Newspaper Page Text
PAGE TWO
Cameron Dockery
»■■ - '« ■
CHAPTER IV
SYNOPSIS: Posing as Rosa
Kirkman, Lotus Ames is hired
as a singer by Mlle. Chloe Du
val, owner of a New Orleans
case. She expects to pick up
information for the FBI on
dope smuggling. On her first
appearance at the case, she
mets the attractive Stacy Cor
bin. One day she received a
note to meet at the chapel.
When she arrived she found
Lawrence of the FBI. He ad
vised her to watch Herman
Balch, former Bund member.
Returning to her room she saw
signs that Mlle. Duval had
been there.
“Heavy set. small, pale blue
eyes, thick, blond, straight hair.
He’s rather Nordic looking and
may pose as a Swede or Nor
wegian.’’
“I’ll watch for him tonight.
How will I get in touch with
you?”
“You can’t be seen or heard
talking to me once you’ve estab
lished a contact. If they are at
all suspicious, they’ll watch you
like hawks. I wouldn’t even trust
Chloe too far.” His mouth sei
grimly.
“But I’ll have to let you know.”
“If you find out anything, put
an ad in the personal column of
the Picayune.”
She laughed excitedly. “This
has all the elements of a real
mystery!”
Suddenly he arose, Some sight
seers were entering the famous
little graveyard, exclaming over
the unusual epitaphs. He seemed
very tall as he pulled his cap
down over his dyed hair and
RADIOS
Radiola, 6-Tube Table Models
* R. C. A.’s
* General Electric
* Combination Radio and Record
Players
USE OUR EASY PAY PLAN AS LOW AS $2 WEEK
BERRYS
YOUR GOODYEAR STORE
Everything for the Car and Home
PHONE 215 SU MM EVILLE, GA.
UNKLE HANK SEZ
V/HEN A MAN BECOMES
SUDDENLY ¥?ICH HE USUALLY
FINDS OUT THAT HE HAS A
LOT MORE KINFOLKS THAN
HE'D FVFP
DREAME.O '
j.” FE.Tuat, CC> ) |
til
A lot of relatives require a lot of birthday gifts ... as
one of them is always celebrating this great occasion.
Our complete line of buyable gift items awaits your se
lection . . . we’llbe happy to make suggestions. We
carry a full line of jewelry at all times.
LOOP FURNITURE CO.
“We Sell for Less"
SUMMERVILLE, GEORGIA
gazed at her seriously.
Then he turned swiftly on his
heel and was gone.
An aura of tenseness sur
rounded Lotus as she dressed for
the next evening performance.
The air was thick and sultry
and even the few wandering
breezes that blew in from the
water front were warm and laden
with the odors of decaying fruits
and fish. She had little appe
tite for the supper that the
mulatto girl brought in on a
tray. Chloe Duval was nowhere
to be seen.
Lotus had forced herself to eat
something and was standing be
fore the open door leading to
the narrow balcony of her room
when a sudden puff of wind sent
a small black object rolling
across the floor.
It was one of Chloe Duval’s
miniature cigars.
A sharp stab of panic caught
Lotus and she sat down, still
holding the, dry, half-smoked
cheroot between her fingers.
So Chloe had taken advantage
of her absence to visit her room!
What did it mean’ Was Mam
selle Duval simply seizing an op
portune moment to satisfy a
natural feminine curiosity? Or
had some forgotten incident
aroused her suspicions as to the
true identity or Rose Kirkman?
Lotus looked around her.
Before leaving Washington she
had removed all labels from her
clothing, purchased new shoes,
and discarded anything else that
might give her away. No trace ■
of Lotus Ames remained but a I
strawberry mark on her left hip
and that was a secret shared
only with the files of the FBI.
Calm returned with mental,
deduction and she decided that
the older woman had merely re
sponded to a normal inquisitive
ness or perhaps had entered the
room to call down from the bal
cony to one or hei’ many ac
quaintances engaged in business
along the watenront.
