MYSTERY AT MANBY HOUSE

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21369, 13 March 1941, Page 5

MYSTERY AT MANBY HOUSE

By PETER MAN TON

CHAPTER XII.— (Continued; “That’s helpful, isn’t it?’ “You may think so, I don't,” said Pike. “11l tell you something, 1 buddy. Your uncle was staging a ! big come-back, and certain gentle- | men probably did not approve.” | “I tnougnt you said tell,” Hashed Bill. For the first time Pike looked i really taken aback. “Vvhats that? You knew?” “I did. Mann told me.” i “So-ho! The secretary talked be- j fore he died. Maybe that won’t ! ' please Balluzzi. Waal, you were a step ahead of me there, Arden, and ! , I’m admitting it. But mind you ’ \ He broke off again as the door i opened, ana this time Clark appeared, , carrying a tray containing bacon, , , eggs, and grilled tomatoes. It was not often that Clark showed his feelings, but the single glance he sent towards Bike’s head told Arden that the maid had been talking, and , not politely, about the man who had dropped from the skies. Bui smiled. Pike apparently 1 wanted to know why, but he bit on ! : a question. Clark served with his i usual efficiency and retired, and Pike j started before the door had closed—deliberately. I I take it the dook did not approve 1 . of little Jonathan? He will. f was saying, Arden, this break we’ve got 1 ' about the new syndicate and tne j ■ Mid-England crowd might mean a j lot and it might mean nothing. Your j j uncle was like me, unpopular in j . places.” | . “I’ve yet to learn it,” said Bill. 1 “You’d be surprised what you can j : learn,” said Pike. Sir Nicholas was ' j in politics, and politics is a stink. I ( They’re clean here to what they are , i in some places, but even here they < aren’t as fresh as a week-old daisy. J 1 Well, Balluzzi did the job. He’s i < using Brandt and a man named : , Lister, and those two gunmen are - not so good. Not by many ways , ] so good. We know that. We know ! i the new business might explain, but we aren’t sure. Thing to find— j who’s Balluzzi working for?” Bill was tapping his plate with his | knife. i "Ye-es. You know about Brandt?” Pike stared. ; “Damn me for a louse. I’d fqr- ; gotten. You put Brandt out last ! : night, Horn was saying.” “That Weakens Baliuzzi’s position, | j doesn’t it?” Pike hesitated. “Surely. You don’t shout what i you do, Arden, I’ll say that for you. j Weakens Balluzzi, eh?—Waal, that j fella can call on most of a hundred j gunmen, all as quick and sure as j Brandt. One—two—three or a dozen ' , don’t make all the difference in the world. Listen. Arden, what are j . you aiming to do?” Bill selected another piece of < bacon, ate it, and then said very j ; slowly: / ' “I’m going after Balluzzi.” He wondered how Pike would take ! - it. The man was a character in his , way, and Arden was beginning to j j like him. That abruptness, and the manner of behaving as though he i , was lord of all he surveyed was a ' 1 pose—like Court’s—but somehow < much less offensive. He wondered < how long Court and Horn would be. j “So. You’re going after Balluzzi, j are you? Serious?” j “Yes.” 1 “You talk too much, that’s your 1 trouble,” said Jonathan Pike. “Horn j been putting ideas into your head?” “He put one bad one. He suggested I might get in touch with ! < you.” j ‘ “He did, huh? He’s not so dumb ! 1 as they make out, then. Oke! This j < is all settled, and you’re fighting. 1j * think you’re crazy, but folk are born i like that. And there’s a job wait- j i ing for you ” | > Arden sat back a shade. He had expected opposition far j c more vehement than Pike had raised, , i and that in itself surprised him. But j t the cool statement that there was j > work that he could do, ready and • £ waiting, took him completely by sur- j £ prise. i c Pike’s face was immobile. £ “Well?” Bill said at last. c Pike drew a slow breath. * “Friend Master William, we know c the lay-out so far. Balluzzi. May- j £ be the Mid-England Electrical Cor- i f poration. May'oe something we ; 1 haven't sized up yet. Anything t Baliuzzi’s in is a big thing. He i wouldn't put the men in action he has if he wasn’t going to clear a t hundred thousand bucks out of it I himself. That's two hundred thou- i sand, because he has expenses sc, , r heavy you wouldn’t believe. Bal- \ i luzzi,” went on Jonathan Pike, in a j c low voice that made- Arden forget i f everything but what the man was j r saying, “is the worst proposition you j v or me can handle, and I don’t mean | maybe. He’s a tough guy himself, j and he’s the cleverest Big Shot that’s { ever worked Chicago. And places. . r Folks have said he hasn’t got a weak j e place, but they’re wrong. He’s got ! ' one, and you can find it plenty.” ® Bill had to force the word from | c his lips. j ? “What is it?” I * “His wife,” said Jonathan Pike ! 1 “Lili Balluzzi. But that dame is dan- j; gerous, Arden, and you’ll be play- ° ing with something hotter than you’ve c ever touched before. 0.K.?” | CHAPTER XIII. i i t Pike sat back, watching the chang- i ing expressions on the face of the man in front of him. \ The crisp brown hair of Bill Arden, c those grey, direct eyes, that heavy \ chin that was somehow in keeping i with the rest of the features. Arden z was the type of man, Pike reasoned, j that a woman would fall for in a i big way. The breadth of his \ shoulders, the narrow hips and waist x —yes, Arden could do it. 1 c Bill rubbed his chin slowly. / “Supposing you explain?” 1 c Pike plunged into a recital that t was terse, well-informed and ob- t viously founded on fact. He drew c a picture of Lili Balluzzi that made \ Bill imagine he could see the woman l in front of him. 1 Balluzzi. it seemed, was a man x nearing fifty. His wife, Lili. was * fifteen years younger. She had ♦ started in the Bowery, but her ideals ( had been far higher than marriage < to a subway trainsman or anyone £ on an equal social plane. i (To be continued; j t