HANDS UNSEEN

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 886, 1 February 1930, Page 26

HANDS UNSEEN

A New Grey Phantom Detective Story

By

HERMAN LANDON

Copyright by Street and Smith Corp. Serialised by Ledger Syndicate

CHAPTER XIX. —(Continued.) She did a little of each as his hand softly brushed her face, playing with her silken and fragrant coils of hair. "We must have light,” she said after a while. “I want to see if it is really you." She stepped out of his arms, and in a few moments, with a faint click, a light appeared. She turned and stood facing him, her large brown eyes widening. “Oh!”she gasped. “I thought ” He laughed reassuringly, just then remembering his borrowed role. “Yes, it is really I,” he told her, "though 1 have convinced certain people that I am Philip Dawson, amateur criminologist. You don’t seem to like my get-up.” “I like you best when you are yourself.” she said gravely. “You look entirely too dignified the way you are now. I am a little bit afraid of you. But I understand.” An uneasy look dimmed her smiling eyes. “The Grey Phantom is a hunted man.” “As if that mattered!” he laughed lightly and stood looking at her with a longing expression. Her eyes were moist and shining. A tinge of colour was already creeping up beneath the pallor of her face. She was in a simple blue dress with a grey sash embellished with a small rosette of paler grey. “It doesn’t.” she answered. “See,” indicating the grey sash and the grey rosette. “1 am still weai'ing the Grey Phantom’s colours. I shall always wear them, no matter what, happens. I was unjust to you the last time I saw you. Phantom Man. I felt as if a part of my life had been torn out of me. Everything has become clear since then. I understand now why you took the course you did. Can you forgive me?” “Nothing to forgive,” he murmured softly. “I am only blaming myself. I tried to compromise between good and bad, and I got out of my depth. No setious harm was done, though, except——” His face turned grave. “Have you found any trace of your father?” The brightness died out of her eyes. “Yes, but I lost it again. That night after I left you and Wade, I saw a a man in a restaurant across the street who answered the description of Whipple. After a little he drove off in a big yellow car, and I followed him in my runabout.” “That was reckless,” he said reprovingly. “Will you never learn to think before you leap?” "Y’ou are not setting a very good example for me,” she countered with a wan smile; and then she went on to relate how she had followed Whipple and how disastrously her adventure had terminated. “Whipple took me to the place where father was being kept. I don’t think it is very far from here. His intention was to show me the arrangement he had devised, and impress on me how futile it would be for any one to try to interfere with him in any way.” “Yes, I know all about that diabolical contraption,” Vanardy muttered grimly. “Whipple told me. He might have been lying, but I couldn't take chances.” "He intended that I should go back and tell you what I had seen,” Helen went on. “Of course, he relied on the fact that I had no idea where the place was and would never be able to find it again, or direct any one to it. Just as he was about to blindfold me, I saw an old boat with the name Tuck;, way Camp painted across the bow. YYTiipple didn’t dare let me go back after that.” "It was an old boathouse, wasn’t it?” asked Vanardy, quickly. “It seemed to be. Father was kept in a little room upstairs. I was allowed to see him only for a moment or two.” Vanardy nodded. "I know the place.

