss Bigelow were
in the library. He leaned against
the mantle and spoke in a soft,
ruthless voice.
• "This is the end. Miss Bigelow.
It will be all over in a few minutes.
The police are on their way."
“Strange," he said. "Both you
and I saw the murderer the after
noon of Curt Vallaincourt’s death.
Besides that, all the clues have
pointed in the same direction. I, at
least, should have remembered the
complete picture of that afternoon."
"Clues? Pointing to—?” She
shook her head.
“Yes—a figure in the dark outside
the house that afternoon. Sybil
bathed in sherry in order to drown
out what she saw. A visit by Karen
to The Abbey Club the night be
fore. A picture missing from the
collection of Shari Lynn’s admirers.
A revolver in a family, where, to
everyone’s knowledge, a revolver
had never been owned, and last, but
not least, not at all the least—this.”
He drew the black silk handker
chief from his pocket. Her brow
wrinkled.
“But—but l itill don’t under
stand."
He went on, softly, inexorably.
“The trouble in solving this crime
lies in the fact that in the failure of
the original plot, everyone had a
motive. You are aware by now of
the plan to gain control of the Bige
low millions through Curt Vallain
court. Stephen met Curt in Chi
cago, through Victoria or vice ver
sa. Curt and Victoria had an af
fair, even though he was married to
Shari Lynn at the time. He and
Shari probably had some sort of
arrangement, for the only business
Vallaincourt practiced was preying
on wealthy women.”
Miss Bigelow’s chin came up. She
seemed to be steeling herself for
what she knew was to come.
"Vallaincourt probably intended
to marry Victoria until he found
that the Bigelow fortune was con
trolled by you, to be passed on to
Veronica at her marriage.”
“To Veronica’s husband, Mr. Me
Cale.”
“Yes, yes.” He held up his hand.
“How he obtained that information
is theory, but not illogical theory.
In view of the nonchalance of his
character at that time and the open,
too worldly outlook of both Victoria
and Stephen, it is not wrong to as
sume that, in a moment of raillery,
they told him. Possibly they men
tioned that he was barking up the
wrong tree—that while you allowed
Vicky .and Stephen generous allow
ances, the real gold bags were Ver
onica’s, with your and Sybil’s ap
proval, of course. Yes, the whole
thing must have been hatched be
fore Victoria and Stephen came
home to prepare the way, for in the
meantime Vallaincourt had to di
“You sure this is the guy, Duke?"
vorce Shari Lynn, no doubt promis
ing that when he got his hands on
the money and had salted away a
few million, he would renege and
remarry Shari.”
“How horrible.” She shuddered.
“But Stephen and Victoria? What
would they have gained?”
While McCale Talks
The Murderer Escapes
'That’s where the real Machia
vellian touch came in. Victoria, no
doubt, thought Curt would marry
her eventually and that they would
live on Veronica’s money. You see,
there were two women Curt fooled.”
‘‘Fooled?”
"Of course. But to go back a bit.
Victoria brought Curt home as a
friend she had run into in New
York. He wooed Veronica, who for
got her childhood romance with
Christopher Storm overnight in the
excitement of the biological spell
Vallaincourt was able to cast. Ev
erything was going fine. The wed
ding over, a few months for Curt to
manipulate the Bigelow money, and
Victoria would have Curt. Stephen
would have—he thought—Karen.”
Miss Bigelow closed her eyes in
anguish. McCale continued in a
rush of words.
Even Christopher Storm was con
vinced of Vallaincourt's sincerity.
He had met Curt that morning and
in a rush of boyish feeling had deed
ed The Nest, the bouse he had built
for Veronica and himself. That left
the others out in the cold. Better
now that Veronica should marry
Storm than Vallaincourt, if he was
going to turn his back on them.
Storm, at least, would see that they
had their allowances, maybe some
thing more. But Curt, in his com
plete about face, could no! be re
lied upon. He might cut them off
completely, in disgust with hirnself
and them, too You can’t take
chances with a reformed rake. He
is liable to become very self-right
eous and unapproachable You see?
Curt Vallaincourt had to die."
Miss Bigelow’s eyes remained
closed. She was breathing heavily
McCale hurried on.
"Vallaincourt. of course, had told
only Veronica, to whom he had
made full confession, and Christo
pher Storm because he was forced
to, and Shari Lynn. Shari Lynn,
fatalistic in all things, probably
more so about the enigmatic Curt,
set out to do a little blackmailing.