But this last explanation
started a new trend of ideas en
tirely.
That evening the case was
crowded with the usual polyglot
collection of customers. As she
went through her numbers her
eyes searched carefully over the
audience, but it was not until
midnight that she spied her ob
jective emerging from the arched
entrance to seat himself at a ta
ble nearby.
He was not alone. A short,
dark man, with the sharp fea
tures and darting eyes of a wea
sel, accompanied him and wait
ed until the other had selected
a chair before settling himself.
He was dressed like a seaman,
and after a brief consultation
with the Bundist, called to a.
waiter and ordered drinks.
This was the moment Lotus
had planned since talking to
Lawrence that afternoon.
Quickly she signaled the or- :
chestra leader. As had been pre
viously arranged, he led his com
panions into the strains of an
old German lullaby. Lotus sang
the touching verses slowly in '
her warm contralto. The unusual
type of song seemed to have a
soothing, mellowing effect .on
the crowd. They demanded more, i
: but when the song was finished
she stepped down from the plat- ■
form and made her way to the ;
I entrance ostensibly for a breath ;
I of fresh air.
As she passed the two men
i they stared at her and she gave
i them a casual smile, then stood
by one oi the windows, drinking
in the less smoky .air of Galla- !
tin Street.
Behind her she heard the low
murmur of voices, then someone
whispered, “Mith, oh Mith!” and
a hand plucked at her skirt.
It was the undersized dark
iellow. He grimaced at her eag
erly.
"My friend and I enjoyed your
thong. We would like you to join
uth for refreshmeents,” he said.
Lotus followed him to the ta
ble.
“This is real nice of you boys,”
she said, hoping the inflection of
good breeding and four years of
college English classes didn’t
creep into her speech.
Silently, the golden-haired
Balch arose and offered her a
chair. As he shoved it beneath
her, she felt as though his pale
eyes were boring into her brain.
He sat down himself then re
moved a long cigarette holder
from his heavy mouth and then
leaned across the table, staring
at her.
“How did you happen to sing
I that song?”
She laughed. “Oh, that! Well, I
j get kind of sick of singing this
swing stuff all the time. Besides,
that’s one of my favorites—my
old man used to sing it to me.”
They gasped at her. “German
isn’t it?” the blond one said.
“I don’t know, maybe—my old
man was a German.”
“Ah, that’s very interesting.
And your name, it is German,
too? I don’t believe I know it.”
“Don’t you?” She pretended to
j be offended. “It’s Kirkman, Mis
ter —Rosa Kirkman.”
The Bundist watched her in
tently. “How would you like to
make some extra money, Miss
Kirkman?”
“Are you kidding?”
“No, I’m quite serious.” He
clipped off each word sharply.
“We would be willing to pay you
S2OO for a month’s work.”
“This sounds interesting. What
would I have to do?”
“Nothing complicated, just
collect a little information for
us. You could do it during your
evenings here.”
She pretended suspicious. “Say
you boys aren’t dicks, are you?”
The golden-haired Balch look
ed amused. “No, Miss Kirkman,
we are not from the police.” He
lowered his voice. “On the con
trary, we are most interested in
finding out if the police are
watching the Case Duval. That’s
what you are to do —keep your,
eyes open for suspicious actions
on the part of the customers or
employees.”
“You’re not working for Chloe,
are you?”
“No. Who we are working for
and what our purpose is need
not concern you.”
“Suits me. How will I give you
the dope?”
“One of us will be here every
evening. One more thing, Miss
Kirkman, you understand that
this arrangemeent must be kept
confidential or it will be of no
use to us?”
“I wasn’t born yesterday.” She
winked slyly, hating herself as
THE SUMMERVILLE NEWS: SUMMERVILLE, GA.
she did so.
Chloe gave Lotus a peculiarly
searching look when she an
nounced the next afternoon that
she was going on a shopping ex
pedition, but at the suggestion
that she accompany her, she
shook her head languidly.