I was there last night. The upstairs room, gave me the impression that it had been recently vacated.” “They didn’t think it safe to keep father there any longer. I was given to understand that they had removed him to another place, but I haven’t the faintest idea where it is. For that matter,. I don’t know whe.re this place is. f was brought here blindfolded.” “You are in the main building of Tuclcaway Camp. Yes, I know it sounds queer,” he added as her eyes widened in astonishment, “but it is a fact.” “I should think it would be rather risky to hide a person in a place like this, hut doubtless the scoundrels know what they are doing. Wasn’t William here Just a few minutes before I came in?” “The tall, stupid-looking fellow? I don’t know his name, but he has been here several times, asking me the strangest lot of questions.” She tossed her head in a determined way. “He might have saved himself the trouble.” “How have they treated you?” “Very well, but it has been rather lonesome, and I have been fearfully worried about father.” Vanardy took her hand and pressed it. "Don’t worry,” he said gently. “We’ll find him.” He spoke with a confidence that made her smile. “I am sure you will, Phantom Man. Y’ou have never failed yet in anything you have set out to do.” She looked at him whimsically, her eyes softening. “And after you have found him, what then?” “I hope to wring the necks of Whipple and his confederates.” “And after that?” He thought for a moment, averting his gaze as he felt her soft brown eyes full upon him. “There’s Sea Glimpse.” he murmured. “I must go back to my gardens there and do penance a while longer for my past mistakes. And I mustn’t forget the little grey orchid. In a short time, if my cross-breeding system succeeds, it will he full blown. Don’t forget you have promised to wear it next to your heart.” She smiled wistfully. He had often told her about his efforts to produce a grey orchid. For many months it had been a diversion from more serious work. When the hybrid was finally evolved it was to be a living symbol of whatever had been good ill the Grey Phantom. “I shall. Phantom Man." she told him. “Next to my heart!” THE DISAPPEARING CAPTIVE For a little longer the whimsical smile lingered on his lips, then he awoke with a start to the present.. “We mustn’t stay here any longer, ’ he said, taking her arm and leading her to the door. “I am going to take you back to New York immediately. I’ll have Wade detail three of our most reliable men to keep a watch over your house: night and day, and see that nothing happens to you.” “Dear me!” she exclaimed. “You talk as if I were a string of pearis that had to be guarded.” “You are!” lie murmured in her eat. “The most wonderful jewel in all the world. Y’ou are ” The words ended in a lialf-stified exclamation. He had just opened the door leading into the little hall in which he had left William with hands and feet bound. He stopped abruptly and swept the narrow space with an astonished glance. William was gone. CHAPTER XX. THE MYSTERY DEEPENS "What’s wrong?” inquired Helen, noticing his stupefaction. ”1 don’t like the atmosphere of this place,” said Vanardy iightly, though his face was grave. “Too many mysterious things happen.” He hurried her along. William's disf

appearance troubled him. He was certain that he had tied the cords securely. Under the circumstances, the servant’s escape seemed an augury of further surprise to come before he could reach a place of safety with the girl. The door at the other side of the little hall stood open a crack. He gave it a shove and they stepped through, entering into the darkness of the main corridor. All the while Vanardy was cudgelling his wits to find a way before an interruption should come. The hall was now totally dark, although there had been a small light at the farther end less than half an hour ago. He tightened his clutch on Helen’s arm. He had a curious impression that perils were lurking not far away. William’s escape and the disappearance of the light struck him as danger signals. Helen’s nearness and the realisation that her safety depended upon him filled him with a nervous tension. They fumbled their way through the long, black corridor, until they came to the staircase. Straight ahead of them, across the vestibule, was the outer door. Vanardy had no doubt he would find a car at the garage, but first he must provide Helen with a coat, for the air had a keen bite and she was lightly dressed. He peered sharply to all sides, feeling a nervousness which he could not account for. Of a sudden, as they turned into the vestibule, a light flashed up in the chandelier above the door. In front of them, with legs spread far apart and a queer smile playing about his lips, stood Lieutenant Culligore. He was fully dressed, and he was handling an automatic pistol in an apparently playful way. “Hello. Dawson,” he drawled, then started slightly as he fixed his eyes on Helen His brows arched upward and he cocked an eye in a knowing way. “What’s the idea? Running off with The Grey Phantom’s girl? Where did you find her?” “You overwhelm me with questions,” said Vanardy, complainingly. A tremor was communicated to him from the girl at his side, and his senses were instantly alert to the emergency. “This young woman must get to New York at once. I suppose I can find a car at the garage.” “Maybe so.” A slow, humorous flicker appeared in Culligore’s mousecoloured eyes. “There ought to be several cars over there. I didn’t know you were at Tuckaway Camp, Miss' Hardwick.” “Then the disadvantage is mutual,” said Helen, promptly. “I hadn’t the faintest idea that you were here.” Vanardy, sensing a threat beneath Culligore’s bland exterior, hid his confusion by looking at his' watch. “Miss —er —Hardwick is in a hurry,” he remarked in his carefully cultivated tone. “Will you excuse us?” The lieutenant chuckled dryly. “Miss Hardwick is in a hurry every time I see her. A few minutes .more or less can’t make any difference. I wonder, Miss Hardwick, if you can tell me where a certain friend of yours is hiding himself? I mean The Grey Phantom.” Helen smiled archly, “It is strange you should put such a question to me. Lieutenant Culligore.” “Think so? YVell, wp’ve had a lot of strange talks, you and I. Won’t you answer my question?” “Gladly. I don’t think The Grey Phantom is hiding. If lie were, and I knew where he was, I see no reason for telling you.” “That’s straight talk.” Culligore contemplated her with an admiring glint in his eyes. “Y’ou never disappoint me, Miss Hardwick. I guess you know why I am looking for The Phantom?”

