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man and had the man do the same for you—Long Mac had a key to the apartment not once, but many times. Unless you have house front door. One he’d given the janitor gone through hell and suffering with that ten dollars for, he said.

man, unless you’ve shared troubles beyond words with him. Albert Gross is dead. Fleur killed him. You work for Fleur—”

THEY had been there before. They “I don’t even know Fleur!” I said.

knew there would be no doorman and no “Working for Fleur is the only thing that telephone operator in the lobby, and they would explain your involvement in the affair,”

knew enough not to fool around with the boy he said. “The point I am making, Mr. Sammy who ran the elevator. A hungry-looking boy, Wales, if that is your name, is that we will go this one; his uniform fitted him like something the whole way to get justice for Albert. That that had been blown on him by a high wind.

means Fleur will probably die, and you, and He carried his head on a thin neck, as if it Miss Fenisong. There is just a chance, a very was something on a stick. He could move.

long chance, that we can deal with Fleur. On Fast. But not fast enough. McGraff downed that chance swings your neck. Get me? In him, and took the gun the boy had half-other words, act up and I’ll kill you, or drawn.

McCutcheon will kill you. Clear?”

There was something familiar about “I never heard anything put clearer.”

the boy after he lay on the floor at my feet. It “Okay, get out and walk ahead of us took a bit of recalling. But it came to me. This into that apartment house. No, take the rag lad had been one of the help at the banquet off the girl’s face first. And walk with her, the scientists held in the Parkside-Regent.

ahead of us.”

He hadn’t been out serving tables among the The cloth came free of Paula’s face guests; he had kept in the rear, helping get readily enough. She didn’t say anything. She the stuff on the trays ready to serve.

rubbed, or scrubbed, at her mouth with a I said: “He was at the banquet!”

sleeve.

McGraff frowned at me. “No doubt.”

“We’re supposed to lead the way, you “That’s probably how they got a line on and I,” I said.

you fellows,” I said.

She still didn’t say anything.

“No doubt,” McGraff said again.

McGraff got the big suitcase containing McCutcheon said nothing; he was hav-the gadget. It had been in the car trunk.

ing his troubles making the elevator run. He’d Along, probably, with the dynamite left over got the doors shut, but couldn’t take the cage from fixing the two little bridges. Wonder up because he didn’t know where the safety where Savage was? Wasting time out there switch was.

in the rain looking for the foe? It would “I used to run an elevator.”

probably look like a trap to him.

He didn’t seem to hear me. He looked “Paula,” I said. “Did you have a radio down at the long-necked boy. “You mur-outfit in your purse and how did they find it?”

derer!” he said, and kicked the boy’s jaw “They just looked in the purse,” she somewhat out of shape. “Okay, run it,” he said.

said to me.

“Paula—don’t do anything reckless.”

“What floor?”

She nodded. “You too.”

He seemed to seriously consider kick-Two words—but there was enough in ing my jaw. “As far as it will go—as if you them to mean a lot. Maybe fright had made didn’t know,” he said.

my receptiveness high, but it seemed that she was a lot concerned for me. That was good. Everything else couldn’t get much AS far as it would go was the twenty-worse, but that was good. Why hadn’t I met second floor, and the Macs got progressively her at a picnic in Swope Park, and we could paler as the elevator went up. Except for the have looked at the animals in the zoo and one who had the natural redness in his face, watched the nuts on the playground flying they could have passed for corpses when we their little airplanes around on the ends of reached the top. “He’ll have a signal,”

wires. A good thing we hadn’t, no doubt.

McGraff said, staring bitterly at the boy on Without seeing me frightened stiff, she the floor. “We should have asked Augustino wouldn’t have known of my sterling qualities.