Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 7, 1925 — page 90: what you’re looking at

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

ethics OA ri PUM POT Oh? LP nat) OOK? ac) ® PASTE Mata Sh Sor AS hy ‘ 7A Wh vi i 560 Smith looked at my nephew with veiled eyes. = 2 ae he said. Tt ‘was a 1 second or two before Smith said, “ Where?” “Sticking in a panel, Mr. Smith—just about six inches from Mr. Billings’s heart.” CHAPTER XVII. | THE CLEW. W YHOSE heart, sir?” said Smith 3 slowly, as he paled a little and after a startled pause, “ Mr, Billings’s.” “One of the guests, sir?” “ One of the guests.” “Dead?” “No, not dead. But wounded.” e Then whoever gypped the sticker from me fried to kill him?” “Such is the case.” © Gosh,” said Smith simply, “it might - have been me.” This was a distinctly equivocal statement. One could infer from it that the “it ” it con- tained might refer to Smith either as a po- tential victim of his own knife, or as an equally potential assassin with his own knife. I could not fathom the man at all. if duplicity existed it was of a superlative quality and kind. His manner was natural and accorded exactly with the way any in- nocent person would have acted under the circumstance. “When did it happen, sir?” Even this question accorded with inno- cence. It was more than probable that Captain Wickstrom had left the wireless man severely alone both as to utilizing | him during the past searches and as to having given him any information concerning their purpose. “Where have you heen for the past half hour?” asked my nephew. -* Richt here, sir. Working on the set.” “You didn’t have this cabin at all?” “Been right here all the time. Got to stay here, too. Captain’ s orders. No grub for me until the set is fixed.” , This certainly accorded with Pes inno- = : Sf ““ Did you find it?? - ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. cence. We were foolish, I believed, in con- sidering ‘the ‘man to he in any way in- volved. Evidently my ne oy was begin-- ning to ‘think similarly. es “Did you fmd naine rales that showed some one had been here while you were fixing the spreader?” he asked. 2 Nothing but the fact that the set - wouldn’t work. And what he did to it I don’t know. ll admit it’s got me buf- faloed.” Se “Well,” my nephew stared thoughtfully around. “Ill just take a look and see if there is anything that you may have missed —any sign—” “All right, sir’ Smith returned to his labor. see, nevertheless, that. in centration he was bending ; upon. his wik he kept shooting a good many wary glances from the tail OF his. eye at my nephew. “Fhe inspection of the cabin proved un- productive of interest until the moment when my nephew suddenly brought his mag- nifying glass to play upon the tip of a sharp spike that was used for the filing of papers, I could -and which stood upon the operating desk. After a minute inspection he took a clean sheet of paper, wiped it over the end of the tip—holding the ‘Spike upside down— carefully folded the paper, inserted it in an envelope, sealed it, and put it in his pocket. “ Found something?” Tt asked. : _ He gave me a sharp loo. ok and mumbled ‘something ‘beneath his oe that I could not catch. But I gathered that my ques- tion had been indiscreet. For the next ten minutes the investigation proceeded around the wireless room and ex- tended itself through the sleeping quarters of Smith, where neither the drawers to his lockers nor the secrets of his clothes press were immune from search. “ All right,” he said at last. “ There is nothing more to be gained by staying here.” “Did you come across anything, sir?” asked Smith as we moved to depart. 2 Only a speck,” said my nephew, “ and there is no telling as yet whether it is of any importance or not.” The words were light, and our reception of them was lighter. But heavy indeed was the emphasis placed 0 on that oS 5 A. : EComicbooks. con