“Eet ees sooo warm and I real
ly have nothing to shop for.
Pedro and I will pass the time
together, won’t we, darling?”
Chloe reached up and gave the
parrot’s tail feathers a playful
I tweak and he retaliated by emit
■ t.ng an indignant squawk and
' scattering his food over the flag-
I stones.
Suddenly a thought seemed to
strike Chloe. ...
“Rosa, I wonder eef you would
mind visiting the leetle tobac
conist on Royal Street and pur
chasing some of my small ceeg
arettes for me. Old French Brand
they are called. He closes during
the siesta hour, but eef you hur
ry you can catch heem.”
How her moods did change!
Now she seemed almost impa
tient for the girl to be gone!
Gallatin Street was almost de
serted except for a Negress strid
ing along the bricked banquette
with a huge basket of laundry
on her head.
The air was warm but Lotus
stepped out briskly, anxious to
reach the newspaper office. Too
briskly to notice the runty fig
ure that sidled out of a shadowy
doorway and softly kept pace
with her on the other side Oi the
street.
She was mentally mulling over
the details of her message to Mr.
Lawrence when oddly and in
stinctive feeling that she was
being watched made her stop
before a window display of bed
room furmture. She was too
wise to turn around and look
for the source of the gentle pad
pad that had invaded her con
sciousness but a quick glance
into one of the mirrors on sale
in the huge window shewed her
the short dark f ; gure of her lisp
ing acquaintance of the previous
evening. The man whom the
Bundist had called Paul.
So, in spite of her innocent
pose she was under surveillance!
Bring Your FORD
"haclr
I BnTr*
Kajg|S|
-»>^ ne r.-,n tA<><w n / r- A
O»r <r£ '»” ”‘ /
rl9 W» YOUR F y™ R *
ESTIMATES FREE-USE OUR BUDGET PLAH
HAIR MOTOR COMPANY, Inc.
Summerville, Ga.
A little bell tinkled over the
door as she entered the tiny dark
tobacco shop on Royal Street
having almost passed it by, so
insignificant it was, tucked in a
narrow crevice between two of
fice buildings. In response to the
summons a wizened old man in
a black skull cap and a thin seer
sucker suit emerged from a back
room and peered at her near
sightedly.
“I’d like to purchase a carton
of those little black cheroots,
Old French Brand I believe they
are called.”
“Are they or yourself, Miss?”
! Tax Receiver’s Rounds
5
■
£ I will be at the following places to receive tax. My books close
«: on April Ist. No exemptions after April Ist.
£ I will be in office on all days njt mentioned below.
£ Irion March 5-12-10-26
£ Menlo March 4-11
■: Lyerly March 6-13
£ Paul Cook’s Store March 7th, a. m.
£ Holland March 7th, p. m.
< Subligna March 10th, a. m.
< Haywood and Dry Creek March 10th, p. m.
£
VWVVVVVVVVVVVVVWVVVVVWVVV
G. D. ERWIN
£ *
«: Tax Receiver
he countered.
“No!”
A bit impatient and loud per
haps but after all! “They are
for a Miss Chloe Duval.”
Magic words! He shot her a
quick look from his rheumy old
eyes and his wrinkled face then
creased in a smile. “Oh, you
mean Mamselle Chloe. Why
didn’t you say so, Miss—she’s
an old customer.”
The cool dimness of the pol
ished hall welcomed her when
she returned to the house on
Gallatin Street. Chloe was still
in the courtyard and seemed in
Thursday, March 20, 1947
high spirits as she took her pack -
age. ,
“Ah Rosa, ma cherie, did you
. have a pleasant shopping tour?
What deed you buy? Where are
the purchases?”
j Lotus smiled at the other's
L child-like curiosity. “Oh I made
( only a few small purchases. My.
, it is pleasant here after the heat
. of Canal Street!”
(Continued Next Week)
Subscribe to
THE SUMMERVILLE NEWS
$1.50 Per Year