THE WHITE CARD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20841, 7 April 1931, Page 14

THE WHITE CARD.

By JAMES RONALD.'

s CHAPTER XVlll.—(Continued), i Now Rawlinson's, bo it said, is one of the most up-to-date department sto: es in London. They have a vast bat ery of | lifts, and two moving staircases in operation, and some years ago they installed 6 telephone booths for the convenience of i their patrons. There are eight of these ! booths, and they are placed in two rows of four, hack to back. On entering the stores, it was a simple matter to locate the telephones, and Brayd made immediately for tne one which had been designated in the letter. The detectives took up their position behind a pillar, at sucn an angle that they had an unobstructed view of the upper part of the millionaire's huge body through a glass panel in the door of tfye booth. As they watched him leaf over the telephone book, one of the Store's officials | came up. "Inspector Evans, isn't it?" he said. " I thought I recognised you. Surely thoy haven't sent vou to investigate our mys- | terious little happenings ?" " You're right, they haven't," replied Evans laconically. " I haven't even heard about it." The official was quick to enlighten him. I" "Itis a mysterious, and seemingly pointless affair," lie said eagerly. " The staff door was forced last night at a late hour, and when the ground floor watchman came his rounds, he was seized by someone who must have been tremendously powerful, almost strangled, and gagged and bound. He managed to cry out once, but wasn't heard. Anotlier watchman found him behind a counter an hour later, and gave the alarm, but by that time the intruder. or intruders, had escaped. Now the really odd thing is, that as far as we can tell, not a tiling in the building has been stolen—" Inspector Evans interrupted him by clutching Norman's arm eagerly. "Hear that?" he demanded. "I'll , bet there's somq connection between the affair and our business." " Look at Brayd!" exclaimed Norman. "He's almost foaming at the mouth!" I From where they stood, they could not hear the millionaire's words, but they || could see that he was shouting into the H telephone. His neck was red, and ho | was beating the air with one fist. It I was plain that Mr. Peter Brayd was in | an advanced stage of fury. I As they watched, they saw him look pj down. He dropped (lie receiver, and | turning, opened the door of the booth. I They hurried to him. j " God knows how it's been done." ho * gasped, pointing to the bag, which lay open upon the floor, " but someone lias I managed to open that bag and place this letter in it, while I was arguing with the dolt on the other end of the wire!" S He held a white envelope in his hand, f " This George Harris must be a lunatic," ho continued. " I couldn't make him understand—" Inspector Evans pushed past him and entered the booth. Ho spoke a few words into the mouthpiece quietly, then hung up. " Of course you couldn't mako him understand," he said, *' he has certainly no connection with the blackmailer, otherwise his name wouldn't have been given so freely. That was just a blind to keep you occupied while the bag was examined. The blackmailer counted upon you shouting and making a noise when Harris failed to comprehend you!" He aimed a series of kicks at the lower walls of the booth and a square of the rear portion fell out. " That's what your mysterious intruder was up to," ho told tlio astounded official; "ho cut out that panel. It was simple for the blackmailer to remove it quietly, and pull the bag through inlo the booth behind! And, of course, the bird has flown!" He crawled through the aperture into tlio