Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 124, No. 2 — page 163: what you’re looking at

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

HOW MANY CARDS? them as they left the shop and when the door had closed behind them Dennis, too, drew a deep breath. “ Well, that settles the two phone calls, anyway,” he commented. ‘The whole thing is as plain as the nose on your face, Mac! The man that killed Creveling was—”’ | . “ He was not in that shop this night!” McCarty interrupted impatiently. “ Come on till we hop a car and you'll hear what the inspector has to say about it! He's _ waiting for us down-town.” _But when they presented themselves at headquarters Inspector Druet appeared to be very much of the same mind as Dennis. McCarty told the whole story of the night’s vicissitudes, sparing himself not at all in the recital for permitting the woman known as “‘ Mrs. Hildreth ” to escape, but the in- r did.not censure him. Instead, he listened thoughtfully until the end and then brought his hand down resoundingly on the desk before him. “ That is about the last link we needed in the chain of evidence, I think!” he de- clared. ‘‘ We'll clean this case up in record time now, Mac. Don’t worry about the woman; she won’t get away from us again now that we know she is in the city, and Yost has phoned that Hill is back in the Creveling’ house. He’s camped outside the fellow’s door now.” “Did you hear anything from Martin, sir?” “No, but the officer on the beat up there on Third Avenue called up to say that he’d followed your instructions, but no trace of the woman was found. Martin’s watch- ing the flat, and I'll see that both he and Yost are relieved in the morning by the most reliable men connected with the bureau. man tries to communicate with Hill and then gather him in.” .- : “On a charge of murder, sir?” Mc- Cartly’s tone was respectfully inquiring, but there was a skeptical quality in it that made the inspector raise his eyebrows. ‘““Of course! We've got the motive now. I thought before that it might have had something to do with blackmail, but it’s revenge. He’s infatuated with the girl and We'll wait a bit to see if the wo-- 345 whether she’s guilty or not she is facing @ long term in prison, for the evidence against her, together with the fact that she jumped her bail, would make any jury in the country convict her without leaving the box. Remember, it was Creveling’s tes- _ timony before the magistrate which was most damaging to her, proving it to have been virtually impossible for any one else to have taken the jewels. I suppose she and Hill both held it against Creveling, and we can’t tell the details yet of what hap- pened last night, but they must have had | a violent quarrel for the man to have shot his employer—” ‘Wait one second, sir,” McCarty inter- posed quietly. ‘I didn’t start working on this case to-night when I first telephoned to you, but from. the minute you took me on, and there’s a lot you haven’t heard yet. Some of it would seem to point to Hill being guilty, but there’s more that he couldn’t have had a hand in, and ’tis be- yond reason that all those society folk would put themselves out to shield him.” ‘* Shield him ’?” repeated the inspector with a frown. ‘“ What do you mean? What society folk, Mac?” ‘The whole kit and boodle of them!” McCarty waved his hand expressively. “All the Crevelings’ friends except the O’Rourkes! They’re every one lying or try- ing to hide something and hold out on us, or I’m a Dutchman! But there’s one thing- Hill was in the house long before he showed himself at the door of the break- fast-room, and when you and me were go- ing through the rooms up-stairs and you laughed at me, sir, for seeing and hearing things, I was! If I’m not mistaken, ’twas Hill I heard down in Creveling’s room when we were up in the servants’ quarters, and Hill’s shadow I saw on the stairs.” He told in detail of his second and soli- tary search of the rooms up-stairs and the . discovery that the desks in Creveling’s room and that of the housekeeper and been tampered with since their first examination, and Inspector Druet nodded emphatically. ‘That only makes it more certain, Mac. We won’t have much trouble in sending Hill to the chair!” ‘“‘ Maybe not, sir,” McCarty acquiesced CONNICLOO© COlini