“I understand some people are labouring under the ridiculous misapprehension that he had something to do with the Craig murder.” “And I want to ask him straight out whether he had or not. I'll bet a pair of pink socks The Grey Phantom would tell me the truth.” “I’m sure he would, and his answer would be no.” “Maybe so.” Culligore turned his lazy, mottled grey eyes on Vanardy. There was a gleam in them that gave the object of his scrutiny an uneasy moment.

“It’s queer world,” he remarked. “You haven’t told me yet, Dawson, where you picked up The Grey Phantom’s girl.” “1 don’t like your tone,” said Vanardy stiffly, “and I fail to see how the matter can concern you in the “It doesn’t. Can’t a fellow be curious? It’s kind of strange to see you two together.” “I don’t see anything strange ati.st. it. Please be careful how you handle that, pistol. It may go off.” “It might,” agreed Culligore. “You see, Dawson, it’s always been a safe guess in the past that whenever Miss Hardwick hobs up in a place where something exciting has been going on. The Grey Phantom is never far away.” “For once the guess appears to be wrong.” Y r anardy spoke easily, but Culligore’s occasional glances in his direction filled him with apprehensions. It would he decidedly awkward if the lieutenant should discover his real identity before Helen was in a safe place. “As I remarked before.” he added, “Miss Hardwick is in a hurry. Must you detain us any longer?” “Only a. moment.” As he spoke, Culligore performed a surprising manoeuvre. With an incredibly swift movement, he reached out and removed Vanardy’s shell-rimmed glasses, then regarded him with an amused stare. “A pair of glasses makes a lot of difference,” he observed, chuckling. “From the first I was curious to see what you would look like without them. Of course, the beard and the other things help, and your acting is a scream. Philip Dawson, eh? Private criminal Investigator? It was a great little stunt, and you almost put it over. Careful now! This gat of mine is a bad actor when it gets nervous.” Vanardy glanced over his shoulder at the door, then at the pistol barrel pointed at him, and, seeing that his escape was cut off, folded his arms across his chest. Out of the corner of an eye he glanced at Helen and saw that she had turned deathly pale. He whispered something in her ear, then confronted the lieutenant with a faint smile. ESCAPE BLOCKED “Weil, Culligore, it’s like old times, isn’t it?” he remarked carelessly, in his natural tone. “Now that you have found me out, what are you going to do about it?” Culligore scratched his jaw reflectively. There was a strain of great alertness beneath his assumed listlessness. “I’m taking a bit of a vacation,” he announced. “Just so I won’t get rusty while loafing, I offered to give the village officials a lift on the Craig case. Of course, they swear up and down that The Grey Phantom killed Craig. Bowman, the chief constable, would pinch you this very moment if he should happen to wall: in.” “But, of course, you aren’t going to do anything so foolish?” “Don't be too sure of that. There’s a warrant otit for your arrest. I’m an officer of the law, even if I happen to be taking a few days off. For a long time I’ve had a hankering to get The Grey Phantom. He’s pulled a lot of raw jokes on me and the department, and every one of these jokes made me all the more determined to get him. Looks as though this was my chance.” “But you have no evidence.” “Oh, yes. Y’ou wrote those letters to Craig—some of them, anyhow. And don’t forget that a little bit of evidence against The Grey Phantom will go a long way with a jury. Guilty or not guilty, you would have a hard time clearing yourself, most likely. By the way,” and he spoke with a studied casualness that instantly intensified Y'anardy's vigilance, “what have you done to William.” “William?” Vanardy gave a momentary start. “Oh, he and I had a little tussle. He acted in a way I didn't like, and I decided to play safe by trussing him up.” “Thought so,” Culligore nodded. His face was a mask, and his wearily blinking eyes seemed yearning for sleep. Vanardy, remembering previous encounters with the lieutenant, knew that he was the most danger-