Knowing that be hadn’t come clean
to the four who were in the plot,
she started plans for extortion. She
got in touch with Karen and threat
ened to let the cat out of the bag
before the wedding bells rang. Al
though they all knew that something
was wrong, that there was a rat
somewhere, Karen decided to be on
the safe side. She took $500 with
her to The White Abbey for Lynn
that night. She surprised Vallain
court with her, and believe me, sur
prised was the word for Curt. He
was utterly nonplussed when Karen
walked in. She was observed by
my secretary and myself; by her
husband who was there on his own
account, probably to watch for
Shari Lynn. Sybil was there, too.
She and Karen met on the steps.
No doubt she was upset over the
rumor that Curt had been seen with
the Lynn woman, and in her mud
dled way, wanted to see for her
self."
Hard bunches showed against Mc
Cale’s jawline and his face looked
relentless in the shadows.
"The next afternoon. Curt Vallain
court was shot on your doorsteps."
Miss Bigelow sat up straight,
shaking herself out of her reverie.
"We—we saw the murderer?" she
whispered.
"Yes," he answered slowly.
"Think back. What was it we saw?"
"Why," she faltered, “there was
a woman with red hair. Veronica!”
“No," he said. "Not Veronica.
That was Shari Lynn—in a red
wig.”
She gave a cry of surprise.
"Then—"
"No. She did not shoot him. She
was not near enough. She saw who
did and tried to blackmail after
ward, to her sorrow."
"Then it must have been the oth
er one—the other woman—the one
in the raincoat."
mat was Sybil. She saw the
murder, but in her confusion did
not recognize the murderer—then.
Think, Miss Bigelow. When we
looked out of the window two or
three times in those few minutes
before the shot—think. Wasn’t there
someone else there? Someone al
ready waiting?”
He picked up the black kerchief
and dropped it in her lap. She
stared at it blankly for a long hor
rible moment. Then she understood.
“Yes—yes,” she said, finally.
‘‘Awful—for Sybil. Oh, God!” She
buried her face in quivering hands.
In the silence that followed, Me
Cale heard a soft footfall outside
the door. Someone was tiptoeing
quickly, furtively, toward the serv
ice stairs.
In a flash it came to McCale that
during the time he had spent in
preparing Miss Bigelow for the
coming arrest, his lengthy explana
tion, his gift of gab—had given
someone the needed few minutes to
plan escape. For a moment he felt
panic, not knowing what to do next,
where to turn. Excitement raised
the hair on the back of his hands.
He controlled himself with a ti
tanic effort of will.
Not stopping to explain to the old
lady who sat motionless, he raced
out into the hall, threw open the
front door. He was in a frenzy.
He ran down the front steps into
blinding sleet.
For a moment, he was utterly be
fuddled. Anger mounted in him like
a flame—anger at himself. He had
lost. He turned to retrace his steps
when he heard a sound near him.
He looked into the dark wetness ard
saw a form materialize out of noth
ing and walk toward the curb. He
recognized the snug-fitting pants,
pea jacket and round hat of a sailor
He stepped up to him quickly,
fumbling for a cigarette, and said,
"Got a light, buddy?”
A match flared suddenly and Me- J
Cale looked up over the flame to
stare into the dangerously narrowed
blue eyes of Stephen Bigelow.
The man gave a growl, making a
quick gesture with his right hand.
"I wouldnt do that,” McCale
said, his voice harsh. “This block
is lousy with police. You’d better
come quietly. Every one of them
has a gun. They’ve got a bead on
you right now. They’ll shoot—to
kill.”
Then Bigelow said, "Not before I
get you, they don't.” He fumbled in
his coat and laughed hysterically.
7 Should Have
Noticed That Sailor’
In that instant, McCale’s knee
came up with all the force he could
muster. Bigelow gave a sharp cry
of agony and doubled up on the side
walk, tripping McCale as he went
down. It was not until that mo
ment that Rocky loomed up out of
the fog.
"Gosh!" McCale heard Rocky
say as he gripped the fallen man
under the shoulders, bringing him
upright. "The Navy! You sure this
is the guy, Duke?”
"No less." McCale gingerly felt
the wounded arm on which he had
fallen. "Mr. Stephen Bigelow in the
uniform of Uncle Sam. He joined
the navy once—remember? He
must have saved his suit. Oh yes,
and his pistol. By the way, see if
his black kerchief is missing." it
was
Bigelow mounted the steps be
tween Rocky and the officer. All
the fight was gone from him.
