10-Story Detective Magazine Cover — page 90: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

6. STORY DETECIIVE———— Grove, just a store, a garage and a few cabins. : Perhaps someone from Las Vegas was getting off here, some prospector, maybe. But Drake was quiekly alert. The bus stepped. No one was get- ting off. It was, instead, someone get- ting on, someone who had signaled the stage, Drake watched the man get on, and stiffened. The man was medium- sized, compact. His soft hat was pulled tight over his eyes. Drake couldn't see the eyes, but he had looked into them more than once, gray eyes in which there was no warmth. The driver did not turn on the lights. The man felt his way into the aisle, dropped into the nearest vacant seat. The coach was in motion again. Regretfully, Drake shook the girl. She woke up, startled. “Oh,” she said. “Sorry. I hadn’t in- tended—”’ ; RAKE put a finger over her lips, vertically. He said quietly; “The bus just stepped at Yucea Grove to pick up a passenger, Bet you can’t guess who.” “No. Who?” “Joe Grail’s boss, the owner of the Lucky Ball, Cy Knox!” Meg was wide awake at once. “Cy Knox!” “‘He’s in that aisle seat, third from the front.” She peered through the dusk. “Cy Knox!” she murmured. “This is over two hundred miles from Les Angeles, and over seventy from Las Vegas. What is he doing here?” “Maybe nothing.” Brake bent clos- er. “Listen. Soon we'll be at Baker. The bus will stop there for thirty min- utes. Everyone will get out. You won't be able to hide. So why not talic?” Meg said quickly: “Okay. Listen. I was representing Tim Wingate— you were right about that. Tim’s been busy workingyon a picture in Holly- wood, He didn’t want Blaine to get a divorce. He knew Blaine wasn’t crazy — ———— about it either, but her father’s been working hard for it.” “T know that. I’ve been working for the old man.” | ' “Then I shouldn’t be talking to you. Only I’ve got to. Tim got tipped off that Joe Grail might try something on Elaine. So he hired me to go there and have a look-see.” Drake said: “We were both on the same job, but with different bosses. But somehow it comes to me that you saw more than I.” “Maybe I did.” “Well, you know Elaine. Very pret- ty and a nice gal, but not too bright.” “That describes her,” “So it was easy for Joe. Elaine has sympathy—too much. I don’t know where she got it, certainly not from her old man. So Joe gets a guy named Fred Lausen to contact her. Lausen was supposed to be a young fellow from a fine old Eastern family who had had a run of bad luck, down to nothing.” “Klaine was compromised, eh?” queried Drake. “Badly. It was all ’way over her head.. This Lausen is a good-looking chap. Pretended he only wanted a lit- tle help on some educational business. He stuck pretty close to Elaine for a couple of weeks, then it was easy for him to get her alone in her rooms. That was three nights ago. A hard- looking gal busted in on them—with witnesses. Claimed to be Lausen’s wife.” “Well?” “She was. Mrs. Lausen in the flesh. Not bad-looking flesh, either.” Drake wagged his head. “So it’s alienation of affections.” “Right. She wants a hundred grand!” Drake said: “Oh.” “Well,” said Meg, “it’s worth it. Lausen is a bad one, He has a record. Imagine how it would look to have Mrs. Timothy Wingate hauled into court, because ef that no-goeod cus- tomer. Man, that’s biz stuff!” (Eo) 900 e (eo)