Argosy: The Short Story Magazine — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

» Boe via . ES bole cate - oT ee eee Qe er Oh, pot ie = 7 MICHAEL GILBERT ~ “set”? on a Duplex Rotator: simple enough if you’ve got the a _ machine and the right keys, but almost unbreakable without. It directed me to go to Klagenfurt and make the acquaintance of a Franz Gelert, who kept a bookshop and circulating library in the square. I gave Baker a straight talk before I left, telling him, in his own interests, to avoid strangers and stick to solo sunbathing. ““ You’re within less than fifty miles,” I said, “‘ of people who have probably __ only two ideas about you. The first and better would be to kid- _ nap you. But, if they couldn’t do that, it would suit them almost as well to knock you on the head.” = ‘“ Don’t you worry about me,” he said. His nose was bright red from the sun and he looked more than usually pleased with himself. ‘“‘ Little Al’s quite capable of looking after himself. Brains always beat brawn.”’ = I said nothing to this, but hurried off to catch the bus into Klagenfurt. | I found Gelert. He was a nice little man. He’d been doing _ his undercover job ever since the Occupation in 1945, and evid- — ently knew his way about. We discussed a number of plans for coping with Baker, but they all suffered from the same defect. “It’s simply impossible to tell what he’s going to do next,” I said. ‘‘ I’ve no doubt he’s very clever—scientifically, I mean —but in the affairs of this life he’s got about as much sense as a spaniel puppy. Added to which he’s got the morals of a rabbit.” Old Gelert peered at me through his glasses and said, “I could get you help, of course. Quite a lot of help, if necessary. But we don’t want to be obvious. What about Trude? Could she do anything? ”’ ‘ I’d been conscious of Trude in the background for some time. She was blonde, pink and white, and looked as if butter wouldn’t ~ melt in her mouth. ‘‘ She’s quite—quite reliable,” said Gelert. ‘‘ And she’s older than she looks. Do you think if, perhaps, we could concentrate his roving affections on her, it might make our path smoother? ” I didn’t like the idea at all. Damn it, if ?d had a daughter © she’d have been about that age. Besides, in my view, women — always complicate these transactions. However, the advantages _ of the plan were too obvious to need underlining. Ga ** Fix her a room at the hotel,” I said. “‘There’s no harm in ~ trying. We'd better not go back together. Let her turn up in time for dinner this evening.” I had lunch in Klagenfurt and got back to the hotel about the middle of the afternoon. Baker was not in his room, nor in any of the public rooms. I tackled the manageress. ee : - ee . “oe aonoe gg Gar ay —— > comichbooks.comn