A squad car slid up to the curb
stone as McCale turned to follow
the trio. He walked over to it and
opened th-c door with a flourish.
"Welcome!” He bowed as Don
levy stepped out. "Late as usual,
Lieutenant.”
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Glorify Vegetables to Whet Appetites
(See recipes below)
Vegetable Trickery
It geems only yesterday that win
ter vegetables were allowed to lie
in sioragtr
indefinitely, and
when served. It
was done with an
apology. Yet
, these winter
! members of the
1 vegetable klng
i dom have not
7 only good nourish
ment but excel
lent appetite appeal to oner.
Carrots and sweet potatoes are
rich sources of vitamin A which we
need for building resistance to colds.
Rutabaga is also rich in this vita
min. For vitamin B2 you can con
centrate on such things as turnip
greens, beet greens, green lima
beans and dried peas. Green pep
pers. which are easily available as
well as brussels sprouts, are good
sources of vitamin C. Green beans,
broccoli and cabbage supply calci
um, phosphtMyjs and iron.
Fortunately for advances made in
cooking techniques, none of the win
ter vegetables need wear a hum
drum air when they come to the din
ner table. Dress them up and give
them a bit of seasoning and glamor
tnd the family will relish them.
*Carrot Loaf.
(Serves 6)
I cup milk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salad oil
114 cups grated raw carrots
4 cup dry bread crumbs
!4 cup chopped nuts
1 cup cooked rice
Add milk to well beaten eggs; add
salt, pepper, sugar and salad oil.
Mix carrots, bread crumbs, nuts
and rice; fold into first mixture.
Turn into a greased loaf pan and
bake in a moderate oven (350 de
grees) for 45 minutes. Serve with a
cream sauce to which hard-cooked
eggs or peas have been added.
Fried Carrots and Apples
(Serves 6)
H medium-sized carrots
ii small apples
3 tablespoons drippings
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 cup dark corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
Wash and drain carrots; cut into
thin pieces lengthwise. Wash, peel
and core apples;
cut into eighths
lengthwise. Melt
drippings’tn skil-\
let and add sugar
and syrup. Ar
range carrots and _
apples in alter
nate layers in^
pan, sprinkling eacn layer wun sail.
Cover and cook over low flame for
1 hours. Turn onto hot platter
and serve at once.
Puffs are a very popular way of
dressing up vegetables. Here are
two vegetables treated in this way:
Corn Puff.
(Serves 4 to fii
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons Hour
I teaspoon salt
l)asb of white pepper
1 cup milk
LYNN SAYS:
Remove Food Stains
From Your Linens
After the holidays, you’re certain
to find a lot of your linens stained
by various foods you have served.
Before you throw them in the laun
dry in the hopes they will come out
clean, sort them out and give them
much needed attention so you won’t
have permanent stains left on the
linens.
Powdered pepsin which is sold at
pharmacies may be used for re
moving chocolate ice cream stains.
LYNN CHAMBERS' MENUS
Chicken Broth
•Carrot Loaf
•Sour Cream Cabbage with
Bacon Strips
Grape and Orange Salad
Hot Buttered Toast
Butterscotch Pie Beverage
•Recipe given.
2 egga
1 tablespoon green pepper
2 cups corn niblets
Melt butter In saucepan over low
lire. Stir in flour, salt, pepper. Add
milk; cook, stirring constantly until
mixture is thickened. Stir some of
hot mixture into egg yolks and re
turn to saucepan; add minced green
pepper and corn. Fold in stiffly
beaten egg whites and turn into
greased casserole. Bake in a mod
erately slow (325 degrees) oven for
50 to 60 minutes.
Rutabaga Puff.
(Serves 6)
1 tablespoon minced onion
2 tablespoons drippings
34 cups cooked, mashed rutabaga
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
14 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
Cook onion in drippings for 3 min
u t e s . Add to
I mashed rutabaga
!with salt, pepper,
sugar and well
beaten egg yolks.
'Fold in stiffly
beaten whites.
Turn into a
greased casserole
and bake in a hot
oven (400 de
grees) for 20 to
25 minutes.
Stuffed Onions.