ous when he looked like that. “Where did you leave him?” asked Culligore. "In a little hall just off the main corridor.” There was a note of hesitancy in Vanardy’s voice. Culligore’s demeanour baffled him, and the strangeness of William’s disappearance impressed him anew. “Let’s go and look,” said Culligore, making a careless motion toward the interior of the house with his pistol. “You can come along if you like, Miss Hardwick.” Reluctantly Vanardy complied and, with Helen at his side, turned into the corridor. For the present he could see no other course open to him than to humour the lieutenant. There was a subdued note of determination in Culligore’s voice that brooked no opposition, and Helen’s presence prompted him to act with discretion. He must proceed cautiously until he had gotten her safely away from the mysterious intrigues that seemed to centre at Tuckaway Camp. The lieutenant switched on the light, and they walked down the corridor toward the point where Vanardy had seen the evanescent streak of light while he was following William. He stopped before a door, feeling certain that it was the one the servant had entered, and placed his hand on the knob. "Guess you’re making a mistake,” said Culligore. “Stanhope is sleeping in there. He might growl if you disturb him.” Vanardy gave him a surprised look. He was grinning mysteriously. “I am sure this is the door,” he declared, turning the knob. The door was locked. A blank look came into his face, but he knocked loudly on the panel. After repeated raps a voice sounded within, and soon the door was opened and Stanhope stuck a sleepy face into the opening. At a glance into the room Vanardy saw he had made a mistake. The door William had entered opened into a small hall at the end of which was another door. This one led directly into a bedroom. He apologised confusedly to the lawyer and proceeded bewilderingiy to the next door. “Wrong again,” said Culligore softly. “Craig’s niece used that room when she was here, but nobody's there now.” V anardy s head was swimming a little. The door opened readily, and he stepped in and found the' light switch. Again he realised that he had blundered. There was a piano, stacks of sheet music, a sofa smothered m gayly embroidered pillows and everything indicated that it had been used as a lounging place for a woman. He turned away, feeling Culligore’s amused gaze on his face. Helen seemed as bewildered as himself they tried several other doors, but n< l° G i. opelle<i into the little hall in which his encounter with William had occurred. “Maybe we're on the wrong floor ” suggested Culligore with faint sarcasm. Vanardy shook his head. “No, this is the floor. There must be a ’door somewhere that opens into a small hall.” There must,” Helen confirmed. “At Hie end of the hall is a little room. Ihats where they were keeping me. .They? Who?” There was surprise and doubt in Culligore’s tone. After a questioning glance at Vanardy, Helen explained briefly. Culligore listened with an air of exasperating imperturbability. When she had finished he asked her to describe the room in great detail. “Funny,” he drawled, when she had given the description. “I went all through the house last night, and there s no such room as that.” “You doubt my word?” demanded Helen spiritedly. Vanardy turned away from an examination of the woodwork along the hall and faced the lieutenant with a perplexed frown. "It’s beyond me ” he confessed. “I left William trussed up in that little hall. When 1 came back after finding Miss Hardwick, he was gone. That’s all I know. He will doubtless reappear soon, and then e\ erything will be made clear.” (To be continued on Monday)