10-Story Detective, November 1942 — page 62: what you’re looking at

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

60—____—_—_——————-10-STORY DETECTIVE———— a voice—so soft it was hard to discern the words—but I heard it all right. We didn’t run fast enough this afternoon. That voice told me I was possessed by a Druid.” Kerrigan relaxed. “This stuff is getting you down, Whitten. Now lis- ten—the same guy who whispered in your ear whispered in mine, too— with a knife. Take a look at my coat. A whisper didn’t do that, nor a wisp of fog that is supposed to be the spirit of a Druid, either. It was a nice, sharp and very real knife. Furthermore, in the scrap I felt that my opponent was wearing a flock of leaves around his head. A garland—like the one you are wearing now. Explain that.” “But I didn’t try to kill you,” Whit- ten said earnestly. “I didn’t go any- where near you. What do you mean about my wearing a garland?” He raised both hands, found the garland and removed it. He began to tremble. “Oak leaves and mistletoe. The things the Druids worshiped. They used to wear garlands like these during the sacrifices. Kerrigan, I did- n’t know this was on my head. I swear it.” . ERRIGAN took the garland and studied it. “Well, I'll grant you this—the garland wasn’t in the room when those lights went out. It’s too big for you to have concealed it in your pocket. We’ll check later. Miss Lee fainted—she’s over there.” Kerrigan’s flash picked her out. For a moment he caught the reflection of the light in her eyes and then they were closed. Kerrigan grunted. This girl was playing games. He carried her over to a davenport while Whitten held the flash. Moments later, she woke up. “T don’t know what happened,” she said weakly. “I saw something stand- ing right behind you, Cousin Arch. It looked like a ghost. Then I heard Ker- rigan fighting—that’s all I remem- ber.” “Let’s see about the lights,” Kerri- gan said. “And where are Maguire and Cotter? I made enough noise to wake a dead man.” Maguire was in the kitchen and sol- emnly swore that he heard no sound. Cotter came down from his room on the second floor and also stated he’d heard nothing to attract his attention. Kerrigan led the way back to the liv- ing room while Maguire went down cellar to see about the lights. Before Kerrigan began his search, the lights came back on. Maguire ap- peared and stated a fuse had blown out. “It happened very convéniently for the rat who tried to murder me,” Ker. rigan grunted. “Now lIet’s get this straight. Whitten, you and Miss Lee were the only persons in the living room beside me. Therefore, any in- truder had to come in through the door. I don’t think that happened be- cause the door squeaks like blazes. That leaves the windows, so let’s have a look.” Kerrigan checked all four windows in the room. Each was locked from the inside. He remembered that cool blast of air that swept across him just before the attack. Where had it come from? The windows could only have been opened from inside. How had that would-be killer gained entrance, left via the window and locked it on the inside after him? Kerrigan re- strained a shiver. Maybe Whitten knew what he was talking about. A search of the area surrounding the house revealed nothing. Kerrigan came back to the living room, drew his gun and spun the cylinder experi- mentally. He shoved the weapon back into its holster. “T’m going over to the Druid al- tar,” he said slowly. “I intend to stay there all night if necessary. Perhaps the killer of Benson will try to get me or, if Whitten’s ideas are true, I’l! meet some of those Druids. By the way, Whitten, when I searched the grounds I saw no signs of either an oak tree or a mistletoe bush. Are there any on the island, or did that : garland over there on the table ma- DOOK C©