(Serves 4)
4 medium-sized onions
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
H teaspoon salt
Dasb of pepper
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons grated cheese
1 cup cooked peas
Peel onions; cover with boiling
salted water and cook gently for
30 minutes or until tender. Make
cream sauce of butter, flour and
milk and season with salt and pep
per. Add egg yolk and cheese, then
peas. Cut a cross almost through
the onions and fill with the creamed
peas. Sprinkle with paprika and
serve at once.
*Sour Cream Cabbage.
(Serves 4 or 5)
2 tablespoons butter
H peeled, minced clove garlic
8 cups finely shredded cabbage
<4 cup boiling water
V4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon salt
% teaspoon celery seed
1 egg, beaten
Melt butter in skillet, then saute
garlic in it for 5 minutes Add cab
bage and boiling water. Cover and
bring to a boil. Reduce heat and
simmer for 8 to 15 minutes. Add
remaining ingredients which have
been combined.
For meat stains, which are pri
marily greasy in origin, try using
ammonia. Place this in a shallow
pan and let the cloth remain in it
for several minutes, several hours or
even overnight. The fumes from the
ammonia help to loosen the grease
in the stain.
Soak wine stains with alcohol, or
apply one of the fruit stain remov
ers. Cover a fresh stain of red wine
with salt, as chlorine produced by
the action of acid on the salt will
bleach out the mark.
SEWING CIRCLE PATTERNS
<2)ainty l. jolted ^droc It jor ^Jofo
8996
1-6 yr*.
1
Puffed Sleeves for Tot
AN ADORABLE little yoked
frock for a mite of one to six.
She’ll adore the dainty puffed
sleeves and full swinging skirt,
and see what a pretty trim the
colorful ric rac makes. Panties to
match. Makes easy sewing for
mother, too.
• • •
Pattern No. 8996 comes in sizes 1, 2. 3,
4. 5 and 6 years. Size 2. dress. 1% yards
of 35 or 39-inch; panties, % yard; 4 yards
ric rac.
The Fall and Winter Issue of FASHION
will dellsht yon with Its wealth of ideas
for every home sewer. Styles by top-Hlghl
designers, farm frocks, easy to make fash
Richest Gold Mine
The richest gold mine in history
lies today beneath the village of
Odendaals Rust in the Union of
South Africa. Its ore contains 62.6
ounces of gold ($2,200) to the ton,
or about 100 times more than that
of the average gold mine.
ten*, free crocheting directions, freo pat
tern printed Inside the book. Price M
rente.
REWING CIRCLE PATTERN DEPT.
530 South Wells St. Chicago 7, 111.
Enclose 25 cents In coins for each
pattern desired.
Pattern Nn give_
Name
Address___
Relief At Last
For Your Cough
Creomulslon relieves promptly bo
cause it goes right to the seat of tha
trouble to help loosen and expel
germ laden phlegm, and aid nature
to soothe and heal raw, tender, In*
flamed bronchial mucous mem*
branes. Tell your druggist to sell yon
a bottle of Creomulslon with the un
derstanding you must like the way it
quickly allays the cough or you are
to have your money back.
CREOMULSION
for Couchs,Chest Colds, Bronchitis
May Warn of Disordered
Kidney Action
Modern Ufa with Its hurry sad worry.
Irregular habits. Improper eating ana
drinking—its risk of exposure and infeo
tlon—throwx heavy strain oo tha work
\ of the kidneys. They era apt to become
over-taxed and fail to Altar axeaaa acid
and other impurities from tha Ufe-giviag
blood.
You may suffer nagging backache
headache, dixsinesa, getting up nighty
leg pains, swelling—(eel constantly
tired, nervous, all worn out. Other signs
of kidney or bladder disorder are some
times burning, scanty or too frequent
urination.
Try Doan's Pills. Doan's halp tbs
kldnsys to pass off harmful aseeaa body
sraata. They have had mors than half s
century of public approval. Are recom
mended by grateful users everywhere
Aik tour neighbor/
_
WNU 01-47
01
New, fresh flflll h/ '
compressed yeast «
is super-rising • • • ,F YOU BAKE AT HOME-Here’s the new
F ® fresh compressed yeast that gives yon
amUZinglV super-speedy action and finer results at a
. - new low cost. New Fleischmann’s House*
eCOIIOmiCal hold Yeast is extra-fast, uniform, ideal
for all kinds of rolls, breads, desserts. De
pend on it always for more delicious Sa
vor, finer texture in everything you bake.