other booth, opened tho door and stepped out, to the great surprise of a stout lady who regarded as a conjuring trick tho appearance of a man in a bowler hat from what sho had taken to be an empty booth. Apart from the stout lady, tho space behind tho booths was deserted, but just to one side, a large crowd were milling around a ribbon counter, which fact had probably enabled the blackmailer to mako his escapo unseen. " Did you see anyone leavo this booth a moment or so ago, madam ?" the inspector asked of the stout lady. I She glanced at him. " No, I didn't," she snapped indignantly. " I was about (o enter it myself, under tho impression that it was empty. The shock to my nerves is more than they can possibly stand!" Evans glanced in each of the other booths, but they were deserted. The bird had flown, indeed! 110 rejoined the others, who were examining tho damaged broth with interest. A crowd of women shoppers had gathered. " Let's see tho letter," he said briefly. Brayd handed the envelope to the inspector, who tore it open, and glanced swiftly at tho contents. "It is not wise to economise when your life is at 6take," it ran. " You will realise this before nine o'clock tomorrow night." CHAPTER XIX. " TOISON WOULD EE SAFEST." A tall woman with a very pale face, whose fur wrap was drawn up to her mouth, and who wore a hat which effectively disguised her eyes, walked swiftly along Gower Street on the fateful Friday morning. She was no stranger to the street; without looking at the numbers 011 tho houses, she automatically turned in at tho right one, and mounting the stairs, entered the hallway through the doors, which stood wide open. There was no porter in the hall, and she entered the little automatic elevator, and pressed the button marked " third floor." As tho elevator mounted, her agitation was betrayed by her nervous hands which wero fidgeting with her hand-bag, opening and shutting it automatically. Sho pulled herself together when the elevator reached its destination, and, opening the t doors, sho stepped into the corridor. Sho walked along it for a short distance, and halted outside a door on which was tho engraved card of " Mr. Jeremy Cam." There she hesitated for a moment, then rang tho bell. In a few moments the door was opened by a tall, slender-built man, who smiled when he recognised his visitor. " Enter, madam," lie said with a mock bow. Ignoring the amusement in his eyes, the woman walked past him, her head hold erect. "Do you know," Cam said, as ho closed tho door and followed her into her little sitting-room, " although you have been here so often, I always have the feeling that I am being delightfully compromised when you come?" She looked at liini scornfully, with sad, dark eyes. " You know that I would not come if I could avoid it," sho replied bitterly. "It is surely unnecessary for me to tell you again what unspeakable end you arc!" Jeremy Cam had a very long thin head. His skin was sallow, and his eyes hud a yellowish timre. He wore a small, dark moustache. His hair was oily, and almost blue-black in colour. He flinched a little at her words. It was remarkable that siie alone of all his " clients " had the power over him of making him feel a worm. Ho resented this bitterly, and his resentment showed in his eyes, in his manner, and in tho humiliation which ho heaped upon her. " On this occasion you are forestalling me slightly," he sneered. " I have not sent for you. Perhaps your love for me is so great that you come of your own accord ?" He indicated a chair with a wave of his hand. " I prefer to stand," the woman replied. " I came only to inform you that I am Eoinc to tho police, to tell them all I

(COPYRIGHT.)

BAFFLING STORY OF A SILENT SYMBOL OF CRIME.

If Jeremy Cam was surprised it showed only in a slight narrowing of his pupils. . He drew out a cigarette case, asked permission to smoke, and lit one carefully. " And lose your soft living !" lie asked, suavely. The woman's face was white and set. " Soft living! It has never been that!" " Besides going to prisori for two oc three years?' " Going to prison," she replied bitterly, " is belter than being, the accessory of a murderer!" Cam smiled, but there was a puzzled expression in his eyes. A murderer! So that is your latest title for mo ? It is scarcely less complimentary than some of the others. There are only four objectionable names I can think of which you haven't called me; perhaps because you do not know them ?" Her face wore an expression of loathing. "If there is any creature more vile than you," she replied, bitterly, " I have certainly never heard of it." He did not show by even a flicker of his facial muscles that he resented what she had said, although he could have killed her for it. "Tell mo. is this new name you have devised for me just the product of your idle fancy, or are you making suggestions about my murky past ?" " You know what I mean perfectly well; you attempted to murder Miss Brownrigg, and now you are threatening my husband !" Jeremy Cam responded with a laugh, in which there was not a great deal of amusement. " flood Heavens! .What a villain I

am!" She dirl not speak. What she thought of him was written in her face. " Miss Brownrigg," he went on. "Of course, the papers were full of her a week ago. A horrid nasty blackmailer demanded money from her, and when she refused to pay, tried to poison her." " You should know the facts of the case!" He began to understand. "I see; because I have persuaded you that my silence in a certain little matter is worth money, you assume that I am Miss Brownrigg's mysterious blackmailer ?" The woman's scornful gaze did not waver. "I know you arc!" she retorted. "If Miss Brownrigg had died, I should have unmasked you; when she recovered, I decided to remain silent, for my own miserable sake. Now Ido not care what happens to me, I am determined to expose you!" " Because you think I am threatening your 'husband'?" " Because the person who shields a murderer is equally guilty of his crimes!" Jeremy Carn smiled suavely. " You havo a fine sense of drama!" he commented. " But, supposing I am not the person you think I am ? There are probably a thousand people in London who augment their resources by following my profession. Is it worth while to smash up your whole life on suspicion, and afterwards find that I am innocent—of this, at leant?" The woman hesitated. " Your letters to me were typewritten, and so is the one my husband has received." He laughed derisively. " There are at least half a million typewriters in this country!" he pointed out. " If you examined the letters carefully, you would certainly find that they were not typed on my machine. I suppose that did not occur to you ?" Her conviction wavered. j "I took it for granted." "Oh! don't bo an absolute fool!" Although he had not shown it, her threat to go to the police had shaken him. " Ho you suppose that I should risk murder, when there are so many other ways of getting what I want?" She suddenly realised that her suspicions were wrong. " No, you wouldn't havo the nerve," she agreed. His relief was so great that he did not trouble to resent what sho had said. "Then sit down; I want to talk to you." After a moment's hesitation, sho took the chair he indicated. " First and foremost," ho went on, "get this: I am not guilty of the attempt 011 Miss Brownrigg. Ido not know the lady, and sho is not likely to come within the scope of my professional activities. Secondly, 1 have not threatened your—er—husband. Ho has a position to maintain, and no doubt if I approached him with the story I could tell, he would see the necessity of buying my silence, but that is another matter. While you are prepared to pay mo to forget it, that matter will never bo raised. You may go to the police, of course, which would automatically cancel our connection, but is that worth while?" Sho was about to speak, but ho silenced her with a wave of his hand. "All that you could tell them is that you havo paid mo a certain sum every quarter for several years. Sinco lam your legal husband, it is no crime for me to accept an allowance from you. And the certain result would be that I should lose my useful little income, and that you would stand your trial for bigamy!" The woman was not made of steel, and tears had come into her eyes. "I bad either to marry him or starve," sho responded pitifully. " I didn't love him, but I thought that I was free. You told me before you deserted me (hat wo were never legally married, that the minister was an actor friend of yours." Jeremy Carn lit a cigarette, and blew out a cloud of smoke calmly. " I lied to you," he replied smoothly. "It suited my book at the time. I didn't want you trailing after me, but don't make any mistake, my dear—the marriage was legal enough." " What a miserablo swine you are!" cried the woman passionately. "Why trouble to show off?" Carn responded. " You have done well for yourself, my dear. You live in the lap of luxury, while I exist on the meagre allowance you havo seen fit to give me." " It swallows up almost every penny I've got!" the woman replied bitterly. Carn put his feet upon the rr.antlcpicce, and looked at her speculatively. "So you say," lie commented. " But I doubt you, my dear. It hardly seems likely. When you first came here, you were rather lavishly decked with jewels." " They have gone to meet your demands." "Have they? Or do you put on a '' poor mouth ' when you come to see' me?" The shot went home. He knew as well as she that she would not have dared to dispose of all her jewellery, which was her " husband's " one generosity toward her. " I see," ho commented. For a few minutes he submitted her to a searching scrutiny. " My dear, you wear very well!" He rose to his feet as he spoke. " What do you mean?" she demanded, staring up at him. "I confess I find you quite attractive—" He took a step toward her—in a moment she was on her feet. " Stand back !" sho snapped, fumbling in her bag. He laughed, but his laugh was broken off sharply as a little blue-steel automatic appeared in her hand. His face grow almost green with fear, and his lip quivered. "Put that thing away!" ho gasped. For God's sake don't point it at me!" She regarded him with a look of contempt for a moment before she replaced the automatic pistol in her bag. "No," she said; "you wouldn't .have the nerve to commit a murder." (To bo continued daily.) Woods' Great Peppermint Curt, For Children's Hacking Coueh.